I blinked away what felt like shards of ice. My breath was cold condensation in the air. In my mind’s eye, a winding path appeared, withered grass creating a trail of death.
Oh, God.
Amelia let go of my hand and shook me, looking relieved when I focused on her. “Blue,” she said triumphantly. “You’re still with me, and your eyes are blue.”
My eyes were normally an almost colourless grey. I’d been told they turned blue when the sleepwalking started. And the sleepwalking only ever started when I was subconsciously drawn to the nearest dead body with a vague connection to me.
Brushing her off, I took a step back, vehemently shaking my head, ready to throw up. “I can’t do this. I can’t.”
She reached out to pat my shoulder. Her touch felt wrong, sparking between us, rattling the sensations around me.
“Don’t!” Desperate to make it stop, I pushed her away and fell to my knees.
“Margo?”
Again, an invisible force overwhelmed me, threatening to suffocate me. In the bitter chill of a winter’s day, an even colder presence penetrated my skin. This new feeling stabbed at my lungs when I breathed, as though the air itself was full of sharpened ridges designed to harm. I wished I’d stayed home.
Amelia snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Margo, stay with me. What is it?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, bewildered. “I feel…” A shudder forced me to my feet. “I think I have to go.”
“Where?”
I had no idea. My feet moved nonetheless, hopelessly following the trail of death I’d imagined. I kept my eyes open, and as I walked, the grass withered and died beneath my feet. I was the trail of death.
“Breathe,” Amelia said.
I realised I was gasping for air.
“This is a breakthrough,” she continued, unable to hide her excitement. If she knew what it felt like, maybe she wouldn’t be so enthusiastic. “All these weeks of nothing, and now you’re… wait!”
Branches scratched against my skin as I sprinted through the woods, carelessly tripping over roots yet unable to stop myself from propelling forward. Moving eased the cold in my chest a little, kept the icy fingers clutching at me from deepening their hold. I couldn’t stop. Death wouldn’t let me.
Finally, I burst out of the trees, disoriented by the sudden light. I skidded to slow down, but it was too late. I lost my balance, tumbled down a small hill, and then finally landed on a road, my palms and knees stinging with grazes. Groaning, I scrambled to my feet before freezing into place. The road was empty, and I no longer felt compelled to move. What did that mean?
Glancing around in confusion, I tried to place myself until Amelia caught up to me.
“What is it?” she demanded. “What’s happening?”
All I could do was shake my head. I had no idea.
She led me off the road, helping me step over barricades that led to a grassy partition behind a walled estate of houses.
“I don’t get it.” The glacial chill around me hadn’t eased—my hands kept trembling like crazy—but the urge to keep moving had completely vanished.
“Maybe it’s—” Amelia tensed, her eyes narrowing.
A car squealed around the corner, swerving wildly as it headed straight for the barricades. For us. The chill intensified; I couldn’t move.
“Margo, get back!” Amelia pushed me towards the wall then shielded me with her body as though she could stop a speeding car.
The car skidded past us a few feet before swerving into the barricade as though by intent. The bumper screeched, the car tipped over, and I held my breath as it kept moving, right over the barricade.
Time appeared to slow, and I watched, open-mouthed, as the cold inside me visibly erupted from my chest. Hazy, thread-like wisps of darkness spiralled outward from my body, even my fingertips, to embrace the car. Was I doing something? Not following death, but calling for it?
The roof of the car crashed right into a tree with a sickening smash, sparks flying from the undercarriage. The vehicle slammed back down hard on the rear wheels, debris flying in every direction, before finally coming to a complete stop.
“Margo. Margo!”