This image of an abandoned farmhouse in the Rural Municipality of Mount Pleasant No. 2, Saskatchewan, is courtesy of Masterhatch and is used under their Creative Commons license.
In our last chapter, Aurora's attempts to explore her surroundings now that she has her memories back are complicated by another, more subtle attack against her. This escalates to a confrontation where Matron intervenes and sends the young woman off to Saskatoon while she holds off clouds of attacking crows. What's next for Aurora? Read on.
<<- Back to Chapter Two.
The Dream King's Daughter - Chapter Three: Past the Hundredth Meridian
The first dream that Aurora read belonged to her best friend, Anne.
It was at school, sixth grade, and Aurora was just hanging up her new spring jacket. Standing back to appreciate the dark denim, she bumped into Anne.
Anne caught her arm. "Hey! Watch it!" But not unkindly. "Nice jacket."
"Thanks!" Aurora beamed. "Mom bought it for me on the weekend. We went out to that new place out by the power centre. Isn't it cool?"
"Yeah, I saw you wearing it at the mall yesterday," said Anne.
"Oh," said Aurora. "Why didn't you say hello?"
"I was just heading out," said Anne quickly. She shrugged off her brown polyester coat and tossed it onto a hook. It flopped on the floor instead. Anne sighed and bent to pick it up.
As she placed it back on its hook, a slab of a boy shouldered her aside. He threw her ragged brown coat on the floor.
"Hey!" Anne shouted. She caught her breath when she saw who she was talking to. Aurora started forward, then froze. Roger had already won two fights that the teachers knew about, and more that they didn't. If that wasn't enough, Roger's friend and henchman, Jack, was right behind him.
Roger sneered. "Get your own hook." He hung his parka from the disputed hook with sausage-like fingers.
Anne's breathing quickened. "C'mon, there's a free hook right over there!" She reached for her coat.
Roger pushed her back. "Your trashy old Goodwill coat belongs in the garbage, anyway." He leered at them. "Unless you wanna make something of it."
There was an adult throat-clearing. Miss Daultry leaned in from the classroom. "Is there a problem here?"
Aurora opened her mouth, but Roger caught her eye. He and Jack stuck their hands in their pockets and stood, waiting.
Anne glared at the floor. "No, Miss Daultry. Everything's okay."
The teacher frowned over her glasses, then turned away. Grinning, Roger and Jack followed her out of the coatroom into the classroom. Anne thumped the wall.
"It's okay," said Aurora. "Share my hook."
Anne forced a smile. "Thanks," she said. And without meaning to, Aurora looked into her friend's brown eyes.
Anne snatches Aurora's denim jacket and runs across the classroom, laughing, impervious to Aurora's pleas. She flings it out the window into a lake that has materialized in place of the schoolyard.
Aurora shook her head and looked around. Her jacket was still on its hook, and the classroom windows were closed. Anne had turned away and was slinking out of the cloakroom to take her seat as Miss Daultry called the class to order.
"Aurora," Miss Daultry called. "Won't you grace us with your presence?"
The rest of the class giggled, but Aurora was too distracted to be embarrassed as she slouched out of the cloakroom to take her seat beside her friend.
Aurora read her second dream before recess. As the rest of the class filed out, Miss Daultry pulled her aside. "Is anything the matter, Aurora? You've been distracted all morning."
Aurora kept her gaze on the lower half of the teacher's face. "Nothing's wrong, Miss Daultry."
"You're sure?" Her teacher gave her an encouraging smile. "If anything is the matter, you can always talk to me."
Aurora looked into Miss Daultry's eyes.
Miss Daultry kicks back at her desk and pulls out a good book. Around her, the classroom stands empty, the windows white with snow. School is cancelled. No children today. Miss Daultry inspects a box of chocolates, picks one, and settles in to read.
Aurora dropped her gaze to the floor. "I'm sure. Nothing's the matter. Can I go?"
Miss Daultry's eyes narrowed a moment. Then she patted Aurora on the shoulder. "Okay. Get going."
At recess, Aurora played hide-and-seek and agreed to be 'it'. As the other kids ran away, Aurora hunted them down methodically, pouncing on each boy or girl and looking them in the eye. Dreams flooded her.
...I did it! I scored the winning goal!...
...I get to meet Santa! And they told me he wasn't real!...
Jack glared at Aurora. "What are you smiling at?"
"Nothing." Aurora moved on.
...Yes! I just punched Roger's face in!...
...No. The planes are back. The sirens are wailing. The bombs are falling again...
Albijana grimaced as Aurora stared at her for a moment too long. "Stop staring, Aurora! You're weird!" She pushed past Aurora and ran for home base.
Finally, at the end of the day, Aurora fumbled on her coat in the cloakroom, lost in thought.
"Hey," said Anne. Aurora jumped.
"You okay?" asked Anne as she yanked on her too-small, salt-stained, balding fur-lined boots. "You've been quiet all day."
"Why do you want to throw my coat into a lake?" said Aurora.
Anne froze. She looked up and laughed nervously. "What are you talking--"
Aurora looked into Anne's eyes.
Anne laughs. Aurora's denim jacket sails out the window and lands with a splash before sinking without a trace. Aurora sobs, standing in Anne's ratty clothes.
Aurora stepped back. "You're jealous!"
Anne gaped at her. "No-- what-- Aurora!"
"You want to grab my jacket and toss it into a lake. You hate that I have a new jacket, and you're in an old one!"
Anne gasped. "How did you--" Then her eyes flashed. "You read my diary!"
Aurora flinched. "I didn't! I--" She froze. How else could she explain how she knew? But she didn't feel like she should be the one to be ashamed, here. "It doesn't matter. You've been jealous the whole time we've been together, thinking all those things behind my back."
"You think I meant it?" Anne drew a shaky breath. "Yeah, sure, I wanted the things you had, but that didn't mean I didn't like you. It was just a dream. I still liked you. Until now! You traitor!"
Anne stormed out of the cloakroom. She came storming back to pick up her remaining boot and stormed out again. This time, she was choking back sobs.
Aurora watched her go, blinking back her own tears.
#
The rain stopped a few miles down the road, but black clouds loomed in the rear-view mirror. Aurora drove through the sunset and into the night. She passed a sign which said "SASKATOON: 390 KM". Soon, the only sound was the hum of the engine as her headlights turned the road into a small pool in the middle of a rolling void. More signposts appeared, slowly counting down the distance. Eventually, she ignored them and focused on the black ribbon ahead of her. She ignored the stars, ignored the horizon as it began to brighten. Finally, as she topped a hill and drove into sunshine, she had to blink.
She sobbed and hated herself for it.
Wiping her nose on her sleeve while still gripping the wheel, Aurora tried not to remember Matron standing with her gun raised as the feathery clouds descended. Crying was what little kids did. She was a teenager. On her own. In a car she could barely drive, fleeing from some monster who could attack in dreams and in the waking world at the same time. Heading southeast to Saskatoon to meet... who? There was no one she could turn to--
Someone breathed behind her. There was a crunch of vinyl. A hand clasped her shoulder. "Hey--"
Aurora screamed.
From the back seat, Polk screamed.
"What are you doing here?" Aurora shouted.
He looked past her, and his eyes widened. "Watch the road!"
She turned around, squeaked, and twisted the wheel. The car swerved, skidded on the edge of the ditch, then eased back onto the road. Aurora took a deep breath. "What are you doing here?" She grabbed a quick look back before facing the road ahead.
"I needed a nap," he said. "I snuck out to Matron's car, lay down and fell asleep. She never thinks to look for me here. Have I been asleep long?"
Aurora kept her eyes forward. Before them, on their left, the sun climbed further up the sky. "A while."
Polk squirmed over the top of the passenger seat and slithered down beside her. He gave her a goofy grin. Then he frowned. "Are you old enough to drive?"
"Give me a break! I'm almost sixteen! I've got a learner's permit."
Polk raised his eyebrows.
"Okay, I could get my learner's permit, if I'd spent the time to actually, you know, get one. But I'm old enough to drive!"
"Okay." Polk settled into his seat. He shielded his eyes against the sun, then folded down the sunshield. The grogginess in his gaze disappeared, as though a sudden cold wind had cleared his mind. He blinked into the sunshine. "Wait a minute. Is that... sunrise?"
"Yes."
"I slept the night?"
"Yes."
"Have we been driving all night?"
"Yes."
"Matron's back at the diner, right?"
Aurora choked, then swallowed. "Y-yes," she said at last. She didn't add, 'I hope so.'
Polk looked from her to the road ahead and back again.
"We've been driving all night?" he said again.
"Yes."
"Why were we driving all night?"
Aurora didn't answer.
"Does Matron know you took her car?"
She nodded.
"Aurora?"
"Yes?"
"What's going on?"
She thumped the wheel with her forehead. The car swerved. "Just shut up! Shut up! Shut the hell up!"
Polk clutched the armrest. He hurriedly did up his seat belt. "Aurora, calm down."
"Calm?" Aurora rounded on him. Polk cringed in his seat, but she didn't care. "Calm? How do you expect me to be calm? I saw the whole village disappear before my eyes! Crows talked to me! Then I found it was just a dream, but I woke up into a storm and the crows were still there and they attacked Matron! She could be dead for all we know, and you expect me to be calm? I can't be calm! I'm exhausted and scared and confused and I don't know what to do except drive! So that's what I'm doing! Okay?"
"Aurora," Polk said softly. "Stop the car."
"What?"
"Just... pull over and stop the car." He sounded ultra-calm. "Please?"
They pulled onto the shoulder. The car tilted, perched at the edge of the ditch. When they were stopped, Polk reached over and moved the gearshift to park. Aurora stared at the wheel.
Polk gripped the door handle, then turned to her. "Kill the engine. Let's stretch our legs."
"What for?"
He gave her a smile. "Trust me." He opened the door and slid out, disappearing into the ditch with a yelp. He popped up seconds later, grinned at her, and trudged to the back of the car.
Aurora made to kill the engine, then realized that she couldn't uncurl her fingers from the steering wheel. She pulled back hard until her fingers slipped from the vinyl and came away, curled into claws. She flattened them on her lap and flexed them, wincing as they cramped. She shook them to get some life back into them.
She turned off the ignition and left the car keys on the seat as she hauled herself outside. She came around back, to where Polk leaned against the trunk. They stood on the broken paved shoulder, grassy where it met the drainage ditch. Aurora stared out at the rippling fields. A chill wind, left over from the night, touched her cheeks and plucked at her hair.
Polk just stood there. She looked at him. "You waiting for something?"
He waved a hand at the fields of grass and flower stretching on forever. "Just take a minute. Breathe. Talk. Scream. Cry. Whatever comes to you. You'll know what to do. You just need to let it out. It's safer to do it out here instead of behind the wheel."
"When did you get all Zen?"
He gave her a teasing smile. "Hey, I have hidden depths."
She turned and walked away. Asphalt crunched as she trudged along the shoulder up a low rise. When she reached the top, she looked around. The fields dipped away, a sea of yellow-green waves breaking against posts and barbed wire fences. The wind made a sound like surf. Blackbirds tweedled, but there were no crows.
You know what to do, she thought. Just let it out.
She took a deep breath and howled.
Her voice rang in her ears, powered by all the rage and confusion and fear that had built up over the past day and a half. She screamed one long note that bent her over as the air left her lungs. The scream stopped. She straightened up, pulling in air, arching her back.
"Mom! Where are you?" she hollered. "How could you leave me like this? How could you?"
She hollered until she was bent almost double again, breathing heavily, her hands on her knees. Quiet again. The wind rushed through the tassels like waves on the ocean. The only other sound was Polk scuffing the pavement with his toe.
Aurora straightened up. Her cheeks were wet, but she wiped them dry on her sleeve and cleared her nose with a sniff. She stood a moment, drinking in the isolation, the endless blue sky, the yellow fields, and brought her breathing under control. Cleansing breath in. Stressed air out. Cleansing breath in. Hold it. Then let it out.
She set her jaw. There were no answers blowing in the wind. She was on her own, so she wasn't going to waste her time curled up in a ball and weeping.
She strode back to the car. Polk stood leaning on it. She leaned beside him and looked ahead. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. So, what's going on?"
She looked away in disgust. "You wouldn't believe me."
He grinned. "You have the car. You have the keys, and it's a long walk back to Matron's place. I don't think it would be wise for me to disbelieve you."
She just looked at him. His grin vanished. "What happened?"
Aurora's hands clenched into fists. She banged the trunk. How could she even begin to explain? But she had to tell someone.
"I--" She stopped, then started again. "I had a dream. I dreamt that we were working the diner like we always do, and the dinner crowd came in, but they started to disappear one by one. Everyone I knew in Cooper's Corners vanished, leaving me out in the open, all alone when -- something -- came for me."
He turned to her, his expression sympathetic. "That's a horrible nightmare, but--"
"Polk, I didn't dream that last night, or the night before. I dreamt it yesterday afternoon!"
"That's impossible."
"No. It happened. Polk, what did I do yesterday? Did I talk to you after the dinner crowd came in? What?"
"No." He shrugged. "You took orders, served them up. You were a little distant, though. Like you were sleepwalk--" He stopped and stared at her, eyes wide. "You're serious? You were asleep then?"
"Yes."
"You didn't spill a drop of coffee--"
"That's not important! Polk, it wasn't normal. Something attacked me. And in my dream, I walked out to the field behind the diner. That's when Matron found me and woke me up. Except when I woke up, the dream was still around me."
He straightened up. "What do you mean?"
"There was a storm in my dream," said Aurora. "And when I woke up, it was all around me. I saw twisting clouds, and I heard windows breaking."
"My God. Was everybody okay?"
"I don't know. Matron made me get in her car and go. She said the storm would follow me, and everybody else would be safe. Then the crows attacked her, and--"
The colour drained from Polk's face. "Is... she okay?"
Aurora drew a shaky breath. "I don't know."
They stood in silence on either side of the parked car, staring at each other. "This is silly," said Polk. "Running away because of some dream you had. If Matron's hurt, or if the town-- We should go back. It's not like the storm's actually following--"
A rumble echoed across the fields, like barrels rolling across a stage. Aurora and Polk looked north, back the way they'd come. The sky was still blue, but the horizon was dark, and growing darker.
They looked back at each other. The breeze plucked at their hair.
"So, where do we go?" said Polk at last.
"South," said Aurora.
"Why south?"
"That's the way the car's facing."
"Fair enough." Polk straightened up and came around to the driver's side. "Get in. My turn to drive."
Aurora leaned on the driver's side door. "I'm driving."
He pulled at the handle. "You're not legal."
She slapped his hand away. "I want to drive."
And she did, too, she realized. It was the one thing she could control in this world gone haywire. There was no way she was going to fidget in the passenger seat.
"Hey!" Polk slapped her hand back.
Aurora shoved him.
He staggered back, then came forward angrily. Aurora raised her fists.
Polk threw up his hands. "Fine! Just don't crash." He stomped around the car and pulled open the passenger door. Aurora allowed herself a small smile as she slipped behind the wheel.
"Matron gave me an address," she added as she started the engine. "Somebody in Saskatoon who could help me, she said. It's as good a place as any to run." The car drove off with a spray of gravel.
"Saskatoon," Polk murmured.
They passed a sign: SASKATOON, 300KM. Polk twisted in his seat to stare at it as it passed. He looked back at Aurora. "Something's wrong."
Aurora laughed. "You just figured that out?"
His expression didn't change. "Did you really drive all night?"
"Yeah."
"Did you stop at all?"
"No."
"Not even to go to the bathroom?"
"No."
"You tired?"
"No."
"You hungry?"
"No."
"You have to go to the bathroom?"
"... No."
"Look: did you, or did you not, drive away yesterday evening at top speed?"
Aurora flushed, thinking of how she'd abandoned Matron. "What are you getting at?"
"You picked the road to Saskatoon, right? You just drove straight?"
"Yes!" Her knuckles whitened on the wheel. "Polk--"
"Saskatchewan's big, but it's not that big, and we're not that far north. It's a five-hour drive, tops, between Cooper's Corners and Saskatoon. If you left soon after I went to sleep, and it's sunrise now, you're looking at, what, eight hours? Ten? You should be well on your way to Billings, Montana, by now."
"Polk, just be quiet and let me drive." New nerves twisted in her stomach. She didn't know how big Saskatchewan was. The lack of knowledge reminded her that she wasn't a local and that her years here had been a lie.
They passed another signpost: SASKATOON: 300KM
Aurora and Polk exchanged glances. They drove on in silence for a few minutes.
The next signpost read: SASKATOON: 300KM
Polk twisted to look at the sign as it passed. "Okay... were you... sleepdriving, maybe?"
"We're not driving in circles." Aurora scanned the dashboard.
"Except that I'd have to be sleepdriving too. How does that work?"
The next sign said: SASKATOON: 300KM
It's like in a dream, Aurora thought, where you kept running as fast as you could but didn't get anywhere. Very like a dream.
So, how do I wake myself up?
She glanced at her wrist, then gave it a quick pinch. She looked at the road ahead. Nothing happened. She pinched harder. She looked ahead. The sign appeared on the horizon again. Then she took a deep breath and put all of her strength into her thumb and forefinger.
"Ow!"
The world shuddered.
The car swerved. Where the road had been straight, now they were rushing headlong towards a curve. The sun was higher in the sky. They passed an abandoned farmhouse that they hadn't seen before.
"What the hell?" said Polk.
"We're out of the dream," said Aurora. "Uh... I think."
"How can you tell?"
Another sign appeared over the crest of a hill. Polk and Aurora held their breath.
SASKATOON: 290KM
"Okay," said Polk. "Let's find someplace to stop and get some breakfast."
"What?" Aurora gaped at him. "After all that, you want to stop?"
"Look, we can't just drive on without stopping. We need to eat. And if we don't want to stink up Matron's car, we'll need to use the bathroom."
"If you need to go to the bathroom so bad, you can go in the bushes. You can forget about food. I left my purse back at Matron's. There's no money."
"I got money."
She glanced at him. "How much?"
He looked up at the ceiling, calculating. "About a thousand dollars."
"What?!" The car swerved.
"Would you please get a handle on your reactions?" said Polk tightly. "I swear, someone says boo, and we'll end up upside-down in the ditch."
"Sorry," said Aurora crossly. "But, how--"
He shrugged. "It just sort of... accumulated. The nearest bank was fifty miles away, after all. Though I think we may have passed it sometime in the night."
She looked ahead. "I see."
"So, can we stop?"
"I said I wasn't hungry!"
"And I called you a liar. Besides, we have to stop: the empty tank alert just came on."
Aurora looked at the dashboard. A red gas tank icon shone back at her. She swore under her breath.
They passed a signpost for the next small town, but Aurora didn't catch its name.
#
Minutes later, they crested a hill and Aurora looked down on a settlement consisting of a single shuttered house and a general store. The store was built of wood and painted red. Gas pumps squatted on the gravel driveway. In the distance, a grain tower stood guarded by rail cars.
"Ah, civilization," Polk breathed.
"Huh," said Aurora. There was something about this that didn't feel right. But she caught sight of the low gas indicator again and applied the brakes. They coasted off the road and stopped in front of the gas pumps. They had dials for numbers instead of a digital display. Aurora wondered if she should look for a hand crank.
A tall, lanky figure unfolded himself from a battered wooden chair. He stood by the front door of the general store and watched without any sign of surprise as they pulled up. When Aurora cut the engine and got out, she took a good look at him.
He wore a dark brown suit jacket over a white T-shirt, khaki pants, and black leather shoes. His brown hair was thinning on top, and he had a small brown goatee. His moustache had been manicured into two brown lines below his nose, with curled-up ends. He gave them a thin-lipped smile, then threw his arms wide.
"Customers!" he cried. "Welcome to my store!"
Aurora stopped in her tracks. Nobody greeted customers this way unless they were desperate for business. And nobody was this desperate for business unless they hadn't had any for weeks if not years.
The store building looked sturdy but old. The paint had faded, and sun-bleached boxes and other bric-a-brac were stacked along the foundation. In the nearby fields, two dusty plastic bags rose and twisted over the barley, caught in an updraft.
Polk nodded at the store owner. "We're looking for gas and breakfast. Got either?"
"Both!" chimed the owner. "Come in! Fill up man and machine, why don't you?" He waved grandly at the front door.
Polk stepped forward, but Aurora caught his arm. "Is this guy for real?" she whispered.
"He doesn't have to be for real," Polk murmured. "He just has to know how to cook some steak and eggs. I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry."
"I'll pump. You order."
She nodded, then turned back to the store owner. "Thanks... uh..."
"Call me Salvadore." He beckoned from the threshold. "Come, let us not dally." A battered screen door slammed behind him.
Aurora followed him up the front steps. As she reached for the door, a noise made her freeze. It sounded like a baby rattle. She shrugged, yanked open the gap-riddled screen door, and entered.
The shop bell jangled. Aurora gagged, caught off guard by a sudden musty smell that washed over her. But when she looked around, the smell faded. The interior of the store shone clean and bright.
There were five aisles, numbered with signs that hung down from the ceiling. The shelves were loaded with gleaming cans and shiny plastic-wrapped packages. A display of red licorice glistened beside the cash register. Along one wall, near the entrance to the washrooms, was an ice cream stand and a soda jerk. There was a grill nearby, warm and freshly oiled, and Aurora was hit with a memory of Matron's diner. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
Sniffing the air again, all she could smell was fresh produce--apples, lettuce--and cleaning fluid. Lots of it.
"So, what shall I get you?" Salvadore tied a spotless white apron around his waist and stood behind the counter.
"Steak and eggs for Polk," said Aurora. "Sausage and eggs for me, please."
"How do you like your eggs?"
"Scrambled for Polk, mine, over easy. We'll have toast, too."
Salvadore got two sausage rounds and a small steak from the refrigerator and set them on the grill to sizzle. Then he grabbed four eggs, tossing each in the air before catching them and cracking them on the side of the grill.
Showy. Aurora rolled her eyes. Matron never showed off with the customers' meals. And he's put on the eggs too quickly. They'd be done and cooling well before the steak was ready. No wonder he's starved for customers.
As the food cooked, Salvadore turned to her. "And how about a drink? An ice cream soda, perhaps?"
Aurora had been about to order coffee, but a soda sounded good. "Yeah, sure."
"One for you and one for your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend."
"So, one soda or two?"
"One. Polk can order whatever he wants."
"One soda. Two straws?" Salvadore grinned at her and cast an eye out the front door where they'd left Polk with the gas.
She glanced out the screen door and saw Polk by the car. He had the pump handle in the car's gas tank and was puzzling over the unfamiliar levers.
She turned back to Salvadore. "Whatever," she said, deliberately.
Salvadore grabbed a frosted glass from the refrigerator. He began scooping out ice cream and added a dollop of syrup. "So, what brings you out here?"
Aurora looked at him without expression, but he kept smiling as he worked away. "Driving," she said at last.
"Where to?"
None of your business. "South."
He grinned at her. "Forgive me. I don't get many customers, these days, and it does a number on the art of conversation."
"So, where have all the customers gone?"
He jerked his shoulders in a shrug. "You know how it is."
"Not really."
"It's Saskatchewan, love! Not much reason to stay, unless you like the scenery."
"So, why do you stay?"
"I like the scenery. Besides, there's still business. You two turned up, after all."
She hadn't met a single car or truck since running away from Matron's diner.
He handed over a frosty glass. "There you go! One ice cream soda, two straws." He grinned that irritating grin again. He was worse than Polk.
Aurora took the ice cream soda. "Thanks." She put both straws in her mouth and sipped.
The flavour grabbed her right away. I must have been thirstier than I thought. She grunted appreciatively and sucked hard on the straws.
"I'm glad you like it," said Salvadore. "Soda making is a lost art. I figure somebody has to keep it up. So, where are you and your not-boyfriend from?"
Her straws gurgled as she finished the ice cream soda. She set the glass down and glared at his grin. "I have to go to the bathroom." She turned her back on him.
The bathroom was all shining tile. It smelt strongly of cleaning fluid. You'd think somebody was desperate to hide all evidence of what had happened here. She sniffed the air suspiciously before stepping into the bathroom stall.
A few minutes later, as Aurora grabbed some paper towels beside the sink to dry her hands, her eyes tracked up to a corkboard display of flyers advertising local dances and on-the-side home businesses. There was even a missing child poster, with a family photograph from happier times imploring the onlooker for information--
Aurora peered closer at the photograph. The wad of towels dropped to the floor. "Mom?!"
It was her mother, standing on the diving pier stretching out into Lake Winnipeg, wearing a swimsuit and holding a beach ball, grinning. Aurora remembered that grin. She remembered taking the photograph. What was it doing here?
Aurora's hand went to her mouth. "Mom!" She choked against the sudden rise of tears. When she looked at the photograph again, the picture showed a young girl beaming at the camera, holding a doll. She looked a bit like Britney.
Aurora rubbed her eyes and looked again, but the picture didn't change.
"This is just nuts," she muttered and turned to the mirror.
Her mother stood where her reflection should be.
Aurora stifled a shriek. Keeping her eyes on the mirror, she reached out behind her, but her hand met open air. She chanced a quick look over her shoulder, but she was alone in the bathroom. She looked back at the mirror, and her mother was still there, gripping the edge of the bathroom sink, staring at her, mouth agape.
Then Aurora realized she couldn't see her own reflection in the mirror. The bathroom her mother stood in had different tiles, and there was a shower.
And she was speaking to her. Shouting at her, but making no sound. Aurora could only read her mother's lips.
Aurora?
"Mom?"
What are you doing there? How did you--
She was talking faster, now. Aurora couldn't keep up.
"Mom, I can't hear you!" Aurora put her hands to her ears and then held them out, palms up.
Her mom kept shouting, but she shortened her sentences--Aurora could tell by the way her mouth put weight on every word. Aurora peered into the mirror.
Look. Out. In. Danger.
Aurora leaned back from the mirror. She turned to look at the bathroom door. When she turned back, her mother was gone.
She bit her lip and briefly touched the mirror. Then she turned and left the bathroom, stepping carefully back into the store.
She heard the sizzle of breakfast and Salvadore scraping the grill. Focusing on the front door, she strode quickly but quietly down an aisle of shelves filled with canned vegetables.
Salvadore suddenly stood in her way. "Where are you going?"
She backed up and started down a different grocery aisle, only to have Salvadore block her path again. Her mouth went dry. How is he doing that?
"I'm just going to see how Polk's doing," she said. Then she thought: that's a good question. Where is Polk? She looked out the screen door. The car was there, attached to the gas pump with a nozzle, but Polk was nowhere to be seen. "Polk?" she shouted.
"I'm sure he'll be in presently," said Salvadore. "Have a seat; breakfast is almost ready."
"I want to stretch my legs."
Aurora tried to sidle to the left, only to have Salvadore mimic her. Her heart thumped. She had been stupid. Lulled into a false sense of security. Something had been telling her that something was wrong, but she had never realized what...
Then she realized. The sausages and eggs were sizzling on the grill, but she couldn't smell them. She could only smell cleaning fluid, and under that a hint of mildew.
Salvadore caught her frown and sniffed the air. "Hmm..."
Something rustled in his hair. Something crawled up the back of his shirt. Two spiders emerged, big as the palm of her hand. They stood on Salvadore's head and shoulder, looking at her.
A slow smile spread across his face. "Oops."
Aurora scrambled backwards and looked around wildly for a way to escape. He was between her and the door, but if she could run to one of the other aisles...
But as she turned, the world tilted beneath her feet. She grabbed one of the shelves, sending cans clattering across the floor. Her stomach lurched, and spots glittered before her eyes. She tried to haul herself upright, but nausea pushed down on her like an open hand. She turned towards the back but tripped over her own feet and fell. Salvadore caught her under the armpits.
"Most kidnappers don't think to do this." He nodded at the soda glass on the counter. "Always drug your target early. That way, they don't have time to become suspicious."
Aurora opened her mouth to say something furious, but all that came out was a gurgle. She shoved herself away, staggered, and fell into a display case. Cans rolled everywhere.
Salvadore kicked the cans aside. Gripping her shoulders, he pulled her into a sitting position and checked her over. She couldn't even hold up her head.
His goatee and smile filled her vision. "You'll live. Just take a rest; that's a good girl. Someone very important wants to talk to you."
Her vision went black.