NO.
The Visitor surged forward. “Emma, run!” Tyler screamed. She sprinted for the woods. Nico and Tyler bolted along the edge of the pond.
Opal held her ground, waving at the Visitor while the others sped off. It frowned down at her, wriggling its spindly fingers. Then it stiffened. The figment’s back-of-the-head eyes had spotted Emma running away.
NO!
“Move, Opal!” Nico shouted. He and Tyler banked like birds and tore into the trees. Opal shot after them, bringing up the rear. The Visitor chased them all with long, fluid steps.
Opal sprinted through the woods, lungs burning, feet flying over the uneven ground. She topped the ridge and glanced back. The Visitor was crashing through the forest canopy.
NO NO NO.
Branches snapped, showering Opal in an explosion of leaves and broken pine needles. She heard a tree trunk crash to the ground right behind her.I’m not gonna make it. But thewoods thinned and she spotted Emma staggering across the beach. “Get into the cove!” Opal shouted.
Emma plunged into the ocean. Opal dove in after her, the cold stealing her breath.
The Visitor stopped at the waterline, watching the girls swim out of reach. Then it turned. Nico and Tyler were frantically shoving the rowboat into the surf, its keel grinding across rocks and sand. The Visitor stomped toward them.
Opal bobbed next to Emma. The boys were muscling the boat with every ounce of strength they possessed. Finally, it caught the tide and slid out to sea.
The Visitor stopped moving. It turned and watched Emma with liquid oval eyes.
Sorry.
Again, Opal didn’thearthe word.
“Sorry for what?” Emma whispered. She’d felt it, too.
As they watched, the Visitor shimmered and vanished. Nico and Tyler paddled over and helped them slither aboard. The group collapsed in a tangled heap at the bottom of the boat, unable to muster the energy to even complain.
“Whoa,” Emma said finally. “That was the best one yet.”
“Thebestone?” Nico covered his eyes. “Are you kidding me?”
“It was soreal,” Emma breathed. “It didn’t seem like a figment at all.”
“I’m just glad it’s gone.” Tyler shuddered. “I’m glad they’re all gone.”
Opal ran a hand over her face. Setting an oar, she glanced back at the beach.
And froze.
“Guys.Look.”
They all turned.
“What. On. Earth,” Tyler whispered.
Figments were emerging from the woods.
A centaur. A frog with a top hat. The Elf on a Shelf.
They stood in a line across the sand. Unspeaking. Unblinking.
Watching.
A sliver of fear entered Emma’s voice.
