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She’s thinking about the bolt of energy that surged through her. How she transmitted this to Sheng by touching his shoulder. How the energy made her aunt’s lamp explode.
    She’s scared. She can feel her body trembling, right down to her bones.
    The lamp exploded in a blinding flash of white light.
    Harvey gropes around and finds his shoes at the foot of the bed. “I knew I shouldn’t have taken these off,” he jokes.
    “You guys aren’t leaving us here, are you?” asks Mistral.
    Elettra makes her way toward the door. “I’m just going out to see if the light in the hallway works.”
    “I’m ready,” says Harvey. Then he pats his legs, realizing he’s still in his boxer shorts. “Um, just a sec.” They hear a brief rustling of jeans. Elettra opens the door and tries flicking the switch in the hallway.
    Clack. Clack.
    Nothing.
    “Man,” murmurs Sheng for the millionth time.
    “What do we do?”
    “I’m going down to check the electrical meters,” says Elettra.
    “Have you got any candles?”
    “In the kitchen, maybe,” she replies.
    “Where are you?” asks Harvey, groping around the bedroom. He trips over something, making a loud thud.
    “My bag!” cries Sheng.
    “Don’t move, Harvey!” orders Elettra with a touch of agitation. “Everybody, stay right where you are! Let’s let our eyes get used to the dark.”
    “I can’t see a thing,” says Sheng.
    Neither can Harvey. He stays perfectly still.
    They all remain in silence.
    Elettra thinks,
Everything can’t be as dark as this
.
    A few moments later, Harvey says, “I’m starting to make things out a little. Elettra, I can see you near the door. I can see the beds, too.”
    “So can I,” murmurs Mistral.
    “I still can’t see a thing!” Sheng insists.
    Elettra nods. To her eyes, too, the glowing snow is helping her make out the blurry silhouettes of the furniture in the room. But beyond the door, toward the inner rooms of the hotel, the hallway is pitch-dark. “I can see a little bit …,” she says.
    “Lucky you,” replies Sheng. “Because I still can’t see a thing. Maybe … the explosion blinded me. … Hey!”
    Something’s brushing up against his face. It’s Mistral’s hand. “Don’t worry, Sheng. It’s just me.”
    “What are you doing?” the Chinese boy asks her.
    The girl’s hands are caressing his face. “I don’t think you were hurt, Sheng. It’s just … well, maybe you should open your eyes.”
    Sheng gives an embarrassed start. “Huh? I
what
…?”
    “Your eyes are closed.”
    Sheng tries to calm down and slowly opens his eyes.
    This time it’s Mistral who gives a start. “Sheng!” she cries out. “Guys, look!”
    “What is it?” he asks, suddenly nervous.
    He sees Harvey and Elettra’s shadows standing over him. A hunched beanpole and a wild mane of dark curls.
    “Your eyes …,” whispers Mistral.
    “What’s wrong with them?” he asks, putting his hands up to his face.
    Harvey shakes his head. “I must be dreaming.”
    “What?”
    “They’re yellow,” says Harvey.
    “They look like gold,” whispers Elettra. “Like two precious little jewels…”
    “You guys are kidding, right?”
    Mistral shakes her head. “No, really! You’ve got two giant owl’s eyes.”
    “Golden yellow.”
    “But it’s going away,” Harvey points out.
    “What’s going away?”
    “The glow in your eyes. It’s like they’re … melting.”
    “Do they hurt?”
    “No!”
    “Can you see okay?”
    “I see everything … yellow.”
    “But what can you see, exactly?”
    Sheng gets up. “You guys, the beds, the door to the hallway, the bathroom …”
    “You can see all the way to the bathroom?”
    “Yeah. I mean … What, can’t you guys?”
    “Not me.”
    “Me neither.”
    “Everything’s dark, Sheng. We can’t see a thing.”
    “What’s happened to me?”
    “I’m going down to check the meters,” decides Elettra, wheeling around.
    “We’re coming, too!” the other three shout