Aldo's Fantastical Movie Palace (18 page)

N
ICK
. N
ICK.
Where would you be?”

Chloe tiptoed into the lobby and slowly pulled on the massive handles that led into the auditorium. A film played, but Chloe didn't dare step inside — not with those creaky doors.

Wait. I can check from the booth!

She raced around the corner to the door that led up to the projection room and climbed the oversized steps.

Chloe heard the familiar hum of the projector. She breathed deeply, slipped into the empty room, and scanned the audience.

“I realize it may be difficult to remember events right now,” Dari spoke from the screen. “After you are reunited with your families —”

“Yeah, right,” Chloe muttered.

“— and sent back to your cities, it will all come clear. But your unwanted memories will not accompany you. I've removed them forever!”

On screen, Dari spread his arms, and the audience cheered.

Chloe's teeth clenched.
No more!

“Liar!” Chloe screamed. “You're all being fooled!” Chloe crawled onto the window ledge, tested the beam of light with her toe, and jumped inside it. It held, and she bolted toward the screen. Beneath her, in the auditorium, there was a frenzy of activity. Shadow memories crashed through the back doors and into the theater. They hovered and swirled. For an instant, everything was in chaos, and then the room fell still.

“Kirth! Is my son Kirth in this room?” a lone voice sounded from the back of the room.

“It's me, Dad! Where are we?”

“You're all in the palace!” Chloe yelled. “It does not belong to Vaepor. You all just stepped out of a pool that did not belong to Vaepor either. But with these two things, It stole your memories. You now can have them back, though, and you no longer need to follow that … thing. An army of Old Retinyans comes to fight for you. Join them!”

Chloe raced forward as men, women, and children poured out of the theater. She crashed into the screen; it flexed and gave and let her through. She blinked and stood in front of Dari.

“I did it. I did it! Show's over. You're not fooling anybody.” Chloe gathered her breath. “I completed my task.”

“You may have temporarily saved these fools, but their pain will bring them back. You've doomed yourself, Chloe. Vaepor will never let you leave Retinya.” Dari threw his walking stick to the ground and pointed back toward the projection booth. The beam of light filled with thickening smoke. “Vaepor comes now.” Dari inched back against a wall.

The shapeless creature billowed and rose up around them.

“I did everything you said,” Dari said. “I could not hold the boy's appearance.”

“No, Nick,” Vaepor hissed. “You didn't do as I wished. You didn't die in the bay. I think you two have done quite enough.”

“Wait! You think I'm Nick? I'm Dari! I can see!”

Vaepor reached tentacle-like arms around Dari's legs.

“Chloe, help me!” He clawed at the wall. “Make It stop!”

“Let him go, you fog!” Chloe screamed.

Vaepor enveloped Dari's waist, and the boy stopped shouting. He lunged for Chloe's arm and squeezed. “Quick, go now, before this —”

Fog enveloped him. Dari offered one shriek, and was gone.

“And now …” Vaepor closed in around Chloe. “The girl who will not go away.”

Chloe looked around frantically. She was in a small building, with just the one window.

A curtainless, glowing blue window.

She inched nearer. Out in the audience, only one person still sat: Nick. Front row, on the right.

“Good-bye,” Vaepor said.

“Good-bye back.” Chloe ran full speed toward the screen. It bowed, and she stretched out her arms and clasped Nick's shoulder. “Hold on! Please, take my hand!”

His fingers wrapped around her wrist and they flew backward into the movie screen, as if fired from a loaded spring.

She landed next to her friend at the base of the window. “Stand up, Nick! Through the window. We're so close to home!”

“I can't see it. I see a little red, a little green. Oh, Chloe, you'll have to lead me.”

She grabbed his arm and they stumbled toward the window. Though she tried to be careful, Nick slammed into the sill several times before they toppled through, both landing in a field of grass. Chloe sat up and looked both ways. “I know this scene. We're back in the movie. This is
The Vapor
, scene five!”

From inside the shack, there came a roar.

They stood, and Chloe risked a glance back into the room. It crumbled all around Vaepor, and bright light pierced the cracks. Creatures of all kinds and shapes burst through the walls.

“The Old Retinyans have arrived!”

“What do you see?” Nick slumped down. Chloe put her hand on his shoulder. He reached up and squeezed. “Your turn to describe.”

“The walls are all down. All the Old Retinyans are advancing on Vaepor. And men! Hundreds, maybe thousands, are fighting, swinging swords in the air. With all the wind, Vaepor's having a hard time forming. Groundspeaker roars, and mountains crumble and waterfalls gush and, oh, green spreads across Retinya. It's more beautiful than we ever imagined or saw or … There's my Nob! He is leading a charge from on top of Flit's back. Pindle flies at his side, carrying a man who looks just like
… I recognize him from the elves' window. It's Nob's father, and he's in sound mind!

“Oh, and I see the black creatures you told me about. They're scattering and the men are chasing. Some of the creatures have reached the edge of the Unknown Forest. If only you could see this, Nick. The elf chieftain and his army just swung out from the forest and wrapped them up in vine … the trees yanked them high into the canopy.” She squinted. “And far in the distance, blackness has reached the Safelands, but the Sands are making short work of them. Now, it's only Vaepor. But how can you destroy something without a form?

“Wait, there's a breeze. Do you feel it? Stand up!”

Nick did and his hair whipped around his head. “It smells sweet.”

“It's him, Blind Secholit. He's standing in front of Vaepor and blowing. Vaepor's fog is breaking up and blowing out to sea.” Chloe breathed deeply. “It's done. He really was the hero of the story, Nick.”

Nick's hair flopped back down and his head drooped.

Thank you, Chloe
.

The voice was clear and strong, and warmed her through.

“But there are things I should have done and said.
I never got to thank the Quints, or say good-bye to Qujan.” Her voice fell. “Or tell Nob what happened.”

You may yet get the chance
.

The window shone a brilliant blue and Chloe shielded her eyes. When she looked up again, all sign of the light had disappeared, as had the window and the shack.

“We're almost there.” She turned and stared out into the theater. “Nick, you won't believe who I see.”

“Tell me it's not that Vaepor.”

Chloe grinned and dropped into her most sinister voice. “No, it's Mr. Simonsen. Come on! Give me your hand!” They leaned their shoulders into the screen and pushed. The screen gave as before, and they broke back onto the beam of light. Chloe squeezed Nick's fingers as they walked, side-by-side, over the audience and back through the projection window of Aldo's Movie Palace.

“Chloe!” the crowd yelled. “What's taking so long?”

She stared around the room she knew so well, the room that no longer felt like home. Nick's screenplay spread over the floor. Hobo, soaking wet, gave a shake and pressed into Nick.

“Wake up, Chloe!” Mr. Simonsen hollered. “We didn't pay for half a movie!”

“What? Oh!” The movie's first reel was over.
The Vapor
, reel two, was ready to show with the flip of a switch. Chloe reached her hand forward, and then drew it back.

That's not going to happen
.

Chloe poked out her head. “Due to technical difficulties, we can't show the remainder of the film. Please see my mom for a refund.”

She turned and listened to the grumbles and the angry squeak of the door. “We did it, Nick. I can't believe we actually did it!”

“I don't feel so good, Chloe.”

“I feel great! I mean, we made it, right? Nick, we made … Nick?”

He tottered, steadied himself against the splicing table, and collapsed.

“Nick!”

Chloe dropped down beside him while Hobo licked his face. The door flew open.

“Two things. Number one. Why didn't you tell me about the broken coatroom door? And number two. Why am I handing back money to —” Mom fell to a knee. “Chloe, call an ambulance.”

C
HLOE STOOD BY
H
OBO
and watched the ambulance scream out of the lot.

Mom rounded Chloe's shoulder with her arm. “Nick's mom just called. They'll meet Nick at Children's Hospital in St. Paul. They asked if you'd care for Hobo while they're away.”

Chloe glanced down. “Sure. I could never leave Hobo.” Chloe reached down and gave him a scratch. Hobo stared back with sad eyes. “It's true. I wouldn't leave you,” Chloe whispered, but Hobo looked away.

Chloe frowned. “Mom, Hobo and I are going to walk home.”

“Go ahead. I'll clean up here.”

They started what Grandpa Salvador called a thinking walk, a slow meandering stroll that took its time.

Chloe grabbed hold of Hobo's harness. The dog fell in at her side. “I miss them, you know? Nob, Scout, Nick, Flit. Even Mara. They kind of felt like family.” She reached the end of her long driveway. “Now for my real family. Why am I nervous to see them?”

Hobo pulled her forward, and Chloe soon reached the farmyard. It was just as if she'd never left. A gentle wind blew leaves from the trees, the Snake River rushed in the valley, and men hollered from inside the barn.

I wonder if Dad's shadow made it back
.

She bit her lip, turned toward the barn doors, and flung them open. All voices stopped.

Dad scratched his chin and took a step. “What brings you out here, Sweetbean?”

Chloe beelined for her dad and his grounded gaze. Chloe bent down and stuck her face beneath his stare until he was forced to peek up.

“I missed you,” Chloe whispered and squeezed him tight around the middle. He tensed, then relaxed, and placed his hand on her head. Wet drops splattered on her shoulder. “I really missed you, Dad.”

Chloe couldn't remember how long she hugged him. She so wished that Dad would have said
something back. But she knew healing rarely happens all at once.

With Nick, it didn't happen at all.

Nick returned from the hospital — Mom said there was nothing more the doctors could do. Chloe spent days at his bedside, talking about where they had been, what they had seen. For Chloe, the memories brought excitement, but it seemed to be the opposite for Nick. Though his sight had returned, Retinya had been a dark world for him. Chloe often wondered if she should have left him there, in the pool.
Would he be in a different place? A better place?

“Chloe, I want you to finish the screenplay. Would you do that for me?” Nick rolled toward her and held out his hand. “And will you watch after Hobo? My parents don't get him like you do.”

Chloe thought for a moment before reaching out to grasp Nick's fingers. “Finish it yourself. You saw Retinya like I did. When you're better, you can write it all — you don't need me for that anymore. And Hobo? We can talk about me watching him later.”

“No, we can't,” he whispered, and faced the wall. “Will you get my mom and dad?”

Chloe nodded and walked down the hall.

She never walked into his room again.

Mom told Chloe it had been coming for a long
time. That his death wasn't a surprise. For Chloe, that didn't change anything.

No wonder he wanted to stay. No wonder he wanted to forget
.

Chloe sat with Hobo on her porch. “So yeah, Nick's parents went to Nick's grandpa's place for a bit. Looks like you'll be here another month.”

The dog cocked his head.

“Nick was ill … you probably knew that, though, being his dog. And, well, we lost him.” She started to cry. “Come here, boy. I could use a hug.”

Hobo rose, looked up at Chloe, then turned and limped away.

“Crazy dog. Doesn't know how to do anything but limp and lead,” Chloe whispered.

Limp and lead
. Chloe wiped her eyes.
I knew someone else like that. No — that's not possible
.

A grin crossed her face.

“Hold on!” Chloe jumped off the porch and caught up with Hobo in the yard.

“You're not in Nick's world anymore. Until his parents come for you, you're in my world, and maybe
I
can help
you
.”

Chloe bent over and removed the dog's harness.
“There. No more duties. You guided him to the end. Now it's time for both of us to play.”

Hobo stared.

“Play. You don't know how to do that, do you? Well, it's a dog thing.”

Chloe frowned and folded her arms. “How to teach a dog to play …” A squirrel scampered from the large oak toward the elm.

“See, now that would be something to chase. Like this.” Chloe stood and took off after the squirrel. She reached the tree and barked up the elm's trunk. “That was a ton of fun.” Hobo looked at her like she was crazy.

“Or this!” She flopped on her back and rolled. “Dogs do this all the time.”

Hobo slowly lay down.

“Yeah! That's it.” She faced Hobo, her head resting on folded arms.

“We're both free. Look at you. No harness. Look at me. I'm — I'm beautiful.” Chloe winked. “Your brother said so.” The supper bell rang. “Come on, boy. Let's run.”

Chloe hopped up and took off. Hobo limped behind her. They jogged by Grandpa standing beside his trailer.

“Chloe, tell your mother I'll be right in.”

She nodded, and then paused. “Grandpa, I think sometime we should share stories.” Chloe nodded toward his newest painting, featuring a short, other-wordly girl. “Would you believe me if I told you that I've met her?” She slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out her mountain stone. Grandpa's eyes twinkled.

“Oh, did you?” He set down his brush, stepped forward, and bent over. “What an interesting rock. Wherever did you find it?”

She closed her fist around the stone until a blue glow seeped out the cracks of her fingers.

Grandpa turned and hobbled back to his trailer. He stared at the painting and sighed. “Did she look well?”

Chloe slipped her hand into her back pocket and removed the photo. She gazed down at it, and then handed it to Grandpa. He stared at the picture, clutching it with shaking hands, until his chin quivered.

“Would you like to keep it?” Chloe said, and Grandpa pressed it against his chest. “I'll take that as a yes.” She lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “Why could I see her? Nobody else could.”

But Grandpa was in a different place, a different time. Chloe smiled. “I'll just leave you two alone.” She turned away.

“Chloe!”

She peeked over her shoulder.

“Keep your stone in a safe place.” He broke into a wide Grandpa grin. “You never know.”

“No.” She peeked down at Hobo. “You never know.”