The Void Hunters (Realmwalker Book 2)

by Jonathan Franks

  “Sure,” Gen said. She thrust her hip to the side to bump into Hope. Hope laughed and bumped her back, then Gen and Shae went outside.

  “What's up?” Gen asked. “Everything okay?”

  “We're leaving the day after tomorrow,” Shae said.

  “Right. Are you okay? You look like a wreck.”

  “It hasn't happened yet!”

  “What hasn't?” Gen asked.

  “Herron and I were supposed to talk again before we leave The Marsh. Remember? The time when he might kiss me. But it hasn't happened.”

  “You said it yourself, we're leaving the day after tomorrow. There's two more nights before we go.”

  “No,” Shae whined, “It's going to rain tonight! It wasn't raining! The roof wasn't wet!”

  “Maybe it'll dry well tomorrow then. Or you know,” Gen tried to sound comforting, but she felt like she might have sounded more like she was being dismissive, “maybe he decided not to. Or maybe it'll be after we get back from The Caverns.”

  Shae shook her head, frowning. “No. It was before we left. He decided not to. He doesn't want me. What do I do?”

  “You have to accept his decision. We're going to be spending a lot of time together in The Void in a couple days and you have to be with us. I mean all the way with us, not distracted like this.”

  “You really think that's what happened? He doesn't want me?”

  Gen shrugged. “I haven't talked to him about it. But if it doesn’t look like it's happening, then I guess it's not happening.”

  Shae sighed.

  “Come on,” Gen said. “Come and help me and Hope pack up. It'll keep your mind off it. Besides, you're strong and cool and you can see the future. You don't need to be pining away over some guy, right?”

  “Right...?” It sounded more like a question than an affirmation.

  Gen smiled at her. “Right. Come on.”

  They went back in the house and finished packing up. An hour later, all four packs were stocked with everything except for the fresh food that they wouldn't pack until they left.

  Herron returned for dinner. His continued sweeps of the area hadn't found any of the creatures from The Void. They seemed to have gotten them all.

  “I was thinking it might be better if we set off tomorrow instead of the day after,” Herron said. “We don't know what kind of resistance we'll meet or who will need our help. And those tunnels are a labyrinth even when everything is correct and you know where you're going. The more I think about it, the more I think we should give ourselves an extra day.”

  Shae glanced helplessly at Gen. Gen shook her head very slightly. Shae frowned and pushed food around her plate with her fork.

  “I can see the logic in that,” Gen said. “Everyone else good with that?”

  Hope and Shae nodded.

  Gen summoned one of the fairies who worked in the kitchen and instructed him to prepare their food for the journey early, so they could leave the following day. He agreed and rushed off to the kitchen.

  After dinner, Gen, Hope, Shae, and Herron joined a group of fairies in the great room of the Keeper House. The fairies had guitars and drums and they sang songs and told stories deep into the rainy night. When it was Gen's turn to tell a story, she described, in as great detail as she could remember, the movie Ghostbusters. Some of the fairies had asked to hear Star Wars again, but she'd told those stories several times already and wanted to share another one of her favorite movies.

  The fairies didn't really understand many of the cultural references or satire and Gen had to explain the technology several times. When she had shared Top Gun, they were very confused. The idea of airplanes was foreign to them. Back to the Future had confused them just as much. But they still wanted to hear every one of Gen's stories. Gen wished she'd spent more time reading and less time watching movies.

  -

  The next morning was still rainy, but Herron convinced them to leave anyway. They flew through the rain, cold and soaking wet, but Gen was still happy to be on the move. The fairies of The Marsh and The Meadows needed leadership, and she was willing to do it, if not overly enthusiastic about it. She enjoyed the freedom to go when she wanted, where she wanted, and acting as near as she could figure to be the mayor of a small town, she couldn't go anywhere at any time without something coming up that needed her attention. Gen was very relieved to be back on the road again.

  Herron was also very much in his element this morning, in high spirits despite the rain. Gen wasn't surprised. She knew that traveling was his calling.

  Hope soldiered on as she always did. She wasn't especially happy to be flying through the chilly rain, but she didn't complain.

  Shae, on the other hand, didn't like traveling in these conditions one bit. She had a steady stream of complaints since they left the Keeper House all the way until they reached the border.

  The rain continued in The Foothills after they'd crossed the border.

  “I expected the weather would change on the other side of the border,” Herron said. “Odd.”

  Hope glanced at him, a hint of alarm in her eyes.

  Herron shook his head. “Nothing to be worried about. Neighboring Realms have similar weather all the time. Maybe I should've said that I hoped the weather would change across the border.”

  “I could have told you, but nobody bothered to ask me... Can't ever be the one to tell anybody anything...” Shae muttered, then continued mumbling under her breath. Her words were too quiet for any of them to pick out what she was saying, but her frustrating and mildly angry tone was easy to discern. Hope tried hard to hide her amusement. Herron ignored Shae altogether, and Gen simply shook her head and flew on, listening to aggravated but unintelligible complaining.

  The weather worsened the closer they got to the ravine. The wind was gusting hard, blowing the rain nearly horizontal. Flight was dangerous now with the wind being so strong so they walked. They were cold and wet, covered in mud, and getting tired.

  “We need to find some shelter and wait this out,” Hope said, raising her voice loud enough for everyone to hear over the wind. “If this was a snow storm, it would have been more obvious sooner. We aren't going to make it to the ravine tonight!”

  “Okay,” Herron yelled back. “Let's scout ahead a little and see what we can find. I'll head to the left. Hope, you head to the right. Gen, Shae, you wait here. We'll come back to you.” Herron and Hope flew cautiously away. Gen's chest tightened with fear every time she saw a strong gust of wind knock Hope off course and blow her around.

  “Herron will find a cave over in the hills,” Shae said. “He'll be back in twenty minutes or so. Hope won't be back for ten minutes after that.”

  “What are we supposed to do for half an hour?” Gen shouted so Shae could hear her.

  “I have no idea!”

  “Why didn't you say something about the weather?” Gen asked.

  “I was a little distracted and I didn't see it. I'm really sorry, Gen.”

  “It's okay. But still,” she shouted, “try to put him out of your mind, yeah?”

  Shae smiled guiltily. Rain dripped from her hair.

  “Why couldn't we just go with Herron to the caves instead of standing out here?” Gen asked.

  “Because they had to split up to go the right direction. Otherwise Herron wouldn't have found the cave! And believe me, you really needed to find this cave.”

  “I don't get it! Why would I need to find the cave?” Gen called back.

  The wind was so loud that Shae couldn't hear her. “What?”

  “Never mind!”

  They huddled together, trying to keep warm, and waited for about twenty minutes until Herron returned.

  “I found a cave about ten minutes from here! Should be good shelter from all of this!”

  “Hope isn't back yet!” Gen shouted. “Shae says she'll be about ten minutes!”

  Herron huddled with them against the wind and the sleet until Hope came back.

  “I didn't
find anything that will get us out of the weather!” Hope yelled.

  “I found a cave! Come on!”

  They walked against the wind, struggling for what felt to Gen like at least an hour. Eventually, they saw the cave Herron had found. In the side of one of the taller hills, a small dark hole led into the hillside. They crept toward it and Gen went in first. She slipped the lightstone from the pouch and made room for Shae, Hope, and Herron. Gen wrung out her hair and tried to shake some of the rain off.

  The narrow cave opening led into a rocky tunnel that seemed to lead deep into the hill side.

  “Let's see where it goes!” Shae zipped down the tunnel, which reminded Gen of the flying equivalent of skipping down a sidewalk.

  Gen shrugged and took Hope's hand. Hope and Herron followed her down the tunnel.

  “Something about this seems awfully familiar,” Gen whispered to Hope.

  “Yeah, doesn't it?”

  Gen stopped and turned to Hope. Herron squeezed past them and continued down the tunnel.

  “I don't ever want to leave you again,” Gen said.

  “You didn't leave me. Ivy did.”

  “I remember it. I have the memory of it. It may as well have been me.”

  “It's okay. My leg is as good as it's ever been, you stopped Pepper, and we're together.” Hope squeezed Gen's hand.

  “Okay,” Gen smiled. They continued down the tunnel hand in hand.

  The tunnel narrowed in places and it dropped quite low in spots so they had to hunch over to get through, scraping their wings against the ceiling. Eventually, it opened into a cavern about the size of the master bedroom at the Keeper House. Herron held his own lightstone over his head, so Gen did the same. There was an ancient nest of dried sticks and leaves in the corner, long abandoned by whatever animal made a home here so long ago. A low, dull hum sounded through the rock. Gen could feel the vibration in her teeth.

  The far wall was outside their light. Gen nodded her chin to it and she and Herron walked into the darkness. Gen gasped and dropped her lightstone. Hope whirled around to see what was wrong.

  A large, bronze oval frame stood atop a set of stone stairs. The small stone platform at the top was inscribed with runes, and inside the oval frame was an aged, faded, dull mirror.

  “Oh my god,” Gen breathed. “It's a Bridge.”

  chapter 21

  Jim walked through the cafeteria with his tray. Portia was sitting in their usual spot. Jim hesitated. He wasn't sure he really felt like company at all today, much less Portia's company. Portia turned around and met Jim's look. She smiled and beckoned him with her first two fingers and made the decision for him.

  He sat down at their table. “Hey.”

  “What's wrong with you?” Portia asked. “Most of the time, a guy sees me in my bra and then won't leave me alone. Since yesterday, I feel like you don't want to be around me.”

  “No, that's not it.”

  “It's that Jennifer chick, isn't it?”

  “Genevieve.”

  “Whatever.”

  Jim sighed. He pushed the chicken sandwich to the side and, instead, peeled the lid from his pudding and put it aside.

  “Pudding first today?” Portia took the foil and licked it clean, slowly and deliberately. She smiled when she saw that Jim was watching her. She wiped the corner of her lips with her index finger, then sucked it clean.

  Jim blinked and caught his breath.

  Portia grinned at him. “You never do dessert first.”

  “Yeah, well, today I am.”

  “Hey, it's a free country. You can eat whatever you want, whenever you want it.”

  Jim quietly ate his pudding.

  “Anything you want to talk about?” Portia asked.

  Jim shook his head but didn't say anything.

  “Do you want me to go?”

  Jim shook his head again.

  “Good. I'll just talk, then, until you want to say something. I talked to your friend Charlie and he got me all set up. Thanks for that. I finished that stupid paper on The Great Gatsby. That book is so stupid. I mean, how can Tom be so fucking pissed at Daisy for cheating on him when he cheated on her since, like, the minute they got married? Men are so stupid.” Then she looked at Jim. “Not you. You're not stupid. But if you cheat on me, then you can't get mad at me if I cheat on you. You know? Anyway, it's back to the girl having to choose which guy, which kind of life she wants to have, like at the end of Casablanca. None of that other stuff is important. Just go with the guy you love. If you go with the rich guy, you'll have more stuff, but all you're going to do is cheat with other rich guys. If you go with the poor guy, you have to figure shit out together and that helps keep you together.”

  Portia noticed that Jim had stopped eating. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “She doesn't love me anymore.”

  “Who? Jennifer?”

  “Genevieve. Yeah. She's in love with someone else. A girl named Hope.”

  “Hope? That's a stupid name. A girl, though. That's hot.”

  Jim narrowed his eyes at her.

  “I was just trying to make you laugh. Come on, Jim. We talked about this and you knew this would happen.”

  Jim slapped the table with his palm, which attracted the attention and stares of many other kids in the cafeteria. “I didn't know it was going to happen! You just told me you thought it would happen! How could she do this to me?”

  “Because Jennifer's a whore.”

  “Genevieve.”

  “Whatever. She's a slut and she doesn't deserve you. You have to regroup. Pull yourself together. Move on. She went without giving you a proper goodbye and she couldn't even wait for a couple months before she went off and finger banged some other chick. She's probably some skinny, white, preppy cunt who's going through an experimental phase. Then, hopefully, Jennifer's heart will be broken worse than yours.”

  “Genevieve.”

  “Whatever.”

  Jim shoved his tray away from him. It hit Portia's can of Doctor Pepper and some of her soda sloshed out onto the table. “Sorry. I have to go.” He left his tray and got up.

  “Jim?”

  Jim paused and turned to look at Portia.

  “Please don't go home after school without saying good bye to me. Okay? Do that for me?”

  “Fine.” Jim left the cafeteria.

  Portia sighed. “Fuck that bitch. You fuck with my guy…? I'll punch stupid Jennifer in her stupid throat.” She picked up Jim's breaded chicken sandwich and ate it, then finished her own lunch. She said aloud to herself while she was chewing, “Genevieve's a stupid name anyway.”

  -

  Gabrielle walked through the living room. “God damn it,” she swore under her breath.

  Geoffrey hadn't cleaned up his blanket and pillow from the sofa, where she'd made him sleep last night. The Sunday crossword sat on the coffee table, a little better than halfway done. The Tribune's crossword was something Geoff and the kids would often do together on the weekends. Lately he'd been doing it on his own. Gabby snatched the crossword from the table, crumpled it up, and when she got to the kitchen, she threw it away.

  Gabrielle shoved a jar of peanut butter into her duffel bag, then picked both of her bags up and walked out of the house. She opened the hatch of her Saab and put both bags in the back. She slammed the hatch closed. She looked at the house, her house, spit on the lawn, and drove to the Holiday Inn.

  “Good afternoon, ma'am,” the boy at the desk said. “Do you have a reservation?”

  “I do,” Gabby said. “Evans,” she said, giving her maiden name. “Gabrielle Evans.”

  Gabrielle walked into her hotel room. It smelled like hotel room. She set the air conditioner as cold as it would go and closed the drapes.

  She picked up the phone and dialed. It rang four times and the machine picked up.

  “Hey, Vi, it's Gabby. I hope it's okay that I'm calling you. Geoff is an asshole and… And I'm sorry. I guess he's been holding onto this for fucking tw
enty-five years and yesterday, after my son died and my daughter went away, he fucking let me have it. I'm leaving, Vi. I'm… I'm done. I can't take any more of this bullshit. Violet? Please call me back. I'm at the Holiday Inn, under Evans. Please call me. I miss you.”

  Gabrielle sat at desk in the room and went through the want ads. She hadn't had a job in so long, she didn't know what she could do with a degree in art and design anymore. She was surprised there were a handful of ads for interior designers and graphic designers. She penciled in edits to her resume, which was now over twenty years old. She'd need to go back home while Geoff was at work so she could type up a new copy.

  She was startled when the phone rang with a sharp, metallic jangling noise. She picked it up. “Hello?”

  “Gabs?”

  “Vi?”

  “What happened?”

  Gabrielle told he sister in law everything except the fairy bit. She used the story about Gen's going to boarding school instead. “And Genny ended up fooling around with this girl, Hope… You know, at school. And Geoff flew off the handle and started yelling at me about us.”

  “He doesn't know what it was like for us. We had to stay here, worried about our men. Your husband came home. Mine didn't. And he promised he'd never bring it up,” Violet said.

  “I know. But he did. I really need you. Can you come over here?”

  “Of course, Gabs. I'll be there in about an hour.” Violet hung up the phone.

  Gabrielle sighed with relief. As much as she loved Geoff, her life had been turned over and all he'd done was make things worse. He broke his promise and that was unforgivable. Gabby took off her pants and underwear, then put on the tightest jeans she owned and a t-shirt. She didn't put her panties or her bra back on, and she waited for Violet to come.

  -

  Jim almost went home without waiting for Portia. He sat on the school's front steps talking to Charlie. Charlie and Jim had both recently gotten the same video game, Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom for their Commodore 64s. They were talking about the game when Portia walked halfway down the stairs and sat down next to Jim.

  She handed Charlie a ten-dollar bill and Charlie gave her a bag of weed.

  “Okay, Jimmy, Portia, I'm out of here! Don't you two do anything I wouldn't do!” Charlie shuffled down the stairs and left them alone.