The Preston Six Collection: (Book 1, 2 and 3)

by Ryan, Matt

  “What is this place?” Poly asked.

  “This is a scene generator server. All information coming and going is processed right here.”

  “You have a scene generator?” Julie asked.

  “It’s right over here.” A line of people stood at one side of the cube. Travis walked past the line to a man behind a glass window.

  Poly shot glances back at the grumbling line. A woman met eyes with her and gave her a nasty look.

  “Hello,” Travis said.

  “Travis, how many in your party?” the man asked. Did everyone know him by first name?

  “Three.”

  The man slid three tickets through the slot in the glass. Travis took the tickets and walked through the white door. Poly didn’t even have to look back, she could feel the hate-daggers being thrown at them from people in line. She jogged ahead to catch up to Travis. She didn’t like being a cutter, but Travis didn’t even seem to realize the affront.

  He stood in front of a screen. “What would you two like to do?”

  Julie and Poly stood in front of the screen, looking at the menu. Race car driver, exotic islands, mountain climbing, diving, and about anything else you could think of.

  “What about that archeological dig?” Julie asked.

  Travis jerked back a bit, but recovered before most would’ve noticed. “Really? You want to go digging? Don’t you think you would like to surf at Castill Islands, or ride the rollercoasters in Mindyland?”

  Poly frowned at the menu. “Travis, we’re here to save our friends. Not go on fake adventures. Plus, I think we’ve been on enough adventures in the past month, to last a lifetime.”

  “I can’t trust people I don’t know. If you want my help, I insist you select a scene.”

  She’d played in these scene generators before, oak trees and fireflies raced through her mind, mixed with the toy shop. Poly gave a pleading look to Julie. Then Julie turned and pointed to one.

  “A rock concert? That can be fun, but remember you guys are the band,” Travis said. “Let me just put in some info and we can get into it.”

  “I can’t play an instrument,” Julie said in a slight panic. Poly felt the same way, she couldn’t play or sing. What in the world would she do? Maybe there was a cowbell she could wield, or something.

  “It’s make-believe in that world.” He pointed to the red velvet door. “You’re the star you were promised to be. In there, everyone can have their moment.”

  Not knowing what she was getting herself into, she followed Travis and Julie through the door.

  “THANK YOU, EVERYONE. AND GOOD night!” Poly dropped the mic on the floor, the crowd cheering her name as they left the stage. She rushed down the stairs, laughing. She grabbed Julie’s arm and pulled on her. “That was amazing! You chose a good one.”

  “Yeah, definitely different.”

  They laughed and joked all the way to the limo. The car ride home was filled with conversations about the night, laughing at Julie’s box dress and Poly’s performance in the rock concert.

  Poly laughed most of the way to their room with Travis imitating her performance with death metal nursery rhymes. They stopped at the door to their room. Poly turned to face Travis and felt butterflies in her stomach as she watched his expression. He shifted his feet and didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands as he moved them around. Finally, he took her hand and she felt him press something into her palm.

  The warm feeling fled from her body and the lights in the room became brighter, the air sharper. She had forgotten she even took another pill in the hall before the concert. Poly looked to Julie with a confused look. “Did I really sing that stuff?” She couldn’t have, it had to be a dream; she would never do any of the things she remembered.

  “Oh yeah, you did, and I got the video to prove it.” Julie tapped the edge of her Panavice.

  “Ladies, thank you for the fantastic night. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one like that.”

  “Thank you for showing us your city,” Julie said.

  “It’s amazing,” Poly added.

  “I’m glad you liked it. Tomorrow we can have some more fun, but for now I say good night.” Travis gave a slight bow and strode to the elevator.

  Poly frowned at his back. “Good night,” she said and looked at her palm with flakes of red on it. She brushed her hand off.

  Julie opened the door. “Come on.”

  Poly followed Julie into their room and closed the door.

  “Tell me this is some sort of act with you and him?” Julie asked, hands on hips.

  “Uh, yeah.” Poly filtered through the night, most of it seemed normal, but the time she was on the white pills became fuzzy, like looking at it from another person’s perspective. Could she really do those things, dance that way? What had Julie seen to make her think that? “Remember, we’re supposed to get his trust and have him help us.”

  “Good, because it’s just creepy the way he watches you. He’s old enough to be Napoleon.”

  Poly laughed. “Oh, come on, he’s not hard to look at. He doesn’t look much older than us.”

  Julie sighed. “He’s pretty hot, but he’s also arrogant, inconsiderate, egotistical, and something else. It’s like he’s always thinking, always guarded. I don’t think he ever truly opened up to us once tonight.”

  “He got pretty open with me on the dance floor.” Poly lowered her body and shook her booty.

  Julie laughed. “I saw. I never even knew you could dance like that.”

  Poly decided not to tell Julie about the pill. She would just get all preachy and stuff. Besides, Travis said it was safe.

  “Did Harris send you anything yet?” Poly asked.

  “He did.” Julie slid her fingers across her Panavice. “He said, ‘We’re getting help on our end. Is Travis allowing you around him?’ I replied ‘yes’ but he hasn’t responded yet.” She shifted her dress and pulled at the deflated boxes on her shoulders. “I need to get out of this.” She walked to the bedroom.

  Alone in the family room, Poly looked out the window, down at the city below. Late in the night—what time was it?—she peered into the depths of the circular city, with the glowing white cube in the middle. She sighed, thinking about the scene generator. A person could get lost in that world of make-believe.

  Joey came to her mind right then. She closed her eyes and thought about him being hauled off the roof by Max. She wouldn’t allow herself to think of the horrible experiments she was sure they were doing on him, or the horrors he must be facing. Did he even know about Samantha? Was she there, next to him in some tube, life being drained into Marcus’s body?

  She rubbed her palm with her thumb and thought how unfair it was to be spending her time parading around the city. All for the cause though. She’d get Joey back.

  “Hang in there, we’re coming,” she whispered.

  “DUDE, THIS IS STRAIGHT OUT of The Little Mermaid,” Samantha said and rubbed her earring.

  Joey pulled back on the two oars, propelling the small wooden boat along the pond. Lush tree’s draped around the water’s edge. Huge lily pads laid on the surface of the water, holding mechanical frogs. They croaked as the boat passed by. Joey pulled on the oars, barely touching the water.

  It had been days since Joey gave her the earrings, but he still enjoyed seeing her wear them. It brought back the memories of the lake.

  “What is it?” Joey asked.

  She dropped her hand from her ear and glanced at him. “I have a hypothetical, something I’ve been thinking about.”

  “Well, let’s hear it?” He loved their conversations.

  “What if Poly and I were both here, let’s just say this Max guy took you and Poly here, where would I have fit in?”

  Joey pushed the oars into the water. “Poly’s dead.” He hated saying it and felt the tears building in his eyes.

  “I know, but what if?” She stared at him with eyes full of seriousness.

  “Why are you doing th
is?”

  “I don’t know, something just tells me they’re still alive. I can feel it.” She rubbed her arms.

  Just hearing the idea sent him soaring, but the reality of it crashed into him hard. “Max wouldn’t be one to boast, he showed me it dropping from their radar. It just disappeared.”

  She shook her head, not believing it. This wasn’t the first discussion about the others mortality, but it was the first time she brought up Poly specifically. Maybe she picked up on the way he spoke about her, or more accurately, the way he didn’t.

  “I want to know, if Poly came here, would things be different?”

  “I cared for Poly, more than I probably ever shared with her. I think she cared for me as well.” He dipped his head, trying to get into her lowered eyes. “Anyway, it’s just you and me now.”

  “I know.” Pulling on the left oar, he turned the boat toward shore. The front of the boat slid into the wooden boatlift and rose out of the water, level with the dock.

  Joey hopped out, ensuring he got the chance to help Samantha from the boat.

  “Thanks.” Samantha took his hand and stepped over the side.

  “Let’s find this door of yours.”

  “Mine?”

  He cringed, realizing he’d slipped with the “yours.” Did he really though? He glanced at her perfect brown eyes. “Our door.”

  She whispered in his ear. “It’s our best chance to escape this place.”

  Joey concentrated on keeping his face flat. He didn’t want to upset or argue with her, and she was right, it was their best chance—one in a million, but still a chance.

  They strode down the wood planks of the dock and along the concrete sidewalk, flanked with drooping trees. The trees formed a tunnel in the shape of a heart. They were in Hearts Corner of Mindyland and the heart theme was heavily in play. From the benches with heart shaped backs, to the heart shaped trashcans. Even in the men’s room, the urinal was heart shaped.

  “Over here.” Samantha pulled his hand and dragged him off the concrete and onto a small dirt path. “See? There’s a door back here.”

  He hid his lack of enthusiasm. “Well, let’s see where it goes.”

  Samantha pushed the wood-slatted door open. It didn’t open into an outside world, or any room for that matter. Beyond the door was a courtyard, surrounded by small buildings that lacked any of the flair the rest of the park had. They were plain stucco boxes with single, white-painted doors on each one.

  “Staff’s area.” Samantha darted to the first door and turned the handle. She crunched her face in anticipation, and slowly opened the door. She let out a huff at the sight of lockers in the room. Skunked again. “It’s somewhere, don’t look at me like that.”

  He pressed his lips together, trying to get rid of the smile. They had been at this for a while, and at every door, she had nearly the same reaction. She frowned at his poor attempt to conceal his amusement.

  “Let me get the next one,” he offered.

  They moved to the next door, attached to a larger building. He turned the handle and shoved the door open. Sunlight lit a room filled with robot parts—arms and legs lay on tables and stuck out of boxes. He moved into the room, because he had to check it out.

  Pressing on the forearm of a detached arm laying on a table, he leaned back, expecting it to punch him or something. It didn’t move. He grabbed it and held it in front of his face. One of the fingers jiggled as he shook it.

  “This thing is freaky.”

  “You think that is? Look at this.” Samantha leaned down and reached into a box on the floor. She pulled out a robot head. It looked like a man’s head, with black hair. “What kind of money does this thing. . . ?”

  Its eyes opened and the mouth moved. “Welcome to Mindyland.”

  Samantha screamed and threw it, crashing it into a box of legs. The head rolled on the ground and stopped, facing them. “Keep your hands in the ride at all times.”

  “I’m out.” Samantha raised her hands and left the spare robot parts depot.

  Joey laughed and thought about grabbing the head to tease Samantha with it, but he didn’t want to touch it either, so he left the room empty handed.

  She glared at the room. “How many freaking doors does this place have?”

  Joey shrugged. They’d looked at hundreds of doors, even the small ones in mushroom land. He didn’t think there were many more left. He watched Samantha breathing through her nose and her mouth pursed up in frustration.

  “Why are you smiling?” she asked.

  “Look at you.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” He couldn’t tell her how cute she looked when she got all upset, but his denial seemed to annoy her even more.

  “You think this is funny?” She moved closer to him with a fun smile. “You know, I may be the only person you ever see again in this world.” She put her hands on his shoulders. “So you better keep me happy.”

  “Let me ask you a hypothetical. What if that hot foreign exchange student from junior year was here instead of me?”

  Her playful face changed to serious in a split second. “Joey, I can say this unequivocally that if I had a choice to have one person here with me, it’d be you.” She bit her bottom lip and looked away. “That was sort of the point of my question about Poly. I am not sure if you would make the same choice about me.”

  He tried to bring it back to the playful place he wanted the question to be. “If you were smart, you’d have picked Julie. She’d have had you out of here on the first day.”

  “Yeah, but you are a much better kisser.” She smiled and stepped closer to Joey.

  He placed his hands on her hips, feeling the curve of her body. He was even getting used to touching her, comfortable with it. Samantha was all he had in the world now. If he kept telling himself that, he thought he might stop thinking about Poly each time he got closer to Samantha.

  He brushed her hair back and kissed her like he had done many times now.

  She took a step back. “Much better kisser,” she mumbled to herself.

  The image of the air craft being destroyed haunted him for a fleeting second.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, you know, I bet there’s some escape doors on the Gondola ride. We can jump off when we pass by and check them out,” he said.

  “You’re right, there should be doors on all the rides.”

  “Yeah.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You better not be holding out on me, Joey Foust. Are there other doors you know of?”

  He laughed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  She shook her head and smiled, then leaned in close to whisper. “I am happy here with you, but you look weaker today. They are killing you. I see it every morning we wake up.”

  He glanced at the fresh bandages on his arm.

  “I won’t let them slowly take you away from me. We have to find that door.” Her breath shot against his neck with each word.

  Sure, he felt weaker each day, but at that moment, he felt good. “Come on, I’ll race you to the log ride.” He’d show her how good he felt.

  There wasn’t a person in the entire park but the robot helpers, giving him a clear run to the ride. He passed the teacup ride and Cupid’s Arrow gift shop. Samantha kept up with him as he jogged to Hearts of Venice. He slowed down, breathing hard at the gate entrance.

  Samantha darted ahead and touched the ticket booth first. “I win, I win.”

  A robot rose up from behind the window. His plastic face smiled. “Welcome to Hearts of Venice. How many are riding with you?”

  Joey turned around and stared at the emptiness around the room.

  Samantha stepped to the window. “Two hundred and thirty-two.”

  The robot twitched. “We can accommodate up to two per Gondola.” His smile beamed through the glass.

  “Two.”

  “Follow the cobblestone path to the boat.”

  Samantha took Joey’s hand and pulled
him toward the ride.

  “Thanks,” Joey said to the robot. Its frozen smile dipped below the window as it recessed into the booth.

  The cobblestones were a nice change to the flat concrete and asphalt spread through most of the park. His feet rolled over the smooth stones.

  “Where did you see a door?” She asked.

  “Toward the end.”

  She nodded and ducked under a chain dividing the rows. She skipped to the edge of the yellow line. A robot with a gondolier’s outfit stood behind the podium.

  “Welcome. Step onto the gondola and keep your hands in the boat at all times.” The robot waved them to the gondola.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to these guys.” Samantha eyed the robot.

  Joey glanced at the robot as they stepped onto the boat. Each one had the same face, the same frozen smile. They looked nearly human, but the lack of emotion and personality was unnerving. Each time he looked into those robot eyes, he felt as if they were smiling on the outside and plotting on the inside.

  The gondola rocked from side to side in the narrow canal as he stepped into it. He took Samantha’s hand and she stepped in. They sat facing each other on the benches that lined the side of the boat. The gondola lurched forward and once off the track, dipped into the strong current of water flowing along. The floating gondola swayed in the water and picked up to a walking speed. It passed under a cobblestone bridge and the world of Venice appeared before them.

  The many buildings lined both sides of the canal. Classical music played through the speakers. Animatronic people moved around on the sidewalks, inside the houses and businesses. A couple in proper clothes held hands and strolled down the sidewalk next to them.

  Samantha’s hair flung around as she whipped her head, searching.

  “It’s not until the end,” Joey said.

  She stopped and gazed into his eyes. He was getting more comfortable with those eyes and didn’t feel the urge to look away. He soaked them in.