Marny (14 page)

“You honestly think we’ll meet in the middle?
That doesn’t make sense.”

“Neither does having an enchanted forest in
my bedroom, Em. The normal rules don’t apply here, obviously.”

“You don’t have to be all superior about it.”
She made a face at him, but took the strips of T-shirt.

“If you get in trouble, yell,” he said.

“Likewise. Ready?”

He nodded, and together they marched into the
silver-shadowed woods. After a few steps he turned right, and Emmie
headed the opposite direction. The peace of the forest settled over
him, the dappled sun warm on his shoulders, the green scent of
growing things rich in his nose.

“Can you hear me?” he called.

“Yep.” Emmie didn’t sound very far away.

“Okay, keep going.”

Another minute or so, and Nyx glimpsed a
scrap of red cloth ahead. He couldn’t help smiling at the sight.
Not only did it prove his suspicions correct, it showed he could
bring things into the woods and they’d stay there. At least for a
little while.

“Marco,” he yelled.

“Polo,” came the reply. His sister sounded
even closer than before.

Up ahead something was moving, white and blue
flashes between the pale tree trunks. He leaned forward, balancing
on the balls of his feet, but wasn’t too worried.

After a moment, he was sure. It was Emmie,
moving through the trees.

She paused to tie a strip of cloth onto a
nearby branch and he silently circled around, keeping a clump of
bushes between them. When she turned to go, he leaped out.

“Boo!” he cried.

“Eee!” Emmie jumped back, her hand going to
her chest. Then she glared at him. “Damn, Nyx. Give a girl a heart
attack, why don’t you?”

“Just checking your reflexes.”

“You suck.” She glanced around. “Were you
following me this whole time?”

“No,” he said. “Even though this looks like a
forest, it seems to be just a sphere, and we’re inside it. If that
makes sense.”

“Weird.” She shook her head. “So what happens
if we try to walk deeper in?”

“We go nowhere, I think.”

“Then I’ll see you in nowhere.” She pointed
at him. “And if you jump out at me again, I swear I’ll put snails
in your bed. Every night.”

“Lucky me. Which direction do you want to
go?”

She tilted her head, studying the slanting
light falling through the trees, then nodded to her right. “That
way.”

“I’ll stay here, then. Just for fun.”

Nyx kept an eye on her as she went, the white
of her shirt flickering between the tree trunks. It seemed like she
was heading further into the forest. After a minute, he lost sight
of her.

“Aha,” she called. “I found a red cloth.”

“Do you think you can find your way back
out?”

“Pretty sure.”

“I’ll wait here, just in case. Yell when
you’re back in my room.”

He didn’t glimpse her again, but a short time
later she called out.

“Made it!”

“Be right there.” Nyx cast a last glance
around the forest.

It was a weird, tricky place, but it was
finite. He’d do a few more tests to make sure, but it was a relief
to know that nobody could get lost and disappear forever into
whatever magical world he’d conjured up.

During the following weeks he’d tried his
hardest to lose his way in the forest, and even attempted it with
the meadow, spinning himself around in the high grasses until he
was dizzy. Every time he ended up walking around in circles a
bunch, then wandering back into his room.

In fact, since that second time he’d conjured
up the woods, he hadn’t seen the golden mouse creature again. Maybe
it had gotten smart and decided it didn’t like being trapped inside
a magical loop.

After thinking about it, Nyx had decided the
landscapes were reflections—seemingly real, but only mirror images
of the places inside the game of Feyland. Except that the trees
felt solid enough to lean up against, and the moss was soft
underfoot.

So, not reflections, but more like bubble
worlds—little self-contained simulations.

How is it even
possible?
The question pricked at his
mind.

He spent hours searching the ’net, looking
for hints that he wasn’t the only one who’d discovered this strange
connection with Feyland. Nothing. Another several days was wasted
researching VirtuMax, but they didn’t seem to be planning any game
theme parks, and there were no pictures or vids of the kinds of
bubble worlds he’d experienced.

So, what to do? Was there
something different about his particular version of Feyland? Or was
there something tweaked about
him
that enabled him to carry things out of the game
into the real world?

He shivered at the idea. None of it made
sense.

Part of him thought he should tell his
parents, maybe even get in contact with someone at VirtuMax, but
then what? They’d confiscate his sim system for sure, and he might
end up being the subject of weird experiments and testing. No
thanks.

Mom and Dad would make him stop, and no doubt
take away the game. Although, since he’d just turned eighteen, they
couldn’t legally control his actions. They could kick him out,
though, and he didn’t even want to start going down that road.

Silence seemed the best course. He’d
discovered this ability, whatever it was, and he should be the one
who decided how to use it.

The club idea had come to
him one morning as he woke up and watched the enchanted forest fade
away. Why
not
share it with other people? It was amazingly cool, harmless,
and like nothing anyone had ever seen.

If he set things up right, people would think
it was just an incredible simulation, the way Emmie had at first.
Nobody could possibly guess the truth, and anyway, people wanted to
believe things that didn’t shake their worldview too much.

The more he thought about it, the more the
idea felt right. He’d been needing something to do, and with Durham
heading off to college in the fall, their Flail stream days were
coming to an end. Plus, Nyx wasn’t blind to the financial
opportunities. He’d run with the concept until it was played out,
or he lost the ability to bring items out of Feyland to create the
bubble worlds.

So here he was, nervously pacing the
warehouse floor two nights before the grand opening, and hoping he
hadn’t screwed up.

“I think we’re done for the night,” Emmie
said, giving the juice bar counter a final swipe with a clean bar
towel.

“Tomorrow afternoon we can write the menu up
on the chalkboard,” her friend Sula said. “This is going to be
prime!”

“We hope,” Emmie said. “Let’s head—and get
some good rest tonight.”

She sounded so mature. Nyx gave her shoulders
a squeeze. “Want me to come wait at the bus stop with you?”

“Nah.” She shook her head. “It’s still early
enough that the skanks aren’t out, and you’re not the only one with
the karate moves.”

“Big talk for a blue belt.” He sank into
horse stance and lifted his hands. “Bring it.”

“I’m not sparring with you.” She tossed her
teal-dipped blonde hair back, then rolled her eyes at Sula.
“Ready?”

“Message me when you get home,” Nyx said.

He wasn’t that worried—Emmie and Sula had
taken the bus all over Newpoint for years, but it was a little
later than he’d like. And his parents had given him the stern
lecture about looking after his little sister whenever she was down
at the club.

“Will do. Good night, bro.” She gave him a
jaunty wave as she and Sula left.

He went to the door and stood outside,
watching until the girls settled at the bus stop two blocks away.
Lights were on in the tall skyscrapers, squares of yellow extending
up into the twilight sky. He couldn’t see any stars.

The bus roared past, Sula and Emmie got on,
and Nyx went inside and locked the warehouse door behind him. He
made sure everything was secure, then went to fire up one of the
sim systems in his spare room. Time to get to work gathering
leaves. The enchanted forest wasn’t going to summon itself, and the
clock was ticking down to the grand opening of Club Mysteria.

June 26

F
or
the next couple days, Marny tried not to constantly look over her
shoulder for Mr. von Coburg’s guards. None of her supervisors said
anything or treated her any differently, which suggested that her
conversation with the CEO was just between the two of them. So
far.

At least she finally had her duffel, but she
wasn’t sure she’d be able to forgive Anjah for how that had
happened.

The morning of her third day
of work, her luggage
still
hadn’t shown up. She’d stared at her one outfit,
then shook her head. Two days of wearing sweaty office clothing she
could deal with, but she couldn’t stand the thought of putting the
blouse and slacks back on yet again. Even if it meant another scary
interview with Mr. von Coburg.

If Intertech wanted to kick her out for
breaking the dress code, fine. Though her stomach knotted at the
idea of going back to Crestview in disgrace.

But if the company booted her, who said she
had to go home right away? Newpoint was a big city and she could
probably find temporary work. She would get Brenna to help her, if
it came to that. Failing her internship didn’t mean she was failing
her life, right? Still, the thought made her feel sick inside.

She pulled on the jeans and T-shirt she’d
arrived in, but could only find one sock. Frustration grated
through her, but she made herself slow down and check all the usual
places—under the bed, balled up under her jacket. Nothing.

Marny padded barefoot to the front closet.
Maybe she’d left a sock inside her Converse. She poked through the
closet and finally discovered her sock lying under one of Wil’s
enormous, grubby athletic shoes. Thank goodness.

As she shut the door, a flash of familiar
green caught her eye. Senses prickling, she leaned in and peered
into the corner of the closet. Her duffel bag lay there, crammed
behind a bunch of Anjah’s coats.

What the actual
hell?
Nostrils flaring, she hauled her bag
out. It was her duffel, no question. She unzipped it and gave a
quick check of the contents, but everything seemed to be
there.

How long had it been in the apartment, and
who had stuck it in the closet and not bothered mentioning it to
her? There were only two possibilities, and their names were Wil
and Anjah.

“Morning,” Wil said, ambling into the kitchen
to start the coffee brewing.

Anger sizzling just under her skin, Marny
grabbed her duffel and stalked over.

“Do you know anything about this?” she asked,
hefting the green bag.

He blinked at it a second with sleepy eyes.
“Hey—your luggage came? Congrats.”

“Apparently it’s been here a while—I just
found my bag in the front closet. Any idea how it happened to get
there?”

“No, that’s weird. But at least you got it
back, right?”

She watched him closely, but he didn’t seem
to be lying. Wil might be thoughtless and bumbling, but he wasn’t
malicious. Anjah, on the other hand…

“Right,” Marny said.

She went to the bathroom door and opened it
without knocking. The steamy air smelled like flowers and
cream.

“Hey! Is respecting my privacy too much to
ask?” Anjah turned from putting on her makeup and scowled.

She had a pink towel turban-wrapped on her
head, and wore a fluffy white bathrobe, so it wasn’t like Marny had
walked in on her at an awkward moment. Though it would serve Anjah
right if she had.

“Right now,” Marny said, “I’m not sure you
deserve any respect. I just discovered my duffel crammed into the
hall closet.”

Guilt flickered over Anjah’s expression, and
then she lifted one shoulder in an elaborate shrug. “I stowed it
there while you waited for the rest of your bags to come, and must
have forgotten to tell you.”

Forgotten, her ass.

“There aren’t any more bags,” Marny said.

Anjah’s perfect mouth opened a little in
surprise. “That’s all the luggage you have?”

“Unlike some people, I don’t require an
enormous wardrobe and tons of makeup to feel good about myself.” It
was mean of her, but Marny’s temper was turned up way past
simmer.

Anjah narrowed her eyes. “At least I have
something worth showing off.”

“It’s too bad you’re not proud of what’s
inside. I thought you were smarter than that. Shallowness is such
an unattractive quality.”

Marny didn’t wait for Anjah to reply, but
closed the door loudly, just short of a slam. She blew a breath out
her nostrils, then went to change into something that wouldn’t
raise Intertech’s eyebrows or make her a target for the CEO.