“No, she didn’t.” I shook my head. “I don’t think she knows where it ended up, either.”

  “I think we should try to find out,” Frank said as he sat up a little straighter. “Before someone else beats us to it.”

  “How are we going to do that?” I asked. “I wouldn’t know where to even start, it could be anywhere.”

  “I have a suggestion,” Mori said and leaned forward to catch my gaze. “If you’re open to it, Mark.”

  “Depends on what it is…” I said slowly.

  “How do you feel about another trip down memory lane?” Mori smirked.

  I immediately knew he was suggesting to send me back in time. Again.

  The last time Mori helped me astral project, I’d ended up on a yacht crawling with pompous Antis as they gathered around and hung on the Omega’s every last word. Then, like we were the only two on the yacht, he spoke directly to me.

  He’d only said ‘Hello, Mark,’ but the experience shook me to my core. It led Mori and I to wonder if the Omega was still alive, as it was the only way to make sense of what had happened. If he was really dead, then how would he have communicated with me? How would he have known that I existed, let alone known my name?

  These questions all had answers I wasn’t sure I was ready to know, at least not yet. I knew letting Mori send me back was our best and safest bet of finding the device, but I couldn’t help but wonder about what else I would find.

  Or what would find me.

  “What if I see him again?” I asked as I stared into Mori’s eyes.

  “Then I’ll bring you back,” he said plainly. “Remember what you’re going there for and just make sure you’re communicating with me the whole time.”

  “We’ll be here,” Rhiannon assured me.

  “Okay.” I nodded and took my Tempest girlfriend’s hand. “Let’s do it.”

  I leaned back into my seat and attempted to mentally prepare myself as much as I could, and Mori stood up from where he was sitting and made his way over to me.

  “Make immediate contact with me, okay?” he said as hovered over me.

  “Got it,” I said.

  Without warning, Mori forcefully pushed his hand into my chest, and the moment his palm made contact with my sternum, I felt the ties between my physical body and mind become severed. Then I was surrounded by the uncomfortable, all-encompassing nothingness I’d seen before.

  I was both enveloped by nothingness, and I was nothing all at the same time. The sensation was still uncomfortable, and I didn’t think I’d ever get used to it. But I didn’t let myself panic like I had last time, and I immediately reached out with my mind to communicate with Mori.

  The dark nothingness felt endless, but I desperately tried to latch onto something so I could make contact with the physical realm.

  Mori, I said with my mind. I’m here.

  I watched as my words exploded around me with a burst of what looked like static electricity. It was almost like I was inside my own neural network, and I was watching my own brain activity play out before my nonexistent eyes.

  I’ve got you. Mori’s words fizzed through the darkness around me and intermingled with mine. Stay focused on my voice.

  I observed as the blackness around me seemed to slowly drop like a curtain made out of mist, and a picture started to slowly form in front of me.

  I was suddenly standing in the middle of a busy street I didn’t recognize. People hustled past me on the sidewalk while engaged in conversations, and I looked around for anything that would help me to place myself so I could determine what Mori was trying to show me. From what I understood, Mori’s ability to allow people to astral project was mostly a shot in the dark. Although he was able to place timelines, he never knew beforehand what he was sending people into.

  As I looked at the city that unfolded around me, I saw the outline of a red, metal structure in the distance. Then I realized I was looking at the Golden Gate Bridge.

  Why was I in San Francisco? And what business did the last Omega have here?

  What can you see? Mori asked.

  I’m in San Francisco, I answered. But I don’t know what I’m looking for…

  There was no mention of this city in any of the readings I’d done, or anything Eve said. It made no sense, and I couldn’t understand what I was doing here. Did the last Omega have a base here? Were some of his recruits stationed here?

  Pay attention to the people around you, Mori said. There’s a reason they’re there. There are no coincidences in the astral realm.

  There wasn’t anything remarkable about the people around me. They were just going about their day-to-day business, how were they going to lead me to a power-stripping device made by an evil dictator?

  As I continued to search for meaning in my surroundings, two men hustled past me engaged in a heated conversation I couldn’t help but tune into.

  “He needs us to get it to Alcatraz,” one of the men said as they continued walking. “He’s got a connection in there who will keep hold of it until--”

  The two men walked out of earshot, and I didn’t catch the end of their conversation. They were both dressed in old-fashioned outfits, which allowed me to place that I’d been sent back to around the forties. One of the men wore a camel-colored fedora, and the other carried a leather briefcase.

  They didn’t look suspicious, they didn’t really look like anything at all. But their conversation seemed suspicious enough to pique my interest.

  There are two guys talking about getting something into the penitentiary, I told Mori.

  Do you know what it is? Mori asked. Or why they need to get it there?

  I’m not sure, but it could be the device, I said. Should I follow them?

  Yes, stay close.

  I dodged in and out of the people on the sidewalk, even though I was pretty certain I’d be able to walk through them considering they weren’t really there and neither was I. It was like I was walking through the loading screen on a game, and the further I walked, the more the city seemed to suddenly form in front of me.

  Then I turned a corner and was finally caught up to the two men I’d heard speaking, so I attempted to eavesdrop further.

  It would’ve been incredibly useful if I was able to utilize my telepathy, or any of my powers for that matter. But because of the physics, or lack thereof, in the astral realm, I was walking among these strangers without any upper hand, other than them being unable to see me.

  “He needs to keep it hidden,” the man wearing the fedora said. “He has reason to believe his plans have been leaked.”

  “I see… well, they won’t trace it here,” the other man added as he clutched his briefcase a little tighter. “Who is his connection, do you know?”

  “An old friend,” Fedora Man admitted.

  “Does he know that we’re coming?”

  “I’m unsure,” Fedora said. “But he’ll know once we’re there. I’ve arranged for someone to take us to the island, they should be waiting for us as we speak.”

  I followed the two men for what seemed like another ten minutes until we eventually reached the water’s edge.

  They made their way down to a dock and promptly greeted a man who was waiting beside a small sailboat. The two men clambered into the small boat, with the ferryman close behind, so I followed.

  For a moment, I anticipated the struggle of attempting to board the small boat, until I was reminded I didn’t have a body I needed to cooperate with and floated behind the men with ease.

  Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was on a small island off the coast of San Francisco, and since it was the forties, the prison was still open and in full swing. It was only accessible by water, both in and out. This was done deliberately so prisoners were strongly deterred from attempting to escape, because even if they succeeded getting beyond the walls, they’d most likely die trying to swim to shore against the strong currents.

  If these two men did have the device, then in terms of security, I could understand why whoever was behind this had chosen to take the device to the island. Getting to it was going to be a struggle, and the most threatening people on the island were behind bars.

  The boat rocked as the murky water lapped against its sides, and the three men continued their conversation despite the water’s aggression.

  “What brings you gentlemen to Alcatraz?” the sailor asked.

  “We’re here on a special request,” Fedora Man explained vaguely. “We have a delivery to make.”

  “You don’t look like postmen,” the boatman chuckled to himself as he kept his eyes ahead.

  “It’s a little larger than a letter.” The man with the briefcase smirked.

  At this point, I was certain the device was inside his briefcase, and it became increasingly irritating that I couldn’t just snatch the damn thing and take it back to the physical realm right now. Instead, I had to watch these two idiots smugly transport it to the middle of nowhere as though they were doing the world’s biggest favor.

  Eventually, we made it to the island, and after the boat was secured to the dock, they climbed out of it, but the sailor stayed behind. Then we followed a steep hill leading up to the prison until we reached the gated entrance that was guarded by two men while another stood in a watchtower.

  The two men were greeted by a guard.

  “Can I help you, gentlemen?” the guard asked.

  “We’re here to visit the warden,” Fedora Man said. “We have a delivery for him.”

  “Is he expecting you?” the guard pressed.

  “I’m sure he is.” Fedora Man gave a curt nod.

  “Very well.” The guard signaled to his partner, and then the gates were quickly pushed open for the two men.

  We walked through, and as we got deeper on to the island, I tried to memorize the buildings and their layout as much as I could, in case I needed it for later.

  I’m on the island, I told Mori. We’re going into the prison.

  Who are they meeting? he asked.

  I don’t know yet, I said. But I think I’m about to find out.

  I followed behind as the two men began walking up a steep hill that led to what looked to be a house. The closer we got to it, I realized it most likely belonged to the prison’s warden and his family.

  Why would the Omega choose to hide the device in the prison? Was he planning to test it on the prisoners?

  The warden’s house was next to the main cellhouse, and its appearance was completely juxtaposed to the rest of the island. It was painted a stark white and was contrasted with terracotta tiles that lined the roof, and it stood next to the island’s lighthouse. In comparison to the bleak three-story cellhouse, it looked quaint.

  We made our way through the front entrance to the warden’s house, and the two men knocked on the first door to the left. After a minute of waiting, a voice bellowed from inside and instructed the two men to enter.

  We entered an office that was centered around a huge, mahogany desk, and the large, black leather chair behind it was occupied by a man in a uniform. I assumed this was the warden. A black typewriter sat in the middle of his desk, alongside a green banker’s lamp, and on the wall above the desk was a wooden pigeon-hole message box. On the right side of the room was a row of beat-up filing cabinets, and on the furthest wall was a large, beautiful stained-glass window, but I was more drawn to the man standing in front of it.

  The man was wearing a gray, pin-stripe suit and didn’t seem to address the two men as they made their presence known.

  “I knew you’d come searching for my little toy.” The sudden sound of the voice immediately sent shivers down my spine, and I couldn’t initially work out why, but it was like some kind of Spidey-Sense alerting me to danger.

  It was clear this mysterious stranger wasn’t addressing the other men, as they had started to engage in idle conversation like he wasn’t there. They just placed the briefcase on the desk, flipped the lid open, and then slid it over to the warden seated in the chair. I caught a quick glimpse of what was inside, but then the man at the window turned around with a wicked grin spread across his face, and I recognized him from the yacht immediately.

  “Hello again,” Gideon said.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Before I could respond, or even process what had happened, I felt the familiar tugging sensation as Mori pulled me out of the vision, and I was suddenly back on his couch surrounded by my friends. I gasped for air like I’d been held under water for the last ten minutes, and I tried to get a grip on my surroundings.

  “You’re okay.” I heard the sweet sound of Rhiannon’s voice as she squeezed my hand. “Breathe, Mark. We’ve got you.”

  Rhiannon’s voice helped ground me, but I was still reeling with adrenaline.

  How had he seen me again? There was no way this was just a coincidence, or a glitch in the astral realm. Did astral realms even have glitches?

  I knew there had to be something a lot bigger at play here. The last Omega had defied everything I knew about astral projecting, and it was like he was using me as his pawn in some kind of sick game I didn’t know I was playing.

  But why?

  I could definitely think up a few answers, but none of them made me feel any better about the situation.

  “What did you see?” Hannah asked as she knelt in front of me.

  “I… uh…” I struggled to think straight since I was still trying to catch my breath and ground myself back in the real world. “The device is in San Francisco. It’s in Alcatraz. If it’s still there, anyway.”

  “Isn’t that place shut down now?” Frank asked with a frown.

  “Yeah, it’s open to the public, though,” Danny said. “Pretty sure it’s a museum.”

  “We can’t just waltz into a museum and start poking around the place,” Hannah said. “Someone will say something or try and stop us.”

  “We can if there’s no one there,” I pointed out before I looked up at the Academy’s benefactor. “I think stopping whatever the Antis have planned trumps minor trespassing laws. Right, Mori?”

  “Right,” he agreed and stroked his chin. “It’ll just be a case of getting into the prison after hours. We also can’t let anyone know that you’re going, and once you’re there, you need to keep an even lower profile. If any one of the Antis catches wind of this, there’s a chance they might follow you out there.”

  “Are you suggesting we should go to Alcatraz?” Rhiannon asked the Dreamer with wide eyes.

  “I think it’s best.” He nodded. “But your mentor should come with you, just in case. I’ll let her know.”

  My team and I collectively nodded at Mori’s suggestion, and I felt a little better knowing Dahlia was going to be there to watch our backs.

  “How do we even know if the device is still going to be there?” Frank asked.

  “We don’t.” I shrugged. “But I’d rather go and be able to rule it out than carry on not knowing.”

  “Did you at least see where they put it?” Frank sighed as he ran a hand through his unruly red hair.

  “I was in the warden’s house,” I said as I pulled out my phone and ran a quick search on the landmark. “Which was apparently burned down in the seventies. Brilliant.”

  “So, we need to try and search a house that doesn’t even exist anymore?” Frank asked with a raised eyebrow. “Wow, that certainly sounds easy.”

  “Well, we don’t know for certain the device was left in the warden’s house,” I explained. “It could be anywhere. We’ll find a map and work our way through the island.”

  “That’s gonna take hours,” Danny said as his brow furrowed. “From what I’ve seen, the island’s pretty big.”

  “And so are the consequences if someone else finds the device,” I countered.

  “Mark’s right,” Mori added, and the older Dreamer met my gaze. “Did you see anything else? Or… anyone else?”

  Although he’d asked the question, it didn’t seem like he really wanted to know the answer.

  I hesitated. A part of me didn’t want to admit out loud what I’d seen, since it made it all seem more real. If the former Omega could exist in the astral realm, I wanted him to stay there.

  But I knew Mori and my team needed to know. If anything, they’d be able to take some of the weight off my shoulders and help me compartmentalize this bit of information.

  “He was there again,” I admitted as I stared into Mori’s eyes.

  “Who?” Rhiannon asked innocently.

  “The last Omega…” I said. “He spoke to me, he said he knew I was looking for the device.”

  “How is that possible?” Frank’s eyes darted back and forth.

  Mori just stood there silently before taking a seat. Based on his now tense demeanor, the information clearly took him off guard, although he was definitely expecting it.

  “It shouldn’t be possible.” Mori shook his head. “I’m not sure what to say, son. Other than the last time, nothing like this has happened before.”

  “Is he still alive?” Hannah asked, and worry glinted in her blue eyes.

  “He can’t be,” Mori said darkly. “But it does make me wonder what’s really at play here.”

  Silence fell over the penthouse as we all considered the repercussions of the last Omega possibly returning.

  “If it puts you at ease,” Mori continued as he glanced back at me, “there is no way for him to interact with the device while he is in his astral form.”

  “How do you know?” I asked. “We also thought it wasn’t possible for him to see me, let alone talk to me, yet here we are.”

  “I understand your concern,” Mori assured. “But he has no power while he has no physical form.”

  Although Mori was right about most things, I couldn’t help but still feel he was wrong about this. The last Omega was already defying everything we knew about the astral realm, how could we know for certain that he couldn’t do anything more?

  “Where did they leave the device?” Hannah’s question pulled me out of my internal panic.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted with a sigh. “I was pulled out before I could get any information. But the last thing I saw was an office in the warden’s house, so that might be a clue.”

 

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