23. Through the Door.

"If he harms one hair.."

Maria couldn’t speak through her anger at the thought of Annie being in the clutches of that idiot.

"I have to go to make sure." She said.

"Fine." said Harold. "We will wait here. There is still the problem of getting to the spot where our fellow will need to be to unlock the cell."

Maria had forgotten about that.

"I will be quick." she said.

She thought of home and opened the portal.

She stepped out near the manor’s front door. Normally she would go around to the rear entrance, but she was in no mood to worry about etiquette.

As she stepped through the door, she could see that her worst fears were coming true.

Everyone was running around in a state of confusion. Maria and Annabel spotted each other at the same time. They moved toward each other.

"What happened miss Annabel?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"Annie is missing and so is another guest." she answered. "Where are the others?"

"I left them safe for now. What guest?"

"A man came yesterday evening saying he was a travelling troubadour. My brother decided to have him entertain us in exchange for food and lodging. This morning we awoke to find him and Annie missing."

"May the Unnameable take him!" said Maria.

"I gather you know more of what is going on than we do?" asked Annabel.

"I am sorry miss Annabel." said Maria. "It seems there is a vendetta happening against my family and those I care for are being pulled in as well. The man who came here yesterday must have been the same one we went looking for. We think he has taken Annie and means to do her harm."

"How will he harm her?" she asked.

Maria hesitated before answering. "We believe he will sacrifice her."

Annabel’s face did not change, but Maria saw the anger in her eyes.

"Go now and get her back." she said in a controlled voice. "I don’t care what happens to him."

"Yes, miss Annabel."

Maria quickly went outside and back to Tagert’s place. As she walked through the door, the others could see that it was not good news. She told them what she had found.

"So now we have to get to where he is now, and stop him." said Jenny.

"Where is this place?" she asked Tagert.

"Unfortunately," said the Storyteller, "It isn’t exactly in this world."

"Let me guess." said Maria. "It’s somewhere in the ‘tween?"

"Got it in one." said Tagert.

"I thought the only way into the ‘tween was through dreams." said Warren.

"Actually when Maria or Eva move using their power, they step through the ‘tween for a brief second." said Tagert. "There are ways of getting there through magical means, but I have no knowledge of such things."

"And Weivo is helping our friend in getting there." said Paul. "Too bad we don’t have a God helping us like that."

"We may not have a God," said a voice from the corner. "But we do have someone who is very powerful."

They all turned to see that Eva had regained consciousness and was looking at them.

Maria rushed to her aunt’s side. She stopped herself from taking her into her arms and squeezing.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"A little." answered Eva. "It only hurts when I move, or breath or blink.." she trailed off with a little smile.

Maria had to laugh.

"That’s better." said Eva. "You were looking very low, and you need to be strong to finish off this annoying business."

Harold cleared his throat.

"Sorry, but you were saying something about having someone to help us?" he said.

"Of course." said Eva.

"Don’t you remember, when you were little there was a room in the house you were not allowed in?" she asked Maria.

Maria searched her memories.

"I remember that door, but I remember it disappearing soon after. I thought it was just my imagination that it had been there."

Eva laughed.

"No." she answered. "It was still there, we just removed it from view afraid you may wander through it anyway. A little girl could easily get lost in the ‘tween. It is not the most normal of places."

"Is it still there?

"Of course. It was still necessary for your mother to have it, for reasons I won’t go into now, we just kept it hidden. If you go there, I am sure you can use it."

Maria stood up and turned to Tagert.

"Can you pinpoint where exactly we have to go?"

He consulted the parchments in his had and seemed to be talking to himself as if trying to remember something.

"It is said that the demon was imprisoned in the land where the nightmares live." he quoted. "That is where the final battle took place. Be careful, you never know what you will find there."

"Makes sense." said Maria. "Where else would a demon reside but among others of like mind."

"Thank you, for everything." she said , then turned to her companions. "I will go to mother and send for the rest of you."

"Good." said Jenny. "For a second there I thought you were going to go off on your own."

"I may be angry." said Maria. "But I am not mad."

She went home.

As she walked in, she called out for her mother.

Death, hearing the urgency in her daughter’s voice came quickly from the Room of Souls.

"What is it dear?" she asked.

Maria quickly caught her mother up on what had been happening.

"So now we need to stop him from sacrificing Annie and releasing the Demon." she finished.

Her mother was silent for a while.

"Very well." she said. "I will get the others here and show you the door. I cannot go with you though, I will have to see a God about a thorn in my side. Besides I have very little influence in the ‘tween. A side affect of my powers."

"Thank you."

Her mother left and, a short time later, returned with the others, and carrying her sister.

"No." she was saying. "You are not going. You are still to badly hurt. I need you to tell your side of the story."

"But." started Eva.

"No!" said her sister, in the tone she used when the argument was over.

Eva kept quiet.

After putting Eva down comfortably, Death brought the others to a wall at the back of the top floor hallway. She waved her hand and a door shimmered into view.

"Step through this door and you will be in the ‘tween. It is a little off putting, but you can get used to it."

She opened the door, and beyond it they could see rolling hills and trees. Except that the trees where fuschia and the sky was a lovely shade of orange while the grass was blue as the ocean, with the water being green.

They stepped through the doorway.

"Good luck." said Death as she closed the door behind them.

"It’s weird." said Warren. "But not that bad."

"You haven’t met some of the inhabitants yet." said Maria.

"Well, where do we go from here?" asked Harold.

Maria looked around at the world around her and pointed off into the distance.

"See that dark area?" she asked.

"The one with the roiling black clouds that has an ominous air about it? said Harold.

"That’s the one." said Maria.

"Wonderful."

They started off at a brisk pace, hoping they would not be too late.