by James Riley
“Who?” Bethany said quietly. “Who are these people?”
“The less you know, the better,” the voice said. “For now, just believe me when I tell you that you need to stop.”
“No!” she shouted, jerking around in the chair and trying to get a better look, even though the chains bit painfully into her skin. “Tell me who they are. Tell me who you are! How do you know me? Do you know where my father is? I need to know! Please!”
“Stop trying to find him,” the voice said, almost sounding sympathetic. “Looking will only lead to darkness and pain for both worlds. Let him go, and take solace in what you still have: a mother who loves you.”
Bethany growled in frustration. “I’m not going to stop!” she screamed. “I will find him, I don’t care what it takes!”
“And that attitude is what got you here.”
Her eyes widened. “How do you know any of this?”
“Oh, I know far more than you think,” the voice said. “I know about you and your friends . . . even your father. So believe me when I tell you that you must never find him. That is all I can say.”
“No, please!” Bethany shouted. “Help me get out of these chains. Let me see who you are!”
“You know how to free yourself,” the voice said, getting farther away.
“No, I can’t,” she said, not sure if there was water on her face or if she was crying. “I can’t do it again. Not to them, too. I can’t!”
“It’s the only way,” the voice said, even farther now. “You must leave and save yourself.”
“Please, help me!” she shouted. “Please!”
“I saw what you did on Argon VI,” the voice said, and this time she could barely hear it. “I know how you feel, and what this means to you. That is why I cannot release you. Escape, Bethany. Leave all of this behind, and forget about it. The worlds will both be safer if you do.”
Argon VI?! How could this person have seen her there? “What do you mean?” she shouted. “How would they be safer?”
But this time there was no response.
Bethany shouted again, and flailed around in the chair so hard that she splashed water all over herself. Crying in frustration, she yanked on the chains over and over, but all she did was make her hands bleed from the hard metal.
Argon VI. How could anyone have seen her there? She hadn’t told Owen or Kiel. Doyle didn’t know. No one knew, other than EarthGirl.
The memory of her time on the other planet filled her mind, and somehow, it actually managed to calm her down. She stared at the chains, then at her red, scratched hands, and finally at the chair she was laying on.
She’d been going about this the wrong way. Too much doing, not enough thinking.
She dropped the chains, and instead reached behind her for the soaking wet cushion on the chair, which she pulled out as best she could. Once she’d managed to get it off the chair, she unzipped the cover and yanked out the cushion. That she tossed aside, then took the cushion cover and wrapped it around her hands for protection.
Then she grabbed the chains again.
The cover protected her skin enough for her to pull as hard as she could. First one chair leg, then the other pulled free, and instantly she jumped to her feet, pulling against the heavy weight of the unattached chains on her wrists, searching for whoever had been talking to her.
Except nobody was there, and there was no way out of the room, other than the door Doyle had used. And that had been in her sight the entire time.
Who was her visitor? And how had he managed to see her on a completely different planet?!
MISSING CHAPTER 3
One month ago, the same night . . .
The green sun of Argon VI beat down on Bethany as she punched a hole straight through a mountain, screaming at the top of her lungs until her throat hurt. She leaped into the air, flying hundreds of feet into the yellow sky, then turned her laser vision on the desert floor beneath her, burning the sand into glass. She then dove back down to the surface, splintering the glass into dust so fine it felt like snow.
“WHERE ARE YOU?” she screamed into the empty sky as she sank to her knees, her voice like thunder. She punched the ground a few more times, tears falling and mixing with the dirt on her face. “WHY CAN’T I FIND YOU?”
She leaped back into the air and rocketed off toward the ocean, a sonic boom exploding behind her. She hit the water with a sound like a bomb going off, tunneling through it so quickly that she left only steam behind her, then aimed straight down. She hit the sea floor hard enough to send tremors in all directions, then spun around in a circle as fast as she could, twisting the water into a funnel all the way to the surface, an enormous whirlpool a mile deep.
She stopped, and as the ocean water began to collapse in on her, she clenched her fists and exploded up through it, leaving behind another cloud of steam as she flew off—
Only to be hit in the face by something that felt hard as a rock. Everything went dark as Bethany spun around, crashing back to the ground in the middle of a field, sending corn flying. She looked up in surprise and found someone floating in the air in front of her: a girl in jeans and a white T-shirt with a blue ball on it and a black hoodie that covered her face. Beneath the hood two red eyes glowed like lasers, and Bethany could feel the heat from where she stood.
No. No, no, no! What had she done?!
“Good morning!” EarthGirl said, her burning eyes staring straight into Bethany’s. “Now, I’m not sure who you are or why you’re being all crazy. But please stop destroying things, if you don’t mind. Wouldn’t you rather just discuss your problem, so I can help you fix it?” The glow in her eyes began to fade, and she gave Bethany an embarrassed look. “I’m really sorry I punched you, by the way. I hate punching. It always feels so ridiculous.”
“I . . . I can’t talk to you,” Bethany said, frantically trying to figure out what page in EarthGirl: Doomsday on Argon VI she’d jumped into. Was she interrupting the plot? Had she just pulled EarthGirl away from something important? “I’m sorry, for . . . for all of this. I need to go.” And with that, Bethany took off into the air, another sonic boom exploding behind her.
“Thank you!” EarthGirl said from right beside her, her voice somehow reaching Bethany despite them both flying faster than the speed of sound. “Apologies are a good place to start. But I’ve never met anyone who could do what I do before. What’s your name?”
“It’s not important,” Bethany said, abruptly skidding to a halt in midair. The green sun gave anyone from Earth superpowers here, which meant that anywhere Bethany could go, EarthGirl could easily follow.
“I’m Gwen,” EarthGirl said, pulling her hoodie off to reveal a dark-skinned girl about Bethany’s age with long brown hair. She stuck out her hand, then wrinkled her nose at it. “I hope I’m not offending you. I’ve read that people from my home planet used to greet each other this way, with their hands. I’m from a place named Ay-arth.”
“Earth,” Bethany corrected, then winced.
“So you do know it,” Gwen said, a small smile playing over her face.
Bethany turned bright red. “You tricked me?” How many rules could she break here at once? Talking to a main character was bad enough, but EarthGirl knew that there were other people who knew about Earth now too!
Gwen shrugged. “Not tricking so much as just skipping some steps. What’s your name?”
Ugh. “Bethany,” she said, taking Gwen’s hand. “I really, really hope you weren’t busy just now. Because if I’m interrupting anything—”
“Nah,” Gwen said, waving a hand. “I just finished disassembling this robot thing that was trying to destroy the world. A girl at school built it. We’re actually good friends.” She sighed. “Well, she’s friends with Gwen. She kind of hates EarthGirl.” She pointed at the T-shirt she wore. “It’s a whole thing, and I keep wanting to fix it, but, honestly, I have no idea how.”
“Sounds complicated,” Bethany said, inwardly sighing with relief. If
Gwen had completed the book’s story, at least Bethany might not be changing much, assuming she got away without making things worse. “Listen, I really shouldn’t take up more of your time. I was just in the, uh, solar system, and—”
“So you’re from Earth too?” Gwen said, pulling Bethany gently by the hand back to the ground. “How did you survive it blowing up? How did you get here? I have so many questions! ”
“I know you do,” Bethany told her, inwardly screaming. “And I promise, someday you’re going to find out everything you want to know.” Like, two books from now, even. “But I’m not the one to tell you, okay? Trust me. I’m . . . I’m just like you, I have no idea how I survived, or where I am.”
Gwen’s face fell, and Bethany felt even worse. “Listen, I’m sorry,” Gwen said. “I didn’t mean to be so pushy. Of course you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
“It’s not that, really!” Bethany said quickly.
“I hope I’m not weirding you out,” Gwen said. “It’s so hard to know anything about Earth culture. All I have are some old books my parents put in my rocket, but most of those were about these people called detectives, who are always solving crimes.” She sighed. “I’m trying to be a good detective here, on Argon VI, but I never know if I’m doing a good job, or if I’d just be embarrassing my real parents, you know?” She paused, her eyes lighting up again. “Wait. Do you know anything about detectives?”
She had to get away. This conversation could only lead to bad, bad things. But how? Could she burrow into the ground fast enough to hide before Gwen caught up, so she could jump out of the book? “Sure,” Bethany answered, glancing around for a likely spot. “You’re doing a great job. Detectives solve crimes, help the police, that kind of thing. Just like what you’re doing.”
“The police, yeah!” Gwen said, getting excited. “They show up a lot! Only they’re usually not very smart, and the detectives have to figure things out for them.”
Bethany half smiled in spite of herself. “Don’t believe everything you read.”
“Bethany, please, talk to me,” Gwen said, sitting down on the ground and locking her arms around her knees. “Who are you? Where do you come from? I’ll take whatever I can get. I just . . . I just really want to know about my parents and my world.”
Bethany gritted her teeth. Maybe she could run fast enough to disappear into the distance before Gwen was back on her feet? She started to turn, then looked down at her hand, which Gwen had grabbed. “Please,” Gwen said, her expression one Bethany had seen far too often on her own face. “Please, I just need to know.”
And suddenly, the rules just didn’t seem that important. “I’m . . . from the future,” Bethany said, thinking of the plot of an upcoming EarthGirl book. “I’ve come back to your time to . . . to look for my father. He’s lost here somewhere, but I have no idea how to find him.”
“The future?” Gwen said, her eyes widening. “There are Earth people in the future? How?”
“I can’t tell you that,” Bethany said, hating herself for lying to this poor girl. “It’d mess up the entire time line. You know how it is.”
Gwen nodded, but her face fell. “Oh. Sure, I guess. Well, at least I can help you find your father. Let’s get started. Where have you looked?”
Bethany just stared at her. “You can’t . . . I mean, I appreciate the help, but—”
“Detectives help find people, Bethany,” Gwen said, leaping to her feet. “If I’m going to be one, then this is the least I can do. Besides, you seem nice, when you’re not breaking up my mountains.” She grinned, and for a moment Bethany almost considered letting her help.
Then something she had said sank in.
“Detectives help find people,” Bethany whispered, and all the frustration and horribleness of the night faded away, just like that. “Gwen,” she said quietly, “you have no idea how amazing you are. Spectacular. Incredible. All the adjectives.”
Gwen blushed, then shoved Bethany’s shoulder, a hit that would have sent Bethany flying if she hadn’t dug her feet into the ground. “Stop it,” Gwen said, smiling shyly. “I’m sure all Earth people are like this.”
Bethany started to laugh, then stopped and nodded instead. “Yes. They are. All Earth people are incredibly nice and helpful.” She hugged Gwen, then stepped back. “Thank you, seriously. So much.” And then she said something she never, ever thought she’d say. Part of her screamed at the idea, but the rest of her didn’t care. “Maybe I can come back and hang out a little more, when I’m done?”
“That’d be great!” Gwen said, giving her a grin as she pulled her hoodie over her head. “By the way, I hope you think this costume of our people is respectful toward them?”
“Very,” Bethany said, and laughed. “I love it!” She waved good-bye, then clicked a nonexistent communicator on her wrist. “Bethany, ready to beam back to the future!” she said to no one, then jumped back out of the book, figuring her “time travel” would account for her just disappearing.
As soon as she hit her bed, she got on her computer and searched the online catalog at the library. The first few books she found, she dismissed. It couldn’t be anything too obvious, or too big. Nothing that was still going. Had to be a series that was over, and one that as few people as possible had read.
There. Perfect. She clicked the reserve button, just to make sure it was there tomorrow.
Detective books. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? When someone went missing, of course you went to a detective.
And thanks to the library, she had just reserved one of the greatest detectives of all time.
CHAPTER 17
01:28:49
Kiel rubbed his aching head as he pushed himself off the alleyway’s wall, where he’d been leaning after the last memory hit. That one had come out of nowhere (and wasn’t the most useful for the current situation) but at least his memories were returning, if slowly.
Still, sometimes magic really did create headaches.
But there was no time to waste feeling sorry for himself. Bethany had a little less than ninety minutes before he’d never see her again, and Kiel was no closer now than he’d been twenty minutes ago.
Why couldn’t he have his magic? This would be done in seconds! Or even Charm? She always knew what to do in these situations. Sure, Kiel liked to give her a hard time, but only because she enjoyed it so much. And without Charm, he’d never have found so much as the First Key to the Source of Magic, let alone any of the others.
But Charm was far away in Quanterium, and he was stuck in the nonfictional world. Here, he needed an expert on the boring and normal. Here, he needed Owen.
With a groan, Kiel started back out toward the police station, each extra minute weighing heavily on his mind. What if he ran out of time and was too late to rescue Bethany? Sure, he couldn’t remember the past month or so of their time together, but what Kiel could remember made him smile. And not the smile he flashed for other people, the one designed to put them at ease, to make them think Kiel had a plan and knew what he was doing. Not even the smile he gave Charm to make her secretly enjoy herself in spite of everything.
No, this smile was just for himself, and that . . . that was something Kiel had never really felt before.
Bethany was just so unlike anyone he’d ever known. All her rules, all her worries made him want to grab her hand and jump off a cliff with her, just to see her excitement break through. The times when she had just let go and gone fictional, she’d seemed so happy, and the memory gave Kiel a warm feeling throughout his chest.
The sight of the police station, though, killed that feeling. He paused a block away, watching the police cars skidding to a stop outside of it and the steady flow of criminals in and police officers out. Busy night, apparently.
Kiel wiped his hands on his pants, not sure why his palms were so sweaty. He’d done this before, been in police stations dozens of times. The Science Police had picked him up constantly when he was just
a thief on the streets.
So why was he so nervous? Kiel Gnomenfoot didn’t do nervous . . . at least not so anyone could tell. What would his fans all think if they knew that he was terrified half the time? They’d be let down, and that was something Kiel wasn’t ever going to let happen.
He wiped his hands again, pasted a smug grin on his face, and stepped confidently toward the police station. He’d find Owen, they’d escape, and together they’d find Bethany in minutes. Owen would know what to do. This was his world, and he knew this Doyle guy.
It’d all be okay. It’d definitely all be okay.
So why wasn’t he moving?
Kiel looked down at his traitorous lower limbs. Hmm. Apparently his feet were making this more difficult than it needed to be. He gave them an annoyed look and forced his leg to step forward.
It refused, staying put exactly where he’d had it.
What was happening? Kiel Gnomenfoot, boy magician and savior of all Magisteria, was scared of being caught by the police? Just because he had no magic and no idea what he was doing in this world? Just because for the first time in his life, he honestly wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back out once he stepped inside the police station?
Maybe his feet knew more than he did.
Kiel backed away into the shadows, realizing his heart was racing. This was ridiculous! He was Kiel Gnomenfoot! He’d faced down dragons, fought crazy clones of himself, and even gone past the edge of existence. Just because he was completely powerless now, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t handle himself.