Page 9 of New Beginning

His face tightened. “No. I don’t want to.”

“Listen.”

“I can’t.”

“You can. You’re not inside the car anymore.”

The screech of metal grew louder. The grey landscape around them shuddered. For an instant, over Teddy’s shoulder, Mikkel could see the wreckage taking shape again—the headlights, the broken glass, the twisted frame. The results of the crash formed all around them.

Teddy pulled away from him. “No, no, no…”

Mikkel caught his shoulders. “Stay here.”

“I can’t!”

“You can.”

The sound reached its terrible crescendo. Then silence. Teddy stood rigid, waiting for the impact that never came. Mikkel kept his hands on his shoulders. The wreckage began to dissolve. The headlights faded first. Then the glass. Then the twisted metal became smoke and drifted away across the grey landscape.

Teddy stared after it.

“You did that,” Mikkel said.

“I don’t understand.”

“The Drift responds to you. It’s built from your perceptions, your fears, your memories. It’s been showing you the accident because you’ve been telling yourself that the accident is all you are.”

Teddy shook his head slowly. “I don’t know who I am without it. I did it. I caused it. What am I now?”

“That,” Mikkel said, “is what we’re going to find out.”

For the first time, Teddy looked almost curious. “What happens next?”

“We keep walking.”

“Where?”

“We’ll find that out too.”

When they stepped into Mikkel’s burning ground and bruised sky, Teddy pressed up against him, ensuring that part of him was always touching Mikkel.

“I like this even less than the grey world,” Teddy whispered. “I can’t breathe. The air is hot.”

“You’ll be fine. Keep walking.”

“Mikkel?”

“Yes?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Mikkel glanced at him. “Because someone asked me to.”

“Who?”

“Azrael.”

“Who’s he?”