“You’re making it worse!” said Mini angrily.
The night mares’ manes bristled, and their blue eyes sprouted more flames. They opened their mouths, and their jaws unhinged as their terrifying screams were unleashed.
“They’re going to charge!” yelled Rudy. “We need to go, now!”
“I’ll hold them off,” said Brynne, gritting her teeth. She twirled the mace over her head and then sent out a blast of wind, creating a cyclone between the night mares and the Potatoes. The horses reared back, their hooves churning against the funnel.
“It won’t last forever….C’mon!” said Brynne. “We can regroup in that building.”
They raced across the field. The closer they got to the structure, the more its details came into focus. It was a stable! There were individual stalls for each night mare, and a nameplate hung from the top of each frame.
Aru thought the fancy horses from races like the Kentucky Derby had weird names, like Spectacular Bid, or California Chrome. Butthosewere nothing compared to the names of the night mares—
THE THING THAT CHASES
CREEPY PARTY CLOWN
INEXPLICABLE NATURAL DISASTER
SLEPT LATE AND MISSED THE BIGGEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE
DON’T LOOK UNDER THE BED
BUGS IN YOUR HAIR
EVERYONE YOU LOVE MOCKS YOU BEHIND YOUR BACK
EVERYONE YOU LOVE IS DEAD
ENDLESS FALLING
TRAPPED
LOOSE TEETH
A GHOST IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU
“This one’s empty!” said Aiden, running into the stall at the end. It was huge and cavernous, more like a living room than a stable. Aru wrinkled her nose. Inside, it smelled like wet hay and horse sweat.
The moment the door swung shut behind them, plunging them into darkness, Mini spun toward Brynne. “Howcouldyou?” she said.
“What?” said Brynne.
“I totally had that under control!” said Mini. “You should’ve waited!”
“Forwhat?” said Brynne. “For them to eat us?”
“I don’t think they were going to do that, but you didn’t listen to me!”
Aru tried to step backward and melt into the shadows when Brynne turned to face her. “Well, what doyouthink?” demanded Brynne.
Mini raised her chin, an imperious look on her face. “Yeah, Aru, whatdoyou think?”
Trapped!sounded an alarm in her head.
“Uh, well…” said Aru.
Honestly, she understood where both of them were coming from, but she was pretty sure that was not the answer her sisters wanted. She was spared from responding as her shoulder hit something solid. Something solid…and warm. Aru looked into the darkness, and the darkness looked back.
