Chronicles of Narnia

Safara Ridley was so not the babysitting type. In fact, the only reason she had agreed to watch over the Wilkins kids was because she needed the 15 dollars an hour for her trip to America later on in the year. It would have been okay if they were the kind of kids who went to bed early – but ten-year-old Mike and seven-year-old Tilly were the sort who liked to stay up late and annoy the babysitter.

Safara's phone beeped insistently and she pulled it out of the pocket of her denim shorts to realize that it was a text from her friend, Karla.

We R having sum drinks Dave's 2nite. U coming?

Dave was Karla's crush…and didn't they all know it. Because most of their group were eighteen now, they normally had drinks whenever they could. Safara didn't normally go – she was still seventeen – but Karla sometimes found ways to drag her along. Tonight, she actually had an excuse.

No can do. Babysitting Wilkins kids.

Safara sighed pointedly as Mike switched over to the Simpsons. She reached forward for the control, but Mike danced out of reach.

"Are you supposed to be watching the Simpsons?" she asked wearily.

"Yes," Mike replied defiantly.

"No," admitted Tilly at the same time.

Safara glared at Mike, who immediately turned the blame on his little sister. He threw down the control in his temper as he frowned at Tilly.

"Tilly! You weren't supposed to tell her, you idiot!"

Tilly's bottom lip stuck out in a pout, and Safara recognized this as a telltale sign that the little girl was dangerously close to crying. Begrudgingly, she realized she was going to have to do something to entertain them.

"Okay!" She clapped her hands and tried to sound authoritative, "Mike, stop calling Tilly mean names, alright? I have an idea. Do you guys want to play hide and seek?"

The kids exchanged rapt glances, and Safara wondered in amusement when the last time someone had played hide and seek with them had been. Both of them nodded fervently, and not even Mike complained when Safara turned off the TV.

"Right, who wants to count?"

"Me!" Mike's hand shot up in the air, "There's only one rule, okay? No one is allowed in the attic. Mum always says that it's dangerous up there, so that's the only place we're not allowed to hide."

Safara nodded considerately, but she had always been a rule-breaker. It wouldn't hurt the kids to look a little longer if she did hide in the attic.

"I'm going to count to fifty."

Tilly shook her head. "No! You count to one hundred!"

Safara was getting tired of the fighting. It reminded her of when she'd been young, and she'd fought with her younger sister. She massaged her temples and closed her eyes. Yeah, she was starting to get a headache from these two.

"How about you count to eighty, Mike?"

Mike didn't look happy about having to compromise with his sister, but he nodded anyway and obediently placed his hands over his eyes, starting to count. Tilly immediately sprinted off, and a door slammed in the distance.

Safara smiled wryly as she headed up the stairs, carefully so that the wooden planks didn't creak under her feet. This house wasn't that old, but she knew one move would give her away to Mike. She could still hear him counting loudly as she reached the door of the attic.

There was a paper notice attached, with scrawled words: DO NOT ENTER. UNSAFE.

Safara smirked, ignoring the notice as she reached for the door handle. Yeah, right. Most likely there was stuff up here that the Wilkins didn't want their kids messing with. Well, Safara wasn't that clumsy. She was determined that she wouldn't break anything, so she stepped through the doorway into the darkness…and then she couldn't see anything. Safara turned around to grope for the door handle, but she could feel nothing. There was cold breeze in the attic…and then Safara's eyes adjusted and she found that she was looking at something impossible.

She was in the middle of a forest.

Panicking, Safara whirled around – but there was a tree there. Right behind her, where the door should be. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she glanced around in all directions. What the hell was going on? This wasn't an attic. This was a forest in the middle of…well, who knows where!

Safara gulped and forced herself to remain calm. She wanted to yell out, but she didn't know who – or what – would be here. First, she had to accept the fact that she was in a freaking forest, which was hard to begin with. Then, she'd try and navigate her way out of here.

"Who are you?" A voice rasped through the darkness.

Safara gasped and glanced around behind her – but she couldn't see anything except a huge wolf. She immediately began backing up slowly, trying not to make any sudden moves…and then she tripped over a tree trunk and landed flat on her back, the wind knocked straight out of her.

"I asked you a question."

Okay. Safara thought she must have hit her head pretty hard. This wolf was talking to her. Now things made even less sense than before. She was too astonished to even speak, and the wolf growled threateningly.

"What have we got, Rayner?"

It was the voice of a young man, but for all Safara knew, it could be another wolf. But no – she recognized the form of a soldier in old-fashioned, medieval armour and carrying a sword. Shocked, Safara started to crawl backwards, but the wolf snarled.

"Don't even think about it, Missy."

Safara thought it was probably best to listen, but she had a few questions of her own.

"Where am I? Who are you…people?"

Not exactly the best phrasing considering one of the 'people' in question was a wolf. The young soldier brought his lantern forward so that Safara could see his face. He had dark hair and dark eyes that burned with something fierce. There was a deep frown on his face as he observed her. He looked to be around her age.

"She doesn't know?" The wolf – apparently called Rayner – tilted his head up to look at the young soldier. The boy drew his sword and pointed it at Safara's throat. She glanced at it with trepidation, not willing to make any bets about whether he knew how to use it or not.

"You'd better come with us." It was a command, not a question.

Safara scowled. Sword or not, this soldier had a lot of explaining to do.

"Not until you answer my questions!"

The wolf growled, and it took Safara a moment to realize that it was laughing. Laughing. At her! The young soldier seemed to share Rayner's amusement, but although a smile had stretched his lips, his eyes remained cold.

"I think you'll find that I'm the one with a weapon. Now, on your feet."