Stay, Simon

-Fourteen-

Simon
I barely escape with my life. Why didn’t I know Baz had sisters?

I sprint down the hallway and turn the corner, praying they’ve lost interest and decided not to
follow me.

“Come back here!” The shriek of one little girl has never been more terrifying.

I run.

Baz
Bunce and I roam the halls aimlessly at first, checking rooms at random.

Bunce calls for Snow sporadically as we search. I called for him as well, but then she told me I best not.

I told her what happened. I didn’t tell her that Snow is apparently some kind of magic-sucking
normal, that's Snow’s thing. Just that we got into a fight. Not that she was surprised by such a prospect.

I hear a high pitched squeak and stop, letting Bunce walk ahead as I glance around the corridor.
It sounds far away and close up at the same time. At first I thought it was the hinges of an old door, but this is the north wing, the part of the house my step-mother had newly built just last year so her precious daughters would have more space.
More far-away screeching. My blood runs cold.

“Baz?” Bunce has turned around. “Baz, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost, what is it?”

I meet her gaze. “We have to save Snow.”

Simon
I can’t see my hand in front of my face. For such a huge house, you’d think the hall closets
would be bigger, but this must be a linen closet because I’m contorted painfully against wooden shelving and the persistent smell of laundry detergent is going to knock me out before the little girl has a chance to.
I tuck my chin into my chest and try to muffle the smell through my shirt but I don’t think I will be able to handle the suffocation much longer.

Baz
I’m flying past rows and rows of doors, thirty percent of which most likely lead to empty rooms.

If we don’t get Snow out of there soon, he may not come out unscathed.

“Baz!” The Bunce girl is keeping her pace quite well. I’m impressed. “Where are we going?Where’s Simon? And why do we need to save him?” Her insistent queries are less impressive.

“He’s in danger. We have to find him now. There isn’t much time to explain.”

We reach the end of the hall and are about to round the corner when I see a flash of curls and
amusement bobbing down the next hall. I grab Bunce and we retreat back around the corner.

“Hey, why a-” Bunce doesn’t get out a sentence before I throw up my hands and widen my eyes
in silent alarm. She seems to get the message and mimes zipping her lips.

Simon
“Come out, come out, wherever you are…”

I’ve never really thought of myself as particularly religious, but right now I am praying to Merlin and Morgana that I make it out of this.

I’m going to have bruises where the shelves are against my body, cutting off my circulation and
letting the fainting feeling intensify. That is, if I have a body left to bruise.

“Come on, Mr. Chosen One,” the high pitched whine is coming from closer now. She’s coming.
“I just want to play.” I can hear the butt-hurt look on her face so clearly I wince. I can’t harm a
child, but she can certainly harm me. I just need to find a way to subdue her briefly in order to
escape.

She starts humming an old nursery rhyme I know. It’s about unknowingness, a cat preying with a blind mouse.

As she swings open doors closer and closer to mine, I prepare myself. If I can pull this off, I
should be home free. I just need to get past her and find Baz.

When she’s one door away, I’m ready. I try to stand up to get a height advantage but I’m
squeezed so tight between the shelves and the door that if I try to stand I’ll only draw more
attention to myself. Instead, I get ready to jump.

“Where are you…” The little girl has an impressively creepy tone.

A hand is on the doorknob. I have to time this right, especially because I’ve lost most of the
feeling in my legs. The jump will have to be mostly based on momentum and determination.

The doorknob is fully turned. The door opens slowly. I pounce.

Baz
Snow falls into my arms, half dead weight. He sees me and his eyes widen. He looks as if he’s
been smells sharpies for the past hour. He looks around wildly and stumbles backwards, falling
back towards the shelves of the linen closet. I reach for his sleeve and pull him forward, but as
he falls towards me his head slams into the open door. I wince.

“Baz?” Snow slurs my name and mumbles something about laundry.

He is leaning heavily on me. My heart drops when I watch his eyes roll back into his head. I call out for Bunce but she’s got her hands full keeping Mordelia under control.

I bend down and slowly lower Snow and myself to the floor.

The boy is knocked out in my arms, smelling quite strongly of lemongrass and lavender, and
this could just about be my favourite day.