Pieces of Hope (28 page)

It gave
me great relief knowing that this qualified as an actual emergency. To avoid
wondering who deemed them as such, I focused on searching for an elevator
button, but once again, there wasn’t one.

“Shall
we?” Gus extended his arm and I took it. We were the last to tug through the
thick doors, just behind
Creesie
.

The
elevator’s interior was different from the one in
Amora’s
room. This one was much taller, the walls stretching up several stories, and
with a golden ceiling that created the illusion that it was open to the sun.
Polished marble in the whitest white ran beneath our feet and up the walls—one
seamless expanse of stone that was cool to the touch—flawless, like everything
else at the Station. A golden polished handrail, reflecting our images,
finished off the exquisite details.
 

Before
us, the ancient elevator doors displayed those happily-ever-after faces, and
with a sinking heart, I recalled our doomed mission. It was so hopeless. What
was the point? There was no way we were ever going to get Daniel back.

“This is
the most direct route,” Gus explained in his soft German accent, though I
hadn’t asked my question aloud. “She’s built for speed. You might want to hang
on.” His eyes fell on the glowing handrail, but I declined. There was no time
like the present to get the hang of this nonhuman form. I needed all the
practice I could get. “Don’t worry your little heart,” he added kindly. “We’re
going to save Daniel.”
   

With my
voice shaking, I told a difficult lie. “I believe you.” But in reality, I
didn’t believe we stood a snowball’s chance in hell. And given all that they
had told me,
we
were the proverbial
snowballs headed straight there.

Mac
squeezed my other arm, gave me a lopsided grin. “No, doll, it isn’t anywhere
close. And hell is much, much worse . . . and hotter, or so I’ve heard.”

I was
really starting to despise this mind-reading thing, but obscuring my thoughts
was virtually impossible.
Breathe, Hope
,
Charlotte encouraged from somewhere behind me.
Think only of Daniel . . .”

Instantly,
I got a clear image in my mind. It was the first time I had laid eyes on him
our freshman year. He was leaning casually against his locker as though he
hadn’t anything to do or anywhere else to be. That smug look on his face led
you to think he knew something the rest of us never would, some secret that
elevated him several notches above the rest of us mere mortals. Something in
his gray-blue eyes whispered . . .

I know who you are.
  

The
elevator dinged like someone had just pressed the button to a floor. I heard a
whirring as the elevator lifted just a little, and then it suddenly zipped
backwards. My body lurched forward, but Mac flung a stabilizing arm around me. As
he lent a reassuring wink from under his oversized cap, I could feel love
flowing out of him and into me. For some reason, I found it strangely
comforting.

The
sunny elevator quickly darkened as if the sun had slipped behind a cloud. In
the dull grayness, what appeared to be mold or filth began growing up the
pristine walls. Cracks surfaced on the floor. As I stood there petrified,
anguish—or what felt more like
  
desperation, and a desire to get OUT—filled me up, threatening to
implode my insides. Mac squeezed my side, willing me to breathe.

I forced
in a ragged breath, focusing on the carved doors before me. They too had
altered greatly. The once uplifting figures now bore cheerless expressions,
their formerly upright posture hunched and distorted. It seemed every ounce of
hope had been wrenched from their bodies.

The once
pleasant whirring sound was now an obnoxious, nauseating grating of metal on
metal, as if the elevator itself were breaking apart somewhere over our heads.
And a horrid smell, like that of rotting flesh, filled the air. I pinched my
nose, breathed through my mouth, and continued to focus, though with great
difficulty, on Daniel’s face.

After
what felt like an eternity,
Creesie
announced loudly
behind me, “Hold on!” The putrid smell was burning my eyes. “We’re getting
ready to stop!”

The
elevator screeched to an instant halt, tossing me backwards. Mac grabbed the
front of my shirt, preventing me from crashing into Cat. To my left, Gus
pointed kindly at the handrail.
Next time
,
I told him. And as he heard me, he nodded.

“Thanks,
Mac,” I heaved, catching my breath. “I guess you could say I don’t have my sea
legs yet . . . or some such thing.”

Mac
chuckled softly, patted the top of my head. “Hope, you’ve always been such a
funny kid. Why, when you were just a—”

“Mac,
you’re babbling!” Cat shouted at him. “Focus, please!”

Mac gave
me a sly wink before the three of us turned to face the others. Cat stood along
the rear wall, next to
Rin
and Charlotte. Beside Charlotte,
Creesie
stood rigid in the darkened corner. Everyone seemed
to be carefully avoiding whatever the black muck was that was growing up the
walls.

“Right
you are, dear Catherine,” Mac said lightly to Cat. “Consider me focused.”

Get your head in the game, Johnnie
McAllister
, she growled without speaking.

I
couldn’t help but think that Cat was repressing a little hostility. Of course,
stress could do that to anyone, and it was evident on everyone’s faces that
they were feeling the despair as deeply as I was—emanating from outside of our
now shabby box.
Creesie
looked the most worried. A
deep furrow appeared between her eyes. It was a given that she was seeing
whatever grotesque images were on the other side of the doors, Daniel in the
midst.

“He’s
here, Hope. Can you feel him? Close your eyes now. Concentrate.”

I did as
Creesie
asked. Almost immediately, I felt
something—torment, misery, a dull ache in my heart. Then I saw his face. My
eyes flew open. “I see him!”

“Good.
That’s good,”
Creesie
said, her voice trembling.

“Doesn’t
sound so good,” I admitted, still wondering if she was ever going to tell me
any of the particulars involved in the horrors of this place. But as I glanced
around at each of their faces in the dim light, I was undecided as to how much
I wanted to know. I could feel that they were all alarmingly frightened—for me.
That thought alone kept me preoccupied for a few seconds.
  

She
cleared her throat before speaking, starting and stopping a few times. “I need
you to bear a few things in mind as we head into this Station.” She sounded
like her usual self, like we were visiting an amusement park, and I was six,
and I should hold hands with a partner so I couldn’t get lost. “Your only
connection with any of these”—she swallowed as if there were a bad taste in her
mouth—“
people
is through Daniel. We’d
like for it to stay that way—”

Charlotte cut in, her
voice squeaking, “DON’T SPEAK TO ANYONE!”
     

Creesie
held up a single finger. Charlotte, averting her eyes, backed up a
step.

“Charlotte is correct.”
Creesie
cleared her throat, made that awful face again. “We
don’t want you forming connections with any of these people. We don’t want them
to be able to hear your thoughts—without great effort. We don’t want them to
think they’re in your circle.” She paused. “We most certainly don’t want them
following you . . .”

My voice
cranked up an octave. “They can do that?”
     

She
nodded solemnly. She seemed to be in a state of forced calm.

“They
can do that and much more. That’s how Daniel found you . . . through your
connection.” Her voice trailed off. “After all this time, I hadn’t suspected
your bond was so powerful . . .”

All this time
? Surely
Creesie
didn’t think three years was a very long time?

“You’ve
heard of stalkers?”
Rin
asked excitedly, jerking me
from my thoughts. “These people could stalk you through eternity. Try and wrap
your brain around that.”

Creesie
held up another finger.
Rin
clamped her mouth shut.

“I can’t
stress this enough. Speak—only—to—Daniel,”
Creesie
repeated.

“I can
do that.” This, after all, wasn’t rocket science. No one here could force me
into speaking. Yelling, maybe. Screaming, definitely. But talking? No way.

Moving
beside me, Mac took my sweaty palm. I tried to look confident. He turned to
Creesie
. “What’s the plan, Stan?”

“We’re
going to circle around, find Daniel, and bring him back here as quickly as we
can,”
Creesie
said.

“That’s
not much of a plan,” Cat argued. “Shouldn’t we be more tactical? What if some .
. . I mean, someone grabs Hope?”

“To
prepare for any other outcomes may actually invite them to happen. Thoughts
have power—especially here. So, in short, we won’t be planning for anything
other than sweeping in and bringing Daniel back.”
Creesie
looked at me, gave me a small smile, and inclined her head. “Ready?”

Fear was
shaking my insides. I inhaled a steadying breath, and gave a slight nod. Mac
squeezed my hand harder.

“Remember,
no talking except to Daniel. It will probably take some convincing to get him
to leave, to get him to believe that it’s really you. He may be, like many here,
in a rather”—she made that awful face again and I was grateful I couldn’t see
what she saw—“deteriorated state. Try not to be frightened.”

“Of
Daniel or of something else?” I was now officially scared to death.

“Don’t
worry,” Charlotte
murmured in a low voice. “We’ll protect you.”

Panic
rose in my chest once again as I gazed into her tiny heart-shaped face.

“I’ll
lead us out,” Mac said. His sudden display of authority took me by surprise. It
wasn’t a trait I would have imagined he possessed. Flipping his cap around
backwards, he flashed me a charming half-grin. I distracted myself from the
task at hand by focusing on the small space between his front teeth, and in a
flash of déjà vu, thought I might have seen that somewhere before.

“So,
here’s the order,” Mac continued, pointing his finger as he went. “Cat, you’re
behind me.” Cat nodded once and tucked her glasses into a small pocket of her
uniform. “Gus, you’re next. Hope, you’ll follow Gus.” Gus saluted me, sent me a
funny picture of low-flying birds. Halfheartedly, I smiled back. “Next up,
Charlotte, then
Rin
. . . Hope, if you get yourself
in a bind, yell for Charlotte.
She’ll get you to safety.”

Now I
knew why Mac didn’t take the lead much—itty bitty Charlotte was going to save my skin if I got
into trouble?
 

Mac
turned his head slightly and gave me a hard look that broke into a smile.

“Yeah,
doll . . .
 
itty bitty Charlotte . . .”

I
winced, sufficiently chastised. I’d probably never get used to that.

“We’re
partially aware of the conditions out there, but everyone should keep their
eyes peeled and watch out for my girl . . .” I caught the reproachful look Cat
sent his way. “Our girl,” Mac corrected, squeezing my hand. “
Creesie
, you’re our anchor. Stick close to the elevator. I
know they can’t get on board, but just in case . . .”

Everyone
except me nodded.
They couldn’t get on
the elevator
?

Safety feature
, Mac whispered.
I’ll tell you later.
 

“
Alrighty
then, I guess that’s it. Doll, you stick close to Charlotte.” I waited for
a reassuring wink, but it never arrived. “Here we go—”

Mac
charged straight through the elevator’s doors, and once the pink skirt of Cat’s
uniform disappeared from sight, Gus’s tall, lanky form followed closely behind.
Willing my feet forward, I followed their lead.

We entered
an enclosed entry room that looked similar to the one at our Station—except
this one was darker, with thick, black mold growing on every visible surface.
My eyes watered. I wiped them on my sleeve. The smell of rotting flesh was
worse out here, stronger than it had been in the elevator. Just a single wall
separated us from whatever resided at this Station. For the smallest fraction
of a second, I wished for Mac’s hand. And instantly, it was there.

“We
should probably try to blend in a little,” Gus suggested, looking around.

“Good
idea,”
Creesie
agreed as all of our clothing morphed
to black.

Rin
said bluntly, “They’re still going to smell her a mile
away. I don’t know how much blending in we’re actually going to do.”

Creesie
seemed to gaze straight through the wall. She gave
a slight shudder. “It’s likely most of them are too lost in their own tragedies
to notice.”

“Unfortunately,
it only takes one,” Cat taunted. “You probably know which of the Stations we’ve
arrived at. They can pretty much do—”

“Just
focus on Daniel,”
Creesie
encouraged, interrupting
whatever it was that Cat was about to say. “We’ll be in and out in no time. And
oh, if you need help—”

“Yeah,
yeah, I know . . . yell for Charlotte
. . .”
 

I
thought I’d never been more frightened in all my life. I thought nothing on
earth could have scared me more. Then again, we weren’t anywhere near anything
living, and I had absolutely no idea what we were about to walk into. I glanced
back at Charlotte
once, taking in her diminutive size, forcing myself not to dwell on how this
speck of a girl could possibly help me if I needed her.