Oracle of Doom

by D. J. MacHale

  “Maybe that’s where the oracle part comes in,” I said. “Maybe he sees more. Or he knows how to put the images together to make sense.”

  “We need him here,” Lu said. “We saved his life. He owes us.”

  She was about to jump off the stage when the sound of a siren tore through the night.

  “Now what?” Lu exclaimed.

  The siren got louder. It was coming closer.

  “Sounds like a fire truck,” Theo said. “You don’t suppose—”

  I didn’t wait for him to finish his thought. I jumped off the stage and sprinted for the exit. The park wasn’t as busy as before. There was nobody to stand in our way as we ran back to the midway. We soon discovered why. People had left the rest of the park and gathered on the midway to watch the spectacle.

  When we saw what they were all staring at, my stomach fell.

  The Magic Castle was on fire.

  Fire licked out from every window, sending choking black smoke into the night sky. It seemed as though it had started low and shot straight up the central structure that supported the main turret.

  The turret that held Baz’s apartment.

  The ride was done for, and so was Baz.

  We stood on the edge of the crowd, gazing up at the inferno in stunned wonder.

  “I thought you put the fire out!” Theo exclaimed.

  “I did! I swear.”

  “He did,” Lu said with certainty. “It was definitely out.”

  Theo sighed and said, “So then, we were wrong. No matter what we do, we can’t change the future.”

  Watching the ride go up in flames was too depressing for all sorts of reasons. There was nothing left for us to do in the story, so we trudged back toward the maintenance workshop in the carousel building. None of us said anything about what it all meant. Mostly because I don’t think anybody knew. I used the Paradox key on the closet door, and we were soon back in the Library.

  We found Everett at his usual spot, reading the latest developments in the black book that contained the story of the Oracle Baz. The three of us stood there, staring at Everett, hoping he could offer some kind of wisdom or insight as to what had gone wrong.

  All he said was, “Are you absolutely sure you put out the fire?”

  “Yes!” I exclaimed in frustration. “I don’t know how much more out it could be. But even if I missed a little ember, there’s no way it would have spread so quickly. That place was like an inferno!”

  “It spread because it had to,” Theo said with no emotion. “Call it fate or destiny or whatever you want, but it’s too powerful to be changed. The future is like a magnet that keeps pulling us in the direction it wants us to go. All we did in that story was prove it.”

  “No!” Lu exclaimed. “Nothing controls my future but me. I decide what’s going to happen.”

  “I don’t think anybody has total control over what happens to them,” I said.

  “I know that,” she shot back. “But the future isn’t written yet, no matter what shadows pop up in a stupid crystal ball. We may not be able to change what happened in the past, but we sure as heck can change what hasn’t happened yet.”

  “I wish you were right,” Theo said. “But everything I’ve seen says you aren’t.”

  “Then give up,” Lu said angrily. “Let whatever’s going to happen, happen. I can’t do that. I won’t. I’m not going down without a fight.”

  Lu stormed off, headed for the door that would lead back to my bedroom.

  The rest of us looked at one another, unsure of what to say.

  “What do you think, Everett?” I asked. “Is the future set in stone?”

  Everett closed the book and tossed it onto the circulation desk.

  “I wish I could be of more help,” he said. “I exist in a very different world from the one you all live in. The lives of the spirits that haunt these books are fluid. When you enter stories that took place in the past, you’re stepping into a memory. We can help the spirits understand the dilemmas they encountered, but it doesn’t change what actually happened to them when they were alive.”

  “But we did change the future,” I said. “The actual future. We shut down the Black Moon Circle and captured the Boggin.”

  “Aye,” Everett said. “Because that was reality. You didn’t change the past; you influenced real events that hadn’t happened yet.”

  “Exactly!” I exclaimed. “That’s what we’re trying to do here!”

  “Indeed,” Everett said. “The difference here is you were given a glimpse of the future. Of events that have yet to happen. I can’t tell you how Baz is able to do that, or why that crystal ball offers that window, but from everything I’ve read, the power is real. And accurate.”

  “But can the future be changed?” I asked.

  “I truly don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

  “Not as sorry as I am,” Theo said. “I’m going home.”

  He took off, headed back to reality, leaving Everett and me alone.

  “So here’s the question,” Everett said. “How can this be fixed? Is it about going back into the story to figure out what the disruption was? Or is it better to stay in reality and do what you can to avoid disaster?”

  “Maybe I can do both,” I said.

  An idea was forming. I didn’t know exactly how I would make it happen, but at least it was an idea.

  “Both?” Everett said.

  I grabbed the book and flipped through pages, my excitement growing.

  “There was something that happened,” I said. “I don’t remember the exact words but…here!”

  I found the section of the story that had been tickling at my imagination since I first read it.

  BAZ STARED DEEP INTO the crystal and scowled. “You are employed here at the park?” he asked.

  “I’m on break,” Simmons replied. “It’s allowed.”

  “Go home,” Baz snapped. “Do not return to your duties today.”

  “I said, it’s allowed,” Simmons said, annoyed. “I can come to the shows.”

  “I don’t care what your superiors have authorized you to do,” Baz snarled. “If you remain here at the park, your life will be in grave danger.”

  I closed the book and said, “Baz saw that guy’s future. He saw that Simmons was going to die and told him to leave the park.”

  Everett sat up straight; his hope was growing along with mine.

  “Baz tried to save the man,” he said. “Does that mean it was possible?”

  “I don’t know, but why would he warn Simmons if he didn’t think the future could be changed?”

  “I believe you’re right, lad!” Everett exclaimed. “But we don’t have the same advantage. Baz saw what Simmons was in for. We don’t know where Lu’s cousin disappeared to or what fate awaits Theo.”

  “But we came close,” I said. “When Theo touched that crystal ball, we saw images. There was a crash. And twisted metal. And all sorts of stuff that wasn’t too pretty.”

  “That isn’t much of a help,” Everett said.

  “No, we need to know more. We have to know more.”

  I went toward the door, headed for home.

  “How do you propose to do that?” Everett asked.

  “Easy,” I replied. “I’m going to steal a crystal ball.”

  IT WAS FRIDAY EVENING.

  Two days before Theo’s birthday, when, according to his fortune, life as he knew it would end.

  Though Theo’s dilemma was more pressing, Annabella Lu didn’t lose sight of the fact that her cousin Jenny’s disappearance was also very much a part of the story. Rather than returning to her home after leaving the Library, Lu paid another visit to her aunt Tina’s house.

  “Is it okay if I spend the night in Jenny’s room?”
Lu asked her aunt.

  “Of course, child, but why?”

  Lu shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I’m just trying to do all I can to figure out what happened to her. You never know—maybe I’ll get inspired.”

  Aunt Tina gave her a loving and grateful hug, though she had no real hope that having her favorite niece sleep in her missing daughter’s room would solve any mysteries. Still, she gave Lu a kiss and wished her a good night.

  Lu shut herself in Jenny’s room. Though she was exhausted, she couldn’t sleep. After tossing in bed for over an hour, she gave up trying, got out of bed, and sat at Jenny’s desk. For the one hundredth time, she read the fortune card Jenny had been given by the machine that held the fortune-telling crystal ball of the Oracle Baz.

  SEIZE THE MOMENT. YOU MAY NOT GET ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY.

  FOLLOW YOUR HEART.

  What could it mean?

  What had the crystal ball seen in Jenny’s future? Did it have anything to do with her disappearance?

  With only the narrow shaft of light from the lamp shining on Jenny’s desk, Lu slowly scanned the collection of odds and ends that helped define her cousin’s life and history. There was a Hello Kitty notepad; a Tower of Terror mug filled with pens and pencils; multiple hair clips in every color; framed photos of Jenny with her parents; a jewelry box; half a dozen stuffed animals with oversized eyes; a stack of well-read books; a princess brush that Jenny had used since she was a toddler; the box from her iPhone; an array of makeup tubes and jars that were neatly arranged like a line of soldiers; a…

  Wait.

  The box from her iPhone.

  Lu sat bolt upright, even more awake than before.

  She grabbed the box and pulled it open to find…nothing. No phone. Only a receipt. Lu pulled it out, checked the date, and smiled.

  She dropped the box and the receipt and started going through the desk drawers, quickly digging in each one. She was on a mission for she knew exactly what to look for. In the third drawer she found it.

  Jenny’s old iPhone. Not the new one that had come in the box.

  Lu plugged the phone into the power cord that ran up from the wall outlet and waited for it to power up.

  “Come on…come on,” Lu implored impatiently.

  Finally, Jenny’s home screen appeared. There was no lock screen and request for a passcode. Jenny didn’t bother with security. The home screen was a picture of her two cats, Abbie and Winston. The picture made Lu smile for a second, but no more than that. Her mind was racing too far ahead.

  She went right to the phone icon and opened up the recent calls Jenny had made and received. Though “recent” was only as recent as the moment when Jenny activated her new phone and deactivated the old one. The date on the receipt confirmed Lu’s memory: Jenny had gotten the new phone shortly before she went missing. Until then she had been using the phone that Lu now held in her hands.

  A list of numbers appeared, both from incoming and outgoing calls. Lu recognized only a few numbers that belonged to their family. Her own number was there a few times too. Those didn’t interest her. But there was another number that did. It had a Connecticut area code, which wasn’t unusual. The odd thing was that it showed up dozens of times. Multiple dozens. Whoever belonged to that number, Jenny had spoken to them again and again right before she disappeared. The name associated with the number was simply “Jo.”

  It took only a few seconds for Lu to skim through Jenny’s contact list to find “Jo.” The contact picture showed a pretty girl with Asian features who flashed a two-fingered peace sign.

  Lu was focused and on fire. She turned on Jenny’s old-school tower computer. It took what felt like an eternity to boot up as Lu sat there, nervously drumming her fingers on the desk. The whole while she kept staring at the smiling face of Jo on Jenny’s phone. Lu didn’t know Jo and didn’t remember Jenny ever talking about her. But from the number of times they had talked with one another recently, it sure seemed as though her cousin knew Jo pretty well.

  Once the computer had booted up, Lu started Firefox and went straight to Facebook. In seconds she was on Jenny’s page and searching through her friends list. Jenny had more than a few friends. A few hundred was more like it. Lu had to force herself to slow down and focus on each tiny profile picture. She didn’t want to miss any.

  When she was getting near the end of the list and beginning to fear she had struck out, she found it.

  Jo Wong.

  It was the exact same picture that Jenny had on her phone.

  Lu’s heart raced and her hand trembled as she clicked on Jo’s name. Now that she was so close, she feared that her efforts might lead to nothing. Her ten minutes of excitement and hope could come to an abrupt and disappointing dead end. After what felt like half a lifetime, Jo Wong’s page appeared.

  Lu scrolled down, examining Jo’s posts…

  …and let out a yelp.

  “Gotcha!” she yelled.

  Lu jumped up, ran out of Jenny’s room, and sprinted along the upstairs hallway.

  It was past midnight. Her aunt and uncle would surely be asleep.

  Lu didn’t care. She burst into their room and leapt onto the bed.

  “Wha—?” Uncle Nathan shouted, dazed.

  Aunt Tina let out a yelp of surprise.

  “It’s okay, it’s me,” Lu announced.

  “Annabella?” Aunt Tina said, still half-asleep and more than a little confused.

  “What are you doing?” Uncle Nathan asked.

  “Wrong question,” Lu said, barely containing her excitement. “It’s not what I’m doing—it’s what I did.”

  “What did you do?” Aunt Tina asked.

  “I found Jenny.”

  Saturday morning.

  T minus one day to Theo’s birthday.

  The day I would become a criminal.

  I didn’t really plan on stealing Baz’s crystal ball. Not really. It was more like a loan. I just wanted to borrow it long enough to get the information I needed to save my friend’s life. I fully expected to return it. But it wasn’t like I could explain that to the people at Playland and expect them to say, Why, sure, young fella! Go right ahead! Take the antique crystal ball and see if you can change the future. Good luck to you!

  That wouldn’t happen, which is why I found myself on the bus and headed for Playland at the silly hour of six o’clock. I doubted that the guard Eugene would be up and patrolling that early. I mean, who breaks into an amusement park at that hour? Nobody. Nobody but me, that is. My plan was to be in, out, and back on the bus with the crystal ball before anybody realized what had happened. Heck, I might get it back before they even realized it was gone. That ancient arcade barely had any visitors even when the park was open.

  But returning the crystal ball was the least of my worries. I needed to get it home, put it in front of Theo, and hope it really did have the power to give us a clue to what might happen the next day. That was all that mattered.

  I was the only one on the bus when the driver let me out at the end of Playland Parkway. It was the same driver who had dropped me off before, and he gave me the same curious look.

  “I know it’s closed,” I said to the guy.

  The driver just shrugged and drove off. He didn’t care.

  Dawn wouldn’t come until six-thirty, which meant the park was in early-morning twilight. Perfect. I could hug the buildings of the midway and blend in, unnoticed, like a stealth fighter. Without sunlight, the normally bright colors of the park were muted and gray, giving it the look of a faded black-and-white picture. It only added to the feeling of eerie emptiness. As I moved quickly along, I couldn’t help but think of the many tragic events that had happened at the park. Was this place cursed? Had it been built over an ancient burial ground? Or was it just the victim of so
me incredibly bad luck?

  When I slid past the Hall of Mirrors, a chill went up my spine, but I stayed focused and kept moving. I was amped up enough. I didn’t need to start imagining what had been in there with me.

  I had to cross the midway and the grassy strip that ran in the center of it to get to the bumper car ride. This was where Eugene had spotted me the last time, so instead of moving in a straight line, I ran from tree to tree, shielding myself as best as I could.

  Speed was everything. The longer I was there, the better the chances were that I would get caught. I jumped the chest-high wall that enclosed the bumper cars to take a shortcut through the track itself. I hurried across the empty expanse to the ride’s exit on the far side, and the sidewalk that would lead to the arcade. So far so good. No whistles were blown. No alarms went off. I had made it.

  But the second I stepped inside the arcade, I was hit with an overpowering sense of…what? I wasn’t scared. Or creeped out. It was more like an intense sadness. It was still pretty dark, so the games were little more than silhouettes. Being surrounded by those antique machines made me feel as though I had stepped back in time. Again. There was nothing in there that had been built in the past fifty years. The park had a lot of history, and not all of it was good.

  I walked slowly along one aisle, surrounded by the past. Unlike modern arcade games that were all about LED lights and music and animation, these things were made of wood and metal. They were mechanical. Their artwork showed laughing clowns and happy kid faces and cowboys and animals that were all from another era. Whoever had made these machines was long gone. It was like walking among mechanical ghosts. I couldn’t help but feel as though a hundred pairs of eyes were on me, silently questioning why I had dared to enter their forgotten little universe.

  That feeling intensified about a thousand times when I rounded the end of one aisle and caught sight of the glass box that held the Oracle Baz. Or his dummy, looking as though he was sitting inside a glass coffin. At least his eyes were focused on the crystal ball, not me.

  The crystal ball. That’s what I had come for.