She seemed to swim in the shadows, like a deadly dance. As if everything in her body had been hollowed out and darkness had filled the void. The sound around her had vanished, trapped in a deafening silence. Thana felt herself drowning in the darkness. Weakened, she flailed her arms around, searching for an explanation. She could barely tell if her eyes were open or closed, though it wouldn't make a difference. The fire had subsided, and all she felt was the cold. A cold that penetrated deep beneath her clothes, causing her to shrink into herself. That's when she felt a prick in her palm, the first real sensation she could feel again. The glass bottle pressed painfully into her thumb, but Thana held onto it tightly, as if it were her only anchor in this darkness.

The tingling sensation in her thumb seemed to make her increasingly aware of her body. Her bones felt fragile, but she noticed she was lying on the ground. A cold floor that was too hard to be parquet. She could feel her fingers again, regain feeling in her legs. Her injured hand remained numb, as the darkness slowly began to recede from her lungs. Yet her breathing remained shallow, while sounds slowly reached her ears again. A soft creak of wood was faintly audible, and a few footsteps seemed to be approaching. The smell of burning wood filled her nostrils, and Thana concluded it must be a fireplace. Yet she felt no warmth, only the cold floor beneath her. Her eyes were closed.

It wasn't a voice she could hear, just some strange clicks. Shrill tones, and then so soft she could barely hear them. Carefully, Thana opened one of her eyelids, but she couldn't see much. Was someone watching her? Where was she? She wasn't in her room anymore, that much the girl knew for sure. She lay on a floor that seemed to be marble, in a long, large room. There were various pieces of furniture scattered across the floor, but the girl didn't dare look up. Once again, there was that gut feeling that seemed to hold her back. Yet she saw it, further down the end of a cloak that seemed to end in shadows. The creature that had wanted to take her. Had taken her, she corrected herself.

"She's awake." The three words startled Thana, and she knew she had been caught. Had someone seen her looking around? She hadn't seen a person at all. Or was this the creature that sounded human? She remained silent for a while longer, hoping it wouldn't be about her. That they thought she was still asleep or whatever the darkness had meant. Long enough until she had come up with something or knew where she had ended up. Thana didn't understand why she reacted like this, why she didn't panic even more. She should have screamed, smashed things to pieces, fled, or all at once. She needed her phone, surely someone nearby would help her.

"Get up," the voice sounded again, and it felt like a cold shiver ran down her spine. Thana decided she didn't have much of a choice. Carefully, she now opened both eyes completely as she blinked to get rid of the dark spots on her retina. Her neck was stiff, and her back seemed to protest every movement she made. When she tried to push herself upright, she only now noticed that her injured hand was bandaged. Who had done that? Another question, but the girl hoped to get answers soon. It felt like she was in a movie set. Tall columns filled the space, and dark curtains were everywhere, preventing her from looking outside. In one of the corners, a fireplace was burning. The creature stood a few meters away from her. Thana's heart pounded in her throat.

Then she decided she might as well make it difficult for the others. Why, she didn't know, but Thana was angry, furious! How dare they scare her like that, take her away, and hurt her. "Say, asshole, who do you think you are?" she screamed. "Kidnapping me in the middle of the night! Just wait, the police will be here soon, and I swear you'll regret this! I don't care what magic trick you're playing here, but I don't find this funny!" She let it all out, all the fear and anger that had begun to boil up. But the creature in front of her didn't react, making Thana feel like throwing the chain at its head. Especially when she noticed that the monster was still holding her book.

However, the answer didn't come from the creature but from behind her, causing Thana to turn around in shock. "My deepest apologies for the inconvenience, milady," came from the mouth of the man who bowed deeply before her. His blonde curls, however, remained in place, causing Thana to sniff. What kind of dream was she in now? As if the man in front of her would now be her prince charming on a white horse, and she had landed in a fairy tale world. "I'm afraid you wouldn't get an answer from them, they don't speak the language we master," the man pointed to the monster. "The one you call a monster," he replied with a smile, which made Thana look shocked at her shoulder.

She almost expected the shadow monster to wave at her, but it continued to stare at her without a face. There were so many questions swirling through her head, but there was something that rolled off her tongue: "What is it?" She shook her head. "I don't want to know." Angry, she turned back to the man: "I want to get out of here, call my parents! Right now!" She looked around, looking for a possible way out.

The man, however, shrugged his shoulders: "No one knows, they've been here so long. Some say they've been here longer than here, yet they're loyal. Most of the time anyway." His attention seemed to shift to her hand: "I had your arm saved a while ago, a thank you is in place." Uncomfortable with his gaze, Thana hid her arm behind her back, but he just shrugged his shoulders. "But my name is Davion," he nodded. "And you're welcome." Thana raised her eyebrow, but he just continued talking: "Your arm, I just saved your life, a thank you is in order."

Thana just managed to keep herself from staring at him with her mouth open. "Thank you?" she replied bewildered. "Without you, I probably wouldn't even have been here!" It had become clear to her that the monster hadn't been behind this. "If you let me go now, I promise you the police will be lenient! Maybe just a few years instead of life?" Thana tried again, but Davion shook his head and she felt hope sinking into her shoes. "What no?" she replied somewhat panicked.

However, Davion sounded as if he were telling a child for the umpteenth time that grass wasn't edible. "The guard knows you're here," he declared as if she should know: "You own the necklace and are thus part of our realm here." Thana opened her hand to look at the white glass bottle he was talking about. "You're free to go and stand what you want, what you wish, you just ask," he went on to say, causing Thana to look up again.

"Except to leave?" she guessed. She didn't need to read all those books Izara was so fond of for this. But she kept telling herself she'd wake up again soon and everything would return to how it used to be. And then, she kept telling herself, she would finally be able to tell everything to Izara. Her aunt's story had sent her imagination into overdrive, was her conclusion. Her gaze wandered back to the necklace, if she was trapped in her dream she could just as well use it right? "So if I wish for a big clown show with unicorns performing lots of tricks, can that be done?" Thana made up on the spot. She kept an eye on Davion's reaction. When she noticed he was looking at her in surprise, she found that it reassured her in a way. She still had her own will!

His next words, however, shattered that thought again. "Unicorns aren't so fond of humans, but I can always have them captured and tamed for you," he replied seriously. Too seriously for her taste. It felt like her stomach did a somersault. He didn't look like he was joking.

There was only one thing that came to Thana's mind and that was a string of loud curses. Where had she ended up now?