Nora and her sister drove most of the night, taking shifts. Nora didn't have any particular destination in mind, but it turned out Michelle had a plan. They were only about an hour away when Nora finally figured out where Michelle was heading.

"Grandma's house?" Nora asked skeptically.

"Well... not exactly. But close." Michelle said. It made sense; the house had been sold years ago.

"So where to then?"

"Remember that old hotel at the edge of town?"

"The one that looked like a castle?" Nora asked.

"You're the only one who ever thought that." Michelle laughed.

"I was six!" Nora protested.

The hotel Nora was referring to was more of a two-story stone cottage than an actual castle. Actually, it looked more like the setting for a Hansel and Gretel story than a princess's palace. But when Nora was a little girl, she hadn't known the difference. Every time they'd pass the place on the way to her Grandma's, she'd ask if they could spend the night there. And now, almost twenty years later, it looked like she was going to finally fulfill that childhood wish.

The two pulled into the parking lot just as the sun was rising. Of course, the old lady at the front desk was more than a little surprised to see them trying to check in so early – especially without even having a reservation.

"Goodness!" she said, looking from one to the other. "I don't think we have anything available this early in the morning."

"Could you please check?" Michelle asked sweetly. "We've been driving all night, and we'd really like a room."

The woman started clicking keys on her computer, looking at the screen with trepidation. "And how long were you planning on staying with us?" she asked, eyes never leaving the screen.

Nora and Michelle exchanged glances. Nora shrugged.

"Two or three days?" Michelle asked, turning back to the receptionist.

The old lady nodded to herself, still clacking away on her keyboard.

"Well, it looks like I do have one room available. It's on the second floor, at the far end of the building. But the current guest hasn't checked out yet."

"What time is checkout?" Nora asked.

"Ten o'clock."

"Well," Nora turned to her sister. "Why don't we get breakfast while we wait?"

"Good idea." Michelle agreed.

"Wonderful." the old lady beamed. "Our dining room's right through here." she gestured across the hall with her hand. "And I'll let you know as soon as that room's available."

The girls sat down in the dining room. There were only a few guests awake and eating breakfast this early, so they had their choice of almost any seats in the room. Nora picked a table in the corner by the giant bay windows overlooking the forest a few yards away.

"I can't believe we're actually here." Nora said, not taking her eyes off the lush green tree line. Everything seemed so peaceful; it looked like this was the first bit of luck she'd had in ages.

She watched as a butterfly came and landed on the windowsill right in front of her, flapping its wings lazily. The black outlines between the iridescent segments made each wing look like a stained glass window. Nora watched until the waiter set her plate down in front of her. As he left, she turned hungrily to her breakfast; she was famished!

She didn't think anything more of the butterfly until she was halfway through her pancakes. That's when she noticed that a dozen more had joined it.

"That's strange..." Nora mumbled to herself. She'd never known butterflies to swarm before. But it did seem unusually dark for being this late in the morning. Maybe that explained it.

"Stranger than that?" Michelle asked. Nora looked over to see her sister pointing at something up in the sky.

At first, she thought Michelle was just pointing up at the darkening clouds. But when she looked closer, she saw that it wasn't rainclouds up in the sky; it was hundreds and hundreds of birds.

The two watched in silence as they finished their breakfast. The good news was that as soon as they were finished, the old lady at the reception desk happily informed them that their room had been cleaned. Apparently, whoever was in it before had vacated earlier than expected.

"Wonder if the birds freaked him out." Michelle mumbled as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. Nora couldn't tell if she was serious or not.

The room itself was gorgeous. The ceiling was lined with wood beams, there was a stone fireplace in the corner, and the bed was filled with pillows and looked softer than anything Nora had ever seen. Before Nora even had time to remove her shoes, her sister was already flopping down happily onto it.

"Oh, I love you." Michelle mumbled to the pillows, eyes closed.

"Tired?" Nora grinned.

"Nothing a small nap won't fix." Michelle assured her.

Nora tried to get some rest herself, but she just couldn't sleep. She found herself staring at the ceiling, tracing patterns in the wooden beams with her eyes.

Finally, she got up. If she couldn't sleep, she might as well take a walk. The birds were still swarming thickly in the sky, and the ground did seem to be covered in butterflies. Still, she didn't let that bother her. Who was afraid of butterflies anyway? After texting her sister a note for when she woke up, Nora put on her shoes and headed out to the forest.

Normally, it might not have seemed like such a good idea to go outside, especially when the birds and butterflies seemed to be acting so strange. But Nora had always been an outdoors type of girl, and she had fond memories of these woods. Still, it was a lot darker under the canopy than she'd thought it'd be, and she was starting to regret her decision.

She was fairly deep into the woods – probably deeper than was wise – when she thought she saw something moving in the shadows. Could it be a deer? Normally she would have doubted it – animals tended to avoid humans. But with the way the birds and butterflies were acting, who knew?

As quietly as she possibly could, Nora crept closer. She knew she shouldn't leave the path, especially in the dark. But it was only a few feet away; she'd have to be a moron to get lost. She tried not to make a sound, and for the most part, she was successful. At least, she was by human standards; half the animals had probably heard her coming a mile away.

She was pretty far away from the path when she caught the movement again. There was something in the bushes, and it was much larger than she'd first thought. But there weren't normally any predators in these woods. So what was it?

"Nooraaa..."

She thought she heard someone calling her name.

It was so coarse and so faint, she almost wasn't sure if she'd understood it, or if it had even been a voice at all. Maybe it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. Still, this probably wasn't the time to be out here by herself. She turned to go back the way she'd come. But before she could step onto the path again, she was stopped dead in her tracks.

There, not more than a few yards away in the underbrush, was the body of the biggest snake Nora had ever seen.