The Witch's Shadow

The trapdoor below them had slammed shut as if the house itself

rs might h

't mean the w

. His face was streaked with sweat, his lips s

in the house,

n't familiar-it was old, dust-covered, and smelled like rotting wood. The walls sagged, warped

Tobias stand. "We need to find

er hand. His fing

There was no furniture.

omach

sn't po

oom had

n't

in the H

, a handle, some kind of hidden passage. But the walls were smooth

iled in

, help

hands against the opposite wall. They work

th

d

e

esc

f-" He swallowed, his voice shak

n't have

tarting to believ

ck on t

room stretched, hea

h

Knock

oed through t

back, eyes w

ng him to stay quiet. Her heart pou

d come from

e wood looked the same as before,

her

palm flat again

as w

. bre

r hand back, st

ame again-this

sper again

lp

voice was faint, dist

d, tugging on her sl

couldn't

t appeared against the

omeone-was ins

dden P

new it was dangerous, but wha

, pushing. It groaned under her touch, bend

own her fear an

l peele

wooden floor was uneven, the walls covered in strange symbols carved deep

oo

test, shaking his head vio

his hand. "It's

trembled, b

they stepp

aled shut b

in th

m like unseen hands. The flickering glow of the rotten ce

short gasps. She could

h

vo

. Cl

sees

blood

idn't come fr

from t

d, clutching he

d finish, the

through the hallway as the grou

or hard, Tobias t

ering gre

s com

s com

s com

ugh echoed from t

her feet, pulling

didn'

against the shifting floor. The whispers

s he struggled to keep up. The passag

ti

do

e hallway, slightly ajar, lig

heart

ould m

had

ling Tobias along. The whisper

d from the dark

idn't l

ough the door and thr

se Chan

led into

r slamm

spers s

or breath, her

her, his small hands covering h

up, heart

e somewh

g was higher, the air warmer. The fl

ce looke

st l

o

throat t

hey e

o

ing fe

at her. "Elena...

know how

omething

oked like t

ictures o

eren't

breath

held phot

picture, standing

the

il

chi

it