The Two Worlds (13 page)

“
Keep moving,” Grandpa
ordered.

“
We don’t even know where we
are!” I cried. “We’ve been walking for hours1”

Another boom shook us, and Nia cried
out. I grabbed her hand and held it tightly. The smell of smoke
leaked into the ground above us. Rena sniffled.

“
Kids,” Grandpa began, “I
know I’m asking a lot of you, but we have to keep
moving.”

“
Do you have a compass I
don’t know about?” I demanded.

Grandpa shook his head. “No, you
do.”

“
What?” I exclaimed. Yolonda
cleared her throat. I jumped in surprise. She and Finny had been
silent this whole time.

“
We have a built in
compass,” Yolonda offered. “When we get close to Giza, we’ll let
you know.”

“
Oh, and you decide to tell
us this now?” Nia challenged. She looked back at Grandpa. “What’s
with all the secrets?”

“
No one’s keeping secrets
from you,” Grandpa soothed. “I’m simply trying to keep you calm and
alive. You have to trust all of us, including your Evrodes.
Remember, they are protectors as well.”

Nia huffed and continued moving. I
glared at Grandpa for a second longer, and then followed my sister.
We crawled for what seemed like forever. My knees began to ache,
and I could hear Rena stumbling along behind us. Grandpa’s breath
became labored. Jala was still glowing a dull brown, but it seemed
to be getting fainter with each step.

“
Grandpa,” Nia began weakly,
“I’m—”

“
We’re here!” Finny shouted.
Yolonda had warmed against my chest, and Finny was
buzzing.

“
Are you sure?” Grandpa
asked, sounding weary. The smell of smoke mixed with the limited
air had started getting to all of us. The walls seemed to move
lazily around me. I blinked my eyes and shook my head, attempting
to wake myself up.

“
Yeah man, I’m sure.” Finny
sounded indignant. “What kind of question is that?”

“
Shut up!” Nia
snapped.

“
HEY!” Yolonda
yelled.

“
O-kay!” I threw up my
hands, as if surrendering. “We’re all tired. Let’s just trust
Finny. Where do we go now?”

Finny buzzed silently for a moment.
“Up,” he said finally. We all glanced up at the same
time.

“
Okay,” Grandpa said. “Nia,
open me a door. Jala, come in behind me. Kids, don’t come up until
I give the word.”

We all nodded silently. Nia tapped on
our makeshift roof twice, and it swung open, allowing a swoosh of
fresh air to fill our tunnel. I closed my eyes and let the cool air
flow around me. When I opened them again, Grandpa had climbed out
and Jala was on her way as well.

After a few moments of silence, Grandpa
finally yelled, “Come on up, kids!” I climbed out first, followed
by Rena and then Nia. Nothing but fog filled my vision as I looked
around me. Tall willow trees swayed eerily in the wind, their dark
branches drooping down above us. I looked down and realized the
ground was not hard, but rather soft like it had just been rained
on. As I shuffled side to side in an attempt not to let my feet
sink, I heard Rena suck in her breath.

“
Look,” she
whispered.

As I followed her gaze, the fog swirled
around us, parting every now and again to give us a glimpse of what
lay ahead. Large hills dipped and reappeared for miles it seemed,
and on those hills were thousands of tombstones. Some were small
and crumbled, others large and magnificent. A huge iron gate stood
separating us and the dead, its large handles two iron skulls with
hollow eyes. There were no stars in the sky, and the moon had
disappeared. The smell of the damp ground filled my nose, and I
strained to hear any type of animal life. A guest of wind whipped
around us, and the fog swirled furiously, making a sign appear on
the gate. I read:

“
Know ye who come this
far

Once you enter

Never remain

For those who
do

No sun rises
again.”

Rena shuddered and grabbed Jala’s hand.
Grandpa lifted his chin. Yolonda and Finny had become ice cold
against my skin. We had found Giza Graveyard.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“
Great, so what do we do
now?” I muttered.

Grandpa looked down at me. “Nia’s going
to create a door in the gate so we can pass through
unharmed.”

Nia nodded and walked up to the gate
with caution, us following close behind. After studying it for a
few moments, she took her finger and made a large square, knocking
twice. We all watched as a door materialized. Rena went up and
whispered instructions to the door. With a loud groan, the door
opened, and we had access to Giza. Finny shuddered on my
neck.

“
I’ve never been able to get
used to this graveyard.”

“
Been here much, Finny?” Nia
mumbled. Yolonda warmed, but didn’t say anything. We walked slowly
in, careful not to knock against any tombstones or step on any
graves.

“
How are we supposed to find
our Death Walker?” I huffed.

We continued to walk slowly through the
dark, foggy land. The ground was soft underneath my feet, and I
shuddered. We were probably walking over graves.

Grandpa spoke up, “You’ll just know
when you find him.”

“
Well, that’s helpful,” Jala
mumbled. “Rena, what on Turgor have you gotten yourself into?” The
graveyard was far from quiet. Owls hooted in the distance. The wind
gave off a smooth whoosh, bouncing off the trees that loomed
overhead. Twigs and dried leaves crackled and snapped underneath
our every step, causing me to jump. I sighed and stopped
walking.

“
Kay, what’s the problem?”
Nia frowned and looked at me. “We’ve got to keep
moving.”

“
For what?” I asked. “Look
around. Unless this Death Walker decides to give us a big sign,
we’re never going to find him.” I turned to Grandpa. “What do you
want us to do—wake up every single being here?”

Grandpa opened his mouth, but was
stopped by a cough behind and above us. We all turned around and
stared up at a tall, grayish boy with dull eyes and long gray hair
that fell in his eyes. He looked irritated.

“
How on Turgor am I supposed
to get any sleep with you all making this much noise?” he
thundered.

Rena whimpered and stood closer to
me.

“
Who are you?” Nia asked,
raising one eyebrow. “Last time I checked, this was a free planet
and we could walk anywhere we wanted!”

The boy moved closer, and Grandpa
stiffened. “My name is Kristopher Letticus Amherst.” I snorted. Who
was this kid? He looked at me and seemed to draw himself up even
more. “Does my name amuse you?”

I smirked. “Look, we’re kind busy, so
if you don’t mind...bye.” I turned to leave and felt a cold hand on
my shoulder. The hairs on my neck stood up and, suddenly, I was
sad. Very sad. Tears leaked out from the corners of my eyes. I felt
my knees weaken. We were never going to be able to find the Death
walker. Turgor was doomed. Grandpa would never come home. What was
the point? I—

“
Stop it!” Grandpa yelled
and snatched me from Kris’ grip. “Don’t you dare touch her!” The
coldness I had felt vanished. What was going on?

“
He’s a Death Walker,”
breathed Jala. “I should have guess it.”

“
I am,” Kris confirmed. “And
you are getting on my nerves. So, I’m asking nicely.
Leave.”

Rena trembled then shook her head. “No
can do. We came here to find a Death Walker and looks like we
did.”

Kris cocked his head. “Why on Turgor
would anyone willingly seek a Death Walker?” An owl hooted in
response to his question.

“
It’s a long story,” I
murmured. “Look, we don’t know why we need a Death Walker. We just
do, okay? And we’re running out of time. The KaKonians just
attacked Caldbeck and everyone’s panicking and—”

“
The KaKonians?” Kris
thundered. I took a step back. This kid hand anger issues. “This
was not supposed to happen. They have been under control for
centuries!”

“
Yeah, yeah, we know, but
somehow they’re out of control and have decided to wipe out the
rest of the beings on this planet.” I took a breath and continued.
“And where have you been? If you’re up and walking around, you must
have heard some type of commotion.”

Kris huffed. “I had affairs that needed
attending to.”

“
Oh yeah?” I scoffed. “I
thought the dead didn’t get out much?”

Kris made another threatening step in
my direction, and Grandpa raised his hands in defense.

“
Enough! Kris, we need your
help. We think you are an important key to an ancient
legend.”

Kris cut him off. “If this has anything
to do with the Akearman Stars legend, forget it.”

“
You know about it?” Nia
asked.

Kris looked offended. “Of course I know
about it. When you’re dead, you don’t have much to do besides talk.
And I’ve been around these parts since folks started whispering
about the legend. But, that’s not my fight.”

“
Well that’s great,” I said
out loud. “We finally meet a Death Walker and turns out he’s a
coward.”

“
You know,” Kris said, his
face darkening, “you talk a lot for a small girl.”

“
Ha! First of all, I’m
seventeen. Hardly a small girl. And second of all, ever heard of
Women’s Rights? No? Dead folks don’t dip into politics much? I can
talk as much as I want, buddy.” It was my turn to take a step
towards Kris. People could be dying, and even though I don’t want
to be a hero, someone had to do it. “Now look. You have a choice.
We all do. You can either spend the rest of your days here, looking
after the dead, or you can do something with your life...er,
afterlife. You can help save people from the same thing that
happened to you.”

“
You...know...nothing,” Kris
hissed, “Of what happened to me.”

I nodded. “That’s fair. But is what
happened to you a good enough reason to let others share the same
fate?” Kris stood up straight and stared at me. It was very
unnerving. The rest of the group was watching us as I stared back.
I was tired, hungry, and sore from running. We were leaving with a
Death Walker, or my name wasn’t Kathleena Nicole
McLaughlin.

“
What do I have to do?” Kris
growled.

I shrugged. “Who knows? That’s the
sucky part about this legend. It didn’t really give specifics. All
we know is that we need you somehow to help us stop the
KaKonians.”

Kris sighed. “I suppose I don’t really
have a choice.”

“
Cut the crap. You just know
our choice is better.”

He continued to stare at me until Nia
cleared her throat. “Well, I hate to interrupt this, but we really
have to go. I personally don’t like hanging around
graveyards.”

“
That’s a shame,” came a
voice from behind us. “Because this is going to be your new home.”
We all whipped around, and through the fog appeared Senior Paul
Lynch.

“
Uh, Senior Lynch? What are
you doing here?” Nia asked.

“
Funny, Nia, I could ask you
the same thing.” Lynch’s eyebrows rose. “Why aren’t you at Caldbeck
with the rest?”

“
Wait,” I broke in, “what
did you mean this is going to be our new home?”

Senior Lynch sighed and walked towards
us. “Girls, I have it good here on Turgor. I can come and go as I
please. I have complete freedom. And I am the law.” He stopped a
few feet away from us. “But you, my dears, are threatening this way
of life. The KaKonians have been good to me. And I shall ensure I
return the favor.”

“
What are you talking about,
Senior Lynch?” Nia asked, her voice lo.

“
He’s talking about loyalty,
girl,” came a raspy voice from behind us. We turned again to find
the glowing KaKonian I had faced at Nipsin’s Lodge. “Commitment.
Understanding that there is a food chain...and knowing your place
in it.” He looked at me. “You have been much trouble for me,
girl.”

“
So I’ve been told,” I
retorted. “What do you want?”

“
It’s simple,” Lynch said
from our other side. “We want the Death Walker.”

“
And you dead,” the KaKonian
added, gleefully.

“
Who are you?” Grandpa asked
the KaKonian. Grandpa had been standing silently behind
us.

“
My name is Jarem.” And with
that, he shot out both hands, lights flashed, and the world became
muted. I was sent flying backwards, and even though my mouth was
open, I couldn’t hear my screams. I fell on the ground with a hard
thud. I could see Rena on my right, lying on her side with her eyes
closed. Silver blood ran down her forehead. I struggled to move
towards her, but something was pressing me down. She wasn’t moving,
so I turned to my left for help. Nia was down on all fours, her
face twisted in pain. I closed my eyes and thought of Grandma. We
were never going to see her again.
No,
I thought,
that’s
not fair. I can’t leave her alone. She doesn’t have Grandpa. She
doesn’t have Mom and Dad. She needs me. She needs Nia.
Pressing
my hand against the ground, I focused on using the little energy I
had left.
You are strong, and angry,
I told the ground in my
mind, my eyes still closed.
You are moving, shaking, tearing
apart.