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CASPIAN
Muscles pull tight across my back as I throw my legs out of bed and slowly sit up. Each breath grates slightly down my throat, and an incredible thirst pulses through my mouth. I’d been so invested in Emma that I hadn’t managed my water intake like usual.
Thankfully, despite the darkness, I can still make out shapes and lines of the door and items in the hallway as I trudge from the bedroom with a yawn. The kitchen is just down the hall and a glass of cool, clear, crisp water is already calling my name. Keeping one hand on the wall, I move through the darkness with slow blinks and a lazy yawn.
Each door I pass is closed except one. Emma’s. Her door is ajar and a bright streak of moonlight stretches across her empty bedspread, highlighting the ruffles in her bedsheets. Given her apparent desire to sleepwalk, I expect to find her in the kitchen and I plan to very carefully avoid her.
I’ve read enough stories about the dangers of waking a sleepwalker and don’t want to harm her.
The kitchen, however, is empty when I arrive. It’s just as dark as the rest of the cabin, and only a sliver of light makes it through the trees on this side. There’s no sign of Emma, though. Searching through the cupboards, I find a glass and quickly fill it with water. Three gulps later and the dryness in my mouth is soothed. Sleep-addled thoughts weave through my mind, replaying the fun we’ve been having with Emma; then a strange chill drifts over my bare feet.
I finish my water, set my glass aside and then, as I’m heading back to bed, something catches my eye. A slight glint of metal reflecting a hint of light. I turn toward it and as I get closer, I recognize the metal as part of the lock for the front door.
The front door to the cabin is wide open, and an infinite darkness stretches out to the trees surrounding this place. My heart punches up into my throat, and I hurry forward to close the door. With my eyes struggling to adjust to the low light, I catch movement out by the trees.
“Emma?” I call, growing more awake by the second.
Did she unlock the door and wander out here in her sleep?
“Emma!” It’s just a shadow, I think. Something is moving between the trees, but it’s so hard to see I can’t tell if it’s just my eyes playing tricks on me.
Stepping outside, woodchips stab weakly into the soles of my bare feet, and I ignore the chill of the cool night air rushing across my naked body. “Emma!”
There’s no answer. A still silence greets me, and not even the world around me appears to breathe. There’s just empty darkness, like a blanket that’s broken only by the occasional ruffle of leaves each time that cool breeze drifts by.
Wait…if Emma is out here and sleepwalking, then there’s no telling what could happen.
All of the sleepiness fades away and I dart back inside the cabin. Finn had shown me where some emergency flashlights were beside the door. I snatch one up from underneath the coat rack, turn it on and aim the beam outside, hoping to see Emma.
There’s nothing.
“Emma!” I call, stepping back outside and sweeping the tree line with the high-powered beam. The only thing I spot is a pair of eyes, too close together and too low to the ground to be Emma. Some sort of animal stares at me and then hurries away back into the forest. It’s too small to be the first shadow I saw, and after my quick search comes up empty, panic descends.
Hurrying back inside, I start turning on the lights and moving from room to room in search of Emma. In my moment of worry, I’d forgotten to consider that she could still be in the cabin and simply in someone else’s bed. But as I move from room to room, searching everywhere I can find, she’s not here.
Emma’s gone.
“Ahh—what the fuck!” Asher grumbles as I blind him with the light. He throws one arm over his face and turns into the pillow. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know, it’s late,” I reply quickly. “But get up, Emma’s gone.”
“What?!” His head shoots upward like an arrow, but I’m already moving to the last room, where Finn sleeps soundly. His bed is otherwise empty. There is definitely no Emma.
“Finn, get up. Get up!”
“Fuck—” Finn grumbles and rolls over slowly, then one hand shoots out in search of his glasses on the bedside table. “The fuck is going on?”
“Emma’s gone!”
“What?!”
There’s a rapid scramble for clothes, each of us making ourselves somewhat presentable and then we all meet in the lounge. Two pairs of worried eyes lock onto me.
“Caspian, what the hell is going on?”
“I got up for water and saw Emma’s door was open but her bed was empty. I thought she was sleepwalking but then the door—” I pointed toward the still open front door. “It was open, and I thought I saw someone outside but by the time I got the flashlight, whatever I saw was gone.”
“But I…” Finn’s mouth falls open. “I locked the door.”
