The Key of Astrea

Black Rabbit

Jenny's head thundered as she stormed away from Bea. She looked at Sally and said, "Can you believe she actually thinks I'd want to be a fortune-teller for the rest of my life?" Then, she thought to herself, She probably wants me to find a husband and be a good little wife too. Ugh, I'd rather die.

A dizzy spell hit Jenny as she took the first step up the stairs. White spots swam before her eyes. She swayed and used the rail to pull herself up to the landing. Onyx ran up the stairs and into Ruby's room. Jenny followed Onyx inside. Her mom was snoring softly under the patchwork quilt. Jenny tried to recall a time before her mom was sick, a time when the sounds of laughter echoed throughout the house, but they were distant memories.

Jenny stumbled into her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. Jenny focused on the pain, visualizing it as a blue flame. Then she gathered it into a ball and pushed it away. A warm feeling spread through her, and after a minute the tremors in her head quieted. She opened her eyes and smiled. The pain was gone.

"Now"—she looked at Sally—"let's find out what this VRGo puzzle is all about."

Jenny slid her closet door open. The silver cube rested under a rack full of dark dresses. Jenny slid the block to the middle of the room. As her fingertips lifted from the warm surface of the puzzle, twelve glowing symbols lit up around the divet on the surface. Jenny noted that one of the symbols was a triangle inside a circle, like her mother's amulet. Probably just a coincidence, Jenny thought as she felt the necklace under her shirt.

One of the symbols flashed blue, and a tone played. Yet, she didn't hear this tone with her ears. Somehow it played inside her mind. Jenny shivered. It is just like that strange obsidian bowl at the wedding. Jenny looked at her Alice in Wonderland toy. It's not time to be afraid, she thought, it's time to be curious. After all, they did say I'd have to use all my senses. I guess that includes this bizarre extra sense I have.

Jenny took a deep breath and tapped the symbol. It flashed back at her. A different symbol lit up, accompanied by a new tone. If this is anything like Simon Says, then I need to copy the pattern. She touched the two symbols in order. Then three and four. Each time Jenny solved a previous sequence, the VRGo puzzle added another symbol, another note to the series, and the tempo increased.

After completing a pattern that involved all twelve of the symbols, the block made a strange clicking noise. The four, thin rectangular sides of the Simon Says block dropped to the floor with a clack. Jenny gathered the four narrow strips together. They were as thin as poster board but inflexible and strong, like titanium. She set them down on her left. Then, she removed the top piece of the puzzle. Underneath was another silver block, identical to the Simon Says block, but slightly smaller.

Do I have to do this again? Jenny groaned as she placed the top piece on the floor to her right. It suddenly felt too quiet in her room. "Computer, play music." Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" continued to play from where she had paused it earlier. She pulled the slightly smaller silver block toward her, and to her surprise, it slid apart. It wasn't solid. It was a stack of cards. Eighteen, altogether, plus four squares on the bottom that were slightly larger. These were the same size as the top piece she noted, so she put them on her right, with the top piece. She now had three piles. One with eighteen square metal cards, five slightly larger from the Simon Says box, and the four narrow rectangular strips.

The squares were much too large to lay out on her floor, so she inspected each piece in turn. After five minutes of careful investigation, she didn't find any useful details. I bet Michael knows what to do, Jenny thought. Maybe I should go ask him. But her stubborn side wouldn't allow her to give up just yet. What if I try different combinations?