The Void Hunters (Realmwalker Book 2)

by Jonathan Franks

  When she called George this morning, he said that his brother's funeral would be Tuesday. Tomorrow. She should drive up in his car and then after the funeral, they would come back here together. Somehow, driving George's little sports car without him almost seemed like more of a big deal than his proposing.

  Laura was starting to get cold and she went back inside. Mornings were getting chilly. She took George's cordless phone and sat on the futon. Long distance was far cheaper on George's phone than at the dorms so she often called her parents from here, but it was nine thirty on Monday morning. Shelly would be in school, and mom and dad would both be at work. Instead, she called the Summers' house. The phone rang five times, then the machine picked up.

  “Hi!” Gabrielle Summers' voice said, “You've reached the Summers. We're not here right now, but if you leave a message, we'll think hard about whether or not we want to call you back. Ta!” Beep.

  “Hey, it's Laura. I just wanted to see how you guys were doing. I'll try again later. Bye.”

  She looked at the big, framed caricature drawing of George and her that was hanging on the wall and she sighed. They'd gotten the drawing at a fair the year before and they'd had their first proper argument as a couple over what size to get. She wanted the big one but George thought it was too expensive, so she paid the difference. He didn't think that was right that she would have to pay for it, but she didn't want the small drawing. They compromised: she bought the big one and paid to have it framed, and he shut up about it.

  Usually, looking at the picture of them with their huge chins and skinny bodies put her in a good mood. Today, it only made her miss George. His sister moving away and losing his brother at the same time was really hard on him. Laura wished she could do something more to help him than simply being supportive, but it was all she could really do. And she didn't get any bereavement time from school, so she had to come back right away. She wasn't going to postpone her graduation.

  She went to the bedroom and made the bed. She'd slept here last night, alone, but she wasn't in the mood to talk to her roommate, Tanya. Tanya's little sister had died a few years before of childhood leukemia and Tanya was trying to be very supportive and share grieving stories. She continually offered suggestions for how George could deal with the loss, and Laura had finally gotten sick enough of hearing it that she came here to sleep totally by herself.

  Laura wasn't ever afraid of the dark, but she was uneasy last night. She realized as she lay awake, staring out the bedroom window in her boyfriend's bed, without him, smelling him on the pillows, that she couldn't remember ever actually sleeping completely alone before. She lived with her parents while she wasn't at school, so they were always in the house with her, and at school she always had a roommate. Last night, there was nobody else in the apartment at all. She didn't feel very alone - she was comfortable being by herself. Instead, she was so concerned about George that she had worked herself up into a state of anxiety and she couldn't sleep.

  The alarm on her wristwatch beeped. It was time to go to class. Normally, she looked forward to lab days, but it was cold out, the lab was a long walk from George's apartment, and, as much as she hated to admit it, maybe she was feeling very alone after all.

  -

  Jim knew that Gen would not approve if he crawled back into his shell now that she was gone. He talked to Mr. Robertson after school to ask him to sponsor the computer club now that Mrs. Gates was gone. He agreed and was very enthusiastic about it and they picked a date for the next meeting and filled out the forms for the AV cart.

  Jim walked slowly through the empty halls of the high school and stopped at his locker. He had finished all of his homework in study hall, so he deposited all of his books in his locker so he wouldn't have to carry anything home. He walked to Gen's locker and put his hand on it. He ran his finger over the number plate. “The quarter mile,” Gen had called it, number thirteen twenty.

  He missed Gen. He wasn't sure quite what he was supposed to do to himself without her. Even when he wouldn't talk to anyone else, she still talked to him. Now he was being social and trying to engage with other kids at school, but without her he felt lost and alone.

  He walked outside and sat on the stone stairs at the front of the school. He glanced at his bike, which was chained to the bike rack along with just a few others. He wasn't in the mood to go home to his empty house right away. The early November afternoon was crisp but not properly cold yet, and he wanted to enjoy being able to sit outside as much as he could. He'd stayed inside for long enough.

  The football team was practicing. He couldn't see the football field from here, but he could hear the whistles and the plastic-on-plastic impacts.

  “Hey, Jimmy,” Charlie said from behind him. Jim turned around and saw Charlie walking out the front doors. Charlie sat next to Jim on the steps. “What are you doing here so late?”

  “I had to talk to Mr. Robertson about the computer club. What are you still doing here?”

  “Detention.”

  “Ah.”

  “You still look all down in the dumps. You gotta forget about that girl,” Charlie said.

  “I know.”

  Charlie took a Tylenol bottle out of his jacket pocket and opened it, then slipped a joint out of it. “You want?”

  “No,” Jim said. “My dad's got me taking drug tests now.”

  “You? That's crazy, man.”

  “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A woman died while I was in the area and she had drugs. Now they think I'm on drugs, so I can't actually be on drugs.”

  “No problem, man, just offering,” Charlie said. He grinned, “I can, though!” He lit the joint and took a drag. He held his breath, then coughed out the smoke. “Good stuff.”

  Jim laughed. “Don't you get worried about getting caught with that?”

  “Nah. The teachers all go out the west door to the parking lot. Nobody comes out the front door.” Charlie stood up and put his hand on Jim's head. He ruffled Jim's hair a little and said, “I'm going home. See ya, Jimmy.”

  “See ya, Charlie.”

  Jim remained on the stairs after Charlie left. The sun was large and low on the horizon and turned the sky pink. Sunsets were coming earlier now that it was getting into autumn. He was watching the sunset when the girls track team returned from their after school practice run. If Gen was here, she'd have been running with them.

  A brown Chevy Caprice pulled into the circle at the front of the school and waited. The car bounced up and down slightly as a little girl in the back seat unbuckled her seatbelt and stood on the hump, saying something to the driver and hopping up and down inside the car. Then she opened the back door and climbed out of the car, slammed the back door and ran around the grass. She had a doll in each hand and held them high above her head as she ran around in circles.

  “Son of a bitch,” Jim swore under his breath. It was the girl from Dr. Ramsey's office.

  “Hey,” Jim called out. The girl didn't hear him. Jim stood up and walked down the steps and called out to her again, “Hey!”

  The girl stopped and looked at him. “Oh!” She said, “I know you!” Then she started running in circles again.

  “I saw you at Dr. Ramsey's office. Who are you?” Jim asked.

  “I'm Molly!” She didn't stop running.

  “You said she'd be back. How do you know about that?”

  Molly widened her circle and ran up to him, then stopped. “Because she's over there. Shae says she's fine. Just fine.”

  “Who's Shae?”

  “Well,” Molly pursed her lips. “Everybody says she's my imaginary friend, but she really isn't.” She shook her head and her tight round curls of hair bounced around her face. She leaned toward Jim and whispered, “She's really a fairy.”

  Jim's eyes widened and the color drained from his face.

  “Are you okay?” Molly asked.

  “Uh. Yeah. A... A fairy, huh?”

  “Don't try to pretend you think it's crazy, too
,” Molly said. She giggled, “I forgot. I'm not supposed to say the word crazy. Anyway, you know what I'm talking about. Shae told me.”

  “Oh yeah? What did she tell you?”

  “She said that she'll be back.”

  “When?” Jim asked.

  “Oh, I don't know that,” Molly waved her hand dismissively. “Some time.”

  “And what am I supposed to do until then?” Jim swallowed hard. He would not cry in front of this little girl.

  “Have faith,” she said. “No, that's the wrong word. Have hope.”

  “Hope?” Jim choked.

  “Yeah. Hope. Hope is what's keeping her going, too. Hey, what's her name, anyway?” Molly asked. “Shae never told me.”

  “Gen.”

  “Yeah, Gen. Hope is keeping her love alive. I don't really know what that means, but it means something important to Shae.”

  “Jesus.”

  Molly ran around with her dolls again.

  “What are you doing here, anyway?” Jim asked.

  “Waiting for my sister!”

  “Who's your sister?”

  “Portia.”

  Jim chuckled. “My dad has a Porsche.”

  Molly stopped and looked at Jim, amazed. “Really? Like a sister or a mother or something?”

  “No. A car.”

  Molly made a face at Jim.

  “I think it's spelled differently. Never mind, it's not important.”

  Molly rolled her eyes up and to the right for a second, then said, “Here she comes now.” She turned around and ran up to a girl Jim had seen in school but didn't know. Molly's sister was short and a bit curvy. She was wearing jeans with a hole in the left knee and a flannel shirt over a white t-shirt that said, “SUB POP.”

  “Portia!” Molly yelled and gave her sister a hug at full running speed.

  “Oof,” Portia grunted as Molly plowed into her. She looked at Jim. “Who's your friend, here?”

  “That's... umm... I don't know.”

  Portia narrowed her eyes at Jim. “You bothering her?”

  Jim's eyes went wide and he put his hands up in front of him. “No! We.. uh... We both see Dr. Ramsey. I saw her in the office before and then I saw her playing outside here.”

  Portia narrowed her eyes tighter, then looked Jim up and down. “Turn around,” she said.

  Jim's brows lifted in surprise.

  “Turn around,” Portia said again.

  Jim did as he was told.

  “What was that for?” Jim asked.

  “Just to see if you would do it,” Portia laughed. “You're the computer guy, right?”

  “Yeah. I'm Jim.”

  “Good talking to you, Jim. I gotta go now, but you should find me tomorrow.”

  Jim shook his head. “What is it with girls telling me what to do all the time?”

  “Get used to it. The age of the woman is upon us!” Portia laughed. “To stay empowered, we need to make sure to tell all the cute, shy guys what to do. Otherwise nothing will ever get done.”

  She took Molly's hand and they walked together to the big Chevy. She opened the back door and Molly climbed in. She shut the door behind her, then opened the front door. Before she got into the car, she looked back at Jim, winked at him, then sat down and closed the door.

  Jim watched the Caprice drive away. He unchained his bike and rode home and wondered the whole way what Portia meant.

  chapter 14

  Gen stood atop one of the mushrooms circling the tunnel and peered down into the darkness.

  “The Chamber is down there?” she asked Herron.

  “Yep,” Herron said.

  “How far down?”

  “Not very. It'll be a couple minutes down and a couple minutes straight. At least, it was.”

  “Will you come with me?” Gen asked.

  “Is that allowed?” Herron asked.

  “I don't really know. The Oracle didn't give me any rules or anything.”

  “Okay,” Herron said. “Whenever you're ready.”

  Gen turned around. She looked into Hope's eyes. “Think you can keep the rabble calm?”

  Hope nodded. “Think you can do this?”

  Gen looked at Shae.

  “Of course you can!” Shae said. “You just need to feel it in your heart.”

  “What does that mean?” Gen asked. “Feel what?”

  “You'll know when you get down there. You can do it. I know you can.” Shae paused, then said, “And don't ask me if I know because I know or I know because I know. I just know.”

  Gen smiled at her. “Okay.” She turned back to Hope and hugged her close. Gen kissed Hope and said, “Here we go.”

  Gen turned around and glared at Rommy. “You wait here. No trouble, do you understand?”

  Rommy stared back at her and didn't answer.

  “Keep an eye on him, okay?” Gen asked Hope and Shae.

  “Will do, cap'n!” Shae giggled. Hope rolled her eyes.

  “Let's go,” she told Herron.

  Herron took out his lightstone and they flew down the tunnel. “Nice to able to fly down here,” Herron said. “Some of the tunnels are really narrow and you have to climb down a ladder, or there are tight spiral stairs. The Marsh has a nice, wide entrance.”

  “They're all different?” Gen asked. “I don't know why but that surprises me a little.”

  “All the Realms are different. Why shouldn't the Chambers that hold their Hearts be different?”

  “Yeah, I guess you're right. I've just never seen one before.”

  As they descended, the earthy tunnel walls gave way to stone. The stone was cracked and broken in several places.

  “Is it always like this?” Gen asked. “Or is this new, like the ground above?”

  “New. It doesn't usually look like this.”

  They flew farther downward and eventually reached the ground where the shaft ended. A tunnel led away from them. Gen was about to touch down on the stone floor when she saw streams of Void roaches spew from several of the large cracks in the ground.

  “Ugh,” Gen groaned. “Gross.”

  Something hit her shoulder and she flinched and looked. She yelped and brushed a Void roach from her shoulder. Millions of the bugs were pouring from the cracks in the walls, blanketing the stone shaft in a thick, black, undulating carpet of vermin. Some of the roaches had a hard time gripping the walls and a steady rain of them began to fall from above.

  Gen shuddered in revulsion. “Gluh! Let's go, quick!”

  They sped down the tunnel. The entirety of the ground was covered with bugs. The tunnel ended in a large, round chamber. Clumps of dirt fell from the ceiling along with the uncountable mass of insects that poured forth from the gaping cracks in the stone. Bugs fell on Gen in a steady stream no matter where she dodged out of the way.

  A large, gold bowl sat on the ground and Gen watched in horror as it was completely covered by the swarm of Void roaches.

  “What do I have to do?”

  “I have no idea, but I suggest you do it quickly. This is unpleasant,” Herron said.

  Gen batted bugs from her face and suppressed the gag that immediately followed.

  “The Heart goes directly in the center of the Chamber,” Herron said. He held his arm horizontally and looked at the bugs crawling over his skin. “They aren't biting or anything. I think they only eat dead things.” He shook them off and they fell, joining the hordes of others on the floor.

  “They're still disgusting,” Gen said.

  Gen flew to the middle of the Chamber and closed her eyes. She shook her head vigorously to shake the bugs from her hair, but she felt more and more of them crawling on her. She tried to concentrate on restoring the land, healing the damage, brining the Realm back from The Void. Nothing was happening.

  She turned to look at Herron. As soon as she opened her lips to speak, a bug tried to climb inside her mouth. She gagged and spat it out, shrieking as panic began its icy grip inside her stomach. She cried out and swiped at h
er face again as another roach climbed up her cheek and its long antennae tickled the inside of her nose. The next gag brought a whole body shudder of revulsion, bringing tears to her eyes. She shuddered again. She smacked at another tickle on her cheek but it was a tear rolling down her skin and not another bug.

  Another tear trickled from her other eye and rolled off her cheek, falling to the ground. Where it hit the ground, the ocean of roaches parted in almost a perfect circle, revealing the upturned gold bowl. The bowl itself didn't do anything, but it was surrounded by a slight, soft halo of light.

  “Herron! Look!”

  “What did you do?” Herron asked, trying to keep his own urge to swat and shake the bugs off under control.

  “I gagged and my eyes watered. A tear fell on the bowl!”

  Herron swooped down to the clear spot and flipped the bowl over. “This is where the mana drains under the Heart. Maybe get one in here.”

  “I can't just cry on command. I'm not Meryl Streep!”

  “Who?”

  “Never mind,” Gen said. She landed softly on the ground and let the Void roaches rain down on top of her. She felt them in her hair, on her face, inside her clothes. She shuddered, but didn't gag. Oh, god, I really don't want to do this, she thought, then scrunched her eyes tight to brace herself, then opened her mouth. Immediately, at least one bug tried to crawl inside.

  Gen gagged, almost throwing up. Tears came instantly to her eyes. She spat the creatures out, and held her head over the bowl. Another tickle came from inside her mouth and she cried and shoved the bug out of her mouth with her tongue. Tears rolled off her cheeks now and plinked into the gold bowl on the ground. A wave of nausea sent Gen to her knees. The golden bowl on the floor in front of her reminded her of being sick, kneeling in front of the toilet and throwing up. She gagged again.

  “Look!” Herron cried.

  Gen shook her head firmly, trying to pull herself together. A brilliant, faceted diamond the size of a strawberry sat in the bottom of the bowl. She gagged again, concerned that she might actually throw up, but she shook off more of the bugs and swallowed hard. She picked the diamond up. It was warm to the touch. As she lifted it from the bowl, it pulled toward the center of the Chamber, like Gen was holding a strong magnet a few inches from a refrigerator, but much stronger. She stood up and held the diamond while it centered itself in the Chamber. It began to glow with a vivid green light.