The Veiled World

by Vanessa Garden

  When I sat back down Noah appeared again.

  “You want to watch a movie together? We’ll be landing in about an hour and a half.”

  An hour and a half? A lightning bolt of excitement and nerves zipped through my veins and my fingers tightened around the arms of my chair. Maybe a movie would relax me a little.

  “Flick through the menu and pick one, then I’ll put it up on my screen too.”

  “Okay.”

  The screen was fairly easy to use and before I knew it I was clicking through the selection.

  “How about a comedy?” I asked. “Name one you like, seeing as you’re the expert.”

  “Well, they’ve got Weird Science in the classics. Want to watch that? It’s an oldie but a goody.”

  I remembered watching it with Sam years ago when we were with our older cousins. I think I was about seven. It was old already back then. All I could remember was the lead actors wearing bras on their heads.

  “Perfect.”

  Noah watched me suck in a deep breath.

  “What are you so nervous about?” His dark eyes narrowed with concern. “We’re going on an island, and, knowing Buzz Lightyear, it’ll have its own resort.” He unfolded his shirt collar so that it stuck up around his neck and raised a single brow. “We’ll be living in style for the next ten days, baby.”

  I swallowed thickly and tried to smile. “I know, I just...” My eyes travelled to Claire and Bella for only a second, but it was long enough for Noah to notice.

  “Don’t worry about them. You and I can hang out.” He gestured with a flick of his head to the seat in front. “Jacob’s cool and so is Kyle.” Resting his chin against the seat, he frowned. “Is it because of the stuff they say about you and your brother?”

  “Oh, look, movie’s starting.” I pointed to my screen.

  Noah pursed his lips and gave me a look that said this conversation wasn’t over before turning around and dropping into his seat. He was actually a nice guy and I was glad he was on this trip with me. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to if it wasn’t for him. But, no matter how nice Noah was, the subject of my brother was off limits.

  The movie opened up to a gym, with two dorky guys checking out girls in their gym gear when two dark-haired guys crept up behind them and dropped the dorky guys’ daks in front of all the girls. I settled into my seat and released a soft sigh. Thank God for eighties films.

  Around half an hour later, after Noah popped his head up over the seat for another character-motive analysis, the screen suddenly died. I groaned, as did Noah and everyone else on the plane.

  Noah slipped back into his seat, probably to try to fix his screen. I was just about to turn mine off and on again when it suddenly came back to life, the screen white, with soft music playing in the background.

  From behind me, I heard Reece swear as an old picture of him and his mum, who died when he was only twelve, appeared on the screen. They were standing next to a Christmas tree with too much tinsel on it. Reece was smiling sweetly at whoever was taking the photo. I’d forgotten how much of a nice guy he’d been before his mum died. He was so different now.

  Reece’s picture faded out and suddenly a photo of two elderly people filled the screen.

  “What the hell is this?” Kyle yelled from across the cabin. “How’d he get photos of my grandparents?”

  Claire started whimpering when a photo of a baby appeared on the screen and my body turned rigid when I realised who that baby was. Shame flooded me. I’d almost forgotten that Claire had lost her little sister to cot death many years ago. She’d lost a sibling just like me.

  Bella put her arms around Claire but started screaming when a photo of her old boyfriend, who died playing chicken on the main highway that ran through our town, showed up on the screen. I’d forgotten how beautiful he’d been, with his olive skin, dark hair, and gorgeous smile. Carl had been one of my brother’s best mates. Sam had been completely cut up when he’d died last winter. The whole school had mourned him, just like they’d mourned my brother only two months later.

  More pictures came.

  Of Jacob’s dad leaning out of his work Ute window, just as muscular and good-looking as his son. Then of Rueben’s famous footballer dad who’d died of brain cancer, hairless and thin, but smiling weakly in a hospital bed surrounded by his family.

  When Noah’s cousin, Laura, an only child of her parents, who’d died in a car accident when she was only ten, showed, I started to sweat and my stomach began churning. I knew what was coming. Knew whose face I’d see next.

  I shut my eyes but opened them again just as a picture of Sam came into focus. He was smiling, his hair perfectly mussed. It was his famous bed hair that used to take him roughly forty-five minutes each morning before school. We missed the bus regularly because of that hair and I used to give him heaps over it.

  “Why is she smiling like that?”

  Wait. What?

  “Because she’s a fucking freak!”

  I looked up and saw that everyone was staring at me. Reece stood leaning over the back of my seat, his eyes like slits. When I brought my hands to my face I felt the wetness of my own tears. I’d been crying and smiling at the same time.

  “What the hell is going on?” Reece shouted to nobody in particular.

  The screen turned black, then white again, and one by one, single black letters appeared to eventually form seven words.

  What if you could bring them back?

  “What is this shit?” Reece shouted at my screen.

  Noah, his face white, shook his head. For once he was at a loss for words.

  Rueben stood up, his furious dark eyes trained on the cockpit, but the plane trembled and shook and he fell back into his seat.

  “Must be turbulence,” shouted Kyle, his eyes wide and unsure, when the lights for the seatbelt came on.

  Claire and Bella’s cries filled the cabin. I wanted to reach out to Claire. It must have been hard for her to see the picture of her little sister after all these years, but six months’ worth of Claire ignoring me or smirking at me kept me in my seat.

  “I don’t mean the fucking turbulence!” shouted Reece. “I mean this what if you could get them back crap.” He looked at us all, even me, his green eyes wide. “How did he get photos of all these people? Of our people? What’s he trying to do?”

  “He’s trying to freak us out!” shouted Kyle, who was now sitting up straight, his back against his upright seat. “He’s a freak,” he added, buckling his seatbelt with trembling fingers. “He likes doing stuff like this. I mean, he wears a friggen Buzz suit!”

  Rueben got up again but landed on his arse when the plane shook even more violently than before.

  Bella screamed and Claire buried her face beneath the blanket. When the plane shuddered again Claire raised her head and looked at me, her large dark eyes filled with terror. “Do something, Amber, do something, please! I’m so scared.”

  I nodded and sucked in a deep breath, my eyes on the cockpit door. Suddenly all the bitchiness Claire had doled out to me since my brother died faded away. All I could remember was how hard she’d cried when her little sister had died, and how she’d slept with her baby sister’s teething ring beneath her pillow each night for years following her death.

  I stood up, ignoring the flashing seatbelt warning.

  Using Noah’s armrest, I propelled myself forward. When I gripped the back of Jacob’s chair, I threw a quick glance at him and was surprised to find him sitting with his head back, eyes closed, the veins in his neck and arms bulging while he gripped the arms of his seat. His seatbelt was unbuckled.

  From out of nowhere Rueben fell against me, our heads cracking together. The impact knocked me to the ground, across Jacob’s feet. I raised myself to my knees and clutched my head. Oh God it hurt.

  “Sorry, but you were in the way!” Rueben shouted as he steadied himself against the wall of the cockpit.

  Gripping Jacob’s seat, I pulled myself up, swa
ying on my feet a little before lunging for the handle of the cockpit door. It was locked, which was a no brainer. Bruce would have expected a reaction after screening that weird video.

  “What’s going on?” I shouted, pounding my fists against the door.

  The plane seemed to dip then rise, then dip again. My stomach dropped and what I’d eaten hours ago threatened to rise up my throat, but after a few deep breaths I managed to keep it down.

  Rueben lost his footing again and gripped my arm to steady his feet. I’d have bruises tomorrow from the way his fingers were squeezing my bicep. I clutched the metal door handle to keep us both from falling. Reece was swearing up a storm behind us as more turbulence rocked the plane.

  “Open up, Bruce!” Rueben shouted, his meaty fists pounding the door. After repeating this several times to no avail, Rueben turned and leaned against the door to catch his breath. Sweat trickled from his temples down his dark cheeks.

  “What’s wrong with him?” he shouted in my ear while eying Jacob. I followed his gaze.

  “He’s never flown before,” I said. “He’s probably terrified.”

  Rueben nodded and his eyes widened. “Shit! What if Bruce was showing us the pictures because he wants us to join the dead? What if this is a suicide mission?” He squeezed my arm even harder. “His wife’s dead, remember? Oh my god were fu—”

  The plane jolted to the right and Rueben and I went flying. The bain-maries at the back of the plane crashed to the floor, along with the metal bins. It all came zooming up the aisle towards us. Just as I was getting to my feet someone’s food tray hit me in the temple and I fell to my knees.

  “You okay?”

  I nodded at Rueben, even though my head was throbbing. “I’m going back to my seat. Go buckle yourself in!”

  The loudspeaker crackled to life.

  “Bruce here. Getting ready to land. Please remain buckled in your seats until we land or until I instruct you otherwise. I repeat, return to your seats for landing. When we touch-down I’ll explain everything. By now you should all know that you haven’t been selected to sample my energy drinks. You have all been carefully selected for a higher purpose.”

  The loudspeaker crackled for a few more seconds, then silenced.

  I crawled, using Rueben’s seat then Jacob’s. But before I could move on, I seized Jacob’s seatbelt and strapped it around his stomach. His eyes snapped open and he seemed surprised to see me there, with my hands on his belt. But he quickly realised what I had done and nodded a thanks before screwing his eyes shut once again.

  I passed Noah, who was already buckled in, his eyes closed, possibly praying by the looks of his moving lips.

  In what seemed like forever, I finally got back to my seat and strapped myself in.

  “We’ll survive this, Amber, won’t we?” Claire shouted through her tears, and I nodded to reassure her, though my heart was going a mile a minute and my skin was coated in sweat.

  “It’s just a storm, don’t worry,” I shouted back. “He flies this thing all the time. We’ll be okay.”

  My ears began to ache, a sharp pain that radiated down my jaw as we descended, and I recalled Sam and myself both suffering excruciating ear pain upon landing in Bali last year.

  I leant my head back on the seat and gripped my armrests with sweaty palms. My head still throbbed from where Rueben had butted me and where the tray had hit me.

  Mum and Dad sprang to mind. If we crashed landed and I died, how would they cope with the loss of another child?

  But as the plane took a sudden dive and shuddered even more, causing the muscles of my arms and legs to vibrate against the seat, all I could think about was those seven words that had appeared on the screen in front of me.

  What if you could bring them back?

  4

  Axel

  “Bring him up!”

  I rubbed my eyes. I must have dozed off again because the old man, Dream Master, was now in the corner, curled up like a cat on a dirty rug, and a guard was in the dungeon with us.

  The old guard started to yank Dream Master’s torn shirt, but King Cyril swore.

  “No, not him, bring the boy!”

  I looked up to see King Cyril staring down at me through the open hatch. From this angle he looked extra weathered and droopy, his wrinkles deeper. If he ever got his wife back from the Land of Resting Souls, they would look odd, like father and daughter. Unless the dead continued to age in the afterlife...which would make my brother thirteen.

  I smiled to myself as a vision of my baby brother, all grown up, filled my head. He’d be tall, like me, and his hair would be curly and wild like mine.

  The guard seized me by my shirt collar and yanked me to my feet before staring up at the king for confirmation.

  “Yes! Now bring the boy to me!”

  I was about to give cheek and remind the king that Prince Ollie and I were there only “boys” left living in the kingdom because they’d all died in efforts to bring back the queen from the dead, but I knew it best to keep my mouth shut, lest I muck up my chances at getting my brother back. Perhaps Ollie hadn’t had a chance to poison my reputation yet. The king still may wish to nominate me as a challenger.

  The guard poked and prodded me with the tip of his sword until I climbed out the hatch. Completely unnecessary seeing as I wanted out of the dungeon. Then he shoved me so that I knelt in front of the king, the bones of my knees already aching from a night sleeping on stone. My eyes watered at the brightness of the morning sun so I stared down at the stone beneath me.

  “Good luck, my son!” I heard Dream Master shout, his voice coming at me in echo form so that I heard it three times. “You will be great-great-great! I have seen it-seen it-seen it! I have seen your success-success-success! The dead will return-return-return!”

  Silently I thanked Dream Master and hoped the guard, who had quickly climbed down into the dungeons to silence the old man, wasn’t unnecessarily cruel to him. But he was the one who’d poked and prodded me out of the dungeon so my hopes weren’t exactly high. No matter. After returning the king his dead wife and my brother, I’d be welcomed back to the kingdom a hero, and my first demand would be Dream Master’s release.

  “Are the challengers here?” I asked, forgetting myself in all the excitement of my daydreams of becoming a hero in the near future.

  Cold steel forced my chin up and I blinked rapidly to see three guards surrounding the king, including the guard with his sword beneath my chin.

  “You forget to address me, boy. I am your majesty, remember that.” But King Cyril’s stern expression gave way and his eyes widened, unable to hide the glittering joy inside of them. “The challengers are not yet here but they are on their way and we must prepare for them, boy. I’ve brought you out for the preparations. You will assist the challengers, prepare them before they set out on their journey to the Land of Resting Souls.”

  But hadn’t he heard what Dream Master had said about me being a success? After all those echoes?

  “Preparations? But I thought you might like to consider me—”

  “Enough, boy! I’ve banned all my subjects from going on the journey. Too many lives lost. You do realise that between you and Prince Ollie there are not many young, virile men left to repopulate our kingdom. And the only two women left to impregnate are my sister and the cook, Violet. Which I’ll have to arrange very soon, actually. Violet is getting on in her years.” He turned on his heel, snapped his fingers, after which the guards sheathed their swords, then started away.

  “But...what...no!”

  There was no way I would lie with the king’s shrivelled, walnut-faced sister or the cook, Violet, who was double my age and like a mother to me. The very idea made me want to vomit.

  “But I’m strong, you know that!” I raced after him after I’d finally found my voice. “Your majesty, think about it. You’ve been sending out old, weak men this whole time.”

  One of the guards turned to shoot me an evil glare. I glared ba
ck. “I have read every book in the library about the journey, about the giver of life, Leirza, about the strange half-human-half-beasts, about the river of truth and the river of lies. I know the landscape is ever changing. Never the same. But I am mentally and physically prepared for it. I’d be the best one. I’ve been training for this ever since—”

  The king finally stopped to stare at me. “Ever since your brother died. I understand. I understand loss more than anybody in this kingdom.” He put a hand on my shoulder and his eyes grew misty. “But I need you here. My son...” He glanced down and sighed heavily. “My own son is a poor excuse for a prince.” His watery eyes found mine again but I looked away, conscious of the tightness in my throat. Must. Not. Let. King. See. Weakness. “You have become like my son and as such you are too valuable.” He turned away and cleared his throat before adding, “I want to keep you alive.”

  “But I could bring your beloved Queen Telitha back. You know I could.”

  The old king kept walking, leading me and the old retired guards through the castle, out into the back courtyard and along a pebbled path leading us to the creature enclosures.

  I could hear the snort of the dragon as it slept, the hiss of the python, the growl of the gryphon, the stomp of the unicorn, the rumble of the Minotaur, and the various grunts and snorts from the other animals all at once. The smell of dung was thick in the damp humidity of the jungle air.

  “See to it that they are well fed, groomed, and in full health for the Choosing Ceremony.”

  I stood, snorting deep breaths in through my nostrils like the Minotaur.

  The king paused mid-step without turning around. A sudden gust of wind blew a flurry of leaves across the king’s path and I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was. That a Change was coming. Sudden gusts of wind usually signalled a Change within twenty-four hours. I wondered, with rage and envy in my heart, what the challengers were in for on their journey. What kind of heavens would they face?