“How could she possibly know anything about it?” Philby asked.

“How can we possibly go to sleep at night and wake up as DHIs inside the Park? When was the last time any of this made sense?”

Philby pursed his lips. He nodded. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. If they toss us, so what? We go down fighting.”

“Exactly.” Finn peered around the edge of the wall.

“What do you see?”

The man in the straw hat was gone.

“I think he’s coming after us.”

4

MAYBECK DUCKED INSTINCTIVELY as the sky flashed, and, only moments later, thunder boomed and rolled in a long series of endless echoes. A few early raindrops splattered in huge globs onto the footpath, and the air smelled dusty and sweet—ozone—foretelling the electrical charge it carried.

Charlene stiffened with the crack of thunder. “I…do…not…do…lightning,” she said.

The Park guests scattered for cover, quickly emptying the paths.

“Then forget what Finn said and come with me!” Willa said, taking Charlene by the hand. “The parade blocked Jez and Amanda from coming over the bridge. They’ll probably head past the Haunted Mansion and through Fantasyland to reach the castle. We’re going this way,” she said, pointing in the direction of Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel, “to cut them off. Maybeck, you go around past the Mansion. Hopefully, one of us finds them before we meet up somewhere near Peter Pan.”

“See you in a minute,” Maybeck said.

“It’s hard to see much, so pay attention,” she said. The swirling clouds had brought an early darkness.

“Never fret. Eyes like a hawk,” said Maybeck.

“What about the monkeys?” Charlene mumbled. “What if that was some kind of omen?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Maybeck.

They split up, Willa dragging Charlene by the arm. Maybeck jogged off.

Park guests waved at Willa and Charlene. Some braved the increasingly steady rain to chase after them, calling for autographs. Willa pressed on.

Charlene said, “We’re getting wet.”

“That’s what usually happens with rain,” Willa said.

“We can’t get wet!” she complained. “DHIs don’t get wet. The rain runs right through them. We can’t disappoint the kids like that!”

“Are you worried about the kids, or your hair?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Okay. So let’s run faster.”

5

AMANDA AND JEZ RAN THROUGH the light rain, dodging clusters of guests who were determined to stick it out and wait for the fireworks.

“It’s not far now,” Amanda said, spotting the spires of Cinderella Castle.

Jez didn’t answer.

Amanda glanced back. It wasn’t like her sister to avoid a chance to make a snide comment. “Keep up! You’re falling behind,” she called out. Jez was a fast runner; it made no sense that she should lag. She seemed to be running at a steady pace, no faster, no slower, no matter what Amanda said or how fast she ran.

The rain made the walkway more slippery. Amanda slowed and shortened her strides to avoid falling. When she looked back, Jez was still running at the same pace, the same stride. She apparently had magical footing—she didn’t slip.

Amanda stopped and turned fully around and stared at her sister. How could she not slip even a little bit?

Despite the falling rain, Jez’s shirt was…dry, her hair perfectly in place.

What a princess, Amanda thought.

But then she tensed.

Jez’s feet landed on the wet walkway. No splash.

“Jez? Stop! Answer me, Jez!” Amanda cried out.

But Jez just kept on running toward her. The same perfect form and posture. The same perfect Jez.

Jez finally did stop, though she remained several yards off, like a fearful animal.

There was a reason her shirt and hair were both dry: the rain fell through her, hitting the walkway below.

Amanda stepped forward, now only inches from her sister. The rain fell harder, soaking her own hair and shoulders. Jez remained dry.

“Say something,” Amanda whispered.

She reached out her arm and swung it from right to left, cutting her sister in half, her hand passing right through.

A hologram. A DHI.

“Where’s my sister?” Amanda managed to choke out, the drops of water now flowing down her cheeks having nothing to do with the rain. “What have you done to her?”

6

“HE CAN’T POSSIBLY KNOW the way up here,” Finn whispered. “Only Wayne understands Escher’s Keep. He said so.” But he could hear the swishing of the man’s clothing as he climbed the upside-down staircase. He not only knew the way, he seemed to be quickly closing in on them.

“I don’t think that actually matters right now,” Philby said. “We are going to be in some serious—” He gasped. “What are you doing, Finn?”

Before him, Finn Whitman, the fourteen-year-old boy, transformed into a glowing version of himself with a slightly shorter haircut. He was now his DHI hologram.

“Willa said she s-saw you do this.” Philby stuttered when nervous. “But I d-didn’t believe her.”

“It’s not very stable. I can’t hold it for very long,” Finn said. “Go. Black tiles. Never two in a row. It’s the left staircase when you reach the other side. There’s the final invisible bridge and then the black hole. I’ll meet you there. Wait for me.”

Philby waved his arm through Finn just to confirm what he’d seen him do. “But if you’re here as your DHI, then where’s the real you? Not back asleep in bed? And why can’t any of the rest of us do this when we’re awake?”

“Philby, I don’t know. Maybeck said he’s had the same thing happen. Willa, once or twice. We can discuss this later, okay? For some reason, I’m able to will myself to cross over. I don’t understand it, but I don’t try to understand it. It just happens if I let it. Wrap your mind around that. It doesn’t last long, and it’s exhausting. So I’ll meet you in the black hole, and I’m going to need your help from there on.”

“And you’re going to stay and…what?…fight this guy?”

“Yeah, right,” Finn said sarcastically, his voice sounding a little bit different, like the buzzing of something electronic. “I’m going to make him wonder what he’s chasing. I’m going to freak him out of his shorts. If I’m lucky…well…let’s hope I’m lucky.” He waited only seconds. “GO!”

Philby took off across the checkerboard floor, making sure the toes of his shoes landed only on the black squares, and never two black squares in the same horizontal row. It required a kind of dancing across and down the floor that made him look like a kid in Riverdance.

Finn’s ability to cross over while awake had to do with achieving a kind of meditative state. If he focused on having no fear, no worries, he temporarily crossed over. He didn’t know the rules or how it worked, only that he could make it happen—though only inside the Magic Kingdom, where hologram projectors existed throughout the Park. He took a moment to test his ability, aware of its unpredictability and his lack of control over it. He grabbed for the nearby doorknob. His hand landed on it, and he was able to turn the doorknob. Then he pulled his hand away, closed his eyes briefly, and concentrated on just a single idea: light. He opened his eyes and reached for the doorknob once again. This time the doorknob passed through his hand. It sparkled and glowed as he swept his hand on through the doorjamb and back out.

So far, he seemed to be in control of his hologram, but he knew from previous attempts that his hologram quickly deteriorated. A few minutes was all he had, until Finn, the fourteen-year-old boy, came back to replace the DHI.

He stepped out of the way as he heard footsteps approaching. The man arrived at the platform. Finn hid behind him. The man was big, with thick, heavy legs and broad shoulders. He looked a little foolish in his red-and-white-striped jacket and straw hat. He studied the checkerboard floor like a person trying to remember the code, bringing his thick hand to his scrabbly chin in contemplation.