Shimmer Read online

  Chapter 13

  Hours went by and no one came back.

  Alex was in a small, circular stone room, roughly ten feet in width. The sides sloped upward vertically and then, at around six feet, curved inward to form a dome. From the rough feel of the walls, Alex guessed the cell had been chiseled out, man-made.

  There were six short steps carved into one side that led to a door, but the door was large, heavy, and also made of stone. It didn’t look like something one person could move alone. It must have been what made the scraping sound he’d heard right after they had cut his hand.

  Alex clenched his fingers into a fist, and then opened his hand to inspect the wound. The slice wasn’t deep, and not very long. More of a scratch, really. When it had happened, it felt like they had cut off half his hand. The shock of having it done with a hood over his head must have made it seem worse than it actually was.

  Why had they done it? To take his blood? It was the only thing that made any sense, but if that was the reason—again, why?

  Pounding on the door and walls had only given him bruises. The walls were made of stone so thick and unyielding he knew right away he was wasting his time. Even if there was someone on the other side willing to help him, they wouldn’t hear his pounding. Yelling had produced no reaction, either. From time to time he could hear voices, but the words were indistinct, muffled by the barrier between him and the outside.

  He spent most of his time pacing, frustrated and helpless.

  What had he been thinking, coming here again? Just because there had been a shimmer in the road didn’t mean he’d had to go through it. He’d been wearing the suit, after all. He could have gotten away from Silas some other way. He had known people would be waiting for him in the cavern with the red glow. He should have planned ahead before coming back. His reaction to having seen Silas outside his house had been impulsive and stupid.

  Alex stuffed his hands in his jean jacket and hugged it against him, sinking down to sit with his back to the wall, thinking about everything that had happened. Silas hadn’t threatened him. In fact, he hadn’t said a word when he saw Alex outside the house. He’d been looking for him, that much was obvious, but it didn’t mean Silas was doing anything but trying to watch out for him. Even the police at Leeann’s house, if that’s what they had been, could be explained with the same reasoning.

  Had Alex overreacted? Was it all just paranoia from what his dad had said in the video and his own distrust of Silas?

  He might never find out.

  Finally the big stone door shuddered and ground open.

  A young girl, no more than ten years old, came carefully down the steps holding a stone bowl in her hands. Behind her, a fierce-looking teenage girl followed, one of the stone blades gripped in her hand. Her hair was long, gnarly, hanging in dreadlocks. She glared a clear warning through the tangled mess, as if she was sure he’d already made up his mind to attempt escape.

  She needn’t have worried. Just outside the door, Alex saw two men standing sentinel. He awkwardly backed up against the far wall.

  The younger girl stopped in the center of the room. She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes and held the bowl toward him. “It is food,” she said in a small, sweet voice.

  Alex leaned forward and looked into the bowl. In it were small, raw fish cut into bite-sized chunks. He wrinkled his nose. He’d eaten sushi once or twice, and it was okay, but this looked nasty. Like someone had done nothing more than slice up a fish they’d caught and toss the pieces in a bowl.

  He was starving, though, and he didn’t know when he might get another chance to eat. After only a brief hesitation, he reached for the bowl, but the little girl flinched, pulling the bowl back.

  “It is okay, Sarah,” the older one assured her, meeting Alex’s eyes steadily. “I will not let him hurt you.” The way she held her blade so familiarly, Alex was sure she would have no trouble keeping her promise.

  Slowly, Sarah inched forward and held the bowl out again.

  “Thank you, Sarah,” Alex said carefully.

  She didn’t smile. She looked down at her feet and stepped back until she was behind the older one.

  “I am Tabitha Abbott,” the older one told him with an almost imperceptible curtsey. Her voice was tight, like it was an effort for her to be polite. “What is your name, sir?”

  Sir? And a curtsey? Alex was momentarily speechless.

  Mistaking his silence for lack of cooperation, Tabitha gave him a level look. “We have no wish to harm you, I assure you.”

  Really. “You tied me up,” Alex reminded her, feeling himself getting angry. They were going to try and tell him he should play nice? Not likely. “You put a hood over my head, you forced me to walk for miles, and then you throw me in this jail—and you’re saying you’re my friend?”

  Tabitha’s expression never changed. “I am saying we have no wish to harm you. We do not know you yet, and you do not know us, so I cannot say whether there is a chance for friendship.” She blinked once. “I do know that most friendships begin with the exchange of names.” Patiently, as if she hadn’t already asked once, she repeated, “My name is Tabitha Abbott. What is your name, sir?”

  As if teleporting below the surface of the earth wasn’t strange enough, the first person he has a conversation with is named Tabitha Abbott. Her name sounded like something out of Little House on the Prairie.

  “Mine’s Alex,” he grunted reluctantly.

  Although he didn’t offer his last name, it seemed to be enough. Both she and younger girl curtsied again. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alex.” She patted Sarah on the back and motioned with her eyes toward the door. Without a word, Sarah obediently turned and left the room.

  “Is she your daughter?” Alex asked.

  For the first time, a hint of emotion flared in Tabitha’s eyes. “No, she is my sister.”

  Alex looked past Tabitha and out the door, trying to get a glimpse of what lay beyond. All he could see were the backs of the guards and, beyond them, above them, the blackness of open space.

  “Why have you come, Alex?” Tabitha asked.

  Alex wasn’t ready to talk about his dad yet. Dad could be a prisoner, just like him. He wasn’t going to give them any leverage.

  “I don’t know why I’m here,” he admitted truthfully. “I don’t even know where here is.”

  Tabitha pursed her lips slightly, her cold green eyes calculating, as if trying to decide whether or not to believe him. “How did you arrive?”

  As she asked, her eyes fell to his right hand. She knew about the suit, or least she knew that he could shoot a laser out of his wrist. She must have been one of the ones in the cavern when he arrived.

  “I teleported here,” he said bluntly, purposely being as vague as possible.

  She mouthed the word ‘teleport,’ her eyebrows raised. It was clearly a foreign word for her. She looked back expectantly, the question clear on her face.

  “I, um,” Alex tried to simplify it. How you do simplify teleportation? “I disappeared from where I was and came to this place. Instantly.”

  Her mouth opened in sudden understanding. “You found a way to emit,” she clarified. “You possess a Magnosphere.”

  For her, it may have only been a simple declaration of understanding, but for Alex it sent him reeling. He had no idea what a Magnosphere was, but for her to use that word—EMIT—it couldn’t be coincidence. It couldn’t be. If it wasn’t for the wall he had already backed up against, he might have stumbled. As it was, he sagged against it.

  “Where am I?” he breathed.

  “Sir, are you alright?” Tabitha asked.

  “Where am I?” Alex demanded, louder.

  There was a rustle of movement by the door as one of the guards took a step into the room, but Tabitha waved him off with an impatient gesture.

  “You are in the community of Domus,” she told Alex.

  “Not here! Not this town, or wherever it is you’ve taken
me,” Alex argued, waving one arm to encompass everything. “I mean, where am I? Am I even on Earth?”

  Understanding and relief blossomed in Tabitha’s eyes. “So you are from Earth,” she said. “That is good.” Alex began to sputter out a reply, but Tabitha hurriedly assured him, “So am I. So are we all. You are in the Under. Far below the Earth’s surface.”

  Alex reflexively hugged his jean jacket to him. “I’m…” he tried to find the right question, but there were too many. “How?”

  Tabitha looked again at his wrist. “We were hoping you would tell us,” she told him.

  They stood for a moment, neither of them speaking.

  “Alex,” Tabitha said, “I have been instructed to bring new, clean clothing for you.” With a clear, matter-of-fact gaze, she added, “We would like to examine what you are wearing.”

  She said it so politely, as if it were just a tiny request.

  “No,” Alex replied firmly.

  She looked him up and down quizzically. “Certainly this is not what passes for clothing on the surface.”

  This was getting way past curious. As far as he could tell, every one of these people wore the same mismatched skins for clothing. And she was giving him a hard time about his wardrobe? Where was he, and who were these people?

  “I appreciate the offer, but I am very comfortable with what I am wearing,” he told her. She paused, measuring him. He could tell she was weighing her options.

  “Very well,” she said finally. “Please, eat.”

  With a last, stiff curtsey, she turned and climbed the steps.

  The guards rolled the door closed behind her.