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One of the vampires grabbed for me. Nic punched the creature in the face and the vampire jerked back, staggering and clutching his nose.
The insects formed up into a cloud and dove directly for Nic. He melted completely into shadow as they attacked him. Through our bond, I could feel his agony. Apparently, like the glass, dissipating hadn’t helped him as much as it should have.
One vampire screamed before bursting into dust. Robby used the momentum from his decapitating swing to spin around and take out a few of the bugs.
Before the dust cloud of dead vampire disappeared completely, the clown held out his hands and called it to him.
I had thought I couldn’t get any more terrified. I was wrong.
The dust coalesced back into the vampire it had once been, except the skin sagged off bones, revealing gaping holes, some that went all the way to the other side, and insects flew through the gaps. It staggered forward, snapping rotted teeth at us.
The remaining two vampires stared at each other for a moment.
“Nope!” the women both shouted, and they vanished.
“Fuck!” I screamed.
The zombie vampire charged forward, faster even than the insects.
“Run, princess!” Robby shouted, facing the thing with his sword, Geraint at his side.
Nic grabbed my arm and pulled me away.
I ran.
Ember
I didn’t know where to go. Other exhibits had come to life. Museum patrons scattered, leaving only animated things coming after us. Swords from the weaponry displays flew through the air, creatures lumbered or ran, snakes slithered in our direction.
A fucking zombie king cobra nearly stopped my heart when it reared up in front of me.
Nic grabbed me around the waist, and we leaped off the balcony into space. I didn’t even question him as we hurtled toward the ground. This was far preferable to the creatures.
He threw his hand out, and tendrils of shadow connected us to some scaffolding. He grunted as we hit the end of our arc, but we slowed enough that we didn’t crash into the ground. Nic held all my weight and set me down gently before rubbing his shoulder.
“You okay?” I touched Nic’s hand.
“Not really.” He glanced around. “I’m a prince of Nightmare. I’m a literal nightmare. You would think things like this wouldn’t bother me.”
“I feel like this is a little extreme,” I replied.
“A little,” he agreed with a strained chuckle.
We had a moment of reprieve before this level of the museum came alive around us. “This is insane!” I shouted.
I took off running, but the ground warped under my feet, and I went sprawling. The glass surfaces of the remaining displays turned to mirrors and threw my perception into chaos. I had no idea which way to go.
“Even more insane! Nic, what do we do?”
My prince pulled me to my feet, and I collapsed against his chest as the ground heaved. When I looked again, the flooring had turned into some sort of black-and-white lined illusion, and my head spun just looking at it. Dizzy, I shut my eyes.
“I really hate clowns,” Nic muttered.
“This way,” a quiet voice broke through the noise.
I risked opening my eyes.
A translucent woman stood there, wearing spectacles in place on a prominent nose, a long dress with an apron over it, and a kind smile. She held a book in her hand.
