by Imogen Rose
Text copyright © 2010 by Imogen Rose
Website: imogenrose.com
Cover photograph and design by Imogen Rose
Cover photo copyright © 2009 by Imogen Rose
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
First eBook Edition: July 2010
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-615-37681-3
Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank my younger daughter, Lauren, for her relentless enthusiasm and encouragement, which started me off on this journey and keeps me on it. To Lauren, who keeps asking, “What happens next?” I offer this book in response. I’m also grateful to my teen, Georgia, for helping me make sure that all the ice-hockey descriptions were current and accurate.
I am indebted to my friend, Sue Bernstein, for editing this novel and for her patience with me. She continues to be generous, upbeat and always encouraging. I am extremely grateful to Andee Larkin and Keith Robinson for copy editing my work so carefully and to Angela Laskoff, Jessica Cheng, Susan Janowski, Sarah Weiler and Deanna Figueroa for beta-reading EQUILIBRIUM, and for their valuable criticisms and suggestions. I am indebted to Ted Risk for his help with the eBook conversions.
Thank you to all those who purchased and enjoyed PORTAL, the first book in this series. I am blown away by the enthusiastic support from all of you.
-Imogen Rose
A dreamer must dream
A storyteller must tell
I dream to tell
A STORY FOR LAUREN
PROLOGUE
Erica Sen concentrated her attention on the group in the corner. It was not the happy, animated voices that drew her in. It was not their striking looks that fascinated her. These, in fact, were merely distractions. Erica closed her eyes and covered her ears to drown out the plethora of noises from the restaurant. Now she could feel it. She could feel the intense love radiating from the table in the corner. It was so powerful that she could feel her body glow. Her mind felt like it was floating on a cloud. She felt a total sense of calm. She was at equilibrium.
“Erica, we should go. The Elders are expecting us.”
She looked up into the grey, serene eyes of Grayson Weeks and furrowed her brow. She could feel a sense of foreboding.
“Erica, share,” Grayson whispered gently. He extended his right arm slowly across the table and held out his thumb. Erica reached over and touched it gently with her own and closed her eyes again. She let her thoughts flow to Grayson. It felt good releasing them and sharing them with her best friend.
Erica’s first consideration was her daughter, Simla. She had to be protected at all costs. Erica accepted that it had been a big mistake on her part to have fallen in love with a non-Wanderer. Her husband Raj’s ambitions had played havoc with their lives, turning their existence from love and calm to turmoil. However, the union had produced Simla. Erica loved her daughter unconditionally even though she was a challenge. Erica had to find a way to insulate Simla from all this negative energy or it would destroy her, it would destroy them both.
No one understood this better than Grayson. He had also married a non-Wanderer and produced a son, Justin. His wife had unfortunately died and left Justin with a sense of abandonment he’d never been able to cope with, especially when forced to wander with his father. Erica and Grayson had been close friends for a very long time.
Erica’s latest project was Olivia who had surprised her when she had successfully built the portal–a means for Olivia to traverse time and dimensions. This had meant that Erica had to uproot her family from Princeton and move them here to Mountain View, closer to Olivia. It had played havoc with Simla’s life. She had been transported back and forth for years so Erica could fully observe Olivia’s changes.
It was time to deal with the consequences.
“Grayson, let’s go.”
I looked down at the puck, willing it to be my mom’s head. So wrong, I know, but I was beyond furious. I clenched the stick firmly and raised it, jamming the puck into the goal with one swift, hard slam. I stood, staring at the ice, waiting for the next puck to appear, which it did almost immediately. With the same unflinching precision as before, I slammed it home. The next puck came sliding to me and I slammed it in, repeating this again and again until I could almost not feel my shoulders any more. Tears were trickling down my face. I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain in my arms and shoulders or from what had occurred earlier this evening. I looked over to Kellan. He was waiting patiently, passing the pucks over to me. I raised my hand to indicate to him to keep them coming. My physical pain was not yet intense enough to mask the emotional turmoil that was burning up my insides. I kept going and going.
Hours later, Kellan and I lay watching the stars at our very favorite spot by the lake. It was clear and dark with very little moonlight, perfect for stargazing. It was a bit chilly, so we had brought blankets and picked up hot chocolate on the way. I lay back on Kellan’s outstretched arm and cuddled with him under the warm, blue flannel blanket, thinking back on our day.
It had certainly been an eventful day and I was still trying to decide whether I’d made the right decision. It was hard to believe that I hadn’t when I felt so at home where I was–lying here in Kellan’s arms. I looked over at him. He was so perfect. His gorgeous hazel eyes played off his sun-kissed complexion. I had found his lips hard to read at first, mistakenly interpreting his smile as a smirk. I knew better now. I slid my fingers through his thick dark-brown hair and smiled, admiring his lean, hard body. My boyfriend–who’d have ever have thought it! Arizona with a boyfriend. I’d never been the type who fawned over boys, that was more Ella’s thing. My little sister was always going on about the Jonas Brothers. I was way too busy for the boys, besides what boy wanted to date a girl who was smelly from hockey most of the time? For most of my sixteen years, I never thought of myself as pretty–I had straight brown hair, wide lips and hazel eyes–I was fairly ordinary, perhaps even a bit plain. That had all changed, though. When I had unexpectedly arrived here in Mountain View, I had been transformed, physically, into a blond Barbie. I had felt trapped at times, trapped inside a doll. It wasn’t all bad. On the up side, I now had this sweet, amazing boyfriend, whose eyes matched mine. He made me feel so happy.
I thought back to the meeting at Ames with my mother. It all seemed so surreal–even the setting. A portal. That’s what Mom had offered as an explanation for this madness: A portal, which had transported me from one dimension to another. How totally insane!
“Kellan, what do you think about the whole portal thing?”
“Enough material for a book!” he mused.
No kidding, I thought to myself. A couple of weeks ago, I had woken up in my mom’s car and found out that I’d somehow time traveled, not just into the past, but also through dimensions. It was mind boggling. I had in a moment gone from being a hockey player in New Jersey to being a cheerleader, here in California. I’d gone from being Arizona Stevens to Arizona Darley, a blond Barbie-kind-of creature. I’d acquired a new dad–Rupert. My real dad, Dillard… well, I had no idea what he was up to. Looking for me, I’d expect. And to top it all, I had a new older brother, Harry, my blue-eyed, blond, six-foot-tall brother. Oh, I almost forgot, my dead Grandma was alive again.
My mother, a physicist at Ames, was behind this madness. When I’d finally confronted her–after overcoming my fear that
she would cart me off to a psych ward–her explanation was that she and her team had designed and constructed a portal! A portal that–wait for it–I could have gone through tonight, or not again for another year, if I wanted my old life back. I did want my life back…but I needed time to think! I’d chosen not to make a rash decision, mainly because of Kellan. I wasn’t ready to give him up. I doubted that I’d ever be. I nudged him. “So, the portal?”
“Shrimp, I don’t know…. I guess it’s possible. In fact, it is. Our parents seem to have managed to construct one!”
He moved to face me, with a somber expression coming over his perfect face. “Are you happy with the decision you made?”
“Yes, I am. There are so many unanswered questions and uncertainties, but I’m sure of one thing,” I said nuzzling into his warm chest. “I know for certain that I want to be with you.” I kissed him gently. “I just don’t get it. I know I should have asked more questions, but it was all such a shock and muddle. Now, I’m more confused than ever,” I groaned.
“Me, too,” Kellan agreed.
“So, I was somehow transported through a portal. That doesn’t explain how everyone here knows me, or Harry, Grandma or anything else,” I continued, getting more and more exasperated. “We need to go back and demand some more answers!” I turned toward Kellan and looked at him as he took a deep breath and sighed.
“You’re right, of course. Another ten minutes?” he asked, putting his arms around me.
I nodded as I brushed my nose softly against his cheek, breathing him in. He turned and kissed my neck, biting it ever so gently and moving up to my lips. I could feel my body tremble. I unbuttoned his shirt and felt the smoothness of his chest as he enveloped my body with his.
That’s the last thing I remembered before everything went blank.
~
“Kellan, where are you?” It was pitch dark and my head pounded. Although I couldn’t see a thing, I could smell, and I winced at the musty stench working its way up my nostrils. I couldn’t feel my arms as I tried to stretch to feel for Kellan. I tried moving my legs with no success. Then I heard a moan from my left side.
“Kellan, is that you?” I asked terrified.
“Shrimp, where are you?” he whispered hoarsely.
“Kellan, can you move? I think I’m over to your right. I can’t move.” I could hear shuffling. I hoped that it was him trying to get closer to me. I tried moving, unsuccessfully, and hoped that he would find a way to get to me in the dark.
“Kellan, I’m scared,” I whispered tearfully; I was more than scared, I was petrified.
“Hold on, Shrimp. I’m on my way, nearly there.”
I felt his hand on my face, pulling it close to his. I collapsed into him, my tears probably drowning him.
“Kellan, I can’t feel my arms or legs,” I sobbed uncontrollably.
“Shrimp, I woke like that, too. The feeling will come back very soon. Get prepared for unbearable pain, though. My arms and legs are throbbing.”
I closed my eyes and pushed my face as far into Kellan’s neck as I could as he cradled me in his arms. I waited for the pain to begin. It started way too soon. I had, for whatever reason, expected it to start in my toes, maybe because they were the furthest away? I was wrong. As I felt the first stabs in my left knee, I cried out. It was excruciating. It felt like a knife was being jammed into it, again and again. I could feel Kellan gripping me tighter as I started to cry and shake violently. It only got worse. Both my legs and arms felt like they were being repeatedly attacked by angry, hungry sharks. I wanted, I needed, Kellan to cut them off, I needed release.
“Kellan, please. Cut them off,” I cried hysterically.
“Baby, hold on. It will get a bit less intense soon,” he whispered, as he pulled my head back and kissed me. I shook him away and then collapsed back on him giving in to all my senses, unable to concentrate, desperately trying to keep it together. All I wanted to do was die. My legs turned cold and I started shivering. Kellan brought his legs over mine, rubbing them, trying to warm them up. He took his shirt off and blanketed me with it. I lost consciousness.
“Shrimp, wake up.”
I could feel drops of liquid on my lips as I struggled to open my eyes. My head was still pounding and my body hurt. Not the sharp stabbing pains any more, but a dull, steady ache.
“Kellan, I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
“Sorry?” he muttered.
“You must be in the same pain as me.”
“I’m okay,” he lied. “Shrimp, I found some water. At least, I think it’s water. It tastes funny, muddy. But, I drank some and it seems okay. I think you should have some too. You’re dehydrated.”
Dehydrated? That was the least of our problems. I was not going to argue, though, so I parted my lips and let him sprinkle some more water into my mouth. It tasted awful, like dirt.
“Can you feel your legs and arms fully, Arizona? Can you wriggle your toes?”
I tried to wriggle them; it hurt. I guess I should be thankful that I could feel them at all.
“I can feel them, Kellan. It still hurts a lot. How about you? Don’t say that you’re okay, I know you’re not.”
He sighed, “Okay then, I hurt too. Not as much as before, though. I need to get up and feel around for a bit, try to figure out where we are.”
“Okay, but don’t go far, Kellan. It’s too dark; I don’t want to lose you. Keep talking to me. I’m going to stay here. I don’t feel ready to get up just yet.”
“I’m going to lay you down gently and then try to get up,” he said.
I was not the least bit happy about that but relented. Kellan gently put me down on the floor next to him. It was cold, hard and smelled disgusting. I could hear him trying to get up, groaning as he did so. He was obviously in a lot of pain. He shuffled around me, and I could hear him picking up some stuff and knocking others down.
“Anything interesting?” I asked.
“Define interesting,” he muttered.
I shrugged, though he wouldn’t be able to see that in the pitch dark.
“What is this place?” I wondered aloud. I struggled to sit up and brought my knees to my chin. It was excruciating. I felt around for support and put my hands on what appeared to be a stool–or chair, perhaps a table, I don’t really know and didn’t care–and pulled myself up slowly. I stood and tried to balance; I felt dizzy but kept standing.
“Shrimp, where are you?”
“Over here, Kellan,” I said, waving my arms around trying to feel for him. He found my hands and pulled me over to him. I stumbled into his arms and clung on.
“I found some glass bottles. I’ve no idea what’s in them or how old they are. We’ll keep them for an emergency.
I broke out in nervous giggles. An emergency? That was almost funny. I bit down on my lip to prevent myself from giving in to full-blown hysteria.
“Arizona, let’s walk around and see if we can find a door or something.” He took me by the hand and we slowly made our way around the darkness. We found the wall and followed it around. There were a number of knob-like things on the walls and possible doors. We tried pulling on them, pushing at them, to no avail. I was exhausted and my body was giving in. I needed to sit again. I let my legs buckle under me and I fell to the floor before Kellan could pull me up. Sheesh, that hurt!
“Shrimp, you ok?” Kellan asked in a concerned tone, as he sat down beside me, moving his hands over me, checking me for injuries.
“I’m okay, Kellan. I just couldn’t stand up any more. I need a short rest.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean to rush you.”
“You’re not. I’m a mess, though. What happened? Where are we?
“I’ve no idea.”
“None at all?” I pleaded.
“No.”
I lay back and tried to remember what happened. The last I thing I remembered was Kellan lying on top of me under the stars at the lake. I vaguely remember his head hitting mine.
“Kellan
, did you bang my head by accident at the lake. You know when we were lying down?”
“My head did hit yours but I have no idea how. I don’t think I just fainted on top of you. I think something hit the back of my head, but I can’t be sure.”
“You think someone hit you?” I asked surprised.
“Someone or something. I have a fairly bad dent in my skull.”
I felt the back of his head. He was right. There was definitely a dent. Weird. I was sure we’d been alone. Kellan needed to see a doctor.
“You don’t think a meteorite remnant hit you, do you?” I asked curiously. We’d been at the lake after all, which was our spot for watching meteor showers.
“Highly unlikely,” he mumbled. “Besides, that wouldn’t explain what we’re doing here, would it?”
“So, you think someone hit you and brought us here?” I asked more than a little perturbed.
“It seems the most likely explanation.”
“An axe murderer?” I shivered, my body now giving in to full-blown shakes.
“I don’t know, Shrimp. We need to prepare ourselves, and figure a way out of here.”
“No kidding,” I agreed. I really could do without the throbbing pain. I needed to be able to fully concentrate on dealing with this situation. I could barely think over the pain. Kellan and I were normally strong. The two of us should be able to deal with a lunatic axe murderer–no problem, I think. We sure did need to get ourselves ready.
“Kellan, let’s get organized.”
I felt around for my cell phone, on the vague possibility that whoever we were dealing with was just plain stupid. He or she wasn’t. My iPhone was missing from my pocket, as were my keys.
“Kellan, do you have your phone?”
“No, I checked, it’s been taken.”
“Why would an axe murderer take us?” I asked feeling exasperated.
“Shrimp, we don’t know if it’s a psycho killer, an escaped lunatic, or someone we know.”
“Well, no one we know would do this!” I was fairly certain of that.
