The Goodacre Chronicles #1: The Piper Quest

3. What Happened Next

When she next opened her eyes, Jenny found herself on a mattress in an unfamiliar room.

She looked around, but soon realised that there was nothing to see, except for a table that held a bottle of water and an empty glass beside it, sitting on her far left, and a window on her far right. Bright sunlight fell in through it, lighting up the room entirely. It all felt rather cheerful.

Except...it somehow was not.

It was then that Jenny remembered her little sister.

She looked about her and spotted Julie lying beside her, sleeping peacefully like an angel. Looking at her, Jenny's fears were nearly washed away...but not quite.

Jenny tried to recollect all that had happened during the night. All alone at home... the incessant knocking on the front door... the lightning and thunderstorm, the lights going off... and... and...

The wraith...!

Fear suddenly gripped her heart all over again. Did the wraith bring her and her sister here? She frowned - somehow, something was not fitting into the puzzle...

She stood up and went towards the window, to try and see where she was. She stood near the sill and looked out.

And saw nothing...apart from the fact that they were not in familiar surroundings.

Of course, it was green all around, no doubt about that, but nothing to tell her the location of the place she and her sister were stowed away at.

Jenny frowned. 'This can't be good,' she thought. 'It's as if, whoever brought us here, didn't want us to escape or something... Naturally...'

She shook her head and walked back to where her mattress lay; her sister was stirring in her sleep. Then, the little girl opened her eyes, staring first at Jenny and then looking around, in about the same way as the latter had.

She sat up slowly, as Jenny sat down beside her, and rubbed her eyes.

"Jenny," her high-pitched innocent voice spoke up, "where are we? And who brought us here?"

'Good questions, to which I have no answer,' thought Jenny with regret. In response, she shrugged, trying once again to recall what exactly happened after they were face-to-face with the wraith...

But, nothing popped up as a memory.

Jenny sighed. "Well, I don't know, sweetling, so, I guess we have to stay and watch what happens next."

"Well, I don't like that," declared Julie, her voice rose a pitch higher than usual. She shuddered suddenly, and Jenny had a feeling it was not because of the sudden drop in the temperature.

Jenny did not say anything, but looked outside the window again from where she sat. Dark clouds began covering up the Heavens swiftly, cutting off the bright cheery sunlight; cool breeze blew in through the open window. She frowned at the sudden change in the weather.

'Now what's happening?!' she thought, trying not to get panicky.

Just then, there was a knock on the large door. Jenny turned her gaze towards it in surprise.

Another knock sounded...which brought back memories from the last time she was home.

A third knock sent Julie flying over to her; Jenny hugged her and patted her in an attempt at pacification. However, the little girl did not stop shivering. The two girls kept their gazes fixed upon the door.

"Who's there?!" cried Jenny in a shrill tone of voice, surprising even her.

When there was no answer, her fear came back, hitting her heart with full force.

'Oh no, no,' she thought, frantically, although she did try to maintain an impassive expression in case her sister was watching her. 'Don't tell me we're going to die here...if this isn't already the Afterlife...'

The room around her had grown as dark as night, rendering her vision almost useless.

Just then, the door opened and the familiar black figure of the wraith shot in, heading straight towards Jenny and Julie, its amorphous arms outstretched and ready to fling away anything that would prevent its path. Where its eyes should have been were now glowing red dots, as big as tennis balls.

Jenny, having realised this, could not move her feet, no matter how much she struggled. She looked up and saw the apparition lunging straight towards her!