The Hidden World of Nitea [2 | The Other Realms Series]

Chapter Seventeen

Michelle sprang out of her slumber, catching her breath as she clutched the hem of her blanket. She looked around. The room was still dark. She reached for her cellphone and checked the time—it was a quarter past midnight. Groaning, Michelle fell back onto her bed and curled up into a ball.

She had been shaken by a recurring nightmare for the third time that night. It always went the same way: Michelle would sit alone in an empty chamber, her body paralyzed as it solidified into glass, and would struggle in the dark as she fought for movement only to realize that all her muscles had transformed. Cracks would form on her skin and spread out like a spiderweb before deepening until it would shatter her. Then, just before she could disintegrate into smithereens, she would wake up. Though it did disturb her the first night, she had become inured to it. It had been about a week.

Michelle tucked out her right arm. What was once contained to her finger had permeated the whole length of her limb. Now it had spread past that; the flesh and bone that made up her torso had been transformed, and the curse had entered her left shoulder. It was only a matter of time before she was no longer flesh and blood. She shuddered. No, they will find a cure for this, she assured herself. Everything will be back to normal.

Michelle reached for her phone. If she was not going to sleep, she might as well talk to someone. She opened her messaging app. Would Eddie still be awake? Well, he did send her a message at roughly two o'clock in the morning. Perhaps he was having trouble sleeping too. Michelle typed a message: you awake?

She stared at her screen for the next several seconds. He had not read it yet. He's asleep. Michelle placed her phone on her bedside table and then rolled to the other side of the bed. She closed her eyelids.

Ping.

A message. She reached for her phone once more. Eddie had texted her: Yeah. Why?

I can't sleep, she typed. She sent it. "Eddie is typing..." appeared on her screen.

Me neither. Do you want to talk?

sure. i haven't been able to talk to anyone

Not even Thomas?

i can talk to thomas, but not face to face
my parents won't let me go out
not even my brother can see me

Oh
But they let you meet me in Bois de Boulogne?

because the curse hadn't spread that far yet
you have a book that can teleport, right?

How did you know?

i saw it in a flashback
just wondering if, you know, i can be with you until i feel sleepy
then you can teleport me back
if you're not okay with it it's fine
i understand

Wait there, I'll send Louis to pick you up

louis?

Flash. Michelle briefly covered her eyes with her hand as an object teleported into her bedroom. It was a book; it was small, no larger than her personal diary, and wore a luxurious coat of red velvet. The book hovered in the air as it appeared to her.

"Hi Michelle, your boyfriend sent me to pick you up."

Michelle stared at it, speechless. First, the book could talk; and second, it referred to Eddie as her boyfriend. She could not recall a time when they explicitly established a romantic relationship.