"Get away from the window!"
Mrs. Hawthorne yanked me backward just as something crashed against the glass. The window should have shattered, but it didn't like there was an invisible barrier holding whatever was out there back.
"What is that?" I couldn't stop shaking.
"Dark forces." She was already pulling me toward the door. "They found you.. I thought we had until tomorrow, I though"
Her voice broke, and that scared me more than anything else. Mrs. Hawthorne never lost her composure ;Never.
We ran into the hallway. She still had my arm, dragging me toward the back door, but then she froze. Her whole body went rigid.
"They're already inside," she breathed.
The temperature dropped so fast I could see my breath misting in front of my face. The lights flickered once, twice, then died completely.
In the darkness, I heard it.
A sound like wind through dead trees. Like whispers in a language that made my brain hurt just hearing it. Like something breathing that definitely shouldn't be breathing.
"Stay behind me," Mrs. Hawthorne commanded, her voice suddenly different Powerful,Ancient.
"What are you"
She raised her hands and started speaking in that same painful language; Light blazed from her palms, so bright I had to squint.
And I saw them.
They weren't shadows anymore. They were solid. Human shaped but wrong, made of darkness so thick it looked oily, And they had eyes dozens of glowing red eyes all focused on me.
"Give us the child," one of them hissed. The voice came from everywhere at once. "Give us the child and your death will be quick, witch."
"Over my dead body," Mrs. Hawthorne snarled.
The thing laughed. "That can be arranged."
They attacked.
Mrs. Hawthorne screamed words I didn't understand, and light exploded from her hands like a weapon. Where it touched the shadow creatures, they shrieked and recoiled. She was fighting them. Actually fighting monsters with magic, pushing them back toward the door.
This wasn't real. This couldn't be real.
"Run!" she shouted without turning around. "Out the back! Run now!"
But I couldn't move. I was frozen, watching my elderly nanny transform into some kind of warrior, blasting creatures that shouldn't exist with light that couldn't be real.
More of them poured through the door too many..way too many for one person to fight.
"I said run!"
One of the creatures broke through her defense. It wrapped around her ankle like a chain and yanked her off her feet.. She hit the floor hard, and I heard the impact knock the wind out of her.
"No!" I finally moved, running toward her.
"Stay back!" She threw out her hand and something invisible slammed into me like a truck, throwing me backward into the wall. Pain exploded through my whole body.
More creatures wrapped around her. Around her arms, her legs, and her throat. They lifted her into the air, her feet dangling helplessly.
"The prophecy awakens," she choked out. "You're the key, Emilie.The broken queen; Find the marked son"
They squeezed.
I heard bones crack.
Heard her scream..
Then nothing.
Mrs. Hawthorne's body hit the floor like a puppet with cut strings.
"NO!" The scream ripped out of me. "NO!"
I crawled to her, my whole body shaking. Her eyes were open, staring at nothing. Her neck was bent wrong. Blood trickled from her nose.
"Wake up," I sobbed, shaking her. "Please wake up.. Don't leave me."
The creatures surrounded me. I could smell themrot and copper and old earth.
"The child is ours," one hissed.
Something inside me snapped.
I can't explain it any better than that. It felt like a dam breaking, Like a door being kicked open, Like something that had been sleeping my entire life suddenly woke up and screamed.
Power flooded through me.
I opened my mouth and light exploded from my body in every direction.
Not controlled light like Mrs. Hawthorne's. This was wild furious. It felt like rage given form, like grief turned into a weapon.
The creatures shrieked and scattered, fleeing through the walls like smoke.
And then I was alone with Mrs. Hawthorne's body and the ruins of the only home I'd ever known.
I knelt there shaking, that power still crackling under my skin like electricity. The pendant around my neck was burning hot.
A sound outside. Branches breaking.
They were coming back.
Mrs. Hawthorne's words echoed in my head, run… Find the marked son. Silvercrest.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, touching her face one last time. "I'm so sorry."
Then I forced myself to stand. Grabbed my phone, Shoved my feet into boots.
And ran out into the storm.
Rain hit me like needles. Lightning showed me the forest ahead dark and endless and terrifying.
Behind me, I heard them hunting.
So I ran.