Dreamseeker by C.S. Friedman Read Free Book Online Page B

it would offer us decent privacy. A small cot and chest of drawers had been fitted into one tight corner, and there were boxes everywhere, many with a film of dust on them. Makeshift accommodations at best, but as soon as Tommy saw the space he declared this was where he wanted to sleep, and I totally understoodwhy. With two dormer windows offering direct access to the roof, he had a quick and easy escape route should aliens come calling.
    As soon as we were alone, I turned and hugged Rita like the world was about to end. I’d spent a week thinking she was dead—or worse—and blaming myself. Now she was here, in the flesh, and not only was I glad to see her, but the guilt that had been my constant companion since our return was finally easing its death grip on my soul.
    â€œHey, girl. I do need to breathe.” She chuckled as I let her go, but I saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes, and there were some in mine as well. It was a pretty overwhelming moment.
    â€œWhat the hell happened?” I asked her. “How did you get separated from us?”
    She shook her head. “No clue. One moment I was right there next to you, then next . . . well, everything was gone. I mean,
everything
. The Gate, the cave, all of you guys, even the world we had just come from, completely gone. I was so terrified. I just couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even think. Then suddenly I felt myself falling, and I landed on something hard. It was totally dark. I yelled for you guys, but no one answered. I didn’t know if you’d been lost between the worlds, or killed back at the arch, or . . . or what. I didn’t even know where I was, but when I felt around all I could find was rubble. Oh God, Jesse, I was so scared.”
    I reached out and rubbed her shoulder. It seemed to steady her a bit.
    â€œI fumbled for my flashlight, then realized it had been taken by the Shadows. I had no light. It was so dark.” She shivered. “The place smelled damp, like a cave, so I guessed I was back in Mystic Caverns. But the room the Gate was in had been enormous, and this place . . . When I called out your names the echo didn’t sound right for that. So I reached out over my head and I . . .” Her voice broke for a moment. I saw her tremble as she fought to pull herself together. “There was rock only a few feet above me. It was like I was sealed in a tomb.”
    â€œShhh,” Devon said. He put a hand on her other shoulder and squeezed gently. “You’re here now, okay? You’re safe.”
    â€œI just lay there,” she whispered. “Overwhelmed. I knew that I needed to do
something
, not just lay there and wait to die. But what? I didn’t even know which way was out, and crawling randomly in the dark wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I never felt so helpless in my life.
    â€œBut then as my eyes started to adjust to the darkness, I realized that there was a faint light off to one side. Really faint, barely enough to see by, but at least it was something.” She drew in a deep, shaky breath. “I can’t even tell you what that moment was like. Like something inside me was coming back to life, and it wanted to live. It wanted desperately to live. So I began to scrabble toward the light, mostly by feel. It seemed hopeless, there were mounds of rubble in my way, and I had no idea where I was going, but I just kept crawling toward the light.”
    God. I couldn’t even imagine what that must have been like. When Devon and Tommy and I had arrived back home Mystic Caverns was in the process of collapsing, and it was hard to believe any of the chambers had survived intact. If Rita arrived after we did, which was what it sounded like, it was a miracle she’d found any space big enough to crawl through.
    â€œSlowly the light grew brighter,” Rita continued “and eventually I got to a place where there