Eternal

by Grant, Alasdair

  “What’s going on?” Lily whispers. “How is this possible?”

  I pull my hand away, and quickly hide it under my sleeve. Whatever questions Lily has—which are probably the same as mine—she realizes we can’t stay out here, and she shakes them off.

  “We have to get back to the dormitory,” she says again.

  “How did I get here?” I ask. “Why are you out here with me?”

  “You left the room, and it woke me. You looked like you were sleepwalking, so I followed.”

  Lily starts helping me to my feet but pauses to retrieve the fallen dagger from the ground.

  “We have to get rid of this,” she says. “Someone could trace it to you.”

  I nod. I feel so drained. My brain was invaded, and I couldn’t do a thing about it. I reach for my jade necklace, but my fingers touch bare skin.

  Gone. Did I take it off? Salty tears streak my cheeks. I’m an utter disgrace. It’s no wonder Jenna wants nothing to do with me. It’s no wonder she took the sleeping medicine so she could sentence me to oblivion.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  二十八

  JENNA

  The first thing I do after escaping nearly sixteen hours of comatose slumber is flush the sleeping pills down the toilet. Next I rush to the kitchen, brew myself three cups of Mom’s strongest coffee, and drink all three of them black.

  One thing is certain. I’ll never take a sleeping pill again. It was horrible. It trapped me in Jade’s world with no chance of escape. Beginning today, caffeine is my new best friend. If I can’t escape Jade’s world through drugged slumber, I’ll do it by never sleeping again.

  I’m not in the mood for school, but I was afraid to stay home alone. My eyes are blurry, my head aches, and I’m simply grateful that my chemistry teacher, Mr. Munoz, allows food in his class. A highly caffeinated soft drink sits open in front of me.

  Thus far my caffeine plan is working. I haven’t had a narcoleptic sleep urge since I got out of bed this morning. That last episode was the longest and most frightening to date. I had to claw my way out of it even after Jade finally got so exhausted she could no longer stare at the dormitory ceiling. I shudder, remembering deformed heads on grayhound necks and the hypnotic walk across the academy. The last experience hit far too close to home. Jade and I have both had our minds manipulated.

  “Listen up, class!”

  Mr. Munoz briskly claps his hands, and the noise level dies down a little. He seats himself on his desk, facing the class.

  “Last time we met, we had a brief discussion about volatilized chemical compounds. Can anyone tell me what’s important about them?”

  He loosens his tie and waits until the silence becomes uncomfortable enough for a boy two tables away to raise his hand and attempt an answer.

  “Yes, Hector. Enlighten us.”

  “Didn’t it have something to do with how we smell things?”

  “It did indeed. Thank you, Mr. Valdez. And that’s what this morning’s entire lesson will be about—‘smelling’ things.”

  “Will we be making rotten egg bombs?”

  A burly boy with short-cropped auburn hair hopefully blurts it out, pulling laughter from the class. Mr. Munoz laughs, too, while he’s raising a hand to silence us.

  “No, Phillip.”

  Master Yao would never tolerate a joke in his classroom.

  “We most definitely will not be making any sort of stink bomb. What we will be doing is starting off with a demonstration of how a powerful set of olfactory organs detects volatilized compounds. To help us with this, two special guests from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department will be joining us this morning.”

  Mr. Munoz nods at the classroom door, and we turn toward it. An officer in a khaki uniform steps in. He leads a large dog into the room. It looks like a German shepherd, except its black-masked face is longer and somewhat more wolf-like.

  The dog’s appearance brings back another unwelcome memory of the dream hunters. I shiver and suppress a large shudder.

  “Officer Briggs, welcome to our class.”

  As the officer and his dog move up my aisle, I shrink back. Jade’s fear—or maybe it’s my own—courses through me like an electric current.

  “Officer Briggs and his partner, Duke, have been involved in over two hundred drug raids since they first started working together,” Mr. Munoz says. “I’m going to give the floor to Officer Briggs so he can tell you a little about the K-9 program and the odor detection training Duke has received.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Munoz,” the deputy says.

  He and his huge dog are right next to me now. I stiffen when Duke stops to curiously sniff my leg. Duke’s handler glances down at me, a severe expression on his face.

  “You don’t have any illegal drugs on you, do you?”

  My face warms, and the class, seeing my embarrassment, erupts in laughter.

  “No, sir,” I whisper.

  The deputy grins, clicks his tongue at Duke, and they continue to the front of the room. I try to relax, but it’s next to impossible with hideous dream hunter images taking center stage in my mind.

  Get a hold of yourself, Jenna, I think. Duke isn’t a dream hunter. He’s just a regular dog.

  Now at the front of the room, the deputy speaks to us in his deep, commanding voice.

  “Good morning, students. It’s a pleasure to be with you today. As Mr. Munoz just mentioned, this magnificent dog—a Belgian Malinois—is Duke. He’s gone through extensive training to become a certified narcotics dog, and he has one of the best noses in the business.”

  Officer Briggs pulls an empty chair forward and gets Duke to perch on it so we can all see him better.

  “An average dog,” Officer Riggs says, “has a sense of smell about a million times greater than yours or mine. Certain breeds—like bloodhounds—have noses up to a hundred million times more sensitive than ours. Duke here has been trained to isolate the scent of hidden narcotics and lead his handler to them.”

  At the table in front of mine, a girl’s hand shoots up.

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  The other girls at her table giggle.

  “What if the people—you know, the ones hiding the drugs—do something like burn scented candles or spray air freshener? Can your dog still find those drugs?”

  Officer Riggs smiles. “I’m glad you brought that up, because Mr. Munoz and I have arranged a little demonstration. Somewhere in this room, a special training pad has been hidden. It’s permeated with the scent of marijuana. To show you how powerful Duke’s nose is I’ve wrapped the pad in several layers of plastic. While Duke is searching, your teacher will put some burning incense on his lab table to further mask the odor.”

  He nods at Mr. Munoz, and our teacher strikes a match and holds an incense stick in its flame. The stick smolders. Within seconds its pungent aroma fills the room.

  “A powerful odor,” Officer Riggs says. “Isn’t it?”

  The class murmurs in agreement.

  “It can blind our noses to other scents, but it can’t fool Duke.”

  He runs his hand over Duke’s tan neck.

  “Down, boy.”

  The dog hops off the chair, and the deputy kneels next to him, whispering something in his ear. The big Malinois puts his nose to the floor and immediately starts sniffing. My thoughts are elsewhere. I’m lost in another person’s memory.

  Thick tendrils of gray smoke choke the air and salty tears burn my eyes. I breathe in the mixed aromas of burning agar and sandalwood, not caring how the smoke stings my lungs. Mother’s body, covered with a white shroud, lies motionless on her funerary palanquin. The palanquin’s carrying poles have been removed, and it rests on a low, grassy mound beneath a silk canopy.

  The villagers loved Mother, and they’ve piled flowers around her bier. Pink, yellow, purple—almost every color but red because red symbolizes joy and none of that emotion lingers here.

  Someone places a thin hand on my shoulder. I look up. Mistress Jiu-Li.
She accompanied me from the academy. For funerals we’re allowed temporary leave. Thus far, I’ve managed to hold back all but a small trickle of tears, but my teacher’s small sympathetic gesture brings them flooding to the surface. It surprises me that a few tears are also glittering in Mistress Jiu-Li’s usually severe eyes.

  A painted portrait of Mother leans against the palanquin. The picture is nestled in a bed of white primroses—mother’s favorite flowers. Painted in traditional style, her portrait makes her look more formal than she ever did in real life.

  New tears blur my vision. I blink. Something wet pushes against my leg. When I look down, I’ve returned to the present—my present. Teary-eyed, I’m being observed by every other set of eyes in the room.

  “Duke can’t keep himself away from you today, can he?”

  My classmates laugh, and I try not to look startled as I shift away from Duke’s damp nose. The dog pokes his head under my chair, barks once, then looks up at the deputy and whines.

  “Would you mind getting out of your seat for a moment, Miss?”

  I stand up and back away.

  Deputy Riggs upends my chair, revealing a plastic-wrapped object duct-taped beneath it. The class applauds, and the deputy scratches Duke behind his ears.

  “Good job, boy.”

  He rips the duct-taped package loose, puts my chair upright, and thanks me. I nod and reseat myself as he returns to the front of the room.

  The presentation continues with a question-answer session, but I’m distracted by motion at the classroom door. A tall, muscular young man is entering, and he moves uncertainly until Mr. Munoz notices his arrival and walks over to greet him.

  Flint!

  My mouth drops open. For some reason my heart beats a little faster.

  Flint shows Mr. Munoz a slip of paper. Mr. Munoz nods and quietly speaks with him a moment. I’m not the only one paying attention to their exchange. Two girls at the table behind mine—Carly Baker and Michelle Wu—look Flint over with approving eyes. They lean close to each other and whisper.

  I’m surprised at the jealous heat that warms my ears. I have no claim on Flint other than seeing him in Jade’s world, yet I don’t like the way the other girls are watching him.

  Mr. Munoz points to several empty chairs. One happens to be at Carly and Michelle’s table, another is at mine. Flint points at my table, Mr. Munoz nods, and Flint approaches his new seat.

  I wrench my eyes away, quickly refocusing my gaze on Deputy Riggs. I’m uncomfortably aware of Flint’s nearness as he sits down beside me. He places his slip of paper—a class schedule—on the table and I steal a quick glance: Choy, Derek. 10th Grade. All but two of his classes are exactly the same as mine. Same teachers. Same sections. A warm chill shivers up my spine.

  “How do you like this teacher?” he whispers, making me jump. “Is he a cool one or a boring one?”

  I struggle to look composed. “Mr. Munoz makes science interesting.”

  Flint—I mean Derek—nods.

  I play with my soft drink can, spinning it slowly with two fingers.

  “I try not to drink that stuff,” Derek says. “It keeps me up all night.”

  “Me too,” I say without thinking, and I immediately feel stupid because here I am with the thing I’m claiming not to drink. But staying up all night is now the general idea. I have a desperate plan, and it involves keeping myself awake for the next forty-eight hours. I’m determined to break the Jade link even if it means torturing myself for a few days.

  I feel Derek’s eyes on me but focus my own on the front of the room. It won’t help my cause to get friendly toward this Flint look-alike. Not until I’ve severed my connection to Jade. Maybe then…

  Maybe then what? Jade is the one attracted to him. Not me.

  I sneak another glance at Derek. He’s good-looking. I stare at our guest speaker again. Officer Brigg’s mouth is moving, but I don’t hear anything he’s saying.

  I have to break free. I have to get my life back. And I need to do it fast.

  TWENTY-NINE

  二十九

  JENNA

  “Are your eyes closed tight?”

  “They’re closed.”

  “Don’t open them,” I say. “Not until I have both your presents ready.”

  “Two presents?” Lily grins. “This is better than Christmas!”

  “Okay. You can look now.”

  Lily sees the conical hat and the cheongsam and claps her hands.

  “You’re so awesome, Jenna! Thank you!”

  She hugs me and puts the hat on her head so she can hold the cheongsam against herself and admire it. She’s so different from Jade’s Lily. The other Lily has a dark, brooding side she only hides with partial success. My Lily is exuberant through and through. I wonder what happened to make the two of them so different.

  “I have to try this dress on! Wait right here. I’m going to change in the bathroom.”

  Lily hurries away. I pace around the room, trying to keep ‘Jade’ thoughts out of my head until Lily returns.

  “How do I look? Can I pass myself off as Chinese?”

  “Not unless we dye your hair black and straighten it,” I say, laughing. “We’ll also need to pull that ridiculous hat down to hide your blue eyes.”

  “Hey! Don’t make fun of my cool hat!”

  She pretends to be offended, and we laugh some more. It’s the most relaxed I’ve felt since the dreams started and the homeless man began stalking me.

  “These are great, Jenna,” Lily says. “More than I deserve. I would have been happy with one of those Chinese finger trap things.”

  “When I saw the dress and hat,” I reply, “I knew I had to get them for you. With that cheongsam on you look just like—”

  I stop myself and look away.

  “Look like who?”

  I don’t answer, so she supplies the answer herself.

  “Like the other Lily? The one you dreamed about?”

  I nod.

  “We still haven’t had a chance to talk,” she says. “About that and…you know…whatever else it is that has been bothering you.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. Just a bunch of silly dreams.”

  Lily watches me a moment.

  “What’s going on, Jen? You can tell me. First you start having strange dreams. Then you have a seizure at school.”

  “It wasn’t a seizure.” I say it more sharply than I intended. “It’s…it’s just lack of sleep. The doctor thinks anxiety is causing sleep deprivation.”

  I sit on my bed’s edge and wad folds of the lime-green bedspread in my fists.

  Lily keeps watching me. I wish she would stop.

  “I don’t think you’re crazy,” she says, “if that’s what you’re worried about. I know you better than that. You’re saner than I am. Really, Jenna, what’s going on?”

  “Things that shouldn’t be possible,” I whisper.

  “Like what?”

  “Like in chemistry today… I saw someone. Someone I recognize from Jade’s world. He checked in to class this morning and got Mr. Munoz to assign him the seat next to mine.”

  Lily plops down beside me.

  “Was he hot?”

  “What do you mean, ‘Was he hot?’”

  “He was!” Lily exclaims, pointing at my rapidly warming face. “You’re blushing! You’re attracted to him!”

  “No, I’m not!”

  “What’s this cute guy’s name?”

  “Flint. At…at least that’s his name in Jade’s world. Here he’s Derek Choy.”

  “And you’re sure you’ve never seen him before? Not in the halls? Not in some other class?”

  “It was his first day at our school. I saw his transfer slip.”

  “Weird. Like déjà vu. Why do none of my dreams ever come true?”

  I grab her arm.

  “Don’t even start to wish for that!” I exclaim. “You…you don’t understand what it’s like!”

  “Sorry, Jen. I di
dn’t mean anything by it. I…”

  Her voice trails off. She stiffens, and I follow her eyes to the window. I catch a glimpse of a haggard, unshaven face before Lily and I split the air with simultaneous screams, prompting the greasy-haired homeless man to turn and run.

  Even without the straw hat, I recognized his frightening face. He’s followed me. Followed me from San Francisco, and now he’s found my house!

  I sit on the bed, paralyzed; but Lily snatches her cell phone and dashes to the window. I hear a recorded voice from her phone exclaiming, “Say cheeeese!”

  “Got him!” she pants. She turns back to me with a wild look in her eyes. “He was dumb enough to look back. I took his picture. Are all your doors locked?”

  I hesitate a moment before springing off the bed to dart to the front door. While I turn the deadbolt, I hear Lily checking the French doors in the kitchen. We meet in the hallway.

  “We should call your mom,” she says. “We should call the police.”

  I nod. I can’t find my voice. It’s fled like the man at the window. Fortunately, Lily is composed enough to take action. She dials 911 while I slump against the wall, head spinning.

  I know that face. Not just from San Francisco. It belongs somewhere in Jade’s world like Derek Choy’s does. But who does it belong to? Not any of the academy’s teachers. Maybe one of the men who arrived with the bingmayong?

  I shake my head. Adrenaline still pumps too quickly through my veins for me to think straight. Lily’s giving information to the 911 operator. Her face is pasty-white, and her voice is shaking. She’s almost as spooked by this as I am.

  Mom. I need to get my cell phone and call Mom. And I have to make this nightmare stop. I have to end the dreams. The bad things in my waking life are all connected to Jade, and they won’t go away unless I shut her out.

  THIRTY

  三十

  JENNA

  “His name is Harold Chin.” The tall blond deputy from the sheriff’s station calmly delivers this information to Mom. “When we picked him up a few hours ago, we discovered the San Francisco PD has a warrant out for his arrest. Apparently he was caught on a security camera wrapping a stolen car around a light pole in Chinatown.”