by Ally Condie
Opal nearly gasped. “Logan, are you okay?”
“No, Opal.” His voice shook. “I got sucked through a well into a freezing lake, and then a video-game monster tried to kill me. Except that’s impossible. So I’m pretty not okay right now. I’m freaking out.”
Opal took a deep breath. “Logan, the pool is real. That creature was … something we know about. Sort of. I should have told you.”
Something heavy moved behind Logan’s eyes. “Told me what?”
“About figments. About the Darkdeep.”
“The what?” Logan pushed back in his chair and stood. “There’s a name for that … that darkness? What are you guys doing on that island?”
Opal bit her lip. She had to level with him. “Logan, you’re not losing your mind. If you help me now, I promise to tell you everything. No more secrets.”
Logan stared at her for a long moment.
Opal held his gaze, worried she’d made a terrible mistake.
I had no choice.
“Okay,” he said finally. “It’s a deal.”
The main office of the Nantes Timber Company was creepy at night. Opal wasn’t the only one who felt it. Tyler and Emma huddled close together. Nico darted glances at every shadow. “This feels like enemy territory,” he muttered.
“It is,” Logan shot back.
Nico didn’t respond. Opal prayed the two of them could behave long enough to complete their mission. She hadn’t told the others about her agreement with Logan, and butterflies were playing badminton in her stomach. They’ll understand, right? I had no choice!
Opal pushed the worry aside. She’d done the right thing. She couldn’t sit back and watch Logan lose his mind just to protect a secret. That’d be way too heartless. Like it or not, he was a part of this now.
“We’re gonna identify this dude and get out of here before anyone sees us.” Logan walked ahead of them down a carpeted hallway. The office was near the edge of Timbers, on the western side of Otter Creek, where most of the land belonged to the timber company. This was Logan’s turf and they all knew it.
“Where are we going?” Tyler asked.
“Here.” Logan stopped at a door labeled Human Resources.
“Human what?” Emma deadpanned.
“It means ‘personnel.’ ” Logan rolled his eyes. “The people who oversee hiring and stuff. This is where the records are kept.”
The room was standard boring, with drab furniture and harsh fluorescent lighting. Opal spotted a row of metal filing cabinets beside a giant copy machine.
“So we think the skeleton hasn’t been there too long,” Emma said, “because the jacket is old-school, but not, like, vintage.” She blew her bangs out of her face. “Like, my mom might’ve worn it, but not Marilyn Monroe.”
“Here.” Logan pulled an album down and slapped it open on the table. “The Christmas banquet happens every year. Employees wear their jackets for the group photo.”
“Except your dad.” Tyler pointed to a picture dated five years before. Sylvain Nantes was in a bright red Santa suit. Logan’s ears turned red. “That was just one year. The regular guy got sick.”
There were hundreds of people in the older pictures. “Did your dad invite everyone who worked here?” Opal asked.
“Still does,” Logan said proudly. “It’s tradition. My grandfather did it that way, too.”
“My mom always loved the food,” Tyler added. Everyone turned to look at him. “What? She worked here for a while before my sister was born.”
Emma tapped one of the photos. “Seems like everyone did. Before the layoffs.”
The room went still. Opal swore she heard an owl hooting in the distance.
“Everyone loves the banquet,” Logan said roughly, flipping through the album. “Nobody misses it, not unless they’re on their deathbed or something.”
“Wait!” Emma caught a page with her finger. “These jackets look right, and the caption lists everyone’s name in the picture. This could really help!”
A vein pumped in Logan’s neck. “How do I know that skeleton is real?”
“Because we showed you five pictures of it.” Emma waved her phone.
“You could’ve dressed up a Halloween decoration.” His voice was thick with suspicion. “You could be playing me right now.”
Acting on instinct, Opal grabbed his hand.
“Your fingers are trembling,” Logan said, surprised. He didn’t jerk away.
“Because I’m scared, Logan.” She let go and looked at the others. “We all are. This isn’t a joke.”
Emma nodded. Tyler dipped his chin in assent. Even Nico muttered, “It’s true.”
Logan’s lips tightened. His gaze shifted to a point beyond Opal, as if he were arguing inside his head. Then he exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “Okay. What should we do next?”
“Let’s look up these jacket people,” Emma said. “Maybe one went missing.”
“Fine. But only Opal and I touch the files. Everything has to go back exactly like it was.”
“Sounds good to me,” Nico joked. “I wouldn’t want to leave any fingerprints.”
“Your fingerprints are all over this place,” Logan snarled. “You and your dad’s.”
Nico’s head dropped. Emma put a hand on his arm.
“And away we go,” Tyler mumbled under his breath.
Opal had to hand it to the HR department—they kept excellent records. Each file had a picture clipped to it. Logan and Opal had gone through twenty or so when they found a folder that also held an unsealed envelope. “Okay if I open this?” she asked.
He nodded grudgingly. Inside were two paychecks and a note:
Unclaimed personal item stored in section 318-B of company warehouse.
“Does your dad let employees store personal stuff?” Tyler asked.
“Sometimes, yeah.”
Opal scanned the file. “Hey, listen! This guy? His name was Roman Hale.” She pointed to a notation on the first page. “Get this! Fifteen years ago, a falling tree clipped him while on the job. He refused medical treatment, so they made him sign a waiver.”
Tyler snapped his fingers. “Our skeleton has a busted collarbone.”
“No home address,” Opal murmured. “Only a PO box. No emergency contact, either.”
“Maybe he didn’t have family,” Tyler guessed. “He died alone, outside of the town, and nobody looked hard enough to find him.”
“He quit showing up for work.” Opal was still reading. “They terminated him after two weeks.”
“Our skeleton is definitely terminated,” Tyler said.
Emma punched him in the shoulder. “Hey, be respectful.”
Tyler grimaced. “Sorry.”
Emma pushed the man’s photograph to the center of the table.
Weather-beaten face. Bright blue eyes. Dark hair. He had a nice smile.
Opal felt suddenly, overwhelmingly sad.
“Roman Hale,” she whispered. “What happened to you?”
23
NICO
Logan squared his shoulders.
“Okay.” He faced the others, pushing up his sleeves. “I did my part, and we figured out who the skeleton was. Now I want proof.”
Nico crossed his arms. “Proof of what?”
Opal cleared her throat, drawing the spotlight. “I promised Logan that if he helped us, we’d tell him everything we know about figments.” She spat the next words quickly. “And the Darkdeep.”
“You did what?” Nico shook his head in disbelief. Tyler closed his eyes, and Emma covered her mouth.
Opal spoke in a low, firm voice. “It was the only way to get him to help. Plus, Logan was attacked by a figment. It wouldn’t be right not to explain. It’d be cruel.” She caught Nico’s eye and held it. “He thought he was losing it. Can you imagine if you went through the Darkdeep and didn’t know what happened?”
A resigned expression stole over Nico’s face. “You’re right. Done is done.”
“Thanks for your approval,” Logan said sarcastically. “Now explain. What is that vortex? Tell me you guys aren’t jumping into it for fun.”
Emma winced, then coughed into a fist. Opal glanced at the ceiling while Tyler started whistling tunelessly. Nico had the good grace to blush.
Logan shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“It is unbelievable,” Emma said. “At first it was fun. We created amazing things. Then … well … it stopped being fun. Now we don’t know what to think about it.”
Logan held up a hand. “Start from the beginning.”
Opal did. Step by step, she walked Logan through what they’d discovered in Still Cove. The cave. The island. The houseboat. The swirling pool down in a basement that shouldn’t exist. Logan already knew about the tunnel, and he’d run like a jackrabbit from the robot ogre, but the truth about figments took his breath away. When Opal finished, he sat down heavily in a folding chair, staring at nothing.
Nico actually felt a little sorry for him. “It’s a lot to absorb at once.”
Logan’s head jerked up. “I want to see it.”
Nico frowned. “You already did. Volg-Mordan nearly chopped us to pieces.”
“Not a figment. I want to see the Darkdeep again.”
Opal cringed. “We agreed on no more tests until we figure out how it really works.”
“I don’t want to go in the thing.” Logan actually shivered. “You guys are insane for doing that. I … I just need to see it again. To prove to myself that it’s real.” His voice cracked slightly. “Please. It’s important.”
Nico glanced at Opal, who nodded, as did Tyler and Emma.
“Fine, Logan.” Nico slapped his hands together. “Fair is fair. We’ll go tonight.”
“What is going on?” Opal whispered.
They were standing on the ridge, not far from where they’d encountered the rhino. It had taken a few hours for everyone to check in at home and sneak away again. The cove was bitterly cold, with only the moon and their phone lights to see by. Nico had expected to find the island empty. It wasn’t.
Down by the pond, the place was lit up like a dance party.
“How many do you see?” Tyler stared at the twinkling lights. “I count six figments near the water alone. They look like trolls holding torches.”
“Three stormtroopers ran into the woods.” Emma pointed to the dark forest. “They’re whacking trees with lightsabers. And there’s some kind of sparkling blob stuck in the creek.”
“Oh, good gravy.” Tyler pressed a fist to his chin. “By the entry stones—is that a glow-in-the-dark gummy bear? Bouncing here and there and everywhere?”
Logan turned incredulous eyes on Opal. “These things show up all the time, and you guys just hang out here?”
“Before now, they only appeared when someone went into the pool.” She shot a worried glance at Nico. “We have a serious problem.”
Nico ran a hand through his hair. “Emma’s right—they’re happening on their own now. How can we even get down there?”
Logan straightened. “We’re not quitting. I still want to see the Darkdeep.”
Nico chewed the inside of his cheek, thinking. “If we swing around behind the houseboat, I think the way is clear. Hopefully the gummy bear will move off before we reach the stepping-stones.” Volg/Mordan had broken the first rock, but it split down the middle and a decent-size piece still poked above the water’s surface.
“We should hurry.” Tyler started down off the ridge. “I feel like a cheeseburger out here, just waiting for something to come take a bite.”
They moved carefully, hiding once to avoid a herd of shambling zombies. It took ten long minutes to circle to the far side of the pond. They sprinted across the stones and Nico shut the front door behind them, sinking to the floor in relief. “Note to anyone thinking imaginary creatures would be cool in real life,” he panted. “They’re one hundred percent not.”
Logan offered him a hand up. Nico stared at it a moment, then took it.
“The pool,” Logan said.
Nico nodded. “Let’s go.” He led everyone through the curtain, across the display room, past the jar thing—were those nostrils in its head now?—and into the secret stairwell. The moment his shoe touched the steps, Nico could tell something had changed.
Eerie lights played on the walls, washed-out colors flashing in discordant bursts. At the bottom Nico saw the Darkdeep itself, and his jaw dropped. The water whirled and churned at breakneck speed, sloshing up into the air without a drop touching the floor.
“It’s gone crazy,” Opal whispered behind him.
“Like a washing machine on steroids,” Tyler said.
Emma shook her head slowly. “Even I’m not getting in that.”
Logan moved closer, eyes wide as Frisbees. “It’s real. I can’t believe it. I’d almost convinced myself it was a dream.” He started to reach out, then snatched his fingers back.
Nico rubbed his forehead. “It’s clearly overloading, but how can we make it stop?”
Opal lifted her chin. “We’ll keep researching. Every minute matters now. Two days ago, this island was under control. Now it’s a monster convention. Who knows what tomorrow might be like?”
Something crashed upstairs. All eyes shot to the staircase.
Heavy treads crossed the deck above their heads.
Tyler leaped to Nico’s side and whispered into his ear. “Something’s inside the boat!”
“I can tell,” Nico hissed back. When no one else moved, he threw his hands up. “Fine. Stay here.” But as he stepped toward the stairs, Logan put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll go with you,” he said.
Nico nodded gratefully. “Just be ready to run back down here.”
They crept up the steps. There was another crash, followed by peculiar grunting. Nico’s palms began to sweat. He eased open the wall panel and poked his nose out.
Nico froze. His heart stopped beating.
Not ten paces from where he hid, three orcs were fighting over the pirate sword.
“What is it?” Logan whispered. “Is something there?”
Nico shook a hand at him for quiet. But when he looked back into the room, the center orc was staring right at him. “Oh no,” Nico breathed.
The orc roared. It dropped the sword and pointed.
“Get back!” Nico shouted, jerking the panel shut. Searching frantically, he spotted a deadbolt on the inside of the wall. Nico slammed it home with a grateful moan, then pushed Logan back down the stairs. Fists began hammering from the opposite side, but the bolt held.
Nico jumped the last few steps to the floorboards. “We’ve got trouble! There are freaking orcs upstairs and they know we’re here.” The banging above underscored his warning.
“What do we do?” Tyler squealed. “There’s no other way out!”
Nico swallowed. “There’s one other way.” He glanced at the seething, spiraling pool.
Opal’s eyes nearly popped from her head. “Are you kidding?”
“What choice do we have?!”
Splintering sounds above. Time was running out.
“It’s okay,” Emma said, voice trembling. “We’ve done it before. I’ll go first.” She turned to the vortex, all color draining from her face. “Best not to think too long.” With a yelp of fright, Emma launched herself into the pool.
The Darkdeep froze, pulsed once, then spasmed in a fiery bloom.
It took several seconds for Nico’s vision to clear. “Who’s next?” he shouted.
Tyler growled deep in his throat. “Not cool, man!” Squeezing his eyes shut, he threw himself into the raging water.
Nico felt a lurch like a record skipping. Tyler was gone.
Nico could see the whites of Logan’s eyes. He’s not ready for this. If Logan went in totally panicked, what would happen? What would the Darkdeep read? “Opal, you’re next.”
Something cracked overhead. A spine-tingling roar boomed into the chamber.
“No mor
e time.” Nico felt a sudden, strange calm. “Opal, go on.”
Opal glanced from one boy to the other. “You two better be right behind me!” She dove into the water and disappeared. The pool shuddered, then whirled like a tornado.
Logan was staring at the Darkdeep with a look of horror on his face. His gaze snapped to Nico. “You go next. I … I’ll be last.” Nico saw that his hands were shaking badly.
“Sure thing.” Nico put a hand on Logan’s shoulder. Felt the tension of his muscles. “Just be sure not to hit the drainpipe on the way down.”
Logan gave him a wild look. “Drainpipe?”
Heavy feet slammed onto the stairs.
“Yeah, that one.” Nico pointed into the whirlpool.
Logan leaned forward to see.
Nico shoved him in the back with both hands and watched Logan plunge shrieking into the inky black depths.
A murderous snarl. Hot orc breath on Nico’s neck.
Nico hurled himself after Logan with a wail of pure terror.
“Psst, over here!”
Nico’s eyes snapped open. He shook his waterlogged head.
He’d gone through the Darkdeep. They all had. Which meant they should be outside in the pond. He tried to remember what the trip had felt like, and discovered he couldn’t. Where the memory should be was only … static. Fuzz and white noise.
Opal reached down and tugged Nico’s shirt. “Come on,” she whispered. “It’s not safe.” She gathered him into a sprint for the tunnel entrance.
At the foot of the rise, Nico spotted Emma, Tyler, and a fuming Logan Nantes.
“We’re gonna talk about that shove,” Logan said darkly, water coating his hair.
“Whatever.” Nico felt only relief at seeing them all alive. “Let’s get off this island.”
They stole to the tunnel mouth, encountering zero figments along the way. Nico was about to relax when Opal gasped, a hand shooting to her mouth.
He edged forward. “Opal, what is it?”
She didn’t answer, pointing at the soft mud in front of the tunnel.
Massive footprints led inside.
They didn’t come back out.
24
