Chapter 25
April
Colin Forrester opened his locker to swap out a couple of books. One more class, then swim practice.
He’d never been on the receiving end of the Doggs’ bullying, probably because, unlike Ted Ocampo and the Doggs’ other victims, he’d made it clear the only time Darren Palmer tried to push him that he would put up such a fight they would both end up in the emergency room—or in jail.
Now?
A few days ago, he heard a couple of girls talking about Destiny Park being open to visitors again, and he remembered the woman telling him that whatever was going to happen would happen after the spring equinox.
A few days ago, Dare’s Doggs began bumping into him in the halls, began saying things like “Your time is coming.” Maybe he should have mentioned that to Dad or to one of the cops in the 12th precinct when they did a random check, but despite several talks in classrooms over the past few months about what constituted bullying, he wasn’t sure shoulder bumps and a few words counted as bullying, since he’d felt annoyed rather than threatened.
Dad would probably have a few things to say about that.
But today he felt uneasy because something was going on.
Dare’s Doggs hadn’t approached him, hadn’t said a thing to him, but they’d been giving him the eye all day, following him between classes.
That couldn’t be good. He’d talk to the coach about the Doggs watching him.
The coach would understand and make sure Colin wasn’t alone in the locker room after swim practice, and Dad would tell him that smart beat bravado every time.
He felt someone come up behind him as he closed his locker. Felt something jammed under his ribs hard enough that he didn’t dare take a deep breath. Not a knife. Didn’t feel right to be a knife. Screwdriver? Maybe.
“You’re going on an adventure with Dare’s Doggs,” Devl said, leaning into Colin. “You make a fuss or try to get away from us, we’ll have some fun with your little sister like the Lovecraft pack had with that other girl. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Colin replied, feeling sick.
Everyone at Penwych High School knew about the freshman girl from Lovecraft High who had been beaten, raped by three older boys, then sliced up with box cutters.
She had been an honors student. A happy, pretty girl who had joined all kinds of after-school activities.
The boys were in jail and would stand trial as adults. That was good, but the girl would never be the same.
“Leave that.” Devl tugged at one of the backpack straps.
“You don’t want to call attention to us?” Colin countered. “If teachers see me without my backpack during school hours, they’ll start asking questions.” He wasn’t sure any of them would notice, but it sounded plausible, especially to someone like Devl, since teachers paid attention to the Doggs.
Someone must have kept watch to make sure the cops weren’t around when Devl walked Colin out of the high school, keeping one arm around Colin’s shoulders and that screwdriver pressed against his ribs.
As soon as they were out of the building, Butch, Acid, and Stick—the other three Doggs—fell in around them and hustled him to Acid’s car.
“Where are we going?” Colin asked.
Devl grinned. “Where do you think?”
Colin didn’t have any trouble remembering what the card-reading woman had said. You will make a sacrifice to save someone close to you.
He wasn’t sure he could save himself from whatever the Doggs had planned for him, but he’d do his best to protect Jazmin—and find a way to warn Dad that the Doggs had targeted Jazz in case he didn’t make it back from this “adventure.”
The person in the money exchange booth gave Colin a hard stare when he handed over thirty dollars, but didn’t say anything except “pay the Ferryman one gold coin.” Each of the Doggs exchanged fifty dollars and bitched about the price of the ride as they boarded the ferry.
But they all dropped a gold coin into the pot.
They pushed him into a seat and crowded around him, two behind him, one in front, and Devl beside him.
They were on the ferry, heading for Wyrd. The river would be between them and Jazz. As long as they were on the island, his little sister would be safe.
The black-haired man in the leather jacket wasn’t standing at the dock watching visitors disembark, and Colin realized he’d been counting on Frost noticing them, maybe stopping them to find out what five teenage boys were doing on the island.
This wasn’t exactly a hotbed of excitement for teenagers, although most of the people at school wouldn’t know that.
The Doggs kept close to him and headed toward the pavilion. Some kind of altercation near the food stands. Two guys mouthing off and gesturing—maybe protesting the prices? Then Frost and some other man showed up, and the guys backed off.
When Colin and the Doggs were almost at the pavilion, Devl shoved him toward the left. They went down the terraced lawn and entered the park, avoiding the pavilion and all the seers as well as the visitors coming to get a glimpse of their future.
They headed around one side of the ornamental lake. A minute later, Colin spotted the two guys who had been arguing at the food stands walking around the other side of the lake. One of them gestured toward a path that led through some of the flower gardens.
Devl led Colin and the Doggs around the lake and followed the same path. A couple of minutes later, they caught up with the two guys.
“This him?” one of them asked.
“Yeah,” Devl said. “He’s going on an adventure.”
“We did a little exploring before you got here and know just the place to start that adventure.”
Colin wasn’t surprised when they ended up in a clearing that held a moon gate. After all, the card-reading woman had shown him at least some of this journey.
Words have power.
Except he didn’t see any words on the keystone. Then Acid pushed the butterfly in the center, the two sides of the gate swung open—and words appeared on the keystone.
Transformation. Transportation.
Colin watched them change over and over. Maybe ten seconds between each change? Enough time if he was quick. Not transformation. God, no. He wasn’t sure what kind of transportation he’d find on Wyrd, but that was a better choice than becoming…something else.
Devl grabbed one of his arms. Acid grabbed the other.
Devl said, “Let’s see how your old man likes it when these freaks bring you home in a box.”
Transformation. Transportation.
Colin watched the words on the keystone, bracing his feet and fighting the Doggs’ effort to shove him through the moon gate.
The moment Transportation appeared, Colin threw himself through the gate, dragging Devl and Acid with him. They hit the ground. Colin was up and running before the other boys realized what had happened.
A wide dirt path led toward a paved road and a one-story building in the distance.
He ran past a sign with arrows pointing to various modes of transportation.
Buses were straight ahead. The arrow for the train was angled, indicating another path, so people must board on the other side of the building, although Colin didn’t see any tracks.
At the bottom of the sign was an arrow indicating the path to take to the ships.
Not the ships. The woman with the cards had warned him about the ships.
He heard Devl and Acid shouting, but they sounded farther behind him than he’d expected.
Bus or train? Bus or train?
He spotted a bus parked next to the station—a bus that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Didn’t matter. It was there now and hopefully leaving soon. He ran up to the counter.
An older man wearing a flannel shirt and suspenders looked at him. “Help you?”
Yes, help me. The man didn’t look like he could defend himself against one Dogg, let along two, so Colin said, “I’d like a ticket, please.”
“Where to?”
He almost said it didn’t matter, except this was Wyrd, and everything mattered here. “I know what I need to find, but I don’t know the name of the place.”
Shouting in the distance.
Colin kept his eyes on the man, trying to appear polite and harmless.
“Two gold coins,” the man said.
Twenty dollars for a bus ride? He didn’t argue, didn’t dare. He dug in the pocket of his jeans and pulled out the other two gold coins he’d acquired at the ferry’s dock.
The man handed him a blank ticket.
“Where…?”
“When you figure out where you want to go, the ticket will show you the name of the place.”
“Thank you.”
Shouting. Still in the distance—which shouldn’t have been possible, since Devl and Acid were running after him and weren’t going to let him get away—but definitely getting closer.
Colin approached the bus. It didn’t show any destinations.
Words have power here.
Where did he want to go? Someplace safe. Someplace the Doggs couldn’t reach. Someplace where he could contact Dad and warn him that Jazz might be in danger.
He repeated those thoughts, whispered the words that shaped the things he needed—and watched letters appear on the bus’s sign and on his ticket: LLAM.
The bus’s door opened. Colin bounded up the steps and hurried to find a seat. Plenty of seats to choose from. He took a window seat and slouched so he wouldn’t be seen from outside. Of course, he also couldn’t see when Devl and Acid reached the bus, but he’d take his chances.
A few other people boarded the bus. Adults going somewhere. Commuters? Were there commuters on Wyrd? Where would they be going in the middle of the afternoon?
Then Devl was there, leaping up the stairs, looking furious as he scanned the people on the bus. He charged toward the back of the bus, passing Colin without seeing him. Without…
Something strange about Devl. Like he was faded, not all there. Colin expected him to come charging back to the front of the bus, but he didn’t. Wouldn’t he look again at the people on the bus?
The bus’s door closed, and the bus drove away from the station.