What I didn’t notice was the flower slowly sinking into the ground behind my back.
The challenge had been accepted.
31
I blink. Once, twice, three times, just to make sure it’s real. Then I repeat the procedure, because surely, my eyes must be playing tricks on me?
I pulled that lever not really thinking about the consequences. All I can remember is Penny trying to convince me to give her the victory, trying to quash my guilt…and then Avery startling me into pulling it for myself.
I think something must have happened in between then and now, but I simply can’t remember. It takes a moment to even remember who I am.
Then it comes to me.
I am Evelyn, and I have just done something that has changed everything.
Groggily, I pick myself up from the ground and survey the area. It’s familiar, and yet it’s not, because I suddenly do not know where I am anymore. Yet I do…
I notice the slight difference in elevation to my left, where we used to play cricket, and that sunken pocket of land where the graveyard used to be. Yes, this is inside the Boundary. But it’s so drastically different that I hardly recognize it anymore. For the trees are nearly all the same species, as tall and gnarled as I remember, yet spaced all differently, and extending over ground that should have been lawns and, of course, the manor itself. Now it is all gone and covered by forest.
I inhale air, which seems changed, though I cannot place how. Then I look up and see the sunlight filtering through the thick canopy in a way that creates miniature spotlights all over the floor, where, in some places, a curious blue-purple flower covers the ground.
Something screeches at me overhead, and for a moment I think Penny is about to jump out of a tree, laughing at my confusion…
I scream. It’s not Penny, or Avery, or anyone else making such a strange sound, but a beastly creature unlike anything I have ever seen before! Black feathers covering its entire body, a pointed beak where a mouth should be, screeching as it unfurls powerful wings.
Think, Evelyn! I cry to myself. What was in those books of yours about this place? What would Lucas say it was? Did they hunt humans?
I back against a tree as something else rustles in the undergrowth, heart pounding, then flinch away screaming as something very tiny, with a million legs scuttles by my head on the tree bark.
Everything is alive with monsters here!
I wrap my arms around middle, biting my lip and forcing myself to stay calm.
What would Fred think?
With that single thought, I nearly lose it. Fred, who had told me I should, and more importantly could, succeed, Fred who had lost his own chance so that I might have mine…
“Where are you?” I call frantically, running about quite irrationally as if the manor might appear again alongside all my friends.
I don’t really want this. I have never wanted freedom the way Penny had, but now it looks to be my future. And I don’t like it one bit. Another beast, this one fluffy, squeaks indignantly as I nearly step on it and shoots up a tree as if it were an extension of its own body.
Frightened past reason, I huddle my knees into my chest and focus on taking deep, steady breaths.
What have I done?
I don’t know how long I stay like this, weeping in terror at everything that moves around me, then even more so at the prospect of being alone forever.
Then, finally, I wipe away my tears and stand up. The sun has set, and it really is quite beautiful in here when one doesn’t think about what might be crawling around as company. I cannot waste away my life feeling sorry for myself. Fred knew that I could survive, and so it must be so. It has to be.
I begin to walk forwards, unsure. When I reach the tiny creek that is still very much present in this world, it takes all my willpower to convince myself that the Boundary doesn’t exist anymore. So I do what no one has been able to do before; I cross to the other side.
Immediately, it feels alien, though there is no difference. I jump back across four times just to make sure it’s real, then continue on my way. I was never one for adventure, and I just cannot summon that adrenaline, that feeling I know Penny would have been exploding with right now.
A few yards on, and feeling suitably nervous again, I come across what can only be a large path. So large in fact, thoughts of giants cross my mind.
I start down the path, deciding that it must lead somewhere. And I have no intentions of still being stranded in the woods at night, when all manner of nightmares could arise from its depths. Hopefully, the people here are human!
It isn’t long before I start seeing oddities in the landscape. Deep holes in the ground, closed off by rickety wooden structures, a few with peculiar contraptions cluttered around the area. Most are coated with rust and seem a long time abandoned, so I don’t pay them any more attention than a vague curiosity.
Then I notice that the trees are starting to thin out, but unlike the Boundary it seems very artificial, as if someone has come and removed them on purpose. Stumps scatter haphazard clearings, many around the queer holes, and the road becomes more compact as if it has been used more in this area.
“Lucas, you never said anything about this,” I whimper to no one.
I had been expecting those grand cities we had seen in pictures, expecting friendly people to come up to me and explain everything.
It crosses my mind that the people might actually live in these holes, but since the thought of living underground brings chills to my skin, I decide to keep searching for a more civilized settlement.
Then I come out onto a hilltop. From my vantage point in this artificial clearing, I can see for miles around; rolling hills as far as the eye can see, most covered with thick woodland but a fair few only open grassland, strands of trees acting like natural borders between fields. The clouds dip down into a valley, where through the fog I think I can see light. A city perhaps.
Decisively, I hitch up my skirts and start down the steep hillside. My heart is pounding from fearful anticipation. What will I find in the valley? And, more importantly, what will happen when the finality of this sinks in? How will I possibly stay rational knowing that I shall never see…?
“You have a determination that is quite often overlooked by everyone, including yourself,” Fred had told me once. “I think that if you properly set your mind to it, you could accomplish anything.”
“I’m not one for that sort of thing,” I had sighed contentedly, laying my head on his shoulder. “I prefer to keep things as they are, simple and perfect.”
“You are so very unlike everyone else, Evelyn.” He had laughed. “But just think of all the wonderful things out there you could discover! Imagine, getting out of this place, seeing what the world has to offer! You and I, we could do it!”
“No,” I had replied simply. “I want for nothing here.”
“Oh, Evelyn. What are you like?”
I bite my lip to keep from sobbing out loud, knowing that I should be as composed as possible for my introduction.
Who’d have thought, Fred? I groan to myself. You were right, but not about the part where both of us got out.
I will be brave for you.
I lose my footing on the sharp gradient, sliding down the hill and dirtying my rear. Panicked that my first impression shall be sliding ungracefully into someone, I grab hold of a tree and dig my heels into the ground.
Then, rather embarrassingly, I stumble to keep my footing and fall backwards into one of the holes, this one without a fence.
I catch hold of a root, hyperventilating, and look down.
I scream. The bottom is so deep that I cannot see a thing, only a darkness that surely never ends.
I try to hoist myself up, but my arms aren’t strong enough. So I scream, and scream, and scream, until my throat is sore and my hands are beginning to slip.
Just when I think it’s over, something grabs my elbows and yanks me upwards until I am safely lying on solid ground.
I am about to get up and thank my savior, when my head is forced back down by something cold and round. It clicks, and though I do not know what it is, I guess that it is a weapon.
“Please…” I croak. “I…”
The person holding the weapon bends over me in obvious confusion, and for the first time I see his face. Human. Odd-looking, covered in hair, but human.
“Please help me,” I beg in a rush. “I don’t know where I am, what to do, or anything! I don’t—”
He seems flabbergasted, and glances behind me to where someone else must be standing. I turn my head, following his gaze, and see that the fog has cleared in the valley.
I squint, trying to make out the distant shapes. Then I start screaming again.
“What are those things?”
“You mean the trucks?” The man frowns. “They’re the new army recruits, heading for training up north. Who…where are you from?”
I just shake my head, staring at the procession of machines snaking through the valley. My heart is pounding so loud nothing else can register, but alongside the overwhelming fear, there’s a new emotion. Determination. A different world, a different time, different people… Well, maybe that’s the perfect recipe for a different me.
“Just hang on,” I say to the sky, surprising myself with how calm I sound now, although my body is still trembling. “I’ll find a way.”
TO BE CONTINUED
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, thank you to everyone at JHP for making a longtime dream of mine come true. Especially to editor Maria Moloney, who put in countless hours to make this book reach its full potential. I can’t thank you enough – you rock!
Thanks to my not-so-little sister, Annabel, for convincing me that Boundary wasn’t just a pile of rubbish. Without you, it would have gone down with my last laptop, never to see the light of another day.
Also, to all the authors who offered feedback: thank you!
And of course, the rest of my family; Mum, Dad, and little-little sister Clara. Thank you for being so wonderful, despite the fact I didn’t even speak about writing until six months ago. You have to admit, it’s a better career choice than a mermaid.
Lodestone Books is a new imprint, which offers a broad spectrum of subjects in YA/NA literature. Compelling reading, the Teen/Young/New Adult reader is sure to find something edgy, enticing and innovative. From dystopian societies, through a whole range of fantasy, horror, science fiction and paranormal fiction, all the way to the other end of the sphere, historical drama, steam-punk adventure, and everything in between. You’ll find stories of crime, coming of age and contemporary romance. Whatever your preference you will discover it here.
Boundary Page 28