That undercurrent grew stronger.
I took a step and—
gordo can you hear
—I took a breath, groaning as the pounding in my head intensified, and I reached for the door, the chamber door, the bedroom door, the doorknob hot underneath my hand, and I twisted it, twisted it as hard as I could, throwing my shoulder against it and—
It opened.
But not into my house.
The sun was shining early morning light through a window off to my left.
The room I was in was small and tidy, the carpet underneath my feet cream-colored and thick. There was a kitchen off to the right, and a teakettle bubbled on the stove. I—
“Gordo.”
It was like I was moving underwater. My limbs felt weighted and heavy. It took ages for me to turn my head to the right to see—
A witch sat in a high-back chair. His eyes were milky white, and his lips were moving quietly, mumbling words I couldn’t quite make out. A tear trickled down his cheek.
Patrice.
The albino witch.
Next to him stood an older woman. One hand was on Patrice’s shoulder. The other held a lit cigarette, the smoke curling up around her fingers.
Aileen.
“Can you hear me?” she asked.
I tried to say yes, yes, I can hear you, but it came out garbled, as if I were speaking through a mouthful of rocks.
“We don’t have much time,” she said, and one moment she was next to Patrice, and the next she was in front of me, blowing a thick ring of smoke in my face. “Patrice is barely holding on as it is. The witches around Green Creek are strong.”
“What is this?” I managed to say.
The ember on the tip of her cigarette burned. Smoke leaked from her nose. “This is the last chance, boyo. I told you things were changing. I just didn’t know how much. A wolf came to me. Stood right in this very room. He was white. Brighter than I’d ever seen before. Do you understand?”
No. I didn’t. I didn’t understand any of this. I didn’t—
I was in my bedroom. There was—
Aileen slapped me across the face. “Gordo. Focus.”
Everything was blue. Everything felt blue and red and oh my god, there was violet—
I grimaced at the throbbing in my shoulder. I reached up and pressed against the mark in my neck. The pain was heavy, and it grounded me.
Aileen shook her head. “You certainly don’t do anything halfway, do you? There was a wolf, Gordo. He came to me. I knew him. Even though I’d never met him in this life, I knew him. Gordo, he said you have to open the door. You have to throw it wide open if you expect to survive this.”
“The… door?”
“Yes,” she said, and she sounded frantic. Patrice started seizing behind her, spit dribbling down his lips
, hanging in a long string. “Shit. They’ve found him. Gordo, it’s the door. You have to open the goddamn door. We’re coming, okay? We’ll do what we can, but he said you have to open the door. He said you’d understand. That I had to tell you nevermore and you’d understand. Thomas said nevermore—”
Thomas.