Mara stayed home from school the next day. She complained of having a dizzy spell from getting out of the shower too quickly. She was careful not to let fatigue appear to be the cause or else her father would think that her after-school activities had been too draining on her. If she was no longer permitted to go out after school, visiting Battery and the professor would be all but impossible.
In truth, she was fatigued. She suspected that the peculiar dreamy sort of déjà-vu was the cause. She clearly remembered the sensations of being kicked in the head and of her body and hair being on fire. A shiver prickled through her.
After her brother and father had left, Mara settled down to work at the computer. She began her research. By noon, she had stopped reading everything she found and had begun to simply print article after article from the Internet. It had taken Mara an hour to find Greg Hesi while searching for Grigoras Vihesi, but she was certain they were one and the same.
Greg Hesi had come out of nowhere, it seemed, and bought a small research and development company. There was also an odd news story about how he had been charged with trespassing. Apparently, he had been found in pyjamas and slippers in the kitchen of a local, very secure, entirely posh property. The owners, the Rhys-Joneses, had dropped the charge, convinced that Hesi must have been sleepwalking. Hesi seemed to have no recollection of how he entered the house. The owners had since changed security companies.
Christi stopped by Mara's house after school.
“I brought you your homework,” started Christi uneasily. Inviting her in, Mara thanked her and fixed two glasses of iced tea. Her head was immersed in Grigoras Vihesi and another world. She did not feel like beating around the bush.
“So what did you see the other day?” Mara was almost argumentative. Christi took a sip.
“It looked to me like one minute you were on the monkey bars and the next you just kind of faded out, like in the movies: fade in, fade out. It was like that. And then you were completely gone,” she paused. “What does it feel like?”
Mara explained the vertigo, the disorientation, and the feeling of letting go and surrendering to a pull from another dimension.
“It doesn't feel good, but it doesn't hurt either. It's odd, like when you sit out in the sun for too long and then feel a bit headachy afterwards. The worst thing is that it is a totally dizzy, unstable feeling, and I have to drop into that. If I try to fight it, then I can't go across.”
Mara and Christi were both quiet for a minute.
“I'm sorry,” spoke the latter. Mara looked at her oldest friend's eyes. They were clear and sorrowful. Mara recognised that something irreparable had been broken. Christi's lack of trust had merely been the indicator not the cause. They had been the dearest of chums—like sisters—but that phase was over and gone. Mara hugged Christi like she was saying good-bye.
“I need a favour. I promise I won't ask again after this, but it is very important.”
“Of course.”
“I have to go back this Friday and stay the weekend. Can we please do a ‘sleepover’? Last time.”
Christi agreed without hesitation. Mara suggested that Christi come over Thursday. Mara's dad hadn't seen Christi in a while, and it would make the lie more plausible if she came for a visit. Mara did not tell Christi what was so urgent on the other side, nor did Christi ask.