His lips parted and then closed. When he exited the room, steps that had trudged earlier seemed lighter somehow.

I followed without him prompting me, closing the gap between us with long strides that made my calves burn. All the while his shadow breathed ice on my nape. One step closer. Two. By the third I could have reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. I lunged, smashing against an invisible barrier that rattled my brain, and I slid to the floor in a daze.

A witch. The man was a witch. I hadn’t touched him, but I read his magic easily.

The man didn’t break stride as he motioned to the umbra. Eager to please its master, the shadow consumed me. The now familiar chittering noises announced the arrival of the igel. A sea of tiny bodies made for an undulating carpet of spines, and the shadow laid me to rest on top of them. I hissed through my teeth as their needles pierced the sensitive flesh on my skull, back, hips and calves. Once skewered properly, I bit back a whimper as hundreds of dainty feet scrabbled across the grimy linoleum, causing the spines to shift—and my skin to tear—with them.

Somehow the little beasts scuttled up the stairs and out of the house while supporting my weight. Night had fallen during my captivity. From my new position, inches from the ground and flat on my back, the sky hung infinite and solemn above me.

Gemini derived their name from the Zodiac. The story goes that Castor and Pollux were twin brothers known as the Dioskouri. Castor was the son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, and a mortal. Pollux was the son of Zeus, and a demigod. Their mother was Leda. To make a Greek tragedy short, Castor was killed. In his grief, Pollux asked that his father allow him to share his immortality with his twin so they could remain together. Zeus agreed, and they were transformed into the constellation Gemini.

That said, I couldn’t point out our namesake constellation if my life depended on it.

Bright stars glittered above me, and they were nameless and heartless as they watched my progress.

Locked in the shadow’s chill embrace, I conserved my energy and strained my ears for hints about what came next. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to hear cheering and whistling coming from behind me, in the direction the hedgies were hustling.