The Boundary was around here somewhere, I could hear it buzzing, but the fog had me completely incapacitated.
“You guys!” I called, voice sounding both far away and very close.
There was a muffled answer from Lucas, but I couldn’t place where he was. I turned, trying to figure out where I had come from, but everywhere looked the same.
Gosh, Evelyn could be a pain sometimes.
There, over to the left! I could see light where the fog had thinned.
“Over here!” I shouted as I went blindly over. “Evelyn, Lucas!”
Ah, there was Lucas. Of course he had found— Wait…Lucas hadn’t been wearing grey, he had been wearing off-white…then who…?
“Hello Penny,” D greeted me amiably, turning around. There was nobody, absolutely nobody else it could have been.
My breath caught in my throat. D was here, standing right in front of me, which at one point had been stressed as impossible.
It – for I could find no gender in the voice, no characteristics that suggested male or female, although it was leaning towards the latter and was fully cloaked in a garment that hid its face from me, and which seemed to melt in with the creeping fog. I suppose I should have been scared, awed, or at least interested, but I could only feel anger. This was the person who had tricked me, who was in league with the Master, who hadn’t helped me help my friends.
“You,” I spat, utter loathing in my tone.
“Me,” D replied, unaffected. “Are you not pleased to see me, Penny?”
“Pleased? Pleased?” I laughed somewhat hysterically. “You must not be familiar with rejection, because I ripped up your letters and threw them away, then refused to acknowledge your existence.”
“I would beg to differ.” D shrugged. Unless I was going around the bend again, it almost looked like the cloak was flickering, ever so slightly, like a shadow when the sun starts going in. “You did take my advice when I offered it, you still trusted I was telling the truth when I gave you those letters and told you to defend yourself. Surely you do not disregard me that much?”
“I hate you, though,” I growled, unable to come up with a better retort. “You started the fire, you lied to me so many times, and I don’t know why I was stupid enough to listen to someone allied with Him.”
D laughed, an awful sound that made my blood run cold. “You say his name with such a reverence, and it’s actually very amusing. He is human, he is mortal, and he is not worthy of the fear you have of him.”
“But you are?”
“Depends,” D chuckled with a tilted head. “What are you afraid of?”
“What do you want?” I snapped, irritated and nonplussed. Evelyn and Lucas were out there somewhere, stumbling through the fog so very close to the Boundary, and all D was doing was bragging. That, and there was something about the shadowy presence which shook me to the core.
“To discuss the weather,” D replied airily. “To sightsee. To have a cup of tea and talk about old times. Or, more importantly, talk about the future. Not that it exists, but still makes for interesting conversation.”
“I’ll leave,” I threatened.
“All right.” D lifted a cloaked arm to gesture my dismissal. “Makes no difference to me. After you lose, we’ll have plenty of time to talk.”
I stood there, debating. D had been horrid to me, and probably whatever they had to say wouldn’t apply to my friends, which went against our pact. Yet I was intrigued as to why D had shown his face, and why, if it had been possible to talk like this, D had communicated lies through letters first.
“Fine. But I still hate you.”
“You’re not my favorite person either,” D pointed out frankly. “But it doesn’t matter. Have you any idea what those letters spell, by the way? Senseless babble, out of all the things they could have said…”
“Are they okay, the others?” I interjected forcefully. “Where are they?”
D just shook a cloaked head and laughed again, saying, “If I told you, it would ruin the mystery, now wouldn’t it? No point in that. They’re perfectly alive, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I clenched my fists, seething in frustration.
“Who are you?” I snapped, jabbing a finger in the direction of that flowing cloak, half obscured by the fog. “You clearly aren’t a previous habitant like you claimed, and you clearly aren’t…normal. The Master is afraid of you, you know my dreams, you won’t let me tell my friends, and you jump between helping me and hating me so fast it’s ridiculous! You said it was impossible for me to meet you before, but now you’re popping up everywhere and even speaking inside my head! You’re making this even more complicated, so if you don’t mind, either speak or get out, because I’ve had enough of being manipulated by people like you! Being in the dark sucks!”
D, stood there silently for a moment, then burst out laughing in that terrible, grating tone. The cloak shook, but still the face remained hidden.
“Penny, you are funny sometimes! You act so formidable, so in control…but you really don’t know much about anything, do you? This game we’ve been playing is nearly over, and you still haven’t the faintest idea what’s going on. You are in no position to command like that!”
I wanted to scream. I was about to yell something rude when D began talking again, laughs subsided and replaced by a drawling monologue.
“I lied to you about who I was, because I don’t think you’re ready for the truth. I still don’t. Letters are easier to communicate with, and easier to keep secret, so I wanted to try that first. As for Madon being scared…probably a tad harsh, but we, ah, know where we stand with one another. What I came to say was that the fairy tale you found under Avery’s bed is a mixture of truth and fantasy, but the part you must take heed of is clear – only one of you will make it out. And it has to be you. Madon and I have…disagreed over this. Trust me, it isn’t anything personal, and it isn’t out of the kindness of my heart, assuming I even have one, but there is something else in the equation that makes it imperative you win. That is why I have been trying to help you, and you alone. It has to be you.”
I stepped back, stunned. The Master didn’t want me out, but D did. And if D had the influence I suspected, then I would be the one getting out of here whilst my friends stayed behind.
I should have been happy to have assistance with freedom, but instead I had a sinking feeling that had nothing to do with the chilly winds beginning to blow the fog away. It was cheating, giving them no chance. Whatever made me special, whatever made them unworthy, it wasn’t fair.
“I don’t want your help,” I managed to hiss.
“Too bad.” D sighed carelessly. “You’re getting it. And, Penny? There’s nothing you can do about it.”
The wind blew violently for a moment, catching D by surprise, and for a moment the hood retracted enough to give me a glimpse of the face. I felt a shock of recognition, but before I could register anything, I stumbled back—
The baby cried as it was taken away, realizing suddenly that it wasn’t in Mother’s arms anymore. The man holding it was rough, not at all gentle, and the blankets were wrapped uncomfortable around its chest. The man looked down just in time to see the baby’s eyes fly open in fear, and he nearly dropped the thing in shock. It was somehow emitting static, shocking his hands so painfully that it took all of his resilience not to drop it. No wonder it had to be put away.
I know who the baby in your dreams is. And it isn’t you.
“It’s you,” I breathed, regaining my footing and staring at D in alarm. “I was wrong, they weren’t my parents. They were yours.”
D for once said nothing, seeming as unnerved as I was.
“But I don’t understand. Why did you look like me as a baby?”
“Dreams mean nothing,” D snarled. “They can be too easily altered in a world like this.”
D cast a wary look at the sky, which was now clearing at an impressive rate, before turning and ripping away so powerfull
y I felt my vision black out. I could feel the foul mood pulsating throughout the clearing, and I felt pity for whomever the wrath was directed at. The identity of whom I had a good idea.
Madon. We end this, one way or another.
Evelyn and Lucas were arguing near the Boundary a mere twenty feet away, apparently unaffected by the previous events. At first, I thought the intense emotion on Evelyn’s face was anger, then I noticed the tears.
“What’s going on?” I asked, and my voice sounded hollow. They were all right, but it didn’t really matter anymore: they were going to lose.
“I’m finished,” Evelyn whispered, rocking on her heels. “I can’t take this anymore, so I’m going to join Fred, wherever he may be. But Lucas…” At this she flicked an annoyed glance at the glowering boy. “Lucas won’t let me. He thinks we should all keep trying our best, when I don’t even want to get out, I don’t care about freedom, and I don’t want to face the unknown alone! Tell him, Penny, tell him that it’s not my fight anymore!”
“This is mad,” Lucas defended through gritted teeth. “We don’t know that stepping through will do anything but kill you.”
“What if I don’t care?” she shouted, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
“I care!” Lucas yelled back. “God, Evelyn, we’ve lived together for fifteen years, you can’t expect Penny and me to simply let you die!”
“That’s not what I’m asking! I just want to be with Fred again, and for you all to have a shot at winning without me hampering you!”
“You’re not hampering us,” I choked, finally finding my voice. “Trust me, Evelyn. It won’t make any difference whether you go now or later, so let’s spend all the time we have left properly. You don’t have to go like this.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lucas frowned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
I didn’t fidget or stutter, simply staring at the ashy ground with defeated acceptance, and his eyebrows shot up in realization.
“It’s planned out?” he whispered, staring at me and begging me to tell him he was wrong. “There’s nothing we can do to change who gets out, is there?”
I hesitated. It was a power struggle between D and Madon, that much I had gathered, but either way they weren’t leaving it to fate to decide. So I shook my head, and felt something in Lucas’s confidence shatter.
“Do you know…who?” he queried, though I could tell that he didn’t really want to know.
“Evelyn!” I screamed, suddenly realizing what our third member had been doing during our brief exchange.
Lucas completely misunderstood me. “No way! I thought…I thought it would be you…maybe Avery…but never her! I can’t imagine—”
“No, you idiot!” I shook my head desperately, dragging him down the creek a couple of yards so he could see Evelyn standing at a section of the Boundary and slowly stepping towards it, so close that the hem of her dress singed and I could smell the tips of her stray curls burning. She was crying softly, of course, but staring resolutely at something over the Boundary, something we couldn’t see. Three guesses what.
I ran and toppled her to the ground, feeling my elbow burn as it brushed the static fence. I knew she wouldn’t make it in the end, but letting her go this way was simply too dangerous – we hadn’t actually seen someone cross the Boundary and live to tell the tale.
“Get off me!” she shrieked, wresting away from me. “Fred! Penny, he’s waiting for me, please just let me go to him!”
“It isn’t real,” I snapped, trying to stop her from advancing to the Boundary, which was crackling and sending out shocks of static. “Snap out of it! Lucas – give me a hand.”
We were covered in dirt, our hair was riddled with twigs and dead leaves, and my arms were aching with the effort of withstanding her scratches and desperate attempts at escape. Lucas grabbed her wrists and together we managed to haul her into a standing position.
Evelyn’s eyes were black, puffy from crying, and she had a shallow cut on her lip where I had accidentally slammed her into a splinter of wood.
I stood my ground, my only concern for my friend, though there was a massive void, which was growing larger by the minute.
We stood there for what felt like eons, Lucas holding Evelyn’s hands securely behind her back, whilst she half-heartedly tried to tug away from him with a transfixed gaze at the illusion of Fred, and me standing forcefully between her and the Boundary.
No one dared move in the fear we would all topple over. Evelyn slowly stopped resisting, but we refused to drop our defenses until she broke from the obsession with the illusion.
Eventually, she looked down. We stepped away uncertainly, and I remembered that time way back when I had seen them all as monsters and they had treated me with the same caution.
“He’s gone,” she managed to say. No tears, only a defeat that nearly broke my heart.
So, in that deadened and mist-ridden forest, we held each other in a hug and didn’t let go until the sun peeked through the clouds at midday. We didn’t have much time left together, and I planned to spend every minute of it protecting what little we still had. If I was the one to go, fine.
But that didn’t mean I would let D win.
26
“Do we even need to bother anymore?” Lucas asked me in a defeated tone.
“Of course we do!” I insisted, shocked that he would even consider quitting. “When I said they’re trying to control it, I didn’t mean the winner is set in stone, just…favored.”
“Who’s they?” He frowned, twiddling his pen between fingers and not meeting my eyes. “How come you seem to know these things?”
“It doesn’t matter. Honestly, they’re more of a hindrance than help. So let’s get cracking this code, right? Evelyn?”
Evelyn was hovering over by the window, staring out at the rain and whispering softly to herself; I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like words of comfort or reassurance. She’d been distant and melancholy all day, whilst Lucas had been stonily impassive. It seemed to only be me who was actually desperate to work out the letters our friends had given as assistance, only me who believed the trials weren’t won or lost yet.
“For goodness sake,” I snapped, standing up and surveying my gloomy friends with distaste. “Will you have a look at yourselves for a minute? Drowning in self-pity will do nothing except let Avery win, because guess what? He’s the one who’s the favorite to get out.”
I was lying through my teeth, but it achieved the desired reaction. Evelyn stood still for a moment, silent, and Lucas nearly choked to death on a handful of walnuts we had saved from luncheon.
“Blast,” Lucas wheezed, stunned.
Saying things can make them a reality, be careful! D reminded me in my mind, but I shoved the voice away.
“This is why we need to figure this out!” I implored. “Or else Tressa will murder us for letting him win.”
“R-O-D-U-I-S-E-A-T-W.” Lucas frowned, needing to hear no more. He bent down over the paper with immense concentration, with his tongue hanging out.
Evelyn shyly glided over and perched on her stool, wiping puffy eyes clear and peering over my shoulder for a glimpse of the riddle.
“Joining us?” I laughed, squeezing her hand. “I’m glad.”
“Oh, it’s not because I don’t want to lose,” she corrected firmly, voice wavering.
“No? Just developed a love for puzzles?”
“Actually, it’s because Avery is a bloody menace,” she said a matter-of-factly.
I laughed so hard my sides hurt, but it felt good! She never swore, not ever, and to hear her use it purposely in such a demure tone was just hilarious.
“Use…dart…” Lucas muttered over my giggles, so immersed in translation that he hadn’t even noticed Evelyn’s brief moment of humor. “No, that doesn’t work. OWI don’t spell anything, do they?”
“Unless the ‘I’ was actually an L?” I suggested, light-hearted now we were actually doing something and in bett
er spirits. “Then it could be ‘use owl dart’.”
“That makes no sense,” Lucas sighed, and I groaned in exasperation. Could they not be slightly, or even falsely cheerful for five seconds?
“Wait or sued?” Evelyn suggested without much confidence, bored with her petty skills already and impatient for it to be resolved. “So, we can take our time or risk being taken to court? I think that’s what the word means anyway; there was this book on laws…”
“No, you’re right. But I don’t know if that’s it, doesn’t seem clear enough somehow,” Lucas said. “And I can’t think how it would make sense in this context.”
“Rot as u die?” I suggested with a snort. “A little dire, but still something I could see Avery sending us as a morbid taunt.”
“Penny!” Evelyn groaned. “That’s disgusting, and not helpful at all! Don’t be silly!”
My good mood melted away and I frowned bitterly. Yes, there wasn’t much to be happy about, but no, being miserable wouldn’t make it any better. I shook away the frown. I was determined D and Madon wouldn’t see us give up, and I wanted to show them that they couldn’t control what happened next.
“This is serious,” Lucas scolded, his eyes still furiously searching the scrambled letters for sense. “Avery can’t win. He can’t.”
I folded my arms and tried to make a word that made sense, but simply couldn’t focus.
It’s not as if there’s— D began in my mind, fainter than before but still strong enough to make me flinch from the sensation.
Get out of my head! I screamed back. I don’t want your help! Leave me alone!
I felt a shudder as the telepathic voice withdrew, and a twisted emotion that was somewhere between annoyed and hurt – which was ridiculous, considering we hated each other with a passion.
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