“T-Thank you. Thank you for all you have done for me.”
“Don’t thank me. I haven’t done anything.”
“No, no, don’t say that,” Duke soothed him. Ignatius held him in his arms. Blood soaked their clothes. “You will save our village. You will survive the onslaught and protect the Queen Witch so she can bring the others home.”
Ignatius cried. Tears dripped down his smooth cheeks.
“No, I can’t lose you, Duke. You’re like a…like a son to me,” Ignatius said.
Duke smiled but said nothing.
“No, we can save you. We can! For the love of Oriceran, we can!”
“Do you hear that?” Duke said. His smile vanished. He lolled his head toward the door.
Screeching came from beyond it.
“There’s more. The Arachnids will not give up,” Duke said.
“No, no, NO!” Ignatius said.
“Go, Ig! You must protect the village; you must save them all. If they get the music box then it’s all over. We would’ve died for nothing.”
Ignatius stood up, cradling Duke in his arms. Duke was nothing but a sack of red-stained clothes. He looked like he weighed next to nothing.
“You’re coming with me then,” Ignatius said.
He went to the piles of ash and picked up the music box. He opened it, hearing the sweet melody within. From his hand came a burst of purple light, and the world seemed to shatter.
“What is that?” Maria found herself asking.
“It’s a portal.”
The screeching amplified. The sounds of thunderous footsteps followed.
“We must go, Duke. Are you ready?”
Duke was too hurt to answer.
Maria watched Gramps step forward into the tear in the world holding the music box.
The screen fuzzed out.
“That’s all?” Maria said. “Seriously, I was just getting into that.”
“It isn’t like one of your motion pictures,” Duke said.
No, it was better than most of the crap at the movies, Sherlock said, causing Maria to chuckle.
“That’s because all you get to watch is Days of Our Lives with Gramps,” Maria said.
Duke didn’t look at her like she was crazy; he looked at her like he understood.
“So what happened next? How are you here in front of me as a ghost if you escaped the battle?” Maria asked.
“Because,” Duke said, looking down at his transparent feet, “Something went wrong, as much did that day. I died on the way through the portal, and I was lost. Lost in the world in between.”
“Then how the heck are you talking to me?”
“You are special.”
“Oh, I’ve heard that from a guy before, but I think you’re a little too young—and definitely a little too dead—for me,” Maria said.
Duke didn’t smile. Apparently, senses of humor didn’t exist in the world in between.
“I’m here because you have the music box.”
“My grandfather had it before me.”
“But he does not have your gifts, Maria Apple.”
“Ha! Gifts? Yeah, right. Well…I guess I’m pretty good at popping popcorn, and warding off cute guys who may or may not have an interest in me.” She started counting with her fingers. “Then there’s the melting ice cream and the clown head…can’t forget about being the target of bullies—”
Duke shook his head. “I’m talking about your gift of communicating with the dead and those stuck in the world in between.”
“Okay, this is completely new. I’ve never communicated with anyone from the world between—”
“The world in between,” Duke corrected.
Maria waved her hand. “Yeah, yeah, world in between. Whatever it is, it’s new to me.”
“It shouldn’t be. Your grandfather can explain better.”
My grandfather, who is some interdimensional warrior from another planet that is inhabited by giant humanoid spiders.
“I’d explain, but we don’t have time.”
“Why not?” Maria asked. “You had time to show me almost an entire movie.”
“It was necessary. Many who’ve stumbled upon magic have had a hard time…coping.”
“I could see that, yeah. I guess I haven’t lost my imagination. Besides, if I tell anyone, I’ll end up in a psych ward. Mental institutes are full of those types of people.” She paused, then she brought her hand to her mouth. “Whoa, whoa! I wonder how many of those people aren’t lying!”
“Many,” Duke answered. He shook his head, and his semi-transparent brown hair flicked across his brow. “Now, back to the matter at hand.”
“Oh, God, here comes the crummy part,” Maria groaned. “The quest. The goal. The endgame. I’ve seen enough movies to know,” She was nervous—there was no denying that—and when she was nervous, and Sherlock was around, she scratched him behind the ears for comfort. She did so now, and Sherlock started kicking his leg, enjoying it.
Right there. Thank you, Maria, Sherlock said.
Maria didn’t notice; she was too invested in what Duke was about to say.
“There is more to the story than I was able to show you. But I saw it all, down the line, after I’d been suspended in the haziness of the world in between.”
“So you could only show me what you saw?”
Duke nodded.
“The lead Arachnid, Korion, was dead, but he wasn’t the leader. The Dark Forest is crawling with his kind. The leader hides in the shadows, spinning her web. She is a—”
“An even bigger spider,” Maria interrupted. She moved her fingers in a get-on-with-it gesture.
“More than that. She’s the leader of the beings from the Dark Forest who practice dark magic.”
“Oooh, dark magic. I’m petrified,” Maria said in a mock spooky voice.
“This is no joking matter. An entire village of people in the world in between is lost without you, Maria Apple.”
Maria gulped, the humor going out of her. “A whole village? You mean—?”
Duke nodded. “The village has been lost for a long, long time. But the concept of time doesn’t exist in the world in between. They are still as they were when the Queen Witch put them there.”
“Why would she do that? Put them in a place where the dead roam, and it’s all hazy?” Maria demanded to know. She curled her hands into fists.
“It was a form of protection. We were vastly outnumbered by the Arachnids. They wanted not only our blood, but our land, and the music box that now sits on your dresser, across
