Eternity's Edge (23 page)

He pressed his weight down. So far so good. Only about eight more steps. He pushed his other foot forward. Again, no problem.

She let go of his shirt. “I'll stay two steps behind you.”

“Crawl on your hands and knees,” Daryl said. “You'll distribute your weight.”

“Good thinking.” Nathan pointed the flashlight ahead. His mother's shadowy form reached out, now only about ten feet away. The glow washed over her face, revealing her anguished expression — a deeply furrowed brow above eyes filled with alarm. He tossed the light to Daryl and eased his body down to his hands and knees.

Now blind, he inched forward, sliding over the tactile blackness. He felt like a trapped miner trying to escape from a deep tunnel—no light, no map, and no idea if he was about to tumble into an air shaft.

“You can do it, Nathan,” Kelly said. “You're almost there!”

“Maybe. If I could see.”

“I'll try to blaze the trail.” Daryl aimed the light at the floor where Nathan's hand would slide next. “Is that better?”

The beam poured through the widest cracks yet. “Only if seeing impending doom is better.” He glared at the fragile floor. Should he chance it? Maybe he could just jump and latch onto his mother's arm. But would she be able to hold on? He chided himself with a nervous laugh. Of course she would. That's what mothers do.

Nathan gritted his teeth. He rose to a crouch and lunged,
but the floor crumbled beneath him. He flailed for his mother's hand, but he swiped through empty air. Yet, for some reason, he wasn't falling. Something held him suspended over the blackness, while another force pressed against his throat, choking him.

“I've got you,” Kelly grunted. “I won't let you go.”

He looked up. Kelly's fists clutched his shirt, and his collar was strangling him, but if he lifted his chin to let it slide up, he'd probably slip right out of the very thing that kept him from a one-way ticket to nowhere.

Her knees bending, she pulled, but her arms quaked violently. “Swing your leg up!” she yelled. “Francesca will catch it.”

The younger Francesca dropped to her knees and reached down. “Aim for my hand!”

He couldn't answer. He couldn't even breathe. When he tried to swing, a faint ripping sound jolted his senses. His shirt was tearing! He had only seconds before he would plummet.

Grunting, Kelly swung his body from side to side to add to his momentum, each movement causing a new tearing sound. She cried out with a guttural scream.

Nathan grimaced. The pain in Kelly's wounded shoulder had to be ripping through her body. How long could she hold on? Finally, he thrust his leg up as high as he could.

Francesca grabbed his ankle. “I've got him!” she yelled. “Pull!”

With the pressure on his throat loosening, Nathan sucked in precious air. As they slowly eased him upward, a new sound grated in his ears, a faint cracking from beneath his rescuers' shoes. “It's collapsing!” he shouted. “Let me go, and run for it!”

“Never!” Pushing with her legs, Kelly lunged backwards. Nathan shot up over the edge and sprawled on top of her with a heavy thump. More cracking sounded from beneath their bodies. They scrambled to their feet, but the floor gave way.

14
MENDING NIGHTMARES

 

As they fell, Nathan grabbed Kelly's arm, then Francesca's. He looked up. Daryl stood at the rim, gazing down, the flashlight still in her hand. The glow illuminated her terrified face as she shrank in Nathan's view, and a stream of liquid light followed them into the depths like dripping, phosphorescent wax. Seconds later, she disappeared in the upper reaches, and blackness swallowed her puny torch.

Now with complete darkness surrounding them, there seemed to be no sensation of falling, not even a rush of air. Yet, since they could breathe, they would have to feel air breezing upward, wouldn't they? Unless, of course, the air pocket was falling with them, or the ceiling had actually zoomed upward, or …

Nathan shook his head hard. Every option seemed impossible. This place didn't follow any rules — physics, gravity, or logic.

Francesca compressed his arm. “Is everyone okay?”

“I'm fine, except I can't see anything.” Nathan blinked at the darkness. “Did we stop falling?”

“We stopped,” Kelly said. “My vision is working again, so I guess we moved to another dimension. I can see that we're standing on solid ground, but I don't feel pressure under my feet.”

Nathan turned toward her. White beams once again shot
from her eyes, sweeping the area like car headlights. The beams passed over vertical stone slabs near his feet, but the light didn't linger long enough for him to figure out what the slabs were. He reached for one of the stones and ran his finger along the top — smooth marble, about three feet wide and four feet tall. “We need the violin to turn on the lights.”

“I put it down,” Francesca said. “I needed both hands to haul you up.”

Kelly jerked on Nathan's sleeve. “I hear something. A scream. And it's getting louder.”

“I hear it, too.”

A high-pitched wail grew in volume, coming from somewhere above. Kelly's eyebeams aimed toward the sky. A large, rectangular object fell through the shafts of light and landed with a rattling, squeaking thump a mere five feet away.

Kelly shifted her beams to the point of impact. A van labeled “Stoneman Enterprises” sat in front of them, still shaking and shifting on its shock absorbers.

A light flashed on at the driver's window. A girl leaned out into the glow, her face veiled by shadows. “Wow! What a trip!”

Nathan squinted at her. “Daryl?”

“In the flesh … At least, I think so … Actually, now that I mention it, I'm not really sure.”

“Did the floor collapse?” he asked.

“No. I figured, do I want to be stuck in a cosmic web for all eternity chatting with your mom? I mean, she's really nice and all, but I came here for adventure. So, I said, ‘What the heck? Might as well go out in style.’ So instead of just jumping after you, I drove the van into the hole.”

Kelly's eyebeams shifted back and forth as she shook her head. “Crazy as ever.”

“Did you pick up my violin?” Nathan asked. “We need some light.”

“Yep.” Daryl extended the violin and bow through the window. “I'm all for fiddling away the darkness.”

Nathan set the violin under his chin and raised the bow. Just as he was about to play, Kelly grabbed his wrist.

“No!” she whispered. “Wait!”

Nathan lowered his voice to match hers. “What's up?”

“I hear singing. It's getting closer.”

Nathan ducked behind the stone slab and pulled Kelly down. Daryl jumped out of the driver's door, and she and Francesca joined the huddle.

“Is the van in plain sight?” Nathan asked. “I can't see it.”

Daryl aimed the flashlight at the letters on the side panel. “As plain as a zit on the Mona Lisa.”

He pushed the light toward the ground. “Douse it!”

Daryl flicked it off. “As if that's going to help.”

“The singing's getting closer,” Kelly said. “It's a male voice.”

“I hear it now.” Nathan passed his hand in front of Kelly's eyes. “What about your eyebeams? Won't he see them?”

“If it's daylight to him like it is to me, he probably won't.” Kelly aimed her eyes at a winding path. With the beams steady now, the residual glow washed over the surrounding slabs, clarifying them.

“Tombstones,” Nathan whispered.

“Shh! I see him now.”

A youthful male shuffled into the light, his head down and shoulders sloped. As he drew slowly closer, Kelly's beams followed, painting twin circles on his torso, but he didn't seem to notice.

Appearing to be about fifteen and dressed in a dark, formfitting shirt and loose, equally dark trousers, he sang a mournful tune, using the vowel sounds they had heard from the stalkers.

Kelly translated in soft whispers.

To wander home,
To rest, to roam,
'Tis peace entombed
And mortal gloom.
Awaiting dark,
Forlorn and stark,
I weep for days gone by.

 

The young man lifted his head and gazed above, tears streaming as he lamented.

To see my Scarlet's rosy face,
To hear my Amber's golden song,
To feel again our hued embrace,
Apart we're weak, together strong.

 

He stopped suddenly and stared straight ahead. Passing by their hiding place, he strode to the van and touched the side panel with his fingertips. He pivoted on his heels. Kelly's beams struck his eyes, raising a splash of blue.

The boy sang a short burst of notes.

“I see you.” Kelly translated. “Stand and show yourselves.”

She stood and stepped toward the boy, but Nathan rose quickly and moved in front of her. “I'm Nathan Shepherd,” he said, extending his hand. “Who are you?”

The boy stared at Nathan's hand. “I am Cerulean.”

Nathan stepped back. “You speak English. I thought you would answer in song.”

“If you thought this, then why did you address me in English? I merely responded in kind.”

“I … I'm not sure. Habit, I guess.”

A sympathetic smile bent Cerulean's lips. “I am familiar with your facial expression, Nathan of the Red World. You are flustered and confused.”

Nathan pointed at himself. “How do you know me?”

“I have seen Nathan of the Blue World many times through his mirror. I learned to love him dearly, though I am no longer his supplicant. He has gone to be with the Everlasting One.”

As Kelly's beams moved across Cerulean from his torso to the top of his head, Nathan studied his boyish features— smooth skin, bright sapphire eyes, and dark blue spiked hair. With his top shirt button unfastened, the upper portion of his chest was exposed, revealing darkness just under his neckline, a stark contrast to his pale skin.

“How did you get out of your prison?” Nathan asked.

“I am still in my dome, if that is your meaning. This is the realm of dreams, and I am doing what I can to prevent a stalker from frightening someone you know quite well. Daryl of the Blue World is dozing under a dimensional mirror, making her vulnerable to a dream attack. Since she is terrified of great heights and graveyards, a stalker has manipulated her night vision and created this cemetery. I entered her dream to cancel the stalker's efforts and bring her peace.”

“That wasn't a song of peace you were singing a few minutes ago,” Nathan said.

“That was my own lament, for I have not been able to be near my sisters in a very long time.” Cerulean gave him a weak smile. “Daryl would not be able to understand it, anyway. In fact, she likely did not hear it at all.” He nodded in the direction he entered the graveyard. “She is just now phasing into her dream world, believing herself to be in the eighth grade and reliving a night when she was lost in the woods and came out in a church cemetery.”

“I remember that night,” Daryl said as she rose to her feet. “I'll talk to her.”

Cerulean pulled her back. “You will only add to her confusion. Watch quietly, and you will learn a great deal.”

In the distance, a glow appeared, revealing Daryl wearing a blue nightgown. With her hair tied into pigtails and tears
streaming down her cheeks, she seemed much younger. As she drew closer, the glow spread, illuminating the graveyard. A bat fluttered up from behind a tombstone and dove at Daryl's face. With a pitiful cry, she flailed her arms wildly. When the bat angled away, she hunched down and walked on, still sobbing, but instead of tears, a black mist emanated from her eyes and rose into the air.

“What's that black smoke?” Daryl Red asked.

Cerulean touched his face near his eye. “Dark energy, a product of her fear. The stalker who created this vision will collect it for the interfinity engine.”

“Interfinity?” Nathan repeated. “That's what my father called the merging of dimensions.”

“Because your father learned it from us. Mictar's engine is also called Lucifer, but the reason would take too long to explain.”

“That means my father must have gone to the misty —”

“Shhh!” Cerulean set a finger over Nathan's lips. “It is time to supplicate for this dear child. I feel the stalker is ready to cultivate this garden of terror.”

A ghostly apparition arose from one of the graves, a semitransparent man in a torn pilot's uniform. Pus oozed from open facial sores and dripped to the ground, raising a sizzling splash. A putrid stench permeated the graveyard as he limped toward Daryl Blue. He reached out with long, gnarled fingers and moaned through his words, stretching out the syllables in a lamenting tone. “Soon you will join me. You will fall from the heavens and perish.”

“My uncle,” Daryl Red whispered. “He was a pilot, like my father, but he died in a plane crash before I was born.”

Daryl Blue turned to run, but the ground behind her collapsed, creating a deep chasm. Flailing her arms again, she stood on tiptoes to keep from falling. A rush of black mist flowed, nearly veiling her head.

The man continued his slow approach, repeating his ghostly mantra as he came closer and closer, his trembling hands still reaching. “Soon you will join me. You will fall from the heavens and perish.”

Cerulean leaped into the open and sang with a powerful, vibrant voice.

Begone you ghost of fear and gloom
And hearken now to Daryl's choir.
They cast aside your phantom hands
And rescue her with freedom's fire.

 

Suddenly a thousand voices joined together to sing. The tune seemed familiar, something Nathan was sure he had heard a hundred times, but the lyrics sounded foreign, like an old, forgotten language.

Rop tú mo baile,
a Choimdiu cride:
ní ní nech aile
acht Rí secht nime.

 

Kelly quickly translated from the beginning. “You be my vision, lord of my heart. None other is anything but the king of —”

“I know the song,” Nathan interrupted. “The modern version goes like this.” He sang the melody, though he lagged far behind the voices.

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

 

As the voices continued, a stream of sparkling light flowed through the air, pulsating with the rise and fall of the tune. The stream wrapped around Daryl's torso and pulled her away from
the precipice. Now more perplexed than frightened, she stared at the apparition. As the stream released her, the black mist around her head thinned out, and the sparkling light flowed into the air, seemingly taking the angelic voices with it.

Cerulean continued his song.

Go back to shadows all ye ghosts;
Restore the ground from whence it came.
Begone ye graves and stones of death;
Restore the light to Daryl's flame.

 

The ghostly man faded away. With a loud rumble, the floor of the chasm behind young Daryl rose back to the surface, snapping in place as if it had never collapsed. The weak glow around her body brightened, and as it flowed across the graveyard, the tombstones sank into the ground and lush grass sprouted over the patches of bare earth that had marked the resting places of the departed.

Soon, the cemetery looked like a lovely meadow. Orange and blue wildflowers sprouted at Daryl's feet. She plucked one after another, twisted the stems together, and pushed the bouquet into her hair. Now smiling brightly, she skipped away in the direction she had come. As she did, the brightness faded, leaving the onlookers in a slowly dimming world.

“She will awaken soon,” Cerulean said. “You will have to find an escape.”

A new sound emanated from somewhere above, a cacophonous mixture of notes, sung in an array of vowel sounds.

Nathan covered his ears. The music, if the horrible noise could be called that, sounded familiar. “The stalkers?” he asked.

Cerulean aimed his blue eyes toward the dimness above. “They are standing around my dome and capturing the energy of supplication. They use their foul song to transform my prayers and Daryl's deliverance into dark energy.” He dipped
his head and sighed. “Even my rescues are being used for evil purposes.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Kelly asked.

“Nothing. You must go. When her dream ends, this dreamscape will collapse and you will fall into another reality, or perhaps a nonreality. I cannot predict where you will go. Because of Scarlet's sacrifice, it is impossible to tell how long the opening will remain.”

Nathan gave him a nod. “Better to use the mirror.”

Cerulean caressed the glass with a gentle finger. “Scarlet will guide you to safety.”

As the light continued to dim, Nathan and the others hurried to the van. While Nathan settled into the driver's seat with the violin, Kelly mounted the mirror on the dashboard. Daryl and Francesca watched from the back, leaning forward between the headrests.

Nathan began playing “Foundation's Key” again, hurrying through the notes. The mirror darkened. A faint image of a face appeared in the midst of the black reflection, a feminine face with shining red eyes. A voice, soft and gentle, emanated from the glass — Scarlet's voice. “I heard you calling for me earlier, my beloved, but I could not find you.”