CHAPTER 75

He ran to the billiards room, nearly tripping over the rolled-up carpet just inside the door. There was barely enough light for him to see by, so he used his phone’s flashlight, feeling along the wall until he found the rough depression left by the cue ball’s impact. He flicked plaster dust from his fingers, swept the phone’s light across the floor. There it was, the message, white as frost against the hardwood boards.

COME IN

It was real. Just as the door was real, and the numinous colors that had bloomed inside it.

COME IN

A message meant for only him. Not Holly, not Amanda, certainly not Nisa.

He checked that he was still alone, then used his foot to erase the words, stooped to run his shirtsleeve across the pale smudge that remained. What a freaking bitch Nisa was, storming into his space like that! She knew what he’d found, he could tell from the way her bratty little eyes had scanned the bedroom.

At least the message was gone now. He couldn’t do anything about the dent in the wall, but he bet the others wouldn’t even notice it. If they did, he’d just play dumb. This place was like a funhouse; everyone was constantly stumbling over some new pocket of weirdness.

Yet he was the only one who’d found something beautiful. He yearned to be back in his room, to reach into the tunnel and hold his hand out toward those tiny enchanted figures, watch them drop into his cupped palm. He would never hurt them. He’d protect them—or, better still, he’d squeeze into the passage and join them, shrinking until he, too, was a glittering spark, safe.

He had never been anywhere before that made him feel so safe.

Tonight he’d lock his door, push the night table against it so Nisa wouldn’t be able to sneak in again. For now, though, he needed to keep her, or anyone else, from suspecting what he’d found.

He turned and went to join the others.