She stared, dumbfounded, as he demonstrated some of the features.
“I’m stalling.” He flashed a cheesy smile. “As soon as we get to that door, you’re gonna be home and I’m gonna have to go home, and we won’t be together.”
“I’m not going to disappear.” She fidgeted. “Again.”
He chuckled. “Yeah I know, but we won’t be like, with each other.”
“Your friend’s right.” Sarah smiled, blushing. “You do have it bad.”
Keith’s cheeks warmed. “Yeah. I can’t believe you’re real. I’m afraid if I go home, I’ll wake up and find out I dreamed you, dreamed it all.”
“I don’t feel like a dream.” She took his hand. “I mean, aside from being way in the future and not even recognizing anything. That thing in your living room is really a TV? It looked like a blank painting on the wall.”
He nodded, grinning. “I’d really love to help you get used to things.”
“I’d like that.” She made eye contact again. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before. No one ever noticed me.”
“That fits. No one ever notices me either.”
“You’re just humble.” She bit her lip.
“I’ve never been willing to die for anyone before.”
She put a hand to her chest and shivered. “Did that really happen?”
“Yeah, I think it did.”
“If your parents ground you for not going home fast enough, it’ll take longer for us to hang out again. We should go kill Grandma.” Sarah glanced at the house.
“What?” He coughed.
She grinned. “You said she’s going to drop dead when she sees me.”
“I hope not. I was kidding. Oh, yeah, I have your model planes… I’ll bring them over after school tomorrow or something.”
“Cool.” Sarah took a deep breath. “Why am I scared to see her? I’ve wanted to go home for so long, and here I’m standing, afraid to do it.”
“Want me to carry you?” asked Keith.
“Heh. You mean like I carried you guys?” She fluffed her hair back. “Who adds a level eleven NPC to a first-level game?”
He raised his hand. “A newbie GM.”
Sarah giggled, sighed, and marched across the lawn to the door. “I don’t have my keys. They’re inside, if they still even work. The lock looks new. That book dragged us out of my bedroom the same way it did to you guys. It feels so wrong to have to ring my own doorbell.”
“Then let me.” Keith leaned over and pushed the buzzer. “And your room hasn’t changed from what you remember. Your grandmother didn’t touch a thing—well, except for the stuff she tried to sell.”
She stiffened, clenching and releasing her fists at the sound of the ancient ding-dong from inside the house. “Same bell.”
“Hey, like, if your grandmother is too old to take care of you, you can have my bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Sarah laughed.
At motion inside the hall, Keith glanced at the door, which opened a moment later.
“Oh, hello Keith,” said Mrs. Norris. “What brings you by so late on a Tuesday? It’s nearly eight. Shouldn’t you be about ready to go to bed?”
“Umm,” said Keith.
“Who’s your friend?”
He glanced to his side at Sarah, who had her head bowed, hiding behind her long, thick hair. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember what I said about if you had any chance…” He sighed.
“Grandma?” Sarah looked up, pulling her hair aside.
Mrs. Norris blinked once. Her lip quivered. She muttered something inaudible and crumpled to the floor where she stood. Keith lunged, trying to catch her. He didn’t, but he did manage to keep her from banging her head. Sarah ran in and knelt nearby, holding her grandmother’s hand and patting her cheek.
“Grandma?” Pat. Pat. “Grandma?”
“I think you broke her,” muttered Keith. “Is she…?”
“No, I think she fainted.” Sarah put her head down on her grandmother’s chest, listening.
“Should I call 911?” asked Keith.
“Umm, maybe.”
Keith pulled out his smartphone.
Mrs. Norris’ eyes snapped open. She looked up at Sarah and let out a joyful wail before sitting up and pawing at her, babbling, “Sarah! How… you’re really here. You’re alive! How… oh, I don’t care how.” She clamped on in a fierce hug before rocking her side to side. It took quite a few minutes for her to collect her rollercoaster of crying, cheering, and silent clinging. She looked at Keith, then back at Sarah, who also cried her eyes red. Keith shifted to the side, trying to wipe his cheeks dry without being noticed.
“Your room is right as you left it,” said Mrs. Norris. “Oh, are you really here? I’m sorry for trying to sell your things. I’d held on so long, hoping you’d be found.”
Sarah sniffled. “Yes. I’m here. I’m so sorry for disappearing.”
“It’s not her fault. The book grabbed her. She basically got kidnapped.” Keith put his phone away since the woman didn’t appear to need an ambulance.
“How…?” Mrs. Norris pulled Sarah into another hug. “How are you still a little girl?”
“You know what I mean. It’s been thirty years… how is this possible?” Mrs. Norris wiped her eyes and looked back and forth between them, as if either one of them could explain.
Sarah let out a long sigh, glancing at Keith. “It’s… complicated.”
36
The Princess
Keith sent his father a text message explaining it would take him a few minutes to tell the story again to Mrs. Norris, and he’d be home soon. They moved to the living room couch.
“The house looks the same,” said Sarah.
“I never saw any need to change things.” Mrs. Norris dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “Though you’ll probably need a computer for school now.”
“Umm. No one’s going to believe she’s really Sarah Norris.” Keith fidgeted.
“I don’t care what they believe. I’ve got her birth certificate, fingerprints, all her papers.” Mrs. Norris shook her head. “I’ll work something out. Need to get her enrolled in school, too.”
Keith picked at his jeans. “My dad’s best friend is a lawyer. If you need any help, let me know.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, young man.” She smiled.
Over the next twenty minutes, Keith and Sarah explained what had happened with the book and how Keith and his friends had vanished for three days. Mrs. Norris seemed so overjoyed to have her granddaughter back, she accepted the story without protest.
Keith’s phone pinged with a text from his father: Time to come home. Call if there’s a problem.
He sighed. “I need to go. I guess you have a lot of stuff to catch up on anyway.”
Sarah leapt to her feet and walked him to the door, leaving her grandmother on the couch, fanning herself.
Out on the porch, Keith spun to face her, whispering, “I didn’t want to say anything next to her, but if they like tell her she’s too old to take care of you, you can stay with us.”
“Grandma looks pretty healthy.” Sarah shot a worried look back into the house. “But if something does happen, do you really think your parents would let me stay?”
He nodded, his mind racing with how cool it would be to have her living there, able to be with her all the time. “Yeah. They saw the book go poof. So, whenever we’re like all un-grounded, you wanna like hang out?”
“Yeah.” She smiled. Her eyebrows shifted together. “Why would you get grounded?”
“For ‘wandering off into the woods.’” He chuckled. “I mean, my parents saw the book blow up, but Carlos’ dad is a vet; he can be a real boner about stuff like this.”
Sarah sighed. “Yeah, I know what that’s like. Hope he doesn’t hit him much.”
“Your dad was a vet?”
“No, he was a boner.” She giggled. “The Army wouldn’t take him, not that he tried.”
“Carlos’ dad doesn’t hit him. He’s actually a pretty cool guy, but he’s like super rules man. Ashur’s parents are major overprotective. Elliot’s mom is real laid-back, though. She probably won’t ground him, but she’s mastered Guilt Strike—a ninth-circle spell.”
“Hah!” Sarah laughed. “So… do you want to run the next campaign, or do you want me to?”
Keith hesitated, but decided to not care if he sounded like a cheeseball. He smiled past his bangs. “I don’t care as long as you’re there.”
“Wow.” Sarah stared at him. “That’s like so sappy.”
Keith’s cheeks burned. Crap!
Sarah’s face reddened as well. “I think it’s cute.” She leaned in and kissed him.
Caught off guard, Keith stood like a statue for a few seconds until his brain engaged and they spent a little while kissing. After they leaned back, she locked eyes with him.
“Thank you for saving me.” She blinked and rolled her eyes. “Ugh. I sound like some stupid princess.”
“Well, we all fought that thing. So you kinda saved us too.”
“Boys.” She sighed. “Always have to play the hero.”
“You played the hero last time, saving your friends. It was my turn.” He grinned.
“I can’t believe I’m home.” She stared down and sighed. “My friends are all grown up and think I’m dead.”
“No they don’t. Your friends are trying not to get grounded now.” A buzz came from his pocket. “Damn. I gotta go home before my parents melt down. See you soon?”
She winked. “You bet! I’ve already got a campaign idea.”
fin
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading The Cursed Codex!
Additional thanks to:
Merethe Najjar for proofreading.
Ricky Gunawan for the wonderful cover art.
Beta readers:
Louise Feagans, Dianne Webb, Leslie Whitaker, Brandy Yassa
About the Author
Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the “Divergent Fates” world, in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, The Harmony Paradox, and the Daughter of Mars series take place. Along with being an editor at Curiosity Quills press, he has worked in IT and technical support.
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom RPG systems, and a fan of anime, British humour, and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
Visit me online at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewSCoxAuthor
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/mscox
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/matthewcox10420/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7712730.Matthew_S_Cox
Email: mcox2112@gmail.com
Other books by Matthew S. Cox
Divergent Fates Universe Novels
Division Zero series
Division Zero
Lex De Mortuis
Thrall
Guardian
The Awakened series
Prophet of the Badlands
Archon’s Queen
Grey Ronin
Daughter of Ash
Zero Rogue
Angel Descended
Daughter of Mars series
The Hand of Raziel
Araphel
Ghost Black
Virtual Immortality series
Virtual Immortality
The Harmony Paradox
Divergent Fates Anthology
(Fiction Novels - Adult)
The Roadhouse Chronicles Series
One More Run
The Redeemed
Dead Man’s Number
Faded Skies series
Heir Ascendant
Ascendant Unrest
Ascendant Revolution
Temporal Armistice Series
Nascent Shadow
The Shadow Collector
Vampire Innocent series
A Nighttime of Forever
A Beginner’s Guide to Fangs
The Artist of Ruin
The Last Family Road Trip
Standalones
Wayfarer: AV494
Axillon99
Chiaroscuro: The Mouse and the Candle
The Far Side of Promise anthology
Operation: Chimera (with Tony Healey)
The Dysfunctional Conspiracy (with Christopher Veltmann)
Winter Solstice series (with J.R. Rain)
Convergence
Containment
Alexis Silver series (with J.R. Rain)
Silver Light
Deep Silver
Samantha Moon Origins series (with J.R. Rain)
New Moon Rising
Moon Mourning
Maddy Wimsey series (with J.R. Rain)
The Devil’s Eye
The Drifting Gloom
Samantha Moon Case Files series (with J.R. Rain)
Blood Moon
Dead Moon
Young Adult Novels
Caller 107
The Summer the World Ended
Nine Candles of Deepest Black
The Eldritch Heart
The Forest Beyond the Earth
Out of Sight
Middle Grade Novels
Tales of Widowswood series
Emma and the Banderwigh
Emma and the Silk Thieves
Emma and the Silverbell Faeries
Emma and the Elixir of Madness
Emma and the Weeping Spirit
Standalones
Citadel: The Concordant Sequence
The Cursed Codex
The Menagerie of Jenkins Bailey
Sophie’s Light