He went to sit down, his lips forming a smile that never reached his eyes. He continued watching them, and as the silence dragged on, Albin felt the smile turn predatory. He ventured a glance at his friends to gauge their reactions. Aidan seemed to be in a wait and see mode, Sara was smiling back at Scarface, and Arthur and Titiana seemed to be elsewhere. Only Cosmo was also closely watching Scarface, studying him like he was a new species. Sensing they had little time to spare, Albin decided to say something.
“Sir, um, sir. It’s probably time to explain why we came to see you. Because, um, we don’t know how much time is left.”
Scarface’s smile grew wider, and finally his eyes showed amusement.
“Don’t worry about that. This room is sealed. Time can’t reach it. You’ll stay here as long as we wish.”
“And so we’re not in any hurry?”
“Don’t worry, I’m in charge of everything. Here, I’m the one who decides. Everything.”
They didn’t like how he repeated himself. Particularly Cosmo who was falling back into his old habits, forgotten since almost the beginning of their travels. He was going to show he was smarter.
“Since we have time to talk, may I ask you a couple of little questions?”
“Of course you may. Go right ahead.”
“There aren’t any animals on Lalea. We’ve traveled many miles, and the only ones we’ve seen were horses or these strange creatures around your castle. No one eats meat, except here. And reluctantly, if they do. I don’t think it’s because everyone is practicing an extreme form of vegetarianism. Correct me if I’m wrong.”
“No, carry on. I’m listening.”
“If there aren’t any animals...where did you get this leather?”
Albin flinched. It was an obvious question to ask, but he wondered if he really wanted to know the answer. Scarface’s smile grew even wider.
“Yes, it’s a beautiful armchair, isn’t it? And the most comfortable ever. I had it made especially for me. My former enemies made personal contributions to it. But they’re no longer here to tell the story, that’s for sure. No one else has ever sat on it. And that’s not about to change.”
As he was praising the qualities of his chair, bodyguards had entered the room, silent as shadows, and had grabbed ahold of them. Their grip was firm, seeming unlikely they would let go of them. The guards remained completely indifferent to their attempts to fight back. Having finished his short discourse, Scarface stood up slowly and stared at each one of them, gloating at his own wiliness. He was still smiling, but looking less friendly than a guillotine window.
When he walked towards Arthur, Finlay huddled under his shirt, curling into a tiny, warm and shivering ball against his stomach. He gripped Arthur so hard that his nails accidentally clawed him. Arthur hid the pain by frowning. He had a feeling Scarface wouldn’t be happy to find out about Finlay.
Scarface stopped in front of Titiana. He reached his hand towards her face as the guard held her firmly, thwarting her efforts to pull away when he turned her head to get a better look at the nape of her neck. Scarface rubbed his cold fingers along the birthmark at her hairline, a crescent moon, and then suddenly looked distracted. So much so that he missed seeing the flashes of hatred shooting from Titiana’s eyes when he turned to look at her again. By the time he had come to his senses, she had hidden the anger behind her usual timid expression.
Scarface began giving orders to his henchmen.
“Take the girl to the cage on the right wing. And dump the others somewhere on the left.”
Arthur’s reflex was less than helpful.
“But if you separate us, we can never return home.”
Scarface graced him with a smile, once again looking distracted as he rubbed a medallion he wore around his neck.
“Is that so? What a pity.”
And then he sat down at his desk and hummed, deaf to the yells and threats aimed at him as the guards led them away.
CHAPTER 18 IT ISN’T ALWAYS EASY BEING A HERO
The guards hauled them away like useless sacks, with no reaction to their pleas, demands, or gestures. They carried them away as they had been ordered. Their group was swiftly separated. While the guards lugged them down opposite hallways, Arthur, like a knight in shining armor, promised to rescue Titiana. But she gave them no sign that she’d heard him.
The trip seemed interminable as they were pushed down too many steps to count. As if Scarface wanted them locked up in the deepest and most remote hiding spot, past closed off halls, dark, with no exit in sight, no chance of getting free. As imperturbable as wooden soldiers, the guards didn’t loosen their hold until they had reached their prison cell, carelessly tossing them or rather shoving them to the ground. As they locked the door, one of them, the oldest, deigned to give them a piece of advice. His voice was dull and detached as his appearance, someone who had been buried beneath the weight of the years, villainous acts, and all it took to get there.
“No need to cry or scream your lungs out to wake up the city. The only attention you’ll attract is ours. And no one here likes being bothered for nothing. That could turn out really bad for you. If you look closely, you’ll find traces on the walls of what happened to the last prisoner who made us angry. Here, no one can hear you, no one is coming to rescue you. You’re too far away. To put in bluntly, you’re practically already dead.”
He closed the door behind him as he pronounced the last words with no hint of sarcasm or a sadistic wink to underscore the meaning. The room lacked any air flow or openings. The only ray of daylight came from under the closed door, and it was just a sliver, much too faint to for them to verify whatever might be on the wall.
Albin raised a hand in front of his face and couldn’t even see his fingers. He refrained from thinking about what could be lurking in the darkness between, behind, and around them. Then stories about rats in dank dungeons popped into his head, and he wasn’t sure he would know how to tame them. Aidan was mumbling somewhere behind him.
“I knew I shouldn’t have come, that this whole story was going to end up bad. As if traveling to other worlds would be no problem. And why did I agree to join this class...”
Instead of reminding him that he hadn’t had any choice, Albin concentrated on the others. He hadn’t heard a word from Cosmo since his remark about the leather armchair (he didn’t dare imagine how it had been made). Arthur alerted them to a trench he’d just fallen into. But what he really wanted was to reassure Sara. He groped along the nearest wall, trying to suppress his disgust when he came across large patches of what he supposed was moss. At least he hoped that was what he’d plunged his fingers into. He knew Sara well and practically knew in advance where to find her. She had taken refuge in a corner, her back turned away from the others, shoulders shaking from trying to hold back the tears. Always appear proud, never get flustered, or at least don’t show it. That could have been her motto. He placed a hand on her back and knelt down beside her. He thought he was whispering, but the room was so small that normal breathing made a loud reverberation.
“Don’t worry, it’s going to be OK. They won’t keep us here forever.”
“But it’s a true. If they don’t give us anything to eat or drink, we’ll die here. What? Maybe in a week? I’m positive they’re capable of it.”
“We have to get out of here.”
Sara ignored Arthur’s interjection.
“Wow. We were really had. ‘Go my children. Go see my dear friend. He needs your help.’ He played us for fools from the very beginning.”
“Maybe Merlin had no clue what was really going on.”
“Had no clue. Ha! And the earth is round or flat? He knew all about it from the very beginning. He really fooled. Simple as that.”
“Merlin had no idea. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“Oh, Artie, dear sweet Artie. You’re so naïve. Even before he’d walked into the classroom, you already believed he would love us. Take a look at where he sent us.”
“I was suspicious. He seemed strange to me, but you all were so enamored. You listened to him like his words were magic. I thought it was because I hadn’t taken part in the first trips. But I get it now, he wanted to destroy us. What a hypocrite he was with his fancy words and grand ideas. Anyhow, you can’t trust anybody. Particularly not a teacher.”
“Even if he’d known, there’s still a reason why we’re here. It would be ridiculous to make up a story just so we would end up lying in a cell. Think about it. There’s always a reason.”
“Right, sure. He was having fun tricking us!”
“No, Sara. There’s got to be more to it.”
“Maybe that they’re cannibals, but their religion forbids them from eating their own people. Their only solution was to get foreigners to come here. I’ve followed you in everything, Albin, but this time, I wish I hadn’t.”
Sara’s remark stung Albin more than he felt he deserved. She had hurt him where he was the most vulnerable. Arthur didn’t give them the chance to ratchet up the criticism and humiliation.
“You all must be blind! It’s because of Titiana. It’s always been about her. Why do you think they led us here? We have to free her. Let’s get out of here. Do you hear me, you bunch of idiots, good for nothings, stupid guards, let us go!”
Arthur had lost all control and was beating on the door while screaming his lungs out. Albin jumped up and grabbed him. He blocked him off from the door and had his hand over his mouth, almost suffocating him, to stop him from screaming.
“Stop it, shut up. You heard what they said. We’ve got to be careful. We’ll make it out of here, I promise. But not like this.”
He was glad no one asked him how he planned on doing it. He would have happily replied if only he knew the answer. For once, just this one time, he would have been willing to trade places with any one of them so he wouldn’t feel responsible for what was happening to them. Pass the burden onto someone else to make all the decisions. He couldn’t remember when he had taken charge, but he would go back to the past and change things if only it were possible. It isn’t always easy being a hero.
Once Arthur had calmed down, Albin let go of him, prepared to grab him if he tried again to attract attention. Arthur was bawling huge tears and sniffling like a child. Finlay crept up his torso and had his paws on Arthur’s shoulder, conscientiously licking the flowing tears. The others regrouped and came over to him. Without realizing it, they were all so close that they were physically connected to each other. Sitting cross-legged, one of Sara’s knees was wedged against Albin’s hip, the other knee serving as a resting spot for Cosmo’s elbow, and the circle continued. They sat stagnating in a freezing puddle that they hadn’t noticed when the guards had hoisted them into the cell. The cold and even the pneumonia they were likely to catch, as awful as that would be considering their handicaps, wasn’t their worst fear.
The circle was almost complete. Only Titiana was missing. Albin remembered how she had seemed to light up the path for them when they had traveled during the night.
“Why did they take her away?” he wondered.
“What?”
“Titiana. They locked us up together in one room. Without her. There must be a reason, right?”
“I think we’ll better understand the situation we’re in once we know the answer to this question.”
“Good thinking, smarty pants. Got an answer you’d like to propose?”
Cosmo thought long and hard before opening his eyes wide. He was wordless.
Aidan was starting to complain again when they heard a melody float from down the hall, a bluesy tune that saddened everyone while making them yearn to hit the road. The music was coming from a cell to their right, a harmonica according to Sara. She wasn’t able to identify the brand, but she was sure it was the same as her uncle’s. Every year, he played the happy birthday song on it, and she would have recognized it anywhere.
They rushed to the metal barred door separating them from the hallway, gripping the bars and twisting around to catch a glimpse of the musician.
A gnarled hand reached out to them, a man offering them walnuts, unusually big ones.
“Here, young ones, take them. You’ll need your strength. I no longer have what it takes to break open the shells, but I’m sure you’ll have no problem figuring it out. Are there enough for everyone? Go ahead, eat them. You’ll soon feel much better.”
“Sir, we have to get out of here. It’s really important. Do you know of a way?”
“There’s always a way. But you’ll have to find it yourselves. I had a hard enough time getting in here. Have you eaten the nuts?”
“Don’t worry, we will. Have you been here long?”
“No, but it already feels too long. Time in Scarface’s inner sanctum is so sluggish. It doesn’t change like it’s supposed to. I feel powerless here. But so far not completely, right, kids?”
“What do you mean?”
“The barred door.”
By the time they noticed the sealed door had turned into a barred gate allowing fingers to fit through it, their neighbor had disappeared. They could have imagined him if they didn’t have walnuts in their palms as proof.
The massive door, though transformed, still remained locked. While the others were talking and debating with each other, Arthur absentmindedly ate a walnut, but not without sharing it with his schlirb whom he set on the ground. Finlay trotted over to the metal bars, placed a paw against one of the frames, opened the barred door, and walked out. He headed toward the stairwell and then stopped on the first step, waiting for Arthur. Astounded and speechless, he tried to attract the attention of those around him who were arguing so much that they hadn’t noticed anything. He gave up pantomiming and grabbed Albin’s arm to pull him out of the jail cell. He wasn’t the only one shocked into speechlessness.
After hesitating a few seconds, they all exited, expecting at any moment for the illusion to disappear. When the last of them had exited, the bars undulated and turned backed into the solid door it had always been. Arthur, not wanting to wait while they pondered the phenomenon, begged them to move on. He was in a hurry to find Titiana.
They tiptoed to the stairs, trying to avoid alerting any guards lurking in the corner. They reached the first landing with no problems, then the next. They were beginning to relax when Arthur bumped into a table, knocking over a pile of bronze medals that clattered to the floor. In no time a shirtless, long-haired brute with fire in his eyes sprang out from nowhere. They made a dash for the next set of stairs as the man was yelling out to his fellow thugs. Unfortunately, the guards were well trained and rushed at them in a flash. Sara, the last in line, was attacked by the long-haired brute, a character out of a Stephen King novel with enormous hands that had grabbed her leg and was dragging her backwards despite the combined effort of Albin and Aidan who were pulling her back towards them. Arthur turned around, acting like an action hero, and ordered the guard to release her. The brute teased the little runt that he could have easily squashed with just one finger, and not even his biggest. Though there wasn’t any need since his fellow guards were right on his heels. Possessed by a certainty and strength more powerful than he’d ever known, Arthur raised his fists to fight, and the entire regiment of guards fell backwards in a flash of blue light.
Everyone froze when a waft of grilled meat reached their noses. Groggy guards and stunned students alike. Their eyes moved from Arthur’s hands to the men lying on the ground. Finlay shook them out their immobility, emitting his little screams of “schlirb” to get their attention. They continued racing up the stairs without stopping for a break. The guards behind them evaporated shortly after they left.
CHAPTER 19 BACK HOME IN THE TOWN THAT HAD AVOIDED THEM
Meanwhile back in their world, Merlin had to confront parents and inquisitive school administrators. Scarface hadn’t lied—the fortress was completely isolated. Merlin had tried in vain to bring them back. For an entire hour, he made every effort to ope
n the passageway. Reaching the limit of his power, he finally had to give up when the school principal threatened to knock down the door if he didn’t open it. Beyond exhausted from his concentrated battle with the elements, he collapsed behind the door he had just unlocked. He could only respond in a voice hoarse from screaming beyond the universe.
“I’ve lost them. I’ve lost them,” he cried into his hands, pitiful and wretched.
The principal shook him harshly, trying to get him to say something reasonable. He finally called a doctor to remove him from the classroom that he refused to leave.
The following day, the parents of the missing students filed a complaint against him. He was forbidden to enter the school and had to shut himself up at home to avoid the hateful stares on the street. A rumor circulated that he had used the handicapped students for experiments and then had disposed of their bodies. Everything that Albin had predicted was coming true, but no one was laughing. Merlin knew they wouldn’t have deliberately abandoned him without any warning. He knew better than anyone that they didn’t really mean it when they had acted willing to give up this world for Lalea. But who would believe anything he said now that he was alone?
The whole town had mobilized for the search of the school grounds—suddenly the misfits had become important. They wanted to find them and promised themselves that they would be much nicer to them if they discovered them alive. They were sincere, at least they thought so. As if their past mistakes could be washed away. Though how easy it would be to fall back into their old ways. They put so much fervor into their promises to themselves and to others that a few, the less naïve ones, dared wish that the teens were in a better place. Because promises are easy when you never have to carry them out.
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