“Do you hear that?” I ask Fifi.
“Hear what?” When she answers, her voice sounds like it’s coming from far away.
“The voices.”
“What voices?” Arjun sounds alarmed even though his voice, too, seems to be traveling through water to get to me.
I shake my head, try to clear it. But that only makes the whispers worse. And while I can’t make any of them out individually, one message is coming through from the group of them, loud and clear.
Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.
“Let go of the key, Rhea,” I tell her as my nerves turn to full-blown fear. “This is a bad idea.”
“Please,” she snorts. “You’re just trying to impress Dr. Minthe again. But this time, it’s my turn.”
She yanks the key out and slams the lid of the chest down.
“See, I told you it was no big deal.” Sullivan beams proudly. “Here, give me the key and I’ll unlock the door.”
“Eeew, no.” Rhea gives him a disgusted look. “Did you not just hear me? I’ll be the one unlocking the door.”
She heads straight for it, key in her hand.
The whispers get louder still, until it feels like they’re shouting inside my head. “Wait!” I try one more time. “Don’t—”
“Grow up, Penelope,” she snarls. “You can’t win everything.”
She sticks the key in the door’s lock and tries to turn it. But it doesn’t budge. So she tries again. And again. And again.
Nothing happens.
“What is going on?” she growls, frustrated. “Why won’t this thing just turn?”
“Maybe I should try,” Sullivan suggests in a voice that’s filled with satisfaction. “The door probably knows it was my idea.”
“Eeew, whatever,” Rhea says. But when she starts to hand him the key, it disappears.
And just like that, the voices in my head go silent again even as the fog grows heavier and heavier and heavier.
32.Un-Fog-Gettable
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?” PARISasks calmly. But he’s my twin and I know him well enough to hear the stress under the forced calm.
“I’m not sure,” I answer, reaching for both his and Fifi’s hands as the fog continues to billow in. “But I think we should stick together, whatever happens—”
I break off as Rhea lets out a high-pitched scream that chills every drop of blood in my body. The fact that I can’t see her—can’t see anything at this point—makes everything feel a million times worse. “Are you okay?” I shout, trying to run toward her.
But I’m still holding on to Paris and Fifi, and they’ve both dug their heels into the soft grass, refusing to move.
“Why do you hate me?” Rhea screams. “Why do you all hate me?”
“What are you talking about?” Sullivan answers. “Nobody hates you.”
“You do! You hate me! Penelope hates me! Paris hates me! Everybody—”
“Shut up!” Arjun yells, the sound deep and guttural and filled with so much rage that I whirl toward him in shock.
But the fog is even thicker now and I can’t see any part of him. I can only hear him as he bellows, “I’m going to destroy that chest! I’m going to rip it to shreds! I’m going to—”
