25
Everything around me is chaotic yet silent at the same time. I’m standing, but can’t feel the earth beneath my feet. I inhale, struggling to get enough oxygen. Jacques’s words echo in my head.A human won’t survive long in the spirit world.
I’m standing in a dark fog, not sure if there’s anything around me at all. I blink, and the bare-branched silhouettes of trees come into view. Whirling around, I look for the rift. It’s here somewhere. It has to be.
Slowly, I take a step forward, holding my hand out in front of me, trying to feel for the energy the rift lets off. Low-hanging branches sway, but there is no breeze. They make an odd sound, almost like muted wind chimes.
And then I realize the trees aren’t trees at all.
My mouth falls open with a gasp and I jerk away. Human bones make up the shapes of the trees. Finger bones and teeth dangle in front of me, moving as if a breeze is blowing through.
“Jac?” I call, hoping he can somehow hear me. I feel incredibly alone, though at the same time it’s like a thousand eyes are on me. Lynn is nowhere to be seen, and each second that passes by lessens my chances of escaping.
“Acelina.”
I whip around, looking in the direction of the voice. A familiar voice.
My mother’s voice.
“Mom?”
“Ace,” she repeats. “You need to get out of here.”
“I know. But I don’t know how.”
“Follow me.”
The bones hanging in front of me rattle and I step forward, fully aware that I could be following a demon into the deepest pit of hell. The smell of lavender floats through the air, and my heart flutters in my chest.
Mom is here, and she’s going to help me escape.
The fog thickens, making it hard to move. Everything gets darker and darker, until I can’t see a single thing. Cold fingers wrap around my wrist and I flinch.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Mom soothes. She leads me through the fog, and soon it begins to thin. Blue light sparks in the distance, and I hear Hasan’s voice calling my name.
“Go to him,” Mom says, fingers leaving my wrist. “I love you, Acelina.”
“I love you too, Mom.” My words get cut off by a harrowing cry, reverberating off everything in this forsaken place.
“Ace, hurry!” Mom gives me a push forward and I take off, running as fast as I can toward the rift.
“Hasan!” I cry. “Hasan!”
The rift is right in front of me. I don’t have time to hesitate. Don’t have time to think this through. I just close my eyes and leap.
I land on Hasan, knocking him to the ground. His arms fasten around me, pulling me away from the rift.
“Ace,” he pants. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” I say back, fighting the urge to throw myself around him and tell him to never let me go. But I have to close the rift. Whatever was coming for me isn’t going to stop, and the barrier is open. “I’m okay. We have to close the rift.”
“Are you sure? When you went in…I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“I heard you,” I tell him, running my hand over his cheek. “From all the way in there, I heard you.”
“I love you,” he whispers, and then helps me to my feet.
“Holy shit, Ace,” Gemma says, shaking her head. She has her hands outstretched, still trying to hold the circle. If whatever darkness is in there comes out, it won’t be enough.
