The Floating Room

by Brian Olsen

  I shrug. “Snakes are cool.”

  He considers for a minute. “Snakes are kinda cool.”

  “Not that many of them!” Jasmine protests. “That many snakes are never cool!”

  I put the snake down and the three of us head back down the corridor. Alisa passes Shonda off to some of her other friends.

  “Let me guess,” I say as Alisa rejoins us. “Shonda’s scared of snakes.”

  “Not just scared. She has nightmares about them.”

  “Guys!” Lily runs down the hall towards us, shouting. “Guys, is Kenny—” She skids to a stop. “Oh god there are snakes here. There are snakes everywhere. Oh my god.” She flattens against the lockers to give the dispersing pile of snakes as wide a berth as possible. “Oh these are snakes. These are really snakes. Okay. Snakes snakes snakes everywhere. Please don’t touch me, Mr. Snake.” She clears the last one and joins us. “Guys, I heard about Kenny. Is he all right? Also…snakes?”

  Mrs. Kumar, the acting headmistress, charges down the hall. Word of the nudity and the snakes must have reached her because she looks ready to crack heads.

  “Let’s go outside,” I suggest.

  The five of us go to the far end of the hall, away from the approaching adults. A door here leads us out onto a little patio area near the woods behind the school. It’s an unofficial faculty lounge when the weather’s warm, but they’re all inside getting ready for first period so we’ve got it to ourselves. We step to the side, onto the grass, where we won’t be seen by anyone passing by.

  “Nightmares,” Alisa says to Lily. “Jasmine, Kenny and Shonda all had nightmares come true. Sound familiar?”

  Lily’s eyes widen. “The Nightmare Queen’s only been giving us bad dreams. Nothing like this. Nothing real.”

  “Can she do that?” I ask. “Can she use her magic like that?”

  “I don’t know!” Lily’s hair is back in its usual ponytail. She grabs it and gives it an anxious twist. “Mr. Liefer remembers the most out of all of us, but he doesn’t know much about her. You’re sure it’s not Miller?”

  “I picked up one of the snakes,” I say. “You can’t touch an illusion.”

  “None of them were dangerous, though,” Nate points out. “Scary, yeah. But those could have been rattlesnakes or cobras instead of garter snakes.”

  “So what?” Alisa frowns. “She’s just playing around with us?”

  “Not with us,” I say. “Shonda’s not involved in any of this. Not like Jasmine and—”

  I cut myself off, but Lily caught it. Crap.

  “Kenny?” she says. “Kenny felt the Moment. Does he have his memory back?”

  I sigh. “No. But he’s one of you. One of Liefer’s people. He doesn’t remember, but he saw me do magic and attacked.”

  “Oh.” Lily twists her ponytail again. “Wow.”

  She used to have a crush on Kenny. And by used to I mean three weeks ago, before our world changed. I wonder if she still feels the same.

  “What’s his word?” she asks finally.

  “Amplify,” I answer. “He made our magic go out of control.”

  Lily rubs her forehead. “Oh, man. Liefer would love a power like that.”

  Alisa touches her arm. “Don’t tell Liefer, Lily, please. Kenny doesn’t remember anything. Let’s leave him out of it.”

  Lily hesitates, then nods. “Yeah. Okay. We’ll probably have to bring him in eventually. But I’m okay with letting him stay innocent for a while.” She drops her ponytail. “Poor Kenny.”

  “Why would the Nightmare Queen come after us?” Jasmine asks. “If she’s on Mr. Miller’s side, and he wants Chris to turn evil again…wait, is that what he wants?” She shakes her head. “I keep losing track of who’s on whose side.”

  “Maybe she’s experimenting,” Nate suggests. “Practicing her magic, like you’ve all been doing.”

  “I’ll have to tell Mr. Liefer about this,” Lily says.

  I nod. “Good. We want Liefer to find Mr. Miller. Maybe this’ll give him a clue. Lily, Liefer came to see me last night. He told me his plan. To recast the Moment. Are you okay with that?”

  She spreads her arms wide. “What’s the alternative? This world isn’t supposed to have magic in it. And these double memories are just bringing everybody pain. Yeah, I’m on board, Chris. Are you?”

  “Mostly. But if Liefer’s stepping up his plans, and Miller and the Nightmare Queen are stepping up theirs—”

  “Whatever they are,” Nate mutters.

  “Yeah. Whatever they are. Then we need to step up ours.”

  Lily steps back, shaking her head. “I told you, Chris. I’m not helping you find the book.”

  Alisa huffs, “Lily, you can’t think it’s right—”

  The ground shakes, cutting Alisa short. Grass and dirt fly as the courtyard lawn splits open, directly beneath Lily’s feet. She drops with a scream into the narrow chasm that’s formed from nowhere.

  I jump in after her. Lily is below me, and below her is nothing but endless blackness. The walls of this bottomless pit fade as we recede further and further from the sunlight above.

  Lily screams and spins as she falls. I reach for her but she’s too far away.

  The sun sets. The sun sets. I want to go down. Faster. Faster.

  “Sun!”

  I fall faster. I catch up to Lily and grab her wrist. I continue falling past her, accelerated by my magic. She twists roughly in my grip as she’s pulled behind me, but I keep my hold on her as we plummet together into the darkness.

  The sun rises. The sun rises. We’re rising. We’re rising.

  “Sun!”

  I jerk to a stop and I have to grab her wrist with both hands as her momentum carries her past me again, but I yank her up and she throws her arms and legs around me. We rise. The crumbling dirt walls around us brighten and our friends’ faces, peering down into the pit, come into view.

  We reach the top and they grab us before we shoot further into the sky. I drop the spell and they pull us towards them, away from the pit, to safety. The five of us tumble to the grass and lie there in a heap, hugging one another.

  “That’s my nightmare,” Lily sobs. “Falling. Always falling.”

  I hug her tighter.

  The ground shakes again and the pit snaps shut. The grass is undisturbed, as if nothing happened.

  The bell rings for the start of first period.

  “Lily,” Alisa says, stroking our traumatized friend’s hair. “I love you and I’m glad you’re safe and I hate to be that person, but seeing as how Chris just saved your life, maybe you’ll help us find the book now?”

  Eight

  “Nightmare Queen or magical creatures?” I ask.

  “Magical creatures,” Alisa says firmly.

  “Nightmare Queen,” Nate says just as firmly.

  Jasmine bites her lip. “Magical creatures sounds way nicer than Nightmare Queen.”

  “I vote Nightmare Queen.” Zane cranes his neck to look back at me. “She came for us. We gotta defend ourselves.”

  I kiss the top of his head and lean forward, putting my arms around his neck. He’s on the floor in front of me, sitting between my legs, and I’m in a green armchair in the old prop storage room, backstage at Winston Hall. Winston Hall used to be the school’s theater, before the arts building was built. All the junk the drama teacher didn’t want was left behind, and nobody ever comes back here. It’s made this the perfect meeting spot for our Future Logomancers of America club.

  Nate leans back. He’s in the middle spot of an ugly yellow couch, with Alisa and Jasmine on either side of him. He stretches his arms out behind their backs. “The cutesy magic fairies will keep. They’re not going anywhere. The Nightmare Queen is attacking us now and I do not want my nightmares coming to life, thanks.”

  Jasmine rubs his thigh. “Oh, me, neither, babe. You’re always getting stabbed in your nightmares.”

  He moves his arm from behind her and takes her hand. “Exactly.”


  She grips his thigh tightly. “So that’s why we should stay away from her!”

  Alisa, clutching her tree medallion, leans forward. “Whether the magical creatures are safe right now or not isn’t the point. They’re imprisoned against their will. Delaying setting them free makes us just as guilty as the logomancers who put them there.”

  “Like me?” Zane says.

  Alisa nods. “Yes, Zane. Like you. You were one of the logomancers who helped Mr. Liefer cast the Moment, after all. Maybe you want to go after the Nightmare Queen because you think the magical creatures are better off where they are.”

  Zane tenses up under my arms. “Sure. Maybe. And maybe you care less about the poor imprisoned dragons and trolls, and more about getting your hot elf boyfriend back? Maybe?”

  Alisa drops the necklace and throws some braids back over her shoulder, her eyes flaring.

  I jump in, cutting off her retort. “Alisa doesn’t remember her elf boyfriend, just like Zane doesn’t remember casting the Moment, and we’re not blaming people for stuff none of us remember. Right?”

  Alisa’s shoulders drop. She bites her lip. “Right. Of course. Sorry, Zane, I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad. Just stating the facts.”

  Zane relaxes too, then shrugs. “Sure. Whatever. What about going after both, then? They’re both important.”

  “Could we?” I rest my chin on the top of Zane’s head. “I hate the thought of splitting us up.”

  Footsteps at the doorway get our attention. Lily, her book bag slung over her shoulder. “Don’t split up. That’s my gimmick.”

  I sit up and half-turn to face her. “Hey. I thought you didn’t want to know what we were talking about.”

  She drops her bag and leans against the doorjamb. “I don’t. The less I know, the less I’m hiding from Liefer. But I needed to see you and I heard what you…uh…shoot.”

  Her mouth droops, like all her muscles have gone slack. Then the same thing happens to the rest of her face. Her head tilts forward.

  We jump up. Jasmine runs to her. “Lily! Are you having a stroke?”

  “Magic attack again?” Nate says. “The Nightmare Queen?”

  Lily actually laughs. Or she tries to. It sounds drawled out, and a spittle of drool falls onto her blouse. She waves us away. “I’m fine.” Her voice sounds like it’s playing at half speed. Her lower lip actually starts to slide off her face, the skin stretching like pizza dough. She catches it in her hand.

  “Holy shit!” Zane says. “What the hell’s wrong with her?”

  A second Lily appears in the doorway, her face intact “Nothing,” the new Lily says. “I’ve never been split for this long before, and spent so much time away from myself. Can’t hold it together.”

  The melting Lily looks at her double through droopy eyes, exhales in relief, and touches her. The two girls merge, the first walking into the second, their bodies rippling where they connect. For an instant, halfway through, there’s a truly disturbing double-backed Lily in the room with us, with hair on all sides of her head, but they keep combining and the last bit of ponytail vanishes into the new arrival’s nose. The second Lily, now the only Lily, returns to normal. She leans over, her hands on her shins, and takes a deep breath. “Oh, new memories. That’s always weird. We’ve been apart since this morning. I’m getting better at this, but still.”

  “Lily,” I say. “What’s going on? Did you send a copy of yourself off somewhere while you stayed at school?”

  She stands up and nods. “Couldn’t skip. Not after being out for two weeks. I’m so far behind as it is.”

  Lily’s word is “split,” and she can split herself, and others, into multiple identical copies. I’ve only ever seen her do it in a fight, and only for short periods. I had no idea she could copy herself and send one roaming.

  “I gotta sit.” She grabs her vanished double’s bag and drops down in the armchair I abandoned. The rest of us gather around her.

  “Okay.” She closes her eyes and her labored breathing slows a little. “She did it. Good.” She opens her eyes again. “You guys have to forget about the Nightmare Queen. She wants to turn Chris back to the Common King, so you need to stay clear of her.”

  “But she attacked us,” Nate protests.

  “No, she messed with you. Jasmine, Kenny, and Shonda were scared but never in danger. I’m the only one she attacked.”

  Alisa says, “Because you’re with Mr. Liefer.”

  Lily nods. “Liefer, Mr. Palakiko, and Mr. Ambrose all fought off real nightmares too, late last night. Liefer thinks the Nightmare Queen came here looking for me, and warmed up on some random students while she was waiting.”

  “So we’re not in danger?” Nate says. “Jasmine’s not in danger?”

  “We’re all in danger, Nate,” Lily answers. “But I don’t think she’s targeting you, no.” She takes Alisa’s hand. “Leave Miller and the Nightmare Queen to Liefer. He’s even more motivated now.”

  “Does he have any idea where they are?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “Miller’s good at hiding, but Mr. Liefer can cover a lot of ground fast, and Mr. Ambrose can disrupt any illusions. They’ll find them.”

  “Then I change my vote,” Zane says. “If the Nightmare Queen isn’t coming for us, let’s leave it that way. Not get her attention.”

  I look at him, surprised. He takes my hand.

  “She wants to turn you into somebody else,” he says. “I like who you are now.”

  I kiss him. “I like who you are now, too.”

  I don’t say that I already have the Nightmare Queen’s attention. It’s gotta be her who’s sending me these memories in my sleep.

  “First priority is the magical creatures, then,” I say instead. “Alisa, you thought you might have a way to find the book?”

  “Hold up.” Lily unzips her bag. “Got you covered.”

  She hands Alisa a thick hard-backed book. On the cover is a picture of a unicorn in a glade, with Creatures of Myth and Legend written in fancy curlicue lettering.

  “I thought—” I start.

  “You were right,” she says. “We were wrong to lock all these intelligent beings away without their consent. They deserve a new world as much as we do.”

  “Plus,” Alisa says, “Chris saved your life.”

  Lily smacks her lightly in the side. “That guilt trip was a low blow, girl. But no.” Lily looks at me. Her expression is grave. “I’m grateful you saved me, Chris. Obviously. But that’s not why I’m helping you. The Nightmare Queen is getting in our heads at night, which probably means she knows where Liefer is hiding out, which means Miller knows. If he gets the book, he might destroy it. I tried to convince Liefer the book was safer with you right now, but he didn’t agree.” She stands up. “So I lied to him. Said he convinced me. Then I snuck off and made a copy of the book. Took the real one and left the fake behind.”

  “Lily!” Nate hugs her. “Lying and stealing from authority! Man, I love my friends!”

  She laughs and shoves him away. “Liefer won’t know the difference unless he tries to use it. I couldn’t duplicate the magic, so yours is the only one that’ll work.”

  “Work how?” I ask. “How do we use it?”

  Lily picks up her now empty bag. “No clue. Sorry, you’re on your own there. And by that I mean, I’m not helping you any more than I already have. Liefer trusts me and I feel like crap playing him like this.”

  “Wait,” I say. “Won’t the copy of the book you made melt too at some point?”

  “Eventually. An inanimate object is easier to maintain than a walking and talking copy of myself, but still.” She pats my head. “Don’t take your time on this.” She pauses in the doorway. “Good luck.”

  She steps out onto the stage, then through the closed curtain into Winston Hall.

  Alisa plops down on the couch and flips through the pages of the book. “I think I know where to start…”

  Jasmine leans over the back of the sofa to l
ook. “Slow down. The pictures are pretty.”

  “No, I’m trying to find…here.” She holds up the open book. “Elves. We should start there.”

  “So you do want to find your boyfriend,” Nate says.

  “No, not because of that.” She lifts the tree medallion from her necklace. “Because of this.”

  I move over to sit on the arm of the sofa, next to Alisa. “Makes sense. It’s the only artifact we have, since Liefer took the minotaur trophy.”

  Zane stands behind me and rests his hands on my shoulders. “And Alisa dating one of them doesn’t hurt.”

  “We’re not dating!” She slumps, dropping the necklace. “Or maybe we are. I don’t know what Tannyl and I are to each other. I can’t remember.”

  Nate sits next to Alisa, and Jasmine comes around to sit in his lap. “But how do you use the book?” she asks. “Are you going to cast a spell on it?”

  “I don’t know.” Alisa leans closer to the book. “Maybe there’s another clue in the picture.”

  The book is divided into two-page spreads, each devoted to a different magical species from the world before. One facing page is filled with text describing our world’s version of the creatures’ history, while the other has a black-and-white illustration of a scene featuring them. We think every picture also shows the artifact that the creatures have been stashed inside. Alisa’s tree medallion is worn by one of the elves in the foreground of their image, while the minotaurs’ entry shows a minotaur child playing with the golden bull trophy that imprisons them.

  As Alisa squints at the picture of the elves, her necklace brushes the page, and from the tiny image of the printed medallion comes a glint of silver.

  “Oh!” Alisa snaps upright. “Look!”

  “I see it.” Nate circles his finger above a spot on the page. “Right there.”

  The entire scene is still colorless, except for the drawing of the tree medallion, which is now colored the same silver as the real thing. The change lingers for a moment, then the color fades.

  “Touch the necklace to it again,” I suggest.

  Alisa pinches the medallion between her fingers and touches it to the page. The same thing happens.