Free The Key by Marianne Curley

to the iron bars and peer into the yard, but from here it looks as if I’m peering through glass or perspex. It’s some sort of barrier.
    A sudden voice pierces the quiet night. It asks my identity and has me jumping almost clear out of my skin. I look to where the voice bellowed out of a small white box. ‘My name is Rochelle Thallimar and I want to see Neriah. I was here earlier today, when I brought her home.’
    It takes a minute, but eventually the gates make a clicking sound, then slide open to about the width of my body. But the gates are only a decoy for the barrierbehind them. A hole appears before me, enlarging to an opening about the size of my body. It’s strange how it happens, like the glass – or whatever the barrier is constructed of – becomes malleable. I reach up to touch the edge of the hole when that voice returns. ‘Go through now!’
    It makes me jump again. I walk through the opening and the barrier folds down behind me, the hole completely disappearing with a sucking sound. I look up, and even though it’s dark, the barrier can be seen high above the trees, distorting the view of the night sky. The whole yard is shrouded beneath this protective dome. And now that I think about it, Neriah is chauffeurdriven to school and back in a black Mercedes, her two white dogs along for the ride. I guess she needs the security to protect her from Marduke.
    I start walking along a paved, sweeping driveway when lights ahead illuminate Neriah’s house. For a second I stop and simply stare. ‘Wow,’ I say to nothing but cold air. The house is like a palace, with little jutting windows on the upper level and overhanging balconies adorned with pretty flower beds beneath a series of thatched rooftops. ‘Someone sure is looking after you.’
    As I say this, the thoughts of someone in the yard flit through my head. It’s a brief encounter. Did I imagine it? The hairs on the back of my neck freeze at the roots, making my spine tingle. I look around, but it’s dark beyond the few garden lights outlining the driveway.
    I have to force myself to take another step because my legs have decided to stay put. That flash of thought could have come from anywhere. Now more than ever, I can hear thoughts from quite a distance away. Maybe there’s someone in the forest, camping illegally. Peopledo that around here all the time.
    Then it happens again, just as a twig falls from a branch that hangs almost directly over my head. I look up. But with no moon out yet, and that protective barrier overhead blurring the night sky, it’s too dark to see anything except the rough shapes of branches in shadow.
    OK, I try to reassure myself, just keep walking. It could be nothing. I could be hearing things. I look ahead, but the house is still a good distance away. Too far for my comfort. Why did I take it upon myself to visit Neriah? And why did I choose to do it at night?
    A sound to my right stops me dead. Slowly I turn my head. This time I see something – two glowing lights, oval-shaped and small enough to resemble a pair of eyes. And this time I hear a distinctive snarl. There’s an animal in the yard!
    It moves and I see a shadow bolt across the lawn beyond the trees. My mouth goes dry.
Move!
I scream this word as loud as I can inside my head.
Just move!
    I get to the house and Neriah opens a door for me. Beside her are two white dogs looking restless, whining and jumping about. ‘Hey, Rochelle,’ she says while telling her dogs to heel. ‘Come in.’ She glances down at the dogs, who still look uneasy. ‘I don’t know what’s got into these two.’
    â€˜There’s something in your yard.’
    Her eyes come up to meet mine. ‘Are you sure? What did you see?’
    â€˜Some sort of animal.’ I’m reluctant to tell her this ‘animal’ had thoughts like a human. At least, human enough for me to detect them