by Ally Condie
Nico stared.
Emma had Thing? How?!
She raised the jar overhead. It was still partially obscured, but the figments had locked in on the gleaming glass. The sphinx cocked its head, released a hair-raising whine. Nico could hear townspeople babbling in terrified confusion farther up the beach. Ignoring them, the mass of figments began creeping back toward the van.
Nico saw Opal slip to the rear door and jump inside beside Tyler. In the front, Bridger’s hand darted out and locked the doors, then he slid way down in the driver’s seat, attempting to hide.
Emma made as if to drop the jar. The figments froze. Did they care about Thing? Did they know who’d created them?
“Residents of Timbers, tonight’s shoot is officially over!” Emma spoke into the mike awkwardly, since it was still wedged on her shoulder. “Thanks for taking part in this exclusive Freakshow re-creation. Colton Bridger wanted to make sure you were authentically scared during filming, for, um … authenticity. Sorry for any confusion!”
The figments began to fidget, watching the glowing jar as they moved closer. Nico spun to check the exit trails. Most townspeople had taken advantage of Emma’s distraction to hightail it up the bluffs. Some were frowning darkly, casting angry looks back at the van.
Sweat appeared at Emma’s temples as the circle of figments tightened around her. “Timbers, we can’t wait to show you this amazing footage later!” she persisted gamely. “For now, please head on home. As fast as you can. And, um, maybe forget trick-or-treating and lock all your doors. Enjoy the rest of your evening!”
Nico laughed nervously. Would anyone believe Emma? People had been hurt. They’d come face-to-face with a rampaging monster horde. But convinced or not, within moments no one was left on the beach—not even the Freakshow crew—except the five Torchbearers, Bridger, and the van.
And a seething mass of extremely riled-up nightmare creatures.
“Guys?” Tyler whispered from the back door. “I think maybe you should get inside here now.”
Nico nodded. He and Logan began edging toward the vehicle. The figment mob continued to stare hungrily up at Emma. Slash glared from atop his terrible steed, his good mood apparently vaporized. Nico lost his nerve and ran the last few steps, jumping into the van. Logan piled in nearly on top of him and Tyler slammed the door.
Nico watched as Emma let go of the mike, swung the jar in a tight circle like a hammer throw, and released it with both hands. She dropped down through the sunroof as the jar flew out into the night, crashing somewhere on the dark beach. “Colton, time to go!” she yelled.
“I’m trying to go!” Bridger shouted through the sliding window to the front. “We’re stuck!”
Roars outside. The van began to shake as creatures rocked its sides.
“This is really, finally it,” Tyler moaned. “We’re completely doomed, no take-backs.”
But the rattling stopped. Nico waited, breathing hard.
“Maybe they’re checking on Thing,” Opal whispered. “Was it really inside?”
“No,” Emma croaked, sounding near the end of her nerve. “That was glowing algae. I collected some of the blue-green stuff in soda bottles this morning, and stowed it here. I thought it might make a cool effect.” She unleashed a wild giggle. “Guess it did, huh? The color was close enough to work.”
As Nico’s eyes adjusted, he spotted more gleaming bottles in a corner of the van.
“Genius.” Opal squeezed Emma’s arm. “Do you know how to get vans unstuck from sand?”
“Sorry.” Emma sounded genuinely contrite. “Didn’t anticipate that part.”
Nico broke into a shaky laugh. “Well, points for effort.”
“Hey!” Bridger hissed from the front seat. “I think … the monsters … are … are … they’re leaving.”
“Really?” Tyler scrambled to the sliding window and peered through the windshield. “Are they taking the jar with them?”
“No,” Bridger whispered. “They’re just … going.” His hushed tone became elated. “They’re marching up the trails off the beach. All of them!”
Emma stepped onto a crate and poked her head out the sunroof.
“Emma!” Opal grabbed her pant leg and tugged, trying to get her back down.
“They are leaving,” Emma reported, sounding confused. “I hope everyone already cleared off the bluffs. If not, they’ll have company soon.”
“I wonder why they took off?” Tyler slid back to rejoin the others. “And where is Thing, if not with its army? Do you think it went—” He glanced at the front of the van, where Bridger’s head was slowly emerging from hiding, and lowered his voice. “You think Thing went to that other place we found?”
Nico frowned. The Rift? He felt a twinge of anxiety. But where else could Thing be?
“Worry about that later.” Logan moved toward the rear doors. “Let’s get out of here. This van’s dug in. It’s not going anywhere.”
“Wait,” Emma whispered, still peeking out the sunroof.
Bridger suddenly whimpered. “What is that?”
“What’s what?” Nico joined Emma on the crate and stuck his head through next to hers. She was staring at the surf. For a moment, he couldn’t tell what she was looking at.
Then he saw.
Two oil-black circles, glimmering in the moonlight.
Eyes.
The Beast.
Nico didn’t realize he’d said it out loud until he heard Tyler gasp.
“Are you sure?” Opal asked from below.
Emma and Nico both dropped back inside. They heard Bridger’s panicked breathing from the front.
“Torches!” Logan said. “We have to make some, remember?” He yanked off his Beast hoodie. “We can tear this into strips. There’s driftwood outside. We just need an accelerant.” He aimed a glare at the driver’s seat. “Bridger! Do you have a spare fuel canister in here? Acetone? Anything flammable at all? Or we could siphon the gas tank.”
“You know how to siphon a gas tank?” Tyler hissed.
Logan shook his head. “I was hoping you did.”
There was no answer from the front. Bridger had frozen behind the wheel, like a deer caught driving on the beach.
“Maybe we can just sneak away?” Opal whispered. “Use the van as cover.”
Nico nodded. “Try the back.”
Emma slowly opened the door. Opal slipped to the sand. Nico eased down beside her, followed by Logan.
“Tyler,” Emma whispered. “Come on, Ty!”
Nico turned. Tyler wasn’t moving. He sat perfectly still in the corner by the glowing bottles. Their hazy aqua light cast an eerie radiance on his face.
“Ty.” Emma scurried over and put a hand on his arm. “You okay?”
“It’s coming for me!” Bridger shrieked. Before anyone could react, he fumbled for the door handle and jumped out of the van.
A growl sounded that fluttered Nico’s stomach. He snuck to the corner of the vehicle and peeked around its bumper.
The Beast loomed a dozen yards away, illuminated by the van’s headlights. The monster was staring at a quivering Colton Bridger, who stood frozen in front of it. The Beast blinked its black eyes, then leaned forward—jaws dripping, massive teeth glistening. The monster roared.
Bridger wet himself.
Someone jostled Nico from behind. “What the—”
Tyler raced past him, a glowing bottle in his hands. He ripped the sweatshirt from Logan as he rounded the van, skidding to a stop directly in front of Bridger. Legs shaking, Tyler reached down and snatched a piece of driftwood off the beach.
The Beast stared at him.
“Tyler! What are you—” Nico began, but before he could finish, Tyler had wrapped the hoodie around the branch and was dumping the soda bottle onto it. Oily, bioluminescent algae oozed over the fabric.
The Beast dug a foot into the sand, like an enraged bull preparing to charge. Nico could hear its tail whipping.
Incredibly, Tyler took a step to
ward the sea monster.
Nico’s jaw dropped.
“TYLER!” Emma lunged after him, but Nico and Logan caught her by the shoulders.
Opal shifted indecisively, her mouth working but no sound coming out.
“Let me go!” Emma screeched.
“He’s terrified of the Beast, but went out there anyway,” Nico whispered urgently. “We have to trust him!”
“Stay back!” Tyler shouted, his eyes never leaving the creature before him. His voice had a ring of authority.
Emma stopped struggling, began chewing on her fist.
“Hey,” Tyler said to the Beast. “I’m really afraid of you, FYI.” Arm quivering, he held up the glowing green hoodie stick, but not as a weapon. More like he wanted the Beast to see it. “My name is Tyler. I’m a Torchbearer, okay?”
The Beast yowled, but didn’t charge. Instead, it waited, eyes following the glowing brand. Bridger stood rigidly behind Tyler, not moving a muscle.
“Should we attack?” Logan whispered. “Tyler has it distracted. Maybe we could—”
“No.” Emma blinked, licking her lips. “You were right, Nico. He’s figured something out.”
Glowing algae dripped from the weird blue-green torch Tyler had made. Nico thought his friend looked taller somehow. Steadier than he’d ever seen him.
The Beast dipped its head level with Tyler’s. Sniffed once, then snorted. In the soft glow of the bioluminescence, they looked each other in the eye.
Then the Beast turned and vanished back into the sea.
28
OPAL
Opal took her first full breath in minutes.
She rushed to Tyler, who’d collapsed as soon as the Beast retreated. “Dude, you’re a hero!”
They surrounded him on the sand. Bridger sat down heavily a few yards away and covered his face.
Tyler’s whole body was shaking. “It worked,” he said quietly, almost to himself.
“Yeah it did!” Logan pulled Tyler up and wrapped him in a bear hug. Then he stepped back, eyeing the smaller boy in astonishment. “What, um, did you … do, though?”
“The torch,” Tyler said simply. They all looked at it lying next to him, emitting an aquamarine glow. “Thanks, algae.”
“Man, the Beast is scared of everything, huh?” Logan joked.
“It wasn’t scared,” Opal said, remembering how Tyler and the Beast had met eyes. Something happened there. “Tyler, you used algae, not fire. Why?”
“I’ve been researching,” Tyler said, as Bridger slowly staggered to his feet. “Know your enemy, and all that.” He ran a hand over his scalp. “After the cemetery, while you guys were checking into the name Charles Dixon, I doubled-down on learning everything I could about the Beast. To be ready.”
“What are you talking about?” Bridger’s voice was tinged with hysteria. He stared at Tyler in horror. “What’s going on here? How did you know that monster?”
Opal glanced at Nico, who shook his head firmly. He had no interest in bringing Colton Bridger into their confidences, and neither did she.
Emma caught the exchange. “It’s been quite a night, Colton.” She stepped forward and took his arm. “Let’s get this van unstuck so you can go home, huh?”
Bridger gaped at her, but he allowed himself to be led away. He seemed to be having trouble thinking clearly. Logan snagged his other arm and started explaining how to position boards behind the tires.
Opal wondered where Bridger’s crew had gone. What’s happening in town right now?
Her breath quickened as reality crashed in. There was no way to cover up what had just happened. This night changed everything. The worst Halloween ever. And it’s not over yet.
“So what’s the algae thing?” Nico asked in a lowered voice, so that only he, Opal, and Tyler could hear.
“I searched the houseboat’s library for any info about the Beast,” Tyler explained, warming to the topic. “If all the rumors are true, that means Torchbearers and the Beast have occupied Still Cove at the same time for decades, right? And neither side killed the other. So I started to wonder if maybe they had some kind of truce.”
“You actually found something about the Beast?” Opal couldn’t remember seeing anything in the books she’d read, but she hadn’t spent nearly as much time with the collection as Tyler. “And you didn’t tell us?!”
Tyler gave a guilty nod. “Sorry. There’s been a lot going on lately.”
Nico snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
Tyler avoided Opal’s eye. “One of the books I took home had some interesting things in the last chapter. I meant to tell you guys, but so much crazy stuff started happening at once that it slipped my mind until now.”
Opal frowned but motioned for Tyler to continue.
“The Torchbearers call the Beast a different name,” he said. “The Lotan. It means the same as leviathan, like Thing calls it. Once I figured that out, I made progress. The book mentioned a signal that Torchbearers use to show the Lotan they mean no harm. The paragraph described it as ‘the pale light of the sea.’ ” Tyler shrugged. “I took a shot.”
“You could have told us that much,” Nico scolded.
“I didn’t figure it out until the answer was staring me in the face. I looked at those glowing bottles in the van, and suddenly it all came together. That algae emits a bioluminescent light, which is kinda watery and washed out.” Tyler barked a laugh. “I’m really glad I guessed right.”
“Me too,” Opal said. “That gamble took serious guts.”
“Something Thing said helped me.” He looked over at Logan and Emma, who were trying to back the van out of its hole while Bridger stood there uselessly, staring at nothing. “It said the Beast wasn’t a stray thought, like a figment, but instead it was a creature from the other world.”
Opal and Nico both nodded.
Tyler looked out at the dark, rolling sea. “If the Beast is stuck here too, I figured the Torchbearers might monitor it like they do the Darkdeep. As part of their oath.”
A realization struck Opal. “You guys, I haven’t heard Thing in my head for a while. Could it be gone already?”
“Good riddance,” Nico said. “That lime goo-ball locked us in a flooding basement.”
“It can’t be that easy.” Tyler glanced at the van, which was finally easing out of the ruts.
“Do you think Thing recalled its figments?” Opal asked. “Maybe had a change of heart?”
“Maybe the Beast scared them off,” Tyler said. “They scattered right before it appeared.”
Opal peered up at the bluffs. “Where do you think they all went?” She closed her eyes, suddenly drained, then opened them to look at her friends. “Guys, how are we going to explain all this? Dozens of people saw a figment horde attack the beach. Most of them aren’t going to buy what Emma was selling.”
Tyler was still staring at the ocean. “When the last Torchbearer died, the Beast was all alone. That’s sad.”
“Until we showed up on the island.” Opal breathed, connecting the dots. “Do you think it wondered about us? Or even thought we were intruders? That might be why it started coming out of the water more!”
“We waved fire at it in the cemetery,” Nico said, cringing. “That couldn’t have made a good impression.”
Logan walked back over to join them, carrying another algae bottle. After they filled him in, he bounced the container in his hands. “Will people think it’s weird if I carry one of these around 24/7?”
Opal and Tyler laughed, but Nico seemed preoccupied. Opal reached out and tugged his sleeve. “What is it?”
“We should go to the Darkdeep,” he said. “I … I have an idea.”
“Back to the island?” Tyler groaned. “We just left there. Plus, the houseboat might’ve sunk while we were gone.”
Opal exhaled. “I’m not really looking to trudge through that creepy tunnel again tonight, Nico.”
“Maybe the Beast will give us a ride,” Logan quipped.
> Tyler tsk-ed loudly. “It’s a wild animal from another dimension. Not some pet.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Logan glanced down at his phone. “Crap. My parents are lighting me up. I was supposed to help give out candy.”
“Same.” Emma waved her cell as she joined them. After a quick update on the conversation, she sighed. “What do we do with Captain Clueless over there? Bridger’s basically shell-shocked right now, but he saw a lot.” Her brow knitted, worry lines digging across her forehead. “He’s going to be a problem, you guys.”
Opal had been ignoring the buzzing in her pocket, except to send a single text to her parents.
At a Halloween party! Talk later, phone dying.
She knew she was going to be grounded for ignoring the frantic messages that came back in reply.
Or the world might end instead. Who knew at this point?
She looked at Nico. “If you say we need to visit the Darkdeep, I’ll go with you.” He’d followed her to the oil rig despite his doubts about Thing. It was time to return his trust.
A cold wind swept the beach. Clouds in the sky were shifting and flowing as if stirred by giant hands. Static electricity prickled her neck. What a night.
Tires screaming, the van finally lurched free of its trench. Rigidly avoiding eye contact, Bridger sped down the empty beach, leaving them stranded once again. Opal shook her head as the vehicle tore away. “There’s literally nothing that creep can do anymore to surprise me.”
Emma glared after the receding taillights. “Total coward. To think I used to work for him.”
Out across the waves, purple lightning began hammering a distant point in the ocean. The electrical storm strobed for several seconds before stopping. Then it came again, with double the ferocity. Opal watched in mounting horror as the jagged bolts rained down. She could guess where they were striking.
Pale blue-green light leaked from the jar in Logan’s hand. Nico turned to face the others, his jaw set. “I know things might be bad in Timbers right now, but we still have to stop Thing. This isn’t over yet.”
“What can we do, though?” Tyler asked. “We don’t even know where Thing is.”
“Yeah we do.” Nico spoke with such certainty that Opal blinked. “Thing’s at the Rift. That’s been its goal all along. We have to stop it.”
