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“What things? What’s going on? Why are you doing this to me?” I cowered against the tree, which seemed to please the evil black cat.
She paced back and forth for a moment before turning toward me once again. “My blabbermouth assistant already told you more than you need to know, but I’ll let you in on one last little piece of knowledge.”
Dash looked back over her shoulder at Virginia, who was still trapped in soundless torment. “Look at her. She’s currently living her worst nightmare.”
And I knew from the frozen mask of terror on Virginia’s face that Dash was being truthful with me now.
I shuddered, hating that the truth was scarier than a lie. Why else would Dash have revealed this to me? “What is it?” I sputtered, groping for words, willing to do anything to keep the conversation going. “Spiders? Clowns? Great White Sharks?”
Dash smiled. “That’s the beauty of illusion magic. I don’t need to know. The magic finds the fears, the desires, finds whatever I need and latches right onto it. Virginia was a fool, but it was even easier to convince her to fall in line when my magic probed her heart and found what I needed.”
“You’re an illusion witch?” I gasped. I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but it certainly sounded scary.
Dash smiled at me again. “The very best that ever lived.”
“I know why Virginia wanted to get rid of Merlin, but why you?” Strangely, I was beginning to wish that Dash would turn back into the ornery policewoman. This new feline version was much, much worse.
She shook her head. “Ah, ah, ah! I have no need to reveal my plot to the likes of you. I only told you about Virginia so you’d know what was about to happen to you and fear it all the more.”
I met her eye, unwilling to cower in fear any longer. “You’ll never get away with—”
But Dash cut me off by loudly clicking her tongue twice. As soon as she did, the whole world melted away, leaving me trapped in a sea of endless black.
Noooooooo!
23
“Hello?” I cried into the echoing void, but no one answered. Unnerved, I stumbled forward, unable to feel the ground over which my feet moved. I couldn’t feel anything, not even the cool metal which had previously bound my wrists.
A pinprick of light appeared on the horizon, and I rushed toward it, desperate to get out of this dark place. I still couldn’t bring my hands forward despite not being able to feel the cuffs on my skin, which resulted in my waddling more than jogging toward my destination.
As I moved closer, the tiny light pulsed and expanded, and out stepped Merlin in all his Maine Coon glory. Instead of normal shining green, his eyes were deep black, lifeless, soulless.
“I didn’t choose you. I got stuck with you,” he sneered, addressing my secret fear head-on.
“No, no. It’s not tr
ue,” I said, recalling our earlier conversation. I hadn’t been his initial choice, but he was very happy that we’d ended up together.
“You’re lying,” I bit out.
And with that, the false Merlin burst into a puff of smoke and floated off into the darkness.
“You were an illusion,” I told myself. “Just an illusion.”
I’d called the imposter cat on his lie and he’d left me alone. I just had to remember to find the truth. Hopefully it would set me free from this awful place.
Another pale flicker of illumination appeared to the distant right, so I stepped toward it, bracing myself for what I might find there.
A tall man’s silhouette appeared. I couldn’t make out his features but recognized him as soon as he spoke. Harold.
“You may not have killed me, but it’s your fault I’m dead,” he told me with great anger.
What could I say to that? I couldn’t deny the part I’d played. This accusation was perfectly true.
Harold kept going, feeding my guilt, making it grow bigger and bigger.
“I always knew you were a worthless employee, but I kept you on out of the kindness of my heart. And how did you repay me? Ha!”
