Excerpt

"Okay, Ms. Maryanne, what seems to be-" She broke off.  Ms. Maryanne was not in the room.  Louise set the tray down and checked the few other rooms on the first floor, calling her name.  Then she opened the front door and stepped outside to see if the lady had gone back home.  Stepping back inside the house, she heard a thump and a screech coming from above.  She rushed up the stairs as fast as she could to the attic.  The door was shut and locked from the inside.  Louise tried to force the door open to no avail.  She stood helplessly on the landing trying to figure out what to do when she heard a deafening crash from the other side of the door.

"Lily?" she called, frantic.  "Lily!  Open the door!  Ms. Maryanne, are you in there?  Someone open this door now!"

The only response from the room was another floor-shaking crash.  Louise finally stepped back, squared her shoulders, and kicked at the door as hard as she could.  The door smashed open, and as she hurried into the room, she was met with a shocking sight.

Ms. Maryanne was standing in front of the Looking Glass; her expression was dark, and her eyes held a glint of madness.  Louise's eyes were drawn in horror to the Looking Glass where someone had smashed  it right in the center.  She looked back at Maryanne to see her gripping the smoothing tool in both hands. 

"Ms. Maryanne?" Louise asked, confused.  "What are you doing?"  She took a step forward just as the woman, with surprising strength, slammed the tool into the already-cracking mirror.  Since the Portal was still on low, the tool stuck a little in the transfer field.  Louise ran forward to stop the woman, but before she could take more than a few steps, there was a crackling and a giant flash of light from the crack in the mirror.  By this strange light, Louise for a moment thought she saw  the laughing form of Ms. Maryanne change into a smaller, straighter form in her reflection in the mirror.

Louise's attention was pulled from Ms. Maryanne to the crack in the Portal, which was powering up again.  The Glass smoothed itself, but instead of a view of Mirora, the image of the most extraordinary creature Louise had ever seen appeared in the Glass.  The monstrous creature straightened itself from its crouched position where it appeared to have been sleeping.  It began to writhe as it worked its way out of the Glass, and finally, a large, clawed foot emerged from the split, followed by the rest of its body.  The beast was long, rather skinny, and it walked on three legs.  It had a long, curving tail that ended in a tuft of hair.  Its skin was scaly and black and covered in many places with thin feathers of every color.  Ten-fingered hands curled out from long, thin arms.  It had long curving nails stretching from each finger, and its wrists were covered in fur.  Its face was thin and gaunt with a long snout; it had two rows of razor sharp teeth and a small beard.  Its eyes were almond-shaped and widely spaced.  Louise thought she detected a hint of madness in those blank and sinister eyes.  On its back, the creature had four giant, leather wings with edges rimmed in multicolored feathers.

Her fear and horror kept Louise rooted to the spot.  She'd never seen anything like this creature before.  It roared, rattling the walls and the ceiling, then whipped its tail around the room, smashing everything in its wake.  It clipped Louise on the shoulder, sending her flying across the room and onto an overturned chair.  Louise heard the creature give a bone-chilling laugh, and it spoke in a voice like nails on a chalkboard.

"I am the Ssssnark…" the creature hissed, "and at lasssst, I...am...FREE!"  It roared the last word and smashed a hole in the wall.  It then launched itself through the hole and into the air, twisting and turning in the sky until it disappeared amidst the billowy clouds, laughing manically.