Beautiful Darkness
Page 90
"You didn't see it." Liv pulled on my arm.
"What?"
"The door. You walked right by it."
She was right. We had walked past the archway before I recognized it. I almost forgot how subtly the Caster world worked, always hidden in plain sight. You couldn't have seen the Outer Door in the park unless you were looking for it, and the archway kept it in perpetual shadow, probably a Cast of its own. Link went to work, ratcheting his shears into the crack between the door and the frame as quickly as possible, prying it open with a groan. The dim recesses of the tunnel were even darker than the summer dawn.
"I can't believe that works." I shook my head.
"I've been thinking about it since we left Gatlin," Liv said. "I think it makes loads of sense."
"It makes sense that a crappy pair of garden shears can open a Caster door?"
"That's the beauty of the Order of Things. I told you, there's the magical universe and the material universe." Liv stared up at the sky.
My eyes followed hers. "Like the two skies."
"Exactly. One isn't any more real than the other. They coexist."
"So rusty metal scissors can take on a magic portal?" I don't know why I was surprised.
"Not always. But where the two universes meet, there will always be some sort of seam. Right?" It made perfect sense to Liv.
I nodded.
"I wonder if a strength in one universe corresponds to a weakness in the other." She was talking to herself as much as to me.
"You mean, the door is easy for Link to open because it's impossible for a Caster?" Link had been having a suspiciously easy time with the Doorwells. On the other hand, Liv didn't know Link had been picking locks since his mom gave him his first curfew, in about sixth grade.
"Possibly. It might account for what's happening with the Arclight."
"Or what about this? The Caster doors keep on openin' because I'm a ragin' stud." Link flexed.
"Or the Casters who built these Tunnels hundreds of years ago weren't thinking about garden shears," I said.
"Because they were thinkin' about my extreme studliness, in both universes." He stuck the shears back in his belt. "Ladies first."
Liv climbed down into the tunnel. "As if I should be surprised."
We followed the stairs back down into the still air of the tunnel. It was completely quiet, without even an echo from our footsteps. The silence settled over us, thick and heavy. The air beneath the Mortal world had none of the weightlessness of the air above.
At the bottom of the Doorwell, we found ourselves facing the same dark road that had led us to Savannah. The one that had split into two directions: the forbidding, shadowy street we were on, and the meadow path suffused with light. Directly in front of us, the old neon motel sign was flickering on and off now, but that was the only difference.
That, and Lucille lying rolled up beneath it, the light hitting her fur as it blinked. She yawned to see us, slowly pulling herself up one paw at a time.
"You're gettin' to be a tease, Lucille." Link squatted on his heels to scratch her ears. Lucille meowed, or growled, depending on how you looked at it. "Aw, I forgive you." Everything was a compliment to Link.
"What now?" I faced the crossroads.
"Stairway to hell, or the Yellow Brick Road? Why don't you give your 8 Ball a shake and see if it's ready to play again." Link stood up.
I took the Arclight out of my pocket. It was still glowing, flashing on and off, but the emerald color that led us to Savannah was gone. Now it had turned a deep blue, like one of those satellite photos of the Earth.
Liv touched the sphere, the color deepening under her fingertip. "The blue is so much more intense than the green. I think it's getting stronger."
"Or your superpowers are getting stronger." Link gave me a shove, and I almost dropped the Arclight.
"And you wonder why this thing stopped working?" I pulled it away from him, annoyed.
Link checked me with his shoulder. "Try to read my mind. Wait, no. Try to fly."
"Stop messing around," Liv snapped. "You heard Ethan's mom. We don't have much time. The Arclight will work or it won't. Either way, we need an answer."
Link straightened up. The weight of what we had seen at the graveyard was on all our shoulders now. The strain was beginning to show.
"Shh. Listen --" I took a few steps forward, in the direction of the tunnel carpeted in tall grass. You could actually hear the birds chirping now.
I raised the Arclight and held my breath. I wouldn't have minded if it went black and sent us down the other path, the one with the shadows, the rusty fire escapes crawling down the sides of dark buildings, the unmarked doors. As long as it gave us an answer.
Not this time.
"Try the other way," Liv said, never taking her eyes off the light. I retraced my steps.
No change.
No Arclight, and no Wayward. Because deep down I knew that without the Arclight, I wouldn't have been able to find my way out of a paper bag, especially not in the Tunnels.
"I guess that's the answer. We're screwed." I pocketed the ball.
"Great." Link started down the sunlit path without another thought.
"Where are you going?"
"No offense, but unless you have some kinda secret Wayward clue about where to go, I'm not goin' down there." He looked back at the darker path. "The way I see it, we're lost no matter what, right?"
"What?"
"The door. You walked right by it."
She was right. We had walked past the archway before I recognized it. I almost forgot how subtly the Caster world worked, always hidden in plain sight. You couldn't have seen the Outer Door in the park unless you were looking for it, and the archway kept it in perpetual shadow, probably a Cast of its own. Link went to work, ratcheting his shears into the crack between the door and the frame as quickly as possible, prying it open with a groan. The dim recesses of the tunnel were even darker than the summer dawn.
"I can't believe that works." I shook my head.
"I've been thinking about it since we left Gatlin," Liv said. "I think it makes loads of sense."
"It makes sense that a crappy pair of garden shears can open a Caster door?"
"That's the beauty of the Order of Things. I told you, there's the magical universe and the material universe." Liv stared up at the sky.
My eyes followed hers. "Like the two skies."
"Exactly. One isn't any more real than the other. They coexist."
"So rusty metal scissors can take on a magic portal?" I don't know why I was surprised.
"Not always. But where the two universes meet, there will always be some sort of seam. Right?" It made perfect sense to Liv.
I nodded.
"I wonder if a strength in one universe corresponds to a weakness in the other." She was talking to herself as much as to me.
"You mean, the door is easy for Link to open because it's impossible for a Caster?" Link had been having a suspiciously easy time with the Doorwells. On the other hand, Liv didn't know Link had been picking locks since his mom gave him his first curfew, in about sixth grade.
"Possibly. It might account for what's happening with the Arclight."
"Or what about this? The Caster doors keep on openin' because I'm a ragin' stud." Link flexed.
"Or the Casters who built these Tunnels hundreds of years ago weren't thinking about garden shears," I said.
"Because they were thinkin' about my extreme studliness, in both universes." He stuck the shears back in his belt. "Ladies first."
Liv climbed down into the tunnel. "As if I should be surprised."
We followed the stairs back down into the still air of the tunnel. It was completely quiet, without even an echo from our footsteps. The silence settled over us, thick and heavy. The air beneath the Mortal world had none of the weightlessness of the air above.
At the bottom of the Doorwell, we found ourselves facing the same dark road that had led us to Savannah. The one that had split into two directions: the forbidding, shadowy street we were on, and the meadow path suffused with light. Directly in front of us, the old neon motel sign was flickering on and off now, but that was the only difference.
That, and Lucille lying rolled up beneath it, the light hitting her fur as it blinked. She yawned to see us, slowly pulling herself up one paw at a time.
"You're gettin' to be a tease, Lucille." Link squatted on his heels to scratch her ears. Lucille meowed, or growled, depending on how you looked at it. "Aw, I forgive you." Everything was a compliment to Link.
"What now?" I faced the crossroads.
"Stairway to hell, or the Yellow Brick Road? Why don't you give your 8 Ball a shake and see if it's ready to play again." Link stood up.
I took the Arclight out of my pocket. It was still glowing, flashing on and off, but the emerald color that led us to Savannah was gone. Now it had turned a deep blue, like one of those satellite photos of the Earth.
Liv touched the sphere, the color deepening under her fingertip. "The blue is so much more intense than the green. I think it's getting stronger."
"Or your superpowers are getting stronger." Link gave me a shove, and I almost dropped the Arclight.
"And you wonder why this thing stopped working?" I pulled it away from him, annoyed.
Link checked me with his shoulder. "Try to read my mind. Wait, no. Try to fly."
"Stop messing around," Liv snapped. "You heard Ethan's mom. We don't have much time. The Arclight will work or it won't. Either way, we need an answer."
Link straightened up. The weight of what we had seen at the graveyard was on all our shoulders now. The strain was beginning to show.
"Shh. Listen --" I took a few steps forward, in the direction of the tunnel carpeted in tall grass. You could actually hear the birds chirping now.
I raised the Arclight and held my breath. I wouldn't have minded if it went black and sent us down the other path, the one with the shadows, the rusty fire escapes crawling down the sides of dark buildings, the unmarked doors. As long as it gave us an answer.
Not this time.
"Try the other way," Liv said, never taking her eyes off the light. I retraced my steps.
No change.
No Arclight, and no Wayward. Because deep down I knew that without the Arclight, I wouldn't have been able to find my way out of a paper bag, especially not in the Tunnels.
"I guess that's the answer. We're screwed." I pocketed the ball.
"Great." Link started down the sunlit path without another thought.
"Where are you going?"
"No offense, but unless you have some kinda secret Wayward clue about where to go, I'm not goin' down there." He looked back at the darker path. "The way I see it, we're lost no matter what, right?"
