Boundary by Mary Victoria Johnson

Author:Mary Victoria Johnson [Johnson, Mary Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78279-919-1
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2015-12-10T16:00:00+00:00

17

“Urgh, that was an awful excuse for a night’s sleep,” I groaned, stretching and wiping the remnants of a dream from my aching eyes. They were red and puffy as if I had been crying, which wasn’t surprising given the terrible nightmare I had experienced. “You wouldn’t believe what I dreamt about; it was horrifying! So real…”

The vision of Tressa’s pain and defeat as she fell limply towards the Boundary was still a fresh memory, as was my shock that it had been Avery who had caused it before he too had vanished. Thank goodness, it had just been a dream!

I poured some sludgy water into my washbasin in vain attempt to cleanse my mind from the plagues of the night. Splashing it onto my face, I caught a glimpse of myself as I reached for the towel to dry off.

It was not the sallow unhealthiness that nearly made my heart stop. It was the fact that I was still wearing my full day dress instead of my nightgown, and that it was coated with dust as if I had been outside recently wearing it.

“Impossible,” I gasped, eyes dropping to my dirty hands with mounting panic.

It was only a dream! There was absolutely no possible way that it had been real. I was crazy.

I rushed to Tressa’s bed to prove myself right, my breathing accelerating to hyperventilation.

The bed was perfectly made. The pillows plumped invitingly at the iron headboard. The duvet had been smoothed down to the last crease, just as Tressa routinely did every morning before breakfast, as she hated the sight of a crumpled bed.

The basin on her table lay parched of water, hairbrush untouched, and her powders undisturbed in their designated jars.

“Tressa?” I called, trying to stay calm. The curtains were already open, and that was when I noticed the clouded sun was not low in the east, as it was every morning. It was setting towards the west, as if was evening time.

“Tressa!” I yelled, cupping my hands around my mouth so to enhance my cry even more.

“Penny!”

I started, glancing wildly around for the source of the voice. It came from the other side of the chamber, so I hitched up my skirts and ran towards it, realizing along the way that my shoes (why would I wear them to bed?) were trailing mud across the floor as I ran as if I had been in the woods.

“Penny…” Evelyn sobbed, embracing me into a tight hug as I rounded the L bend. She was wearing her daytime clothes as well, her eyes swollen. “Tressa isn’t coming, Penny.”

“No. This is just another trick. The Master’s only playing with us again, and she’s probably just downstairs with the others. Avery wouldn’t…” I viciously shook away from her, tearing out of the chamber and slamming the door behind me as I went. The corridors blended into one as I sprinted, refusing to believe this nightmare was coming true.

“Tressa!” I screamed, throwing open the front doors into the dying evening light.

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