As he wrapped his fingers around the dagger’s base, Calvin beckoned the forces of his universe, working, healing as he pulled. Slowly, cautiously, holding his breath, he removed the weapon from Evie’s chest and focused on the wound. His hand shook as he set down the blade.
He waited for the blood to pool. None came. But the wound was there, deep and dark. He nodded. She was still in a frozen state. Good.
“Please, God. Please,” he whispered. With both hands hovering just inches above her, Calvin pled for her to come back to him, then closed his eyes, and let his mind direct him.
Heat tingled through his palms, radiated from his fingers. He imagined himself having the highest degree of healing power, lent to him by his hidden universe, and hoped to make it so.
A magnetic connection surged between her body and his hands. He fought to keep them hovering as the pull continued to stretch and grow.
A gentle hum, calm and constant, came from somewhere beyond the whiteness. As it moved nearer, the force spread through his body in a wave. Out through his palms and fingers it went, in a continual stream of heat, humming there in the space between his hands and her heart.
The vibration from the final exchange made Calvin jump back.
And then it was gone.
A stillness settled over the scene.
He opened his eyes. Flesh, smooth and complete had replaced the bloody gouge in Evie’s chest. A thin, white line marked the wound.
Consciously, he willed her free of the frozen state. Slowly at first, gradually allowing her to come into action, gladly noting that at least now, he had control of that ability again.
“Please be alright.” He hunched over, waiting for a sign of life. “Come on, Evie,” he pled, leaning closer in the silence, certain that his heart might stop from sheer desperation.
Finally he saw it–the blessed movement in her chest. He heard it next in the marvelous sound of her breath as a gust of air escaped her lips.
The sight of Evie–alive and breathing–was more beautiful than anything he’d seen. “Evie,” he said.
A smile crossed her lips, and he dashed in to kiss them, holding a smile of his own. “Evie,” he murmured again as he pulled away.
Her eyelids fluttered. “Calvin.” The sound of her voice was heaven.
A rising wave of triumph pulled his shoulders high. He brought her close to him, felt her heart beating against his chest, and sighed. In that moment, he was at peace.
***
Evie sucked in a sharp breath, and smiled as the glorious scent of Calvin filled her lungs. Grateful to be in his arms, she wrapped hers snuggly around him as well. Calvin stroked her hair before pulling away, whispering her name like a prayer.
Once she saw his silhouette, stark against the brightness, her memory sparked. It came back in flashes, images that made her gasp: Calvin getting thrown into the rocks, the dagger thrust into her chest.
She sat, brought her hand to her heart, patting at her chest. “Are we,” she paused, certain she was stating the obvious. “Dead?”
“No.” Calvin sighed. “But we both came pretty close. We’re in The Loft.” He stripped off his tee shirt and handed it to her. “Here. This will cover the tear in your shirt.”
Evie nodded, eyeing the two shirts she wore. Her own white tee shirt beneath the blouse Frank had placed on her. Quickly coming to her senses, she pulled Calvin’s shirt over her head. Things started piecing together as the events played through her mind. When she caught up to the present, Evie blurted aloud, “Parker.”
“I know. We have to go.”
Chapter Forty-four
“Calvin, I’m okay to walk, you know.” Evie felt like a child cradled in his arms.
“It’s too far. Just let me carry you until we get there.”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “You need to save your strength–”
“I’m fine. I’m more worried about your strength. You were practically dead a few minutes ago. Do you realize that?”
Evie fought back an argument. Calvin was moving quickly, and she may be more of a hindrance on her feet, needing help over the rough terrain. Especially in the skirt. She made a mental note to lose the frilly thing once she got back on her feet. “So The Lockdown’s next to a waterfall?” she asked.
He nodded, brows furrowed in concentration. “Shouldn’t be too much further.”
“So how do you think Parker’s going to do against Jocelyn?”
“Truth?”
She nodded, noting the look of sadness in his eyes.
“Not so great. First of all, I’m worried that Parker thinks we’re dead. I’m afraid that alone will make it harder for him to break free from the spell.” Calvin was out of breath, and the words came out in a rush. “But the mind thing, if it feels the same for Parker as it did for me–the desire–I can’t imagine him being able to resist it. I hope I’m wrong.”
Evie let that sink in as the sound of snapping twigs and swooshing leaves took over. A vision of the teen who’d stabbed her flashed before her eyes, sparked a memory. “That boy was a muse,” she blurted.
Calvin looked at her, surprised. “You’re right. He was. A muse for Jocelyn, of course. All of them were. Except for Frank Pilger and the woman. When I came to, all the bodies were gone except for theirs. It has to be why they dragged you to that exact spot. Like that was her place, Jocelyn’s version of The Loft, you know?”
“Yeah, but if you knew that–”
“I didn’t know it. I suspected it. But I wasn’t positive. All I’ve ever fought against were those mused beings. So initially, I thought my mind was coming up with a way for me to cope with what I had to do, deceiving me about the truth behind my competitors. It seemed likely that Jocelyn would intentionally create them to be diverse, in order to find a weakness in Parker and me.”
Haunting visions of the battle ran through Evie’s mind, accompanied by the face of each dark guard.
“I clung to that hope throughout the entire battle,” he continued. “But at the end, just as I was about to put the knife through that woman’s chest, I realized, by the look in her eyes, that she was definitely human.” Calvin paused for a breath. “All I could feel was remorse, thinking I’d been mistaken about the others, too. Wondering if I could’ve restrained them somehow without taking their lives.” He shook his head as if shaking off an ill thought, then paused, double-checking his direction. “I thought there was a chance, if she wasn’t one of Jocelyn’s creations, that maybe she’d go. Just leave and be glad to be free from it all. I can’t believe how badly I messed up. I’m so sorry–”
“Calvin, don’t apologize. It’s who you are, and I’m glad. Of course it would get to you. I wouldn’t expect otherwise.” She reached over, pressed a kiss to his temple, and spoke loudly over the growing sound of rushing water. “You were incredible.”
Calvin didn’t respond. Instead, he moved closer to the sound. As they broke through a dense cluster of oak trees, Evie saw the enormous waterfall. White torrents of water fell from the towering layers of rock that looked to be hundreds of feet high. Streaks of the grand mountain were cloaked in thick green moss, just beneath the cascading water. Evie was sure she recognized the view, and realized she’d never asked Calvin where they were.
“Are we in Waterfall Canyon then?” she hollered over the noise.
Calvin nodded. “Yeah. We started in a pretty desolate part of the canyon, and I took a different route of course,” he said. “Still, I’ve never seen this waterfall so…” he shrugged, looking for the right word, “deserted.”
He was right. Evie had hiked up the nearby trail a dozen times, and always encountered several other hikers along the way. Usually there were crowds of people gathered at the base as well, cooling down after their journey. But not today. There wasn’t a person in sight. It was as if there were an invisible force in the air, a foreboding sense of danger that repelled the normal, outside world. She pictured what Frank Pilger might have done had he encountered a you
ng family while carting her through the wooded area, and shuddered.
Calvin set Evie to her feet. As the soles of her shoes hit the ground, Evie yanked at the waistband of the dirt-streaked skirt, forcing it down over her jeans.
Calvin did a double take. “What are you… Oh. Yeah. Just leave it there on the ground.”
Evie tucked her arms inside the shirts she wore. “Turn around for a sec,” she said. “I’ve got to get this other thing off too.” She couldn’t wait to free herself of the clothing Frank had put on her, needed to leave every bit of it behind. After ridding herself of the frilly top, Evie tugged Calvin’s shirt back on. “Okay,” she said, “I’m done.”
Calvin spun back around and looked at the clothes lying on the dirt. “Here,” he said, scooping them off the ground. He stepped over to a massive boulder and pressed against the side with one hand. Though the giant rock was larger than the size of his Jeep, it lifted off its base, exposing a damp indentation. Calvin tossed the clothes beneath the boulder before lowering it back into place. He took hold of her hand next. “Come on. I’ll help you down.”
A steep, jagged decline separated them from the base of the fall. With a firm grip on her hand, Calvin helped Evie down the mass of rocks and scattered sage. Moss-covered stones lined the pool. The water, clear as glass, rippled with the constant motion. Calvin stepped in first, paying no mind to the definite drop in temperature. Evie fell to her knees, cupped the cold water in her hands, and drank with a fevered thirst, hoping that it was clean enough for drinking. The cold water slid down her throat, soothing the dryness, replenishing her strength.
“I think I found it,” Calvin hollered, his voice nearly lost in the noise.
She straightened up. “You did?”
He nodded, motioned for her to come. As she stepped into the pool, icy water soaked into her shoes and saturated her jeans up to her knees. When she slipped on the slick, mossy stones, Calvin reached out for her hand, helping her to keep balanced. Cool drops strayed from the waterfall’s stream, splashing over the two of them as they approached.
“Do you feel that pull?” Calvin asked.
Evie looked at his handsome face as she tried to appreciate what he meant. “I’m not sure,” she said.
“It’s pulling us toward the mountain. See, this is different from the vortex to The Loft,” he explained, speaking loudly over the falls. “Instead of going up, we’ll move back. Straight back. It’ll feel like we’re going to slam right into the mountain, but we won’t. There’s a hidden passage that will open up to us, pull us through.”
As he spoke, Evie began to notice the sensation he’d described. Around the fall, where there was normally a breeze pushing away with the force of the water, there was a pull instead.
“Come stand in front of me and fold your arms,” Calvin said. “I’ll have to hold onto you like this.” With his bare back to the rushing fall, Calvin turned Evie to face away from him. He locked his arms tightly around her, his chest firm against her back.
Not just anyone could enter The Lockdown, Calvin had told her. Only those who were meant to enter. She closed her eyes and considered that as she waited, the cold water splashing behind their backs. She shivered, and her breaths came quicker, shorter.
Nothing changed.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
Calvin brought his chin to her shoulder, spoke into her ear. “Just wait. Once it pulls us in, we’ll be sucked through a passageway. It will take us through a body of water, so you’ll have to hold your breath when I tell you. Okay?”
She nodded, fighting back the panic as she tried to picture what he’d explained. Where were they going to go? Straight through the mountain? Beneath it?
She tried to slow the pace of her breaths to match Calvin’s, forcing the rise and fall of her chest to sync with his. After a few breaths, she succeeded. The steady, calming motion of their breathing soothed her. In, and then out, as one.
After a few more breaths, she became impatient. “Are you sure this is going to work?” Just as the words escaped her lips, she noticed a sudden change in the air. A massive suction yanking them back.
“Now,” Calvin shouted.
Evie sucked in a giant breath of air as the force pulled them backward. Though Calvin had explained what would happen, she flinched as they crashed through the cool sheet of water, still expecting a brutal collision with the mountain wall to stop them short.
It didn’t. An empty, open space greeted them, dark and brisk. Evie opened her eyes, peeked over her and Calvin’s shoulder to see what they were approaching. The jagged, moss-covered rocks were gone. In their place stood what looked like a large, black sheet of glass. She tensed up as they crashed through its surface, shocked as she realized what the black-looking mass really was–water–a dark wall of it that defied gravity, holding in place as if it were ice.
The ominous body of water immersed them completely. The frigid blackness, unbearably cold, made Evie’s chest ache and her scalp sting. The shock of it nearly kicked the breath out of her lungs in one blow. She tightened her lips, unwilling to let more air escape, unsure of how long it would have to last.
Calvin’s grip on her was fierce–it had to be; the massive suction could have easily torn them apart. As they plunged deeper, further, Evie released small bubbles of air, bursts at a time, hoping to make it last as the cold water pressed against her body. To Evie, it felt like being on some long, winding, waterslide, only without the thrill. She was scared. Afraid she might run out of air before they ever surfaced. Terrified that Calvin might arrive to find she hadn’t survived the journey.
Her first dose of comfort came as she noticed they were no longer plunging into greater depths. The black, eerie tunnel of water forced them upward now. She was encouraged; they had to be close. She could do it. She could hold on a little longer.
It felt as if her lungs might burst as she released the last spurts of oxygen through pursed lips. The tightness in her chest began to ache and swell.
At last they broke through the surface, and Evie sucked in a giant breath of air, grateful to have her lungs filled again. Propelled by the invisible motion, they were thrown from the cold, murky water and into some warm, musky pit. Though Calvin’s strong arms created a protective cage around her, their collision with the hard ground knocked the new air from her.
As they rolled to a stop, she took in their surroundings pieces at a time: Glowing, fiery lamps, cave-like walls, and the damp, dark ground beneath them. Her head spun.
“Are you okay?” Calvin asked, bringing his chin to her shoulder.
She struggled for breath. “Yeah, thanks.”
Calvin released Evie and came to a stand, helping her up to her feet as well. A brief moment passed while they checked out their surroundings. Evie circled in place, wringing a cool trickle of water from her shirt. Walls of solid rock created a spacious cave, their distinct color matching the large terracotta pots on her porch. The mere image of the old, wooden porch struck Evie with a sudden longing for home. Her world had become entwined with darkness, evil beings that belonged to her worst nightmare. And now her own home felt like something from a dream. Even more impossible than the hidden worlds and living dead.
She pushed thoughts of home from her mind, focusing instead on the torches lining the stony walls. There were so many of them, placed every two or three feet apart. Evie was glad for it; they offered heat as well as light.
Calvin wiped at the dirt clinging to his bare arms and scanned the mouth of the cave. “We better hurry.” He grabbed Evie’s hand and led her toward the opening.
Evie glanced behind her. The deep, dismal body of water they’d just journeyed through looked black as oil, and she couldn’t help but fear it. The rest of the area was closed off by rock walls in all directions but one, where it narrowed off and led to what looked like a hallway. That’s where Calvin led her.
Voices blared out in jumbled tones, bouncing off the rock walls as they approached the corridor.
Frightening echoes, howls, and moans–the undeniable sounds of the damned.
Evie hid herself behind Calvin as they rounded the corner and headed along the path. A long stretch of solid rock lined one side of the tunnel-like hallway, dimly lit with the same torches at the mouth of the cave. The ancient-looking lights were spread thinner here, maybe nine or ten feet apart now.
As they crept down the corridor, the yellow glow dimmed between each torch, creating lengthy shadows that stretched like long, boney fingers toward the end of the hallway. To her right were three large openings, spaced amply apart along the length of the hall. She couldn’t see into any of them yet, but realized they must house the trapped beings Calvin told her about, the ones trying to communicate with them now. With each step, the voices grew louder, clearer.
Calvin kept Evie to his left, along the wall, leaving himself closest to the open spaces ahead. He shielded her as they walked, strong and protective, and gave her hand a comforting squeeze as they approached the first room.
“You’re here, you’re here,” a female voice came from the first opening. “You’re finally here. Come now. Come, and I’ll show you how to release me,” she coaxed in a desperate tone.
Evie’s heart thumped harder, faster, in anticipation of seeing the face behind the shrill voice. “I’ll help you, if you help me,” the woman promised.
Calvin slipped his arm around Evie as they reached the first chamber, shielding her with his body, keeping the crazed woman out of sight.
Evie tried to keep from glancing over, knowing she’d be unable to erase any images she saw. She focused instead on the ground, the tiny rocks that were sent scurrying from beneath their shoes and beyond the reach of the light.
“Oh, lovely,” the cackling voice praised, causing Evie to flinch.
Calvin pushed past her cell. “Don’t listen to her.”
“Help me,” the woman spat, screaming now. “You need to help me. You have to set me free. You must!”
Calvin sped up, encouraging Evie to pick up the pace, but Evie’s curiosity built, and as much as she didn’t want to see the trapped woman, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing over her shoulder.
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