A Buried Spark

Home > Other > A Buried Spark > Page 19
A Buried Spark Page 19

by P. J. Hoover


  “Please help me!” she shouts. She’s ugly crying and screaming and I can hardly understand a word of what she’s saying. It sounds like a hysterical mix of begging and cursing and praying to a god who just stole her only reason for living away from her in the most gruesome way possible.

  I can’t take my eyes off her or the spot where Owen was. In the chasm, the water calms, returning to the smooth swirling. The lightning resettles to blue and purple.

  “Shit,” Taylor says. She reaches toward her belt, for a weapon that isn’t there. Abigail is almost to us. Her face is streaked with makeup, dark lines that trail from her eyes down to her chin. Her dress now clings to her legs in spots from the moisture in the air.

  “Don’t hurt her,” Hudson says, stepping forward, in front of Taylor.

  “Why not?” Taylor says. “She’s been helping Owen.” She clenches her empty hands into fists. Even without a weapon, I think she could destroy any one of us barehanded if she wanted to.

  “She’s deluded,” Hudson says. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

  I’m not sure that’s entirely true. Abigail has been hurt, maybe more than any of us, but that doesn’t excuse her seeing Owen trying to kill us and siding with him. But flashes of Taylor killing Dominic return to me. Stabbing him over and over again until he lay motionless back in the labyrinth. As much as I despise Abigail, I can’t have that happen.

  Abigail falls to the ground. She throws her head into her hands and sobs. “Help me, please!” She claws at my heavy boots with her hands. Her fingernails are painted cherry red, perfectly manicured.

  I can’t stand this girl. Can’t stand anything that she represents. But I also can’t turn my back on her.

  “How do we get past this monster?” Cole demands.

  Abigail keeps sobbing and begging us to help her.

  “How?” He reaches down like he wants to get her to look at us, but aside from grabbing her by the back of the head, she’s not moving. And Cole is not the kind of guy who’s going to do that.

  Taylor has no such worries. She grabs a huge handful of Abigail’s blond hair and yanks on it, pulling her head upward.

  “Tell us how to get through this zone now,” Taylor says.

  “I don’t know!” Abigail wails.

  “Last chance,” Taylor says.

  Abigail shakes her head and continues crying. Snot mixes with the makeup turning her face into an official disaster zone. Then the lightning begins to change color again and the swirling of the water picks up.

  Taylor lets go of Abigail’s hair, causing her head to fall back down. “Feed her to the monster.”

  “No! I’ll help you!” Abigail shouts.

  The lightning is bright orange and yellow and increasing in intensity with every second that goes by. Any second now the monster is going to strike. I press back, pulling Cole with me, toward the unbreakable wall of water behind us. We can’t be eaten by this monster.

  “How do we get past the monster?” Taylor asks Abigail. “Last chance or I throw you in.”

  The teeth are forming. Down the shore of the chasm, kids shout and try to run. They press up against the wall of water. There are more of them now. More food for the monster.

  “You don’t,” Abigail shouts, pointing at the swirling water which nearly reaches the top of the chasm.

  “What do you mean, we don’t?” I demand.

  “You can’t get past the monster,” Abigail says. “There is no way past it. That’s what Owen said.”

  There has to be a way past it. If there’s not, then we’re trapped in the zone forever.

  But then Raven’s words return to me. You have to drink from the pond whether you want to or not. It’s the only way through the zone. This has to be the same. Owen had gotten in the path of the monster, almost like he was giving himself up as a sacrifice. Except Owen would never do something like that. He’d never sacrifice himself to save anyone. He’d only do it if it was the thing to do. If someone gave him that information.

  If there is no way to get past the monster, then the only thing to do is . . .

  The teeth jut up from the water, ready to feast.

  “Jump!” I shout.

  Cole looks at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am crazy. But I also know that I can’t let Owen get ahead, and if I’m right, then he already is ahead. I need to stop him. Understanding dawns on Cole’s face. I leap into the air the same time he does. I glance back in time to see Taylor and Hudson running for us. They dive for the chasm, leaving Abigail behind. Then the jaws of the monster close over us.

  XXX

  Air whooshes after me, thrusting me far into the gaping mouth of the monster. There’s a sucking sound like water being pulled down a drain. Darkness settles in. I think to grab for Cole’s hand, but I’m moving too fast. I scramble around, trying to find something to hold onto. The surroundings are moist and slimy, and my hands slip over them as I fall, down, down. I twist around, slamming into one wall and falling farther. The monster is like a giant snake with no end. Finally I land, bouncing on a trampoline-like surface covered in slime. The wind is shoved out of me on my landing, and I make a noise sure to alert anyone nearby of my presence.

  I can’t see a thing. Even my heads-up display shows nothing beyond a few symbols slowly scrolling across the screen.

  “Hello?” I barely whisper.

  There’s only a groaning sound in reply. Then something lands hard next to me, causing me to bounce back upward into the air.

  “Who is it?” I ask once I land and my head resettles. My body aches from the fall.

  “Edie?”

  “Cole?” I reach forward and find him, pulling him close to me. I wrap my arms around him, needing to know we’re both okay.

  “Into the monster?” Cole says. His mouth is close to my ear, warming me. “You thought jumping into the monster’s mouth was a good idea?”

  I can’t help but laugh. “It was my only idea.”

  He pulls his head back then puts a hand on either side of my face. I still can’t see a thing, but it doesn’t take a genius to know he’s looking right at me. “Nothing like thinking things through,” he says. Then he kisses me, and without the light, it’s even more delicious, like a kiss stolen.

  It ends as someone falls on top of us.

  “Ugh, that hurt!” Hudson shouts.

  “You landed on my shoulder,” I say. “How do you think I feel?”

  He doesn’t get the chance to answer before a final person lands on the ground.

  “Taylor?” I say.

  “You’re crazy, Edie,” Taylor says. “You know that?”

  Crazy maybe. Okay, probably.

  “At least we’re all together,” I say. I try to stand, but the ground is so soft that my knees buckle. It’s like a bouncy house with all the lights out.

  “Together in the belly of a monster,” Hudson says. “And now we . . . ?”

  “We get out of here,” Cole says. Light erupts from the spot where he is, illuminating our surroundings. A ball of fire rests on his outstretched palm. His power, back to full force.

  “Glad you’re back,” Taylor says. “Edie’s other boyfriend couldn’t make fire.”

  I almost snap out a retort, but then I catch the look on her face. She’s trying to egg me on.

  “Whatever,” I say, acting like it doesn’t bother me.

  Taylor actually smiles. “Good, Edie. You’re getting smarter.”

  “I was always smart,” I say.

  “School smart,” Taylor says. “But that’s not the only thing that matters.”

  How right she is.

  “There’s a path over here,” Hudson says. He grabs Cole’s forearm and angles the light to where he’s looking. Slime drips down from above, falling on his short blond hair.

  “This place is gross,” Tayl
or says. She swipes the slime out of the way, but it gets all over her arm. She tries to wipe it on her pants, but the entire effort seems a bit futile.

  “We’re in the belly of the monster,” Cole says. He holds the fire close to the slimy wall and rests his other hand on my arm. His crutch has not made the trip with him.

  Instantly the ground begins to rumble. I fall to my knees, knocking into him and making him fall over, too. The light bounces around, creating shadows everywhere.

  “This has to be the way out,” Hudson says.

  “Hudson’s right,” Cole says, standing again, using my arm for support. “And I don’t think we should wait around to confirm it.”

  I meet his eyes, then I glance down at his missing leg. Without a crutch or a prosthetic, it’s not feasible for him to go anywhere.

  “Just a crutch,” he says.

  I shake my head. “You need your hands free. And we need the light.”

  Cole scowls, darkened by the shadows and his scar.

  “Now’s not the time to be stubborn,” I say.

  Taylor laughs. “It’s always the time to be stubborn when you’re Cole.”

  “Whatever. Fine,” Cole says. “But it’s temporary.”

  “Understood.” Then I pull on the power and draw what I can from our surroundings. There isn’t much visible except for the slimy flesh of the monster. But a small bit of delving beneath it, and I find bone. Teeth and bone. I deconstruct the bone and create a prosthetic for Cole, attaching it where his leg ends beneath the knee. The monster is not happy with my pulling it apart. It begins to rumble again, but this time it doesn’t stop.

  “Now, you guys!” Hudson shouts. He can’t run ahead because Cole has the only light, so Cole pushes forward and leads the way. The shaking around us continues. Maybe the monster is eating again. Maybe it’s angry. Whatever the reason, we need to get out of here.

  The corridor is narrow and leads ever downward, and all I can imagine is that it is some intestine, curling around. It has to come out. The basics of monster digestion are not what I want to think about. We plow forward, through the dark. The tunnel only gets narrower. Soon, we have to crouch down and walk single file. Still we press forward. And maybe it’s my imagination, but the ground becomes more solid, the walls less slimy. The grumbling of the monster diminishes.

  Then Hudson says, “Is that a light up ahead?”

  Cole lessens the glow coming from his fireball, and sure enough, far ahead, down the corridor, there is definitely something bright. There is also dirt beneath our feet. Stones and rocks around us. Wherever we are, we’ve left the monster behind.

  “Put it out,” Taylor says, motioning at Cole’s light.

  Cole pulls his fingers together into a fist, and the fire goes out. We creep forward. If Owen is up there, it would be great to catch him by surprise. But when the corridor widens until it’s wide enough for all four of us to stand next to each other, there is no sign of Owen. There is only a mountain with no sign of the top ahead.

  “That’s our way out,” Cole says, pointing upward.

  It has to be true. We traveled down the belly of the monster, far down. Now we need to travel back up. Owen is nowhere to be seen, but there are footprints that lead up the dirt-covered ground. He’s gone ahead of us. We have to keep moving.

  We find a stream and at the risk of it wiping our memories, we drink. There’s no other choice. Without water, we could die. And I am not going to die. Not now. Not when we are so close. Then we set out, up the mountain.

  Halfway up, we find a staircase carved into the rock. Instead of making our trek easier, each time I lift my leg to raise it to the next step, cramps form in my muscles. I don’t know how long this can go on. How much more I can take. But I push through.

  A mantra plays over and over in my mind. Just one more step. Just one more step. I can’t stop now.

  “How much longer?” Hudson says. Sweat covers us, and we haven’t said a word for the last couple hours. Speaking has become too much of an effort.

  “Soon,” I say, trying to be encouraging but failing miserably.

  “And you know that how?” Taylor says.

  “I just know.” It’s a flat-out lie.

  Keep going, the voice in my head says. You’re almost there. Your enemy is ahead.

  Owen is ahead. That is my enemy. One of my enemies. The list continues to grow. But it’s enough to power me on. Whatever internal motivation the others use, I don’t know. But when the peak of the mountain finally comes into view, I sink to the ground.

  “Don’t stop now,” Cole says, pulling me to my feet.

  I nod and wipe a few tears that have leaked out the corners of my eyes. I won’t stop. Can’t stop. And then we reach the top and look at what is on the other side.

  XXXI

  There is no valley. No other side of the mountain. No downward trek. Instead, the giant compass rose stretches before us. The world is black, and the edges and outlines of the compass rose glow in moving neon lights, like race tracks in a video game. I walk forward, toward the center. Eight different directions. The world shifts, and as we stand in the center, I can’t tell which way we came from.

  Then the center of the compass rose begins to rise, high into the air, as a column grows upward. We’ve reached the end of the zone. We link hands as the platform rises, and when it stops, we each collect the glowing symbols etched on the side of the column. Four segments collected. Four zones completed. The column vanishes and we’re back in the middle of the compass rose. With eight paths, there is no way to tell which way is out.

  “How do we get to the next zone?” Hudson asks, slowly spinning in a circle.

  I bend down and look for the symbols that had been there before. Except this time, there are no symbols. Each direction looks the same. Then near the end of one of the compass points, I see Owen.

  “There he is!” I shout, pointing at Owen. With his dad helping him, he must be going the right way.

  Hudson takes off first, but I’m right on his heels, knowing Taylor and Cole will follow. Blood pumps through my veins. The compass rose seems to grow as we run down the point, making the end seem farther and farther away, but eventually we reach it. Then the ground underneath me shifts and changes. The compass rose and neon lights vanish, leaving a sleek ground of pure black. In front of me is a flowing wall of silver.

  “We made it,” I say.

  Nobody answers. I turn, but there is no sign of Cole, Taylor, or Hudson. There’s also no sign of Owen.

  “It’s okay,” I say to myself. “Move forward.”

  I lift my hand and press it into the waterfall of silver. The flowing metal morphs around me, pulling me in, closing me inside. I let out a deep breath. Four zones complete. Two more to go.

  My heads-up display flickers and the silhouette of Chaos appears. He’s more filled in each time, as if our getting closer provides him with strength to show himself. This time I can nearly see his face. His brown hair shadows it. His shirt is blue.

  “Congratulations,” he says. “You completed Zone Delta.”

  I say, “I’m ready for the next zone.”

  “You’re not ready,” Chaos says. “No one is ready.”

  I don’t respond. It’s only one more mind game. Another test I will not fail. I wait. Finally his silhouette disappears and words appear on the readout.

  Choose one letter to assist in Zone Epsilon.

  Listed thereafter is every letter of the Greek alphabet, even the ones that are no longer common, like Digamma and Sampi. I scroll through the list, trying to find a pattern when I notice there are a few of them missing. Delta. Iota. Nu, Epsilon. Another one, Pi, is there and then disappears, like they’re being eliminated one by one.

  There is no way of knowing what they mean. Another vanishes as I watch. Maybe it’s not so important which one I get as long as I
collect one.

  I think about the generic code Zachary Gomez used to get us into this simulation. 0m1cr0n5. I have no other reason to pick any of the letters. I think of it as a good luck charm. Then I select the Greek letter Omicron.

  The remaining letters disappear, and the Omicron is transferred to my inventory. It’s there along with the four pieces of the key. I’m almost through. The simulation is almost complete. But almost still means I could die. I can’t let my guard down now.

  The image of the concentric circles appears with four of them now shaded in green. I select the fifth circle, and the others dissolve. Then the silver waterfall in front of me pulls to the sides, forming my opening. I step through, ready for whatever is ahead. Except this is a lie. I am not ready for it. Maybe my luck really has run out.

  Owen stands there, alone, looking out at an endless field of green grass. He turns as I pass through the silver barrier. I freeze the second I see him. But there is no turning back now. I ball my hands into fists, willing Cole, Taylor, and Hudson to appear.

  “You’re alone,” Owen says. Then he actually has the nerve to smile at me. After everything, he’s smiling.

  “My friends are coming,” I say.

  Owen crosses his arms, making his muscles pop. “When?”

  I glance back. The silver barrier is gone. There is only an endless sea of green behind us also. Please come, I think.

  But the barrier doesn’t appear and neither do my friends.

  I bite my lip. “Soon.” And I cross my own arms and try to look as confident as I can.

  Five minutes go by. Neither Owen nor I say a word. But with every second I lose confidence. What if they don’t come? What do I do then?

  Finally Owen shakes his head and takes a step toward me. “It’s just you and me, Edie,” he says. “That’s how it was meant to be. Don’t you see that?”

  I try not to let anything register on my face. I have to play this smart. Owen could easily try to kill me right here, right now.

 

‹ Prev