Beauty In Her Madness (Winterland Tale #3) - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,53

hat. “Dor?” I blinked.

“Run, Dinah!” His voice was full of panic. “It’s coming for you.” He motioned for me to follow, leaping off the table, scurrying across the floor and under a stroller.

“Oh, sugar cookies,” I whispered to myself, my insides flushing hot with terror. This couldn’t be happening to me. My heart thumped wildly in my chest, my legs bobbing anxiously.

“Dinah! Run!” Dor waved from under the stroller. On the handlebar sat Chip, his fingers moving frantically, his eyes wide.

The bulbs flickered above my head.

I could feel it, like fog rolling in. Terror climbed up my back, the feeling of being hunted in the shadows. My pulse pounded in my ears like a drum, my muscles frozen in fear.

The lights blinked out, and I drew in sharply as the room was plunged into murky darkness.

A low snarl vibrated in the air, and I felt something in back of me. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew it was coming for me. It only wanted me. I could feel a massive presence behind me along with the sounds of it grunting and huffing with fury, my heart walloping through my ribs. For some reason, I couldn’t force myself to turn around; my body wouldn’t let me.

A claw scraped up the back of my neck, and I let out a cracked sob, my lids squeezing tighter. I was going to die. This thing was going to gut and kill me right here.

It leaned in, and I could feel its hot breath against my neck, adrenaline racing through my blood. A deep, menacing growl throbbed against my throat. Everything in me lurched, including my legs, instinct taking over. Run, Dinah. Move!

Tearing forward, I stumbled over the table leg, my body crashing to the ground. With a cry, I tried to scramble back up. A hand wrapped around my ankle, yanking me back. A scream ripped from my lungs as I kicked and wailed against the hold.

“Dinah.” The name gurgled so deeply I barely could hear it call to me. “It’s time.”

“No!” I kicked back, my boot heel smashing into something, the hand then letting go as a faraway cry of pain played in my ear. I didn’t think about it as the need to escape pushed me up. I ran out the door and down the street. It was dark and murky, my fear slapping my boots along with the beats of my heart. I could hear my name being yelled from far behind me, sounding scared. I turned my head for a moment.

Whack.

“Ahhh!” My shins rammed into something, and I went flying over. I shut my lids, expecting to hit the ground, but the impact never came.

Peculiar.

My eyes opened as the air shifted around me, and I slowly padded down a familiar-but-alien terrain. Sorrow invaded my body with every move.

“Oh, fuck a nutcracker.”

Toys dotted the sky, floating and weaving, some instantly heading for me, seeking me out like zombies. Granted, I was glad not to be gutted and eaten, but this place made me wonder if that would be so bad.

The impact of devastating loneliness and hurt bent me over, my mind filling with their thoughts, with their stories.

“Dinah. Help me,” a voice called to me. I couldn’t tell if it was in my head, but I recognized something about it. Strange flashes of a stunning woman with blood-red lips tickled the back of my mind but dissipated quickly with more and more onslaught from the toys. Anguish pummeled down on me like a waterfall, pounding my identity into pieces.

“Dinah…come to me.” The sound of the voice had me moving forward, weaving through the broken toys and lost pieces of games.

Locking myself against them, I barreled through. My lone drive was to follow the voice. It needed me. I could feel the pull—a string reeling me in. Crossing the invisible boundary where the toys lined up but did not follow, a shiver went over my skin. More feelings engulfed me, complex and heavy. The lights flickered around me, pulsing and grouping together, trying to block the path. The orbs danced around me like a puff of smoke or when you caught dust in a certain light.

They were trying to communicate with me. They didn’t want me to go forward. I could feel it down to my bones.

“Free me.” The voice pulled me past the orbs. They followed me, buzzing louder, sounding like a swarm of honeybees.

A black box lay below the tree, roots wound tightly around it like a greedy child