A/N: Wow, thanks for the reviews, you guys! Love ya! :) Anyway, this chapter is short; it's Doctor Howard's invention, and the birthing of "The Alternate Earth". Since I know this is NOT possible in the real world, and I don't like math and science like Lewis Howard, so the building of his "Universe Creator" will not be very detailed. Enjoy! (Oh, I am basically making up most of the scientific facts. So you know.
-Smiles-)
Chapter 2
The Invention
Lewis had returned to New York. Jess was beginning to get suspicious, and he couldn't have that.
Not that it matters. He couldn't help but think as he surfed the Net for information on black holes. Suddenly, a page on the Google browser caught his eye.
ALTERNATE REALITIES: The science of Black Holes
Feeling giddy, he clicked the link. A recently added article for the New England Scientific Journal popped up.
Black Holes and Their Powers
By Adam Anderson
It has been rumored that Black Holes have special powers that can change the world as we know it. Several filmmakers such as Stephen Spielberg have embraced this possibility…
Blah-blah-blah. I don't care about Spielberg! Where are the facts, man?! I NEED THE FACTS!
Scrolling down a bit, an impatient doctor Howard finally found what he was looking for.
What most people DON'T realize though is that alternate realities due to black holes ARE possible. Though it has only been attempted once, by accident, in the late 1960's, modern science has shown that this amazing and slightly alarming experiment is possible…
Yes.
Yes.
YES!
He had it! He had it! Finally, he could have Maddie back! His Maddie, Maddie Hanson. He could have the life he was denied. She could have the life she had been denied. Sure, everyone might think he was dead, here, in this reality, but did it really matter?
No.
No, he decided. Nothing other than his experiment mattered. If he did it right, she would be back.
MEANWHILE…
A now thirteen year old Jesse Aarons climbed off the bus with his little sisters, Maybelle and Joyce Ann. Or rather, he got off with his sisters, and their best friends, Alexandra and Billy-Jean. Though he did not want it to be there, Jess experienced a wave of jealousy and sadness. Those girls didn't even know how lucky they were…
Suddenly, he was alone. The girls had skipped ahead, leaving him in the dust, the powdery sediment on his face reminding him very much of the time he raced Leslie down the road, the road where they had found the rope.
Maddie Hanson's rope.
Jess shook his head. That seemed unreal to him, like a dream you knew could never come true, very much like his reaction when his father told him Leslie was dead. It seemed illogical to know that somebody had built the tree house, hung the rope. He knew someone had of course, in the back of his mind, but in the forefront…
It seemed to him that Leslie had hung the rope, that Leslie had built the tree house. It seemed like she could do that kind of thing with her mind, her imagination.
An oddly cool wind blew across Jess's face, snapping him out of his reverie. Something, he wasn't entirely sure, but something, made him think about that Lewis Howard man he and Maybelle had met a few days ago. The one who had been friends with Maddie.
Something made him shiver. That man, he seemed…dirty. Sneaky, slimy, like he had a hidden agenda. Why was he so curious of Leslie's death, even the exact date and place? And where was he, anyway? For a few days he had stuck around Terabithia like glue, and now…now he had vanished.
And though he tried to ignore it as he walked slowly towards his house, there was a pit in Jess's stomach that told him something big was about to happen.
IN NEW YORK CITY…
It's late. Almost midnight. But he can't stop working. He just can't. He's very close, you see. Very close indeed. Doctor Howard consults the New England Scientific Journal.
To finish creating your wormhole, simply attach the cannon wire to the front proto-plasma port and wait for the vortex.
Okay. He could do that.
Click. He attached the wire. Twenty seconds pass. And suddenly, the lights dim. The wind begins. The purple begins to swirl…
The vortex has been made.
Lewis smiled sickly.
It was his ballgame now.
The only remaining piece was to add Maddie's picture, as well as his own, which would trigger what reality to create. Fighting the wind, he stumbled forward, towards where the picture was. He un-taped the two photographs and headed back towards the vortex, tossing in the first picture, the picture in his right hand.
Maddie's photo.
Or so he thinks.
Because readers, Lewis has NOT thrown Maddie's picture into the vortex. He made a mistake. He realizes this in horror as he looks down at the remaining picture, ready to smirk and Jess and Leslie.
Do you know who is in his hand, readers?
It is Maddie.
Yes, you read it correctly.
Lewis is looking at Maddie.
The picture of Jess and Leslie has been thrown into the vortex.
He made a mistake.
A mistake he can not fix. He begins to sob. The one he wants to live will never, there is only one vortex allowed every fifty years.
Leslie Burke will be given the gift meant for Madison Hanson.
Do you know what that gift is?
Life.
Leslie Burke will be given the gift of life. And Jess Aarons and his family will be with her, because he was in the picture.
They will get what he wants.
Sobbing, he staggers across the room, for his pistol. If he can not be with her alive, he will be with her in death.
LARK CREEK, VIRGINA
BANG!
Jess woke with a start. What was that? Could another raccoon be caught in the trap in the greenhouse? Maybe, but it didn't sound like it. It sounded louder, more forceful.
Like a gun.
Who would be firing a gun at midnight, though? Jesse doesn't know. He decided to see for himself.
He went to his window and opened it. Nothing in sight, no noise.
Wait, is that…thunder?
Yes, and lightning too. He glances at the sky. It looks…
Purple.
Yes, the sky looks purple.
As he watches the sky, he can't help but think it looks like something he watched in a science fiction movie. What was it called again?
Oh, he remembers.
The thing was called a vortex.
The purple sky looks like a vortex.
He only has a second to ponder it, however, before he gets a shooting pain in his stomach. He falls to the ground, screaming in pain. However, no one can hear him. No one can hear him scream as it feels like someone is ripping him in two.
Because time itself has stopped.
Only Jesse is moving, he is feeling this pain, because he is being ripped in half. Quite literally.
After all, one half of him has to go to that alternate reality.
A/N: Tada! Review! Also, I need to make a comment on the last chapter. I hope the whole thing of Miss Tyler being Mrs. Myers and there being another Principal Turner isn't too confusing. I just thought it'd be neat. Also, I know in the movie, Mrs. Myer's husband is dead, but I just couldn't bring myself. After all, Leslie is dead, and Maddie, and the first principal Turner…
So, I hope you like this chapter. The next few will be switching between realities.
