Meridia Falls Series 1 Books 1 & 2: The Spark & Sunburst (Meridia Falls Boxsets)

by D. B. Green

  “What’s happening?” Maz asks, panic rising in her voice.

  More rustling, louder than before. It’s coming from the edge of the clearing. A white, unmarked van rolls slowly across the grass towards the door. The frozen blades crunching as they break under the tires.

  “Get down!” I say.

  Maz drops down, next to Steve.

  The van stops and the doors open. A blond-haired man climbs out, wearing a long, shiny, white lab coat. He must be a scientist. His matching white gloves glisten like diamonds. He’s followed by a woman wearing an identical coat and gloves. A familiar woman.

  “That’s our new teacher,” Maz whispers. “Miss Slayter.”

  Penny puts her finger to her lips.

  Another man gets out of the van. He’s dressed completely in black, apart from a pair of the same white gloves. Miss Slayter opens the rear doors and the two men reach inside and pull out a long block of ice. It’s like a thick pane of frosted glass. A soft blue light pulsates from inside, reflecting on their faces as they drag it all the way out. They let go, but instead of it crashing to the ground, it just hangs in the air, floating like it’s suspended on invisible strings.

  Miss Slayter runs her finger over the full length of the ice block. Her gloves twinkle in the soft blue light, like glitterballs at a nightclub. She nods at the man in black and he gets into the van. The engine starts, and with almost no sound, he drives across the clearing and disappears into the mist.

  The scientist heads towards the white door. He removes a glove and stands in front of the round handle, twisting his hand around in a circular motion.

  “What’s he doing?” I whisper.

  “Opening it,” Penny says. “I think.”

  The small triangle at the top of the door shines red just like on the door when Cassie was taken. Then, there’s a loud click and the door opens. Blinding light streams out like floodlights at a stadium, making it impossible to see what’s behind it.

  Miss Slayter prods her finger at the ice, pushing it along like it’s a futuristic balloon toy at a fairground.

  “Can you see the block of ice?” Penny says, turning to Steve.

  He nods. “But, I can’t see the door anymore.” Maz grabs his hand. “I can see the door now.” He leans in close to the bush. “What’s going on?”

  Penny’s camera silently snaps away, as Miss Slayter slowly twists her gloved hand around in a circle. The ice block follows her motion, rotating ninety degrees to the right. Miss Slayter pushes it through the open door, into the bright light. The scientist follows her through, his glistening lab coat flapping in the breeze as the door starts to close.

  Steve stands. “This is some weird shit. I’m gonna call my dad,” he says, tapping on his cell phone. “Damn it. This thing has been playing up all day.” He holds it in the air, trying to get reception.

  I turn to Penny, but she’s already off and running through the clearing. Diving forward, she manages to grab the handle and stop the door closing. She pulls it open and leans into the bright light.

  “Oh, my god.” She waves us over. “You’ve got to see this.”

  D.B. GREEN

  OUT NOW

  October 7th, 2005

  Dear Cassie,

  What can I say? The first day at Meridia High was eventful. My entire world changed in those few hours. Remember that girl in my recurring dream? Well, she’s actually a real person; I met her at school. Penny Summers. I never believed in love at first sight - until now. When we kissed, I could see her memories and she could see mine. It was like a vision of her life. I could feel all her experiences, like they happened to me. It was a connection… a magical connection. This happened after a weird vaccination they gave us at school. It kick-started this connection, but I think it had been there for a long-time. Waiting.

  I met another friend at school, Marilyn Moreau (Maz to her friends). I also inherited her nemesis, Candy Steele - her stepsister. A nasty piece of work. Something strange happened with them both. When they touched my arm, I had visions. I was in their minds, but it was different than with Penny. This was more like their current thoughts and emotions, what they were feeling right at that moment.

  A new teacher at the school started the same day as me, too. Miss Slayter. She had the demeanor of a catwalk model rather than a teacher. She flirted with me all afternoon, which was weird and embarrassing.

  The kids at this school are far too trusting of the administration. They keep giving them vaccinations like the one I had. The school blame it on a tick infestation, but it feels like something else is going on.

  My past didn’t stay a secret for too long; in fact, I think it was revealed in world record time. First class - history. Someone messed with a presentation and everyone saw the news documentary about your kidnapping. ‘The white door kid’ was out.

  At least after meeting Penny, the fact everyone knew about my past didn’t seem to matter anymore.

  Penny has a secret contact that may help - a Mr. Cross. He had information about the strange white door. Cassie, it’s real. Not an hallucination. Those shrinks were wrong; I’m not nuts. Penny’s brother, Sean, was taken through one on the very same day you were taken. Yes, there are more of those doors. Me, you, Penny, and her brother (in fact, the whole of Meridia Falls) are connected. Somehow.

  Cross gave Penny the GPS coordinates of a white door here in Meridia Falls. It was in Hellgate Forest, and never has a name been more fitting. On the night of our birthday (yet another strange connection between Penny and I - the same date of birth), we ventured into the forest to look for the door. We found it, but Maz and her boyfriend, Steve, followed us. As we all watched, Miss Slayter (the new teacher I mentioned) and a mysterious scientist drove into the forest clearing next to the door. They opened it and a bright light glared out from behind. They brought with them what looked like a floating block of ice. They both escorted it through the doorway. As the door closed, Penny sprang forward and stopped it closing. She had a look of shock on her face as she called us over to the open door…

  MONDAY

  3rd October

  2005

  19:22 GMT-4

  LOGAN COLLINS

  HELLGATE FOREST | MERIDIA FALLS

  I sprint across the clearing, my heart thumping fast - it feels like it’s trying to burst out of my chest. Penny holds out her hand, her eyes wide open with wonder. She wraps her slender fingers around mine, pulling me closer to the open door.

  A cold chill spreads through my lungs, making it difficult to breathe. We’re standing on the threshold of something new, something exhilarating. Penny slides her arm around my waist, pulling me tight against her. Her heart beats fast, too, in perfect rhythm with my own.

  I force my feet forward. The blades of frozen grass merge into stone under my boots. It’s like we’re balancing on a thin tightrope between the forest and…

  Maz and Steve suddenly barge into the back of us, sending us over the threshold and into the bright light.

  “It’s a crypt. A church crypt,” Penny says. Her words are forced as if she’d just run a marathon.

  I blink away the bright light. We’re standing at the top of a platform. A metal ramp leads down, covering four stone steps. Huge stone arches rise to the ceiling. This is no horror movie crypt. Super bright floodlights hang on the walls, eradicating any chance of creepy shadows. A bright blue light, high in the ceiling, pulses in time with the constant beating hum. It’s like a slow heartbeat reverberating throughout the cavernous crypt, casting blue fingers of light down the stone arches. The hum buzzes inside my ears, like a crescendo of static.

  Penny whips off her gloves and thrusts a finger in her ear. “My ears have popped,” she says, rolling her jaw.

  “Mine too,” Maz says. She takes a step down the ramp and unbuttons her thick blue coat. “It’s freakin’ boiling in here.”

  She’s right. It’s like we’ve stepped into the height of summer. I pull off my hat and gloves, stashing them in my pocket. It
smells warm, too - reminds me of Anne’s kitchen in the mornings.

  “What the hell is this place?” Steve’s stands just behind us, but it’s hard to hear his voice over the hum in my ears. It’s muted, like he’s in another room. He pokes his head back through the open door into the oblong space of dark forest. It’s strange, like a full-length painting hanging in the middle of the crypt. “Damn it!” He yanks his head back in, icy cold breath blowing from his mouth. “It’s like sticking your head in a fridge.”

  “I don’t like it,” Maz says. Her voice disappears into the heartbeat hum as she and Steve link arms. “Let’s go back.”

  Penny’s already at the bottom of the ramp. The ice block that Miss Slayter pushed through the door floats just in front of her. She swipes her arm over and under it, trying to figure out how it’s floating. She glances at me, shaking her head. There’s no sign of Miss Slayter or the scientist. “Let’s have a quick look around,” I say, heading down the ramp to join Penny. My voice sounds flat and muted too. I kneel and wave Cassie’s Wonder Woman keychain under the block. Nothing happens. “It’s not done with magnets.”

  Miss Slayter suddenly walks out from an arched alcove set into the right-hand wall. The scientist follows behind. They haven’t seen us. Yet. There’s a stone sarcophagus next to the floating block. It’s tucked into its own little alcove. I stand, grabbing Penny’s hand. “Behind there,” I say. “Before they see us.”

  Maz drags Steve down the ramp. Thankfully, the heartbeat hum hides the clatter of their feet on the metal grills. They both drop next to us behind the sarcophagus.

  Penny presses herself close to me. A bead of sweat runs down her cheek. I wipe it away with my finger. She smiles, nervously. Her vanilla perfume is as strong as ever. Just smelling it calms my racing heartbeat. Over her shoulder, Maz buries her head in Steve’s chest. Was she worried about me, or just curious? I’ll wager she regrets following us into the forest now.

  I slowly peer over the sarcophagus between a carving of two jousting knights on top. Miss Slayter is right next to us. She leans back against the sarcophagus, her lab coat and gloves twinkling in the bright light. They’re both covered in hundreds of small disks, like tiny round diamonds.

  “The placement of this door is a joke,” she says, her voice muffled in the hum. She pushes herself away from the sarcophagus and holds both arms out in front, pointing at the door. “It never closes properly on top of this altar.”

  “They have an air for a dramatic flourish,” the scientist says. His voice is just as muffled. “They couldn’t resist standing the Traverse on the altar.” He leans back with his arms out. “You’ve got to admit, it does look kind of dramatic on there.”

  Miss Slayter bangs her hand against the metal railing on the ramp. I can’t make out what she’s saying through the hum, but the scientist laughs at whatever it is. She walks up the ramp and back through the doorway into Hellgate Forest. The crooked trees sway in the distance. Shivering, she presses her hand to the door handle and turns it; then walks back into the crypt and down the metal ramp, her icy breath evaporating in the searing heat. “There, that should do it,” she says, as the door closes behind her.

  Crap.

  The scientist runs up to the closed door. He slides his fingers down the side of the frame and drags his hand across it until he reaches the handle. He gives it a quick tug.

  “Be more careful next time,” Miss Slayter says.

  The scientist saunters back down the ramp and shrugs his shoulders. Reaching forward, he parts the bottom of her lab coat with his hand. A grin spreads across his face. “I thought I saw more leg than usual under there.” He laughs as she removes the coat. She’s dressed the same as at school - a short black skirt and a white blouse, although it’s now buttoned all the way up. “Did it work?” he says.

  She folds the lab coat and scowls, but her expression quickly turns into the familiar, playful grin she kept sending my way at school.

  “I don’t think it was needed in the end,” she says. “His hormones were already stimulated enough by her Sunburst.”

  “Damn. You sure stimulate mine though,” the scientist says. He bends forward, following her legs up from the floor to her skirt.

  She grabs his chin and pushes his head up. “Keep focused on the job. Not on me.”

  Penny tugs my sleeve, pulling me back down behind the sarcophagus. “Sunburst,” she whispers. Her beautiful green eyes are wide open with excitement. “The medical reports from our files mentioned Sunburst.”

  “Did you hear something?” Miss Slayter suddenly presses her hand to the top of the sarcophagus. Her fingers curl over the edge and her perfect red-painted nails tap on the stone lid. “I heard something,” she says, her voice like a buzzing echo on the wind.

  I chance my luck and peer back between the jousting knights as her fingers continue to drum across the stone.

  “Don’t you start.” The scientist says. “Your predecessor was sure this place was haunted.” He spins around on the spot. “You can’t hear anything more than a foot away in here. The Heartprint makes sure of that.”

  Miss Slayter pulls her hand away from the sarcophagus and laughs. “Well, technically, it is haunted down here.” She reaches out to the ice block and pushes it past the altar. The blue glow inside pulsates in rhythm with the humming heartbeat in the crypt.

  Penny tugs at my sleeve again. “What did he call the noise,” she says. “Heartprint?”

  Miss Slayter suddenly spins around. I drop back behind the sarcophagus. Shit. Did she see me?

  “Let’s get him hooked up,” she says, turning away. She maneuvers the ice block past the ramp. The scientist follows, tilting his head to check out her behind as she walks in front. Leaving the floating block against a wall, they head through another alcove, their voices disappearing into the low hum of the Heartprint.

  It’s only now I can take in the vastness of the crypt. Ornate stone pillars rise to huge arches that disappear into the ceiling. It’s more like a cathedral than a crypt. Similar ice blocks hang from the ceiling, suspended on thick silver cables. There’s got to be close to a hundred up there. They too pulsate blue in time with the Heartprint. Shining like captured stars, held in this stone prison.

  “What the hell is going on?” Maz whispers. “Where the freakin’ hell are we? The Twilight Zone?”

  “Shit. I dropped the satnav in the forest,” Penny says, gripping my hand tight as she rises from behind the sarcophagus.

  Maz and Steve follow her out. Steve’s face is red with frustration as he bangs on his cell phone.

  “Any luck?” Penny asks.

  He shakes his head. “Nothing. No signal at all.”

  Maz walks up the ramp to the door. She tries the handle, but the door remains closed. Frustrated, she kicks at the bottom of it and then bends down to examine the golden handle.

  I run up the ramp to join her. The handle is like a dial. There’s a small red triangle set into the elaborate golden ball. The triangle is similar in size and color to the one on the door. A label sits in the center of it. It reads MEV 7 in dark-red letters… “Wait a minute.” I run my fingers over the wooden door and trace around the edge of the identical red triangle. This too carries the same label. MEV 7.

  Maz tries to twist the handle again, pushing at the door several times. Then she spins around, her forehead shining from the heat. “How are we going to get out of this freakin’ place?”

  “Calm down,” Penny says, joining us at the door. “There has to be a way out.” She glances in the direction Miss Slayter went. “Let’s follow those two.”

  Sunburst. The word echoes in my head. Penny stares at me. She reaches for my face. “Those medical reports said Sunburst was an experiment,” I say. “An experiment on us.”

  “Experiment!?” Maz says.

  I grab Penny’s hand and kiss her soft skin. “It appears that we might have been part of an experiment.”

  “Not might, were part of an experiment,” Penny cor
rects, half smiling.

  Maz’s jaw drops. Then she turns and tugs the door handle again. “Well, at least you didn’t hallucinate this freakin’ thing. You’re not nuts…” She pauses. “Unless I’m nuts too.”

  “Come on,” Penny says, heading down the ramp.

  We walk slowly between the stone pillars, keeping behind them with every step. They’re hot to the touch, like a stone oven. “You could fry an egg on these things,” Maz says, snatching her hand back.

  The floor is a different case. The stone tiles look shiny, like they’re covered in a thin layer of water. I kneel and run my hand over them. They’re dry to the touch, and as cold and smooth as a mirror. I can even see my reflection in them.

  “Feels weird,” Penny says. Her hand sweeps over the floor tiles, too. “It’s like a polished marble floor.”

  I almost fall over as Maz walks into me. I spread my hands out on the floor to regain my balance. “What are they?” she says, oblivious to the fact she nearly knocked me over. Her head tilts back as stares up at the hanging ice blocks. “They look like freaky lights.”

  Miss Slayter suddenly walks back out into the crypt. We each hide behind a stone column as she drags a thick silver cable to the ice block against the wall. The cable slithers across the shiny floor tiles behind her, like a snake swimming in a river. The scientist follows, skipping over the cable as he helps her connect it to the back of the block. He rotates his gloved hand. The block turns and leans forward, standing upright. It looks like a chunk of ice, ready for sculpting at a winter fair.

  “That’s it,” he says, his voice just audible in the hum. He glances up at the ceiling. “Shall I hook him up?”

  Miss Slayter wipes her gloved hand over the ice. “We need to leave him down here for now.” She shakes water from her glove. “The Lapse needs to set.” She stares up at the ceiling. “And they want to send a reader in before he’s added to the battery.”