“Where are we?”
Lydia went from a crouched position to sitting. She withdrew her hand, and I immediately missed its soothing presence. “On the beach.” Lydia pointed toward a window. “I can see the ocean. Or maybe the Gulf.” She shook her head. “I’m not really certain.”Elbows propped on her bent knees, Lydia ran a hand through her auburn hair, revealing more gray than I remembered. “The windows are open, but they’re covered in bars.”
With my head clearer, I analyzed our situation. The floor was wooden. The planks were wide and felt old. The slant of the ceiling made me think we were in an attic—the exposed beams left open and unfinished. The area was mostly empty. There were a couple of chairs and mattresses lying on the floor. A walled-off room was in the corner. “And there?” I pointed toward the room.
“Bathroom,” Lydia answered. “Nothing fancy, but it will get the job done.” She gave me another weak smile.
Half a dozen bottles of water lay nearby along with some packaged jerky, peanuts, and other snacks. Twisting my head, I found two windows, one on either end of the room along the flat walls. Just like Lydia had said, there were metal bars stretched across them along with screens to keep the bugs out.
Pushing to my feet, my legs only wobbled a little. Lydia’s concerned “careful, Franklin” gave me pause, and I was grateful for the warning when I took my first step and my knees threatened to give out.
“It takes a little longer to be able to walk well.” Lydia stood next to me, placing a steadying hand on my elbow.
“How long have you been here?” I asked while following my ears and walking toward the sound of waves.
“I’m not entirely certain. There’s no clock, and my phone’s gone. Looking at the dwindling light, I’d guess four hours, maybe more. I’m not sure if I’ve been here the whole time.” Lydia huffed. “I’d finished showing the McCorkles a lovely home. It’s absolutely perfect for them. It has… Well, I suppose that doesn’t really matter right now. They left before me. I’d just locked the door and was walking to my car when…” Lydia shivered.
It was my turn to support her. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, I said, “Shadows and darkness?”
Lydia nodded and reached for her throat. “God, it was horrible. The blackness swallowed me. It covered my eyes and then my nose and mouth, and I couldn’t… I just couldn’t breathe. And then…I’m not sure. I don’t really remember anything else. Like you, I woke up here.”
We’d made it to the window, and my fingers immediately wrapped around the metal bars. Lydia was right. Sand and endless miles of water lay before us. Given the gentle nature of the waves, I was betting on Gulf water, not oceanic. My fingers tightened on the bars before I gave them a pointless tug. Solid.
“I tried that,” Lydia said. “I might have even screamed and shouted some rather embarrassing things too.”
What I wanted to shout wouldn’t embarrass me in the slightest. “And the other window?” I asked, turning my head toward the other end of the room. That side was darker, the shadows deeper. I was reluctant to head that direction but knew it was necessary.
“Trees,” Lydia answered. “Nothing but vegetation. I tried twisting from side to side to see more, but no matter how hard I tried, that’s all I could see. No roads. No other houses. Nothing. I hate to say it, Franklin, but I get the feeling we’re in the middle of nowhere.”
I started to walk in the other direction when Lydia’s hand shot out, grabbing my wrist and tugging me back. “What’s wrong?” It was a ridiculous question. There were so many things wrong she’d hardly know where to start.
Lydia’s eyes hardened on a far corner, closer to the other side of the room. “We’re not alone, Franklin.” She said it in a hushed whisper.
“The shadows?” I questioned.
Lydia nodded. “Yes, but not just those. There’s someone on the other side. I…I think it’s a brownie. I’ve only met one in my life, and that was years ago when Nikodemus and I were together. I know they’re small, but this one is even smaller, and he doesn’t look healthy. I thought he was dead at first, but he’s breathing. I considered waking him but wasn’t sure.”
I squinted, desperately trying to pierce the shadows with my sight.
“It was brighter earlier, before you showed up. The sun was at a different angle earlier in the day.”
“You were awake when I…” I wasn’t certain how to phrase my arrival.
“I was. It was very disturbing. A large shadow sort of bubbled up from the floor, and when it receded, there you were. A little bit of amnesia when this is all over would be a blessing.”
I squeezed Lydia’s shoulder before heading into the shadows. If Huxley wanted me dead, I wouldn’t be standing upright. If he didn’t want me near whoever was lying on the opposite side of the room, then he’d stop me.
My eyes adjusted the deeper I got into the darkness. There, lying in the corner on a blanket was the small figure Lydia spoke of. She was right; it was a brownie and by the looks of it, a young one. Brownies were small, but this figure was even smaller. Definitely not an adult.
Crouching beside the brownie, I echoed Lydia’s concerns. The brownie child didn’t look healthy. His cheeks were hollow, his eye sockets too deep and his brown skin appeared sallow. While the shade of brown differed from brownie to brownie, all of them had shimmering, shiny hair. This brownie’s hair was dull and looked like it would snap in half at the slightest provocation.
Curled up on his side in the fetal position, the brownie’s hands were folded under his face, and his knees were tucked upclose to his chest. His clothes were probably thehealthiestpart about him. No shoes adorned his feet, but they were covered in a thick pair of socks.
I started to reach out but pulled my hand back as a sliver of light caught on something around his wrist. Leaning in, I could see it was something metal with a type of writing I couldn’t read scribbled across it. When I looked closer, I could visualize a similar bracelet on his opposite wrist. Glancing down, he had them on his ankles also. A similar collar was wrapped around his neck.
“What do you think they are?” Lydia asked over my shoulder.
“I can’t say exactly, but I’ve got a general idea.” Anger flared hot and heavy.
