Beauty In Her Madness (Winterland Tale #3) - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,24

wasn’t long after this I stopped believing. But now my mind seemed clear—I had wanted it for here. To play with my two friends on the beach.

The problem was my family never went to the beach for Christmas, and we had never been to Hawaii or any tropical island.

My eyes stopped on the two boys, taking them in, suddenly seeing them as men. My swirling head plunked gumdrops down my gut like bombs. Memories exploded, shattering the box I had locked up and buried deep, drowning my mind in a thousand lost images.

The little girl took off running, the dark-haired boy chasing, easily catching up to her. He picked her up, whispering something in her ear. Her laugh filled the air. “Christmas tinsel! Put me down, Jack! Blaze, help!”

The names punched me in the chest, crashing my ass into the sand, my head spinning so fast I couldn’t breathe or move. My dreams and reality collided, mixing and churning, becoming one and the same.

“Oh, ginger snap…” Blackness crept into my vision, and heat flushed my system, sweat instantly trailing down my back. I wiped my head, but more and more heat bubbled up.

What I thought were nightmares of Christmas icons kidnapping me when I was little were true. Well, some of it. They had never kidnapped me. I had come here willingly…to play with them.

What my older self chalked up to make-believe and imagination was true. Everything seemed clear as my sight darkened.

Jack Frost. Blaze.

Snow. Heat.

The Miser brothers.

I felt I was burning up from the inside out. The need to tear off my clothes and jump in the water compelled my body to move, but at the same time I felt frozen in place, falling onto my back instead.

I stared up at the dimming blue sky, a thundercloud rolling by.

Pe-cul-iar, I thought as a sandman leaned over me, blackness absorbing me, his seashell smile widening. “Merry Christmas to all…and to all a good night.”

Then nothing.

“Dinah…” My name brought me to awareness. Blinking, confusion and fear jolted my head around, my lungs inhaling at the desolate strange landscape.

This was definitely not my bedroom or even the crazy Christmas beach where I had been a moment ago.

“Now I know I must be dreaming.” But terror still coated my skin. The sensation of deep sorrow pressed against my chest as I watched a stuffed bear head float by me, its creepy smile chilling my soul. But there seemed to be an odd understanding, a feeling that I was no longer connected to anything either, and in the next breath, I’d float away into nothing.

The place was nothing I could ever dream of. No sun, moon, or stars, though it felt like you were outside. The atmosphere was completely dark above me, but light glowed from the air and ground below. Snow twinkled under my feet.

Toys and games, large and small, all looking broken and dejected floated, with soft cries and whimpers, each ripping at my heart. A small, mangled stuffed kitten hovered around me. The once white fur was gray and matted, the snowflake-shaped name tag barely hanging on, the name Snowball scarcely visible. As it skimmed past, I got a flash of a memory—a boot smashing it into the snow and abandoning it there. It cried to be found, but it was left to be forgotten.

They all had sob stories. Each one whispered into my head how they were left and abandoned. Tossed out and pushed aside. The toys mourned their old lives and owners. Angry and heartbroken, they were locked in a graveyard of the forsaken, pulling me down with them. Their thoughts and pain shoved into my mind, pushing my own out.

“Dinah, come to me.” A voice glided into my ear, and my feet moved forward as if I had no say in the matter, my brain no longer mine to control.

Toys knocked into me as I moved, their stories dropping me to my knees in grief and hurt, a cry howling from my lips. Each one felt as though they ripped out a part of my soul, making me forget.

What was my name? Why was I here? My mind spun, trying to find logic and understanding, but none came, spiraling more fear and confusion through me.

I’m disappearing… I stared down at my hands as if they would fade in front of me.

“So, there is another one.” A creepy high-pitched voice slithered into my head, and I jerked my head around to see an old-fashioned doll with one eye missing.