Radley's Labyrinth for Horny Monsters, Annabelle Hawthorne [smart ebook reader TXT] 📗

No answer. Walking along the porch, she peeked through the windows. Nobody was inside, and the furniture had been tossed about.

“Fuck,” she whispered. The clock in her hand chimed quietly. She grabbed the doorknob and let herself in. The inside of the house contained a plethora of smells, too many for her to decipher. She smelled water, sand, and several different musky odors that made her think of sex with Alex after a daylong hike. Walking through the front rooms, she heard several voices speaking to each other in the back. Approaching the back door, she saw a beautiful ornate fountain in the garden. Inside the fountain, a woman with flowing blue-and-green hair was addressing a few others.

One of the women was all white, from her hair to her feet. She was also floating a few inches off the ground. The next one looked ordinary—her black-and-red hair hung loosely around her shoulders.

The last one was a horse. Mouth open, Dana watched the centaur circle the back of the fountain. All four of them were speaking in hushed tones, something about the witch out front. Dana hadn’t seen anyone else, but she now felt like she had stepped into an alternate dimension. What was one more anomaly?

“Hold it.” The woman in the fountain held up her hands, then looked directly at Dana. “Come out. Don’t be afraid.”

Stunned, Dana stepped through the back door, the clock held tightly to her chest. The others watched her approach.

“Who are you?” the normal woman asked.

“I’m Dana.” She couldn’t keep her eyes off the centaur. “I’m looking for Mike.”

“How did you get in?” the same woman asked.

“I let myself in,” she said, nearing the fountain. Something about the woman in the fountain made her feel at peace. “I brought Mike’s clock back.” Standing there, she felt a slight pinch at her neck, like a bug had bitten her. Scratching it out of habit, she made eye contact with the red-and-black-haired woman who now stood next to her. “What?”

Everyone else exchanged looks.

“She should be asleep by now,” the woman said. “There’s no reason she should still be awake, unless…”

“I feel like I’m asleep.” Dana set the clock down on the edge of the fountain. “This all feels like a bad dream. I wish I could wake up from it.”

“Well, let’s see if we can help you wake up.” The woman in the fountain sat down on its edge and then took Dana’s hand in her own. “My name is Naia. I’m a nymph. Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

To her own surprise, Dana told her everything.

FINDING THE CENTER 

“…And that brings me to here.” Dana sat on the edge of the fountain, her chin in her hands. She wondered if she should feel more upset, regaling the others with her tale. Tears were beyond her ability. The strange numbness she was experiencing applied even more so to her eyes. She could no longer feel them, and it was taking effort to remember to blink. “So if I don’t deliver Mike or whatever special treasure the house hides, he will leave me like this.”

Naia, Cecilia, and Zel looked at each other. Zel had been examining Dana during her story, doing some simple tests. Dana still had her basic reflexes, but her pain sensors were completely gone. Zel struggled to gather blood samples, as Dana’s blood no longer flowed.

“I’m curious,” Naia said. “What does the society think the house is hiding?”

“I don’t know.” Dana shrugged. “He kept mentioning a book with an apple on it. The guy is a dick, told me I would know it when I see it.”

“Oh, there are many powerful objects here, that’s a fact,” Naia said. “Mike hasn’t found anything special yet. The house has its secrets, and it does not give them up so quickly. There is something very special hidden here, but no Caretaker has been able to find it yet. It’s kind of like a quest.”

“For what? Is it that book Daryl wants?”

“Even if I knew, I couldn’t tell you. The home locks away our memories every time a new Caretaker comes along, and we don’t get them back until the new Caretaker discovers the magic on their own.” Naia stroked the clock on the ledge. I do remember this though. Haven’t seen it in a while.”

“Yeah, about that.” Dana picked up the clock. “What the fuck is this thing?”

“You are holding a mimic. They are extremely rare. To be honest, I thought it was dead.” Naia smiled. “If we all look away, it will change for us.”

Dana closed her eyes and heard a loud splash. When she opened her eyes, the clock was gone, replaced by a large, floating rubber duck. Naia was playfully scratching its head, and the duck flapped a pair of mechanical wings.

“Mimics are predatory lurkers,” Naia said. “They like to disguise themselves as ordinary objects, then attack when their prey is alone. Once their prey is at least blinded, they can assume their true form and devour their victim.”

“How come it didn’t attack me? It had the opportunity multiple times.”

Naia laughed. “This one is different. Mimics don’t actually need to eat to survive. They are all instinct, no forward thinking. This one, however, is very different, perhaps the smartest one in the world.”

“It told me that its heart was broken.”

“Yes. That is true. You see, this mimic was created a long time ago to act as a guardian for the house. A creature that can lie in wait and watch undetected is a powerful ally to have. When Emily found it, it was a chest with a small diary inside, a diary that was meant to start Emily on the path to the home’s true secret. After years of making no headway, she demanded answers. The mimic didn’t know anything, but Emily thought it was lying. In a fit of anger, she smashed out its gears with a hammer.” Naia sighed. “She