by Peter Telep
“He’s a sage,” Keane gasps. “So cool...”
“I’m sorry, everyone. I’m Joshua. And this is my caravan.”
“Sir, I’m Docherty Harrison. These are my friends—”
“And his friends have a lot of questions,” Tommy adds.
Joshua nods his understanding. “We’ll get to them. But first, I ask that you bow your heads and offer up new seeds of healing for all those who were taken.”
His entire caravan complies, and then, one by one, we join them.
We stand in utter silence for a few seconds until Joshua raises his head: “We’ll fight this evil.”
The caravan shouts their ascent: “Together as one!”
Steffanie continues to glance around the room. “Where’s Pace?” she asks.
Joshua lowers his voice. “We should talk in private.”
“No,” she demands.
Joshua sighs. “My beloved daughter, the flower of my life, is right here.” He touches his chest, and then…
Pace’s immortal flickers to life beside him.
My heart drops as Steffanie begins to cry, “No, no, no…”
Pace was tall like her father, with high cheekbones and long, curly hair. Her thin brows and flashing eyes remind me of a supermodel—she’s that beautiful. Plus, she’s dressed in a white dress with black patterns of interlocking dark vines crawling up the sides.
Meeka looks back at me, shaking her head, knowing way more about this relationship than I do—
And her expression says she saw this coming.
Steffanie takes the immortal’s hands in her own. “Pace, what happened?”
“Everyone asks me. It’s just so depressing, right?”
“It wasn’t the game,” Steffanie says. “Just tell me. It wasn’t the game.”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t have the strength to quit.”
Steffanie lowers her head, weeps, and then, suddenly, she whirls and runs straight through the center of our group and back toward the entrance.
“I’ll get her,” Meeka says.
“No, I will,” I say and then face Tommy. “Just go to the hospital. We’ll catch up.”
“Roger that.”
* * *
I sprint after Steffanie and find her in the third bed. She’s collapsed to her knees and is sobbing into her hands. She senses my shadow and looks over her shoulder. “Just get away. I’m done. Meeka’s right. You can’t love anyone.”
With a deep breath, I plop down, sitting cross-legged to face her. “Pain is pain.”
“I lied. It’s not.”
“You didn’t lie.”
“Just go, Doc.”
“What happened to Pace?”
She hesitates. “We used to play this stupid game called Personify, and it’s really, really dangerous, and…” She gasps. “It doesn’t matter. Just please go.”
“Nope. You’re stuck with me.”
“Go find your parents.”
I shake my head. “Not without you.”
“You’re not listening.”
“I hear every word.”
“Then you’re an idiot.”
“Then let this idiot help.”
She looks up at me through swollen eyes. “You want to help? Get us off these drugs”—she glances up at the sky—“so I can let those monsters take me.”
“I’ll never let that happen. And actually it won’t, because Joshua knows something. They saved themselves.”
“A healing wreath of three or more will keep the demons from your door.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“Just what it says. When three or more connect, the masks can’t take you. Our energy’s combined when we do that. Three have enough power to resist them. Don’t you get it? That’s the song Joshua used to sing to her when she was a little girl…”
“And you… back there.. you saved the grren by telling them to connect.”
She shrugs. “I wasn’t sure it’d work. But then I thought about why they were saved the first time. Hedera said they were up in the trees at a funeral when the masks came. They were connected, while the others weren’t. It was just dumb luck for them.”
“But now it’s not. And you figured it out. So please, Steff, don’t leave us. We need you.”
“I’m sorry, Doc. I just want to die.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
I look at Steffanie. “I know this is terrible, but you’re way too strong to give up. And you don’t have to force yourself to feel better. You don’t. Pain is pain. Bring it on. Ride it out. And I’ll try to keep up.”
She shivers and gets to her feet.
I sigh… and then, for the first time since we’ve met, I give her a hug. “You’re one of my best friends,” I whisper. “I never want to lose you.”
“Yeah,” she says, pulling back. “And I don’t want to kill you as much anymore..”
I grin. “Thanks.”
* * *
We head back in silence, and a few minutes later, we reach the buildings beside the archway and link up with the others.
My mouth’s gone dry, and I tremble as we rush through long hallways, past medical stations and rooms vaguely similar to hospitals on Earth. However, the instruments here look a little off, lots of glass panels like the exercise machines back at the Palladium, and the IV bags, if that’s what they are, look round and made of some shiny glass-like stuff. Lights burn dimly because I assume the facility’s solar-powered and energy is being conserved.
Honestly, I’m growing more tense by the second. I mean we have no idea if Julie really saved my parents.
And even if Grace wasn’t taken by the masks, what about my father? Maybe this time they grabbed him?
“Grace? Thad? Are you here?” Tommy shouts. “Anyone here? Anyone at all?”
The building’s huge, and the maze-like halls go on forever. Without the help of nurses or doctors, it could take all day to search the place.
But it doesn’t—
Because I’ve forgotten that Joshua and his caravan can still jump. They’re in their personas and helping us. Could be forty or more when you include the personas, so by the time we finish searching the first hall, Joshua’s persona appears to wave us on.
Three corridors later, we enter a large room—
Where Grace lies on a bed with hoses attached to her arms and monitoring equipment beeping softly. She’s been fitted with a strange metal vest that shows fluid coursing through tubes inside her body. She glances at us through vague eyes.
And then, finally, she recognizes me and lifts her bruised head. “Doc?”
“Mom!”
I shiver and grab her hands. It’s hard to contain all the emotions, and I embarrass myself with tears.
“What happened outside?” she asks. “They speak another language, so I couldn’t ask.”
“Yeah, I know. They speak Heather.”
She squeezes my hand. “You won’t believe this, but I saw one of those persona ghosts you were talking about.”
“Was it Julie?”
“Yes, I saw her, and then I woke up here.”
“Doc?” Tommy calls from the other side of the room.
He stands at my father’s beside, and it’s difficult to glance over there.
Both of my father’s legs and his right arm are wrapped in heavy mechanical casts that resemble parts pirated from a cyborg. His glasses are gone, and he slowly, painfully swivels his bandaged head and smiles weakly.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Grace.
“Your father won’t talk to me,” she says. “I’ve been trying, and oh, no, what’s that?”
She glances over my shoulder.
I turn to spot Grandpa lingering in the doorway. “Oh, that’s just Grandpa. He knows you. I showed him a picture.” I wave the grren inside.
As Grace draws the covers up to her neck, the old grren slinks over… and then he does something remarkable:
He places his head on Grace’s lap.
&n
bsp; “He won’t bite me?” she asks.
“Actually, I think he likes you. And they’re called grren. They’re really smart. I even got him to smile.”
She lifts a shaky hand and places it on Grandpa’s head. “He’s… wow… he’s beautiful,” she gasps.
“Yeah, he is,” I say, and then hurry over toward my father.
Thankfully, Steffanie and Meeka stand near the back of the room, under Tommy’s watchful eye. I’m sure they want to attack my father right now—
Because I do.
But I hold back. He seems so pathetic, all banged up, one eye blackened, with more bandages on his “good” arm.
“Two broken legs, an arm, and a concussion,” he tells me. “But I’m not dead yet.”
“You would be if it weren’t for Julie.”
“I know.”
“Mom saw her.”
“So did I, but I couldn’t hear a word she was saying. The water was coming up, and then she took us here.”
“And then what?”
“And then I had some interesting conversations with the doctors. I told them how we got here and why your mother doesn’t understand them. This older surgeon kept saying I looked familiar, and then she figured it out. She said, ‘you’re the guy whose company ended the world.’ She reminded me that my face was plastered all over the community right after the withering...”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I thought she’d try to kill me, but she was willing to connect, and I showed her the truth. And that’s when they decided to treat us.”
“So have you figured out why they haven’t taken you, even though you can still jump?”
He just stares at me.
“Dad, you heard what happened outside…”
He closes his eyes and flinches. “I heard everything.”
“Dad, holding back the truth is the same as lying.”
He turns away.
“Dad, listen to me. We need to get off these drugs so we can jump. Joshua knows how to protect us from the masks without drugs.”
“Okay, that’s the same,” he mutters to himself.
“What’s the same?”
He won’t answer.
I step back from the bed as my father’s face turns red.
“Stop lying.”
“Doc, one day you’ll understand everything.”
“Not one day… how about right now? Did you bring the neutralizer or not? Is it in your pack?”
“It is, but Doc—”
“No buts. You show Tommy how to give us the shots.”
“It’s too soon. You have no idea what you’re dealing with or the enormity of our task.”
“Dad, we were outside. Right there. We saw this army in white armor, and they turned into the masks, and they took everyone. I saw this mother and her daughters… and they were screaming and—”
“Go to Brandalynn. It’s your only way home.”
“No, it’s not. Maybe you can fix the engine at the temple. I took some pictures of the damage.”
“Forget it. You need to leave. You need to get home.”
“But we are home.”
“Not your home, Doc. Not anymore. By the time they’re done, the only ones left will be the despers and ivies like your friend over there.” He looks to Hedera, who’s chatting softly with Rattle and Blink near the door.
“So you believe Solomon? It’s time to give up?”
“This is supposed to me my fight,” he says.
“What’re you talking about? It’s our fight. And I’m here to find Julie and keep my promise, right?”
“You can’t. You won’t.”
My eyes widen. “Why?”
“You know why. You’ve already figured it out.”
“You think she’s just like Solomon. She pushed her entire essence into her persona, and she’s something else.”
“You saw her back on Earth. I didn’t believe you back there, but now I do.”
“And the only way she could travel like that… the only way she could’ve saved you, is if she became like him.”
“And you know what he is, right?”
“He’s a mask.”
“In the archives at Brandalynn, we found clues of how they transferred flesh into a persona. The answers are there. You’ll see how the grren are connected. And then you’ll make the right decision. You’ll save yourself. I know you will. I’ll jump, and I’ll meet you there.”
“Just tell me everything right now.”
“Doc, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s not that I don’t think you can handle it. You can.”
“Then why do you keep lying?”
“Because my influence can only go so far.”
I snort. “What kind of answer is that?”
He doesn’t respond.
“Well, we’re not going to Brandalynn. I’ll just wait for Julie to show up. Maybe I can get through to her. I’ll show her Alina’s immortal after I’m off the drugs.”
My father closes his eyes and thinks a moment. “All right, Doc, I’ll tell you one more thing, but it won’t be easy to hear.”
“I don’t care! Talk.”
My father opens his eyes and motions for Tommy to clear the room.
And now I’m really nervous.
Once we’re alone, he lowers his voice so Grace can’t hear. “Back at the observatory, I was experimenting on Solomon, remember?”
“Yes.”
“Well, he wasn’t the only one. And that’s why the masks won’t take me.”
“You messed up your wreath?”
“No, it’s actually more powerful. The masks are waiting for me to finish the process. They’ll use what I’ve learned to force others to do the same thing.”
“So don’t finish…”
“I wish it were that easy. When Solomon and I began the experiments, we had no idea what we were getting into.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I don’t have a choice anymore.”
I draw back my head, sickened by the idea. “No way.”
He tightens his lips. “Join or die.”
“This is… it’s insane.”
“All we ever wanted was to help people. If you could only see what I’ve seen… and know what I know…”
My thoughts race as I try to fully comprehend what he’s saying. “So… once you push your essence into your persona, you belong to the masks?”
“Yes.”
“But why did you do this? Solomon was dying of cancer, not you.”
“I was his guinea pig. I should’ve fought back, but I was weak, so I tricked myself into thinking this was something we had to do to save us all. We convinced ourselves that this was the next stage of our evolution, but we didn’t know the whole truth...”
“I saw people screaming and vanishing. Did they die? Or did they all become masks?”
“Go to Brandalynn.”
“Yeah, and then you’ll just send us back to Earth for our own protection. I know how you play this game.”
My father’s gaze narrows into a new thought. “Tommy said to let you be a man… and I haven’t… and maybe that’s why we keep failing.”
“What are you talking about? Why do you keep failing?”
He won’t answer. But he sounds desperate. And scared.
My voice cracks as I ask, “So now you really have to become one of them?”
“During the attack outside, Solomon came. He said the Armadis is not without compassion. They’re giving me until nightfall to say goodbye.”
“What’s the Armadis?”
“I’ve said too much already.”
I swear under my breath. “Then just tell me about Julie. Maybe she’s like you, right? Not finished. And she’s fighting.”
“She can’t fight them.”
“But she already has. We just need to find her.”
“I’m sorry, Doc. They’re just too strong.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
I’m outsid
e the hospital, staring at the cliffs. The faces are all but gone, with smaller pieces of stone flaking away.
Everyone’s gathering behind me. I turn around, and, after a long breath, I share everything I know, even the deal my father made with the devil.
“No more lies,” I say. “If he tries anything at Brandalynn, we’ll stop him.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t go,” Meeka argues.
“But maybe there’s another engine there,” Hedera points out. “So please, we need to go.”
Joshua exits a side door and joins us with an awestruck look on his face. “Docherty, I just jumped into my persona and connected with your father. He wanted to show me a few things about Brandalynn so that I would understand the importance and the intricacies of our mission to get there.”
I’m outraged. “Why didn’t he show me?”
“Because we all must serve as we serve best.”
“Right, whatever that means. So what’s at Brandalynn? Another engine?”
“It’s always been off limits, and now I understand why. Our doctor will stay here with your parents, but the rest of us will take you.”
“He asked you a question,” Keane says. “Actually, a couple of questions, but basically, what is Brandalynn?”
“Another future for us all…”
I snort and roll my eyes. “My father got to him.”
Joshua beams at me. “He said you’d be like this. And again, this is not an issue of trust. It is an issue of destiny.”
Keane clears his throat. “Uh, yeah, just an FYI, I’m not looking for destiny. Just a ride back to Earth.”
“Joshua, what’s at Brandalynn?” I ask again.
“Your father gave me explicit instructions.”
“Awesome. So we can’t trust you, either,” I say.
“We have to trust each other, because getting there won’t be easy.”
“We’re not going until we get some answers,” I say.
“Docherty, your father doesn’t have much time. If there’s any chance to save him, we have to leave now.”
