Your hand is numb and your eyes unfocused as you stare down at the screen of your cell phone. The icon beside your mom's phone number is a just a blur on your retina, and the number itself a jumble. The ringtone shrills distantly, as though it's coming from another room.
One. Your heart skips a beat.
Two. Your heart has moved into your sternum and pushes upward.
Three. Your heart is already at your throat, and you feel like puking it out.
Four. The nerves in your hand prickle.
And then, the connecting click. The word Hello? tries to form your throat. But what's the point? "We're sorry", the operator says. "The number you called is not available at the moment."
You disconnect with a flick of your thumb, and make the call again.
One. Your heart skips a beat.
Two. Your heart has moved into your sternum and pushes upward.
Three. Your heart is already at your throat, and you feel like puking it out.
Four. The nerves in your hand prickle.
And then, the connecting click. "We're sorry", the operator says. "The number you called is not available at the moment."
You disconnect with a flick of your thumb, and make the call again.
One. Your heart skips a beat ...
How many times have you made the call to your mom's phone, with the same result? How long have you been slouching here, your limbs paralyzed and nerveless, on the professor's sofa, in his dark, sunless living room? Even when the morbid thought, Maybe the couch is enchanted, and is going to eat me, can't get you to stir.
You arrived back at the villa only a few minutes before Joe and Robert did. Your brother had a thoughtful, distracted look to him, but he looked happier and more energetic than you felt. You took a sausage-egg-and-muffin from Joe and retreated into the living room to eat it, but it is now sitting, cold and congealed, with only one bite taken from it, on the arm of the sofa. You don't remember the last time you ate, but at the moment you'd be happy if you never ate anything again.
Frank was worried so much about convincing you that you did the right thing. And you probably are convinced. At least, when you try to imagine yourself in the professor's clutches, you don't see a way out for yourself or your parents. But what's the point? You've lost them this way as well. As for getting them back ...
Joe has called the police to report your family's SUV stolen, which might get you a lead if the cops spot it. You're calling your mom's phone over and over again. (Even if the professor never answers, maybe you're torturing him with its incessant ringing.) The others, though, are busying themselves searching the house. Mostly they seem preoccupied with the library.
At one point Joe comes stalking into the living room with hard, bright expression on his face. "Is this yours?", he asks, and holds up a large piece of paper.
You peer at it. It's torn from an art sketchbook, and there's an intricate sigil drawn on it. You nod. "It's the sigil I drew to make the masks. Where'd you find it?"
"In the library. Sitting out in plain sight along with a bunch of notes and books. Any idea how it got there?"
You'd shiver, but your nerves are too shredded and your muscles too leaden to so much as twitch. "I gave it to Robert to hang on to. I guess the professor found it in his room?"
Joe nods. "The professor is certainly interested in you. Check this out." He holds up a book. The title is impossible to make out, and you only shrug.
"Well, trust me", Joe says. "The professor was very interested in you, Prescott. And suddenly I'm interested in you too. We need to talk."
But at that moment Frank calls him back, and he leaves the room. From outside you hear their raised voices. But either something has gone wrong with your hearing, or they're talking in that strange language again, but you can't make out the words. At any rate, Joe doesn't return.
Eventually, you doze off.
--
You dream.
You're once more in the planetarium so familiar to you. Once again, you are drawn to its majesty – to the star within, and how the incredible energy it contains is freed in such an intricate mechanism. You feel relief in its presence; you touch the symbols that gravitate around it – sigils, you now recognize – and gently move your fingertips around it. You thrill with excitement as, with a simple exercise, you change the sigil, and the intricate mechanism seems to change and alter to your whim. And as you do, the very mechanism comes to life before your eyes, becoming more active. The heaviness on your body seems to lighten up, and you feel more energized.
It makes you venture towards the other planets. The Moon, distant, beckons to you – but you do not heed its call yet. Rather, you try to associate the other planets to what they're meant to be. You recall what your brother said - about the Stellae, and about how the planets seemed to impart them with power. You recall the words that Robert said. Lurga. Arbol. But the names don't bring anything to you...save for what he claimed were the planets that exerted their influence upon Frank.
Mars. At the thought find yourself hovering over a hard, red plane, torn by iron cliffs and frigid seas. As you observe, you notice figures struggling below. The world seems unforgiving, as it pushes them to the lowest of the low, but as you see the figures stand victorious, your body vibrates with the throes of their victory. You wonder how Robert could be influenced by this world of hardships – you clench your fist, feeling your brother would be unable to face this insurmountable challenge.
Saturn. Another thought, and you find yourself in a cathedral, ample, yet full of solitude. If Pluto is cold in its exterior, but brimming with life in its interior, Saturn seems to be its polar opposite – for, while there is no brimming life within, its interior hints of a deathly, contemplative silence. The brimming energy you felt seems to fade, and your burdens seem heavier; you gaze into its intricate archways, into the corridors leading deeper, and all you feel is the need to stand there and simply rest. Have you really rested since the moment you found your brother behind your father's face? Have you felt solace since that moment? This world beckons, and yet, it doesn't - as you make a step, a sinister scythe blocks your path. The air feels cold and clammy, and heavy, and dark. It seems, yet, there isn't enough time.
You turn around, and see that one planet is shining brighter than the others. You should know, for it is not a planet – it is a star, and it is the Sun. You step closer, inch by inch, and bask in its warmth and light. It is within the Sun that all the other planets draw their light, and it is this stellar body that draws you. And as it draws, the other planets – even the industrious Pluto, and the toil-filled gauntlet of Mars, and the dark sanctuary of Saturn, and even the ever-reflecting Moon – gravitate closer, and closer. One, however, looms upon you. Gigantic in size, it approaches in unabashed majesty, but rather than awe struck through primal fear, it is awe manifested by sheer wonder. You feel your knee weaken, almost as if it wished to bend of its own will and volition, and as you gaze it closer, it returns a gaze at you – with a single, majestic eye, alone upon all the others. The eye watches in wonder, in curiosity. It gazes at you, deeply, but you fear it not. As it fixes its gaze upon you, you feel the other planets draw closer, surrounding you. Pluto rests close to your right hand, and as you touch it, you feel the same enthusiasm that drove you to pursue the secrets behind the notes - the blasted notes, your mind recalls, that contain the spells that have ruined your life. And the Moon rests at your left hand, and you see your reflection within, flashing a bright smile.
And you feel the planets showering you with confidence, with worth. For a moment, it feels so clear – they stand by you.
But, as they draw clear, they also must depart. You feel a great pressure bringing you back; you turn, and you see Saturn behind you. It beckons you to fall, but to trust. You let yourself go, and you feel as if falling, as the first time you saw them. You turn around, and see the Earth, basked in the light of the Sun you stood in front of. Even as you fall, you don't fear, for as Saturn dragged you, it also softens your fall.
You see a stone cottage – no, a stone villa, as you fall in. And just as you saw before you woke up, there are three specks of light. But rather than distant, the three are together. And as you fall, you notice you fall into one of them...
--
"Prescott!" Someone is shaking you awake. "You with us!?"
"Huh!?" You shake your head, only to see Frank, and Joe, and Robert, watching at you. Robert's eyes are open wide, trembling. "What's going on?"
"The cops called", Frank says. "They found your dad's car."
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