“Would you like something else to go with your coffee?” the waitress asked expectantly, her notepad and stubbed pencil at the ready.
Link looked out through the sun-drenched café window, out into the packed street. Still no sign of him. He drummed his fingernails rhythmically on the table.
“Not just yet, sorry,” he responded. “Still waiting for somebody.”
Her bobbed haircut bounced as she nodded and moved onto the next table.
Link took a deep breath to compose himself. The air was thick with the smell of freshly ground coffee, cooking oil and mouth-watering bacon.
The café was buzzing with activity: Waitresses weaved between tables, skilfully balancing their trays piled with dishes or newly prepared meals. Customers queued up from the counter to the front door, chatting amongst themselves to kill time. Squealing children, throwing a tantrum because their parents had denied them their favourite cake. After having spent the last few weeks in either his room or Alex’s hospital room, being out in public was overwhelming for Link to say the least.
Over the sizzling of the frying pans and the clinks of cutlery, he managed to hear the café’s door bells ring as they opened. Link’s head picked up in anticipation. But it was just a mother holding her bouncy daughter by the hand.
He glanced at his G Shock wristwatch. Six past ten. And he was the one that told me not to be late? He clasped the warm coffee mug with both hands before taking a sip. He didn’t get a wink of sleep the night before, which meant he hadn’t entered Nocera. Which meant for the past twenty-four hours, and counting, he had been left in the dark. None of his autopilot’s memories, visions—nothing. He had never been this nervous, even before one of his basketball games.
Link knew his autopilot and Alex had bought the horse by now and were back on Oakstone Road. He also knew anything could happen on a main road. Especially one leading in and out of a capital city.
He spotted a hangnail and chewed it. When he was done, he moved on to biting his fingernails. A bad habit he had picked up, courtesy of Alex. But he needed to keep himself distracted or he was liable to go insane. His stomach rumbled. Link figured it must have been the natural laxative in the caffeine kicking in. But his number two would just have to wait. He needed answers.
He wondered how his encounter with the man in the fedora hat would play out. Would he be hostile or would he cooperate and answer all of Link’s questions? But if all he wanted to do was talk then why didn’t he do it last night? Obviously, he wasn’t busy, seeing as he had been stalking Link from outside the hospital.
But the vanishing act was what bugged Link the most. Was this guy even human, or did he just pull off the best disappearing act in magician history? All Link knew was this man, Xavier, had the answers he needed. And if push came to shove, he would wring those answers out of his head if need be.
Closing his eyes, Link sucked in a deep breath, hoping to exterminate the butterflies fluttering about in his stomach. But no matter how many deep breaths he took, he couldn’t stop his mind from imagining how his and Xavier’s encounter would play out.
“Boy, that traffic was crazy.”
Link’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest. He looked up to find the man in the fedora hat settling into the seat across from him. How he had gotten there without him noticing, Link had no clue.
“They were doing roadwork on Interstate 7,” he said with a snicker. “Traffic was so congested it probably would have been faster if I walked.” He slapped his belly a few times. “Hah, who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have walked.”
Link stared at the man in stunned disbelief as he placed his fedora hat on the table, twisted in his seat, and then draped his overcoat across the back of his chair. Maybe he has me mistaken me for another person? Link barely knew this man, and he was talking to him like he was a close friend or relative. Far different to the way he had spoken to him last night.
“Have you ordered yet?” the man asked, his eyes scanning the laminated menu on the table intently. “Word on the street is they do the best waffles in town here.” He looked to be in his mid-twenties. His skin was a sickly pale, and his hair was combed over neatly to the side, blacker than a raven’s shadow at midnight.
When he didn’t respond, Xavier averted his eyes from the menu and looked directly into his. Link’s heart almost leaped out of his chest and headed for the café door. Never had he seen a pair of eyes so unnaturally ice-blue. It looked like the man was wearing coloured contact lenses. In contrast to his fair skin it made him look freakish.
“Hello, Earth to Hunter?” he said, waving a hand in front of Link’s eyes.
He had lost the ability to talk. Like his brain was struggling to connect with his tongue. “W-w-who are you?” he managed to stutter.
“M-m-my name’s Xavier,” he stammered back, mocking him with a smile. His teeth were as white as his skin.
“Why have you been following me?” Link asked, suddenly finding his voice.
“Straight down to business, hey? I like it.” Xavier rubbed his tummy with a hand. “But can we order first? I could literally eat a figurative horse right now.”
“We can eat afterward,” Link said, clenching his jaw. “Hell, I’ll even pay for your meal if you like.” He reached for his backpack underneath his feet and pulled out the book, slamming it down forcefully on the table. “Right after you tell me what you know about this.”
A few of the customers shot worried glances in their direction, whispering to one another. But Link couldn’t care less if he was making a scene.
Xavier looked down at the book with a blank expression and then suddenly hunched over, hooting with laughter. “Oh man, you’re still toting that thing around? I thought you would’ve given up after your encounter with Pam!”
Xavier continued to laugh for several minutes, and every time Link thought he was about to stop, he would start up again even louder. Link scowled at him as he writhed around in his seat, slamming the table in hysterics.
“Kid, I don’t know what to tell you, but that book is just a plain old book,” Xavier finally said through fits of laughter. “I’m the one who brought Nocera to life.”
Link leaned forwards in his chair, suddenly hanging on his every word. “Brought Nocera to life? What do you mean?”
Xavier let out a half-sigh, half-chuckle, wiping a tear of laughter from underneath his eye. “All right, all right, I’m really craving some waffles, so I’ll make this quick.” He cleared his throat and straightened his tie, his face suddenly serious. “Using a blueprint, AKA that book, I created the world you and your sister could only imagine and turned it into reality.” He made a rainbow with his hand as he said the last bit.
Link almost spat his mouthful of coffee in Xavier’s face. “So, you’re telling me you’re behind all of this? You’re the reason why every time I go to sleep at night I enter Nocera?”
“Precisely.”
“Is this some sort of joke?”
Xavier leaned back in his chair relaxedly, interlacing his bony fingers. “You’re confused. I get it. It’s perfectly natural.”
Link gazed at him in disbelief, finally concluding either he was on some hard-core drugs, or he’d just escaped from an insane asylum. He got out his seat, slid his backpack over his shoulder, and then drained his cup of coffee in one gulp. “OK, well I’m going to head off now. You’re obviously mentally challenged.”
“Denial is the first stage of acceptance.”
Link clenched his jaw and fought the urge to smack Xavier across his face. “You want to know what I think? I think you’re just some creeper who’s been following me. That’s how you knew my name, that’s how you—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever makes you sleep at night,” Xavier said, grinning. “But then again, you haven’t been getting much sleep at night; have you, Hunter?”
“Enjoy your waffles, weirdo,” Link said, as he headed towards the door.
Just as he was about to reach for the handle, Xavier’s voice rang out. “Not to point holes in your logic, but if I’m just a crackpot, how is it I know about your dreams of Nocera?”
Link stormed back to the table. “You overheard me telling my parents about them in the hospital, that’s how.”
“Nice theory,” Xavier said, casually crossing his legs. “But how does that explain me being physically in Nocera though, hmm?”
“You’re . . . ” Link scuffed up his hair, desperately trying to find a plausible explanation. “I don’t know; you’re just a figment of my imagination. That’s why you turned to smoke when I grabbed you.”
But even he knew that couldn’t be true, because how else would Xavier have handed the orange canister to the auburn-haired lady at the pawn store?
Xavier wet his lips with his tongue. “That’s not what you truly believe, though, is it kid?” He made a tepee with his hands. “Sit down; we still have much to discuss.”
“No!” Link shouted. “No, I don’t want to play your stupid games. I’m over this crap. I want to go back to my normal life. I want Alex to wake up and . . . and when I shut my eyes at night, I want to have normal dreams!”
“Then I’m afraid Alex’s destiny has already been predetermined,” Xavier said, followed by an exaggerated sigh.
Link’s body reacted to the words, and he swiped the salt and pepper shaker off the table with a hand. The customers gasped as the glass shattered against the floor behind him. “You leave my sister alone; you hear me?”
“You’re in no position to be making threats,” Xavier said coolly, as he straightened up his tie. “Now, please,” he gestured towards Link’s seat, “sit.”
Link considered him for a few seconds, sitting there leisurely with that pretentious look on his face. His mind told him to head for the door and never look back, but as crazy as it all sounded, there just seemed to be a hint of truth about what he was saying, however minuscule it was. How else would he have known about my dreams of Nocera? Link thought. And how else would he have been able to enter Nocera himself?
Link swallowed his pride, which was as jagged as a razor blade, then took off his backpack and sat once more. The customers had their phones out now, pointed at him and Xavier. Some were taking pictures of their altercation, some were recording. He paid them no mind. He was only intent on finding answers.
“Finished throwing your tantrum, Hunty Wunty?” Xavier asked, tilting his head to the side.
Link maintained eye contact with him but refrained from speaking. In the eighteen years he had lived on this planet, he had never wanted to hit someone so badly before in his life.
“Start talking,” Link demanded through gritted teeth.
Xavier smiled from ear to ear. “Very well. First things first, Alex isn’t in a coma. She’s in a . . . ” his freakish blue eyes were trained on the ceiling in thought, “she’s in a trance. Yes, let’s go with ‘trance.’ She’s in a Xavier-induced trance in which she inhabits the world of Nocera twenty-four seven. And I’m afraid she won’t be waking up anytime soon.”
“Why not?” Link asked, his voice faltering slightly.
“Because to wake your dear sister up from her trance, you must . . . Drumroll . . . ” Xavier drummed his index fingers rhythmically on the table. “Finish The Book of Nocera.”
Link’s jaw tensed so tightly it felt as if his teeth were about to shatter. “You’re out of your mind.”
“Ah, so you’ve already worked it out? Smart lad. You should really stop doing that by the way,” Xavier said, clicking his teeth together. “Bad for your pearly whites. Could end up giving you lockjaw.” He fiddled with the buttons on his cufflinks. “I’m going to give you some credit and assume by now you’ve already put two and two together. That you and your sister are, in fact, Deonis and Taytora—thank me later for doing that, by the way. I was tempted to decline your access to the Eternal Source, but then I said to myself, I said, Xavier, what fun would that be? They would die before they made it to the second half of the book. And that’s when the story really picks up speed. Oh, did I mention I read your book? Riveting read. Riveting read. Quite a few one-dimensional characters, though, but you made up for it with an enthralling plot. Yessiree.”
Xavier looked around for the waitress expectantly, all the while rubbing his tummy. “I swear they never come when you want them to. But lo and behold, they’ll interrupt us mid-sentence. You watch, now I’ve said it I’ve jinxed us.” He turned back to Link, his face suddenly serious. “You and Alex were chased by gorlacs at the start of the book, just like your heroes Taytora and Deonis were, correct? Now, help me out here, Hunter, because I’m really drawing a blank, but how does your book end?”
“We can’t kill Kilaydis,” Link hissed. “It’s impossible.”
Xavier leaned back in his chair triumphantly, a pleasant look covering his hollowed face. “Oh, you can . . . and you will. To wake your beloved sister from her trance, you must do exactly what Taytora and Deonis did to finish the book: Kill the story’s big bad antagonist, King Kilaydis.”
Link could feel his blood boiling underneath his flesh. Kilaydis was a villain in their book that was so monstrously powerful he could win wars just by sitting on his throne. From a distance, he could tap into the minds of his enemies, controlling their thoughts and body. It took Taytora and Deonis at the height of their training to defeat him. And even then, they got lucky. If Xavier meant for them to defeat Kilaydis, then he knew they were already destined for failure.
Link shot up from his seat and hurled the wooden table between them on its side. “Why are you doing this? Tell me why?”
“No,” Xavier said, shaking his head like a stubborn toddler.
“Why?”
Xavier leaned forward in his chair, his freakish eyes interlocked on Link’s. “Because you’re not ready.”
Link’s fingernails dug into the palm of his hands. “I’m not ready?”
“You’re not ready,” he repeated confidently.
Cold rage rushed through Link, and in an instant, he had closed the distance between them, attempting to throttle Xavier. But just like the night before, his hands clutched thin air, and what was supposed to be his head was now a thick cloud of dark smoke. The wisps slowly came back to reform his slender face.
“Whoopsie,” Xavier said with a crooked smile, “it seems we both lost our heads for a second there.”
“Excuse me, sir! Sir!” another waitress’ voice rang out. Her high heels clonked as she made her way to their table, hips swinging.
“Told you she’d interrupt us mid-conversation,” Xavier said, shaking his head disappointedly.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the waitress said.
“No!” Link shouted defiantly, “No, I’m not leaving until he tells me why he’s doing this!”
The waitress raised her badly plucked eyebrows, a hand on her hip. “Why who’s doing what?”
“Him,” Link snapped, pointing to Xavier.
She looked at the chair opposite him and cocked her head. “Who?” she replied, dumbfounded.
“Oh yeah, kid,” Xavier said, tidying his hair. “I should’ve mentioned this earlier, but uh . . . ” He laughed nervously. “You’re the only one who can see me.”
Xavier scooped up his fedora hat and overcoat, a cruel smirk etched upon his lips. “Oh, this is just too much,” he said, cackling as he watched Link’s stunned expression. “No, I couldn’t possibly take another bite. Who needs waffles when I can just indulge in this moment right here? I feel like I need to cleanse my palate just so I can taste this all over again. I mean, look at your face! This is just scrumptious, delectable, an assault on the taste buds!” He started sucking the tips of each of his fingers. “Mmm, if only I could take this moment home in a doggy bag, then I . . . .” His voice died away as his body transformed into smoke and dissipated.
And there Link was, left speechless, standing in between a toppled table and shattered shakers, with the whole café’s eyes trained on him—the lunatic who had just been having an argument with himself.