For Nevermore Season 1

in her stomach.
    “16...15...14...13…”
    The room was Tori’s playroom, not Dante’s, but she could feel that other room shimmering as if just beneath the surface, calling to her in a way she couldn’t understand, inviting to pull her over. Tori’s room began to fade, showing hints of Dante’s bed, dark red curtains, and his hardwood floors. If Dante’s world was an illusion, it was a persistent one.
    “12...11...10...9…”
    “Dante,” she whispered.
    “8...7...6...5…”
    Noella was about to call for Dante a second time, louder, when she heard the front door unlocking downstairs. “I’m home,” Jen yelled.
    Crap!
    Tori yelled, “Ready or not, here I come!”
    It was too late. Noella could already feel herself being pulled towards whatever was on the other side as Dante’s world of dark woods and reds began to superimpose itself over Tori’s light pastel-colored playroom.
    I can’t go now.
    Noella called for Dante to pull her the rest of the way over or to push her back to her world. She couldn’t be caught in the same state of transition as Tori’s room, or Jen and Tori just might wind up in a room next to hers at King’s Point.
    Noella couldn’t see Dante, but she could feel him near. The world continued to flicker, as Dante’s bed strobed over Tori’s small computer table. Noella’s heart raced as the footsteps on the other side of the door drew closer.
    They could be Dante’s, or they could be Jen’s. Either set was inches away.
    The room flickered faster back and forth between worlds as the door, both Tori’s and Dante’s began opened slowly. And then she saw him, Dante, in the doorway, and her heart swelled in her chest as their eyes met.
    It’s him.
    And then he vanished. Replaced by Tori.
    “I found you!” Tori yelled, jumping on Noella.
    Noella laughed to blanket her crazed thoughts, then grabbed Tori and pulled her to the floor in a tickle. Dante had been so close. He was right there. He had to be real. Had to.
    Jen came into the room a second later, squealing and jumping up and down. “I got the job!”
    “Congratulations!” Noella said, giving her new friend a hug as she tried to get her head back into the moment. “Does that make Aurora Falls feel more like home now?”
    Jen laughed. “I suppose, though I think Aurora Falls will feel a lot more like home once I finally get caught up on all my laundry, not that I was ever caught up in the old house!”
    Jen turned to Noella, met her eyes, then asked her the question obviously on her mind. “Any chance you’d want to watch Tori after school for the next few weeks? I know you two get along great and everything, but at the same time, I know you’re young, have a social life to maintain, and can’t be available at your new neighbor’s whim. But if you can help me out a few weeks until I find someone else, or find an after-school daycare or something, I’d really, really appreciate it. I’m happy to pay you, whatever you need. I think it could work out great for the both of us, being right across the street from one another and all.”
    “Sure, I’d love to,” Noella said, barely pausing for thought. “I have to check with Josie, just to make sure it’s okay, but I’m not working at the coffee shop anymore, since that whole thing.”
    “Wait, you worked at that coffee shop on the news?” Jen asked. “The one where . . .” she didn’t finish the thought though, since Tori was listening intently.
    “Yeah,” Noella said, embarrassed and wishing she’d not mentioned Keefer’s.
    “That was you?” Jen asked, “Oh my God, you poor thing!”
    “What, Mommy?” Tori asked, pushing her way into the conversation. “What happened?”
    “Nothing, Tori. Go play. Noella and I are talking grownup stuff right now.”
    “Fine!” Tori said, turning on a heel and pouting.
    “It’s okay,” Noella whispered. “I’m fine now.”
    “Wow,” Jen said, visibly shaken, as if she’d been the one held up at gunpoint and who witnessed her co-worker’s murder. “How do you get over something like that?”
    “I try not to think about it,” Noella said, hoping that would change the subject. “But sitting for Tori has really helped, so I’ll be happy to watch her after school, as long as my aunt is cool with it.”
    “Are you sure it won’t interfere with your after-school plans too much?”
    Noella laughed. “I promise, I don’t have much of a social life as it is, and definitely no plans this will