Lucky and the Killer ✔

In the Castle

"You can't make me go in there," Lucky said. She pushed her hands against the sides of the portal door and refused to budge.

"I'm not leaving you here," her brother said.

"No," Lucky shrieked again. "King is in there!"

"King?" the woman gasped. "You don't want to go back because of King?"

"He tried to kill me!" Lucky yelled.

"No he didn't," the woman laughed. "King would never hurt you."

"As if!" Lucky cried as she continued to brace her body against the portal. "Wait, you know him?"

"Hate him," her brother shrugged.

"See!" Lucky stammered. "So, I'm not going in there. He's going to kill us."

"He's not going to kill us," her brother sighed. "Let's just go already. You're wasting time. I'm not staying here. I barely know anything about this planet. Do you know how hard it was to find you?"

"Then why are you looking?" Lucky groaned. "Can't you all just leave me alone?"

"Go in," her brother said with a roll of his eyes.

"No," Lucky countered.

"I said," the man groaned as he pushed her inside the door, "go in!"

The three of them staggered into the darkness of the portal. With the two of them behind her, Lucky kept walking through it. She didn't have any other choice. She was going to find out if this new world existed or not, and hopefully, the killer wouldn't be waiting for them on the other side.

The portal's hallway ended with another door—like a long, creepy closet. Lucky put her hands on the door's handle and sucked in a breath. She couldn't bring herself to pull it open. What if it was all real? What if it was all fake?

"Go on," the man said, "open it."

"King went through here," Lucky grimaced. "What if he's in here?"

"Haha," her brother laughed, "she's finally coming to her senses."

"Zee!" the woman chastised.

"Eh, he won't be hanging around the portal," Zee said. "The guard's out here. Open it. It's alright."

Lucky wasn't sure what he meant by that, but her fingers wrapped around the door's handle and tugged anyway. So, her brother's name was Zee. Maybe...seeing the new world would bring everything back. That was, if she was actually from there.

Light flooded into her eyes. He feet walked themselves out of the portal of their own accord. It was beautiful. Not only was it beautiful, it was real. An entirely new world opened up in front of them—as though they'd just walked through a window.

The minty sky shimmered like diamonds, and aside from the trees being quite burgundy and purple, it looked very much like Earth. Tall grasses swayed around their feet, and a castle stood alone on a hill some distance away. For as beautiful as it was, she didn't seem to recognize any of it.

Lucky looked behind her. The door to the subway was still ajar, and down the long hall she could still see the cement building they'd come from. Scattered coffee cups still littered the floor behind her. Glittering clouds formed above her. She was standing between two different worlds, and it was all real.

"It's real," she whispered.

"Of course it is," Zee said. "Now, let's get to the castle."

Lucky nodded in a fit of stupor and walked beside them through the dancing grass. It didn't take them too long to reach the castle, and as they walked into the iron gates, they left the portal behind to Earth far behind. Guards bowed their heads as they entered the courtyard, and a tiny little girl came hurtling into the foyer.