"Mom . . . no," I cried. "What's going on? Why are you here?"
She looked straight through me the way Coop's grandfather had. There was no recognition, no acknowledgment that she knew who I was or that I was even there. It was the first time I had seen her since the day she had left home . . . to die.
"Say something!" I screamed. "Talk to me!"
She didn't react. It was as if her image was there but her spirit wasn't. Still, it was my mom. I staggered to my feet and stumbled toward her with my arms out to hug her. I reached forward, closed my arms around her, and grabbed only air. The image was gone.
I fell to the ground again, crushed under the weight of grief as if I had just lost her for a second time. I hadn't even reacted like that when she died. It was like my heart had been torn out. I couldn't move. I didn't want to move. I curled up into a ball and hugged my knees. I wanted the visions to end, but I knew they wouldn't.
"I'm sorry that happened, Ralph," came a clear, strong voice.
I dared to peek over my arm to see yet another spirit.
Cooper was back. He walked toward me along the path and knelt down a few feet away. Unlike the other three spirits, he was looking right at me.
"That wasn't right," he said.
"Are you really here?" I asked tentatively.
"Yeah," he assured me. "But not the others."
I didn't dare take my eyes off him for fear he would disappear.
"You look solid," I said.
"Things are changing, Ralph. Fast."
"I don't understand. It's like you're really . . ." I reached out to touch him but my hand traveled through as if he were a projection. I pulled back quickly.
"Easy," he said. "I'm a ghost, remember? Things haven't changed that much."
"I don't understand," I mumbled.
"Get up, Ralph." He reached out to help me to my feet, but then scoffed and backed off. "Geez, now you got me doing it."
"But you're here," I said, standing up as I wiped my eyes.
"I've just got more control. That's it. It's not much but at least I won't be winking in and out anymore."
"What's happening, Coop? Why did I see my mother? And your grandfather? And . . . who was that girl?"
"Her name's Zoe. I don't know why you saw them. I'm not even sure where their spirits are. It's like they're just . . . floating. But that's only part of the problem."
"What's the other part?"
Coop thought about his answer, then looked at me with a sad smile.
"What?" I asked.
"We've been through a lot since we were kids," he said. "But this isn't kid stuff anymore."
"We're in Trouble Town, aren't we?" I asked.
Coop laughed. "More than you can imagine—and you've got a hell of an imagination, so that's really saying something."
"Is it that Damon guy?"
Cooper nodded. "Do you have any more of those golden balls? The crucibles?"
"Yeah. I broke one and that started this whole mess. But I've got another. From Ennis Mobley. He promised Mom that he'd give it to me for my protection."
"Seriously?" he asked with surprise. "That's what he told you?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"It's a lie. He never told your mother that."
"How do you know?"
"Your mother told me."
That stopped me short. All I managed to say was, "She did?"
Coop smiled. "We've got a lot to talk about, Ralph. But right now you gotta tell me, do you know where the poleax is?"
"Are you serious? I don't even know what it is."
"Well, learn fast because we have to find it."
"We?" I asked.
"We. No more messages in powder. No more moving lights or blowing open windows. From now on it's you and me. Together."
Hearing that gave me confidence. It always did.
"What happens if we don't find it?" I asked.
"Nothing. So long as Damon doesn't either."
"And what if he does?"
Cooper took a deep breath and said, "He'll bulldoze the Morpheus Road, and that illusion you saw in the cemetery with those walking corpses? It won't be an illusion anymore."
"I don't know what that means, Coop."
"It means there would be a war, and not like anything you've seen in the movies or read about in books. If Damon gathers his forces and marches on the Light, there won't be any way to stop them because they'll already be dead. And that's not even the worst part."
"What could be worse than that?" I asked shakily. "You and I have to stop him."
"Oh."
We stood there for a long moment staring at each other. I swallowed hard, reached down, picked up my bike, and wheeled it up to the spirit of my dead best friend.
"So?" he asked.
I shrugged and said, "So I guess this means we'll be spending the summer together after all."
To be continued . . .
The Black Page 35
