When she was seven, Mikayla had had a nightmare about a giant clown wearing a red- and yellow-striped suit. In the dream, her mother had taken her to see the clown for her birthday. He was an expert at making balloon animals. Quicker than the time it took to pop the latex dog she’d been given, her mother had disappeared. She remembered waking up in tears and her Uncle Shiner shaking his head at her.

“We don’t cry in this house,” he told her. “People think we’re weak because of our last name, but we Flowerses are tough. We bloom all year ‘round. We never show weakness. Do you understand?”

At the time, Mikayla had nodded, but she hadn’t understood. All she knew was that if she cried again, Uncle Shiner would probably abandon her just like her parents had.

Sunlight pressed against her eyelids, urging Mikayla to wake.

“She’s still alive?”

“I thought you said she’d be dead after today.”

“I thought so, too. It’s too late now. They’d suspect us if anything more happened to her so soon.”

“I suppose we’ll have to wait a few more days before trying again.”

“Shh… someone is coming.”

Mikayla heard footsteps and drifted in and out of sleep before finally opening her eyes with a groan. A gasp echoed like a gunshot and she turned her head to the offending noisemaker. It was a stout older woman with white hair piled on top of her head in a bun.

The woman’s eyes widened. “Oh my goodness, she’s awake! Quickly, summon the healer!”

“The Healer”? Is that a new gang leader’s nickname?

Mikayla squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before slowly reopening them to see that she was in an unusual room that looked like a bottle of Pepto-Bismol had exploded all over it. The walls were pink with gold trim. Matching silk curtains that had been pulled back to let the sun shine in hung over the windows. White shelves decorated with stuffed dolls of varying shapes and sizes covered portions of the walls, which were also decorated with paintings of fairy tales, along with a large mirror with a crystal border.

Gold words had been painted above the double doors that led outside her room: “Kindness unto others is a kindness unto oneself.”

She stole a glance at the two women staring at her. They were both older and wore gowns Mikayla had only ever seen in history books. They were rose-colored cotton dresses with bell-shaped sleeves and white lace at the collar.

“W-where am I?” Mikayla asked, her throat burning.

“Oh my, she doesn’t know where she’s at. Our poor princess,” one woman sobbed.

“Olga, I think you’re scaring her,” the other woman whispered.

“She’s frightened out of her wits. Belvita, what are we going to do? The Shadow Rebels tried taking her and now she’s in shock.” Olga dabbed at her eyes with a white kerchief she had stuffed in her bosom. “Oh, my. Oh my goodness.”

Mikayla wasn’t scared, but she was annoyed. Was this one of Jared’s tricks? This was probably his home and these women must have been his maids. If he thought she was going to fall for this charade, he’d better think again.

Belvita frowned as she looked at Mikayla’s outfit. “I’ve never seen such clothing in her wardrobe before. I suppose it’s something the Shadow Rebels dressed her in.”

Mikayla licked her chapped lips and tried again. “Where am I? Is this Jared’s house? Get him here now.”

“Jared? Who is this Jared whom you speak of?” Belvita asked.

“Are you hard of hearing?” Mikayla asked through gritted teeth. “I want to talk to Jared now.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Olga gasped. “She’s gone mad. Do you suppose Jared is a Shadow Rebel? Is she in league with them?”

Belvita whirled on Olga. “Don’t you dare say that about our princess, you old buzzard. She must be distressed.”

“Mad?” MIkayla repeated. “You want to see my temper, lady? I’ll teach you why they call me Crazy Eyes.”

“Crazy Eyes?” Olga visibly gulped before turning to the other maid.

“Jared!” Mikayla shouted despite the pain her throat was giving her. “Get your ass out here now!”

“Oh, my.” Olga began fanning herself with her hands as though she would faint at any moment. “Oh my goodness.”

“Stop saying that!” Mikayla hissed. “Now let me out of here. I almost drowned, my clothes are wet, and Jared owes me money.”

“She must be in shock,” Belvita said. “Our sweet princess would never act this way. She said the word ass. Yes, she’s in shock.”

“That’s right, I said ass. Ass. Ass. Ass!” Mikayla’s fists clenched. “I want to leave right this second. You can tell Jared that I’ll be back later to kick his…”

Her words trailed off as she began to see double.

“What’s happening?” Mikayla asked with her hands against her temples. “What’s going on?”

“Oh my goodness, it looks like the sleeping potion finally kicked in,” Olga said.

“I thought we wanted her awake.” Belvita waved a hand in front of Mikayla before her head hit the pillow. “Well, she’s definitely unconscious.”

“Gareth said to let her sleep as long as she could because of what happened. I don’t suppose he wants to tell her the truth.”

“That her father is missing?” Belvita sighed. “Or that the Shadow Rebels almost killed her?”

“Both. Either.”

“We were supposed to change her clothes, but we can’t get that task done,” Belvita murmured. “Do you suppose Gareth will be terribly upset? I don’t want the princess to fall ill.”

“Her clothes are mostly dry now and I think it’s more important that she rests and returns to her old self. She’s too angry right now to become sick. Let’s go, Belvita. The sleeping potion should have her resting for hours.”

It was nightfall when Mikayla finally awoke. She had a headache from sleeping too long. She cursed under her breath as she pushed herself out of the queen-sized bed she was laying in. Her boots had been tossed on the floor next to the bed, but she was still in the clothes she’d been wearing when she was thrown into Gold’s Pond.

The pink room was illuminated by soft candlelight. Upon closer inspection, Mikayla realized they were faux candles. She couldn’t find any electrical wires and assumed they must be running on batteries. The room looked modern, except there were no electronics and no electrical outlets on the walls.

“Okay,” she murmured. “Maybe this isn’t Jared’s place. Where am I?”

Had she somehow transported to some different time or a parallel universe? She stood up on wobbly legs, determined to find out exactly what was going on when she noticed it.

Written on the large mirror she had seen earlier in bold red letters was a warning:

I’m going to kill you.