Rachael opened one eye and then the other, slowly, looking around her room as if she wasn’t sure what oddities may present themselves today. Her alarm was still going off, so she silenced it, and then sat up.

Everything looked the same as it had the night before. Her packed suitcases, as well as a few boxes she’d managed to get her hands on and fill the evening before, all sat where she’d left them near the closet. Scrappy was meowing at the foot of the bed, wanting breakfast, and the tennis racquet Rachael had fallen asleep clutching lay next to her. At midnight, it had occurred to her that vampires were real, and if one of them decided to come after her, she wasn’t prepared. Hence… the tennis racquet.

Yawning, she ran her hands through her hair, realizing now how silly she’d been, thinking a tennis racquet could stop the undead. The sooner she got out of here and to Silverwood, the better.

She padded into the bathroom, turned the shower on, did her business, including brushing her teeth, and then went back into the bedroom to get the clothes she’d laid out the night before. Even if she wouldn’t be seeing Graham that day, she wanted to look nice, and he’d said he might show up later. She’d decided to wear her favorite pair of dark jeans and a red top that set her eyes off nicely. Maybe Trip would be more inclined to help with the heavy lifting if she looked fetching.

After her shower, Rachael took her time getting dressed and making sure she looked presentable. The fact that she’d have to carry all of this stuff to her SUV and would likely get all sweaty didn’t occur to her until after she was gussied up. “I guess I’ll just take my time,” she muttered to Scrappy who meowed in agreement.

Her laptop was still on the table in the living room, so she went to get it, thinking she should check her email before she stashed it in one of her bags. Part of her was afraid to. What if her story was back up and everything had returned to the way it had been two days ago? She knew she’d have to face reality either way, though, so she opened her laptop.

No story. Nothing from her editor demanding to know where her next chapter was. Only an email from Frank Merek expressing how upset he was that she’d chosen to quit, especially in this manner. Despite his disappointment, he wished her well, and Rachael closed her laptop with a satisfied smile.

Loading everything up took almost an hour since she insisted on resting between trips so as not to get all stinky. Once she had all of her essentials and some of her not-so-essentials in the vehicle, she placed Scrappy into her pet carrier and put her in a spot in the back where she’d be more comfortable. With one more glance around the apartment, she locked the door.

Graham had given her directions so that she could find Silverwood again, but there was no address, nothing to type into a GPS. When Rachael pulled out of the parking lot, it was only with a vague notion that she knew where to go. On the other hand, she’d created Silverwood, so surely she wouldn’t have any trouble finding it now that it existed.

The two hour drive gave her plenty of chances to think about everything that had happened since she’d felt that small tremor while finishing the last chapter of her novel. She still had no idea what it was, but she couldn’t help but feel as if it was connected somehow. Perhaps the library at Silverwood would have some clues as to what might’ve happened to bring her story to life. Though she had yet to see any magic at the school, she knew it was there, knew there were staff members and students who could do remarkable feats. Was it possible the school itself was also magical?

Rachael had never believed in magic. Driving along with the radio playing ‘90s music, she thought about how she’d always wished magic were real. As a little girl, she’d dreamt of waking up in a fairy tale and having powers that could bring her true happiness. She never quite understood why her father had left, but the idea that she could magically bring him back to her was an appealing on. As she got older, she realized she didn’t want or need him back in her life. But magic still would’ve come in handy for other situations--like revenge. Or true love.

None of the magic at Silverwood worked that way. She couldn’t learn a spell to make Graham fall in love with her. But she could learn to protect herself, and maybe how to use her mind to move things or set things on fire. That would be cool. Surely, in a world where that was possible, it was also a possibility that whatever had made her story come to life could be discovered at Silverwood.

After stopping for a bite to eat, Rachael found herself winding through the countryside a little before noon, hoping she could find the right road. She could hear Scrappy moving around in her carrier, growing anxious, or sensing the place where she could eventually find Graham not too far away. “We’ll be there soon, kitty,” she assured her furry friend. Some of the houses in the distance looked familiar, and she remembered the curve she was headed around now.

A few more miles, and she saw the trees up ahead, the ones that stood sentinel around the road where she would turn to reach Silverwood. Rachael hit the brakes, turned on her blinker, and held her breath.

Awe overcame her, just as it had the day before when she was in Graham’s Ferrari. The trees seemed mystical, with gnarled trunks and green leaves the summer sun had yet to fry to burnt brown. The meadows beyond the trees were also green, and Rachael could imagine deer and rabbits frolicking there. Concentrating on the road, she wound her way to the left and Silverwood came into view. Still there. Still part of her reality, despite how impossible it seemed.

To her left was a small keypad she hadn’t seen the day before. She considered pushing the intercom button to ask to be buzzed in, but before she tried that, she entered the passcode Graham had set up for her for all of the doors to see if that would work here, too. The gates in front of her yawned open with a tired groan, and in front of her, Silverwood came to life.