Industrial Magic
Page 119
Okay, so lets do it. Youre a ghost, so you contact Jaime
Its not that easy. First, we have to find her.
Find her? Shes in Miami.
Obstacle number one, though its not as bad as it seems. Miami exists here, too, only its not quitewell, its different. Distance isnt a problem. Its all veryrelative.
Uh-huh.
Eve shook her head. I cant explain. Even I dont understand it all yet. Obstacle number two, though She looked down at Lucas. We cant carry him.
Im not leaving him here.
Well, then we have a real problem. Hell wake up in a day or two, but by then, the Searchers will have found us, and once they do, youre taking up permanent residence. Now, we can She stopped and looked up at Kristof, then nodded. Kristof is offering to stay here with Lucas.
When I hesitated, she looked back toward Kristof. You ripped the poor girls life apart. That doesnt encourage trust, Kris. She looked at me. Its okay, Paige. If Kristof says hell watch Lucas, he will. He has nothing to gain if you and Lucas dont make it back to Savannah. He knows now this is what I want, what I wanted from the start, for Savannah to be with you. He wont interfere again.
Eve stood. I squeezed Lucass hand, took one last look at him, then followed Eve across the rocky plain.
Primeval Swamp
WE HIKED ACROSS THE ROCKY PLAIN FOR WHAT MUST HAVE been two hours. One problem with the ghost world? Serious lack of public transportation. Yet, even with all that walking, I didnt suffer so much as sore feet. I suppose that renders motorized vehicles unnecessary. That and the fact that, here, you have all the time in the world to get wherever youre going.
Normally, I guess, travel in the ghost world is like a Sunday stroll, relax and enjoy the scenery. Where we were, though, there was no scenery to enjoy, unless you were a geologist. Rock, rock, and more rock. Not exactly the Elysian fields Id hoped for. Of course, this was a temporary staythe more temporary, the betterbut I couldnt help being curious, if only to take my mind off the worries that were gnawing through my gut. This was the afterlife, the greatest mystery in the world unfolding before me. Yet my attempts to get more information from Eve were blocked with witticisms and non sequiturs. I can, however, be somewhat persistent, and finally she was forced to address the issue.
I cant tell you anything, Paige. I know youre curious, but if were going to get you out of this world, then the less you know
The better, I finished.
The better for me, too, she said.Im already in the Fates bad books, and once they find out
So the Fates are real?
Oh, yeah, only they dont just sit around spinning yarn She shot me a mock glare. Stop that. Youre going to trick me into talking, and then theyll find out and I wont just be up to my neck in shit anymore, Ill be drowning in it. Believe me, they will find outhopefully just not until youre gone.
How will they find us? Those Searchers you mentioned?
Eve kept walking.
I continued, If I need to be on the lookout for these things, then I have to know what to look for.
No, you dont. If you see them, theyve already seen you, and were both going down. Not a whole lotta laws in this place, but were breaking most of them.
What if
I stopped and stared. The rocky plains ended less than a dozen yards in front of us. Beyond that wasnothing. They didnt end in a cliff or a wall of darkness or anything so dramatic. They just ended, like hitting the last page in a book. I cant describe it any better than that.
Well, come on, she said.
I couldnt move. There was something indescribably terrifying about the view in front of me, the yawning nothingness of it.
Oh, hell, Eve said. Its just a way station.
She grabbed my elbow and propelled me forward. When we reached the end of the plain, my brain went wild, digging in its mental heels. That response shot down to my legs and they stopped moving. Eve sighed and, without a word, stepped behind me, and pushed.
Id been tricked. In that last second before Eve shoved me through, I realized the truth. Eve wasnt helping me. She didnt want me going back to Savannah. She hated me, hated what I was doing to her daughter, hated how I was raising her. This was her revenge. She was
There, Eve said, stepping beside me. Thats not so bad, is it?
I looked around. Fog surrounded me, a strange, cold, bluish mist.
I rubbed my upper arms. So what is this place? A way station between what?
Between planes, the nonearthly realms of the ghost world, like where you landed. From here I can transport us to another plane, or to any place on earth. Well, our version of earth.
But how
Think of it as a cosmic elevator. A modern one, though. No elevator attendant on duty. Cant just walk up and say Miami, please. Dont I wish. No, its strictly do-it-yourself, and you have to figure out the right incantation to get to each place, like breaking a code. Different place, different code.
Its not that easy. First, we have to find her.
Find her? Shes in Miami.
Obstacle number one, though its not as bad as it seems. Miami exists here, too, only its not quitewell, its different. Distance isnt a problem. Its all veryrelative.
Uh-huh.
Eve shook her head. I cant explain. Even I dont understand it all yet. Obstacle number two, though She looked down at Lucas. We cant carry him.
Im not leaving him here.
Well, then we have a real problem. Hell wake up in a day or two, but by then, the Searchers will have found us, and once they do, youre taking up permanent residence. Now, we can She stopped and looked up at Kristof, then nodded. Kristof is offering to stay here with Lucas.
When I hesitated, she looked back toward Kristof. You ripped the poor girls life apart. That doesnt encourage trust, Kris. She looked at me. Its okay, Paige. If Kristof says hell watch Lucas, he will. He has nothing to gain if you and Lucas dont make it back to Savannah. He knows now this is what I want, what I wanted from the start, for Savannah to be with you. He wont interfere again.
Eve stood. I squeezed Lucass hand, took one last look at him, then followed Eve across the rocky plain.
Primeval Swamp
WE HIKED ACROSS THE ROCKY PLAIN FOR WHAT MUST HAVE been two hours. One problem with the ghost world? Serious lack of public transportation. Yet, even with all that walking, I didnt suffer so much as sore feet. I suppose that renders motorized vehicles unnecessary. That and the fact that, here, you have all the time in the world to get wherever youre going.
Normally, I guess, travel in the ghost world is like a Sunday stroll, relax and enjoy the scenery. Where we were, though, there was no scenery to enjoy, unless you were a geologist. Rock, rock, and more rock. Not exactly the Elysian fields Id hoped for. Of course, this was a temporary staythe more temporary, the betterbut I couldnt help being curious, if only to take my mind off the worries that were gnawing through my gut. This was the afterlife, the greatest mystery in the world unfolding before me. Yet my attempts to get more information from Eve were blocked with witticisms and non sequiturs. I can, however, be somewhat persistent, and finally she was forced to address the issue.
I cant tell you anything, Paige. I know youre curious, but if were going to get you out of this world, then the less you know
The better, I finished.
The better for me, too, she said.Im already in the Fates bad books, and once they find out
So the Fates are real?
Oh, yeah, only they dont just sit around spinning yarn She shot me a mock glare. Stop that. Youre going to trick me into talking, and then theyll find out and I wont just be up to my neck in shit anymore, Ill be drowning in it. Believe me, they will find outhopefully just not until youre gone.
How will they find us? Those Searchers you mentioned?
Eve kept walking.
I continued, If I need to be on the lookout for these things, then I have to know what to look for.
No, you dont. If you see them, theyve already seen you, and were both going down. Not a whole lotta laws in this place, but were breaking most of them.
What if
I stopped and stared. The rocky plains ended less than a dozen yards in front of us. Beyond that wasnothing. They didnt end in a cliff or a wall of darkness or anything so dramatic. They just ended, like hitting the last page in a book. I cant describe it any better than that.
Well, come on, she said.
I couldnt move. There was something indescribably terrifying about the view in front of me, the yawning nothingness of it.
Oh, hell, Eve said. Its just a way station.
She grabbed my elbow and propelled me forward. When we reached the end of the plain, my brain went wild, digging in its mental heels. That response shot down to my legs and they stopped moving. Eve sighed and, without a word, stepped behind me, and pushed.
Id been tricked. In that last second before Eve shoved me through, I realized the truth. Eve wasnt helping me. She didnt want me going back to Savannah. She hated me, hated what I was doing to her daughter, hated how I was raising her. This was her revenge. She was
There, Eve said, stepping beside me. Thats not so bad, is it?
I looked around. Fog surrounded me, a strange, cold, bluish mist.
I rubbed my upper arms. So what is this place? A way station between what?
Between planes, the nonearthly realms of the ghost world, like where you landed. From here I can transport us to another plane, or to any place on earth. Well, our version of earth.
But how
Think of it as a cosmic elevator. A modern one, though. No elevator attendant on duty. Cant just walk up and say Miami, please. Dont I wish. No, its strictly do-it-yourself, and you have to figure out the right incantation to get to each place, like breaking a code. Different place, different code.
