Ahead at the crossing, a barrier was slowly lowering, serving as a barrier device. The traffic light was blinking hysterically with a prohibitory light. The train driver sounded a sound signal using a typhon.

– Mother!

She didn't respond, didn't say anything. At some point, for a split second, I even thought that this was the end. That I spent all eighteen years in prohibitions in order to die like this stupidly, running away from a monster that I had never seen with my own eyes…

I didn't even have the courage to close my eyes.

Our car managed to fly through the rails just a few seconds before colliding with the train, completely demolishing the barrier on both sides. At that moment I wasn’t breathing at all. And my heart seemed to stop.

I desperately wanted to cling to my mother’s hand, but I perfectly understood that I could only hinder her. After what I had experienced, the last thing I wanted was to kill us.

Looking in the rearview mirror, between the rushing carriages of the train, I saw only the shadow of a black jeep forced to stop. When we turned at the intersection, he was no longer following us, but I still didn’t dare say anything.

The mother stopped only when we pulled off the road into a forest straight towards the lake, disappearing with the car behind the dense greenery of the trees. And that’s where her nerves gave way. Covering her face with her hands, she almost lay there for several minutes, leaning on the steering wheel.

“Mom…” I wanted to apologize for the mistrust.

But she exhaled sharply, straightened up and interrupted me:

“Sally, this can’t go on any longer.” We need to hide you so that he can't get to you. I swear I didn't mean to bring you into this. I didn't think you'd spend your first eighteen years on the run. I wanted an ordinary life for you, like I once had. – Stroking my cheek with her palm, she smiled through her tears. “As long as you’re around, I can’t deal with him, because I’ll never forgive myself if I put you in danger.”

– Mom, you speak in riddles. “I don’t understand anything,” I admitted, but tears stood as a veil in my eyes.

Exhaling loudly again, as if she had gained determination, she started the car.

– Go. I'll tell you something on the way. For starters…” she taxied back onto the highway leading to Ashwool. – You should know that our world has another – the Dark Side.

Silence. It was cold, like water in a barrel that had stood outside the country house all winter. She was tense – my nails dug into the flesh of my palms to the point of palpable pain, while I waited for the end of the conversation that was happening without my participation on the other side of the wall. It drove me crazy, because the unknown is the worst creation of our imperfect world.

Out of the corner of my eye, noticing some movement on the dark, porous floor tiles, I suddenly jumped up and froze in horror. My lips immediately dried up at the sight of a disgusting white spider, which confidently moved all its legs, clearly intending to stroll past me.

Or maybe to me! It was impossible to predict his desires from his beady black eyes. But I knew one thing for sure: I didn’t want to cross paths with this individual the size of my fist under any pretext.

Because I was terribly afraid of spiders. To the point of muteness. Until loss of consciousness. As a child, this was my biggest fear. The babayka, the brownie and the under-bed monster weren’t even close to them.

But this is in childhood. A large amount of free time and almost unlimited access to any literature through an e-book played a role. Using various methods, I was able to slightly reduce the degree of my relationship with these multi-legged creatures. Now I perceived them much easier. But if there was an option not to be in the same room with them, I did everything to get rid of these monsters.