"Sounds good," Agent Boone said. He was standing behind the others and taking in his surroundings. His gaze kept falling back on Agent Walden.
"Is everyone metal-free?" I asked.
"Yes, ma'am, as much as possible, " Agent Boone said.
The others stayed quiet.
I'm not sure what Agent Boone meant by saying they were as metal free as possible, but if he was holding on to some piece of metal, I wasn't going to argue with him over it.
"Let's head out, then." I tossed my phone back into the truck, put the gear bag on like a backpack, and walked into the woods.
We'd been here so frequently in the past nine months that there was a visible path. They didn't need me to lead, but I felt better doing so. It must have been Gran's influence. They were guests and it was my job to show them around. The trail started out flat, but it wasn't long before we were skirting a small bluff and going up and down some rather rocky hills.
I called for a break about three-fourths of the way there. Not for myself, but because Agent Walden appeared to be more out of shape than he looked.
"Once we get there, what are you two going to do?" I asked, trying to make small talk.
"What do you mean?" Agent Dempsey asked.
The man needed meds or something—his anxiety was through the roof.
"She means," Agent Walden said gruffly, "how are you and I going to close the portal."
"Oh," Agent Dempsey said. "Uh, mostly—mostly, the only thing you'll probably notice is us standing around, staring at nothing."
"And while you're staring at nothing, what are you actually doing?" I asked.
"With a reoccurring portal like this," Agent Dempsey said, "to me, to us, it's as if the portal is still there, only buried slightly. That's because the pathway between worlds is still there, but doesn't have enough power to stay open all the time. We shift things around a little until we can close the entire connection between dimensions." By the time Agent Dempsey was done with his explanation, he seemed calmer.
Since Agent Walden appeared to have his breath back, we moved on.
"What do you think that looks like between the worlds?" I asked Agent Dempsey.
"That's an interesting question," he said. "We've often speculated about that. There's a nexus point in the Antarctic with enough energy to keep a portal permanently open. We haven't found a way to close it. The major theory is that the portal burrowed a permanent hole through the area between dimensions."
"That sounds interesting," I said. And I meant it too. I didn't know much about the area between dimensions, but the idea of some sort of natural wall or tube cutting through it sounded like it would be interesting to see.
"It does. It would take a Walker to tell us for sure, though, so I doubt we'll ever know," he said.
"Why don't you ask one?" I asked.
Agent Dempsey chuckled. There was a hint of nervousness behind it, but he was obviously more comfortable talking about his area of expertise. "I'd rather keep my soul, thanks all the same. Even if you found a Walker, who would talk to one?"
"What?" My voice was shrill, even to me, but I didn't care. "Why wouldn't—"
"Agent Heidrich," Agent Boone interrupted.
It was a good interruption, because I was steamed. It was that kind of prejudice that makes Vincent so closed off. There's also the possibility that it was the type of thinking that had gotten Clancy killed.
Chapter 6
"Yes, Agent Boone?" I asked, trying to maintain some sense of professionalism.
"As interesting as this is," Agent Boone said, "I was wondering if we were nearing our destination, and if we are, what is our plan?"
"Excellent questions," I said, moving quicker, not caring if the others kept up. "We're getting close to the location. Before our friends here," I made the word friend sound as sarcastic as possible, "do their thing, we're going to make a wide circle around the location and drop some metal filings. If we have any rogue gremlins, that will lure them out."
"Is it likely there are any in the area?" Agent Walden asked.
"No," I said. "There's nothing on satellite. Even though they're small, we check the area regularly. The nearby junkyard and the surroundings have shown no activity, and there have been no reports of odd things happening in the tri-county area that may be gremlin related."
"Then why the filings?" Agent Walden asked.
I gritted my teeth, but didn't turn around. "Before you shut the doorway to someone's home, you should always double check, no matter how sure you are there's no one left behind."
"That's fairly standard procedure," Agent Boone said with a hint of accusation in his voice.
"Most teams tend to make sure that the site is ready for us by the time we arrive," Agent Walden said defensively.
"We've cleared the area recently," I said. "And no portal has been opened since then, but it's best practice to make one last check." No one argued, but I could feel the tension building behind me. "We'll start circling around here."
Slinging the bag off my shoulder, I dug out a tightly sealed plastic jar and dumped a few small pieces of metal. Dropping a few at a time, I made a wide circle around where I knew the portal opened. Every now and again, I'd pause to listen for activity before moving on. When our circuit was complete, I closed up the metal in its encasement once again.
"You don't make a trail closer to the portal?" Agent Boone asked.
It wasn’t an accusation, but a genuine question.
"We don't." It was a chore to keep my voice level. "If the portal opens at any point while we're here, we don't want to lure any gremlins over. Although, our soil is usually enough to make them curious anyway."
"Sensible," Agent Boone said approvingly. "I've never worked directly with gremlins."
"If you want to learn more about their reactions and behavior, Rider would be a good source," I said. "He takes as many of the gremlin calls as he can."
"I might do that during my stay," Agent Boone said.
"The portal opens here," I said, pointing to an area where the ground was scored.
"Uh, we'll get started, then, I guess," Agent Dempsey said.
"Will Agent Boone and I be in the way?" I asked. Now that I was out here, I had no idea what I should be doing.
"Actually," Agent Walden said, "you both may be of some use here. Dempsey, why don't you position the agents?"
Agent Dempsey hesitated. "Are you sure you want me to do this?"
"Yes, of course." Walden must have seen the nervous look on my face. "Don't worry; he knows what he's doing. You won't have any real involvement. You're more of a focal point."
Agent Dempsey was eyeing the marks the portal had left. Grooves had been bored into the soil.
"Agent Boone, can I have you stand right here?" Dempsey asked.
The spot he indicated was about a foot in front of the portal.
"Isn't that a bit close?" I asked.
"Not at all," Agent Walden said. "We're closing the portal, after all, not opening it."
I shrugged. I was sure they knew their job, but I didn't think I'd want to stand that close, and I was thankful they didn't try to put me there.
"Agent Heidrich," Agent Dempsey came over, staring at the ground, looking from Boone's feet then back to mine, "I need you right around here."
"Sure," I said. I was left facing Boone, who was maybe five yards away. How we would be used as focal points wasn't obvious, but I was curious.
"That's it, then. Agent Walden will stand over there to the left of the portal. I'll stand to the right and we'll get this closed," Dempsey said.
As I stood there, a thousand questions started to form in my head, but Agent Dempsey was already sweating and looking anxious. I didn't want to add to his stress level.
Besides, maybe I could get some answers on my own. My eyes shut automatically when I took a deep breath. The meditation was starting to pay off. When I reached the edge of my knowledge of the world, I looked out into a black abyss, ready to make t
he jump into the Path. Glittering shards of soul, both mine and others, lay stretched out on the blackness. I was getting used to seeing it. The leap to the Path was becoming easier.
When I opened my eyes again, it was to a shimmering overlay of our own world. The colors were vivid, and everything flowed as though moving through a river. Concentrating a bit harder, I dammed up that river until there was only a stream.
I'm amazed I had never thought to open the Path when taking one of the gremlin calls. I had seen portals before; we had several at the office. When those portals were open, however, they dragged the Path down, with my power alongside it. I had seen a natural portal like this one once before, but I hadn't known what I was looking at, at the time. That one was long past closed.
The portal itself had a Path. There was a glowing ring standing inches away from Boone. It was shiny white and had balls of light, power maybe, flowing around the circle of the portal.
It was beautiful. I could sit here, watch those little balls of light zip around their circle for hours, and be amused the whole time. It wasn't what I had expected when Dempsey started to work. I saw his power billow out in front of him. Instead of strands like around the portal, it appeared as a cloud rushing toward the portal.
I turned to Walden, curious to see if the power worked the same in both agents. Agent Walden's Path looked normal. I didn't see a flow of power reaching out. He did appear anxious, though. Without looking at his intense expression, I could read the anxiety in his Path. Maybe he wasn't as sure of Agent Dempsey's work as he had made it sound. Dark yellow sparked out, showing his uncertainty, before flaring and turning to a ghastly yellow green of mistrust.
His part must come at the end. Dempsey's cloud of power was reaching the portal. The little white lights zipped faster and faster, as though cutting the air.
Which is kind of what they had done. Carved a hole between worlds.
Pressure began to build and I put my hands over my stomach, suddenly nauseated. This, I had felt before too. Whatever portals did when they opened, it didn't mix well with my power. Most people didn’t appear to notice the power of a portal, but for me, it felt like I was being pushed down and squeezed tight at the same time.
Being this close sucked, although I think the Path being open might have been making it worse.
"Are you alright?" Boone asked.
I nodded, but didn't trust myself to talk at that moment, worried that more than words would come out.
Had I ever been around a portal closing?
Swallowing hard and taking a few deep breaths, I hazarded a few words. "Do you have to get the portal close to opening to close it?" I asked.
"What?" Dempsey asked.
"Do it now," Walden growled.
Dempsey's power wavered and he looked at me, not watching his work.
"Now!" Walden shouted.
Dempsey jumped and focused again. A burst of power exploded out, creating a blinding light, brighter than the Path. Shading my eyes, I watched through slits in my fingers as the portal opened.
Wind rushed through the area, expanding out from the power of the portal.
"Why is it opening?" Boone had to raise his voice to be heard over the rush of air. He took a step back.
"Don't move!" Walden shouted.
Boone froze to the spot. The portal appeared to waver, although it could have been a trick of the light. Looking lower to the ground, I watched for any small shapes, worried the gremlins might jump through.
"You have to close it off," I said. I had to repeat myself louder.
Dempsey was covered in sweat now and visibly shaking. His face paled.
He was using too much power. I'd been close to burning myself out a few times and it wasn't a pretty sight.
"Finish it!" Walden screeched.
The portal wavered again, and then jumped forward.
Boone fell through and my mind went blank. Going on instinct alone, I threw a strand of power out and looped it around Boone, freezing it into a solid rope.
It had him. I knew the power was wrapped around him, I could sense it. Nevertheless, Boone was gone. I rushed forward to the portal.
What did I know about portals? My thoughts hiccupped as my mind tried to work again, but it was in panicky disorder. Could I yank him back? Would that kill him or leave him in some sort of limbo?
My stomach clenched. Or would that leave him between worlds? It was an awful thought.
Then my brain kicked into gear. Gremlins came out of this thing all the time. Boone should be able to move back through as well.
Looking up, I caught Dempsey's horrified expression.
"Keep it open!" I yelled, "I think we can get him back."
Dempsey shook his head, and then his eyes grew wide. He started to say something, but something slammed into my back.
Sharp bright light surrounded me. My lungs seized up.
A blur of color greeted me before I hit something face first.
Staggering, I fell to the side and landed hard on the ground.
Spots of light dotted my vision, but around it, I could still see the intense brightness of the portal. The little balls of white lights were starting to slow. The light dimmed. In moments, the portal winked out.
I jumped to my feet, but wavered when my head swam and sat back down again, hard on the ground. The Path flowed unevenly and the colors swirled in odd patterns. A bright spot in my situation presented itself. My stomach wasn't ready to toss up breakfast.
Then I realized what that meant. The portal was closed.
Someone cursed a few feet away and stalked around. By sound, I knew it was Boone, but I was still light-blind from the intensity of the portal. Taking my time, I stood shakily to my feet and moved closer to what had been the portal.
"What just happened?" I wasn't asking anyone in particular, but I felt like it had to be said all the same.
Still reading, I went to the ghosted outline of the portal. The balls of light were still there, but so faint they could barely be seen. I probed the Path, nudging the little ball. It didn't move and faded further still.
"It's almost closed," I said.
A torrent of curses was Boone's reply.
The lights in my eyes were starting to fade. When I turned away, I saw Boone. Frowning, I looked behind him to the meadow of grass that hadn't been there when we came to the portal.
"How do you know it's closing?" Boone demanded.
I rubbed my head. "The Path is fading away."
Something was wrong with the grass. It was green, but the wrong color of green. Could grass turn blue?
A part of me knew what was happening, but my mind threw up as many roadblocks and denials as it could grasp hold of.
"Can you stop it from fading?" Boone asked.
"Um..." I looked at the portal, but all that was left were its ghosted remains. The forest that had sprung up behind the portal was a bit of a distraction. "I don't know."
"Then try, dammit!" Boone barked the command.
I glared at him, but knowing my chance was fading away, I didn't argue. We were stuck in the wrong world.
No, I shoved that thought down. Those words would lead to nothing but panic and I was running out of time. Closing my eyes for a heartbeat, I released the holds on my power.
The Path glowed strongly around me and the ghosted Path of the portal brightened considerably, which gave me hope.
The problem was I knew nothing about how portals worked. Energy was the key. I knew that. Massive amounts of electricity were used to open the ones at the office. I remembered Logan and Rider talking about portals. That seemed like a lifetime ago, but they had mentioned there were others in their worlds that could open portals. Logan had even theorized that I might be able to open one if I put enough power into it.
I was probably remembering wrong.
Still, if energy were the key, I’d try my hardest. Gathering as much power as I could, I started to feed it into the portal.
For a few moments, nothi
ng happened. Slamming more power into it, the tiny glowing balls of light started to glide gently around their circular trail. I watched one move agonizingly slow, and I wavered.
"Can you open it?" Boone was obviously used to giving orders and expecting immediate answers to his questions.
"Shut up," I snapped, not liking the tone of his voice. Gripping the aggravation, I fed that touch of extra power into the portal. The little balls of light jumped a few inches, and then stuttered to a stop.
No, no, no, this was not happening. I thought about Gran and Mom. Rider and Logan.
Vincent.
I shook out my hands and circled around the portal until I stood back in front of it. I had no idea what to do. It looked more solid and adding energy caused movement, but nothing like the zipping balls of light that Agent Dempsey had created.
"This is going to suck," I said, more to myself than anyone else. I took a deep breath and began to draw in power. Paths around me bent and started to flow toward me. After a few moments, it felt as though I was vibrating in my skin.
"What are you doing?" Boone asked. This time, he sounded weary.
Looking at him, I saw I had unintentionally pulled on his Path. "Sorry." I adjusted in order to drop his Path and keep his swirly strands of energy separate from everything else around me.
When I couldn't take in another hair’s breadth of energy, I let it go. All at once, I slammed the power toward the portal. The sound of wind rushed past me, but the air was still. Bright lights started to pop in my vision. For a moment, I thought I might be achieving some success, but the lights weren't coming from the portal.
I ignored them and drew more power through me until I swayed.
What would Gran do if I didn't come home? The thought added a renewed surge of energy. The edges of my vision started to blur.
Rider and I hadn't made up yet.
My eyesight narrowed until there was only the portal and me. The little balls of light slid around. They were moving.
This would work. I felt lightheaded, but began drawing the Path out of the ground, adding it to the flow.
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