Nightmare’s Edge (16 page)
A few seconds later, she pushed through a vertical flaw, covering her hand up to the heel. The material appeared to be similar to rubber from a tire, somewhat pliable but still tough. She set her candle down, then pulled with both hands to separate the two flaps, straining as if trying to open a stubborn pair of jaws.
Finally, she created a narrow slit and stepped into it, leaving half her body barely visible in the candle’s light. Keeping one arm and a leg in the opening, she lunged for something in the darkness outside her candle’s faint glow, caught it in one hand, and reeled it toward herself as if she were pulling a rope.
She reached to the ground and picked up her candle. After looking around once more at the darkened Earth Yellow dream world, she whispered, “Nathan, I hope you are still listening. Although the reasons are a mystery to me, I believe the cosmic wounds have allowed the vision stalker to use Sarah’s Womb as a portal to go from one dream world to another. If so, I will learn his secrets and perhaps use them to locate your father and Kelly. When I do, I will try to find a way to contact you. I am very concerned about Mictar’s new discovery. It could well mean that your loved ones are in great danger, so I have to follow him.” Her eyes shining with a light of their own, and the wind, fiercer than ever, blowing her hair into the void, she let out a sigh. “Please tell Francesca that I love her, and I hope to be able to supplicate for her through the mirrors of the Yellow world.”
Straining again, she pushed farther into the slit. With a final grunt, she popped through and disappeared from sight.
Nathan turned, searching for Patar and Jack in the darkness, but they were gone. Unlike the other dreams he’d experienced where everything had been sucked away in a cyclone, this one just faded into nothingness. Could it be a difference of perspective? Maybe if he had actually been there, the swirling windstorm would have been easy to see.
Now that this sector of the hologram had no dream to display, the observatory again filled his vision, and the echoing noises pounded into his ears.
“We lost the signal,” Dr. Gordon called. “I will have to search for another dream in that realm.”
With the dream gone, the futility of his position flooded Nathan’s mind. In reality, they had done nothing, nothing at all. They had simply sat in the bleachers watching dreams come and go, hoping that one would reveal what they were searching for. It was worse than looking for a needle in a haystack; it was looking for a tiny impulse in an ocean of overstimulated neurons.
He hurried back to Solomon and jerked off the glasses. “We can’t just stand around here and watch nightmares all day! I’ve had enough of singing and dancing and roaming through dream worlds. My father is missing, Kelly got slurped into a manure-filled sandbox, and we’re just standing around here waiting for a computer to locate a signal when we’re not even sure Kelly’s holding the candle!” He pushed Solomon’s chest. “Send me into the dream world. I have to look for Kelly and my father!”
“But that’s exactly what we’re doing.” Solomon pointed at the floor. “Searching from here is safe.”
“Safe?” Clenching his fist again, Nathan tilted his head up and looked Solomon in the eye. Every feature was so much like his father’s — the eyes, the chin, the confident jaw. Yet, something was so different. He pointed at the graveyard. “My father would’ve risked his life to help that little blind girl, even if it meant getting sucked into that cyclone. My father would’ve moved heaven and earth to find me or Mom or Kelly! Instead, we’re sitting on our hands while the world is about to end. It’s just plain stupid!”
Solomon laid a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “What’s the bottom line, Nathan? What do you want to do?”
Nathan shrugged away his hand. “I’m going in there. Maybe Felicity doesn’t know what happened to Kelly, but it’s a good place to start. And I don’t know if we can believe that she knows where my father is, but it’s worth a try.” He strode toward the graveyard and stood at the edge of the hologram, crossing his arms over his chest. “Tell Dr. Gordon to play the music and flash the lights. I’m going in!”
Solomon gave Nathan a stern look, but it quickly eased. “Okay. I’ll make it happen.” He strode to the computer desk where Gordon and the two Simons watched their screens. “Get ready to make the jump,” he called back.
“Wait!” Daryl sprinted around the hologram and grabbed Nathan’s arm. “You ain’t jumping to light speed without me, buster.” She pointed at herself with her thumb. “You need a cool-headed thinker, and I’m your girl.”
“And I’m going, too.” Nathan’s mother walked toward him with the violin and bow. “My husband is in that dream world somewhere, so I’m going in, and I’m not coming back without him. Besides, who else will play when you need music?”
Nathan touched his reflection on the violin’s smooth surface. “You showed me how to play through pain. I’m sure I can do it. But I’ll be glad to have you along anyway.” He looked into her wise, piercing eyes. Did she know why he really needed her? To help him play the great violin if they ever found it? In any case, he would tell her soon.
The others began gathering around, but Nathan raised a hand. “Look, I know you’re all willing to come with me, but you can’t.” He pointed at Tony, Molly, and Francesca Yellow in turn. “Stay here and raise those babies. They need you. And hide all the mirrors. Mictar’s sure to come looking for them eventually.”
He stepped closer to Francesca Yellow. Smiling, he took her hand. “Amber gave me a message. She wants you to know that she loves you, and she’ll try to supplicate for you through the mirrors.”
Francesca wiped a tear from her eye. “Little Nathan and I will be watching for her.” She leaned close and kissed his cheek, whispering, “And I will pray for you and Kelly with all my heart.”
Nathan shivered at the touch. Even though he loved this girl like a sister, this was no time to get sentimental. He just breathed a heartfelt, “Thank you.”
He gestured for everyone to draw close and peered over Tony’s shoulder to get a look at Solomon and the three scientists. They were busy on the computer, apparently preparing for the next cross-dimensional leap.
With Francesca, Tony, Molly, Daryl, and his mother huddling around, Nathan lowered his voice. “Listen. No offense to anyone, but you guys are the only people on Earth Yellow I trust. Can you keep a secret?”
Tony glanced at Solomon. “Even from Flash?”
“Yeah. Even from Flash.”
“Sure. I guess so.” Tony smiled and pointed at Nathan. “You’re Future Boy, so you know more about this stuff than I do.”
“Thanks.” Nathan almost added that he wasn’t sure what he knew anymore, but he thought better of it.
Francesca fidgeted, then took in a deep breath before whispering, “Nathan, Solomon is my husband. I know you’ve been my friend for a longer time, but I made a vow. I can’t keep secrets from him.”
Nathan pressed his lips together. She was right. Asking her to go against her word was a terrible idea. “Then tell him if you have to. I know I can trust your wisdom.” He looked at Tony again. “Do you remember how to use Daryl’s transmitter?”
“The one that talks to the future? Sure. I have it all figured out.”
“Then get a message to Dr. Gordon Red for me.”
Daryl pulled on Nathan’s sleeve, her whisper a little louder than the others’. “We didn’t test it after Earth Red pulled away. I’m not sure he’ll be able to contact — ”
“We have to try it.” Nathan raised a finger. “There’s one thing I never figured out: that plastic card I took from the shotgun guy, the one with all the letters and numbers on it. It has to be important.”
“Where is it?” Tony asked.
“I left it on the computer desk in the Earth Blue observatory, so Gordon will have to — ”
“It’s not there,” Daryl said. “Gordon Red wanted to see it, so Daryl Blue loaded up the interdimensional fax machine and shot it over to him.”
Nathan gave her a thumbs-up. “Even better. Tell him to send it over to this observatory so you guys can transport it to me in the Earth Blue dream world.”
“And use channel three,” Daryl added, showing Tony three fingers. “That’ll send a digitally encoded message straight to Dr. Gordon’s computer. With all the whale-speak going on there, I doubt that anything else will work.”
Tony spread out one of his huge hands. “But it’s five hours to Newton. By the time I get there, this cemetery dream will be history. How can anyone find Nathan to give him the card when it gets here?”
“Okay, okay.” Spreading out her hands, Daryl heaved a sigh. “I’ll take care of it.”
“What do you mean?” Nathan asked.
She flicked her thumb toward the computers. “I watched El Gordo work the gizmos. Tony and I will figure out how to get everyone to scoot so we can do the transmissions right here, and maybe I can get the card to you before that dream ends.”
“Thanks, Daryl.” Nathan gave her a light pat on her back. “I know you wanted to come. I appreciate it.”
“Not so fast, Tin Man. If you had a heart, you’d remember that I’ve already spent too much time in this world.” She poked his chest with her finger. “You’re not leaving me here again. I’m going to find you and hand deliver the card.”
Nathan suppressed a laugh. “You’re amazing, Daryl, you know that?
With a wink and a grin, Daryl tossed her hair back. “As a matter of fact, I do. It’s obvious you need me around.”
Returning the grin, Nathan looped his arm around his mother’s. “I guess we’re off to see the wizard without the scarecrow.”
“Scarecrow?” Daryl shook a finger at him. “Listen, Twister Boy, if you’re looking to wrestle with another tornado, I’ll be glad to — ”
“Time to go!” Nathan pulled his mother into the hologram. After the initial flash of light, he put the glasses on. Again, everything slowed to a normal pace — the rain, the windblown fog, and the swaying trees. He turned and looked back. “I hope to see all of you soon,” he called, waving.
Their replies sounded muffled and warped, and their waves seemed slow. Music filled the air, something mournful he couldn’t identify. “Do you know what that song is?” he asked.
He leaned close to his mother so she could hear through the transmitters.
After a few seconds, her head bobbed up and down with the tune. “Speed it up in your mind, Nathan. You’ll figure it out.”
He concentrated on the notes, trying to push them together, but he didn’t have much time. The flash sending them to the dream world could come at any moment.
He nudged her side. “Give me a break, Mom. What is it?”
Smiling, she whispered, “ ‘Danse Macabre.’ ”
Nathan shuddered. “The Dance of Death” was the same piece he had played when boarding Flight 191 in Chicago. At this slow pace, it was creepier than ever.
While waiting for the flash, Nathan glanced around, looking for any sign of Felicity. In the midst of a shroud of fog and windswept rain, her shadow arose in front of the tombstone where he had seen her before. She staggered backwards, her face and form becoming clear. With her mouth agape and her arms trembling, she seemed petrified of something, but in her blindness how could she see any danger?
Nathan followed the direction her face pointed. At the wall that led to the hologram’s inner core, a hand protruded from a gap — a long, pale hand. Then, a body emerged along with a familiar face and white ponytail, but it looked like he was having trouble pushing all the way through.
“Now!” Nathan yelled. “Send us now!”
Lightning flashed. Thunder boomed. Nathan sucked in another breath to yell again, but the air felt cold and wet in his lungs. Raindrops pelted his hair, matting his bangs to his forehead, and mist coated his glasses.
His mother pushed the violin under her sweater. “Looks like we made it.”
“Stay there!” Nathan yanked off the glasses, ran to Felicity, and took her hand. “It’s me, Nathan. Are you okay?”
“I smell death.” She pointed straight ahead with her walking stick, her voice thin and frail. “Among the tombstones, I always smell death, but now it’s stronger than ever. He has finally come to take me away.”
“Not if I can help it.” Nathan stepped between her and Mictar. The stalker shook his leg, trying to free it from the dark wall.
“He’s stuck,” Nathan said. “Let’s get out of here before he gets loose.”
She resisted his pull. “No need. I smell my new friend. He will protect me.”
“You’re dreaming. The only real things here are me, my mother, and a crazy murderer named Mictar, and we don’t want to mess with him.” He scooped her up into his arms and hurried back to his mother.
“Did he see you?” she asked.
“Hard to say.” He nodded toward a cluster of gnarled trees.
“Let’s find a place to hide.”
Still carrying Felicity, Nathan half-ran to the biggest of the trees, a thick leafless oak so bent it looked like an old, arthritis-stricken man covering his moss-covered head with his crooked arms. They huddled behind the trunk, stooping as they watched.
Mictar finally freed himself from the dream boundary.
With rain plastering his ponytail against the back of his shirt, he raised his hands and sang out a pair of vowels that sounded like a long E and a short A.
A puff of gray smoke arose from his palms, cloaking them for a moment. When the air around him cleared, a black violin and white bow lay in his hands. He lifted the violin to his chin and pulled the bow across the strings. A high note sang out, warbling with a songbirdlike vibrato.
“I hear the song,” Felicity said, her voice quiet and mysterious. “Death is calling me.”
Nathan clamped a hand over her mouth and whispered, “When death calls, don’t pick up the phone.”
Playing more vibrating notes, Mictar walked along a path through the graveyard, looking at both sides of each tombstone as he passed by. Suddenly, he stopped and sniffed the air, turning as he took in long drafts.
Nathan pushed everyone lower, but he didn’t dare utter a word. If that stalker smelled fear, staying quiet might not do any good, but why give him any more clues than he already had?
Another sniff sounded, this one coming from under Nathan’s protective arm. Felicity whispered through Nathan’s fingers, “I smell the clutching wood.”
