Observe, Mosaic Chronicles Book Four Page 18

  Though it hadn’t even been a year since Nicole had last seen the Nielsen’s, she couldn’t help but notice how much older they looked. The lines on their faces had deepened, their hair seemed even whiter than before. The stress the Tarians were causing didn’t only affect Nicole.

  She, Lizzie, Austin, and Coolidge ended up in the same car with Professor Nielsen. Lizzie sat in the middle, between Nicole and Austin, to prevent them from coming in contact with each other.

  Professor Nielsen updated them on the situation as he drove. “My detector alerted me to the dimension link only yesterday. I don’t know how long it’ll be open, so we’ll need to hurry, just in case.”

  “How did it alert you?” Lizzie asked.

  “It comes in two parts. The first, I placed close to where I thought the street would appear. The machine has a range of about a mile, so I just had to hope that I was close enough. The second piece of the detector is a small sponge. It swells when the first part senses the link appearing.”

  “A swelling sponge?” Lizzie said. “Sounds fun.”

  “It’s tons better than a rat that’s been dead for forty-eight hours,” Nicole said.

  Austin and Coolidge both chuckled. Lizzie looked confused, so Nicole explained.

  “It’s the thing that measured the amount of fear I was experiencing during the fourth Arches expedition test.”

  “Oh, right.”

  “So, you’re coming with us?” Nicole asked Professor Nielsen.

  “If I can get my wife’s permission,” he said. “She’s afraid my age will hold the group back.”

  Coolidge, who sat in the front seat with Professor Nielsen, glanced at his friend. “I’d feel more comfortable having you stay here, in case anything happens and we get trapped in another dimension. We need someone to watch for us who knows what’s going on.”

  “Coolidge, you make a good point,” Professor Nielsen said, shoulders slumping. He was obviously resigning himself to the more boring prospects of staying behind.

  Nicole’s hand automatically sought out the elixir she always wore around her neck. What would happen if they got stuck in Anna Morse’s dimension? It would depend on how long they were gone, probably. But being unable to return for a long time might not be bad—if Rebecca couldn’t find Nicole, she wouldn’t be able to use Nicole’s body or the elixir. Her scheming would be thwarted.

  They arrived at Professor Nielsen’s house and piled out of the car. The plan was for some of them to stay there and others to stay in a hotel. They’d leave for the other dimension the next morning.

  Nicole wasn’t sure how she felt about returning to the place where she’d experienced so much terror. But she was looking forward to seeing Anna Morse again, and she was especially grateful that the woman appeared to be alive still. Assuming, of course, that the note for Nicole was actually from Anna Morse, and not from someone or something else.

  ***

  The following morning, everyone met in Professor Nielsen’s front yard. One other person had joined up with them, and Coolidge gave him a handshake before turning to everyone else.

  “Team, this is Robert. He and I have been through a lot together. He’ll be a valuable addition to our group.” He motioned to Robert. “Why don’t you tell them a bit about yourself?”

  “Certainly.” Robert clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky, seeming to be thinking over what to say. “I graduated from Armitage University, down in Texas. Top of my class in everything. My native ability was Wind, but I quickly learned the other elements.”

  He pointed to his white hair. “As you can see, I’m a Silver and proud of it. Unlike Coolidge here, who dyes his hair.” Robert chuckled and Coolidge joined him.

  “Hayla likes my hair dark,” Coolidge said. “Plus, it disguises the fact that I’m an Arete.”

  “Good point,” Robert said. He continued. “Coolidge and I have been on several assignments together. He’s over magical artifacts and items, as you probably could have guessed, and I work with animals. Dead ones, obviously, since we can’t control them when they’re alive.

  “Some of you will remember the rat Coolidge used last year to test you. That was my work. Thank you very much. I hope you enjoyed it.” He gave a wry smile, then glanced at Coolidge and back to the group. “And that’s me.”

  Everyone welcomed Robert, then they got into Professor Nielsen’s cars. This time, Lyla, Lizzie, and Austin were in the backseat. Nicole sat up front with Professor Nielsen, while Coolidge drove the other car.

  Professor Nielsen pulled down the street that Nicole, Lizzie, and Austin had spent so much time on last year, trying to find the road to Anna Morse’s building.

  “Keep your eyes peeled, Nicole,” Professor Nielsen said. “Let me know when you see that road.”

  “I will.”

  Nicole watched the canal on the right side of the street, the familiar gross smells produced by the rotted water wafting into the car. She leaned forward and pointed. “There. That’s it.”

  “Wonderful!” Professor Nielsen said. “My detector was right!” He glanced sidelong at Nicole. “I mean, I never doubted it for a moment.” The twinkle in his eye made Nicole smile.

  He pulled over next to the narrow street she had walked nearly every day while in Ohio last year. The panic Nicole had felt the last time she’d been on that street rolled over her in waves as she got out of the car and stared at the dilapidated apartment buildings. Hopefully, they weren’t about to repeat what she’d experienced before.

  Lizzie came and stood next to Nicole. “Just like you described over the phone.”

  Nicole nodded. She still couldn’t believe that any of these buildings were actually still standing. They leaned precariously, bricks falling to the narrow cobblestoned road.

  Everyone unloaded the cars, lining the canal on one side with the equipment, where it would wait until they knew for sure what they’d need.

  “You’re positive my stuff’ll be okay here?” Coolidge asked Professor Nielsen.

  Professor Nielsen nodded. “Never had a problem with burglary. Besides, my cases are locked and heavy. And I’ll be checking on them frequently. In fact, I may just set up camp across the street and be available in case anything happens.”

  “As long as the missus is okay with that,” Coolidge said with a smile.

  “She understands the importance of your mission.”

  “I could sense that. Thank you to the both of you.” Coolidge shook Professor Nielsen’s hand, then turned to his group. “Are we ready?”

  Everyone nodded and Coolidge rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming. “All right, let’s go!”

  He paused, glancing at the students. “Just so you know, depending on how things go, I’m planning on petitioning the university to give credits to those of you who could use them. This will definitely be an educational experience. Afterwards, I’ll have you write everything down that happens.”

  When everyone was ready, Nicole led the way across the bridge and up the street. She held her arms tightly around herself, not liking how much this place still affected her. She was shivering in the warm sunlight. She couldn’t help but stare at the buildings, wondering if any of the people she’d met were there. She didn’t see anyone, though.

  Toward the end of the road was the apartment where Nicole had stayed. She hadn’t gotten a good look at it after running away and wasn’t expecting to find so much of it intact. In fact, it barely looked like a huge monster had torn through it at all. Only one corner was demolished, showing the tiny apartments inside.

  Mr. Landon, the man who owned the place, was sitting behind the desk near the elevator. He stared at her, but didn’t move when she entered and didn’t say anything.

  Nicole hesitated. “Um . . . hi. I left stuff behind when I left. We’re going to go get it.”

  Mr. Landon didn’t respond, and if he thought a group of six was a lot to retrieve a cello and suitcase, he didn’t show it.

  The elevator
was out of order—made sense, since the building really was falling apart—and they had to trek up the stairs instead.

  Coolidge had instructed Nicole to do her best to gather all her belongings so any beasts from the other dimension wouldn’t be able to track her down based off her scent. She showed the way to her room on the fourth floor, and they searched it quickly, finding nothing.

  They headed to the sixth floor and attempted to search her other room there, but a large chunk of it had been ripped away with the corner of the building that was gone. The floor wasn’t solid, and no one dared explore very far.

  “Let’s check Mrs. Morse’s room,” Nicole said. “We can search more thoroughly here later if necessary.”

  No one seemed to have a problem with that, so Nicole led them up to the seventh floor.

  This was where all the damage had taken place. Mrs. Morse’s apartment was destroyed—there wasn’t a roof and the walls had all been torn down. Debris littered the place. Nicole barely recognized anything for what it had been.

  Instead of the window to the vast blackness, an entire wall showed the other dimension that Nicole had barely caught a glimpse of last time. She and the others froze, staring at it.

  No stars twinkled in the inky sky above them. Where had the sun gone? No horizon was visible—nothing was visible.

  Nicole shook herself and turned to the others. “Let’s search quickly. No use standing around, inviting trouble to find us.”

  Everyone began immediately, carefully shifting through sections of brick and plaster.

  “Found a suitcase,” Robert called softly. “Is it yours, Nicole?”

  She joined him where the kitchen had been. “Yes, that’s mine.”

  She opened it up, but it was empty.

  “Where are my things?” Nicole asked, realizing no one would have the answer. She glanced at Coolidge, who’d joined them. “It may be impossible to get everything back.”

  He nodded but didn’t respond.

  “What do you want to do with it?” Robert asked.

  Nicole straightened, letting the suitcase fall shut. “It’s pointless to take it home empty—not when all my clothes are still here. Let’s leave it and if we find anything, we can take it all with us.”

  “Um, Nicole?” Lyla said from across the room. “There’s a piece of paper here with your name on it.”

  Nicole climbed over the debris and joined the girl. She took the paper and tried to read it. “That’s Mrs. Morse’s handwriting, but I can’t tell what it says.” She looked up at the others. “Anyone have experience reading the handwriting of an old woman from England?”

  No one did, but Robert and Coolidge decided to try to decipher the writing. It was slow going, but they soon got enough of the message for Nicole to understand what was being said.

  Similar to the laminated note in Nicole’s pocket, the message was written recently. It asked Nicole to come find Mrs. Morse, that she’d be in the “Denas Temple.” Robert and Coolidge weren’t sure on that word, and they weren’t sure about the rest of the note, either.

  Nicole took the paper, folded it, and tucked it into her pocket. “So, I guess we really do need to go there,” she said, pointing to the void beyond the wall. She’d been hoping Mrs. Morse would be here, in this building.

  “Sounds like it,” Coolidge said.

  Nicole and Coolidge crossed the room to the wall that had been torn down. They peered over the edge.

  “Um . . . did you bring rappelling gear?” Nicole asked.

  “Yes.” Coolidge didn’t move to get it, though. “I’m not convinced that what we’re seeing is real, however.” He bent over and picked up a section of brick, then dropped it over the edge.

  They heard it land almost immediately after it fell. Coolidge glanced at Nicole. “I expect that once we’re out of this place, we’ll be able to see what’s out there. We should be able to step over and be on solid ground.”

  Nicole nodded. “Right after you, Professor.”

  Coolidge chuckled. “Fair enough.”

  Everyone else had joined them and they all watched as Coolidge sat and dangled his legs over the edge.

  “Yes, there’s the ground,” he said. He stood and wobbled a bit, but didn’t fall.

  The moment he took a step forward, however, he disappeared.

  “So, that wasn’t what I thought would happen,” Nicole said. She glanced back at Austin and Lizzie. “I’ll go next. Wish me luck.”

  Nicole swung her legs over the edge of the wall and stood. The ground she was on felt unstable. It shifted under her feet. She relayed this information to the others, then, taking a big breath, stepped forward.

  And immediately started falling.

  The moment her feet whipped out from under her, though, the scenery opened up. The black void was gone, but what she saw instead wasn’t much better.

  She was sliding down a hill of bones. They rattled beneath her with a hollow, dry sound. Nicole sped up, bumping over several that were bigger than the rest, then slowed down and rolled to a stop near where Coolidge was now standing.

  “Are you okay?” Coolidge asked, offering her a hand.

  Nicole nodded, letting him pull her up, then tried to gain a stronger footing. It was still dark—moonlight frosted the scenery with blue light, but the moon wasn’t visible. Mountains and hills of bones surrounded them.

  Nicole looked up the way she’d come in time to see Austin tumbling down the hill, away from the window where Nicole could still see the others.

  She stepped back, preventing him from coming into contact with her as he slid past on the bones.

  Coolidge helped Austin to his feet, and they waited for the rest. No one got injured, but it still wasn’t a comfortable ride.

  Robert was the first to inspect the bones. “Rats, cats, dogs, plenty of human bones . . . that’s the majority, actually, though there are several I’ve never seen before.” He hefted a large rib. “Like this. Elephant, maybe? But these odd protuberances aren’t normal. I’d guess it’s a sort of species related to the elephant.”

  After everyone was ready, Nicole and Coolidge led the way on a path of bones that had obviously been traveled—it was darker in color, didn’t shift or move as much, and was more solid underfoot. They didn’t see anything that suggested creatures, humans, beasts or even plants lived there. Nothing was green. The air was stagnant, but not entirely unpleasant. The bones definitely represented creatures that had been dead for some time.

  Occasionally, while walking through canyons, the walls of which were made of bones, they saw shadowed figures following them. Nothing ever approached.

  After nearly an hour, a tall, dark building rose in the distance.

  “I’m going to guess that’s the Denas Temple,” Coolidge said to Nicole in a quiet voice.

  “Do we just go in?” she asked.

  Coolidge shrugged. “I’ve never been here.”

  Nicole almost rolled her eyes. Of course he’d never been there.

  The closer they got to the building, the more of it Nicole could see. It was large, but not structured like any temple she’d ever seen. Instead of spires or pointed roofs that reached toward the skies, long spindles turned from the top and buried into the piles of bones at every corner of the building.

  Pillars lined massive steps leading to a front door, but even the pillars were different. They had builds that weren’t symmetrical in nature and didn’t seem to have a pattern. Tentacles were carved into some, while others were completely blank. Some of the blank ones were bulbous and ugly and others were simple and skinny.

  Nicole took the first step onto the stairs. The moment she was no longer in contact with bones, she heard whispered voices coming from inside the temple. They sounded human—English, though she couldn’t pull out any specific words.

  She held up her hand, motioning for the others to be quiet, even though they weren’t talking. “Can you hear what they’re saying?” she whispered.

  She was met with b
lank looks.

  “What who’s saying?” Lizzie asked.

  “You guys can’t hear the voices?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “Great,” Nicole mumbled. She took a breath, trying to decide what to do. “So, the last time I was the only one who recognized something, we were led to near deaths in Arches.” She looked at Coolidge and Austin. “Should it concern us this time?”

  Austin shrugged. “We need to go into the temple. I don’t think it matters either way. Besides, one of the voices might end up being Anna Morse’s.”

  “Good point.” Nicole turned back to the dark temple. “All right, let’s keep going.”

  She continued up the steps, listening carefully to the voices. She reached the gaping doors, wishing there was a light source somewhere. Now that they were under the shadow of the building, everything was as black as coal.

  “Do we have any flashlights or matches?” she asked.

  Coolidge pulled a flashlight out of his bag and flipped the switch. It didn’t work. He banged it against his hand a few times, but still, no light came out of the thing. He tried others with the same result.

  “Does anyone have a torch or stick?” Lizzie asked. “I can light something.”

  Lyla pointed back the way they’d come. “I saw some bone by the stairs that had fabric on it still. That would work.” She rushed back down, then returned carrying a couple of femurs, wrapping the scraps of rotted cloth around the tops.

  She held them out to Lizzie. Lizzie mimed drawing in her hand, producing a small flame, which she put up to the scraps of cloth.

  “Hold on,” Robert said. “Without some sort of oil, it’ll just burn up.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Lizzie said, pulling her hand back before the cloth could take fire.

  Everyone checked their bags, trying to find something that would work. Austin pulled out a bottle of olive oil.

  “Would this work?” he asked.

  “If it’s pure enough,” Coolidge said. “We’ll find out, huh?”

  They covered the cloths with the oil, then Lizzie lit her fire and tried again. This time, she got close enough for the cloth to light, and soon, they had two blazing torches.