Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,92
bench, just before seeing those curious orbs of light for the first time. What had she told me to do? That’s right… deep breaths, focus on textures, root yourself in reality. I pretended she was there with me, inhaling for five, holding for five, exhaling for five. I went through the motions with my eyes closed. The first few breathing patterns were difficult, my lungs not quite filling, and a drowning sensation made my head throb during every hold. But, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was only the panic attack talking. It was all in my head.
A sound, like a rush of air, made my eyes open. The pixie with the walnut shell hat puffed back into existence, right where he’d cussed out Victoria on my bookshelf. He grinned at me, making a mockery out of my panic attack by flopping about between the books, gasping dramatically and beating on his small chest. An involuntary burst of laughter shot out of me, startling the pixie. He stared at me as though I were a crazy woman, before deciding to join me in a fit of hysterics. He cackled, I cackled, until the room filled with wheezing, manic laughter.
Miraculously, it seemed to stop the panic attack in its tracks. The drowning sensation ebbed, though I still felt breathless from the laughing. The shivers subsided, my throat relaxed, and the anxiety drained from my body, slowly but surely. Sunlight dappled my desk, and through the window I saw an azure sky with a few wisps of cloud drifting by. Thanks to the pixie’s intervention, everything suddenly seemed brighter, outside and in. Happiness swelled in my chest and flowed through my limbs until I was so full of euphoria that I felt like I could’ve broken down the door like a superhero.
Gathering all of my newfound elation into my muscles, I jumped to my feet and yanked on the door handle with all my might. I tugged and tugged, refusing to give up, while the pixie mimed my actions, grunting and pounding on a book like a gorilla. He didn’t make me look nearly as heroic as I’d have hoped. To my shock, as I braced my foot against the wood and heaved harder than ever before, the door swung wide, sending me flying. With a yelp, the pixie puffed back into greenish smoke, and I hit the hard floor with a thud, seeing stars.
“Ow,” I muttered, in disbelief that I’d managed to break open the door.
“Goodness, I’m so sorry!” A figure leaned over me, helping me into sitting position. “I didn’t think you’d be behind the door.” It was Nathan, crouching in front of me.
I blinked in confusion as the door closed behind him. “What are you doing here?” I asked, realizing with embarrassment that I hadn’t opened the door at all—I’d just been in the way as Nathan had pushed it open from the outside. And I already had the headache to prove it.
“I snuck past the guards stationed in the corridor.” He offered me his hand, pulling me to my feet. I swayed for a moment, waiting for the dizziness to pass. “I heard what happened and knew I had to see you. Locking you up like this is nonsensical at best, cruel at worst. But... there’s something I have to tell you.”
I sighed. “That Genie’s missing?”
“Ah, so you were told, at least.” He looked as worried as I felt, his mouth twisted into a grimace. “Whatever is taking these people, it has escalated rapidly. If we don’t find out who or what is doing it soon, the whole population of the Institute might vanish.”
My stomach plummeted. “You think it’s that serious?”
“I do, Persie. I realize it sounds extreme, but Victoria and the hunters aren’t willing to listen to other options, and that gives me very real concerns for the future of this place.” He adjusted his glasses. “I’ve tried to warn them that they may be leading us down the garden path, but their pride and stubbornness is clouding their judgment.”
I breathed a sigh of half-relief, half-terror. “You’re probably the only person in this place who agrees with me.”
“The one thing I know for certain is that the missing people were taken by the same thing.” He produced a strange-looking magnifying glass from his pocket, with a crimson lens that shone with flecks of black and gold in the sunlight. “Do you know what this is?”