THE VISION IS A PLACE | ✓ {complete}

Chapter 60 : the end - part two

Seeing him here, I want to feel relieved. I want to know that him being back means everything will be okay now; all the burning fuses will go out like magic, the air will smell like fireworks long gone, and the clocks will set back to zero.

I don't know where he went, or why he went there. Looking at him now, I can't tell if he got what he wanted. The lines on his face show a deep unrest, like that of a tired soldier who still has a long way ahead of him.

"...Where did you go?" It's not the only question on my mind, but it's a start. I don't want to talk about the gate and what could have happened there. I don't think he does either.

"There was something I had to do." His voice is low, which tells me Jai must still be asleep outside.

I know whatever it was, it had nothing to do with getting Noah back.

Something about this reminds me of the campsite with the view, between here and Chicago, when he disappeared for a whole afternoon. He acted like he'd only been gone a little while, but when he came back he was different. Kind of like now.

That was the afternoon he decided he didn't want to take me with him anymore. He didn't want me to know this place, or love this place. I think he saw the end long before I did. I think he saw it before it even began, and that's why he tried to stop it.

It took me a lot longer, I guess. That foggy morning a week ago, when I didn't come back to bed, I was feeling it for the first time. I felt like I'd lost something, but I didn't know what. It took Noah seeing the end, for me to see it for myself, even though Addison had already been staring at it for a month already, painting it into the background every time he looked at me.

"We don't have much time," he says. "He's just waiting for the starter to cool down. They only turned it off to let me in." He's distant, doleful. But there's a direct line to a deep sadness in the way he's gripping the edge of the door, fidgeting with the latch bolt like it's the end of a retractable pen.

"He's putting it back up?"

Addison nods.

I wish I could see his face better. Then maybe I might know how to feel. I think about reaching for the small lantern on the floor and turning it on, but I don't want Jai to see.

He seems nervous to say what he's about to say, but as soon as he speaks, he does so with the confidence of someone who has thought long and hard about what needs to happen. "We're leaving, Case. You and me."

I don't understand. Are things really this bad? So bad that leaving is the only way to get through to Heath, and get him to go back to the original plan of keeping The Aura off until the eclipse? Is that even what this is still about? "He's your brother. Just talk to him. Make him stop. No one agreed to this—"

"I tried," he tells me, clearly disappointed by it. "There's no changing his mind. At least not tonight."

"But..."

He comes close to me and crouches down. "I need you to trust me." His words are slow and even. "Just five minutes, Case. That's all I'm asking. Forget about everything, and just trust me for five minutes."

"...What happens in five minutes?" I ask, nervously meeting his eyes. It's still too dark to really see them.

He looks down at his hands, and then back to me. "Once we're on the other side, we can talk. I really mean it when I say we don't have time." He notices my earbuds next to me. The white cord stands out in the dark. He picks them up and wraps the wire around my iPod on the other end before stuffing it into the pocket of his jeans. "Is there anything else down here you want to take with you?"