Dark Realm, The (13 page)

Jennet looked across the cafeteria, saw the faces quickly turned away, the giggles hidden behind lifted hands. “It’s not like I’m exactly popular. Being a Viewer and all. Listen, do you know—”

“Where’s Tam today?” Marny’s question collided with hers.

“What?” Her worry spiked. “I thought you’d know.”

“I had to leave before he made it home last night. If he made it at all. What did you do with him?” There was a challenge in her voice.

“Nothing! Okay, he was a little late, but my dad’s driver dropped him off at his house no problem. Really, you don’t know where he is?”

“I’m not his keeper. Like I said, I had to leave. I hope everything’s all right.”

Jennet pushed her tray aside. “I have to go find out.”

“He never answers his messages - reception in the Exe is way spotty. There’s no way to get in touch with him.”

“I’m going to his house.” Jennet stood. Having a plan helped clear some of the anxiety, made her feel a little more in control.

“What - now?” Marny glanced side-to-side. “You don’t seem like the type to ditch your classes.”

“This is more important.” She had to make sure Tam was all right.

“Maybe he just got sick,” Marny said, though she didn’t sound very certain. “Or his brother did - their mom isn’t around a lot, so stuff falls on Tam. It could be no big deal.”

“Could be.”

“Look. You can’t just head into the Exe and hope to find Tam.”

“Come with me, then.” That would make things a lot easier.

“I wish I could, but…” Marny made a face, like she’d bitten something sour. “I can’t miss the test in World Markets today, or they’ll flunk me out. I’ll take you over there after school though.”

The anxiety sizzling through Jennet wouldn’t wait. “No. It has to be now.”

“You’re not big on sense, are you Fancy-girl?” Marny blew out a breath, then pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and scribbled something down. “Look, here’s a map. That’s my number at the bottom. Message me if you get totally lost. And when you find out what’s up with Tam.”

Jennet folded the paper and tucked it in her pocket. “I’ll let you know.” She grabbed her tray and stood up.

“One more thing,” Marny said.

“What?”

“Try not to get killed out there.” The big girl gave her a wry smile.

“Um. Okay, I’ll do my best.”

Jennet scraped her lunch into the bin, then set her tray on the stack with a clatter that seemed to echo around the room. People were still looking at her - but she had bigger things to worry about. There was only one person who mattered right now, and the sooner she slipped away, the sooner she’d know if he was all right.

***

Boarded-up buildings loomed on either side of Jennet. She swallowed back the metal taste of fear and glanced at the directions Marny had scribbled out. Did that line there mean she was supposed to go left, or right? According to the sort-of map, she was getting close to Tam’s. So far things had been quiet in the Exe.

Before leaving the school grounds she’d taken off her jewelry and folded the cuffs of her sweater down over her wrists, trying to hide her chip. True, she still stood out, with her too-clean designer clothes, but so far she’d been left alone. If her luck held, in a couple minutes she’d be knocking on Tam’s door. Provided she could find it.

George knew how to get there, but she couldn’t call him and say, “Hey, I’m ditching my classes, could you give me a ride?” Dad would send her straight back to Middland.

A clank of metal-on-metal drifted from down the street to the right. Okay then, she’d go left. The pavement had chunks missing. The smell of something rotten lodged in the back of her throat, but this felt like the right place. The empty, brownish building on the corner seemed familiar. Wasn’t Tam’s just down -

“Hey, girly.” A man stepped out into the street in front of her, his voice hoarse and low.

Jennet took a step back, her whole body going tight with fear. Run! She whirled, only to find another man flanking her. Oh god. Oh god. This was severe. Stomach clenching, she sidled toward the middle of the street.

The first man spread his arms wide. He and the other guy both had weird, yellowish eyes, where a crazy wildness lurked. They smelled, too - a thick, cloying stench that made her head spin.

“You look like you got loot,” the first man said.

“No.” She fought to make her voice firm, the way you’d talk to a menacing dog. “Go away.”

“Nuh-uh. Not until you hand over that fancy purse,” said the one behind her. “Hey man, check out her wrist. I think we just hit the jackpot.” He laughed, a rusty caw.

The first man’s eyes gleamed and his hand went to his belt. He had some kind of weapon there. Gun, knife - either way she was in deep trouble.

Jennet’s body was a drum, filled with the heavy thump of fear. She should’ve waited for Marny. If only she had a weapon, just a stone or a stick, something to fight with. Or her staff. She could almost feel it in her hands - the heavy, comforting weight, ready to zap whatever creatures menaced her.

Wait. She
could
feel it. She glanced down to see the smooth, dark wood, the crystal glowing blue-white at the tip. Her mage staff from Feyland.

No way. Fear was making her imagine things. But the man in front of her was staring at her hands, too. Staring at what she now held.

“What the…” He took a step back and drew a knife. “Where’d that come fr—”

Jennet hit him with a sizzling bolt of light, square in the chest, sending him flying backward ten feet. He lay moaning on the broken pavement.

Never hesitate when confronting your enemies - she’d learned that in-game. Pivoting, she leveled her staff at the second man, but he was already running away, down the street. She nearly went after him, but caught herself. She had to find Tam. And this wasn’t Feyland.

It was the real world - so what was her staff doing, appearing in her hands and shooting magical bolts? Things like that just didn’t happen. They couldn’t.

As if sensing her disbelief, her staff disappeared. There one second, gone the next, leaving her fingers curved around empty air.

Jennet blinked and lowered her hands. Had she been dreaming? The guy lying on the street was pretty convincing evidence that it had happened. But her staff had vanished. No explanation.

The man moaned and Jennet ran, sprinting past him down the street. She didn’t look back. She skidded around the corner, and her breath whooshed out in relief as she saw the old mechanic’s shop with the rickety outside stairs. Tam’s place.

She checked the big metal door in back first, but it was locked. All right - upstairs it was. No matter how treacherous the stairs looked, they would be easy compared to the guys she’d left behind.

The railing swayed when she touched it, and the treads creaked wearily under her feet, but Jennet kept going. Maybe Tam wasn’t home, but she couldn’t stop now. The thought of going back through the neighborhood alone… no way. A shiver shook through her. At least it was the middle of the day. She couldn’t imagine how creepy the Exe would be at night. Maybe even worse than the Dark Forest in Feyland. She didn’t intend to find out.

No wonder Tam was so brave, if this was what he lived with every day.

A small landing at the top of the stairs led to a warped front door. There was a window in the wall beside it, but it was made of thick glass imbedded with wire, impossible to see through. Well. No use just standing here. She lifted her hand and knocked.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

A
shadow crossed in front of the window, and then a metal cover in the door slid open a bare inch. An eye regarded her.

“Hi,” Jennet said. “Um - Tam, is that you?” Somehow she didn’t think so. Unease tightened the back of her neck and prickled down her spine.

The eye looked at her a moment more, then the peephole cover closed abruptly. Jennet waited, but there was nothing else - no greeting or dismissal, no opening door. She bit her lip. Should she knock again? Maybe it had been the little brother, and he didn’t know what to do. Although, whoever had been looking at her, it hadn’t felt like a kid.

“Hello?” she called. “Is Tam home?”

The silence continued on the other side of the door.

She waited for what felt like forever. Finally, Jennet turned away. Disappointment was sour in her mouth. She took one step down the rickety stairs. Then another.

Behind her came the quiet jangle of a chain, the clunk of a deadbolt being drawn back. Whoever had been standing there was opening the door. Half-afraid to look, she made herself turn around.

The door swung back to reveal a woman on the threshold. She clung to the knob, as if it were the only thing keeping her upright. She was tiny, and not just because she was emaciated, though that didn’t help. Her green eyes were ringed with weary circles. Brown hair, cut raggedly short, framed her too-thin face.

“Who?” she whispered, the question a bare thread of sound.

“I’m a friend of Tam’s,” Jennet said, making her voice soothing. This woman looked like she could be knocked over by a loud voice, an abrupt move. “Is he home?” Please, let him be here.

“Mom?” It was Tam’s voice, calling from inside.

Thank god - he was all right. Relief poured through her, making her knees weak. Tam was here. Not collapsed on the floor because the game had ripped out a piece of his soul. Not bleeding away from some game injury that crossed the boundary into real life.

“Hey mom, where are you?” he called again, sounding worried.

The woman glanced over her shoulder, and then looked back at Jennet. She nodded, once, and then Tam was standing beside her.

“What are you doing?” he asked, all his attention fixed on the wraith of a woman still clinging to the doorknob. “Come back inside now, Mom. You shouldn’t be up.”

Then his gaze moved past the woman. He looked unhappy to see Jennet standing there.

“Hi,” she said. “I wanted to see if you were okay.”

“I’m fine.” He put a protective arm around his mom and steered her back into the house.

Jennet took a hasty step forward, before he could close and lock the door in her face. “Can’t I come in? There are some crazies out there, you know.”

“Whatever.” He didn’t sound at all pleased about it. “I’ll be right back. Close the door, and make sure it’s locked.” Without looking back, he guided his mom inside.

“Nice,” Jennet said under her breath.

She hadn’t thought Tam would throw a party when she showed up, but she hadn’t expected this borderline hostility. Especially after running together in Feyland so successfully the day before. She’d thought they were allies, at the very least.

After closing - and bolting - the door, she stepped into the middle of the room. Tam’s place was slightly better than a shed, but to call it a house would be a stretch. It smelled musty, with an underlay of old grease and rust. The main room had a thin couch along one wall, with bedding pushed down at the bottom. In the corner was a sleeping-bag and worn pillow. Pretty obvious that Tam and his brother slept here. A bathroom was wedged in beside the kitchen, but it was too small to even qualify as a room.

Next to the sleeping area was an overflowing bookshelf, made from rough boards nailed together. Comics and computer repair schematics spilled out of the shelves in messy stacks, sandwiched in between old game manuals, kid stories and some novels. It reminded her of the other reason she was here - to give Tam the book in her satchel. And - her breath caught - to tell him about Feyland.

In front of the couch, taking up part of the floor, was spread a thin webwork of wires. Jennet took a careful step closer. They seemed to be attached to Tam’s gaming gloves. Was he doing some modifications? There was nothing he could do to make his gloves respond like the VirtuMax ones. He shouldn’t even try.

Tam came back into the room, closing his mom’s door quietly behind him. He folded his arms.

“So,” he said, “what do you want?”

Jennet tried not to look like his attitude was bothering her, but the unfriendliness in his voice and expression hurt. He’d gone back to being the wary stranger with hair in front of his eyes.

“Nice to see you, too,” she said. “I’m glad you didn’t get jumped by the crazies last night, or break your neck on the stairs, or something like that.”

“My mom came home,” he said, like that should explain everything.

Which in some ways it did. Obviously his mom was a wreck, and Tam was taking care of her. Jennet couldn’t blame him for missing school - it didn’t seem like he had much of a choice. Even though it had put her in a severe panic.

“We need to talk,” she said.

He gave a sharp nod. “You first.”

She swallowed. “Could we sit down?”

“Ok. Watch the wires.” He stepped over the eviscerated gaming gloves and pushed the bedding off the end of the couch, then perched there.

Jennet sat at the other end and leaned her satchel against her legs. She nodded at the floor. “Are you re-configuring your gloves?”

His expression tightened even more. “You could say that. The whole system is down for maintenance right now.”

“Oh. So - you can’t play at home?”