23

Camille

I stare at the rustic red brick wall before me, tapping the bricks with my fingertips to that song in my head.

Run and catch, the meadow's calling you home...

I tap one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

On the eighth count I blink, then I'm running through the meadow. A bird flies high in the sky, and the sun is bright and warm on my skin, tempting me to chase it. I run toward the sun but it disappears, and blackness swallows me whole.

It's so dark, I dare not breathe. I'm too scared that I'll disappear. But I walk on the unseen path before me, terror ravaging my soul.

Darkness fills my mind like a thick fog of smoke, suffocating me with the

ominous feeling of imminent doom.

Patches of light flicker in the darkness, and I see it—the crest with the wolf and the moon engraved into it.

I try to get closer, but shadow monsters rush out of the darkness, howling and gnashing their teeth like evil souls trapped in the pits of hell.

Faceless faces push out of the darkness an