Seconds later, they huddled inside the new doorway, far from the edge of the pool. The water was motionless now. Not a ripple disturbed its surface. It was as if they’d all imagined it.

Lou pressed herself against the wall, unsure which was more frightening: knowing that something had chased them and was now hiding, or the idea that it had been in her head.

CHAPTER 14

AFTER WALKING FOR what might have been twenty hours—or maybe twenty minutes—Jason noticed the familiar pinpoint of orange light far off in the distance.

He turned to thank the veiled woman, but she was no longer strolling beside him. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed only dim shadows of the crowd he’d seen earlier. Their footsteps continued to crunch along the path, which was enough to keep Jason moving onward.

By the time the dollhouse was near enough that he could make out its gables and spires and towers, the sounds of the people who’d accompanied him had died away. He whispered thank you to their shadows. He hated to think what might have happened to him if Madame hadn’t waved to him.

Coming closer to the house, he listened for voices from within. He needed to know that his sister was okay. But all was silent.

A figure rose up from behind the dollhouse. Jason froze, imagining the insect thing that had scratched at his back. Then his eyes adjusted, allowing him to see Connie’s disappointed face, and his muscles melted in relief.

He wanted to shout at her, Why did you leave me alone? But he already knew the answer and shouting again now might only drive her away. She’d left him alone because he hadn’t listened to her warning.

“You made it,” Connie whispered. Her voice was so quiet, Jason had to stare at her lips to be sure of what she was saying. Looking out at the darkness beyond the dollhouse, he searched for movement of large, gnarly silhouettes. He was too frightened to speak, but he had so much to ask. He nodded, unsure if it was the right time to open his mouth.

Peeking through the windows of the house, he noticed Lou wandering another dark hallway with the girl with braids and a blond boy. Lou glanced over her shoulder every few steps. “If you want to help these kids,” Connie went on, “we need to be more cautious. The creature inside is sly. It’ll stop at nothing to get what it wants. And what it wants more than anything is to—”

“To eat,” Jason finished, his voice little more than a creaking in his throat. “It feeds on fear. I’m not sure how, but it’s what Madame told me.” Connie threw him a curious stare. “A woman in a black dress and a veil over her face.” A spark of recognition lit in her eyes.