Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods (33 page)

His eyes turned soft. “You could.”

I gripped his shoulders firmly. “I’m proud of you, son. You seem to be the best of your mother and me. Give me some time to rest and get my head screwed on right, okay? Then maybe we’ll see if I can be the hero.”

He smiled warmly. “I’ll call tomorrow and give you an update.”

“Okay, you do that, and keep your head down.” I gave him an awkward hug.

Nan brought me back to the mainland where a cab was waiting near the canal. I struggled up the rusted, barnacle-covered ladder and stood up on the pavement. I looked back down into the little boat. “I’m sorry, Nan,” was all I said.

The boat pulled away from the dock. “For what?” she asked. Then, not waiting for a reply, added, “You’ll come around, you just don’t know it yet.”

The way she said it, it was hard to take offense. But what if I didn’t
want
to come around? Didn’t I have a say in the matter? What if I didn’t
want
to go on some crazy crusade for God? Was it wrong for me to want my life back? God had already taken twenty-one years without asking! I didn’t owe him anything. Whatever I was supposed to give back into the universe, I was sure I had already paid every penny. With interest.

“You coming, mister.?”

My eyes blinked as I turned to look at the cabbie. “Yes, sorry,” I said, opening the back door. I climbed in. “Homestead, please.”

He tapped the GPS screen on the dashboard, and spoke the command, “Homestead.” A dollar figure appeared in the corner of the map. The cabbie put his foot on the gas, and the car took off like a golf cart.

It didn’t take long to realize that sitting idle in the back of a cab for an hour and a half was a bad idea. Left with nothing to do but think, my imagination ran wild. Dark thoughts stepped on my chest-- making it hard to breath.

Why did God have to pick
me?
I had everything a man could want. I was a captain of industry. I had an adoring wife, a perfect daughter, a son on the way. And I had earned every bit of it! I had
paid
my dues, and was on the threshold of enjoying the fruits of my labor! But in the blink of an eye, everything had vanished, leaving only this nightmare, this horrible cage of circumstances.
--Why me?
Why not someone who
wanted
to do God’s bidding? Sam’s face flashed in my mind. Was that it? Had God picked Sam? Was he the one God wanted? The more I thought about this, the more it made sense. He had my ingenuity, and his mothers philanthropy.

I chuckled at myself. Was I actually beginning to buy into this craziness? It didn’t matter-- I still didn’t want to be involved. This was a matter for monks or priests-- or
whatever.
I wanted no part of it.

I committed myself to not thinking about it, and instead stared out the window at the passing urban sprawl-- looking for all the ways the world had changed while I was asleep.

Eventually, the cab pulled up in front of Andy’s. I paid with my fingerprint, and the machine bleeped happily. “Thanks, man,” said the cabbie. “Have a nice day.”

“You too. Thanks.” I stepped out and looked up at the house. I had never felt so exhausted in all my life. On shaky legs I made my way up the stone walkway, then dragged myself up the stairs, and opened the front door. Annie and Rebecca were sitting in the living room.

Annie blinked. “Why didn’t
you
stay?”

“I got all the information I wanted.”

She cocked her head.

“The answers are turning out to be worse than the questions.” I took her by the hand and led her to the couch. “Come, let’s sit down. I’m
exhausted.
Hi, Becca. How are you holding up.”

“I’m fine, Dad. How are
you?
What happened?”

“Well...” I looked at Rebecca, then Annie. “You know how Solomon set up the computer to talk directly to the minds of the coma patients? And how he created a virtual world we could share?”

They both nodded.

“Hazel says I’m still going back to that world-- when I
sleep.”

Their jaws hung slack.

“And that’s not even the craziest part. Hazel’s daughter, Nan, told me that it’s really a place between life and death-- a
spiritual
realm.” The word
spiritual
stuck to my lips as it came out.

Rebecca was wide eyed as she touched her fingers to her mouth. “That’s incredible.”

“If it’s true,” I said.

Annie leaned in toward me. “You don’t believe her?
Do
you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know what to believe. We got chased today, by men who Sam said walked
through
walls.”

“Fallen ones, angels, demons, whatever you want to call them. Apparently
Sam
believes it, and I can’t blame him. It was all very convincing.”

Annie’s became thoughtful. “The man I saw at the center, the one who spoke that strange language-- could he have been-- one of those?”

“Well-- Hazel is special, she has autism. Nan says she can remember her dreams,
and
a spiritual place beyond her dreams. Apparently Vrin is
in
that place.” Annie looked incredulous. “I know it sounds crazy! I don’t want to believe it either. But Nan believes the fallen ones are after them because they know too much about Vrin.”

A sudden fear flashed through Annie’s eyes. “And you left Sam
with
them?”

“I don’t exactly have any authority over him. I wasn’t around to be his father.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t like him being there.”

“Well
you
tell him to come with us. Maybe he’ll receive it from you.”

“What do you mean,
with us?
Where are we going now?”

“I don’t know, someplace hidden, remote, a place no one knows about but us.”

“You don’t think
fallen angels
will know where to find us?”

“They can’t seem to find Hazel.”

Annie folded her arms. “I don’t like it.”

“Which part? The
us hiding
part?”

My eyes drifted up to the clock on the wall. It was only quarter past seven, but it felt more like two in the morning to me. I let out a long sigh. “I hate to do this to you, but can we talk more in the morning? I can
not
stay awake another minute.”

I followed her to a room at the end of the hall, where a single mattress was made up under a full skylight. I brushed past her into the room. She leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek. “We’ll figure this out, Dad, I’m not worried.”

“Well, that makes one of us.” I gave her a weak smile.

“Goodnight,” she said, then gently closed the door. Immediately it opened back up. “Oh, Mom and I picked up a few things for you, a robe and some other stuff. They’re in the bag.” She pointed.

I reached down and pulled out the robe. “Thanks, honey. Tell Mom thanks too.”

“I will, g’night.” She closed the door.

My eyes fell on the bed, and a heaviness pressed in on my heart. There was no peace here, only a fearful anticipation. If it was true-- if Vrin
was
a real place-- would I remember? Would I sense myself going past my dreams into that mysterious world beyond? My heart quickened at the thought.

Slowly I began to undress. Maybe I’m just dreaming this whole nightmare, I thought. Maybe at any moment I’ll wake up in the hotel in New York and be heading off on our vacation. Maybe there’s no such thing as Vrin, or Doctor Solomon, or Nan, or Haz...” As I removed my pants, a button fell from my pocket and rolled across the floor. It was the one Hazel had placed in my hand.

I let out a long sigh.

For a moment, I stood and thought about trying to stay awake, but quickly dismissed the idea, and climbed in under the sheet. My head pressed heavily into the pillow. My eyes burned in their sockets. I stared at the ceiling fan, dreading the thought of falling asleep, yet knowing there would be no stopping it. My body was beyond exhaustion, my head was already slipping into the warm dark. I rolled over onto my side.

Oh, well, I thought, here we go, back to the
magical
realm
of
Vrin--
to save it from an evil mastermind.

THE MAGIC

001001011001110

“Wake up!”

The voice seemed distant.

“Wake
UP!”

“We have not. I would remember such a meeting.” His voice was not as friendly as I remembered it. “--The signet on your collar tells me you are from the ruling house. Are you a spy?”

“No. I have come to seek your help.”

He laughed.
“My
help? What could Daru possibly want from me, a humble peasant?”

“If you do
not
speak,
that
will put your life at risk!”

“Look, Arganis, I'm not a spy. I am a friend of Sajin's.

“Sajin made no mention of you.”

“Listen. He
and
Sam' Dejal sent me here with a private message.”

“Arganis. The
dreamer
has awakened.”

“
I
am the one he is looking for.”

“
You
are Charm?”

“Yes.”

He looked me over closely. “Why are you here? And how do you know
me?”

He assessed me with incredulous eyes.
“How?”

“By entering the cognosphere.”

“You cannot change the past by using an event cell. What Gaza has done, is done.”

“No, I am not speaking of changing the past. I intend to
enter
the cognosphere itself.”

In the flickering light of the lantern, I wasn't sure if I saw horror, or surprise on his face. “Th-that's not
possible!”

“It is only possible if you help me. Your magic holds the key. Once in the event cell, there will be no way for me to find my way back to my physical body, unless you help me.”

“You would go mad in an empty event cell.”

“You are incorrect. I would not.”

“Everyone who has
ever
attempted this has gone mad, how are
you
any different?”

I leaned forward, against the objection of my restraints. I looked him directly in the eye. “Because, Arganis-- I
am,
Sam' Dejal.”

His face went slack. “You are already mad!”

“Arganis, listen to me. I
know
things that only
he
would know. I can tell you the conversation we had in this very cellar. We talked about the dream, and the world beyond Vrin. We drank together and chose to believe in Ethral. Then we traveled into Rath’s castle. Ask me anything. I remember it all.”

He sat shaking his head slowly. “How is this possible?”

“The body of Sam’ Dejal still lies deep in the heart of the Citadel, but who he was, is now in
this
body.”

“If you are him,” He paused, “then why do you not have his power?”

“I am no longer connected to the source of the power. I have the memories of Sam’ Dejal, but in every other way, I am just like you.”

Again he examined me. His eyes narrowed. “How did we enter Rath’s castle?”

I suppressed a smile. “First you showed me the map with the best place to enter, then I created a hole in the ground, and we went into the dungeon through the wall.”

He put his hand on his chin. “If you are so interested in my magic, then why did you not ask me to use it in the dungeon?”

“Ah, but I did ask. You created smoke and a blinding flash to make my appearance to the guard more dramatic. And it worked quite nicely, if I remember correctly.”