Still dark out. Before sunrise.
In an instant, Maisie went straight from sleepy confusion to heart-hammering panic, and leaped out of bed. She'd laid down in a desperate attempt to get a little sleep, and she was surprised she'd been able to fall asleep at all. Now she only had 35 minutes, and she wished she'd left herself more time. As she pulled on her sneakers and hastily tied the laces, she was very thankful she hadn't made the mistake of undressing to sleep, still wearing her jeans and tee from yesterday.
The girl grabbed a hair tie and quickly swept her brown hair back into a simple ponytail, missing a few strands on either side of her face. She pulled her backpack from under her bed and began throwing things into it with frantic speed.
Spare jeans, shirt, underwear, lots of socks...what else? Maisie would've cursed the goblin, but she didn't want to take the time. It wasn't really fair anyway, he'd only warned her, after all, about the Lord's plan. Notebook, pens, pencils... She paused for a moment, looking at her schoolbooks, wondering if she'd ever go to school again. Chemistry and European History might be useful... Two books into the pack, and the rest scattered carelessly. Small stuff now, have to leave room for food...
She almost regretted befriending the grubby little creature. If she'd just ignored what she thought she'd saw from her window in the garden below like a rational person, she wouldn't have to be panicking now, would be asleep in blissful ignorance. It wouldn't be all her responsibility. She was fourteen, this wasn't even remotely fair. Or wise...she'd probably screw it up and everyone would be trapped forever anyway.Locket with pictures of Aiden and mom and dad. Charm bracelet...some of them are real silver and gold...phone, maybe if I'm lucky it'll keep working somehow. Maisie looked around her bedroom for possibly the last time. On an impulse, she grabbed a small stuffed lion from the windowsill and shoved it into the backpack. Careful now, mustn't wake them... She shouldered the bag and turned the knob of her bedroom door, so slowly it was essentially silent. Opening it a crack allowed her a clear view of the hallway, which was empty. She left the room, closing the door behind her and repeating her care with the outside knob, in reverse.
Grumbleshanks...what a ridiculous name. She'd thought the whole thing was so novel and cute at first. Magic was real, but hidden. Fairies and goblins and all sorts of things. It would've been nicer to meet a fairy, but the goblin had said they avoided the suburbs...something about a facade and nature bound in chains. He said a lot of strange things and Maisie could only understand them about half the time. But even if she couldn't talk to a fairy, she'd take some magic wherever she could find it.
Down the stairs, staying to the left so they didn't creak, and into the kitchen. Maisie opened the fridge and grabbed a couple of water bottles, adding them to her bag. What will keep? Cheese, yes. Orange, no, but I can eat it first. She closed the fridge. Bread, peanut butter...knife, fork, spoon. The girl spotted a plastic bag of dried fruit and snatched it eagerly.
They'd been meeting for weeks in the garden, just after midnight. She'd give him spoiled eggs and unspoiled milk, and in return he'd tell her stories of the world few people got to see. She'd started falling asleep in class, but come on...that choice wasn't a choice at all. But last night...this night, technically...the story was different.
Shaker of salt, all the herbs from the spice rack...cooking or spells... Maisie stared at the butcher block for a moment, wondering what it'd be like to try to stab something. She'd never hurt anything in her life if she could avoid it, even bugs. She pulled the biggest butcher knife out of the block, stuck it down the tube of a nearly-empty roll of paper towels, and slid the knife and it's impromptu sheath into a side pocket on the backpack.
He'd been really frightened. Said a "Lord of Night" had found the secret path the Daughter of the Morning used to return to the world, and he was going to take her, steal the morning and let it stay night forever. She'd actually thought it sounded exciting at first, but he said no one would wake up, they'd be trapped in dreams, and with mortals asleep the creatures of darkness could "rule unchallenged".
She moved through the living room and left her bag by the front door, taking a moment to check her phone. 5:23, have to hurry. Still careful with the basement door, then down the stairs quickly. Maisie spotted her old shin guards from soccer and snatched them up, and Aiden's aluminum baseball bat. I could still wake him... The thought went unacted upon, she'd made that decision already...if fourteen was unfair, nine was doubly so.
But there was a slim chance. Any mortal awake when the Lord took her would feel fear such that it would stop their heart. However, Grumbles said that exact moment between night and day was a doorway that could be stepped through, even by a mortal, if they knew it was there and were 'unspoiled'. She hadn't been sure what he meant by the last part, but eventually he'd managed to make it clear. Who knew goblins could blush?
Sleeping bag. Bug spray. Don't need sunscreen...oh, matches! She went back upstairs and gently put her new selections down, sliding the bat into the center of the sleeping bag, shin guards into another side pocket of her backpack and the rest in the center. A glance at the phone. 5:28. What else? Jacket! Maisie fetched her green windbreaker from the front closet and pulled it on, and while she was at it, grabbed a small bundle of cotton cord, forgotten in the back corner.
If she called out the name of her quest and opened the door at the very instant, she might be able to get her back. The Lord would be overconfident at first and not expect a rescue. Grumbleshanks said he would help, but this Lord of Night was far more powerful than he - and as a mortal, Maisie had certain protections a goblin didn't. Still, he'd said they would probably both die, or worse. Such a charmer.
Maisie unlocked and opened the front door, revealing the quiet cul-de-sac her house was on, tinges of false sunrise brushing over the houses and pavement with the vague suggestion of colors. Also, on the front steps, a goblin. Not quite three feet tall, his skin was mottled green and dark brown, with streaks of sickly yellow. His eyes were a cloudy orange, his nose hooked so much it turned back underneath itself. He glanced back over his shoulder nervously.
"Quickly, now!" he hissed. "Invite me in!" The girl peered at him.
"If this whole thing is a trick, I swear..." Grumbleshanks shook his head, irritated.
"All I have said about the danger tonight is true, if my tongue tastes a lie, let it never savour a rotted egg again."
"Ok." She still hesitated...she knew this couldn't be undone, or at least so he'd said. But only for a second. She really did trust him...looks had never mattered to her. "I give you leave to cross my threshold," she said carefully, as he'd explained. Immediately, the goblin leaped inside and shut the door again.
She couldn't even prepare properly...not only did it have to be tonight, but Grumbleshanks was paranoid that if she started readying for a journey too early, before the Lord was occupied, he might notice and then everything would go cockeyed. They'd talked, and planned, but she'd had to just wait...they decided about a half hour before would be safe.
Maisie shushed the goblin and looked upwards fearfully, but there was no sound that suggested her parents or brother had been woken by the noise of the door shutting.
"No time, no time...is this everything, are you ready?" Grumbleshanks whispered, gesturing to everything she'd gathered. She nodded, and he motioned for her to pick it up, in fact lifting the backpack up towards her (though only as high as her waist). "You must carry all you need, quickly now!" Maisie put the backpack on and lifted the sleeping bag bundle by a strap. She reached out and put her hand on the door, then turned to her companion expectantly.
She'd asked him why he was helping...wasn't he a creature of the night too, after all? He'd looked embarrassed, and muttered that chickens would probably fare poorly in an eternal night, and then where would he get eggs? Maisie suspected he actually liked people, and felt conflicted about it. She knew how that went...her best friend was a goblin, of all things.
"Wait for it...wait for it...Now!" Without a wasted moment, Maisie yanked the door open, eyes shut, as she breathed the word that would start the quest and hopefully be their eventual reward...the Daughter of the Morning's proper name.
"Dawn."