p class="MsoNormal"strongWell, this chapter is sort of surreal. But that's the way it is in the book. /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"There was something in my mind. An entity of sorts./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"It was like my own consciousness, except while I was half monster, this was not a specific thing. It wasn't exactly nothing, though. More like a whisper, speaking to me. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I tried to listen. It wrapped around my mind, saying something./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"And then, all of a sudden, I was free./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Free of the Hollowgast. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A wave of panic rolled over me, and I felt unbearably cold. What was happening? So many emotions and thoughts raced through my mind that I woke up with a start./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I looked around. The frozen room was around me. No change./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I was still a Hollow. The average smell of Food was in the air. I itched to escape my icy prison so I could wrap my tongues around it./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"But the whisper was still in my mind. A name./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Jacob/em./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a connection inside me to the name. I felt a thrill. What if this syndrigast, this person, was responsible for my moment of clear thought? Why?/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"But if this thing could speak to me in my mind, could I communicate back?/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I tried. The invisible boundaries in my mind stretched./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I willed it to hear me. Despite my inability to think the way em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"syndrigasti/em do./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Nothing happened, but suddenly the connection burst to life, as though this "Jacob" had heard me./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I held the mental ties in my mind. And I willed it – em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"him/em – to come./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The connection grew stronger and stronger, and I felt that he was coming closer./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I hoped he would be able to help me. And I hoped I wouldn't eat him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Jacob rounded the corner. He was a syndrigast. Was this his power? To have telepathy with Hollowgasts? I didn't even know if that was a syndrigast ability./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He was asleep. I tried not to think about how fast I could devour him before he had the chance to wake up./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Maybe it would be better if he awoke. I told him to come closer./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The ice had melted a bit. He put his hand on my head, still sleeping./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Then he woke up./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He glanced around, blinking. He must have realized I was there, because he looked at me./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"At em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"me/em./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He could see me./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A shout came from the hall, startling me and making me wish my tentacles weren't frozen in ice. Our connection broke like a spider web./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Jacob took his hand off my head as though just becoming aware. He said something to the syndrigast who had called to him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He left, leaving me to wonder what em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"exactly/em had just happened./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Other POV/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan and Tamara headed east. All based on Evan's knowledge, of course./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I told you, that girl said there were two other loops around. If you seriously want to find that Hollow, then you've got to find a loop. That's what they look for," Evan reminded. "And there happens to be a couple of unknown loops around Europe."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tamara stamped her foot on the sidewalk. "And how do you suppose we get all the way to em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Europe/em?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan thought for a moment. "A boat?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Or," said Tamara sarcastically, "we could em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"swim/em." She rolled her eyes. "How do you em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"expect/em we'll travel? But how are we supposed to score a cruise ship pass?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan shook his head. "I think we have to go a different way on this. How about a dinghy?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tamara stared at him, forgetting to walk. "You're serious? Like a rowboat?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan shrugged. "Pretty much."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""No way."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Think about it," he said. "No one would see us – that means no Wights. We wouldn't have to pay anything, except for rental, and how much could a tiny dinghy possibly cost, anyway? Plus, we get to use our big muscles to row." He mimed working hard to push oars./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tamara sighed. "Knowing you, I'd be the one to push the oars, and you'd just sit up front as if you were useful." She sighed again. "But really, I don't know what would happen if we tried to cross the Atlantic in a rowboat."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan didn't answer. Instead, he said, "There's a boat rental down the street."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tamara was amazed. "How do you know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I led us down this route with the intention of stopping at this place," he replied smugly./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Wow," said Tamara. "You really em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"do/em know your way around New York."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"They both grinned and walked down the street to the rental./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"There was something in my mind. An entity of sorts./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"It was like my own consciousness, except while I was half monster, this was not a specific thing. It wasn't exactly nothing, though. More like a whisper, speaking to me. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I tried to listen. It wrapped around my mind, saying something./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"And then, all of a sudden, I was free./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Free of the Hollowgast. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A wave of panic rolled over me, and I felt unbearably cold. What was happening? So many emotions and thoughts raced through my mind that I woke up with a start./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I looked around. The frozen room was around me. No change./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I was still a Hollow. The average smell of Food was in the air. I itched to escape my icy prison so I could wrap my tongues around it./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"But the whisper was still in my mind. A name./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Jacob/em./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a connection inside me to the name. I felt a thrill. What if this syndrigast, this person, was responsible for my moment of clear thought? Why?/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"But if this thing could speak to me in my mind, could I communicate back?/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I tried. The invisible boundaries in my mind stretched./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I willed it to hear me. Despite my inability to think the way em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"syndrigasti/em do./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Nothing happened, but suddenly the connection burst to life, as though this "Jacob" had heard me./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I held the mental ties in my mind. And I willed it – em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"him/em – to come./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The connection grew stronger and stronger, and I felt that he was coming closer./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"I hoped he would be able to help me. And I hoped I wouldn't eat him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Jacob rounded the corner. He was a syndrigast. Was this his power? To have telepathy with Hollowgasts? I didn't even know if that was a syndrigast ability./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He was asleep. I tried not to think about how fast I could devour him before he had the chance to wake up./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Maybe it would be better if he awoke. I told him to come closer./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The ice had melted a bit. He put his hand on my head, still sleeping./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Then he woke up./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He glanced around, blinking. He must have realized I was there, because he looked at me./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"At em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"me/em./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He could see me./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A shout came from the hall, startling me and making me wish my tentacles weren't frozen in ice. Our connection broke like a spider web./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Jacob took his hand off my head as though just becoming aware. He said something to the syndrigast who had called to him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He left, leaving me to wonder what em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"exactly/em had just happened./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Other POV/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan and Tamara headed east. All based on Evan's knowledge, of course./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I told you, that girl said there were two other loops around. If you seriously want to find that Hollow, then you've got to find a loop. That's what they look for," Evan reminded. "And there happens to be a couple of unknown loops around Europe."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tamara stamped her foot on the sidewalk. "And how do you suppose we get all the way to em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Europe/em?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan thought for a moment. "A boat?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Or," said Tamara sarcastically, "we could em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"swim/em." She rolled her eyes. "How do you em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"expect/em we'll travel? But how are we supposed to score a cruise ship pass?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan shook his head. "I think we have to go a different way on this. How about a dinghy?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tamara stared at him, forgetting to walk. "You're serious? Like a rowboat?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan shrugged. "Pretty much."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""No way."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Think about it," he said. "No one would see us – that means no Wights. We wouldn't have to pay anything, except for rental, and how much could a tiny dinghy possibly cost, anyway? Plus, we get to use our big muscles to row." He mimed working hard to push oars./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tamara sighed. "Knowing you, I'd be the one to push the oars, and you'd just sit up front as if you were useful." She sighed again. "But really, I don't know what would happen if we tried to cross the Atlantic in a rowboat."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Evan didn't answer. Instead, he said, "There's a boat rental down the street."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tamara was amazed. "How do you know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I led us down this route with the intention of stopping at this place," he replied smugly./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Wow," said Tamara. "You really em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"do/em know your way around New York."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"They both grinned and walked down the street to the rental./p