Eternity's Edge (34 page)

“I'll get you out.” He grabbed her hand. “Just hang on.”

Her chilled fingers wrapped around his bandaged palm. She was solid, real, not a hint of fading.

“Oh, thank you.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I told you never to leave me, not even for a minute. I felt so alone. So scared. I have no idea how all that dirt got on me. It was like I was buried in a grave.”

For a moment, dizziness flooded Nathan's mind, but he
shook it off. “Just stay with me. Cerulean will get us out of here.”

“Nathan!” Cerulean warned again. “If you continue—”

“Let him go for a moment.” His voice fading even further, Patar poured out the contents of his bag into Cerulean's hand. “When I wrestled with my brother, I recovered Jack's eyes from his energy reserves. You will find him approximately one hundred paces ahead. Restore these and get him and Nathan out of here with all speed.”

Nathan stared at Cerulean's transparent palm. Two eyeballs lay there, perfectly formed, with nerves and moist tissue attached. Nathan nearly gagged, but he stayed quiet.

“Because Nathan broke the portal mirror,” Patar continued, “you will not be able to travel to my world to play the violin at Sarah's Womb, at least not right now. You can, however, travel to Earth Yellow to gather other options.”

“Yes,” Cerulean replied. “Nathan's mother is playing ‘Foundation's Key’ as we speak to see which mirror is the correct portal. While we were waiting, we decided to try to find Jack, since he entered the dream world from Earth Blue. I was unsure of how the dreamscape would affect Nathan, so this was a test.”

“And he failed, as usual. His desire for revenge against my brother outweighed his wisdom. He had the power to escape with the mirror intact.”

“Nathan,” Kelly said, her fingers growing warmer within his hand. “Don't let him talk about you like that. You did the best you could. You were under a lot of pressure.”

“You're right. I don't know why they're saying those things.”

“Then don't listen. We'll find our own way out.”

“Go now,” Patar said, “before that rotting cadaver becomes more real to him than life itself. He will soon bond with it beyond all hope of reason.” With that, Patar faded out of sight.

Cerulean put the eyeballs back into the bag and stuffed
the open edges into his waistband. Then, lifting the candle, he pulled Nathan's arm. “Jack's up ahead. Let's get him and flee this place.”

Leading Kelly by the hand, Nathan went along with the pull. He followed Cerulean, now a blue ghost in his sight. “Did you hear that, Kelly? We can follow him. We'll be out of here soon.”

“Thank you, Nathan.” She staggered along, her empty sockets still wide. “I knew you wouldn't leave me here.”

With the moon shining brightly, the going was easier. It took only a few seconds to find Jack sitting on the ground, leaning against a tombstone. Although Cerulean was now as transparent as thinning fog, Jack seemed solid enough.

Running his fingers through his thick beard, Jack looked around with his empty eyes. “Who is here?” he asked.

“He is losing his grip on reality as well,” Cerulean said as he crouched next to the tombstone. “I will have to work quickly.”

“He looks fine. He's not fading at all.” Nathan turned to Kelly. He almost said, “Right, Kelly?” forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see anything. Still, even without her lovely brown eyes, she looked—

“Take this.” Cerulean handed Nathan the candle. “Watch me through the flame.”

“Oh. Okay.” Feeling dizzy again, Nathan held the flame close to his nose and peered around both sides. Cerulean pulled the eyeballs from the bag. Then, singing unintelligible words at a high pitch, he laid his palm over Jack's empty sockets and pushed the eyeballs into place. Keeping his hand there for a moment, he continued singing while blue light seeped around the edges.

With every second, Cerulean grew more solid while Jack stayed the same. Nathan looked back at Kelly. Her face seemed fuzzier, distant. Still holding his bandaged hand, she angled her head as if listening.

“What's happening?” she asked.

“Everything's okay.” As he spoke, her features clarified again. “Cerulean is repairing Jack's eyes. We'll leave in a minute.”

Nathan turned back to Cerulean, lowering the candle to see him better. Now ghostly blue again, Cerulean helped Jack to his feet.

“Can you see?” Cerulean asked.

“Very well, thank you.” Jack pulled a rumpled fedora from beneath his jacket and straightened it out. “I can see everything well, except for you.” He put on his hat and turned toward Nathan, his restored eyes glistening. “Nathan! I'm so glad to see you.”

“Same here.” Nathan gave the candle back to Cerulean and shook Jack's hand with his relatively uninjured left. “Now let's all get out of this place. I have to figure out what happened to Kelly and get some eyes for her, too.”

“Nathan.” Cerulean pushed the candle closer. “You and Jack will come with me. You must leave Kelly behind.”

“What?” Nathan shook his head hard. “I can't leave her here.”

Kelly's arm locked around his. “No, Nathan! No!”

Cerulean pulled Jack and Nathan together and held the candle's flame near their eyes. His voice mellowed to a soothing chant. “Stare at the flame. It is the light of reality. The images around you are mere phantoms. Bring what is real back into focus, or you will not return to the ones you love. Nathan, think of your mother. Listen to her music. It is riding the breeze. She waits for you in the Earth Blue bedroom. You must go back and search for your father. The real Kelly is there as well. We must awaken her from this nightmare, so the two of you can go to Earth Yellow and save two world populations from annihilation.”

The flame's glow spread over Cerulean's face, making his features clearer by the second. He compressed Nathan's chin
with his hand, forcing him to keep his stare locked on the flame. “You must let Kelly go, Nathan. She is not real. Night is over, and dawn is breaking.”

“No, Nathan!” Her voice spiked into a wail. “You promised to stay with me. This place is cold and dark, and I'm scared.”

Ever so gently, Cerulean pulled on Nathan's chin, drawing him forward, his voice now hypnotizing. “Release her, Nathan. All will be well. You will see the real Kelly in mere moments. We will awaken her, and she will escape this torture.”

Heaving and exhaling shallow breaths, Nathan pried Kelly's fingers loose and pulled away.

“Nathan!” she cried. “What are you doing?”

He turned. Kelly, now ghostly and floating backwards, pressed her hands against her cheeks. “I'll be alone again. All alone in this cold, dark place.”

“I … I can't leave her. She's —”

Cerulean twisted him back. His voice sharpened again. “She's … not … real!”

His mind now swimming, Nathan repeated the words in a breathy whisper. “She's not real.”

Cerulean blew out the candle. As the light faded, Kelly's voice faded with it. “I'm so cold … so cold.”

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This fast-paced adventure fantasy trilogy starts with murder and leads teenagers Nathan and Kelly out of their once-familiar world as they struggle to find answers to the tragedy. A mysterious mirror with phantom images, a camera that takes pictures of things they can't see, and a violin that unlocks unrecognizable voices … each enigma takes the teens farther into an alternate universe where nothing is as it seems.

 

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After sixteen-year-old Nathan Shepherd's parents are murdered during a corporate investigation, he teams up with a friend to solve the case. They discover mirrors that reflect events from the past and future, a camera that photographs people who aren't there, and a violin that echoes unseen voices.

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