Disney at Dawn (3 page)

3

T
HE
K
INGDOM
K
EEPERS MET UP AGAIN
at the base of Escher’s Keep, a confusing maze of interlocking staircases, mirrors, and doors that crawled up the inside of Cinderella Castle. It had been built years ago as an attraction but had never opened to the public, as it had proved too dangerous. One misstep, and you were dumped into chutes or slides, some of which landed you in the castle moat.

“I tried to tell a Cast Member about the balloon,” Finn said. “But he thought I was my DHI playing some kind of trick on him. I shook him, and he said, ‘Amazing technology! That feels so real!’ What a jerk! I tried to point out the balloon, but with the clouds, you can’t even see the string or wire or whatever.”

“We’ve got to get up there,” Philby said, “Maleficent or not.”

“But what if Amanda was trying to
warn
us?” Charlene asked nervously. “Wouldn’t that mean we might be walking into a trap?”

“She’s got a point,” Maybeck said.

Finn quickly reorganized them: he and Philby would ascend Escher’s Keep to the apartment; Maybeck and Willa would try to find Amanda and Jez while Charlene stood sentry on the path to Fantasyland, giving Philby and Finn eyes on the castle from the outside.

They said their good-byes, Maybeck uncharacteristically wishing them luck, his dark, troubled eyes expressing concern. They agreed to meet after the fireworks in front of Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel, immediately behind the castle.

“And if you guys don’t show up?” Willa asked Finn.

Thankfully, Maybeck dragged her out the door and into the castle gift shop’s storage room before Finn had to think of something plucky to say.

“You okay with this?” Philby asked nervously, his foot on the first step of Escher’s Keep. It was a route that had to be memorized, and neither boy had attempted to climb it in several months.

“Let’s do it,” said Finn.

Philby stepped aside, allowing Finn to lead the way. It was no picnic. Sometimes stairs led nowhere. A single misstep would mean falling down a slide to the ground floor or into the moat. The route up to an elevator that accessed the penthouse apartment included invisible bridges, upside-down staircases, and trapdoors. The illusions were the result of mirrors, projections, and trick lighting, their combined effect overpowering.

“Do you remember the way?” Finn asked. He faced four doors, all in different colors. They formed a semicircle on a small platform of polished floor tiles. He and Philby were fifteen feet above the ground floor, having ascended the first staircase correctly—skipping every other tread.

“I want to say second from the right: blue. But it’s your call,” Philby said.

Turning the wrong door handle caused a trapdoor to open.

Philby stayed off the platform in case Finn chose incorrectly. The plan was to take turns until they got it right.

Finn tried the blue door, and the floor fell out from under him. Down, down, he raced, the slick slide spinning him in tight coils before throwing him out onto the floor. He headed to the slanted stairs and began climbing again.

Philby tried the yellow door. The trapdoor opened beneath him.

Green—for “go”—seemed too simple a choice, so on Finn’s next attempt he tried the purple door, and it opened.

“Purple,” Finn called down to Philby, who was gingerly skipping steps as he made his way up the slanted staircase.

Once through the purple door, Finn started across an invisible bridge—an effect so convincing he would have sworn there was nothing beneath his feet. He moved across it in tiny steps, just barely sliding each running shoe forward, making sure something solid was beneath it. Philby, behind him, took the novel approach of getting down on hands and knees and breathing low onto what turned out to be glass, and then following the orbs of fog.

“It’s a mirror,” said Philby, sneaking up behind the slower Finn. The trick was compounded by the fact that a false destination—a second purple door—was projected at the other end of the invisible bridge, making Finn want to head in that direction. In fact, at its midpoint, the bridge veered right, arriving at what looked like a solid wall, which wasn’t solid at all. The two boys ended up on a second small platform.

“I remember this part,” Philby said. “This is where we go
down
the stairs in order to go back up.”

“Are you sure?” Finn tested the “up” staircase: it was real. He thought Philby had it wrong.

But Philby waved his hand across the step four steps above this first step, and then punched his hand right
through
the illusion—the stairs stopped midflight, nothing but a projected image. He led the way down a staircase and then back up a longer staircase, which would make it appear to anyone standing below as though the boys were walking upside down.

“You two!” a low voice called out loudly. “Come down from there!”

Finn caught sight of an upside-down Cast Member. He was dressed as a barbershop singer, in white pants, a red-and-white-striped shirt, and a straw hat: a Dapper Dan Cast Member.

“Security,” Finn whispered to Philby. “I faced Dapper Dans just like him that time Amanda and I were here taking pictures of everyone’s DHIs. They were trying to catch me.”

“You are not permitted in this area!” the man hollered. “Come down at once.”

“I don’t think we should trust him.”

They reached a third platform and ducked behind a false wall with two windows. “You think he’ll come after us?” Philby asked.

Thunder cracked high above them.

“I think there’s something going on here,” Finn answered. “The weather balloon, the monkeys, Amanda and Jez showing up for the first time in forever. And personally, I don’t trust
anyone
dressed up like he’s selling fried chicken. He could be anybody. That’s an easy costume to fake.”

“So we ignore him?”

Another crack of thunder. It was getting close.

“
Outrun
him,” Finn said, “is probably more like it.”

“And if we’re caught?” Philby said. “You ever read those contracts we signed? They’ll remove our DHIs from the server. They’ll replace us with other kids. We’ll no longer be Disney Hosts, no longer have the Gold Fastpasses. We’ll lose it all.” He hesitated. “All that for some weird balloon? You sure it’s worth it?”

“You’re the one who saw it, not me. Listen, I’m not sure of anything,” Finn said. “You want to head down, I’m not going to stop you or anything.” He added, “But I’m going after that balloon, Security or no Security. Amanda was pointing at the castle, and that’s good enough for me.”

“How could she possibly know anything about it?” Philby asked.

“How can we possibly go to sleep at night and wake up as DHIs inside the Park? When was the last time
any of this
made sense?”

Philby pursed his lips. He nodded. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. If they toss us, so what? We go down fighting.”

“Exactly.” Finn peered around the edge of the wall.

“What do you see?”

The man in the straw hat was gone.

“I think he’s coming after us.”

4

M
AYBECK DUCKED INSTINCTIVELY
as the sky flashed, and, only moments later, thunder boomed and rolled in a long series of endless echoes. A few early raindrops splattered in huge globs onto the footpath, and the air smelled dusty and sweet—ozone—foretelling the electrical charge it carried.

Charlene stiffened with the crack of thunder. “I…do…not…do…lightning,” she said.

The Park guests scattered for cover, quickly emptying the paths.

“Then forget what Finn said and come with me!” Willa said, taking Charlene by the hand. “The parade blocked Jez and Amanda from coming over the bridge. They’ll probably head past the Haunted Mansion and through Fantasyland to reach the castle. We’re going this way,” she said, pointing in the direction of Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel, “to cut them off. Maybeck, you go around past the Mansion. Hopefully, one of us finds them before we meet up somewhere near Peter Pan.”

“See you in a minute,” Maybeck said.

“It’s hard to see much, so pay attention,” she said. The swirling clouds had brought an early darkness.

“Never fret. Eyes like a hawk,” said Maybeck.

“What about the monkeys?” Charlene mumbled. “What if that was some kind of omen?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Maybeck.

They split up, Willa dragging Charlene by the arm. Maybeck jogged off.

Park guests waved at Willa and Charlene. Some braved the increasingly steady rain to chase after them, calling for autographs. Willa pressed on.

Charlene said, “We’re getting wet.”

“That’s what usually happens with rain,” Willa said.

“We can’t get wet!” she complained. “DHIs don’t get wet. The rain runs right through them. We can’t disappoint the kids like that!”

“Are you worried about the kids, or your hair?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Okay. So let’s run faster.”

5

A
MANDA AND JEZ RAN THROUGH
the light rain, dodging clusters of guests who were determined to stick it out and wait for the fireworks.

“It’s not far now,” Amanda said, spotting the spires of Cinderella Castle.

Jez didn’t answer.

Amanda glanced back. It wasn’t like her sister to avoid a chance to make a snide comment. “Keep up! You’re falling behind,” she called out. Jez was a fast runner; it made no sense that she should lag. She seemed to be running at a steady pace, no faster, no slower, no matter what Amanda said or how fast she ran.

The rain made the walkway more slippery. Amanda slowed and shortened her strides to avoid falling. When she looked back, Jez was still running at the same pace, the same stride. She apparently had magical footing—she didn’t slip.

Amanda stopped and turned fully around and stared at her sister.
How could she not slip even a little bit
?

Despite the falling rain, Jez’s shirt was…dry, her hair perfectly in place.

What a princess
, Amanda thought.

But then she tensed.

Jez’s feet landed on the wet walkway. No splash.

“Jez? Stop! Answer me, Jez!” Amanda cried out.

But Jez just kept on running toward her. The same perfect form and posture. The same perfect Jez.

Jez finally did stop, though she remained several yards off, like a fearful animal.

There was a reason her shirt and hair were both dry: the rain fell
through
her, hitting the walkway below.

Amanda stepped forward, now only inches from her sister. The rain fell harder, soaking her own hair and shoulders. Jez remained dry.

“Say something,” Amanda whispered.

She reached out her arm and swung it from right to left, cutting her sister in half, her hand passing right through.

A hologram. A DHI.

“Where’s my sister?” Amanda managed to choke out, the drops of water now flowing down her cheeks having nothing to do with the rain. “What have you done to her?”

6

“H
E CAN’T POSSIBLY KNOW
the way up here,” Finn whispered. “Only Wayne understands Escher’s Keep. He said so.” But he could hear the swishing of the man’s clothing as he climbed the upside-down staircase. He not only knew the way, he seemed to be quickly closing in on them.

“I don’t think that actually matters right now,” Philby said. “We are going to be in some serious—” He gasped. “What are you doing, Finn?”

Before him, Finn Whitman, the fourteen-year-old boy, transformed into a glowing version of himself with a slightly shorter haircut. He was now his DHI hologram.

“Willa said she s-saw you do this.” Philby stuttered when nervous. “But I d-didn’t believe her.”

“It’s not very stable. I can’t hold it for very long,” Finn said. “Go. Black tiles. Never two in a row. It’s the left staircase when you reach the other side. There’s the final invisible bridge and then the black hole. I’ll meet you there. Wait for me.”

Philby waved his arm through Finn just to confirm what he’d seen him do. “But if you’re here as your DHI, then where’s the real you? Not back asleep in bed? And why can’t any of the rest of us do this when we’re awake?”

“Philby, I don’t know. Maybeck said he’s had the same thing happen. Willa, once or twice. We can discuss this later, okay? For some reason, I’m able to will myself to cross over. I don’t understand it, but I don’t try to understand it. It just
happens
if I let it. Wrap your mind around
that.
It doesn’t last long, and it’s exhausting. So I’ll meet you in the black hole, and I’m going to need your help from there on.”

“And you’re going to stay and…what?…
fight
this guy?”

“Yeah, right,” Finn said sarcastically, his voice sounding a little bit different, like the buzzing of something electronic. “I’m going to make him wonder what he’s chasing. I’m going to freak him out of his shorts. If I’m lucky…well…let’s hope I’m lucky.” He waited only seconds. “GO!”

Philby took off across the checkerboard floor, making sure the toes of his shoes landed only on the black squares, and never two black squares in the same horizontal row. It required a kind of dancing across and down the floor that made him look like a kid in
Riverdance.

Finn’s ability to cross over while awake had to do with achieving a kind of meditative state. If he focused on having no fear, no worries, he temporarily crossed over. He didn’t know the rules or how it worked, only that he could make it happen—though only inside the Magic Kingdom, where hologram projectors existed throughout the Park. He took a moment to test his ability, aware of its unpredictability and his lack of control over it. He grabbed for the nearby doorknob. His hand landed on it, and he was able to
turn
the doorknob. Then he pulled his hand away, closed his eyes briefly, and concentrated on just a single idea: light. He opened his eyes and reached for the doorknob once again. This time the doorknob passed
through
his hand. It sparkled and glowed as he swept his hand on through the doorjamb and back out.

So far, he seemed to be in control of his hologram, but he knew from previous attempts that his hologram quickly deteriorated. A few minutes was all he had, until Finn, the fourteen-year-old boy, came back to replace the DHI.

He stepped out of the way as he heard footsteps approaching. The man arrived at the platform. Finn hid behind him. The man was big, with thick, heavy legs and broad shoulders. He looked a little foolish in his red-and-white-striped jacket and straw hat. He studied the checkerboard floor like a person trying to remember the code, bringing his thick hand to his scrabbly chin in contemplation.

“White or black? Odds or evens?” Finn said, startling the man.

The man spun around, his face a knot of anger. “You’re not allowed here,” he said in a deep, dry voice. Incredibly quickly for his size, he jumped toward Finn and swiped at him, his hands passing
right through
the DHI, at which point he stood up in astonishment, looking at his own hands as if they’d betrayed him.

“One wrong step, and you fall,” Finn said, darting past the man and out onto the checkerboard floor. He concentrated on the idea of light—
pure light.
A DHI weighed nothing, and only weight triggered the tiles in the floor. But he knew he couldn’t maintain this pure state for very long. He had to lure the man out onto the floor quickly. There wasn’t much time.

He tried another tack. “I’m a Cast Member,” Finn said, “like you.”

“I don’t care. You’re not allowed up there,” he said. By saying this he confirmed he knew about the penthouse—Walt Disney’s former apartment—the secret room Wayne had offered the DHIs as a place to hide.

An Overtaker
? Finn wondered. The group loyal to Maleficent, dedicated to changing the balance of power in the Parks.

“I said you’re not allowed up there,” the man said.

“White or black?” Finn said, his DHI standing on one of each.

The pleasant warmth of the DHI gave way to a slight chill, and Finn knew the internal light was giving way to flesh and blood. He wished he understood how to control this transformation better, but that was for another time. He took advantage of his brief weightlessness and crossed the checkerboard floor to a platform that presented another three ascending staircases. He had one last trick left.

The man stepped out onto the checkerboard, keeping his eyes on the squares. It was a long fall below—thirty feet or more, though the floor had been painted in perspective, which made it appear more like three hundred: a bottomless, rocky cavern. He took that in, and then, as he looked across at Finn, his face turned scarlet with anger.

“You won’t talk your way out of this, son.” He stepped onto a black tile. Then another.
He knew the pattern
! Making sure he avoided any two black squares in the same horizontal line, he progressed cautiously but quickly across the floor.

Finn felt the DHI fading. He’d managed to maintain it for a minute or more, but he suspected he weighed something now. Would he trip the sensors that opened the floor, or could he make it across?

His plan was to run
right through
the man. He believed if he concentrated, he could summon his pure DHI for the fraction of a second it would take to pass through him. In doing so, he was certain to cause the intruder to misstep, which would send him plummeting. But Finn would have to move quickly to avoid being on the floor when it fell out and gave way.

He stepped out onto two black squares. He could
feel
his weight on his feet. He was about equal parts boy and DHI.
How much longer
?

The Dapper Dan stopped halfway, his face a scowl. Then something occurred to him, and he belched out a laugh. “Going to wrestle me, are you?” He grinned mischievously. “I’ll save you the trouble.” His right foot reached out for a white square.

Finn had not considered that the fastest way for the man to catch Finn was to make Finn fall
with
him.

Finn ran forward on the black tiles, simultaneously letting go of all fear. He felt the warmth return like a blast from a furnace. But well before he reached the other side—in fact, before he even reached his adversary—the floor went out from under him.

The man fell, letting out a short scream as he was funneled into a red plastic chute.

Finn was floating. The trapdoor had opened beneath him, but his DHI simply hovered. He was suspended ten feet above the evacuation chute, with only air beneath him.

He felt the chill returning. He managed three steps toward the edge of the open pit and then fell. His fingers caught the lip of the hinged flooring, and his body smacked into the hanging trapdoor. Normally not good at pull-ups, he must have been partially DHI, because he managed to lift himself, hook a leg, and pull himself up. Seconds later, the trapdoor snapped back into position. He stayed on the black squares and recrossed.

Middle staircase. Red door. He remembered this section well.

He heard the Dapper Dan hit bottom and, seconds later, the sound of him climbing stairs again. Faster now. Ever more determined to apprehend Finn.

Finn stepped forward into total darkness, a matter of extreme trust. The first time he’d followed Wayne in here, he’d nearly puked from fear. The black hole.

He ran smack into Philby.

“There’s no elevator,” Philby said.

“What?”

“No elevator. It’s not here.”

“It has to be here,” Finn said.

“No such luck, Sherlock.”

“But that means—”

“Somebody’s up there,” Philby said. “Already in the apartment. And what do you want to bet it’s not Wayne?”

“There’s got to be another way up,” Finn said. “Fire stairs. Something for an emergency.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s pitch black. You don’t happen to have a flashlight on you, I suppose?”

“Turn your back to me,” Finn said. He mustered his strength. Transforming into his DHI sapped his energy. He felt exhausted from having challenged the man just now, but knew he had to do this. He closed his eyes. He felt the warmth return. He couldn’t hold it for more than a few seconds. He came out of it, his legs weak, his head swooning.

“Oh, man! How cool is that?” Philby said excitedly. “Hold on to my shirt, lightning bug. I saw some stairs over here.”

Finn reached out and held on, as much to keep his balance as to stay with Philby. They reached a set of metal stairs, the handrail cool to the touch.

“Going up,” said Philby.

They started climbing the spiral stairs. Higher and higher.

From below them came the heavy breathing of the man pursuing them.

He’d already caught back up. He sounded incredibly close.