I tilted my head and inspected the mirror-like barrier rippling through the air—moving around me like ocean swells. One step. Only one more step and I could leave.

My fists clenched, I inched closer as my mother’s words zapped through me, echoing like some dark, premonition. Never go past the barrier. Did you hear me? Never.

A chill ran down my spine as sweat beaded above my dark brows. The lingering sense of dread put me on edge but I pressed it down and lifted my boot.

I exhaled and leaned into the barrier.

“I wouldn't do that if I was you.”

I staggered backward, falling onto my butt; a scream bubbling out of my throat but only the suffering land, starved and dried from the California heat encompassed me.

A dark silhouette stepped from behind a charred tree struck by lightning. It was a boy, long and willowy with tanned skin as if kissed by the sun's grueling heat. His obsidian hair curled above his eyebrows. His face was cast in shadows so I couldn't make out any more of his features. But he couldn't have been more than a few years older than me.

I stood up, patted the dirt off my clothes, and crossed my arms against my chest. The nerve of this boy to sneak up on me while I tried to escape.

I raised my chin and narrowed my eyes. “Why would I Iisten to you? Are you a creature of the night like my mother warned me about?”

The boy craned his neck and chuckled. “Are my friends safe?”

Puzzled and a little annoyed he ignored my question, I gave him a bratty smile. “Friends?” I shrugged my shoulders. “I think you have the wrong house. My mother doesn't treat humans.” It was only my mom, me, and all the animals she took care of, so I wasn't completely lying.

What was he even talking about?

“I know.” His voice came out as a delicate whisper soaring through the barrier, caressing my ear like he was beside me.

I wiggled out the sensation of him inches from me and squinted, but I still couldn't see his face.

I sighed in defeat. “Well, the only new animals we have are the crows. They were in rough shape but my mom patched them up.”

“Good.” The boy twisted around ready to disappear into the forest, but the beckoning loneliness clawing up my skin demanded me to tell him to stay.

It would only be for a little—just a couple more minutes. “Wait! Do you really have to leave so soon?”

“Father is waiting for me.”

“Five minutes won't kill you, right? Unless he's a bad man,” I pleaded, throwing my hands together, and batted my eyes hoping he wouldn't leave me alone.

“Your essence brings solace to the hellscape. You may bring light into the darkness but choose incorrectly and folie will consume you and everything you ever loved. When that happens, he will own you.”

“I don’t understand. Who will?”

“Father.”

I blinked and the boy vanished, no trace that he was ever here. No sound like he was running. No crunching of leaves—nothing. The only thing that remained was the loneliness I felt, cloaking me as if it were my sole comfort.