Everfound

by Neal Shusterman

The story continues with Mary Hightower being inside a glass coffin and Milos leading Mary’s Afterlights and Interlights (souls who are sleeping for nine months before waking up in Everlost) in a train heading west. Meanwhile, Allie the Outcast is strapped on the front of a train. Milos' Afterlights continued on their journey until they were stopped by a church. Milos decided that he, Jill, Moose and Squirrel go reaping (an act of skinjacking someone to purposefully kill teens and children and make them citizens of Everlost). Right after they reaped, they met Jix, an afterlight whose specialty is skinjacking animals. Jix, out of curiosity, went along with them to the train. After a while they moved the church out of their way and continued heading west.

Nick (now just a figure made out of chocolate, and doesn’t remember a lot about his past) and Mikey McGill continued on their way until they got trapped by Clarence, a scar wraith (a person who can see and touch the living and Everlost worlds, that can extinguish Afterlights with the touch of his Everlost arm.). Nick escaped while Mikey was still trapped, telling Nick to run. Mikey told Clarence everything he knows about Everlost.

Meanwhile, the train that Allie was strapped in traveled to a mansion, a home full of Afterlights called the “Neon Nightmares”. Milos then ordered the conductor to ram into the mansion, thinking it was the same as the church; that it was placed in front of the train tracks and could be moved away by ramming into it. However, they got derailed. Allie was rescued by Jix and gave her a coyote to furjack (skinjacking an animal). The leader of the Neons, called Avalon, ordered his comrades to push Jix down into the center of the Earth; however, Jill offered to trade her coin and Milos' coin for his freedom. She then convinced them that there were more coins, and that she would reveal the location of the coins only if they let her and Jix live. Avalon gave in to her offer, and brought them, the Interlights, and Mary Hightower back to their base in Alamo.

Nick arrived at the derailed train confused. Milos, Moose and Squirrel managed to twist Nick’s memory into thinking that he was in love with Jill, and making him slowly forget about Allie. The skinjackers, Nick and the rest of the Afterlights followed the direction the Neons were walking to bring back Mary.

Allie head back to where the train formerly was, then saw Nick’s chocolate footprints and followed them. She reached San Antonio and decided to look for Nick there. During her search, she found out that a person named Seth Fellon was skinjacked to set a school on fire, so she helped him break out of prison. While back at Alamo, in the Neon’s hideout area, Jix and Jill managed to send Avalon into the light, and led the Neons to the City of Souls, in Mexico.

Nick, Allie, Mikey and Clarence interrupted Milos as he was reaping. Clarence touched Squirrel, causing him to extinguish. All of the Interlights, including Mary, woke up. Mary met Jill and Jix and told her everything that happened. They later reunite with Milos, Moose and the other Interlights. Then set a course to the City of Souls, while Mikey, Allie, Nick and Clarence went to Corpus Christi.

At a bay, Mary and Milos betrayed Jix and let him sink in the ocean, Jill left Milos and Mary because Jix wasn’t with them. But Jix furjacked a few sea animals and made his way on land. He later found Jill and met Allie and the others. Jix and Jill decided to help them stop Mary’s plans. They split up in teams; Jill going back to Mary to learn the names of the skinjackers, Nick, Mikey and Jix to seek help from the King of the City of Souls, Clarence and Allie to subdue the skinjackers’ bodies using the names Jill gave them. Allie found Milos' body and killed him, therefore relieving him of his skinjacking skills. When Mary found out Milos couldn't skinjack anymore and hence he was useless to her, she ceased to care about him, making him an ordinary Afterlight.

Ever since Allie didn’t have any new information about the skinjackers’ names, she decided to interfere with Mary herself. She and Clarence then drove to a huge deadspot, called the Trinity Vortex; where the first nuclear bomb exploded and where the actual bomb existed in Everlost. After a few moments of Allie’s plans not working, Mary ordered Milos to touch the scar wraith, knowing he'd oblige as he was still in love with her. After Milos extinguished, a storm appeared both in Everlost and the living world. Mikey, Nick, Jix along with the inhabitants from the City of Souls, and the statue made of coins arrived in the Hindenburg.

By the end, Clarence managed to send nearly every Afterlight into the light, using the bomb and the coin statue. Jix and Jill found each other, and taught the new skinjackers the basics for a while. Mary sunk to the bottom of the earth, Mikey got into the light. Allie skinjacked her own body, and Nick became the “new Mary”, tending the Afterlights until they were ready to go into the light; without of course, Mary’s vision.