Finally, he said, “Okay, look. I don’t know how I can possibly do that. I’m not even sure I understand what it is I’m supposed to do. But you said something about my family being safe. I need to hear about that right now. How do you know they’re okay?”
A woman with a big nose responded. “As Jane was building her cache of dark matter and assembling her Blade of Shattered Hope, we watched carefully. We normally do not interfere with the realm of living humans. It is not our place. If Jane had destroyed the Fifth Reality, we would have been shocked and horrified, but we would not have stopped her. However, when the chain reactions that could end all existence were ignited, we no longer had a choice.”
Tick groaned on the inside, doubly annoyed. Both at the long non-answer about his family and the fact that the Haunce would sit back and let an entire world be destroyed. “What does this have to do with my family?” he asked.
An annoyed buzz sounded from the ghostly creature. “We hope your impatience will serve you well since we will have little time left together. No more interruptions. We will not be able to appear in this form much longer.”
The glow changed into three faces before Tick finally nodded.
“Good,” the Haunce continued. “When the barriers began to break and the seals began to split, we knew immediately what we must do. We winked you here to Reality Prime, where we would be able to discuss things in private. We also winked your family away from Jane’s prison, as well as a number of people from the Fifth Reality who were located in the area of your Realitant friends-Mothball, Rutger, and Sato. They are together in a special holding place we created long ago-a sort of way station that exists in a quasi-Reality that only we know about.”
“What about-” Tick stopped himself, not wanting to interrupt again.
“Your other friends?” the Haunce asked. “Sofia, Paul, and your Realitant leader, Master George?”
Tick nodded.
“They are in the Thirteenth Reality, where you last saw them.”
Tick couldn’t remain silent any more. “Why didn’t you take them to the same place as my family?”
The face of the Haunce flowed from an ugly woman to a pretty one, then morphed into a man with beady eyes. “They remain in the Thirteenth, because that is where you are going. You will need their help. You will be together very soon, though you will not have much time for happy reunions.”
“Okay, so what do I need to know?” Tick asked, surprised at how steady he felt. He was ready to have this whole mess done and over with.
~
No one had spoken since Master George’s explanation of soulikens. Sofia continued to sit still, staring at the dark shadow of a wall standing a few dozen feet from her. The sounds of the desert were soft and faint-an insect here and there, the sigh of the wind, sand scratching across rock.
When Paul spoke up, it startled her. She hoped he hadn’t noticed her jump.
“Soulikens,” he said. “Basically you’re telling us that throughout our lives we create these freaky electronic imprints on the world that never go away but hang around us like a fog, building and building until it kind of becomes our ghost. Is that what you’re telling us? That ghosts are real?”
“If you could see on a quantum level,” Master George responded, “you’d see an aura of energy around you and others that very much resembled exactly that. A ghost.”
Sofia felt a little creeped out. “Then I don’t wanna see on a quantum level. I hate scary movies, and I hate ghosts.”
“Now who’s the cheerful one?” Paul asked.
“You rubbed off on me.”
“I love scary movies. Especially the ones where lots of people die.”
Sofia couldn’t help but feel happy that the old Paul was starting to come back. “Call me crazy, but I prefer my movies to have the slightest hint of intelligence.”
“When all this is over,” Paul said, “check out Steve the Slashing Monkey and tell me that movie doesn’t bleed intelligence.”
Sofia couldn’t stop before a snort of laughter came out.
“I knew it!” Paul yelled, his voice echoing off the rock walls. “I knew I could make you laugh!”
“You two are driving me mad,” Master George muttered. “I believe I’m quite ready to get some sleep.”
“But what’re we gonna do?” Paul asked him. “Can’t you get someone to wink us out of this stinkin’ place?”
“Sorry, old chap. If someone hasn’t winked us by now, then there’s obviously been a break in communication. Jane brought us here, remember, and her shield must still be working. And I don’t have my Barrier Wand. I assure you, Sally’s doing his very best to find us.”
Great, Sofia thought. They had to spend the night in the middle of the desert, with no telling how many creatures of Mistress Jane lurking about. Just great.
“Well,” Paul said, “at least it’s not cold. I bet we can find some soft sand to snuggle in, Sofia. You in?”
Sofia leaned closer to him and smacked him on the arm. It felt so wonderful that she did it again.
Paul jumped to his feet and ran away, snickering as he rubbed his sore spot. “Man, for a chick who’s a scaredy-cat of scary movies, you sure do know how to punch.”
“I was glad you’d gotten over your sour mood,” Sofia responded as she started looking around for her own place to get some rest, feeling with her hands mostly. “But now that you’re back to normal, I kind of miss the grumpy Paul after all.”
“I love you too.”
She’d just found a nice spot of open sand when a slight thump in the air sounded behind her. It was barely noticeable, and she almost felt it more than heard it. She whipped around to see what had happened.
A shadowy figure of a boy stood between her and Paul, a hump of a backpack on his shoulders. When he turned and faced her, the starlight revealed his face just enough.
“Tick!” she cried, scrambling to her feet and running to him. Paul reached him just as she did, and they all joined in a group hug. When she finally pulled back, she said, “What happened? Where’d you go?”
“And how’d you get back here?” Paul added.
Master George joined them. “Atticus! Speak, man, speak!”
Tick laughed a little, though it didn’t hold much humor. “Calm down, guys. It’s a long story, and we don’t have much time to talk. We have to get moving. I’ll tell you everything on the go.”
“Get moving?” Sofia asked, feeling a slight chill. “Where are we supposed to go?”
“Some place called the Factory,” Tick answered. “It’s full of Mistress Jane’s little monster pets. But don’t worry. We have a billion ghosts to help us out.”
Chapter 32
Reunions
Tick didn’t want to waste a single minute. When the Haunce outlined the plan for what they needed to do to stop the fragmenting of the Realities, one thing bled through all the others: they needed to hurry.
Tick had less than thirty hours to get to the Factory, convince Mistress Jane to help-after getting her there in the first place, of course-then summon all the Chi’karda he could to help the Haunce rebind the barriers of the Realities.
No problem. Then why did he have the terrible feeling that nothing would go right along the way?
Sofia, Paul, and Master George stood in front of him in the darkness. The starlight was not strong enough to reveal their faces, but Tick could imagine the looks of surprise and confusion.
“Seriously,” he said. “We need to go. We’re gonna be winked in five minutes.”
“Whoa,” Paul said, his upraised hands mere shafts of shadow. “I’m not takin’ a single step till you elaborate on this whole ghost business.”
“A billion ghosts,” Sofia added. “What was that all about?”
Tick was about to answer when Master George made an unpleasant harrumphing sound.
“What?” Tick asked.
“You met the Haunce, didn’t you?” the old man responded. Tick could barely see him shaki
ng his head. “I’ve met it only once in my life, and if I ever do again, you can bet your bottoms I’m going to have a word or two with it about holding back vital information about soulikens and all that.”
Tick felt a flutter of confusion, but Sofia spoke up before he could.
“The Haunce? What’s that? And why would it know everything about soulikens?”
Tick’s confusion increased. “You guys know about soulikens?”
“You mean you do?” Paul responded.
Tick nodded even though he doubted they could see him. “The Haunce told me about them.”
“What is the Haunce?” Sofia shouted.
For some reason a chuckle burst out of Tick. “We sound like the dumbest people who’ve ever lived.” He remembered the urgency of what they had to do. “But come on-we really need to go. The Haunce wants us to stand at the spot where the Blade of Shattered Hope tree thingy was.”
“Why?” all three of them asked in unison.
“He- it’s going to wink us closer to the Factory. We can sort things out once we get there. Come on-can you tell where the Blade used to be?”
“Over this way,” Paul muttered. “Doesn’t sound like a good time to start doubting Superman Atticus Higgin-bottom.”
Paul’s shadow moved past him and started walking toward the central area of the dark stone walls surrounding them. Tick followed and heard Sofia and Master George right behind him.
Tick tripped twice over debris and stepped on things that clanged and snapped. The place must’ve gotten really messed up after he’d been winked away.
Paul finally stopped in an open spot and turned to face the rest of the group. “Pretty sure it was right about here. But be careful-some of the sand turned into glass shards.”
Tick felt the crunch under his shoes, smelled something burnt. When they were all standing in a circle, he reached out and took Sofia’s hand, then Paul’s. “The Haunce told me we need to hold hands. It’s easier that way.”
Tick was glad they didn’t argue. Sofia took Master George’s hand, and then the old man took Paul’s. Standing there in the dark desert with the slight breeze sighing as it passed over the towering rocks, Tick felt a major case of the creeps, like they were about to begin a seance.
“Okay!” he shouted. “Wink us away, Haunce!” The words sounded incredibly stupid, but he wanted to get this part over with. He had no idea what to expect once they got to where they were going.
Before this last thought even fully formed in his mind, the tingle shot across his neck and down his spine.
It had been a strange hour for Sato.
There’d been the reunion of Tick’s family-without Tick, unfortunately-as well as hearing more details about Mrs. Higginbottom (a.k.a. Lorena) and her brief stint as a Realitant. Sato had been amazed to learn that she and Mistress Jane had been partners of a sort in exploring and seeking out new Realities, and they’d been together when the Thirteenth was discovered. They’d realized that something was special about it right away, and how odd properties of Chi’karda ran rampant there.
It was the first time Jane had started to show the dual signs of her thirst for power and her edge of obsession with the idea of a Utopian Reality. When Jane threatened Lorena if she dared tell anyone about their discovery, that had been the last straw. Lorena decided to call it quits, realizing she wasn’t cut out for that kind of life-namely being killed by a crazy woman.
Sato eventually drifted away from the Higginbottoms. He suspected they probably wanted some time to themselves to bask in the joy of being together again. And, he admitted to himself, it hurt to see such a thing. It painfully reminded him that he’d lost his own parents, and that such a get-together would be impossible for him. It hurt, and he left them before it became unbearable.
But that’s when things had really gotten strange for him.
There were several hundred people from the Fifth Reality in the strange space, all of them winked in from the general location of where Mothball’s parents lived. How that had happened was beyond anyone’s guess, but they’d mostly gotten over their shock and just generally reveled in the fact that they were still alive.
Or, Sato figured, at least they hoped that was the case. The bizarre place to which they’d been sent didn’t seem like anything in the normal world. Maybe they had died and been sent to an afterlife. Who knew? Sato didn’t want to think about it until he absolutely had to.
Once all the people from the Fifth settled in, they began to notice him. They began to see the resemblance he had to their recently assassinated Grand Minister. His Alterant. And now they surrounded him completely, a huge crowd of giants, all of them staring at him, waiting for him to speak. But he refused, sitting cross-legged with his chin resting on his closed fists. Mothball had to get him out of this. She had to do something! If not her, then her parents.
But they seemed to be enjoying the spectacle, along with Rutger. The four of them sat outside the crowd somewhere-he’d lost sight of them a good half hour earlier.
Sato buried his face in his hands and groaned, hoping everyone heard the scream of frustration barely veiled within it.
The first thing Tick noticed was that the air was much cooler, laced with a wetness almost as thick as mist. Then he saw the tall, looming poles of shadow all around them-trees. Lots and lots of trees.
They were back in the Forest of Plague-the place they’d come a year ago on a mission to steal Mistress Jane’s Barrier Wand. This time they’d be going in the opposite direction; the Factory lay due east, according to the Haunce.
Tick felt the reassuring grip of Sofia’s and Paul’s hands in his own. “You guys okay?”
“Still in one piece,” Master George answered from a few feet in front of him. Tick couldn’t see his face very well. In fact, he couldn’t see much except for the trees and the dark shapes of his fellow Realitants.
“Fine,” Paul grumbled. “At least it’s not hot here. My pits are in desperate need of some deodorant.”
Sofia sighed. “Pleasant as always.”
“Okay, so where are we?” Paul asked.
“Yes, Atticus,” Master George added. “No more time for hasting about until you answer some questions. Where are we? What’s behind all this?”
Tick felt surprisingly calm despite the clock winding down inside his mind; he didn’t have the heart to look at his watch. He knew the calm wouldn’t last long. He knew terrible things lay ahead.
“Tick?” Paul prodded. “Speak up-can’t hear ya.”
“Alright, listen,” Tick began. “I’ll explain everything, but then we gotta get going. Jane screwed up the whole universe with her dark-matter tree-that stupid Blade of Shattered Hope. The barriers keeping the Realities whole and bound together are fragmenting, breaking apart. Right now there’s a lull, but the Haunce says in twenty-something hours from now, it’ll all snap, blow up, disintegrate. In no time at all, everything will cease to exist. That’s how the Haunce put it.”
“I feared the worst,” Master George whispered, a deathly rasp. “However, this is beyond even what I cooked up in my head. But if the Haunce told you as much, then it’s true.”
Tick nodded despite the darkness. “It thinks we can fix the problem somehow, but it’ll take me, Mistress Jane, and the Haunce itself together in the biggest Chi’karda spot in all the Realities. Which is this Factory place a few miles to the east of here.”
“Oh, goodness gracious me,” Master George said. The others stayed silent, maybe too shocked for words.
“Anyway,” Tick said, “we can talk more about the details, but the Haunce wants me to do a quick job first.” Tick reached into his pocket and pulled out the short metal message tube Master George had given him earlier. “First, it wants me to send an important note to somebody-wink it, actually.”
“Wink it?” Sofia repeated. “You mean…”
Tick held up the tube between his thumb and forefinger, barely able to see the silver shine of its smooth surface. “Yeah. The Haunce
wants me to wink it with my so-called powers. Called it… practice. ”
Chapter 33
Sending a Message
Tick finally remembered that he’d packed a flashlight before leaving his house. He swung his backpack off and pulled it out, then clicked it on. The light reflected off the silvery surface of the metal tube, making it look like a valuable piece of jewelry.
“Atticus,” Master George said as he moved closer and put a hand on Tick’s shoulder. “Listen to me carefully. I want you to describe what the Haunce looked like. Once I’m absolutely sure this all came from our strange and powerful friend, I promise I won’t doubt another word you say.”
Tick let the flashlight tip downward until it illuminated the leaf-strewn forest floor. “It was a big, silver-blue oval of pulsing light, with hundreds of faces replacing each other in the middle of it, their mouths forming the words as it talked to me. Creeped me out big time.”
Master George nodded as his eyes focused on the ground. “Indeed. Indeed. It’s hard to put into words what it means that the Haunce visited you, Atticus. There’s no longer any doubt that there is something special about you, something extraordinary. Especially if the Haunce thinks you can wink this message away without the use of a Barrier Wand.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see,” Tick said. He shone the flashlight under his chin to make his face look scary. “You both can think I’m special all you want, but let’s see if I can actually do it.”
“You are special,” Paul said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. “You’re so special.”
“He is, ” Sofia snapped. “Be quiet and let him concentrate. Do it, Tick. Show him. Show us what you can do.”
Paul snickered, evidently thinking his joke was hilarious. “I’m just playin’, man. Sheesh. What’s the note in there say, anyway? And who are you sending it to?”
“It’s for Sally-” Master George began, but Tick cut him off.
“No, it’s not.”
“What do you mean? You changed it?”
The Blade of Shattered Hope 1r-3 Page 17
