Free Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) by Julia P. Lynde Page B

lowered her lips over mine again. All I had to do was lift my head a few inches, hardly at all, and I could kiss her.
    She waited for me, her lips hovering over mine.
    I struggled with it. I felt my head move a little, but I couldn't raise it from the floor. I tried scrambling with my arms, but as soon as I did, she pulled away and shook her finger at me again.
    "I can't," I told her.
    She frowned and caressed my cheek. Then she lowered her lips towards mine again.
    I didn't get my kiss.
    * * *
    I didn't get one Tuesday, either.
    * * *
    "I don't like this game," I told her Wednesday.
    She straightened up and looked away. Then she disappeared.
    "Hey!" I yelled. "Where did you go?"
    After about two minutes, she reappeared, standing over me. She was holding a glass of water. There was a hand towel thrown over her shoulder. She knelt down at my head. I reached for her but she pulled away. I heard her set the glass of water down. She frowned at me, then her hands started to glow. She touched my shoulders and my arms went limp.
    "Hey," I said quietly. "What did you do?"
    Her hands were still glowing. She leaned over me and pressed her hands to my hips. My legs went immediately limp as well. I couldn't so much as twitch a finger.
    "What are you doing?" I asked.
    She didn't answer. Instead she reached above my head and picked up the glass of water. She reached in and withdrew an eye dropper. She filled the eye dropper with water from the glass, then held it about two feet directly above my face.
    "You wouldn't," I said.
    She squeezed the bulb and a drop of water fell from the eye dropper and splashed onto my face.
    "Hey!" I said.
    She moved the eyedropper slightly and squeezed again. The drop fell directly into my right eye.
    "Stop it!"
    She adjusted her aim and the water fell into my left eye.
    The next time she squeezed the water out, I shut my eyes tightly. The water splashed against my closed lid. She splashed me a few more times, then I heard her set the glass down and she was drying my face with the towel.
    I opened my eyes and looked at her. "I know you want me to turn my face," I told her. "But I can't."
    She disappeared.
    Like last time, she was gone about two minutes before she returned. She had her hands behind her back so I couldn't see what she was holding.
    "Can we go back to the other game?"
    She shook her head.
    She knelt down next to me. She set something down with a glass clunk on the floor then showed me what else she was holding. She had a roll of tape.
    "What is that for?"
    She peeled off a piece of tape then reached over and used her left hand to pry my right eyelid open.
    "No! No! No!" I said, trying to squeeze my eyes shut. She taped my eye open anyway. She did the same with the other eye.
    "I want to wake up now!"
    She shook her head.
    Then she showed me what else she had. It was a bottle of lemon juice.
    "Petra, please don't."
    She looked at me sadly, then poured a capful of lemon juice into the water. She stirred it with her finger then tasted it. She added another cap of water, stirred, and tasted.
    She filled the eye dropper with the water lemon juice mix. The first splash was against my lips. I could taste the lemon.
    "I want to wake up!"
    The next splash just missed my left eye, but some of the water seeped onto my eye. It stung!
    "Petra!" I yelled.
    The next splash landed directly in my right eye. It really stung. She got my left eye with the following splash. Now both e yes stung, and I couldn't blink.
    "Oh god!" I yelled. "Stop it!"
    She waved a glowing hand over my face, and the stinging immediately stopped. She caressed my cheek once. Then, offering a sad look, she picked up the glass and eyedropper again.
    "No!" I yelled.
    The splash landed on my cheek. I had turned my head away.
    She immediately set the glass down and clapped with joy. She reached over, caressed my face, then turned my head so I was staring straight up again. She picked up the eyedropper. With her free hand, she tapped my left