We Fell Apart: A We Were Liars Novel(77)

(Fighting in seal form should be harder than—and different from—fighting in human form. I haven’t quite figured that part out yet.) At some point in every level, a chandelier comes to life.

Some remain on the ceiling,

stretching their green glass tentacles to squeeze the life from you, or becoming threads of a weaving that threatens to wrap you up like a fly in a spider’s web.

One detaches to become a

dragon.

Once defeated, the dragon sheds its skin to reveal a frightened little boy inside.

Another chandelier becomes a cluster of aggressive wolfhounds who can be tamed by saying their names.

One turns to black ash and nearly suffocates you.

But you fight your way out.



* * *



—

My advisor wants to know what the goal is. She’s suggested there could be a prisoner the player is trying to rescue—a father, a true love, a brother, a friend. A witch or a stepmother, even.

But I don’t think I’m making that kind of game. I think it’s a journey of transformation for the player. You go from lost and adrift to an ending on the top floor of the castle. Once you’re there, you can look out and situate yourself in the world.

You go from weak to powerful, finishing the story armed with skills and weapons and knowledge.

She says I need to keep working on it, so I will.





73


In the evenings, Tatum and I cook dinner and eat with our roommates, or we go get burgers down the block. Sometimes we go out to hear a band, or Tatum plays guitar while I do my homework. Sometimes we walk to the place that has the gelato we like, or we go to a party, or there’s something on campus to do—a lecture, or a play, or a football game.

It’s a regular college life. A lucky one.

Someday soon, we’ll graduate. We’ll need jobs. Something or other may pull us apart.

But this love is an everyday magic. I share it with a person who sees the bringer of madness and the ordinary girl and the storyteller

and the questioner

and the gamer in me.

There are no rules masquerading as suggestions.

There is probably too much internet.

There are many obligations, big and small.

There is no castle.

There is no family institution, no beautiful Sinclairs with their tragedies and their private island and their secrets.

The ocean here is a different ocean than at Hidden Beach.





          For a plain-text version of this image, go to this page.





Appendix: Image Descriptions


Several images in this ebook illustrate complex ideas. In this section those images have been reproduced as thumbnails accompanied by extended descriptions of their contents.



* * *





Map of Hidden Beach, West Tisbury, Massachusetts


An illustrated map of a coastal estate set in a forested area between South Road and beachside cliffs facing south. A driveway curves downhill from South Road, gradually descending in a series of switchbacks past Puddleglum, a large dog sitting in the shade of a tree, and down to a garage, where a Mercedes and three scooters are parked. A wooden walkway leads from the garage to the front door of a castle-like building at the center of the estate.

The castle is a two-story square structure with four three-story cylindrical towers at the corners. Each of the castle towers is labeled with its name and its occupants. Clockwise from northwest, they are:

           Parchment Tower in the northwest corner, where Matilda and Brock are staying.



      Chalk Tower in the northeast corner, where Tatum and Meer are staying.



      Bone Tower in the southeast corner, which houses art studios.



      Oyster Tower in the southwest corner, where June and Kingsley live. It also houses an office.





Also labeled on the castle are the front door, facing the garage to the north; a mudroom, facing the cliffs and the beach to the south; and an outdoor shower, near Bone Tower in the southeast corner.

Wooden walkways lead outward to other sites on the estate. They include :

           A vegetable garden, set among the trees to the east of the castle. Enclosed by a wooden fence, it contains several raised garden beds and small trees. The wooden walkway leads back to the east side of the castle.



      A picnic area, set to the southeast of the castle, between the vegetable garden and the cliffside. There are three picnic tables and a grill in the grass. A wooden walkway leads back to the castle and forks to the outdoor shower and to the mudroom.



      The staircase up the cliff leads from the beach to the wooden walkway in a series of sharp turns. The walkway forks to the mudroom and to a door on the west side of the castle.



      The Pool House, a crescent-shape building, sits behind a deck with several lounge chairs around a circular pool filled with dirty water. It’s set among the trees to the northwest of the castle, set back from the cliffside, and the walkway curves back to the west side of the castle.