The Society of Imaginary Friends

A barrage of sights and sounds overwhelmed Valerie. Rushing water drowned out almost every other noise and filled the air with a wet mist. To her astonishment, she was standing on a grassy patch of land next to a swiftly moving flood of water. Her eyes followed the flow of the rapids, and she saw that about a hundred yards out, the water dropped away, falling into an abyss of mist.

She was not far from the edge of the enormous waterfall that she had seen through Henry’s eyes earlier. The view would have been breathtaking if it weren’t for the realization of how easy it would be to slip and fall into the raging water coursing past.

Her assessment of her surroundings was interrupted by a cry, and she saw Henry trying to run away from Venu. He only made it a few steps before Venu leapt onto him, and the two crashed to the ground. Her heart squeezed at the sight of the terror in his wide brown eyes.

“You’re going in, whether you like it or not,” Venu barked. Then he smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. “There’s even a surprise waiting for you over the edge of the falls. Time to go find it!”

“Get away from him!” Valerie yelled. Venu and Henry jumped a little in surprise. Venu’s grip loosened on Henry, who wrenched himself away. “Run,” she said to Henry, who was still staring at her with disbelief. But before he could take off, Venu deliberately touched Henry’s arm with one finger.

“No!” Valerie screamed, but it was too late. Henry fell to his knees and stayed there, motionless but conscious. Venu clearly didn’t want to kill Henry. He had paralyzed him so he couldn’t escape.

“This time, you won’t leave alive,” Venu said to Valerie, his eyes narrowing into slits.

“Somehow I doubt that. That will make, let’s see, three times that a girl kicked your butt?” she taunted, hoping to distract him.

Venu’s body tensed, ready to attack. Valerie automatically assumed a defensive stance, but she knew that there was nothing she could do to stop him from hurting Henry—Venu just hadn’t realized it yet. A helpless panic tore through her. She was so close to Henry, but there wasn’t a thing she could do to save him.

Venu crouched, and then leapt toward her. She did the only thing she could—she dodged his outstretched fist. The dance continued as Venu tried to punch and kick her, and Valerie dodged his blows. Venu’s eyes narrowed when she didn’t go on the offensive. Finally, one of his blows punched through her shoulder.

“You’re not here. You’re on the Globe, with Sanguina,” Venu said, and he smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. “You can’t do anything but watch.”

“NO! Please, I’ll give you anything you want!” she cried in desperation, but Venu turned his back on her and trudged toward Henry. “I’ve defeated Sanguina. There’s nothing she can do if you release him. I’ll give you money, find a way to get you to the Globe, anything!”

Venu stopped. He turned slowly, surprised. “Sanguina’s gone?”

“Yes. Now let him go.”

“It doesn’t matter. Sanguina is not the one who gave me this order. I will be rewarded for this beyond anything that witch could give me,” Venu said with a greedy smile, turning to Henry, who was shaking with terror.

Then he put on his gloves and lifted a limp, helpless Henry off the ground and carried him to the water. Valerie knew he was about to throw him in, and she clawed in vain at Venu. He laughed as her arms went through him. Panic gnawed at her mind, threatening to swallow her whole. But before she could give in to her terror, Thai came tearing past her and crashed into Venu, knocking him to the ground. Venu’s grip loosened on Henry, who rolled dangerously close to the place where the land dropped away and the falls began.

“Thai! You made it!”

“Of course,” he said, kicking Venu hard in the chest. Venu grunted and fell, but only a small flicker of pain appeared in his eyes. He eyed Thai from the ground, sizing him up.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Venu was on the attack. Ripping off his gloves, he leapt to his feet and lunged for Thai. Venu was fighting to kill. Valerie watched as Venu and Thai sparred. Thai carefully avoided the poison oozing from Venu’s hands and feet, and managed to land several more kicks to Venu’s stomach and chest.

To Valerie’s eyes, the fight appeared to be a blur at first as they swiftly attacked and blocked each other’s blows. But Venu was growing tired. Thai landed a punch squarely across his jaw. Venu grunted in pain.

Thai’s eyes flashed with triumph, but the look was quickly replaced by terror. “Not now, Tan!” he shouted.

Valerie saw him shudder, and then Tan’s gold eyes appeared in Thai’s face. He backed away as Venu pulled himself off the ground. Venu saw the change in Thai’s face. He couldn’t possibly know what had happened, but he must have sensed that this change was to his advantage, because he didn’t hesitate. He laid his hand on Tan’s neck, and Tan fell to the ground, moaning.

Valerie was by his side in an instant. He opened his eyes, and Valerie saw that Thai was back in control. “I failed you,” he whispered, and then his eyes closed and his breathing slowed. Venu laughed.

“Don’t give in to the poison. Please, wake up!” she begged, tears pouring down her cheeks.

“Pleeease wake up,” Venu mocked. Grinning, he turned to Henry. “Now it’s your turn,” Venu said, pulling his gloves back on and lifting Henry off the ground.

“I swear to you, if you don’t put him down right now, I will find a way to make you suffer a million times more than Sanguina ever did!” Valerie said. But her words had no effect on him—without saying another word, Venu hoisted Henry above his head, poised to throw him into the rushing water that was racing toward the precipice.

“Help!” Henry shrieked, his tortured eyes connecting with Valerie’s.

Then everything seemed to go in slow motion. A strange feeling filled Valerie, reminding her of all the times that Henry had needed her so badly that his fear had pulled her into his reality. But this time, the world suddenly appeared distorted to her eyes, as if she were looking through a funhouse mirror. It was like she was underwater, unable to breathe. But before panic could set in, the strange sensation was over, and she breathed in the clean, wet air.

Wait—the air wasn’t wet on the Globe. What happened? When the grass tickled her ankles and dirt squished under her shoes, Valerie knew that something inexplicable had happened—she was standing on Earth on her own two feet. She had done what she had been told was impossible—she had crossed the barrier between the two worlds, and returned to Earth from the Globe.

Before she could rejoice or even regain her focus, Venu hurled Henry into the rushing water. His body was swept away by the current. Adrenaline kept Valerie’s mind clear, she knew exactly what she had to do. Without thinking, she pushed Venu to the ground and jumped into the water after Henry.

“How—?” she heard Venu cry.

The cold water shocked Valerie to her core, and the current shoved her forward like a giant hand. She embraced the speed and launched herself forward toward Henry’s blue jacket, which bobbed just out of her reach. Speeding downstream, she came closer and closer to him, but at the last second, the current yanked her away and her fingers closed around water instead of his arm. Her eyes stung and she choked, inhaling water as she struggled to keep her head above the surface.

Downstream, she saw Henry sinking facedown a few feet beyond her grasp. With sheer determination, she surged forward, wrapping her fingers around his sleeve and pulling him toward her. He was unable to move, still paralyzed from Venu’s attack. Valerie held his head above water and he gasped for air. But it could be his last breath, she thought, as they sped toward the edge of the falls.

Valerie reached desperately for something, anything to grab on to. Finally, she spotted a rock that rose above the frothing water slightly downstream. With a burst of strength that she didn’t know she possessed without the aid of magic, she steered herself toward the boulder with Henry in tow. Once it was within reach, her fingers scrabbled at the rock, and her hand became bloodied as she struggled to grasp its rough edges. But finally she managed to find a handhold, and her body jerked to a stop as the current wrenched her arm, trying to pull Henry away from her. A few yards away, water zoomed toward the edge of the falls and then dropped out of sight.

Valerie could only enjoy her temporary safety for an instant, as she saw Venu’s bulky form heading toward them. He used his immense strength to fight the current.

Within seconds, Venu reached the rock. “You will pay for all the trouble you’ve given me,” he growled, his rancid breath in her face making her gag. She had no free hand to fight him with, as one hand held tightly to the rock and the other kept Henry’s head above the water.

“Please, don’t do this,” Valerie begged.

Venu ruthlessly began to pry her hand from the rock, finger by finger, until she lost her grip and was yanked back into the current. She shut her eyes and clutched Henry tightly, knowing that soon they would be swept over the side of the falls and plunge to their deaths.

But seconds before they reached the edge, the bottom of the rapids dropped away from under her feet, and the water rose up to her chest. Then, inches from the brink of the falls, she and Henry slammed into a wall of rock, saving them from being carried over. She stared around her. The wall of rock that had rescued them formed a natural pool right on the edge of the waterfall.

“The Devil’s Pool,” she whispered to herself, finally understanding what she had heard last time she had been pulled into Henry’s mind.

What a stroke of luck. Venu was upon them already, his face red and contorted with rage at being thwarted again. He lurched toward Valerie, and she knew that he was going to murder her. She mentally prepared herself for the fight, but without much hope of winning. The water had the advantage of washing away Venu’s natural poison, but without her power, she was no match for him.

Venu captured Valerie’s wrists with one hand and wrapped the other around her throat and squeezed, choking the life out of her. Black spots formed in her vision from lack of oxygen. But abruptly, the pressure on her neck was released. The cold water must have partially revived Henry from his paralysis, because he had grabbed Venu’s arms to pull him away from her. But Henry was still weak, and Venu tossed him aside like a rag doll. Then Venu pulled himself up on the narrow, rocky border of the pool that also formed the edge of the falls. He hauled Henry up by the hair and onto the ledge with him.

Valerie scratched at Venu’s legs, trying to pull him back into the relative safety of the pool before he could throw Henry over the side. Venu kicked at her, but she couldn’t make him budge. Desperate, she climbed onto the thin strip of rock that separated the pool from the abyss. Using all her weight, she grabbed Henry and threw him back into the pool. Venu roared with frustration.

Only then, standing alone with Venu on the very edge of the falls, did Valerie allow herself to look over. Far below, she saw a group of people huddled on a bridge staring up at them, pointing and shouting. But she barely took this in, her attention drawn to a sight stranger than anything she had ever seen. Instead of seeing rushing water that faded into the mist, she saw something that could only have been created with magic. The watery air swirled like an inverted tornado, creating a vortex. She knew why Venu had brought Henry here. Venu wasn’t trying to kill Henry after all. Sanguina—or whoever gave Venu his orders—wanted Henry thrown into the vortex. What would happen to him inside there, she couldn’t guess, but there was no way she wanted Henry to find out.

Instead of waiting for Venu to attack, Valerie leapt onto him, hoping that the element of surprise would cause him to lose his footing so they would fall back into the pool. He lost his balance. Which way would they fall—into the pool or into the vortex? But he was strong, and he quickly regained his footing.

Fiercely, Venu grabbed Valerie’s arms and tried to throw her over the side with all his might, but she held on to his wrists. Her entire body swung, hovering in midair. The only thing that kept her from going over the falls was her vice-like grip on Venu’s wrists. But then her body’s momentum swung her back, away from the edge. She released his wrists and fell backward into the Devil’s Pool.

The abrupt absence of Valerie’s weight caused Venu to stumble. Before he could steady himself, Henry, with a shout of pure rage, pushed Venu as hard as he could. For a single frozen second, Venu teetered on the edge of the falls. His mouth and eyes opened wide with astonishment, and then he fell backward, over the edge of the falls. Venu roared as he plunged down toward the vortex.

His bulky form hurtled through the mist until he vanished through the center of the vortex, which disappeared as soon as it swallowed Venu and became one with the swirling mist. Valerie hoped that they would never see him again, but she was glad that she hadn’t actually killed him. She didn’t want Venu’s death on her conscience, either.

For several seconds, Valerie and Henry stared at the spot where Venu had fallen until the screams of the people on the bridge below woke Valerie from her reverie. There was still much left to do before she could think about everything that had happened to her. Turning, she swam toward the landside edge of the pool and pulled herself out of the rushing water. Then, lying on her stomach, she extended her arms as far as she could. Henry was able to grasp her hand, and with the last of her strength, she hauled her brother out of the pool.

Without wasting another minute, she said, “Come on, we have to get Thai to a hospital now, before Venu’s poison kills him.”

“Who are you?” Henry whispered. “I thought I was all alone with that monster and then suddenly—you were here to save me. You seem so familiar.”

Valerie stared into the eyes that were so much like her own and a warm glow filled the core of her heart. “I’m your sister. You’ll never be alone again—and neither will I.”