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She desperately reached for her magic, but again, it shied away. Something intangible blocked it like a dam preventing a river from running its course.
The man latched onto her wrist and yanked her forward.
“Let me go!” she screamed, fighting against his hold. But her weak attempts to free herself from his strong grip only confirmed his beliefs. She was small and weak.
But still, she fought.
With her free hand, she hit him repeatedly in the chest, and with her uninjured foot, she twisted enough to kick him in the knee. He merely scowled and tossed her into a pile of rotted hay. Directly beneath one of the only sturdy beams within the decomposing barn.
He tossed the rope over the beam.
She sobbed.
After everything she’d endured, why did it have to end like this? Injured. Trapped.
Alone.
Ethan reached for her, but she rolled off the hay just as his fingers grazed her. A new desperation to survive gave her the strength to climb to one leg, but when she put weight on her injured foot, she cried out in agony. The pause gave Ethan enough time to tackle her to the ground. His knee dug into her back, and he grabbed her hands, wrenching them behind her.
“S-s-something’s out there,” Cole stuttered near the door.
“It’s gotta be Joel, you idiot. Aim for the eye. Don’t miss.”
No, no, no! she screamed in her mind, wishing more than anything to have Maisy’s magic right then. I’ll die for you, Joel. Don’t try to save me. They’ll kill you.
She attempted to shout for him to run, to warn him, to leave her, but Ethan shoved her face into the ground, muffling the sound. She struggled just enough to turn her head to the side. Her eyes widened in horror when Joel raced inside the barn moments later. His gaze darted over each of them and fell on her.
And then Cole released the bolt.
“No!” she shrieked, thrashing against Ethan’s weight and trying to free her hands. Her heart split open as Joel hit the ground hard.
And lay still.
“No, no, no!”
Tears streamed down her face, and all at once, the strength faded from her body. Her will to fight—gone. Her desperation for freedom—gone. Her reason to continue forward—gone.
“Please, no,” she wept, tears splashing onto the frozen ground. “I love you. Don’t leave me. I love you.” Gritty dirt rubbed into her cheek, Joel’s still form blurred in her vision.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Cole approached Joel and nudged him with his foot. But the shoe didn’t make contact. It passed right through. Followed by a curse as he scrambled for a second bolt. “It’s an illusion!”
Nyana inhaled sharply, lifting her head as relief and hope burst through her. The ground trembled—or were her surroundings distorting?—causing her mind to grow dizzy. Cole swayed one way on his feet, then the other, until he lost his balance and crashed to the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them again, twenty other Joels filled the barn.
Images distorted again, rippling like a heat wave on a hot summer day. The eyes of one Joel grew black until he ripped right down the middle. A dark creature with a dozen tentacles climbed out. Black ooze dripped from its body and sizzled on the ground, sharp onyx teeth elongating from its mouth.
From where he knelt on a clump of hay, Cole screamed and unsheathed the dagger on his belt, swiping like a madman. “You’re not real! You’re not real! You’re not real!”
Two more terrifying creatures joined the first, surrounding the man. The creatures crawled forward on steaming tentacles, the ooze continuing to drip as they climbed onto Cole. He continued to scream until the sound cut off suddenly. Moments later, Cole lay still on the barn floor.
He’d passed out in his fright.
Ethan snatched the crossbow from the ground, with one boot still pinning her down by the back. He loaded a bolt faster than she knew was possible, pointing the weapon at one of the Joels, and fired.
Her heart jumped to her throat, terror squeezing tight.
But the bolt passed right through and lodged into the wall.
