Royal Blood by Kolina Topel Page A

though I didn’t see any headlights approach. The horn scared me, and I took in a breath , feeling dizzy from the lack of oxygen to my brain. I took out my card again, not daring to touch any of my, er, that money, and I put the car in drive.
     
    I didn’t close my mouth all the way home. I pulled into my spot and shut off my car. I just sat there. I don’t know how long. I think I forgot how to move my legs. Not until my teeth started chattering so violently they could have woken the dead did I regain composure. Was I cold? Huh. I couldn’t feel anything.
     
    I sat there for a while longer. I closed my eyes and laid my head back to try to think.
     
    Was this even possible? Where did it come from? What was the mistake? It had to be a mistake, obviously, but who in their right mind would misplace half a million… . I couldn’t even think it.
     
    I would have to straighten this out. I would go to the bank tomorrow and—crap. It was Friday. My bank wasn’t open on the weekends.
     
    “ Breathe,” I told myself. And my mind was blank again.
     
    Tap, tap, tap, tap. I jumped so hard my head hit the roof of the car with a thud. “Ow.” I looked out the window and saw Greg, one of my neighboring tenants, staring at me like I was insane. I might have been. I must have fallen asleep. I heard him mumbling through the glass, so I rolled down the window.
     
    “ What?” I asked icily.
     
    “ Are you drunk?” he asked again.
     
    I looked around not having yet noticed the sky was lighting up just enough to know I’d slept there all night. Greg waited, but I forgot he was there before I even got the next thought in my mind.
     
    I must have been dreaming. There is no way I—
     
    “ Hello?” he interrupted again.
     
    “ Oh, S orry. N-no,” I stammered. “I fell asleep I think.”
     
    “ Well maybe you should go inside. It’s freezing out here and uh, you don’t look so good.”
     
    “ Right,” I murmured.
     
    I got out and walked to my door, not saying another word. I could still feel his eyes boring into my back when I reached it. I walked into my chilly apartment (though it usually felt so warm to me) and shivered involuntarily when I walked in. I took off my jacket and shoes and walked to my bedroom, still too dazed to even think about the uh… mishap from yesterday and fell onto my bed with a loud thud. I stared at the wall until I finally fell into a restless and uneasy sleep.
     
     
     
    * * *
     
    It was dark, too dark. I had no idea where I was. I didn’t recognize any of the buildings around me. There didn’t seem to be anyone else in this small clutter of dirt roads and concrete buildings. No lights, no sounds, just nothingness. It was even darker outside the almost perfect oval shape of the city. Trees maybe? I couldn’t tell.
     
    I called out in a weak voice, “Hello, is anyone there?” Silence. I turned around and was startled by a little girl standing about ten yards in front of me. She looked no more than about seven -years old, but it was dark, so I could barely see her face. She had on a black robe that was shadowing her face and drowning her body.
     
    “ Oh, hello,” I said again, a bit less intimidated this time.
     
    She did not respond, so I inched my right foot forward and began to hold my hand out to the child. I stopped abruptly when she raised both of her hands to her hood and pulled it back. I gasped and stepped back when the f ace she revealed was mine. Me, seven -years old.
     
    “ I… I,” I couldn’t find words. I didn’t know why, but a creepy feeling came over me, and I tensed to run.
     
    Seeing my subtle movement, the little girl opened her mouth slightly. The voice that came through was not one I recognized. It was not the voice of the sweet innocent face I stared at. It was the voice of a man, and he said three words; “It is time.”
     
    Before I could even close my mouth, the little girl’s eyes turned blood red and she lunged right for