The Broken Circle (The Book of Sight 2)

by Deborah Dunlevy

  “A Guardian,” Ben said.

  “The Guardians are giants?” asked Eve.

  “The Guardians are rocks,” said Ben. “But this one has been carved into a giant. If he’s just standing here, we must be close.”

  “How is a statue going to help us get into some kind of energy circle?” Eve sounded angry.

  “I don’t know exactly how it works. I’ve never done it myself, but I’ve heard about it.” Ben was skirting around the giant and moving off down the path. “The basic idea is that the kind of rock that makes the forming circle and the guardian rocks have some kind of opposite charge. The Guardians are attracted to the forming circle, and they are supposed to cover it up, making it impossible for anyone to get in. Obviously, someone uncovered this one.” His light flashed on another, smaller statue. This one was an oversized raccoon. “Sold off the stone maybe, which is why it’s been carved into figures. Anyway, the two kinds of rock pull together, but they can’t touch. The charge keeps them a certain distance away. I don’t know how it works. What I’ve been told is that if you force them to touch it has a mildly explosive effect.”

  “It’s going to blow up?” asked Adam. “That sounds like a bad idea.”

  “I don’t think it blows up exactly. I think it will just sort of blast through the energy that the forming circle is putting off.”

  “You don’t know what it will do?”

  “I’ve never done it. But I talked to someone who has. He described it as blasting through.” At Eve’s snort, he added. “On the bright side, he was still alive. It’s not easy to do, though. My friend didn’t do it alone. It will probably take all of us to get a Guardian close enough.”

  “And what happened to his friends?” muttered Dominic. “Are they all still alive?”

  Ben must not have heard him. He was stepping over a stone bench. Adam bent close to look at the bench.

  “You guys know what this is, right? This is the stuff. Maddie’s stuff. Just like the bunny. The same kind of rock.”

  “No way.” Eve leaned in with her flashlight. “He’s right.”

  “You mean that Medusa was coming here?” Alex asked.

  “I bet she was,” Adam said.

  They had all stepped over the bench now, and were wedging between a fountain and a stone cupid that were just a few steps beyond.

  “If we had just kept following her earlier…” Eve started.

  “We wouldn’t have known what we found when we got here or why we needed to be here,” Alex interrupted.

  “Do we know now?” asked Dominic. “What is this forming circle anyway?”

  “It’s a circle of rocks that give off some kind of power. Only one person I know has ever been inside the circle. He said there was nothing but a rock in the middle with a flat spot carved out to sit on. No one knows all of what the circle is or how it works. No one you’d want to ask at least,” said Ben from ahead.

  “Great,” said Dominic.

  “All we know,” Ben went on, “is that it changes people. If Breakers can get someone in there alone, they come out different. And not good different. My friend who broke in didn’t make it in time. He said the woman inside was not herself when they brought her out. She wasn’t hurt, but she wouldn’t talk to them, wouldn’t tell them anything. A few days after they took her home, she disappeared.”

  Alex felt cold all over. Everyone began to walk faster, and no one was talking now.

  The stone statues were closer and closer together, and now there were some uncut rocks piled up, too. They would have had to climb in several places, but it looked like someone had shifted rocks to clear the path a bit. Logan? Or the person who brought Logan here? Was it really his blonde neighbor?

  There was a last big jumble of rock to scramble over. Alex heard Eve’s gasp as she went over first. Dominic held out a hand to stabilize her as Alex climbed up.

  As soon as she was on top of the rocks, she felt the force in front of her. Carefully she climbed down, but it was like the air had gotten thick. Alex was pushing against it to step forward beside her friends, where she stopped. The air crackled with energy. For no reason she could explain, Alex was sure she could not take another step. Dominic bumped into her, as he came down on her heels. He was muttering something under his breath in Spanish.

  “Now what?” asked Adam.

  Ben was shining his light as far forward as possible, illuminating a wall of rock about ten yards ahead. “You can see the circle right there. The light’s not enough to tell much, but that must be an opening at the end of the path.”

  “But how do we get there?” said Eve in frustration. “It’s like the air is pushing me back.”

  Ben didn’t answer. He was still staring ahead, his forehead shaped into a v of concentration.

  Dominic was holding a big chunk of rock from the pile behind them. “You said we would need to touch this to the stone circle,” he said. “That won’t be easy.” He tried to push the rock forward, muscles straining, but it wouldn’t budge. Finally he stopped and dropped it in disgust. As if an unseen hand was pushing it, the rock rolled back until it was pressed up against the pile. Alex shivered.

  “Have you all read the story of Kiara?” asked Ben suddenly.

  “What?” said Alex, startled by this random question.

  “The story of Kiara, in the Book of Sight. Have you read it?”

  “Yes,” said Adam.

  Alex felt something twist in her stomach. It was Logan who had first told them that story.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” demanded Eve.

  “You remember that Kiara had no tools to destroy the image in her village? She had to use many small holes and let the insects weaken it first.”

  “Are you saying you have some bugs that can break through this thing?” Eve had taken a step back.

  “No. I’m saying that sometimes many small things will do what one big thing can’t.”

  As the others waited for him to explain further, Alex heard Dominic rustling around in the pile of stones behind her. A second later, he pressed a rock the size of an egg into her hand. It felt small and smooth on her palm. Gripping it, she saw that Dominic was passing out little rocks to everyone. He gave Ben a small nod as he handed him a handful of pebbles. Many small things. She clenched her rock even tighter.

  Alex reached her hand forward. She could feel the rock pushing back against her, but it was small enough that she could resist the force. She took a step, keeping the rock out in front of her. The air felt solid as she leaned against it, but her hand had already gone through, so she knew it was possible. She pressed with all her might and staggered forward a step.

  Everyone was doing the same, leaning and lurching like drunks, pushing against the invisible wall. And it was working. Whether the small rocks were carving a path for them or whether the rocks just gave them confidence to fight through, they were moving ahead. Slowly, painfully slowly, the stone wall ahead came closer.

  After a few minutes, Alex could make out the arch in the wall that must be the door. About the same time, the rock in her hand started to vibrate like it was electrified. All of Alex’s energy was now focused on not dropping it as she shoved it forward. Her legs, already completely exhausted from the stairs, were now screaming at her as she pushed off from the ground. All to take one baby step.

  She saw Eve stumble ahead. Her head was down and she looked like she was burrowing through the air. Alex followed her lead and made it a few steps more.

  “I can hear voices,” Eve said in a hoarse whisper.

  Alex looked up. She couldn’t hear anything, but she saw now that they were only a few steps from the wall. Eve and Adam were one pace ahead of her. Both of them were breathing hard. The rock in her hand was shaking so hard now that it felt like it was going to burn a hole through her palm. Carefully, she switched hands, ignoring the angry red mark the rock had left behind. Dominic pushed up beside her, and a second later Ben came up on the other side, so that they were both
touching her shoulders.

  “Almost there then,” said Ben quietly. “We just have to get close enough to make the rocks touch, but wait to do it all together.”

  Everyone nodded, and with a final effort of will they pushed forward again. The crackling in the air was intense. Alex could feel her hair standing on end. Her heart was pounding. It was still dark. Whatever was creating all that energy wasn’t putting off any light, but there was a faint glow coming from the archway, as if someone inside had lit a lamp. Alex focused her eyes on that and pressed on.

  Two steps from the wall she had to close both hands around the egg-sized rock to keep it from jumping away. One step, and strangely the resistance in the air seemed to be less. Alex straightened up. The wall was right in front of her. Ben and Dominic stepped up on either side again.

  “No!” Eve’s cry whipped Alex’s head around. Eve was standing in front of the archway, and clearly she could see inside. “Logan!” Whatever she saw made her throw herself into the archway. She bounced back off an invisible wall.

  Alex saw it coming a second before it happened, but Eve moved too quickly to be stopped. “Eve wait!” But Eve had already picked herself up off the ground and slammed her rock against the side of the archway.

  There was a loud crack and a blinding flash of light. Alex couldn’t see anything but a red blotch in her eyes. “Eve!”

  She felt Ben and Dominic both moving around her. Alex shook her head, trying to see something, anything. Slowly her vision returned. She saw the boys crouched around something on the ground. “Eve!”

  Her fist still clenched around the guardian rock, which was no longer shaking, Alex stumbled over to where Eve lay with eyes closed on the ground.

  “She’s still breathing,” said Adam. “I think it just knocked her out.”

  Ben was leaning over Eve, his ear pressed to her chest. “Her heart is strong and steady.”

  Alex breathed again. She lifted her head, still blinking away red spots. They were right in front of the archway now. The glow inside lit up a stone chair. Logan was sitting on it, his eyes closed.

  “Logan!” Alex felt all of Eve’s panic flood her own body. “Guys, we need to get in there!”

  The boys stood up immediately. Adam was the closest and rushed into the opening. He, too bounced off, not falling to the ground, but staggering back, holding the side of his face. “I guess she didn’t open it,” he said.

  “Together this time,” said Ben.

  All four of them stepped up.

  “One…two…THREE!”

  Another blinding flash.

  A sound like rock being smashed into pieces.

  A surge of electricity ran down Alex’s arm and through her whole body, leaving her feeling more awake and alive than she’d ever felt in her life. The hand that held the guardian stone was burning, but she was still on her feet.

  She was already staggering through the opening as her vision cleared.

  19

  A Choice

  The air no longer crackled. The rock in his hand no longer trembled. There was no resistance as Adam stepped first through the archway.

  Whatever light had been in here before was gone. With hands trembling from the adrenalin rushing through him, Adam lifted his flashlight and watched the beam play off the thick mist swirling before him.

  Adam slowly moved forward. He could feel the cool touch of the fog on his face. It wasn’t resisting him, but he could see nothing but white on every side. It was like all that energy in the air had turned liquid.

  Behind him, he heard uneven footsteps as his friends stumbled through the opening. Ahead, the fog was a huge dampener, killing all sound.

  Then someone out there laughed. It wasn’t a happy sound.

  “Logan?” he called. “Logan, are you there? Whoever you are, we just want Logan.”

  The only sound that came back was more laughter.

  The touch of Alex’s hand on his shoulder made him jump. He raised his light, but even this close, her face was blurred by the fog.

  “Logan?” Alex’s voice was a little shaky, but strong. “Logan, just yell, so we can find you, and we’ll get you out of here.”

  “He’s not going to fall for that,” came a voice from ahead and to the right. Adam couldn’t tell if it was that Candace woman or not. He remembered her as cheerful and a little clueless. This voice was cold.

  “Logan, it’s us,” he said loudly. “Can you hear me?”

  “Oh he hears,” said the voice from the left hand side now. “But he knows why you are really here. He’s a lot smarter than you think.”

  Adam felt a surge of anger, and he stepped toward the voice. Another hand on his shoulder stopped him.

  “Stay,” said Ben very quietly. “Never follow what you can’t see.”

  Adam remembered the meadow full of flowers and stopped. Frustrated, he shook off Ben’s hand. He knew Ben was right, but that didn’t make it better. He wanted to get to that woman, to force her to give Logan to them.

  “I don’t know what lies you’ve been telling,” Adam shouted, “but we’re Logan’s friends. We came here to help him.”

  “I think we all know why you came here,” the voice laughed. “He heard you, you know. He knows that the lies were all yours.”

  Adam was so angry he started in the direction of the voice without thinking before Alex’s calm voice behind him stopped him short.

  “We’re not here to talk to you. Logan, I know you can hear me. I don’t know what’s happened tonight, but you know us. We came to find you because we’re your friends. It’s been a long night for all of us, but it’s almost over. We need your help. We can’t see you. If you can speak, please tell us where you are.”

  • • • • •

  It was very tempting. Logan sat torn with indecision.

  Alex had always been the easiest one to trust. She sounded so reasonable, so worried about him. He had to remind himself that it had only been an hour earlier that she was telling the others that she was sick of him. For some reason, now that he was hearing their voices talking out loud, it was harder to believe in those whispers from before.

  Candace’s laugh from behind him helped clear his head a bit. He still couldn’t understand how she was here. If she was the one who had all these answers, why hadn’t she ever said anything to him before? She said it had to be this way, but why?

  He sat up a bit straighter on the stone chair. He wasn’t going to be stupid. He wasn’t going to be fooled again. But who was fooling him? His head throbbed.

  When he had first heard Adam’s voice calling out his name, Logan was sure it was all over. They had caught him. They were going to haul him home with no answers, with no sight, with no friends. Somehow, though, it seemed that they couldn’t see him. It didn’t really make sense. The circle couldn’t be that big; it hadn’t taken him that long to walk to the stone seat. Had they lost their sight, too? Were they stumbling around as blind as he was? Why didn’t that thought make him happy?

  “Logan, we’re going to spread out and look for you,” came Dominic’s voice through the darkness. “This fog is making it hard. Can you help us?”

  Fog? There was some sort of fog. That would explain the muffled sound of their voices. Logan wondered what he should do. If he stayed sitting right here, they would find him soon, even by feel. Maybe that would be good. He could go home. He would tell them that he knew all about them now. It was going to happen sooner or later. It would be so good to be done with this.

  Instantly he pictured himself being led, blind, into his cramped room at home and lying down on the messy bed alone.

  He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go back like that. If they really couldn’t see him, he might be able to slip away, but slip away where? This was where he was supposed to go for answers.

  Where was Candace? Would she still help him now that the others were here?

  As if in answer to his thoughts, he felt a light touch on his arm. Candace’s voice was right in hi
s ear. “If you come now, I can get you out the other side. The mist won’t last forever, but there is still time. I know a place we can go. They won’t find us.”

  Logan found it hard to force words out, even at a whisper, but he had to know. “My eyes?”

  “We can still take care of that.”

  “Logan?” Alex’s voice was much closer now.

  Logan’s arms and legs felt like lead, but he could lift them off the chair. Slowly he stood up. Candace took his hand and helped him take a couple of shuffling steps.

  “Logan?!” That was Eve’s voice, and she sounded panicked. Logan froze.

  “Logan, are you all right? Where are you?”

  Candace was tugging on his hand, but Logan found it impossible to move away from that desperate sound in Eve’s voice.

  “Logan, what did they do to you? Where are you?” The question caught on a sob. Logan tried to remember what she had said back in the meadow. He tried to remember that she was a very good liar. Still, he couldn’t resist turning back for a moment.

  “Logan? What is with this stupid fog!? I saw him here before!” Eve’s voice was off to the right now, moving in the wrong direction.

  Logan felt again the pull of Candace’s hand on his. He allowed himself to be led another few steps before he heard a loud crunch and Eve’s cry of pain. Without thinking, he whirled around. “Eve!”

  “Logan! Oh, thank God! Logan, I’m okay. I just tripped and fell. Stay where you are. We’re coming to you.”

  “Logan? I think I’m almost to you,” said Adam from very close.

  Logan couldn’t believe his stupidity. He moved closer to Candace, and she pulled him as quickly as possible without making noise.

  “Logan? Logan, are you right there? Logan?” Adam’s voice was still close. He was clearly feeling around in the mist. “Logan, obviously someone has been lying to you about us. You know what you can do, Logan. Look at her face. Look at mine. You’ll see what’s true. You always do.”

  That made Logan stumble away faster.

  It was true. He had this ability since he first read the Book of Sight, this thing where he could see what people were thinking by looking at their faces. But he couldn’t see now. His gift was gone along with his sight. There was no way to know the truth.