Beautiful Darkness
Page 83
Hearts will go and Stars will follow, One is broken, One is hollow.
That had been our song, Lena's and mine. And I had been broken. Did that mean I had to stay hol ow? Or was there something different out there for me? Maybe a whole new song?
Some Pink Floyd, for a change? Hollow laughter in marble halls.
I smiled in the darkness, listening to the rhythmic sound of her breathing until it softened into sleep. I was exhausted. Even though we were back in the Mortal world, it stil felt as if I was part of the Caster world, and Gatlin was unbelievably far away. I couldn't make sense of how I had gotten to this place any more than I could measure the miles I had come or the distance I stil had to go.
I drifted into oblivion not knowing what I would do when I got there.
6.19
Bonaventure
I was running, being chased. Scrambling over hedges and skidding across empty streets and backyards. The one constant was the adrenaline. There was no stopping.
Then I saw the Harley, driving straight at me, the lights getting closer and closer. They weren't yel ow but green, flashing in my eyes so bright I had to cover my face with my hands....
I woke up. Al I could see was green, flashing on and off.
I didn't know where I was, until I realized the green glow was coming from the Arclight, now lit up like the Fourth of July. It was on the mattress, where it must have rol ed out of my pocket. Only the mattress looked different, and the light was flashing out of control.
I remembered slowly -- the stars, the Tunnels, the attic, the guest room. Then I realized why the mattress looked different.
Liv was gone.
It didn't take long to figure out where Liv was. "Do you ever sleep?"
"Not as much as you do, apparently." As usual, Liv didn't look up from her telescope, though this one was aluminum and much smal er than the one she kept on Marian's porch.
I sat down next to her on the back step. The yard was as calm as my aunt herself, a quiet patch of green spreading underneath a broad magnolia tree. "What are you doing up?"
"I got a wake-up cal ." I tried to sound casual, instead of how I actual y felt. Awkward. I motioned at the guest room window on the second floor. Even from down here, you could see pulsing green light shining through the glass panes.
"Strange. I suppose I got one as wel . Take a look through the celestron." She handed me the miniature scope. It looked like a flashlight except for the large lens fitted to one end.
Our hands touched as I took it. Not so much as a shock.
"Did you make this, too?"
She smiled. "Professor Ashcroft gave it to me. Now stop talking and look. There." She pointed right over the magnolia, which to my Mortal eye looked like a dark expanse of starless sky.
I fitted the scope to my eye. Now the sky over the tree was streaked with light, a kind of ghostly aura trailing toward the ground not far from us. "What is that, a fal ing star? Do fal ing stars leave trails like that?"
"It might. If it was a fal ing star."
"How do you know it's not?"
She tapped the scope. "It might be fal ing, but it's a Caster star fal ing in the Caster sky, remember? Otherwise we could see it without the scope."
"Is that what your crazy watch is saying?"
She picked it up from the step next to her. "I'm not sure what it's saying. I thought it was broken until I saw the sky."
The Arclight was stil flashing in the window, a constant green strobe light.
I remembered something from my dream. It felt as if the Harley was headed right at me. "We can't stay here. Something's happening." Something here in Savannah.
Liv strapped her selenometer back onto her wrist. "Whatever it is seems to be happening over there." She dropped the scope into her backpack and pointed into the distance. It was time to go.
I held out my hand, but she pul ed herself to her feet. "You wake up Link. I'l get my things."
"I stil don't see why this couldn't wait until mornin'." Link was grouchy, and his spiky hair was sticking up everywhere.
"Does this thing look like it could wait until morning?" The Arclight was so bright now, it lit up the whole street in front of us.
"Can you put it on a lower setting or somethin'? Switch off the high beams already." Link shielded his eyes.
"I don't think it's working." I shook the Arclight, but the flashing green light didn't stop.
"Man, you broke the Magic 8 Bal ."
"I didn't break it. I --" I gave up, jamming it into my pocket. "Yeah, it's pretty much broken." The light was shining through my jeans.
"It's possible some sort of Caster power surge triggered it and shifted the normal balance of how the Arclight functions." Liv was intrigued.
Link wasn't. "Like an alarm? That's not good."
"We don't know that."
"Are you kidding? It's never good when Commissioner Gordon activates the Bat-Signal. When the Fantastic Four see the number four in the sky."
"I get the idea."
"Yeah? Can you get one that gets us where we're tryin' to go, since Ethan broke the 8 Bal ?"
Liv consulted her selenometer and started walking. "I can get us to the general area where the star fel ." She looked at me. "I mean, if it was a star. But Link might be right. I don't know exactly where we're going, or what we'l find when we get there."
"Almost makes a guy wish he had his own pair of garden shears," I said, fol owing Liv down the street.
That had been our song, Lena's and mine. And I had been broken. Did that mean I had to stay hol ow? Or was there something different out there for me? Maybe a whole new song?
Some Pink Floyd, for a change? Hollow laughter in marble halls.
I smiled in the darkness, listening to the rhythmic sound of her breathing until it softened into sleep. I was exhausted. Even though we were back in the Mortal world, it stil felt as if I was part of the Caster world, and Gatlin was unbelievably far away. I couldn't make sense of how I had gotten to this place any more than I could measure the miles I had come or the distance I stil had to go.
I drifted into oblivion not knowing what I would do when I got there.
6.19
Bonaventure
I was running, being chased. Scrambling over hedges and skidding across empty streets and backyards. The one constant was the adrenaline. There was no stopping.
Then I saw the Harley, driving straight at me, the lights getting closer and closer. They weren't yel ow but green, flashing in my eyes so bright I had to cover my face with my hands....
I woke up. Al I could see was green, flashing on and off.
I didn't know where I was, until I realized the green glow was coming from the Arclight, now lit up like the Fourth of July. It was on the mattress, where it must have rol ed out of my pocket. Only the mattress looked different, and the light was flashing out of control.
I remembered slowly -- the stars, the Tunnels, the attic, the guest room. Then I realized why the mattress looked different.
Liv was gone.
It didn't take long to figure out where Liv was. "Do you ever sleep?"
"Not as much as you do, apparently." As usual, Liv didn't look up from her telescope, though this one was aluminum and much smal er than the one she kept on Marian's porch.
I sat down next to her on the back step. The yard was as calm as my aunt herself, a quiet patch of green spreading underneath a broad magnolia tree. "What are you doing up?"
"I got a wake-up cal ." I tried to sound casual, instead of how I actual y felt. Awkward. I motioned at the guest room window on the second floor. Even from down here, you could see pulsing green light shining through the glass panes.
"Strange. I suppose I got one as wel . Take a look through the celestron." She handed me the miniature scope. It looked like a flashlight except for the large lens fitted to one end.
Our hands touched as I took it. Not so much as a shock.
"Did you make this, too?"
She smiled. "Professor Ashcroft gave it to me. Now stop talking and look. There." She pointed right over the magnolia, which to my Mortal eye looked like a dark expanse of starless sky.
I fitted the scope to my eye. Now the sky over the tree was streaked with light, a kind of ghostly aura trailing toward the ground not far from us. "What is that, a fal ing star? Do fal ing stars leave trails like that?"
"It might. If it was a fal ing star."
"How do you know it's not?"
She tapped the scope. "It might be fal ing, but it's a Caster star fal ing in the Caster sky, remember? Otherwise we could see it without the scope."
"Is that what your crazy watch is saying?"
She picked it up from the step next to her. "I'm not sure what it's saying. I thought it was broken until I saw the sky."
The Arclight was stil flashing in the window, a constant green strobe light.
I remembered something from my dream. It felt as if the Harley was headed right at me. "We can't stay here. Something's happening." Something here in Savannah.
Liv strapped her selenometer back onto her wrist. "Whatever it is seems to be happening over there." She dropped the scope into her backpack and pointed into the distance. It was time to go.
I held out my hand, but she pul ed herself to her feet. "You wake up Link. I'l get my things."
"I stil don't see why this couldn't wait until mornin'." Link was grouchy, and his spiky hair was sticking up everywhere.
"Does this thing look like it could wait until morning?" The Arclight was so bright now, it lit up the whole street in front of us.
"Can you put it on a lower setting or somethin'? Switch off the high beams already." Link shielded his eyes.
"I don't think it's working." I shook the Arclight, but the flashing green light didn't stop.
"Man, you broke the Magic 8 Bal ."
"I didn't break it. I --" I gave up, jamming it into my pocket. "Yeah, it's pretty much broken." The light was shining through my jeans.
"It's possible some sort of Caster power surge triggered it and shifted the normal balance of how the Arclight functions." Liv was intrigued.
Link wasn't. "Like an alarm? That's not good."
"We don't know that."
"Are you kidding? It's never good when Commissioner Gordon activates the Bat-Signal. When the Fantastic Four see the number four in the sky."
"I get the idea."
"Yeah? Can you get one that gets us where we're tryin' to go, since Ethan broke the 8 Bal ?"
Liv consulted her selenometer and started walking. "I can get us to the general area where the star fel ." She looked at me. "I mean, if it was a star. But Link might be right. I don't know exactly where we're going, or what we'l find when we get there."
"Almost makes a guy wish he had his own pair of garden shears," I said, fol owing Liv down the street.
