The Void Hunters (Realmwalker Book 2)

by Jonathan Franks

  “See what?” Laura asked in mock surprise.

  Wes smirked at her and waited expectantly.

  “Okay, wait one second!” Laura turned around and dipped her hand into her pocket, slipped the ring on her finger and spun around, making a joyful squealing noise. The engagement ring was a thin gold band with a very small solitaire diamond.

  “It's beautiful. George is a decent kid,” Wes said. “Are you pregnant?”

  “No!”

  “You know I had to ask,” Wes said. “You are waiting until after graduation.” It wasn't a question. Laura had worked hard, taken AP classes in high school and summer semesters, not to mention the amount of money he'd spent on her schooling.

  “That's something I wanted to talk to you about,” Laura said.

  Wes narrowed his eyes and sat up straight. “Laura,” he started. He wasn't going to let this kid convince his daughter to jeopardize her future.

  “Oh, no, daddy, no,” Laura put her hands up defensively. “No, we're graduating. I'm sorry, that wasn't what I meant. I wanted to talk to you about after graduation.”

  “You need a place to live, then?” Wes asked.

  “No,” Laura laughed. “That isn't it. Stop jumping to conclusions and just let me talk!”

  Wes smiled and nodded in concession. “Sorry. Go ahead.”

  “Well, you know that I have enough credits to graduate this semester,” Laura said.

  Wes nodded.

  “George will graduate in the spring,” Laura said. “Instead of coming home this winter, I'd like to stay in Champaign. George has an apartment,” she said. She had stayed in the dorms for all three and a half years. Even when some of her friends got an apartment together, she'd wanted to stay on-campus.

  She continued, “I'll get a job down there.”

  “Doing what?” Wes asked.

  “Well, the strip club is looking…”

  Wes's face darkened to a very angry shade of purple.

  “Daddy! I'm only kidding! There are a couple of openings for research chemists at the university, and I've already talked to Doctor K and he says if I want it, one of the spots is mine.”

  “That's great, honey,” Wes said. “I'm proud of you. I know you were hoping for something more like marine biology, but research chemistry is great. Maybe you'll create a pill for limb regeneration,” he winked at her. It actually was echinoderm regeneration, such as starfish growing back their legs, that had fascinated Laura as a girl and led her into science, like biology and chemistry.

  Laura smiled. “Well, see, I think I'm only going to work in the lab until George graduates. We've talked about it a lot and you know that I really want to do something to make a difference. But with everything that's happened with your benefits and treatment and everything, I really don't want to join the military.”

  “Good choice,” Wes said, waiting for the rest of the news. Laura was hesitant. “Quit stalling. Out with it,” he said.

  Laura took a deep breath. “We decided that after George graduates, we're joining the Peace Corps.”

  Wes's brows lifted in surprise. “The Peace Corps?”

  “Yeah,” Laura said.

  “So instead of joining the military and working for the government, you would rather volunteer for the government?”

  “We could help people! We could do something that could make a difference!”

  “Make a difference by being a teacher and building mud homes for impoverished people in third world countries? I've been to a third world country and let me tell you, they don't want your help. Laurie, you worked really hard in a field where you met a lot of resistance. You pushed through it all and, look at you, you're about to graduate. You're getting engaged—”

  “I actually am engaged…”

  “Excuse me!” Wes rolled his eyes, “You are engaged… You wanted to be a scientist. And instead, you're going to teach rudimentary math to poor village children.”

  “Actually, dad, I am going in a scientific capacity. I'm going to assist with a research study for malaria vaccinations.”

  Wes crossed his arms, realizing that, once again, she'd thought things through and she won.

  “That's one reason why we're getting married,” Laura said. “So that we can go wherever we go together.”

  “One reason?” Wes asked.

  “Oh, daddy,” Laura said. “You know what I mean!”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “He's wonderful and I love him. And he loves me. And he's good to me. He's never mean to me. He supports me and he puts up with my long lab hours and all of it. He's really great, dad.”

  Wes looked at the kitchen window. Anne and George were laughing about something in the kitchen. “He's a good kid, Laurie. It sounds like you have it all figured out. I'm proud of you.”

  Laura bent to hug Wes. When she started to straighten up, Wes held her tighter.

  “Oh, dad,” she said.

  “Come here. Give us a kiss.”

  Laura knew the next line. It was Wes's favorite scene from Jaws. “Why?” she asked.

  “'Cuz I need it,” he said.

  She kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, daddy.”

  “I love you, too, princess. Now get ready to do all of that squealing again when we tell mom. And maybe keep quiet about the Peace Corps thing. One thing at a time.”

  Wes was right: there was much squealing when Laura told Anne. Michelle, Laura's younger sister, squealed along with her, and Laura added without prompting, “And I'm not pregnant!”

  Anne laughed, then wrapped George in a big hug. “This is such wonderful news!”

  They outlined their plan to Anne: moving in together after graduation, Laura's job, George's graduation. George started to talk about the rest of their plan but Laura kneed him under the table and subtly gave him the “Shut up!” signal. He understood and didn't mention their post-graduation plans.

  “Have you told your family yet?” Anne asked.

  “No, Mrs. Lachance,” George said.

  “Oh, please,” Anne said, “Call me Anne. You're family now!”

  “All right,” George said. “No, we haven't told them. We wanted to tell you guys first.”

  “That's awfully sweet,” Anne said. “When are you going to tell them?”

  “They only live about an hour from here,” Laura said. “We were going to drive over there Sunday after we clean up from the party.”

  “Don't be silly,” Anne said. “Shelly and I can manage cleaning up after the party. You two go tell George's parents. I hope we get to meet them soon.”

  “Are you going to change your name?” Michelle asked.

  Laura looked at George and smiled. “I am,” she said. “I'm going to be Mrs. Laura Summers.” She beamed with excitement.

  -

  Herron was cheerful at dinner. The four of them—Gen, Hope, Shae, and Herron—were due to leave the next morning. They had spent the last few days poring over maps and planning their journey. They had decided to start with The Marsh.

  The Marsh had all of its own residents plus the refugees that Nai had sent from The Meadows when she had learned that it was going to be one of Pepper's targets. The Caverns had vanished a month before, but they could rescue the most fairies if they started with The Marsh. At first, Gen had objected and wanted to go to The Meadows first, but then she, herself, suggested that the fairies from The Meadows were actually in The Marsh, so it was practical do save The Marsh first.

  “It's cute how you start arguing and then argue yourself right out of what you were saying before anyone has a chance to even try to convince you,” Hope smiled at her.

  Gen was becoming increasingly comfortable with Hope's attention and affection. They had spent quite a lot of time together since Gen arrived at The Peak. Since there were only three rooms in the residence, Herron and Shae took two of the bedrooms and Gen and Hope slept together in the remaining room. Hope was very patient and understanding with Gen. Every night they went to sleep on separate s
ides of the bed, but every morning, they woke up spooned close together. Gen loved waking up every morning and breathing in the sweet smell of Hope's hair. Gen struggled every night, sleeping so closely with someone that a big part of her was so in love with. She ached to kiss her, to touch her, but she abstained. It didn't feel fair to Jim and every time she felt desire burning in her, she felt guilty.

  Gen loved all of the new food that she got to try. She was used to American food, where the meat was usually beef or pork or chicken, there was a starch like a potato or something cheesy that came out of a box, and some frozen green vegetable. Here, the scale of food was so different that it constantly took her by surprise. By the time vegetables were ready to be eaten, they were gigantic and they could feed several fairies. It was the same with animals. A chipmunk was roughly the same size to Gen now that a cow was back home. She was coming to grips with eating steaks of animals that just a couple of weeks ago, she considered to be tiny, cute woodland creatures.

  Also unnerving was eating dinner with Shae. Her foresight made her an interesting companion. Shae would seem to randomly pass bowls or pitchers or seasonings to one or another of them, but it wasn't random at all. Shae skipped ahead past, “Can you please pass the mushrooms?” straight to the actual passing of the mushrooms.

  “You seem like you're in a much better mood,” Gen said to Herron.

  “I'm feeling better,” he said. “But, yeah, I am in an especially good mood tonight. Maybe it's because I know we're setting off tomorrow. Things just feel… Pleasant.”

  “They do,” Hope said. “It's been a pretty good week.”

  Shae suddenly stood up. Gen, Hope, and Herron looked at her, surprised.

  “I would like to make a toast,” Shae said. She held up her cup. “Tomorrow, we're setting off on a dangerous journey. We're going to do what we've been told no fairy has succeeded in doing. But we will succeed.”

  “Did you see that we'll succeed?” Herron asked.

  “No,” Shae said. “But I look at us and I simply know that we can do it. It doesn't matter that it's never been done. There's never been a group like us.”

  “I'll drink to that,” Hope said and raised her cup.

  “Ditto,” Gen said.

  Herron looked at Gen curiously. “What's that?”

  “What's what?”

  “'Ditto.'“

  “Oh,” Gen said. “Um, it means me, too, I guess. Like, copying something.”

  “All right, then,” Herron said. He raised his cup. “Ditto.”

  Gen grinned at him. “You got it!”

  The four of them all said, “Ditto!” and clicked their cups together.

  After they had gone to bed, Gen rolled over toward Hope. Gen still wasn't used to how much extra work it was to roll over in bed with wings.

  Hope's back was facing her. “Hope?”

  “Hmm?” Hope rolled over.

  “Are you scared?”

  “Of going into The Void?”

  “Yeah,” Gen said.

  “Terrified. But I like what Shae had to say. We can do it. Maybe nobody succeeded because they didn't have someone like you.”

  “I'm scared. We don't have life or death situations like this where I live. It's safe. We're at the top of the food chain. I mean, sure, you can, like, go to the jungle and get eaten by a tiger or something, but just walking down the street, there aren't any wild animals or monsters that are going to try to eat you! If I were home now, I'd be worried about going to school and doing well on my tests and getting my homework done.”

  “Sounds…” Hope trailed off.

  “Boring,” Gen said.

  “I didn't want to say it,” Hope chuckled.

  “I don't know if I would have thought that before all of this happened. But, yeah, it is. Things are so exciting here.”

  “Do you wish you could go back?”

  Gen sighed deeply. “It's complicated.”

  “Sorry,” Hope said. “If you don't want to talk about it—”

  “No,” Gen cut her off. “It's okay. It is nice to be able to take your safety completely for granted. And there are people I really miss.”

  “Like Jim.”

  “Yeah, and my family. But you know what?” Gen asked. “It wouldn't be the same if I went back. If I could go back right now, I'm not the same person I was when I left. What would it be like with Jim now? He's had a week or so of his life go by now, and he's grown a week. I've had a week go by and I've grown another fourteen years. Actually, that's not even right. When you're a new arrival, you seem about eighteen, physically and emotionally. And Ivy was fourteen years past that. That makes thirty four in human years. Maybe even forty eight because I have my own fourteen years on top of that. But that's super old and I don't think I feel like I'm in my forties. But I'm definitely not a kid anymore. And he still is.”

  Hope looked tenderly at Gen but didn't say anything.

  “I know it's hard to understand for you,” Gen said. “You grow and age and come into the world so differently than we do. I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm not the same person I was before I came here. If I could go back home and see Jim right now, what would we have in common anymore? I've done so much more now. And I'm about to go on a proper adventure, a quest to right a wrong and save all those fairies. I'm an adult now. I'm not a kid anymore.” She groaned. “I don't know what I am!”

  “You're you,” Hope said. “And that's unique and beautiful. You don't have to figure out how to fit yourself into some mold. Who is that for, anyway? For you to help you understand yourself? Or for others to identify things about you? If you're different, you're different. But you're you and whoever that is, that's who you should be. If you feel mature, then you're mature. If you feel like a student, then you're a student. If you feel like an adventurer, then… well, you know.”

  “Very wise,” Gen smiled at Hope.

  “Absolutely,” Hope laughed.

  Gen reached out and found Hope's hand. She laced her fingers between Hope's. “Can I kiss you?” Gen asked.

  “Are you really sure you want to?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about Jim?”

  Gen turned her face to bury it in the pillow and said something.

  “I can't hear a word you're saying,” Hope said.”

  Gen turned to Hope again. Her eyes glistened with tears. “Sorry. I said that I don't know if I can ever go home. And even if I could, what would be waiting for me there? I can't go home, even if I wanted to.”

  “Do you want to?”

  Gen shook her head. “No. I want to be right here.”

  “Then yes,” Hope said.

  “Yes?”

  “You can kiss me.”

  “Oh, thank god,” Gen said, and found Hope's lips. She parted her lips slightly and in an instant Hope's tongue was in her mouth, gently twirling against Gen's tongue. Gen slipped her hand free from Hope's and traced her fingers down Hope's cheek. Their lips parted slowly.

  “Wow,” Gen said, breathless.

  “Mmm hmm.”

  Gen leaned back toward Hope, but instead of kissing her lips, she kissed behind Hope's ear then took her earlobe into her mouth and nibbled it gently. Hope gasped then groaned with pleasure. She grabbed a handful of Gen's hair as Gen kissed lower down her neck. Hope gripped Gen's hair tighter and Gen moaned.

  “I want you,” Gen whispered.

  “You have me,” Hope whispered back.

  Gen kissed across Hope's collarbone, swirling her tongue against Hope's warm skin. She ran her fingers down Hope's side, from her shoulder down as far as she could reach to her knee. Then she brought her hand back up on the inside of Hope's leg. Hope breathed heavily and clutched Gen.

  “Oh, Gen,” Hope breathed. Her voice was quiet, low, course with desire. “I need you.”

  “You have me, too,” Gen whispered.

  Later, Gen lay on her back and held Hope curled tightly against her as she slept. Gen's could still taste Hope on her lips. She stare
d at the moon through the skylight. She thought of Jim and felt guilty. She looked down at Hope. Her face looked completely at peace, mouth open slightly, her eyes darting back and forth under her eyelids. Gen knew Hope was dreaming. She kissed Hope on the forehead.

  Hope moaned happily in her sleep and murmured, “Mmm, I love you.”

  Gen kissed her forehead again. “I love you, too.”

  chapter 6

  Billy Blaine was startled awake. He blinked his eyes and looked around his room. Airplanes and rocket ships hung above him, suspended by thick strings. He kicked at them, but he knew those things didn’t wake him up.

  He rolled over onto his tummy. This was a new trick and it made his mother very happy, not that Billy was particularly concerned with making his mother happy. He almost didn’t want to roll over in front of anyone because their endless, high-pitched cooing and squeaking drove him crazy.

  Why did they always have to talk so loudly? Why did they always have to make those terrible noises? And worse yet, why did they have to say his name so often? Sound was very jarring to him, and those sounds in particular were much worse.

  Billy was almost six months old. He didn’t have proper words to help him form all of these thoughts, but his aggravation at all of this was almost more than he could bear. It made his head burn on the inside. It was very unpleasant.

  Now that he was on his belly, he looked around the room for the eyes. They weren’t always in the same place, but he enjoyed the challenge of finding them. Solving a puzzle like this, like finding where the eyes were, helped calm his mind. All of the terribleness from the world that tried to crawl into him stopped for a little bit while he thought, and the harder he thought, the calmer things got.

  He looked at the ABCs on the wall. The patterns helped soothe him. His mother repeated those ABCs incessantly. Billy couldn’t talk so he didn’t have any way of telling her that he already knew them all and she should just stop talking for once. Anyway, the eyes weren’t there.

  He turned his head the other way and found them. The glowing, sharply angled green eyes were floating right above his night-light. Billy didn’t even want to look over there because the night-light bothered his eyes. He couldn’t understand why so many things in the world were so terrible. Everything bothered him all the time and he couldn’t get away. The grownups would simply pick him up and put them right back where they wanted him, suffering in the middle of all of that noise and light and chaos.