She gestured for him to look around. “We’ve been looking and looking, but there’s nothing. There’s an old cabin in those woods, and an abandoned castle on the other side of the forest that’s barely standing. Not much else. Bryson’s checking out the castle, and Helga’s in the woods somewhere. I feel like I’m wearing a path up and down this hill.”

Michael let out an exaggerated sigh. “Do I have to do everything myself?” He quickly laughed it off, hoping she didn’t think he was a jerk. “Just kidding. That’s really good, actually. I’m glad you weren’t attacked by KillSims or Rodents of Unusual Size.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Let’s go find the others. I need more hugs.”

5

Michael remembered everything about the Hallowed Ravine. The castle, overrun by VNS agents and Tangents loyal to Kaine and KillSims charging out of the ruins to attack him. He remembered confronting Kaine in the cabin, being dragged through the woods by that giant of a man. He remembered the world spinning into chaos and dissolving around him.

But strangely, it looked like none of that had ever happened. The castle was still standing—old, yes, but in one piece. It was confusing, and Michael wondered yet again what had truly happened that day he’d been sucked through the Mortality Doctrine program and placed into the body of Jackson Porter.

Michael and Gabby walked into the wide clearing between the forest and the castle, and before he could let his thoughts get too dark, they slipped from his mind. Bryson came charging out of the entrance of the castle and bounded down the stairs with a ridiculous smile on his face, and Michael couldn’t stop his own smile from forming.

“Michael!” Bryson yelled, just as he tripped on a loose stone in the bottom step. He tumbled, flipped, jumped right back up onto his feet, and kept running. “I’d kill you if I wasn’t so happy to see your ugly mug!” He reached Michael and grabbed him, pulling him off his feet into the biggest hug he’d ever received.

Through a grunt, Michael barely managed to say “Good to see you, too.”

Bryson put him down and took a step back. “You look seven minutes from death, dude. Especially in the eyes. Let me guess—rough couple of days?”

“You could say that.” Michael glanced at Gabby, who had a genuine look of happiness on her face. He was liking her more and more, and the whole fiasco at the farmhouse felt like a distant memory or a half-forgotten dream. “But I think we’re doing okay. Kaine helped me, you know. I never could’ve done it without him.”

“Done what?” Bryson asked.

“The VNS…we don’t have to worry about them anymore. Or their mass murder program. Or Agent Weber. I…stopped her.”