People near the explosion flinched but remained still, too shocked to move. A few of them started running, causing the rest to follow them, like a herd of sheep. Some nearby police officers began directing people to safety.
Godlin grabbed Andrew with one hand, Christine with the other, and lifted them to their feet with ease. It surprised Andrew how strong Godlin was.
Andrew lunged back toward the building when he saw Raptor standing in the burning doorway. Godlin caught him by the arm before he could rush over. With irregular steps, she walked toward the others and muttered something inaudible. Raptor sank to the ground, rubbing her head.
Letting go of Andrew and Christine, Godlin went to aid Raptor. “You tried to save the Stone of Power, didn’t you?” He sounded exasperated as he reached down to her, but she waved him away. She reached up and touched a gash on the side of her head. The wound did not appear deep, but it oozed out a steady stream of blood.
Andrew watched Christine. She stood, observing the building with disbelief etched onto her face. Touching her on the shoulder, Andrew tried to say something, but he had no words. Christine wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
It brought him comfort, and they stood together for a long moment, holding one another and resting in each other’s embrace.
“It’s gone,” Raptor said with a moan. She touched her head again with a wince. “God, that hurt.”
“What do you mean ‘gone’?” Godlin growled.
“Someone took it—a very short man with the ugliest brown shoes I’ve ever seen …” She trailed off, rubbing the blood off her fingers and onto her jeans.
“Is he the one who set the trap?”
“No idea. He snuck up behind me. He must have entered the room while we were gone. Just caught a glimpse before I passed out, but I didn’t recognize him.” Raptor gave a frustrated growl. “I should have paid more attention. God damn it!” She curled her fingers into a pair of fists. “He must still be here. And we’re going after him!”
She held out a hand to Godlin. Taking it, he helped her to her feet.
Christine pulled away from Andrew. “Hey, you didn’t answer my question. What do you have to do?”
Andrew scanned the fair, watching families huddled together in fear against the odd backdrop of blaring music, bright lights, and rides still running behind them, but mostly he waited, avoiding the question for a moment. He noticed that despite the obvious danger, a small group of people had gathered to watch. The police officers attempted to usher people out of the fair, but it was slow going. Complicating matters, a few people nearest the explosion had suffered minor injuries.
With a touch on his shoulder, Christine popped Andrew out of his thoughts. His arms hung loose by his sides as he focused his attention on her. “I have to go with them and never come back because they want to make it look like I vanished.”
“Won’t they at least give you a chance to think about this?” A hurt expression crossed over Christine’s features, her eyebrows pinching together
“There’s more going on than just the bomb. There’s another mission. If I leave to help them and then come back, it’s going to cause people to ask questions.”
“You’re just going to give up everything, just like that?” Christine asked.
Andrew nodded, trying to smile, but he knew it was a terrible excuse for one. “I’m sorry.” He started to say more, but Raptor interrupted them.
“We’ve got to find the Stone of Power. How familiar are you two with the people at the fair?”
Christine spoke up. “I know most everyone my age. Why?”
“Scan the crowd. Tell me if you see someone you don’t know. I know it’s a long shot, but he can’t have gotten far.”
With a frown, Christine started to scan the crowd. Andrew tried to help as well, but he only recognized a few people. A short distance away, Raptor and Godlin spoke in hushed tones. Andrew stepped over to them.
“Christine needs to come with us,” Raptor whispered to him. She spoke in Keeper.
“Why?” Andrew asked in a surprised tone, causing Christine to look back at him.
“What are you guys talking about?” she asked. Suspicion wrinkled her forehead.
Raptor glared at Andrew but said to Christine, speaking in English, “Anyone?”
Squinting her eyes, she scanned the crowd again. “I know some of them, but I don’t see anyone that stands out or anything.”
To Andrew, Raptor whispered, “This bomb changes things. It’s going to get a lot more attention than just one teenager running away. It will be easier to clear you two of any involvement if you’re both gone from here tonight.”
One of the police officers noticed them standing by the electrical box. “Hey! Get out of there!”
Raptor muttered, “Crap.” She took a step toward the police officer but halted with a wince.
Godlin caught her by the arm and let her use him as a crutch. “Easy. The Stone of Power drained you, and you’ve gone almost nonstop for four days straight now.”
Before Raptor could reply, a popping sound drew everyone’s attention to the building as another small explosion went off. It let out a tired groan, and the flimsy structure folded in on itself like a house of cards.
“Look!” Andrew said as he pointed at the building. A crystalline mass oozed from the remains of the haunted house, right in between the group and the police officer.
Everyone stepped back as the monster pulled itself out of the rubble.
At first, Andrew thought the white worm had followed them from Tenebris. No, he thought, this was something different. The monster was like a strange upside-down octopus, or even a sea anemone, with tentacles radiating out from a large, central body the consistency of Jell-O. The skin of the tentacle creature was iridescent like an oil slick, shifting colors every time it moved.
Most of the creature’s mass sat motionless, but a single tentacle slid its way toward the police officers. The police drew their guns as they backpedaled away from the creature, but they did not fire.
The crystal tentacle lashed out at the nearest one. He jumped away, but the creature moved faster and wrapped around his body. A high-pitched scream of excruciating pain followed. Other tentacles sprang into motion and started to snatch people. The police shot the creature, sending out bright pulses of light across its body, but they did not seem to faze it. Those outside of the monster’s reach fled in horror.
Andrew averted his gaze, squeezing his eyes shut. The screaming abruptly went silent.
The creature shifted its body, drawing itself up and turning its attention to Godlin, Raptor, Andrew, and Christine. A long tentacle lashed out at Raptor, but she kicked it off, and Godlin pulled her out of its reach.
“Portal?” Godlin asked.
“Not enough time. If it grabs any of us, it’ll be joining us wherever we go.” The tentacles whipped out toward them again.
“Bloody hell, run!” Godlin shouted and moved toward an adjacent building, helping Raptor to stay on her feet. Andrew and Christine followed close behind. A single tentacle slid toward them again, but the main bulk of the creature remained focused on the other people at the fair.
The group found a backdoor into the building, but it was locked. Godlin kicked the door open and stormed inside, with Andrew and Christine on his heels. Spinning around, Godlin slammed the door closed, muting the terrified yells from outside.
Before Andrew could focus his thoughts, Christine screamed and pointed to the door. The crystalline creature slammed itself against the building and burst in, pouring its massive body through the small hole.
Godlin fell away from the door, pulling Raptor with him.
Forcing herself to stand, Raptor said, “Out the front! We need to put distance between us and it first.”
They ran along a set of coaster tracks and past the motionless carts of a ride Andrew thought was called the Astro-Turbo. Stars and planets in ultraviolet paint dotted the black walls. Black lights gave the ride an ot
herworldly, psychedelic effect, as it made the artwork on the walls neon bright. He cringed as he ran past a green, plastic alien, noting the irony that a real alien chased him. The group’s footfalls echoed in the abandoned building; everyone had fled the area.
The tracks of the rollercoaster eventually led them outside. As they reached the exit, the colored tentacles rose up in front of them like a shimmering tsunami. Raptor tried to turn away, but one of the tentacles smashed into her, knocking her to the ground. She growled as the tentacle touched her. It left a burn mark across her upper arm. The tentacle started to wrap around her, but she flipped over and kicked it as she scrambled away. Another tentacle separated from the others and started toward her.
Behind them, the colored tentacles chasing them through the backdoor caught up to the group, trapping them in the hallway. It remained stationary, guarding the exit.
With a yell, Andrew leapt into the fray. He landed between the colored tentacles and Raptor. It turned on him, wrapping around his arm. Andrew screamed, his skin feeling as though he had pressed his arm into a stovetop.
Raptor grabbed Christine and pulled the young woman behind her, pressing her to the wall and keeping her out of immediate danger.
Godlin headed straight for Andrew. He grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the opposite wall. The creature let go of Andrew and returned its attention to Raptor and Christine.
“Stay,” Godlin said firmly. He charged after the crystalline creature again.
Andrew nodded in response, trembling from the pain in his arm. The tentacle had left bright red marks like a sunburn down its length.
Raptor fended off the mass as best as she could, but it managed to grab ahold of her by the arms. The tentacles flexed back, dragging her with it. She yelled out. Several new burn marks covered her skin.
As Godlin reached her, he grabbed one of the tentacles. He grimaced in pain but held on, trying to free Raptor. A tentacle coiled back on itself and punched forward, slamming into Godlin’s chest, sending him flying backward. With a grunt, he landed against the wall beside Andrew.
“Run, Godlin! It’s targeting me!” The crystalline creature wrapped around Raptor and tightened into a death grip. She gave another cry of pain, the burns covering her whole body. The writhing mass pinned her in place.
Godlin snarled, holding his head as he pushed off the wall.
“Get them out of here!” Raptor shouted again. Another scream issued from her mouth, but this one sounded far more painful. With a sharp pop, she vanished. The smell of ozone lingered in the air.
The colored tentacles swarmed over themselves, rising up in the room. Andrew covered his head with his arms, expecting the tentacles to crash down on top of him. Then the mass pulled away, leaving the exits clear. Godlin stood there, watching helplessly.
Ripples of bright lights ran across the crystalline creature’s body, and a thin crack appeared in the sky right above it.
A gasp came from Godlin. “That’s a portal. The hell is that thing?”
The creature reached toward the rip in the sky, the tentacles stretching into the portal and pulling it upwards. It vanished, and the crack faded away, leaving the sky empty.
“Andrew!” Christine ran toward him. “Are you all right?”
Andrew held his arm protectively, ignoring Christine. He barked at Godlin, “I thought only Quester Stones could open portals. Where did it take her?”
“Some aliens are capable of it, but it may be a Quester.” Godlin narrowed his eyes. “And I wish I knew. It teleported her somewhere.”
“We have to go get her.” Andrew felt a tightness in his chest. He leaned over, putting his hands on his knees, and took a deep breath.
“It’s not that simple.” Godlin stomped away, a frown on his face as he studied the sky.
Christine gawked at Andrew. “This is too much for me. How can you want to go with them? I’m done. No, we’re both done. Andrew, you need to come home.”
Andrew shook his head, his back straightening. “I can’t; they need me.”
“This is not like you,” she said. “You can’t just throw everything away like this and go off with a pair of strangers. Look at what happened.” Christine held an arm out, motioning to the empty fair. “We went from one fight to another, a never ending series of death traps. Is that how you want to live?”
Andrew frowned. “But Raptor’s in trouble. She—”
“She,” Christine snarled, “dragged us into that place and nearly got us killed.”
Godlin turned to the teenagers. “We need to leave before we’re found.”
“No, I’m going home,” Christine snapped. She started for the exit.
Andrew chased after her and grabbed her by the arm, “Wait.”
“Oh, I’ve bloody well had enough of this.” Godlin cursed. He reached over and touched Andrew on the shoulder. Then he reached up and touched his ear. “Mouse. Lock onto my signal and portal when you’ve got it.”
“What?” Andrew asked as Godlin grabbed him.
Christine pulled away from Andrew, but Godlin grabbed her by the other arm. “Sorry, Christine, but you’re coming too.”
She yelled for help and tried to squirm away, but Godlin kept a tight grip.
Andrew frowned, but he did not try to break away. He yelped as a small shock of electricity zapped him.
With a sharp popping sound, the fair vanished before his eyes.
Chapter Seven
Raptor found herself standing on a pale blue floor, a bright white light illuminating the world around her. Whichever way she turned, the light mimicked her movements—a constant shadow.
She recognized this place. It was her dreamworld, her conduit to Earth. The planet must have needed to communicate with her, she thought. Raptor wondered what had happened to her body. She remembered the crystalline creature grabbing her but everything went black when the pain overwhelmed her.
Raptor mentally prepared herself for what was coming. Everything in the dreamworld was always more intense than the waking.
Her mind filled with images that did not belong to her. The first was of Andrew and the emotion of need, like a hollow feeling in her stomach—the same emotion she had felt when Earth first told her about Andrew.
She pushed back on the emotion, drawing up pictures of the Stone of Power and it attacking Andrew. She wanted Earth to know she understood he was a Keeper.
A burst of anger slammed into her mind. Raptor immediately dropped the image. The sense of anger faded away. She knew Earth had not directed it at her, but she did not want the emotion overwhelming her either. Earth hated the Stone of Power, with an intense fury, though she did not know why. The planet tolerated other Quester Stones living on it, even allowing them to take humans as their Questers, except the Stone of Power.
Earth invaded her mind again with another flood of emotions and images.
A shadow hovered beside Andrew and again the feeling of need accompanied it.
Raptor did not understand what the shadow represented. Then Christine came to mind. The shadow faded, showing an image of Christine speaking to Andrew. The hungry feeling remained.
She knew what she needed Andrew for—he was a Keeper. But Christine? She had no idea.
Raptor tried to press back confusion, even though she knew the planet would not understand. When no response came, she tried turning the emotion of need around and directing it back to the planet along with an image of Christine. She briefly wondered if Christine was a Keeper too, since she had been surrounded by the same feeling as Andrew.
This time, the planet’s anger bore down on her. No, more like irritation, Raptor decided, but she understood the sensation. Christine was not a Keeper.
As soon as the thought passed her mind, the anger lifted. Earth pressed back on her with just the feeling of need.
Raptor knew continuing was fruitless. The planet had made its best efforts to explain. She would have to figure out what it wanted with Christine on her own. All she coul
d do was keep Christine with the Keepers until whatever it was became clear.
That seemed to satisfy the planet, and the sensation of need left her.
Raptor wanted to warn Earth about the shifts. She tried to convey an image of strings of different dimensions pulling the planet apart and her fear of the event—a difficult image to portray, but it seemed to work. Earth returned the emotion of fear, much stronger than she had expected. It engulfed Raptor’s emotions before she was prepared.
Earth was not just afraid; it was terrified. She could not fathom what would scare a planet. Before she could figure out what Earth was trying to tell her, it released her from the dream.
Raptor woke with a start, sitting straight up and sucking down a deep breath of air. The fear gripped her, overpowering her senses. It took her some moments to realize she had returned to her body and no longer stood in the white void. She was somewhere unfamiliar to her, sitting on a white leather sofa in an elegant office. In front of her stood an imposing oak desk with a young man sitting behind it. Him, she did recognize.
“Venom,” she hissed through gritted teeth, anger boiling up inside of her. She wanted to attack the man on sight, but Earth’s fear clung to her mind, giving her pause. She looked away and the feelings lightened, but when she turned her attention back to him, the fear returned. Earth had been trying to warn her about Venom. Perhaps he meant to really finish her off this time.
Venom stood and made his way over to her. He was about twenty years old and had sand-colored hair, pale gray eyes, and light, cream-colored skin. He wore a solid white business suit, accented with a salmon pink tie, just visible under a sharply cut white vest he wore under the jacket.
He pulled at the collar of his black dress shirt, opening his mouth as if to say something, but stayed silent. He closed it again, reaching his hand out to try to touch Raptor.
She recoiled from him, focusing on her anger, and tried to push the feelings of fear away. Earth had intruded deep into her emotions, and it would be a while before she could separate herself from them.
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