upload

“I’m serious. Kelley isn’t herself. She’s acting weird, but you’re the same as always. Why?”

Drake tilted his head as he thought about this.“Now that I think about it, I’m not really me.”

I pursed my lips, not knowing how to respond to that.

Luckily, he continued on.“Like my mind is here, but my body isn’t.”

“Drake, I’m looking at you right now. You. Your body.”

He shook his head.“No, I don’t think so. Watch.”

I stared at him, but nothing happened except that he fell silent for a few moments.

“See,” he exclaimed after about a minute.

“See what?” To my eye, not a thing had happened, but Drake appeared giddy.

“I left,” he enthused as if I were supposed to not only take this all in stride but also be duly impressed. “I went back to Beech Grove and saidwhat up to Mr. Fluffikins.”

“Drake, you didn’t go anywhere. You were here the whole time,” I argued as the beginnings of a headache pressed at my temples.

He touched his chest and frowned.“Not me. This isn’t the real me. Well, this body isn’t. The inside me is here with you, but the outside me is back with Fluffikins.”

“Drake, listen to me,” I said pulling him toward the wall so we had a bit of privacy. “Right now I’m battling a really strong illusion witch. He sent me here as a distraction because I was asking too many questions or something. But I have to get back.”

Drake nodded along. He waslaissez faire about everything, but at least he wasn’t stupid. I clung to that now.

“How did you leave just now?”

He twisted his hands in front of him.“I don’t know. I just did it.”

I groaned. So not helpful.“But how? I need to leave now. Can you teach me?”

He thought about this for a second before speaking again.“I just opened my eyes, my real eyes, and then I was in Beech Grove. When I closed them again, I was here. I don’t really know how else to explain it.”

“Okay,” I said, licking my lips. “I’m going to try that.”

I closed my eyes and tried to picture the summit I’d left behind. When I opened them again, I found Drake watching me in anticipation.

“Did it work?” he asked with a curious expression.

“No. Let me try again.” And I did. I tried at least half a dozen times with increasing frustration, but I couldn’t get it to work.

“Drake, I’m stuck,” I whined in frustration.

He thrust one hand into his pocket and brought the other up to grope at his opposite arm.“Sorry.”

“I’m stuck…” I said again, realizing something. “But you’re not. You can help me!”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Okay, listen up, because this is very important. I need you to go back to Mr. Fluffikins and tell him that an evil wizard has captured me and Merlin and taken us to the top of a very tall mountain in Nocturna. I’m trapped in an illusion, and Merlin is in a magical cage. We have no way out, andthe wizard is going to use our blood to cast a very bad, super evil spell. I need you guys to come and save us.”

His eyebrows rose one after the other. Finally I had piqued his curiosity“Nocturna? I’ve never heard of that place before.”

“Yeah, but I’m hoping Mr. Fluffikins has. Can you do this, Drake? Can you save the world?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” And then he was gone, leaving behind the lifeless shell of his illusion.

All I could do now was wait and hope that I had put my trust in the right man—er, vampire—for the job.

22

I blinked my eyes open with a start. The brightly lit coffee shop had transformed into a dark and barren nightscape. I couldn’t see anything, save for the glowing light of the stars and moon that hung heavy in the sky above.

One more thing glowed, too—a cauldron filled with rolling bright green liquid.

I was back at the summit!

But how?

A swirl of pink caught my eye, then another surge of green.

Two black cats tumbled in a tangle of magic, Fluffikins versus Dash, good versus evil.

“Drake?” I shouted into the darkness.

“I’m here,” he said, level-headed as he stood dangerously close to the edge of the mountaintop.

“You found us!” I was so happy I could cry.

“Took a few tries, but we got here. There are a lot of mountains in this place.”

Now I really was crying. Perhaps I wouldn’t die today, after all.

“Do you know you’re chained to a rock?” Drake asked as the cats continued to fight tooth and nail.

“Yep. Can you free me?” I asked hopefully, struggling against my bonds to show him I was incapable of releasing them myself.

Drake started toward me with a steady stride, focused but not hurried, as if he had all the time in the world.

I tried not to groan, sigh, or roll my eyes. I knew he was capable of emotion. I’d seen it when Mr. Fluffikins had revealed that Drake was secretly a vampire. Did our current situation really not even warrant a bit of pep in his step?

Drake had cleared more than half of the distance between us when all of a sudden his eyes grew wide, and he slumped forward onto the ground.

Dash stood behind him, assessing the damage with obvious pride.

“Drake!” I screamed. “Get up!”