Chapter 5

Do I pretend I didn't just jump and almost piss myself? Do I turn around, greet whoever it is, say, "Hi, I'm Asta, and I'm really sorry for breaking that vase! Say, uh, it seems I'm stuck in a very real dream, so do you happen to know a way to make me wake up?"

Yeah, that would go over well.

Just turn around and face whoever's there. Slowly I turn to face the person behind me, and I find I have to look down, as they turn out to be a small child, no older than six. He wears a yellow shirt with a little blue pair of pants, and a red sash on his hips. His hair is sandy and disheveled, and he looks like he just woke up.

"Who are you?" He asks, wrapping his sash around his hand.

"Uh, I'm, um. I'm just a traveler that took a wrong turn. I was trying to find a grove of apple trees, but instead, I stumbled upon a hidden tunnel, leading here, and before I knew it, the tunnel vanished! One minute, I'm on Earth, the next, I'm here!" I spin the story quickly, hoping and praying that it is convincing. From what I can tell, I have to be in the palace on Asgard, so disappearing tunnels linking two realms doesn't seem too far-fetched.

He sniffs, then shoves his hair from his face. "Then why are you hiding? You're Midgardian, one of the soldiers could take you back."

My heart is thundering in my chest, and I say, "Well, the guards are all up and looking for someone who broke a vase, and I don't want to interfere with their search efforts. Go back to bed, it's ok." I try to coax. "Where is your room? I'll tuck you in."

He sniffs again and points to a door a little way from the fireplace. "I was just coming out for something to drink." He rubs his nose, then says, "I don't know why they are in such a snuff about a broken vase, it's just a vase."

"But, aren't they vases with history on them? I would understand that they would be upset if a piece of history was broken." I rub my elbow, feeling horrible about what I had done.

"Yeah, but I never liked that vase anyway. It-" He freezes, and so do I. We seem to have a momentary staring contest, and when I shift on my feet to start running, I suddenly feel a presence behind me. Glancing at the mirror hanging above the fireplace, I see no one. That tells me I have two options for what is happening:

Either a ghost is behind me and this little boy is psychic and just knew what vase was broken, or someone very invisible and probably dangerous is behind me, and the boy is either not real or part of it.

I try to maintain calm while keeping an eye on the mirror and the boy, as well as my senses open to the person behind me. "Is it true?" I ask, pretending to become excited, and I kneel down to be eye-level with the boy, "Are some Asgardians psychic, knowing things that would be impossible to know otherwise?"

The boy grins. "Yes! I've been studying since I was five!" He proudly holds out his hand, showing me five fingers. The tension behind me shifts, and my sense of danger begins to weigh in my chest. Alarm bells ring in my ears, and I try to keep a calm outside appearance.

"Wow! That is absolutely amazing! Here, tell me all about it while I walk you to bed." I stand, my knees popping, and hold out my hand. The boy takes it, and for a moment I feel nothing, but long after he had grabbed hold of my fingers I feel pressure. He babbles about taking lessons here in the library and out in the courtyard, but I only hear half of it because I take the time as we walk to try to formulate a plan of escape, but with an invisible foe and a fake little boy, I have no clue what to do. We walk along the shelves, and I feel the presence leave behind me, but I still feel watched.

We reach the door he had pointed to earlier, and I am happy to find it is a closed-off section of the library, with a bookshelf blocking the way in front of me, with the door to the right of me and another bookshelf to my left, creating a shut-off portion that would make following me difficult. Now, how to get whoever is behind me to be on the other side...

I pretend to pat my pockets, searching for something, but finding a stray penny. I leave it in, and say, "Oh! My flask is gone! I was going to give you a drink, but my flask is missing! It was a gift from my mother," I hesitate, acting worried, and the boy watches me.

"Where did you drop it? Do you remember?" He asks, and I shake my head.

"I must have dropped it in the tunnel because I'd have heard it drop on these marble floors, and I remember drinking from it halfway through the tunnel. Do you know how to re-open it? Maybe you can help me get home." He sniffs and shakes his head.

"Maybe you can go ask one of the guards to help you go home, I can take you to them." He begins to pull me towards the door, and I feel the presence behind me once more. I reach into my pocket and drop the penny. It rolls behind me and stops at the mouth of the closed-off area.

"Hold on, darling, I have to grab my penny. I'll be right back, and we'll go to the guards together, ok?"I ruffle his hair and head back to the entrance. I feel the presence to the right of me as I pass it and walk casually to get my penny. Stooping down, I pick it up, but also take the opportunity to take a runner's start.

Never in my life or dreams, have I run so fast and hard.

I weave my way through the blur of shelves, trying my hardest to find my way back to the huge doors. I feel the presence in my chest, almost like a compass to where they are. It's weird and I have no clue what the hell it means or is, but at the moment, I have a slightly bigger issue. How freaking hard is it to lose the doors? They're huge!

I can tell they are moving slightly faster than I am, and moving towards the far wall. I take a sharp left turn and go back the way I came, and I feel the presence circling back and following me. I make it to the door the boy had pointed to and slam it open, fling myself inside, then slam it shut. Immediately I feel a bang on the door. I can feel the presence right outside the door, and I almost pass out.

I'm shaking and sweating, overall not having a good time. I try desperately to catch my breath, keeping my hand on the door handle. Someone tries to turn it from the outside, but I hold onto it like it's a lifeline. Terror runs through me and I try to take inventory of the closet. Nothing but stacks of books, a couple of brooms, and my pouch.

Wait.

Hope flows through me as I pick it up, and I open it with one hand while holding onto the nob with the other. I reach into the pouch and find it empty, aside from a single key.

Great, I'm in some kind of shit-show adventure video game where I get weird items that I probably don't need. I look at the lock for a moment, then to the key, and sigh. Where there's a key...

Someone knocks on the outside, then the boy's voice calls out. "Hey! Open the door, I want in!" The handle jiggles and I hold it tighter. Nopenopenope.

I insert the key into the lock with shaky fingers and slowly turn it. I hear someone shift outside, and right as I turn the key fully, I can no longer feel the tug in my chest. I search for a moment, but there's nothing except... I hear a faint beeping sound, way off in the distance. Slowly, I open the door, and as bright light floods my vision, the beeping becomes louder, until-

I open my eyes to sunlight filtering through my window and into my face. My alarm screams at me to get up, but I just lay there for a moment, trying to steady my breathing. I listen to the familiar sound, trying to calm myself as my fist tightens around a small metal key.