The Enlightened (Mind Dimensions #3)(10)
Realizing what I said, I start laughing. The laugh is partly hysterical, though.
“Looks like you have my sense of humor,” Rose says. “You wouldn’t have gotten it from Paul, that’s for sure.”
I stop laughing. “The bag over my head wasn’t to hide the location of this place, but to hide the location of my body, right?” I say, looking at her. “I can’t initiate phasing out without touching my body, so I’m stuck here, in Paul’s Quiet.”
“Another term you invented?” she says approvingly. “You’re as smart as I thought. The situation is exactly as you described, with two extra bits of information that should persuade you to cooperate. One—Paul is extremely stubborn, and I hope you didn’t get that from him. And two—he can keep up this session for many, many subjective years, and he will. So you see, all we have to do is wait you out—something we have a lot more practice with than you do.”
“I could kill myself,” I suggest. “That would get me out.”
“And become Inert? You wouldn’t,” she says, but her forehead wrinkles at the thought. “Besides, Paul and Caleb would only bring you to the Temple and we would wait for your Depth to return.”
She’s right, of course, but that gives me a more desperate idea. Without saying a word, I turn and head back for the amphitheater.
“Caleb,” Rose yells. “Guard the Hall, now.”
She must’ve guessed my intentions.
I start running up the stairs, but by the time I get to the Hall, Caleb is already there, arms crossed. Fuck. My idea of how to get out of this Mind Dimension involved killing my newfound grandpa. Since I’m in his Quiet, killing him would’ve kicked me out of it and made him Inert—a sacrifice I’m quite willing to make given the situation the old man put me in.
“You realize if something happens to Paul, you’ll end up in the car with me, right?” Caleb’s smile resembles that of a shark. “And I would be very unappreciative.”
Okay, that plan is no good. I’m not even sure I could’ve gone through with it anyway. I probably just wanted to scare the old coot with the possibility of being Inert and blackmail my way out of here. But what Caleb says is true. In or out of the Quiet, I’m still in a precarious situation.
“Are you ready to continue our tour?” Rose asks from the bottom of the stairs. “Are we done with this foolishness?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I run again, down the giant staircase.
In mere minutes, I pass all the frozen monks and race through the gardens until I find myself outside the Temple. The forest surrounds the entire perimeter of the valley where the Temple is located, so I can’t be sure from which direction we came when I was blindfolded. On a hunch, I run toward the trees in the distance, hoping that’s the right way.
I run and run at a pace where it’s actually kind of fun at first, and reminds me of the excursions I took as a kid. The sandals make it easier to run, too, and my feet are very grateful for them. Unfortunately, after hours of running, all I achieve is getting as tired as a dog. I don’t find the road, let alone the car. Stubbornly, I run some more. The fun of this is long gone, slowly turning into agonizing weariness. When I feel as if running another step will make me sick, I have no choice but to admit defeat. I was hoping I’d find my body if I searched long enough, and from there, I’d work on a plan for when I phased out. However, it seems like I might as well be looking for a person without a cell phone in the middle of Times Square—an impossible task.
With my proverbial tail tucked tightly between my legs, I return to the Temple, my slow pace making the trip back mind-numbingly boring. On my way, I decide that Joining with the Enlightened won’t be the end of the world. I wanted to refuse them out of principle, because I didn’t like the way Paul was ordering me to Join. However, I have to admit, a part of me is rather curious about the Joining. When I shared Caleb’s mind—which, let’s face it, was not the friendliest of places—it was less than pleasant. This experience, however, could be very different—perhaps enlightening in some way?
When I get back to the Temple, I make my way up the stairs decisively.
Caleb sees me coming and gets up from his lounging position next to the Hall. Was he just meditating? Though I guess this place would drive anyone to try it, Caleb doesn’t strike me as the meditative type at all.
“I’m not here to hurt anyone,” I tell him and raise my hands. “I’m ready for the stupid Joining they want to do.”
“You’re such a f*cking idiot,” Caleb says, and before I can respond, he enters the Hall and slams the door behind him.
Belatedly, I realize I should’ve nicknamed Caleb ‘Mr. Personality.’ As I wait, the thought of entering that moniker into my phone and one day ordering it to ‘call Mr. Personality’ helps me deal with my jitters.
Rose peeks her head around the door. “Thank you for coming back.”
I enter the room. I have to hand it to Rose—she doesn’t gloat or say, “I told you so.” Neither does Paul, really. Instead, they methodically bring their spouses back into the Quiet.
“So we’re doing the Joining now?” Edward asks when he appears in the room.
“And if so, how many of us?” adds Marsha, who appeared in time to hear Edward’s question.