When All is Null and Void

Chapter Thirty-Four

"But you don't know what will come out of there," Caleb replied. "What if the stuff that goes in is supposed to stay there?"

Rhea stood and crossed her desk to sit very near Caleb. "It's not. The person I lost was never supposed to be in the Void, and he never came back."

"Who was it?" Caleb asked, hoping she might be upfront and say it had been Carter. He wanted her to confirm it. Felt if she did confirm it, he could tell Alexander his brother was, in fact, alive.

Rhea smiled. "That secret remains with me," she said.

Caleb shivered. "If Danielle is part of the equation, what other possible variable could there be?"

"It's a who," she said. "A child of two Timewalkers. You don't need to worry about that portion. You only have your part to play. But please, bring Danielle to me by the end of your month."

Caleb's blood had run cold. Was she talking about Alexander's daughter? Was she alive? "You don't think there will be consequences when you open the Void?"

"There are things in life that can't be stopped. We have to make the choice between what is right, and what is best." She reached out to Caleb and tapped him on the forehead.

Caleb flinched back, but in that instant he awoke in his bed, the ring searing into his flesh in the same way it had the first night. His mind felt soupy and fogged, as if he had actually been dreaming. He wondered vaguely if any of this was happening at all. Perhaps he was even in another dream—a nightmare where pain could be felt.

But no, this was different. This was his room, the one he awoke to after every ring-led midnight excursion. His hand was on his chest, and the sweltering pain was riding deep into the skin above his solar plexus. The surging ache disappeared, left with only the dull throb and itchiness of a fresh burn. He hadn't cried out. Somehow he'd been able to hold back.

The sun wasn't up yet, and it couldn't be later than three in the morning, and Caleb stumbled as he ran downstairs. The the pain in his hand and chest intensified. The skin was bright and puffy in the wan light of the kitchen. Caleb filled a cup with water and ice and shoved his hand down into it, liquid splashing over his shorts. Blissful relief flooded Caleb.

With his hand placed in the cup of water, he padded over to Alexander's room. He hadn't been inside when his mentor was sleeping before, and something about it felt weird and creepy to him. But he pushed those thoughts away and woke the quietly snoring man up. "Alexander," he pushed on his shoulder.

Immediately Alexander was out of bed. He smacked the glass of water out of Caleb's hand, and it careened across the room where it shattered against the wall.

"What's wrong?" Alexander's voice slurred with tiredness.

"Get up. We need to talk."

A minute later, the two were sitting on Alexander's bed, lights on, shattered glass of water forgotten. Caleb showed Alexander his hand. "I had another dream. I was in Rhea's office..."

"You can't have Hopped there. The rings are programmed to stay locked out."

Caleb shrugged. "It doesn't matter how I got there. Just that I was there."

"What did she say?" Alexander rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"She told me that she needs a child of two Timewalkers and Danielle to open the Void."

Alexander stiffened. "She told you that?"

"Yeah," Caleb said. "Somehow Danielle is the reason she and I got shoved into the Void. Apparently the Void is the reason I have Ringlock." His hand was throbbing now, and so was the mark on his chest.