building made of red brick was definitely not ours.
The demon-dog snapped its teeth, and the sound echoed through my chest. I flinched and scurried for the next door, but my feet slid out from under me and my stomach slammed into the floor. No, no, no, no, no. I cursed and pushed onto all fours. From under my body I saw the demon-dog’s paws getting closer and the dark outline of a person in shadow.
SHIT. I scrambled, crawling like a newborn animal — and then I saw it. I slid to a stop in front of a door with a small rose carved into the bottom corner. Yes! I reached out to pry the door open, but unlike the others it took force. I had to get on my knees and pull. It finally snapped open and I saw the outline of Lancaster Estate in the distance.
Heat slammed into my back and seeped into my bones. I glanced over my shoulder and my eyes met HIS. He stood right behind me, black wings and all. I gasped and dove through the door.
Chapter Three
Chloe
My shoulder slammed into hard stone and my bones made a sickening crunch. Cold air rushed over my body, lifting me into the air and rolling me several times before I finally face-planted. I groaned and coughed. Every inch of my body was screaming. I lifted my head, but the world was a spinning blur through the strands of my hair hanging in my face.
“Bloody buggering biscuit eating wankstain,” I grumbled and pushed up on my hands and knees. The world spun again and my stomach turned. “Just dive through a magical portal, you daft plonker.”
After a few seconds, I sat back on my heels and pushed the long blonde strands of my hair out of my face. My body burned all over. My chest was tight, making each breath a damn struggle. I glanced over my shoulder, fully expecting that man with the smoky black wings and demon-dog to be standing there waiting to kill me…yet I found only the vast front lawn of Lancaster Estate. Of home. There was no door to be seen. I had absolutely no bloody idea where I’d just come from.
Blimey, I sound like a nutter.
Just a tad dodgy there, Chloe.
There was something wonky going on here. Either I was losing my bloody mind or…or…bollocks, I don’t even know. Everything else around me looked normal, like it had when I’d been home last month. The estate seemed to be the same. Even the sunrise turned the sky the same reds and oranges. The air was cold but bearable, like it always was in early December. If I hadn’t just transported myself from Oxford to our family estate outside London, I could have convinced myself this morning was complete rubbish.
Or was it a dream? Was this whole bloody weekend a dream?
I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled, trying to ignore the trembling still in my fingers. Get on with it. You’re either mad or the world is. Time to get some answers. The only reason I wasn’t screaming for help was the fact that my grandmother had said nothing could touch me here. That was the only thing giving me a tad bit of sanity.
That dodgy door had dropped me off right at the front door of the house – or small castle, as Edith had called it last month. I pushed up onto my still shaky legs and wobbled over to the door. When I reached out to grab the handle, the door flew open all on its own. I gasped and froze in place. Bloody hell. What is happening?
“Hello?” I leaned into the doorway, suddenly hesitant to enter my own home. “Mum? Granny? Grandfather?”
Silence.
It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine.
It was early in the morning, everyone was probably still asleep – but then why did granny call? There was only one way to find out, so I took a deep breath and crossed the threshold. Inside was warm and cozy. Someone had a fire burning in the fireplace and the flickering of the flames was soothing. The soft golden lights instantly made me feel welcomed. The dark hardwood floors creaked as I walked through the foyer and down the short, red carpeted stairway into the main part of the room. The black and white checkered floors always reminded me of my childhood, the happy memories arriving to chase away the terror lingering in my mind.
The heat of the fire flattened