Three words reverberate through my brain as we
continue through the park.
The Great
Beyond.
How valid is the argument? Is it actually
conceivable that Penny might have continued on and skipped this whole bit of
the afterlife. This could be an in-between place. But what does that mean? Do I
have to prove myself?
‘I suppose you looked for that girlfriend of
yours if you tracked down your friends so quickly,’ Teague suggests.
‘Stop playing with me, Teague,’ I say. ‘Are you
in my head?’
‘No, just exceptionally clever,’ he replies.
‘No one likes a show off.’
I close my eyes again. Elle and Yates look like
they’re moving away, the dots growing fainter in the distance. I quicken my
pace.
‘What’s your proof for this Great Beyond theory?’
‘It’s all in The
Alchemist,’ he says. ‘Look, Easton. You’re smart, and your friend clearly
have some understanding in Ghost Physics…’
‘I thought ghosts were from fairy stories?’
He ignores me. ‘You could work for me. Do you
think I’m a religious nut? I’m not blindly going forward looking for this
beyond. I’m looking for tangible proof of the afterlife. If I find it, I’ll be
rich…’
‘That’s your problem,’ I reply. ‘You’re not in
science for the discovery, you’re looking for money. Einstein or Edison or
Newton. Cavendish, any of those scientists, none of them were interested in the
money.’
‘Oh and you knew them personally did you?’ He
laughs. ‘You children, you hero worship people and think they’re saints because
you’re told to. I don’t idealise anyone, we’re all human. We’re all capable of
blowing up a house to save our own skin.’
I feel the bubble of anger rising in my throat.
‘You see that’s where your wrong.’ I point an accusing finger at his oversized
nose. ‘I might not have known anyone I idolize but I know myself and I would
never stoop so low. Actually, I’d never be stupid enough to put myself in
danger in the first place. What you’re doing is playing at being God for money.’
‘I have that right,’ he says under his breath. ‘I
was born and I developed an intellect that far surpasses the majority. It’s
people like me who keep the world turning.’
‘Oh…shut
up, Teague,’ I say.‘Sooner I get you to leave me alone the better. After that
you can go blow yourself up all you want.’
I still want to know about the Great Beyond, but
I can ask Yates when I find him. I won’t give Teague the satisfaction. I won’t
let him play the genius lecturer to humble student. Age doesn’t matter in the
afterlife. You stay the age you want forever. I could have 400 years of
experience under my belt just like Benjamin. One day I will.
We reach the lake in the middle of the park after
another ten minutes or so. It’s a picturesque scene. The sparkling water, the
children paddling in the shadows. Over to our right, I can see people having a
boat race with a thousand little sailing boats, each sail a different colour.
I can see why Benjamin chooses to sit here. You
could people watch forever. The worst thing is, I know Teague is standing next
to me doing what? Ignoring them? Viewing such puny mortals with distain? I look
at him and see him examining his fingernails that could do with more than an
examining. Penny, with her fingernails a different colour and design every day
would have fainted at the sight of his grotty claws.
I close my eyes again. I search for Elle and
Yates but this time, I find nothing. Their bright beacons have faded to
nothing. I almost fall to the floor in despair. I’ll be trapped with this
malevolent mad scientist forever. My every thought would be met with a
sarcastic response. There are worse existences but this definitely isn’t the
one I’d have chosen.
‘I think they’ve…’ I start but out of the air
behind Yates, three people spring into being.
Elle and Yates appear either side of Yates and
grab his arms. Elle twists his right one into a complicated looking hold that I
was sure only policemen and spies knew.
‘You’re nicked mate,’ she hisses. ‘Always wanted
to say that.’ She winks at me. ‘Dad’s a copper.’
Graham takes his place next to me, his own remote
control tight in his grip.
A few faces around us survey the scene. They must
be ghosts. Some people get up, I know what it must look like. Three people
appear out of thin air and take a man hostage, nothing good.
‘It’s alright,’ I say quickly as the shouting
begins. ‘I have him under control. We need to go, now.’
‘Aye aye, captain,’ Yates says, smiling.
‘We’re a crime fighting team, not pirates,
Yates,’Elle says.
The shouts grow closer, one particular person
looks twice the size of me.
‘Help!’ cries Teague, a manic glint in his swampy
eyes. ‘Kidnap.’
‘Trevi Fountain!’ I say, grabbing Graham by the
wrist.
I see Elle close her eyes and the three of them
disappear. I close my own and I’m sure I feel the brush of fingers on the edge
of my hood.
I’m so used to the Edge now, I actually let out a
sigh of relief as we enter the darkness.
It doesn’t take long and Rome greets me like an
old friend as we enter the cool evening.
The Trevi Fountain at night is a sight to behold.
The pale blue water shines orange by the light of the extravagant street
lights. Couples pose by the edge, watching a handful of long stemmed roses
coloured red and pink. The bustle is in keeping with the evening. The quiet hum
of happy holiday goers and old couples out for an evening stroll with their
skin stained a warm tan.
We make a ragtag group at the top of the steps,
once more beside the Hotel Fontana.
Graham whistles. ‘Some fountain,’ he remarks.
‘Thinking of writing a travel guide?’ asks Elle.
‘With such detailed observations.’
Graham flounders. ‘I was just saying, I mean as
fountains go…’
‘Did I say that both you and your friend would be
worthy partners?’ asks Teague in a bored drawl. ‘I think I was mistaken.’
‘Hey,’ Elle says, clipping the man round the ear.
‘I’m allowed to pisstake, you are not. My explodey-pants.’
I raise my eyebrows.
‘I’m distressed,’ she replies.‘I’m not running on
all cylinders.’ She looks at me. ‘What’s going on?’
I quickly explain my adventure to her. I go
through the eerie levitation on the hill, the chase through my memories and
then our trip to New York. I leave out the moment in Isobel’s living room and
Teague smirks at the opportune moment. We shared that moment and that’s the way
it will stay. I can’t help but be unnerved that only he knows one of my
weaknesses. Elle continues to clip him round the ear at the right moments
though so my worry is abated for a second.
‘Basically, when I touched the handprint I
connected myself with him,’ I say. ‘We have to find a way to end the
connection. If we don’t, he’ll die and I don’t want to know what will happen to
me.’
I’d been skirting the issue. Did the connection bode
ill for me too? Teague had said our connection was unnatural. I didn’t want to
be connected to him in the event that he did die.
‘I’ll take this,’ Yates says. He slides the bag
off of Teague’s big shoulders.
‘Be careful,’ warns Teague like Yates holds a
new-born child in his hands.
‘You don’t get to lecture people on careful,’
Yates replies. ‘Thief.’
‘Scientist,’ Teague snaps. ‘Pioneer! You people
should be happy I’m doing the work I am.’
‘You can shush,’ I point at him again. ‘Will you
keep him out here?’ I ask Elle and Yates. ‘I doubt Graham can touch him and I
want to check out his lab before we let him go inside.’
Elle nods. ‘Be quick,’ she says. ‘He smells.’
I laugh and me and Graham enter the lobby of the
hotel. ‘Look confident,’ I say to him, realising that the receptionist can see
him. ‘You own the place.’
Graham adopts the sort of bop that really doesn’t
befit him and I snort. ‘Confident not 90s rapper.’
He eases on the bop a little but the tactic
works. The receptionist continues to be interested in whatever he was doing.
We start up the stairs. ‘I thought you guys would
go to Central Park,’I say. ‘Did you find Benjamin?’
‘Not a trace,’ replies Graham. ‘You lot do have
some fun,’ he says.‘Dying doesn’t seem so scary.’
‘Yeah well enjoy life while you can,’ I say.
‘Being dead’s fun but you can’t do anything else. I wanted to do a lot of stuff
with my life.’
‘Yeah, but you’re free to go wherever you want!’
Graham says. ‘That must be cool.’ He smiles but he rubs his temple.
‘Are you going to tell me what that is?’ I ask.
He’s been doing it since we found him and I’ve noticed every time.
‘Just a headache,’ he smiles. ‘It’ll go away.’
‘Tell me if it carries on,’ I say. ‘I’m honest,
Graham.’ I look at him with my eyebrows raised. ‘Us dragging you through the
Edge can’t be good for you.’
‘I’m fine.’ He waves his hand. ‘As far as I can
tell, I’m demolecularised and we reform on the other side. It must just be more
difficult for solid matter. No big deal.’
I know I’m not going to be able to argue
with Graham. If you ask me, being broken down to a molecular level and then
pieced back together again across thousands of miles is a fairly big deal.
It
doesn’t take long to find the hotel room Teague was using. I close my eyes and
find the trail he left. It’s faded considerably, now an hours old stain on the
air around me, but I still find it. It leads to a room right at the top of the
building.
The
stairs creak under our footsteps as we clear the last few steps and we approach
the door.
‘Ok,’
I say. ‘I’ll go in and open the door after me.’
I
take a deep breath and plunge into the dark brown surface of the wood.
I
barely recognize the pinch and I emerge on the other side.
The
room has been cannibalized. The bed stands on its end against the wall leaving
a large space in the middle. Somehow he’s got a table up here and on it sits a
laptop and a circle of electrical components.
I
wait a second, for the inevitable booby-trap of for the ceiling to cave in, or
something equally as inexplicable, but nothing happens. Clearly Teague never
expected anyone but himself to make it to his lab.
I
turn and unlock the door behind me.
Graham
walks through the door and whistles. ‘What’s he got cooking in here?’
He
walks over to the laptop and starts examining what’s on the screen.
I
cross to the window and I’m greeted with a beautiful view of the fountain. I
see Elle, Yates and Teague still by the front doors. This is too perfect, too
easy. He wouldn’t just let us walk in.
‘Easton,’
Graham mumbles, with the tone of someone who’s trying to keep sick down.
I
turn and instantly run to the table. Graham has collapsed, dragging the laptop
with him. He’s gone deathly pale and he holds his head with both hands.
‘What’s
wrong?’ I ask. ‘Graham, talk to me.’
He
doesn’t reply. His eyes close tight and he groans like an animal.
I
feel the sweat on my brow. I don’t want to do it, but I know there’s only one
person who’ll know what to do.
‘I’ll
be right back, Graham, I promise.’
I
close my eyes and step downstairs without sensing the Edge for even a second. I
simply step through the air before me and am greeted by the cool evening around
the fountain.
I
grab Teague by the wrist.
‘Upstairs,
now,’ I say, and hope that Elle and Yates follow. ‘If we’re going to help you,
you need to save my friend.’
We
reappear in Teague’s lab and I rush to Graham’s side.
‘Help
him,’ I command. ‘Now.’
Teague
surveys Graham with what appears to be a mixture of curiosity and disdain.
‘I
hope you haven’t touched anything,’ he deadpans.
‘How
is that important?’ I snap.
Elle
and Yates materialise through the door.
‘Oh
my god,’ Elle says. ‘What’s happened?’
Yates
crosses to Graham quickly and sits beside him. ‘It looks like he’s having a
panic attack,’ he says, rubbing the other boy’s back. He starts to move
erratically, flailing his arms and legs and Yates holds his arms to his sides,
whispering things into his ear that are too quiet for me to make out.
‘Well
he would,’ Teague says, examining a cuticle. ‘His atoms are losing their
structure.’
I
stand up, cross the room and seize the front of his jacket.
‘Do
something about it then,’ I say.
‘I
don’t know what you expect me to do,’ he says sounding tired.
‘Anything
to stop him dying.’
Elle
has sat down with the other two. ‘Stop being a pain, Teague. Be a man, a human
being.’ She sounds as tired as him.
Teague
lifts his laptop off of the floor, but only after I release him. He taps a few
keys and stays silent for a moment. The pause is agonising. Every second feels
like a second closer to my friend dying on the floor. Or worse. What happened
if your atoms just fell apart? Do you even die? What if he stays alive,
invisible forever, just atoms on the wind?
‘Would
that be so bad?’ mutters Teague.
‘Get
out of my head!’ I yell at him.
He
looks up, shocked that I heard.
‘The
boy’s remote,’ he says.
We
all look at him.
‘Don’t
just stand there,’ he says. ‘You trashed mine so I’ll have to work with the
primitive implement your friend cobbled together.’
Elle
reaches into Graham’s pocket and pulls out the device he created. She passes it
to the moleskin man.
‘I
don’t know if this will work,’he says. ‘But there’s nothing else I can do.’
‘What
are you doing?’ I ask. ‘Is it dangerous.’
‘If
I do this, you let me go,’he says. ‘We work to find a way to end this
connection, immediately.’
‘Yes,
whatever, just help him.’
‘We’re
going to have to kill your friend to save his life.’
