Earth isn’t dying, it’s where they sent us to die.
Five friends set out on one last adventure. What they find will change their world forever.
Caleb Gracin always follows the rules, stays out of trouble and tries to keep his friends from getting in any themselves. What was supposed to be one last night of fun before he has to say goodbye becomes a night that will change it all. The night they stumble upon the stone stairway.
What exists on the other side forces them to question everything they’ve ever known. Our world isn’t what we think it is. Can they risk leaving the gateway open if it means exposing Earth to an evil army, looking to collect something they left there long ago?
Unlikely allies. Unbelievable foes. And a quest to save a friend who shouldn’t be alive. Can the mysterious crystals do more than heal a broken body? Can the world beyond the stairs even exist? A world they could escape to. A world where Caleb could run away and start over with Emma by his side, like it always should have been.
One night. One last adventure. One way home.
Five friends set out on one last adventure. What they find will change their world forever.
Caleb Gracin always follows the rules, stays out of trouble and tries to keep his friends from getting in any themselves. What was supposed to be one last night of fun before he has to say goodbye becomes a night that will change it all. The night they stumble upon the stone stairway.
What exists on the other side forces them to question everything they’ve ever known. Our world isn’t what we think it is. Can they risk leaving the gateway open if it means exposing Earth to an evil army, looking to collect something they left there long ago?
Unlikely allies. Unbelievable foes. And a quest to save a friend who shouldn’t be alive. Can the mysterious crystals do more than heal a broken body? Can the world beyond the stairs even exist? A world they could escape to. A world where Caleb could run away and start over with Emma by his side, like it always should have been.
One night. One last adventure. One way home.
Chapter ONE
The sound of the live band filled the crisp night air. Any wedding at the Gracin estate was a big deal but this one was different. This was the end of an era, the dawning of a new one. Not just for Caleb but his friends and family as well. Where marriages fall apart, new relationships blossom. Old friendships fail to stand the test of time but in their wake open endless opportunities. At some point everyone moves on whether by choice or necessity.
Caleb wasn’t ready to move on. He wasn’t ready to lose his friends, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the life he knew, and he wasn’t ready to move to France. Of all places, France. As if the English speaking world wasn’t big enough.
He’d attended dozens of parties at his father’s house, the house Caleb once called home. Some of them were awesome, some were stuck up and snobbish, but none of them were the last one ever. Of course the parties would go on, Caleb would just no longer be a part of them. It was bittersweet in a way, he never knew he’d miss something he never liked.
As he looked out over the sea of people dancing to slow songs from his parents’ generation, conversing in large groups while sipping wine and munching on fancy finger foods, he wondered how they wound up there. Did they have to leave behind everything they knew in order to get to where they were?
There was nothing left in Whinterbury for Caleb. His father clearly wanted nothing to do with him. His friends were, let’s face it, not friends anymore. PJ never outgrew his rebellious phase, not to mention he’d turned into a grade-A jerk. Grant had grown distant since he began dating Emma, their best friend and the girl of Caleb’s dreams. The girl of all their dreams. Emma was just as perfect as ever but with every passing day, he found it harder to remain as close as he once was to the girl next door. Snorky was caught somewhere in the middle, trying to keep the failing group whole.
Until now, Caleb felt like he’d be running away, like moving to France was a way to abandon his problems rather than deal with them. But it wasn’t. He wasn’t running away out of his own volition, he was leaving because he had to. It just so happened that this perfect exit strategy presented itself at a time Caleb needed it most. Some things are worth fighting for. He fought. But at some point we have to let go.
He watched his father make the rounds, shaking hands of people he barely knew yet pretended to adore. He didn’t know who any of them were, despite the fact they were supposed to be friends. He barely knew his own family, let alone a bunch of acquaintances he saw every time he hosted a social gathering. None of them saw it but Caleb did.
Something about the way his father carried himself was intriguing and it angered Caleb to the core. People wanted him around. Maybe it’s true and absence does make the heart grow fonder. They saw this super cool and interesting man every once in a while and considered themselves lucky to know him. For casual acquaintances, that’s fine, for your own children, it’s despicable.
Caleb’s mother used to tell him things like ‘your father loves you, that’s why he works so hard for us to have the things we do’ and ‘he misses you just as much as you miss him’. It’s funny how all those sentiments were never uttered again after the divorce papers were filed. For the past few months he was a pawn in a war his father wanted no part of. He was too busy with something apparently more important. More important than his children. His mind was always elsewhere, even when they were in the same room.
He was always somewhat of a mystery to Caleb. He was the dad he didn’t see much even when they had still been a family. Always away on business. But was he working hard to support his family, or to avoid them? Success is dangerous. A little is never enough, it’s one of those things we become addicted to and that desire consumes us.
Caleb stood beneath the rented canopy that would be gone come Monday, sipping fruit punch from a plastic cup designed like fancy glassware. Usually, he’d be off with his friends by this point in the night, having fun. It was something he’d looked forward to for as long as he could remember, the only good thing about Whinterbury gatherings. Tonight he was dreading it.
With Emma’s mom and PJ’s father tying the knot, it meant the merging of two families, two families with lots of kids. They wanted the children to spend the night together, learning to get along with their new siblings. Technically, Emma and PJ were the only two who needed to be part of the family-building activity with the little ones but the rest of the group got dragged in like always, all for one and one for all.
They’d gone camping a million times. The woods out back were like a second home to them, but that was before. It was June, the last week of school, and they hadn’t hung out as a group in months. For the first time in their lives, spring wasn’t spent in tents, roasting marshmallows and exploring the caves between giant boulders in the woods behind their homes. They’d outgrown it, either that or they’d outgrown each other.
“So if I ask you to dance with me, you know, because it’s the last chance we’ll have, you’re not gonna get all mushy and crap, are you?”
Caleb turned to face Emma, not the tomboy he grew up with but the stunning girl in the bridesmaid dress with the gorgeous hair and pretty makeup that seemed almost foreign on her perfect face. She held her strappy heels in one hand, an empty cup in the other. Her eyes were always smiling, even when her face wasn’t.
“You have to admit, you’ll miss me. At least a little bit, right?”
“No,” she said, stepping closer, “a little bit doesn’t even begin to describe it. France, Caleb? That’s like, a whole ocean away. I don’t get it, why can’t she just stay here and teach? Screw Pierre, you can’t move to America only to decide to move back and take a whole family with you. That’s gotta be considered kidnapping or terrorism or something.”
“That might be a bit of a stretch.”
“Oh he doesn’t know the difference, he’s French. You can’t leave. We could be actual neighbors. Maybe you could miss your flight. No, I got it, I’ll kiss Pierre, you catch it on camera, we show it to your mom, she thinks he’s cheating on her and bam, the move is off. Hurry, you get the camera.”
She tossed the empty cup onto a nearby table and grabbed Caleb with her free hand. He didn’t budge. She tugged again before looking back at him with a defeated look in her sad eyes.
“We have to try. Please,” her voice cracked, on the cusp of tears.
“There’s no way out of it, Emma. I already talked to Mom and she doesn’t want me staying here with Dad, not that he wants me here either. I tried.”
“But, I want it to be like it used to.”
“Me too. But it wouldn’t even if I were to stay. You know that. We haven’t been friends in a long time. Not you and me, you know what I mean, all of us, as a group. Not since,” but Caleb paused, not wanting to hurt Emma’s feelings.
“Since me and Grant started dating,” she finished for him. “I know.”
“It’s not that I don’t like him, I mean, he’s Grant. How could you not be in love with him? I think I have a little crush on the dude. We all do. It’s just, it’s not the same. And it won’t be but that’s okay. I get it, it’s part of growing up.”
“He hasn’t talked to you yet, has he?”
“When? Tonight?”
Emma nodded her head slowly, hoping the light breeze would dry her misting eyes. “We broke up, Caleb.”
“You what?”
He stared at her in disbelief. How do you tell your best friend you’re in love with her, if she somehow didn’t already know? She had to know.
Caleb tried to wrap his head around the sudden breakup. They were the ultimate couple. Grant was perfect and everyone knew it. Even Caleb couldn’t bring himself to hate the kid, no matter how much he wanted to. They hung out less and less until they may as well have been strangers but Caleb never stopped liking him as a person.
When Grant and Emma got together Caleb never dreamed it would last. What ninth grade relationship does? But weeks went by. Weeks turned into months. For the first time since January, that slim window of opportunity was finally open.
Reality sunk in. France. In a matter of days he’d be gone. It didn’t matter if he had a chance with Emma, he really didn’t. The desire to know how she felt turned into a knot in the pit of his stomach. Maybe it was better not to know.
Caleb wasn’t ready to move on. He wasn’t ready to lose his friends, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the life he knew, and he wasn’t ready to move to France. Of all places, France. As if the English speaking world wasn’t big enough.
He’d attended dozens of parties at his father’s house, the house Caleb once called home. Some of them were awesome, some were stuck up and snobbish, but none of them were the last one ever. Of course the parties would go on, Caleb would just no longer be a part of them. It was bittersweet in a way, he never knew he’d miss something he never liked.
As he looked out over the sea of people dancing to slow songs from his parents’ generation, conversing in large groups while sipping wine and munching on fancy finger foods, he wondered how they wound up there. Did they have to leave behind everything they knew in order to get to where they were?
There was nothing left in Whinterbury for Caleb. His father clearly wanted nothing to do with him. His friends were, let’s face it, not friends anymore. PJ never outgrew his rebellious phase, not to mention he’d turned into a grade-A jerk. Grant had grown distant since he began dating Emma, their best friend and the girl of Caleb’s dreams. The girl of all their dreams. Emma was just as perfect as ever but with every passing day, he found it harder to remain as close as he once was to the girl next door. Snorky was caught somewhere in the middle, trying to keep the failing group whole.
Until now, Caleb felt like he’d be running away, like moving to France was a way to abandon his problems rather than deal with them. But it wasn’t. He wasn’t running away out of his own volition, he was leaving because he had to. It just so happened that this perfect exit strategy presented itself at a time Caleb needed it most. Some things are worth fighting for. He fought. But at some point we have to let go.
He watched his father make the rounds, shaking hands of people he barely knew yet pretended to adore. He didn’t know who any of them were, despite the fact they were supposed to be friends. He barely knew his own family, let alone a bunch of acquaintances he saw every time he hosted a social gathering. None of them saw it but Caleb did.
Something about the way his father carried himself was intriguing and it angered Caleb to the core. People wanted him around. Maybe it’s true and absence does make the heart grow fonder. They saw this super cool and interesting man every once in a while and considered themselves lucky to know him. For casual acquaintances, that’s fine, for your own children, it’s despicable.
Caleb’s mother used to tell him things like ‘your father loves you, that’s why he works so hard for us to have the things we do’ and ‘he misses you just as much as you miss him’. It’s funny how all those sentiments were never uttered again after the divorce papers were filed. For the past few months he was a pawn in a war his father wanted no part of. He was too busy with something apparently more important. More important than his children. His mind was always elsewhere, even when they were in the same room.
He was always somewhat of a mystery to Caleb. He was the dad he didn’t see much even when they had still been a family. Always away on business. But was he working hard to support his family, or to avoid them? Success is dangerous. A little is never enough, it’s one of those things we become addicted to and that desire consumes us.
Caleb stood beneath the rented canopy that would be gone come Monday, sipping fruit punch from a plastic cup designed like fancy glassware. Usually, he’d be off with his friends by this point in the night, having fun. It was something he’d looked forward to for as long as he could remember, the only good thing about Whinterbury gatherings. Tonight he was dreading it.
With Emma’s mom and PJ’s father tying the knot, it meant the merging of two families, two families with lots of kids. They wanted the children to spend the night together, learning to get along with their new siblings. Technically, Emma and PJ were the only two who needed to be part of the family-building activity with the little ones but the rest of the group got dragged in like always, all for one and one for all.
They’d gone camping a million times. The woods out back were like a second home to them, but that was before. It was June, the last week of school, and they hadn’t hung out as a group in months. For the first time in their lives, spring wasn’t spent in tents, roasting marshmallows and exploring the caves between giant boulders in the woods behind their homes. They’d outgrown it, either that or they’d outgrown each other.
“So if I ask you to dance with me, you know, because it’s the last chance we’ll have, you’re not gonna get all mushy and crap, are you?”
Caleb turned to face Emma, not the tomboy he grew up with but the stunning girl in the bridesmaid dress with the gorgeous hair and pretty makeup that seemed almost foreign on her perfect face. She held her strappy heels in one hand, an empty cup in the other. Her eyes were always smiling, even when her face wasn’t.
“You have to admit, you’ll miss me. At least a little bit, right?”
“No,” she said, stepping closer, “a little bit doesn’t even begin to describe it. France, Caleb? That’s like, a whole ocean away. I don’t get it, why can’t she just stay here and teach? Screw Pierre, you can’t move to America only to decide to move back and take a whole family with you. That’s gotta be considered kidnapping or terrorism or something.”
“That might be a bit of a stretch.”
“Oh he doesn’t know the difference, he’s French. You can’t leave. We could be actual neighbors. Maybe you could miss your flight. No, I got it, I’ll kiss Pierre, you catch it on camera, we show it to your mom, she thinks he’s cheating on her and bam, the move is off. Hurry, you get the camera.”
She tossed the empty cup onto a nearby table and grabbed Caleb with her free hand. He didn’t budge. She tugged again before looking back at him with a defeated look in her sad eyes.
“We have to try. Please,” her voice cracked, on the cusp of tears.
“There’s no way out of it, Emma. I already talked to Mom and she doesn’t want me staying here with Dad, not that he wants me here either. I tried.”
“But, I want it to be like it used to.”
“Me too. But it wouldn’t even if I were to stay. You know that. We haven’t been friends in a long time. Not you and me, you know what I mean, all of us, as a group. Not since,” but Caleb paused, not wanting to hurt Emma’s feelings.
“Since me and Grant started dating,” she finished for him. “I know.”
“It’s not that I don’t like him, I mean, he’s Grant. How could you not be in love with him? I think I have a little crush on the dude. We all do. It’s just, it’s not the same. And it won’t be but that’s okay. I get it, it’s part of growing up.”
“He hasn’t talked to you yet, has he?”
“When? Tonight?”
Emma nodded her head slowly, hoping the light breeze would dry her misting eyes. “We broke up, Caleb.”
“You what?”
He stared at her in disbelief. How do you tell your best friend you’re in love with her, if she somehow didn’t already know? She had to know.
Caleb tried to wrap his head around the sudden breakup. They were the ultimate couple. Grant was perfect and everyone knew it. Even Caleb couldn’t bring himself to hate the kid, no matter how much he wanted to. They hung out less and less until they may as well have been strangers but Caleb never stopped liking him as a person.
When Grant and Emma got together Caleb never dreamed it would last. What ninth grade relationship does? But weeks went by. Weeks turned into months. For the first time since January, that slim window of opportunity was finally open.
Reality sunk in. France. In a matter of days he’d be gone. It didn’t matter if he had a chance with Emma, he really didn’t. The desire to know how she felt turned into a knot in the pit of his stomach. Maybe it was better not to know.