The Void Hunters (Realmwalker Book 2)

by Jonathan Franks

  “It wasn’t just a dream, Geoffrey. I talked to her!”

  “This is the second time since Gen's been gone that you've had a dream where you're talking to her. It's normal to miss her that much. I miss her, too.”

  “Geoffrey, Gabrielle said firmly. “This was no ordinary dream. I know it was different. We talked. She said someone there could connect us. You should see her! She was different. She looked very grown up, and she was ripped. She was all toned. And she had wings like the fairies. She looked great. She was like… She was like Amazon Genevieve.”

  “Amazon Genevieve?”

  Gabby nodded. “And speaking of Amazon Gen, she's a lesbian now! She says that she fell in love with Jim's fairy, Hope. Who's a girl.”

  Geoff furrowed his brow and sat back in bed.

  “Oh, Geoff, don't be like that. We always said that the kids could love whoever they loved as long as they weren't abusive or a criminal or on drugs. Right?”

  Geoff crossed his arms. “Jim's fairy, huh? And what about the real Jim? The boy who lives across the street who our daughter has been in love with since she was four years old?”

  “She's stuck there, on the other side. She's been there for a month already and she can't come home. I can only imagine how much Jim's fairy must be like him. I don't think it's unreasonable. How long was she supposed to wait? Months? Years, if she can't get home?”

  “Of course you'd be fine with it. Jesus,” Geoff sneered. “You two girls, you'll just run into whatever arms are convenient when things look tough, don't you?”

  Gabrielle glared at Geoff. Her lips tightened into a thin line. “How dare you?” She narrowed her eyes at her husband, then stomped out the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

  Geoff sighed. “Fuck.” He got off the bed and went after her. “Gabby!” He went downstairs and into the kitchen. The patio door was open. He stepped through the door and closed it behind him. Gabby was sitting on the stone bench next to the bird bath. Her back was toward him.

  “I'm sorry, Gab.”

  “Go fuck yourself.”

  He sighed. “I'm sorry. We promised never to bring it up. I promised.”

  “Yeah, you did.”

  “And in twenty five years,” Geoff said, “I never did. Never when we fought and argued. I'm sorry. Just… First Gen, then Greg. Now you're saying that she's cheating on Jim with a woman. It hit really close to home. I'm raw. I'm totally overloaded. I'm really sorry I brought it up. I shouldn't have.”

  Gabrielle continued to look at the bird bath, refusing to turn around. “You promised you'd never hold it over my head. And you saved it up for twenty five years. You know that before Greg's funeral, we hadn't spoken in who knows how long. Years. But as soon as she and I are in the same room again… You're pathetic. Now please leave me alone. I want to be by myself.”

  “Okay. I'm sorry. You're right, and I'm sorry.” Geoff walked back to the deck and opened the sliding glass door. He looked back at his wife. He sighed heavily, hating himself. He went inside and closed the door.

  -

  “You should come over to my house for dinner tonight,” Portia suggested. “I asked my mom and she said that was an especially brilliant idea. Even with how many brilliant ideas I normally have.”

  “Really?” Jim was suspicious, but wasn't sure why. “You want me to meet your mom?”

  “You've already met my mom, more or less. At Dr. Ramsey's office.”

  “I've seen her. I've never talked to her.”

  “No, but you talk to me. And you talk to my sister.” Portia slipped into a very slightly whiny tone, a begging voice that Jim found very enticing. “Come on, Jimmy, come over for dinner. You know you'd just be alone at home tonight. Come over and have dinner with us, meet my folks. We'll watch a movie.”

  “Okay, okay. What time?”

  “Now! Come home with me. We'll do our homework together. You don't need to go home right after school. I know you don't. So come to my house.”

  Jim looked hard at her. He still hadn't really figured her out in the weeks since they'd started spending time together. They ate lunch together and hung out after school every day. She asked him a lot of very pointed questions. She asked him about his mother, how she died, how he felt, about his dad, about the woman he was with, a lot of questions about Gen, questions about computers and games and books. She dug deep into Jim's life. She wanted to know everything about him. And for once, Jim felt at ease coming out of his shell and really talking about himself.

  Even Gen never made him feel like the center of attention, like the spotlight was on him. Even though she had tried to get him out of the house, he never felt like she really wanted to open up. The other day, he told Portia that even with all of the things that Gen did for him, sometimes he felt that, for her, the important thing for Gen was more about the things she could do for him, and less about Jim, himself.

  The words slipped right out of his mouth while he talked to Portia. He didn't realize he felt any resentment about Gen at all, then he went on for an hour about it. He opened up to Portia in a way he hadn't opened himself to anyone else, including Gen or Dr. Ramsey.

  “Sure,” Jim said. “Okay, let's go.”

  “Awesome!” Portia gave him a quick, but tight, hug. They unchained their bikes and rode together to Portia's house. She lived about four blocks from Jim's house.

  As soon as Portia opened the front door, she called out, “Mom! We're here!” She dropped her backpack on the floor and kicked off her shoes.

  “Do I need to take my shoes off?” Jim asked.

  “Nah, not if you don't want to. Come on,” Portia said. “Let me introduce you to my mom.” She led him to the kitchen, where Mrs. Ritchey was chopping vegetables.

  Mrs. Ritchey put down her knife, wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing and walked over to Jim with her hand out. Jim shook her hand lightly, but she had a firm grip.

  “Hi, Mrs. Ritchey,” Jim said. “Nice to finally meet you, I guess.”

  She smiled at him. “It sure is. We've seen each other every week for a month and now I finally know who you are. Welcome. I hope you like chicken pot pie.”

  “Uh, yeah, thanks.”

  “We're going upstairs, mom,” Portia said.

  Mrs. Ritchey looked at Portia, then at Jim, then back at Portia. “You know the rules.”

  “Yes, mom. You won't be getting any grandkids today.”

  Jim gaped at Portia, but Mrs. Ritchey shook her head and turned around to chop the rest of the vegetables on the counter. “Sassy, sassy, young lady. Dinner should be ready in about an hour.”

  “Thanks, mom!” Portia said.

  “Uh, thanks,” Jim said as Portia yanked him by his arm upstairs. Molly's room was next to Portia's. There was a sign hanging from the door that Molly had clearly drawn herself. It featured large letters, all in different crayon colors, spelling “MOLLY.” The “O” had fairy wings on it and there was a sun in one corner and a moon in the other. The sun was smiling and wearing sunglasses. The moon was smiling and also wearing sunglasses.

  As they walked past Molly's room, Molly shot through the door. “It's you!” She ran up to Jim and slammed into his legs, hugging him.

  Jim laughed. “Yeah, hey, Molly.”

  “I'm so glad you're here. We're having chicken pot pie tonight!”

  “I know. Your mom told me.”

  “Why can't I ever be the one to tell anybody anything?” Molly demanded, then she turned and stomped back into her room.

  Portia laughed. “Come on.” She led Jim to her room and closed the door behind them. She unbuttoned her flannel shirt and tossed it on a pile of several other flannel shirts. She watched Jim watch her take her shirt off and raised an eyebrow at him. He flushed with embarrassment and lowered his eyes.

  “I can keep going,” she said suggestively.

  Jim opened his mouth then realized he didn't have any words.

  Portia pulled her t-shirt off, showing a lacy pink bra. Jim gulped.<
br />
  “Uh, look, uh, Portia…”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Portia waved her hand dismissively. “Your girlfriend. Calm down, tiger.” She opened a drawer and took out another t-shirt. She slipped it over her head, then held up the shirt she'd just taken off. “I dropped ketchup on myself at lunch.” She pointed to a fresh stain right at chest level.

  She tossed the shirt into a white plastic hamper and hopped onto her bed. “Have a seat.”

  He looked around Portia's room. She had a nice wooden desk with a chair, a matching wooden bookshelf and dresser, and a large pink beanbag chair. Posters of rock bands covered her walls, along with two posters that stood out. One was of the cast of M*A*S*H from the Colonel Potter era, the other was a wide skyline of Seattle, which Jim could only identify because the Space Needle was visible in the picture. He took a step toward the bean bag chair.

  “No, come on,” Portia said. “Sit by me. Come on. I won't bite.” She patted the bed next to her.

  “I… uh…”

  “Look, sitting on the bed with me doesn't mean we're engaged or anything. Just come and sit next to me.”

  Jim sat on the bed. Portia shoved the pillows back against her headboard and patted the space next to her. Jim scooted to the head of the bed and leaned against the headboard next to her.

  “That's better,” she laughed. “Wait here!” She crawled off the bed and pushed play on her CD player.

  “Who is this?” Jim asked.

  “This is Screaming Trees. This is their new album. This song's called Ivy.”

  Jim scrambled off of Portia's bed. “What?”

  Portia looked at Jim like he was crazy. “Screaming Trees?”

  “No, the song.”

  “Ivy?”

  “Yeah. Can we listen to something else?” Jim asked.

  “Yeah, sure, if you want.” Portia smacked the button to open the lid. The CD spun to a halt and she popped it out and put it away in its case. She left the case on her desk and looked at her shelf full of other CDs. She pulled one out and held it up to Jim. “Psychedelic Furs?”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  She put it on. It started with Pretty in Pink. “I shouldn't admit this because I'll lose all of my music status, but I love this song. I hated the movie with a passion, but I love the song.”

  “It's a good song,” Jim said. He still felt very uncomfortable.

  Portia sat down on her bed again and leaned against the wall. She brought her knees up and crossed her arms on top of them.

  “You have a hole in your sock.” Jim pointed at her foot.

  Portia crossed her ankle over her knee and examined her sock. “Son of a bitch. You're right.”

  She stuck the tips of both of her index fingers into the hole and yanked it apart. “I love the sound of ripping fabric.”

  She looked back at Jim, who was still standing in the middle of the floor looking awkward and uncomfortable.

  “You look like you're going to throw up,” she said.

  “No, sorry.”

  “I'll get you to like my music. Just you wait.”

  “No, the music is fine,” Jim said. “It's just… I don't know.”

  “Come sit down.”

  Jim sat next to Portia.

  “I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable,” she said.

  Jim shrugged, still feeling very uncomfortable.

  “Would you feel more comfortable if we went downstairs?” Portia asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. Come on.” She got up and stopped the CD player again. Before she opened the door, she turned around and leaned against it. “Where's this going, Jim?”

  Jim opened his mouth again an his face fell. “I… Uh… I mean, Gen…”

  “She hasn't called you or written you in over a month. I don't think you still are where you think you are.”

  Jim looked at the floor. “Yeah. She said, though…”

  “I'm sure she did. That asshole Trevor said, too. And my friend Julie told me that she saw him making out with Monica Parker, that slut! Sorry, you don't know any of these people. They're from my old school. I'm just saying, we're going through the same thing here. Do you like me, Jim?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “I mean, do you like me, like me?”

  Jim's gaze fell again and his cheeks flushed bright red. “Yeah. But I don't feel right. Even if we're all done, she never gave me any kind of closure.”

  “I hear you. I hope you get it soon.” She winked at him. “I don't like waiting.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “You don't have to be. It's cool.” She pushed off from the door and quickly gave Jim a peck on the cheek. “It's cool,” she repeated.

  -

  Jim was riding his bike home later that night and saw Geoff Summers sitting on his front porch, the same place Jim had seen him and George the other night.

  “Hey, Jimmy!” Geoff called to him. “Come over here, if you have a sec.”

  Jim crossed to the Summers' side of the street and stopped at the end of their driveway. Geoff stomped out his cigarette butt.

  “I didn't know you smoked,” Jim said.

  “I did a long time ago. I haven't smoked since I got out of the service.” He lit another cigarette and said, “I need to tell you something. Gabby, you know, Gen's mom, she had a dream last night and she talked to Gen in it. She thinks it was really Genny talking to her, not just a dream. I didn't believe her at first, myself, but the more I think about what she said, the more I think it really was real.”

  “Really? She heard from Gen?”

  “Yeah. She said she's trapped there. The Bridge collapsed or something like that. She can't get home.”

  “Oh my god,” Jim said. “So she didn't just leave me… Leave us for good?”

  “That might be a little more complicated than you think.” Geoff sighed heavily. “I don't know if it's my business but you're a good kid and I don't want to see you pining away forever. Gen told her mom that she's in love with somebody else. A girl named Hope.”

  “She what?”

  “She's with somebody else, Jim. Your fairy, apparently. Hope is her name.”

  All of the color left Jim's face. He looked paper white in the pale moonlight. “I know who she is. She was Ivy's girlfriend, too.”

  “Look, I've got some experience with this. Well, something a lot like this. She says she's trapped. She doesn't think she can ever come home. She doesn't think she'll ever be able to see you again. I'm sure she tried to wait for you, tried to hold out, but she just couldn't. This Hope was there for her, and, you know, she's your fairy, so she's a lot like you, I'm sure. She ended up with this girl, that doesn't mean she loves you any less.”

  Jim's throat was tight and his stomach was in knots. His hands were freezing. “So she's never coming back.”

  “We don't know that for certain, but she says she's trapped there and she doesn't know how to come back.”

  “And she's in love with somebody else.”

  “That doesn't mean she doesn't still love you.”

  “No? How could it not?”

  “I have this friend,” Geoff said. “We served together in Vietnam. He and his girlfriend had just gotten married before he had to go over there. Well, he ended up doing a second tour and while he was away, his wife fell in love with somebody else. She still loved him very much. She still wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. But while he was away for so long, someone else was there for her.”

  “But he came back home, right? Then did she stop cheating on her husband with that guy?”

  “He did come back home and he felt right away that things were weird. The worst thing was, 'that guy' was his sister. She had an affair with his sister.”

  “Jesus,” Jim swore. “That must have been rough. Did they work it out? Are they still together?”

  “It got a little rocky for them. But they're probably okay. At the time, they made up, and he promised her he'd forgiven her and that he'd never bring i
t up or hold it over her head. He promised her he forgave her and they moved on. But life happened and he freaked out and one day he did bring it up. She was so angry at him, he didn't know what she was going to do. He thought she was going to leave him.”

  “Did she?”

  “I dunno. Not yet.”

  “What about the guy's sister?”

  “They didn't speak for twenty five years.”

  Jim nodded slowly. He looked up at the half moon and sighed. “I miss her a lot.”

  “I know, son. We all do.”

  chapter 20

  “But you have an obligation!” Rommy slammed his fist on the table. “You have a duty!”

  “The Meadows is empty,” Gen said calmly. “The Caverns needs to be rescued next. They were taken completely by surprise. They've been there a month longer than all of you were.”

  Rommy suddenly stood up, knocking over his chair. “The Caverns aren't your responsibility! The Meadows are!”

  “Sit down, Rommy. The plan's been made.”

  “Damn your plan! You need to bring back The Meadows! Ivy would have never—”

  Gen cut him off, speaking authoritatively and deliberately. “Sit. Down.”

  Rommy kicked over an empty chair and stormed out of the dining room.

  Hope put her hand on Gen's shoulder. “That could have gone better.”

  “It went exactly the way Shae said it would.” Gen squeezed Hope's hand. “But I don't care what Rommy has to say. Those poor fairies in The Caverns have been trapped in The Void for two months. We need to rescue them. Nobody's left in The Meadows. It can wait.”

  “You know I agree with you. But he's furious. And remember, he's the one you're leaving in charge while we're gone.”

  Gen shrugged. “We have to leave in a day or two, right? He'll have to be furious without us. And maybe he's an asshole, but he's really good at paperwork.”

  Gen stood and helped Hope pack their gear. They smiled every time they would reach for the same item or their fingers would brush together or they bumped into each other.

  Shae watched them from the doorway for a moment, then cleared her throat. “Gen? I really need to talk to you. Can I talk to you?”