Fighting for Infinity (10 page)

READY FOR HER CLOSE-UP

Nathaniel

Traversing to a shrouded destination required an immense amount of energy. I had tried so many times to traverse to Rina, but I only ended up searching the void until I barely had enough strength to return home.

I hadn’t slept much since Maryah left. Even when I did manage to sneak in a few minutes of rest, I dreamed about past events I never wanted to think about again: arguments with Mary, the horrors of wars, our deaths throughout the centuries, the time England suffered the plague and we watched our town dwindle to five percent of its population. My mind was spiraling into negativity, my thoughts darker than the black hole I had been searching.

I had to keep reminding myself that we weren’t living in the past. We weren’t hiding children to protect them from gas chambers or barbaric medical experiments. Our friends and family weren’t covered in boils and vomiting blood. We had lived through worse—much worse. So why did it feel like surviving the Black Death would be easier than freeing Maryah from Dedrick?

Maryah’s hand twitched, startling me from my trance-like staring at the ring on her thumb. Her eyelids fluttered open.

Rina had returned for another visit.

“Hi,” she said, rubbing Maryah’s nose.

Of all the strange things I’d seen throughout my existence, seeing a soul inhabit Maryah’s body took the prize of most bizarre. “How is Maryah?”

She sat up and stretched. “She’s stubborn and naive.”

I tried to keep my tone pleasant, despite my indignation. “That’s not a nice thing to say about someone you hardly know.”

“I know her well enough.”

She knew nothing about Maryah as far as I was concerned. “And to what do we owe this visit?”

“I enjoyed being outside.” She glanced at the balcony. “I was hoping to try it again.”

I had to figure out a way to barter with Rina for information. If she wanted simple experiences such as being outside then so be it. “That balcony is small. You should expand your horizons and venture to the back deck. The view is beautiful.”

She enthusiastically agreed so I guided her out of the bedroom and down the hall. She paused, staring at Louise’s paintings lining the walls. I waited for questions or a reaction, but after a few moments of studying them, she sniffed the air. “What’s that smell?”

“Eggs and bacon. Louise is cooking breakfast.”

“I like Louise.”

“Would you care to say hello and eat something before we go outside?”

“That would be lovely. Thank you.”

For being trapped in a so-called dungeon with limited interaction with the world and people, she had exceptional manners.

We rounded the corner into the kitchen. Louise finished tossing eggshells into the garbage bin then smiled at us. “Welcome back, Rina.”

Rina waved while eying the sizzling eggs and bacon.

“Would you like some breakfast?” Louise asked.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never had those things before.” Rina leaned over the stovetop. The bacon grease popped, and she jumped back, wiping Maryah’s neck. “Ouch. It bit me.”

“Bacon is a bit dangerous.” Louise wet a dish towel and pressed it to Maryah’s neck. “We’ll stick with eggs for now. Sit and I’ll make you a plate.”

Louise waved her spatula at me, so I pulled out a stool, motioning for Rina to sit down. She clumsily climbed into her seat, appearing to not quite be in control of Maryah’s limbs. Licking Maryah’s lips, she watched Louise butter a slice of toast then began biting her nails.

“Please stop chewing Maryah’s fingers,” I said.

“I’m sorry. It’s a bad habit.”

“They aren’t yours to mutilate.”

She clasped Maryah’s hands in her lap. “I’ll try not to from now on.”

“I’m sure Maryah would appreciate that.”

Louise served Rina an egg sandwich, and Rina attacked it ravenously. The entire time she ate, I pondered what her true motives were for visiting us again.

∞

I tossed Eightball’s gator into the pond. He bounded after it then belly-flopped into the water. Rina giggled as he chomped hold of his toy and paddled his way out.

“I like him.” She seemed to like everyone—or at least claimed to.

“I suspect he likes
you as well.”

“Only because I’m in Maryah’s body.”

“He knows the difference between the two of you.”

I stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating whether or not to reveal my failed attempts at traversing to wherever s
he and Maryah were being imprisoned. “The darkness that you spoke of when visitors come and go from the place you live, how long does it last?”

“A few seconds.”

“Do you know how or why it’s needed to enter and exit the room?”

“Because there are no doors or windows.”

“Do you know how it works? How others travel in and out?”

Maryah’s forehead wrinkled with suspicion. “Why are you asking?”

I needed to obtain more information. I didn’t know how long I had before she’d disappear again. “I’m wondering if there’s a way for me to visit you.”

“You mean visit Maryah.”

Why lie to her? The girl seemed intelligent. “She is my first priority, but you would be there as well.”

“You can’t visit us.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s too dangerous.”

She didn’t say it was impossible. She didn’t question how I would travel there, or how I’d even figure out where
there
was. Did she know I could traverse? “I’m willing to risk the danger.”

She spoke softly. “I’m not.”

“Why should my safety matter to you?”

“Because you’re too important.” She pressed Maryah’s hair to her lips. “You’re too important to Maryah.”

The fidgeting of her hands and feet suggested she was either lying or uncomfortable. I couldn’t figure out her angle. Was she working with Dedrick or not?

“Is Dedrick the only one who controls who comes and goes?” I asked.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop trying to find a way in. Let her find the way out.”

Every muscle in my body went rigid. “Is there a way out?”

“There’s always a way, but if you don’t let her embrace her own power, you will enable her to remain weak.”

I gaped at her. “You know how she can free her soul?”

She bit Maryah’s thumb and stepped back.

“Rina!” I advanced on her, matching each of her steps backward. “If you know how she can free herself, you must help her.”

Her voice quivered as subtly as the breeze that blew Maryah’s hair across her face. “I can’t interfere.”

She did know. She knew how to free Maryah. My pulse pounded in every cell of my skin. “Interfere with what?”

“The plan.”

“Whose plan?”

She just stared at me, not uttering a word. I wanted to shake her until every last bit of what she knew came spilling out, but I worried I’d scare her away and I couldn’t risk that. I spoke gingerly. “Rina, please, you have no idea how precious she is to me. If you know how to help her—”

“I do know how precious she is.” The wispy hint of fondness in her voice was gone with her next cutting words. “You’re not there. You don’t know what I know. You haven’t seen what I’ve seen. You have to let me do what needs to be done or none of it will have mattered.”

Questions raced through my mind. “Please tell me what you know. What needs to be done? None of what will have mattered? Rina, let us help you.”

“Not yet!” She pressed her palms over Maryah’s face as she groaned. “You can’t rush it. Please stop trying or you’ll ruin everything!”

“Rush what? Ruin what?”

Her eyes widened like my questions were angering her more. She knew more than we suspected. I could feel it as sure as the
sunlight beating down on us. Louise was right. She was more powerful than she seemed. I put my hands up in surrender. “All right, all right, no more questions. Just tell me what you need me to do to help Maryah help herself.”

She took two deep breaths before speaking again. “I need you to trust me.”

“I don’t want to lie to you. Do you understand how difficult it is for me to trust you?”

Pain flashed in her eyes. In
her
eyes,
her
soul, not Maryah’s. “Why? I’ve never done anything to make you suspect I’m not trustworthy.”

“You’re in
Maryah’s body with knowledge of how she can return to it, yet you won’t tell me or her how, or everything you know about Dedrick.”

Maryah’s bottom lip quivered. “Because I can’t.”

“But I don’t understand why you can’t. You speak in vague circles. I’m sorry, but that leads me to suspect you might be in cahoots with Dedrick.”

“Cahoots.” She stepped forward. A fierce darkness bubbled beneath the surface. “Nathaniel, some day you will know what I know, and you will understand why I couldn’t tell you, and it will all make sense, just as everything always does, and you will be very,
very
sorry that you ever doubted me, and that you ever accused me of being in
cahoots
with Dedrick.”

A bead of sweat trickled
down my spine. Her personality seemed almost bipolar with how she switched from childlike to confident. “I look forward to that day.”

“Me too, but until then, please let me do what I’m destined to do when I’m meant to do it.”

Destined? Who was this girl? “I’ll stop asking questions if you promise me one thing.”

She tilted Maryah’s head inquisitively.

“Help free Maryah. If you do, we will do everything in our power to find you and help you escape.”

“It’s not about escaping. It’s about fighting.”

“Fighting Dedrick?”

“It’s so much more than that.”

“Then fighting for what?” I asked.

She
leaned closer. “The answer to that question is infinite.”

“I sense this is bigger than you and me. Whatever you’re trying to accomplish, we’ll help you. All I ask in exchange is that you help Maryah free her soul.”

She bowed her head and snorted. “That’s what I’ve been doing. She can’t grasp how simple it is.”

“She has had to absorb an impossible amount of knowledge in a very short time. She can’t do this alone. Please, help her.” I touched Maryah’s arm.

Rina flinched. Her soul stared back at me.

She placed her hand on top of mine, slowly, as if she were afraid to touch me. She pursed Maryah’s lips then gazed out at the horizon of red rocks. What felt like an eternity passed before she spoke. “If I do free her, do you swear on your life that you’ll help us fight?”

No vow had ever been so easy to make. “I swear on all my lives, past, present, and future.”

“I will hold you to that.” She squeezed my
index finger before letting go.

Rina stepped to the railing of the deck and lifted Maryah’s face toward the sun. Would she keep her word and help Maryah? Did she truly intend to fight Dedrick? If so, what were the infinite reasons she had mentioned? I needed answers, but couldn’t chance pushing her too far too soon.

Rina lifted Maryah’s hands, delicately weaving them through the air in front of her as if she could feel the sunshine the way evolved Elements could.

The patio door opened, and Dakota walked out.

He stared at Rina for a few seconds, watching her bask in the sunlight, but then he focused on me. “Harmony told me, but I wanted to see for myself.”

Rina was in her own world. She
paid no attention to us. Her eyes were still closed, and her smile had grown wider.

Dakota
stood beside me and whispered, “Can we trust her?”

I shook my head.

“How long is she staying?”

I shrugged.

“What is she doing?”

“Basking in the sun.”

He rubbed the eraser of his pencil against his temple. “I feel the need to draw her.”

“Be my guest.”

Dakota sat at the patio table and started sketching. For a few minutes, I wondered how long Rina would continue her sun worshiping. I tried imagining what it must be like for her, living with no natural light. She eventually stopped and opened her eyes.

“It’s so
magnificent.” Rina spotted Dakota and froze in place. “Oh.”

Dakota had stopped sketching to watch her, but when they looked at each other, Dakota rose to his feet and crept
toward her.

“Rina,” I said, “this is our friend Dakota.”

“Duh-koh-ta.” She enunciated each syllable in a hushed voice.

Dakota stopped with only inches between them. “You look familiar.”

Harmony joined us. “Of course she looks familiar. She’s in Maryah’s body.”