The Twilight Prisoner (14 page)

Euri grabbed his arm. “I'll distract Fallon. You get Austin. Don't wait for me. We'll meet back at the spring.”

Before Jack could say anything, she flew up through the floor, into the cell, and toward the warden. At the sight of her, Austin dropped the chocolate. Fallon just looked annoyed.

“I have a message from Colonel Mann,” she said.

“I'm in the middle of doing his bidding,” Fallon griped. “And since when does he hire schoolgirls?”

Euri crossed her arms. “Since when does he hire corrupt wardens?”

Fallon bristled.

“Go ahead and ignore me, but the colonel won't be happy.” With a flounce of her skirt, Euri turned to go.

“Wait!” Fallon croaked.

But Euri had already floated out of the cell and down the row of cell blocks. Fallon flew after her. She slowed to talk to him, but Jack could no longer hear what they were saying. All he knew was that the conversation wasn't going to last long. He flew through the bars and up to Austin, kicking the chocolate out of his reach. “We're going to get you out of here,” he said.

He expected Austin to leap to his feet, but he made no move to get up.

“Come on,” whispered Jack. “We have to go.”

But Austin just laughed.

“What's wrong with you?” said Jack.

“I'm crazy,” Austin explained. “I'm hanging out with my dead great-grandfather. I'm seeing you and Cora flying around.” He shuddered. “And then there's—”

“You're not crazy. You're just in the underworld.” Jack tugged on his arm, but Austin refused to budge.

“That's what my great-grandfather said. But I told him he's just a hallucination.”

Jack looked anxiously at Fallon, but thankfully, he was still talking to Euri, his back turned. “Did you find your brother?”

Austin looked confused. “My brother?”

“We figured that's why you ran off. He's dead, right?”

“No,” said Austin, with a grin. “He's crazy, too.”

Jack wished that Cora could see Austin now, his hair greasy, his eyes darting around. Being in the Tombs had clearly affected his sanity. But then Jack reminded himself that it was his own fault that Austin was there and he needed to save him. Austin's hands, like Cora's, were beginning to turn a cadaverous pale color, and Fallon was bound to turn back around at any second. Jack picked up the ghost-repellent pouch and stuck it in his pocket. “We're going,” he said as he dragged Austin to his feet and pulled him through the bars.

“Help!” Austin shouted.

Jack clapped his hand over Austin's mouth, but it was too late. Fallon turned and began to fly toward them, yelling, “Guards! Guards!”

“Go through the ceiling!” Euri shouted from the other end of the cell block.

“Traitor!” Fallon howled at her.

Jack could see guards fly in from every direction and surround Euri.

“Get her to Bloomingdale!” Fallon ordered. “And the rest of you, catch the Living Avenger and that ghost accomplice!”

As the guards seized Euri under the arms, Jack knew that there was nothing he could do to help her. He had to get Austin to the spring before the guards caught them, too. He rocketed up into the air, holding Austin's hand in a firm grip as they sailed through the latticework of iron bars and burst into the night.

Jack looked over his shoulder. Two guards were right behind them. He weaved around several buildings and then dove down into an alley, pulling Austin behind a Dumpster. Austin opened his mouth, but this time Jack clapped his hand over it in time.

“We lost them!” one of the guards shouted from above.

“We need Cerberus,” said another. “He'll smell the Avenger.”

“Come on, let's get him,” said the first.

After waiting a moment to be sure the guards had left, Jack released his hand from Austin's mouth and pulled him back up into air. “What's the matter with you?” he nearly shouted as they raced over Broadway toward Central Park. “Are you trying to kill us?!”

“She's been chasing after me,” Austin said. “And you're helping her!”

“Cora's not chasing after you,” said Jack. “She just likes you.”

“Not Cora. Deirdre!”

Jack almost crashed into the side of a building. “Deirdre?”

“I knew I was going crazy from the moment I saw her. She's haunting me. Just like—”

Everything suddenly became clear. “Nate,” Jack whispered. “Your brother.”

Austin nodded, his eyes feverish.

Jack looked at Austin, amazed that he had known Euri when she was alive.

“And you're trying to haunt me, too,” Austin charged.

“Me?”

“You fly around with her. You must be dead. Did you kill yourself, too?”

“I'm not dead!” Jack snapped. “And I didn't kill myself.”

Austin bit his lip, which Jack noticed was turning a worrisome bluish color. “I'm sorry. I'm crazy. I know I'm crazy.”

Jack couldn't believe that this was the same Austin who Cora—and just about everyone else at Chapman— idolized. “You're not crazy,” he told him firmly.

But Austin shook his head. “When Nate started to lose it, he dropped out of college and moved to this disgusting apartment with cockroaches everywhere. He kept saying Deirdre was haunting him. I didn't tell anyone at school. I was embarrassed—but I was also worried the same thing was going to happen to me.” Austin started to laugh. “I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, though.”

“The only thing you need to worry about is getting back to the living world before dawn,” said Jack as they neared Seneca Village. Below, he could see the ghosts gathered on Summit Rock. He spotted Epiphany floating by himself and looking up at the night sky. Jack flew over to him.

“So you found him?” Epiphany said, eyeing Austin.

Jack nodded. He wished Euri could be there to say good-bye to them. He hated to think of his last image of her, surrounded by guards. As they followed Epiphany down to the spring, Jack had the urge to ask Austin a question. “Did anyone ever tell you why Deirdre killed herself?”

Austin shook his head. “I was a little kid when it happened. My parents just said she was troubled. They said Nate tried to stop her.”

Jack thought about Euri's version of the story. “Did you believe them?”

“For a while. But after he moved to that apartment, Nate told me he had been planning to jump with her, too. They made a suicide pact. That's why she was haunting him, he said. Because he didn't jump.”

Epiphany looked around to make sure no one was watching and then moved the rock to reveal the tiny, gurgling spring. “Who's first?”

“He is,” said Jack, guiding Austin by his elbow toward the spring. “But wait, why didn't he jump?”

Austin frowned.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“He would have done it. He was crazy about Deirdre. But just when he was about to jump, he said he thought about me.” Tears gathered in Austin's eyes.

Jack looked at Dylan Thomas's pocket watch. There was barely an hour left until dawn. “Listen to me. You're not crazy and neither is Nate.”

Austin sniffed. “And why is that?”

“Deirdre really
is
haunting him.”

Austin chuckled. “And you're really the Living Avenger, right?”

Jack smiled. “Go find Cora.” Then he pushed Austin against the rock.

Austin turned to him with a hurt expression. “Why did you do . . . ?” he started to say. But before he could finish, he disappeared into the ground.

“Hurry now,” said Epiphany.

But Jack hesitated. If the guards had taken Euri back to Bloomingdale, he might not see her again for months, even years. He thought about what Austin had told him. Euri deserved to know it, too.

“Go!” shouted Epiphany suddenly.

Jack turned around. A pair of guards—with Cerberus snapping and growling between them—was flying toward them.

“The spring! They've seen the spring!” Epiphany cried. “Go, child!This is your last chance!”

“I'm sorry,” said Jack. “I can't.”

Jack flew out of the park, and straight into the first building he saw. He floated through several apartments, past sleeping children, and into a kitchen where a cat's yellow eyes widened at the sight of him. As he continued through the west side of the building, he tried to convince himself that even if the spring had been compromised, he could still find another way out. The important thing was to find Euri.

The sky was beginning to lighten as he flew up Broadway, past H&H Bagels and Harry's Shoes, toward Columbia. There were hardly any living people out—just some sleepy looking college kids wandering out of the subway and a few deliverymen unloading produce from trucks idling in front of grocery stores. He flew over the iron Columbia University gates and onto the campus, which was crowded with ghosts carrying books or talking in groups. In front of the library was a big, bowl-shaped granite fountain. Jack landed on its rim and dove into it. A few moments later, he was spit back underground, out onto the floor of a familiar crumbling brick and stone-lined tunnel. A ghost with wild hair and a black T-shirt reading a book entitled
The Birth of Tragedy
counted him in on her clicker.

Jack flew down a crumbling corridor, sticking his head through doors and into various Bloomingdale classes—belly dancing, introductory embalming, method acting—but Euri wasn't in any of them. He raced around a corner and collided with another ghost. They both tumbled to the ground.

Jack immediately recognized the plump spirit. “You're Austin's great-grandfather! The one who worked on the Manhattan Project!”

“Sam Chapman,” the ghost said. He looked panicked. “There's only a half hour left. But even if I get him out of the Tombs where do I go? There's no way out. There's nothing I can do—”

“Austin's safe,” Jack interrupted, standing back up.

“What?”

“I got him back to the living world. He'll be okay.”

A look of relief spread across the old man's face. “You must be Jack. Austin told me about you.”

Jack squatted down and put his hands on the spirit's shoulders. “There was a ghost who also helped save him,” said Jack. “A girl.”

“Austin thought she was someone to be afraid of. He was confused. He didn't know where he was.”

“It's okay,” said Jack. “She was a patient here and the guards just brought her back. I need to know where she is. I don't have much time.”

“She's probably having her reassessment interview with Dr. Earle,” Samsaid, floating to hisfeet. “I'lltake you to his office.”

They hurried down the corridor together and turned onto another, skidding to a stop in front of a half-open door. Poking his head around it, Jack spotted Euri floating above a battered old couch. No one else appeared to be in the office.

“Dr. Earle isn't here yet,” Sam whispered. “I'll try to delay him. Go.”

Jack slipped inside and closed the door.

The moment she caught sight of him, Euri hurried over. “What are you doing here? Where's Austin?”

“I sent him back.” He reached out his hand. “Come on, let's get you out of here.”

Euri pointed to her leg and Jack suddenly noticed the charm bracelet strapped to her ankle. “I can't leave Bloomingdale. But forget about me. What about you? Jack, it's almost dawn!”

“I had to tell you something. About Nate.”

“What could be this important?” Euri stiffened. “I don't care about him.”

“Then why do you haunt him?”

“Because . . . Just go back to the spring, Jack.” Euri's voice sounded weary. “What does Austin know about the whole thing anyway? He was just this little kid when it happened. . . .”

Euri's eyes went distant and Jack suddenly remembered how old she really was. This year she looked younger than him, but she really should have been a grown-up, finishing college, living in her own place, maybe working already. He couldn't give her that future back, but maybe he could give her something else.

“What's going to happen to you?” he asked.

She picked at her skirt. “Dr. Earle is going to ask me some dumb questions about why I escaped. Then he's going to ask me if I've changed my mind about moving on. And I'm going to tell him I still don't want to. Ever. That I just want to get out of here and—”

She didn't say what she wanted to do, but the angry way she twisted up her face told Jack enough. He gently touched her arm. “The reason Nate didn't jump had nothing to do with you.”

“You've got to get back to the spring. Just forget it!”

But Jack refused to move. “He didn't want to leave Austin.”

Euri studied his face. “How do you know?”

“Nate told Austin. He knows you're haunting him, too. Though everyone else just thinks he's crazy.”

Euri's lower lip quivered. “He's haunting
me
.”

“You have to forgive him,” Jack said softly.

“It's not so easy,” Euri nearly shouted. “I'm losing everyone—Professor Schmitt, you—” She stopped and stared up at him.

Jack felt an ache in his stomach. “Euri, it's impossible for us.”

“I know,” she cried.

“I have to grow up.”

“I know you do.”

“At least Nate really loved you,” said Jack. “He just didn't want to leave his little brother all alone. He needed to help him grow up and steal the girl I liked!”

He hadn't meant to sound so mad. But when Jack's eyes met Euri's, they both burst out laughing. Jack suddenly felt as if everything he had just said about having to grow up and move on was wrong. He could never laugh with any other girl like this. He wanted to stay with Euri.

Euri wiped her eyes. “You'd better get back to the spring.”

He flashed a weak smile. “I can't.”

“What do you mean you can't!?”

“The guards saw it. I can't go back that way.”

“You got Austin through but you didn't go yourself!”

“I wanted to tell you about Nate....”

“Jack! What did you do?” Euri grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door. “We need to try and get you back!”

But a strange calm had settled over him. “I got Cora and Austin back. They'll have each other now.”

“Well, good for them,” Euri said. “But what about
you
? And growing up?Your life, Jack!”

“I'm not scared of death,” he said. “And anyway, everyone already thinks I look dead—”

“You're just depressed,” Euri interrupted. “You got rejected and you feel like no one loves you except me.”

Jack felt his face grow hot. “That's not true. I chose to send Austin and Cora back. I did the right thing. I was the more loving one.”

Euri snorted. “And now you're choosing to stay!That's not being the more loving one, Jack. It's just being a coward.”

Jack began to shake. The anger he'd felt when Cora had told him she liked Austin abruptly returned. “What do you know?” he snapped.

“I know how you feel,” Euri said quietly. “But you're right about us. It's impossible. You need to keep your promise to me and go.”

Jack looked down. He knew Euri was right but the thought of being alone, of having no one, made him hesitate. “Will some girl ever like me?” he whispered.

Euri took his hand and squeezed it. “Some girl already does.”

Her hand began to fade into his.

Euri jerked backward. “You're starting to die.”

Jack looked down at his hand. If he was already dead, his hand wouldn't be pulsing and fading. He thought about what Viele said—how he had to choose to be alive. He suddenly, desperately wanted to live.

Jack felt a stab of panic. “What am I going to do?”

Euri grabbed Dylan Thomas's pocket watch. “We only have ten minutes. We need to get back to the stream you came in through. The ankle charm only stops me from leaving Bloomingdale, so I can take you almost up to it.” She studied his eyes. “You look scared—and still alive. Come on!”

They flew out of the office, Euri leading the way.

“But the Security Alert,” Jack said as they flew down the stone corridor and turned into another. “The guards are still going to be there.”

“We'll think of something,” said Euri.

Jack's feet began to shimmer and fade to the translucent shade of the dead. But even though his feet and hands were now ghostlike, he could feel his heart straining against his chest, full of life and beating fast.

Up ahead was the flooded part of the tunnel. Standing in front of it was a guard.

“I can't go too much closer,” Euri whispered. “So we need to get him away from the stream.”

She grabbed Jack and shouted to the guard. “I've got the Living Avenger!”

The guard lumbered up to them. “He can't be the ...” the guard started to say but as he registered Jack's eyes, he lunged forward.

Euri let go of him with a shove. “Run. Go!”

Instinctively, Jack dodged the guard and flew toward the stream. There was no time to thank Euri or say good-bye—no time even to look back. He could hear the guard racing through the air behind him. He touched down just before the flooded part of the tunnel and leaped but instead of sailing forward over the stream, he felt himself being dragged backward by the shoulder. A hand clamped around his arm. The guard was laughing as Jack struggled, trying to free himself.

“Jack!” Euri shouted. He tried to crane his neck in her direction but his face felt strange. The guard was twisting his arm but Jack could barely feel it. The rest of his body was giving out. He struggled to breathe. With his free hand, he dug into his pocket. His fingers seized upon the ghost-repellent pouch and with his last bit of strength, he tore it open and tossed the contents directly into the guard's face.

A horrible smell filled the tunnel. The guard lurched and dropped Jack. “What the—?” he shouted, clutching his face.

Jack wasn't sure whether he was still alive. His skin felt cold and his teeth were chattering, but he managed to lunge across the stream, falling onto his knees, crawling, and finally rolling, like in a dream, his eyes closed, water seeping into his mouth.

“Good-bye, Jack!” he could hear Euri shout faintly.

His fingernails scraped upon dry ground. Air poured into his lungs. Panting, he struggled back onto his hands and knees and looked back. But the stream had vanished and in its place was a wall of cold, damp stones. He jumped to his feet and ran his fingers against it. They were no longer translucent but Jack wished they were, so he could reach through the wall and grasp Euri's hand. He realized that he had made a terrible mistake—thinking that because it was impossible for him and Euri to be together, he couldn't still love her. “Euri!” he screamed, pounding on the wall.

There was no response.

“Euri!”

His hands began to bleed from the force of his blows.

“I love you!” he shouted.

Jack sank to the floor. His whole body throbbed with exhaustion, and he shut his eyes and sobbed.

Finally, when he was out of tears, he stood up and slowly walked back out of the tunnel.