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1
Harper
Everything is bathed in a strange pink glow. A little bit like I’d expect to see in a post-apocalyptic world. The gardens are all deep in the throes of winter death. They look the same as they did on my walk yesterday, with the exception of the weird light.
I venture forward and brush my fingers over the spindly branches of a sleeping rose bush. For a school calledBrimstonein a place calledThe Underworld, it’s nothing like I expected. Though, the garden in the middle of winter does add some weight to my original expectations.
A figure emerges from the mist ahead of me.
Wait.
Why is there mist? Was that there before? I’ve never seen mist in the gardens. In fact, all of this is starting to feel wrong. It feels like something slithers down my back and goosebumps rise on my arms.
None of this is right.
It has to be a dream.
A nightmare.
The figure materializes and I’m met by a familiar, grinning face. He’s blindingly handsome and far more dangerous than any of the students at the school ever could be.
But he’s not really here, right? There is no reason for the ruler of the Kingdom of Keys to be at my school. And this is just a dream after all.
He takes a few steps closer to me, his long black coat trailing through the dirt as he walks. His heavy boots crunch over the gravel.
My heart races and I want to run. I want to get back into the school. Into my room. I want to shake myself awake.
He’s still smiling. Just smiling and moving closer to me. His long blonde hair is loose around his face, blowing in the breeze. He locks his icy blue eyes on me and I can’t look away. I’m frozen in place, pulled into his gaze as if I’m drowning.
“Fancy seeing you here, cherub,” he says.
My brow furrows and I study his face. His hard jaw and high cheekbones are dusted with golden stubble. He’s far more handsome than anyone this terrifying should be.
“Why am I dreaming about you?” I ask.
He smirks and cocks his head to the side slightly, as if he finds me amusing. “You know you’re in a dream?”
“What else would this be?” I ask defiantly.
“For you, it’s a dream,” he says.
My eyes widen. “You’re dream walking.”
“You’re doing better here than I expected,” he says. “You’re learning our ways quickly. You’ve even got a chance at earning that pass.”
My pulse quickens and I think back to my final exams. He sat there, grading me, judging me. He knows exactly what I can and can’t do.
“You’re going to fit in here better than I ever imagined,” he says. “Tell me, are you ready to join me yet?”
“What makes you think I’d ever want to join you?” I ask. “I’m doing all of this so I can get out of here. So I can go home.”
“You can’t go home and you know it,” he says. “You don’t belong there. Stay with me. Taste power like you’ve never known before.”
“I want to go home,” I repeat.
He smirks again. “My darling, you’re never going home. You and me will be bound together for eternity. With you by my side, the world will be mine.Ours.”
My skin crawls. I know that under that handsome face there is a monster. I can almost feel it. “Nothing will ever beours.”
