"Today will be a good day."

I repeated the mantra to the mirror. It had been so long since I had felt human. I was even making an effort to leave the house for something other than work. 

I took a moment to admire myself in the mirror. It had been a while since I felt like something other than a blob, something…other. I was always proud of being a brunette, even if it seemed common. It was no moon-spun silk, fiery red or black as midnight locks, but I was happy with it. The dark shade of brown complimented my eyes and naturally tanned skin tone. 

I dug around the drawer for my makeup bag and pulled out my trusty eyeliner and mascara and a bit of plum-colored lip gloss. After perfecting my eyeliner, I brushed on some mascara, slightly wishing my eyelashes were longer and colored my lips.  

Reminiscent of high school days, I had dressed in my favorite worn out black boots, some black jeans, and a t-shirt showing off the logo from my favorite band. It was kind of silly, but after being told for so long what I should and shouldn't do, this little act made me extremely happy.  I checked my makeup and left. 

As I walked towards the old building, I caught her reflection in the window. My dark brown hair looked lighter in the sun. I felt like I was glowing and hummed along to a song stuck in my head. I double-checked the ticket in my wallet. The pop-up museum had an address and a security code to enter the building. I’d never seen one with a security code, but didn’t think much else of it.

The museum was an unusual and lesser-known art gallery. Supposedly, everything on display there had been art pieces found hidden in estates that had long been lost to time.  I was pretty excited about going and I enjoyed the unusual art. As I walked closer, I had to search for the location. Some private galleries had bought and renovated a building for occasions like this. I finally found the flashing open sign, pushed in the security code, and walked in. 

I had to admit walking in, the first bits of artwork were pretty strange. I liked it all though. It was much like the Addams Family macabre. Though, what struck me as odd wasn’t some of the artwork in the entry. It was that there was seemingly nobody else here. There was no one in the front hall by the entry desk, though there was a sign pointing toward the sculpture rooms. There also wasn’t a security guard or even a station for security. The slight chill in the front hall didn’t help the creepy feeling. 

 After viewing several rooms of sculptures, I came to what would begin the painted section. The first part seemed to be a hall of portraits. There wasn’t anything particularly unusual about these so I didn't pay attention to them at first. About half way through, there was one painting that kind of jumped out at me. 

“The Witch of Blakewood.”

No artist. No date. Simply that name. I kind of laughed because that was my last name. The painting featured a beautiful woman looking both shy and devilish. She was draped in red cloth, in front of a forest. The night sky is shown in the painting, allowing the light to illuminate what were presumably wolf eyes in the forest. The most striking feature about the woman though was her mesmerizing midnight blue eyes. Her slender, pale fingers seemed to be reaching out for me. I felt the need to look away. It was strangely unsettling to me, perhaps because of the name. I stepped back and turned to leave the hall.  

The feeling of being watched and followed had the hair standing up on the back of my neck. I turned around but there was no one there. The painting stood out in the hall, almost like it was illuminated over all the other paintings in the hall. That one painting unsettled me and I’m not sure why. I turned back around to see what hall was next and that feeling crept back over me. Fight or flight instincts took over and I ran. Everything around me blurred and I could feel the anxiety attack come over me. 

I ran through the halls, getting lost in the twists and turns. Despite having ran through almost the entire building, I still saw no one. There were no footsteps behind me, no people in front of me. No patrons, no workers, nothing. The chill in the air slid down my neck, causing me to gasp. 

I need to get out of here. I need to go. I need to leave now. 

My brain repeated the words like a mantra. 

'Where would you like to go?' a male voice in my head whispered.

 'Anywhere but here!' I almost shouted back. 

I didn't even process where the voice had come from or why it laughed at me. My vision started to fade around the edges and nausea rose. My chest burned from the labor of breathing. 

The blaring horn jolted me from the stupor I fell in. I didn’t feel the car hit me; maybe my adrenaline had been too high. I could hear someone shouting but everything faded into black. I found myself falling through the air, cold and slamming through a glass wall. As each shard fell around me, my view changed. The faint buzz from moments ago now rang loudly in my ears. 

I was sitting in what I thought was supposed to be grass, though it was more like the hair on a tarantula's leg. I patted myself down, speechless. I was hit by a car. 

“How am I okay?” I wasn’t sure if I said it aloud or in my head.

My ears were still ringing loudly and it was hard to concentrate on what’s in front of me. 

“That is interesting attire,” A male voice called from above me.

 I groaned a bit and shook my head. The ringing was going away, slowly but surely.  The man was standing over me, assessing me. He reached out a hand to help me up. I took the offered hand, stood and turned around to look at everything. 

The land was horrendous. The plants that could be seen, had slithering vines and dancing shadows. The trees looked like hellish renditions of those from back home as if someone’s tormented soul had been locked inside the wood, leaving the outside scarred. Each tree nearby seemed to reach out with claw-like branches, waiting to grab onto an unsuspecting victim and devour them. Even the flowers on the bushes seemed to ooze beautiful but deadly blossoms.

“Great. I've died and landed in some kind of horror show.” 

I hadn't meant to say it out loud, but the man laughed again.  

“Nova Blakewood. Welcome back. Though, I must admit, I’m surprised to see you. Alive.” He 

told me. 

“Who the fuck are you? How do you know my name? What do you mean alive? What the hell is going on?” The questions rolled out. 

“You don’t remember?” He sounded genuinely shocked. 

I continued on, not fully looking at him.

“I don't know you. I don't know where ‘here’ is. I don’t know how the hell I survived getting hit by a car.”

“A car?” He sounded confused as he frowned. “You’re rather foul mouthed. You’ve changed a lot.”

My frustration and anxiety had reached its peak. 

“The only thing I know is I was hit by a car and I somehow, have no injuries. Worse off, I'm absolutely sure I've lost my mind. This has got to be some kind of delirium caused by trauma.”

His hard laughter caught me off guard. I also hadn't realized I was pacing, so I stopped and turned to  look at this strange man. 

“For starters,” he said with a half grin. It was easy enough to ignore the sparkle in his green eyes. “This place is a fucking nightmare.” 

He grinned as if I had missed the joke. He took a deep, mocking bow.  

“I am Isaac Charboneau. You have always called me Zac, much to my annoyance.” He smirked at me.

 I don’t know why, but there was something in me snapped. I swear I wanted to slap that devilish grin off his face. I felt a bit of an angry blush heat my cheeks.  

“Welcome back home to Nachtmoor. The Blakewoods are an influential family here. In fact, they have the oldest lineage among the witch clans here. You are the heir of the Blakewood clan and you’ve been gone for over ten years.”

“Ok, Zacky.” I said a little sarcastically, “How about you tell me how to get home. Back to where I came from.”

“You are home. This is where you were born. This is where you lived until you were ten.”

“How is it we know each other?” I interrupted him. 

“We grew up together.”

“Let me guess. We were  the  best of friends and you were so heartbroken when I 

'disappeared.'”  I deadpanned. 

“No, we actually hated each other. You see, our parents often forced us to accompany each other while they handled business. I was thrilled you were gone. At first.” He told me honestly.  

“So what happened?” I asked him. 

He shrugged, he didn't  have an answer for it either.

My anger always left as swiftly as it came and, I’ll admit, I  looked him over. To be fair, I was pretty convinced he was a trauma induced figment of my imagination. That I was locked in some kind of nightmarish hellscape caused by the combined trauma of an anxiety attack and getting hit by a car. 

He was attractive, I suppose. His sunless skin was a bit pale, making his short, black hair and bright, green eyes more noticeable. He was a bit taller than me, though at 5'2” that isn't hard to achieve. If I had to guess, I would say  5’6” or 5'8”. Not super tall. The man’s lean muscle tone was obvious under his clothing.  I could see him having been an athlete in high-school. What surprised me though, was the sword he carried on his back.

Not bad, I suppose. That devilish grin of his though, I could imagine he’s charmed some ladies into bad ideas with that wicked grin. Some might consider him handsome. His black riding leathers weren’t doing any harm, for sure. I wasn't paying attention to that though. 

Overall, his attire helped him almost blend into the grayish landscape. 

His smoky voice had a bit of snark to it as he matched wits with me. 

“A lot of things have changed around here. I guess since you don't remember this place or any of its inhabitants, it doesn't  matter to you, does it? Where did you come from?”

“I'm not  sure how to answer that question. I feel like I fell through a hole in the universe and ended up in a nightmare realm.”

“That could be exactly what happened.” He shrugged.  “Stranger things have happened, it seems. Come on. Let's get out of the open. We've been standing here too long and you don't know what is watching.”

I surveyed my surroundings again. I couldn't tell if it was dusk or if it was dark and cloudy here. Everything seemed to have shadows that moved around it. Even the trees and plants seemed to have something hiding behind them. Even though I felt leery about following this strange man, who admittedly didn't like me, I still did. Stupid, I know. What if he was an ax-murderer? Well, considering my circumstances, the possibility of him being a murderer paled in comparison. 

He whistled and a horse made of shadows appeared in front of him.

“Is she a nightmare?” I asked, mostly sarcastic, semi curious. 

He grinned. 

“That's what I named her. I don't know if it's a memory or a guess, but you were there when I 

received her. You asked that same question.”

He slung himself over her back and reached out a hand to me. Again, stupid, stupid, stupid me, I made the decision to  go with him. I took his hand and allowed him to help me up. The strength he used to pull me up had startled me. I wasn’t expecting his muscled arms to be anything but pretty decoration. 

At first, I was determined not to hold onto him for support. I'd been on horses before. I've even ridden double. I knew it was possible. This horse, even carrying two people, felt as though she were made from wind and lightning. I'm pretty sure I felt him laugh when I had to hold onto him to keep from falling.