It wobbles from all sides. The black orb fights to be free of the light, or perhaps it is consuming the light.
Andrea walks steadily towards it. The size of it increases. “Come here, Andrea,” a voice says clearly and loudly.
Such warmth she feels. Such warmth cannot be trusted from something so dark though. Still, she doesn’t hesitate. She walks straight for the darkness.
“We have been waiting for you, Andrea,” the voice says.
Her hand reaches out. She dangles her fingers in front of the orb. Another voice comes.
“Andrea, don’t it,” Wesley says.
“Wesley?” She looks around.
The orb enlarges. The blackness moves. Pulsates like a beating heart.
“Listen to me for once,” Wesley says.
“Come to us, Andrea,” the voice says. Its warmth intensifies and causes the entire area to steam up like a sauna.
Andrea finds the heat unbearable. She wipes sweat beads from her face and neck. She tunes out Wesley’s dire warnings. She only hears the voice. She places one finger inside the orb. Before she lets in more of herself, she is pulled back.
She is inside the dark cave. A boy is standing before her with a lighter glaring in her face. Arms wrap around her. She knows that smell. She knows those arms.
“I guess your friend is okay,” the boy with the lighter says.
“Andrea, you didn’t hear my voice?”
“I heard you, Wesley.”
“But you didn’t listen.” Wesley grabs the lighter and shows Andrea a small hole in the wall. She looks through the hole. She can see the forest and the one side of the road. “There is light inside the dark. Now we just have to find a way to make it bigger.”
“We’re kind of used to this by now,” a little girl says.
“We can’t stay in here. Your parents and friends could be in danger out there,” Wesley says.
“What do you want us to do?” an older boy says. He looks around fifteen. Just at the end of his freedom. Soon he will be part of the cycle like the others.
“Abbey may help us. She wants to help break this curse that you’re under.”
“Listen, Wesley, you are crazy to go against this cycle. Those men that brought us here are not going to play games,” lighter boy says.
Andrea tugs on Wesley’s pants. “I’ll be with you in a moment, Andrea.”
“No. You listen now!”
“Excuse us for a minute.”
Wesley takes Andrea away from the others.
“This kid is crazy,” lighter boy says.
“Andrea, I am mad at you but I understand your mistake. I can forgive you. But this is serious. I need to take charge here. I can’t have you being a distraction for me.”
She pouts.
“Don’t give me that look.”
“Wesley, I am afraid.” She hugs him tightly.
He hugs her, caressing her back and then the top of her head. “It’ll be okay, I promise you.” He kisses the top of her head. “Now, can you please do me a favor and stay with the other little kids? I need to rally the older ones to help me get us out of here.”
“Okay, Wesley.” She pulls him down and kisses him on the cheek. He blushes. She runs over to the other kids, close to the girls.
Wesley walks back over. Even at eight years old he is very regal, very adult-like. It amazes the others. “I am willing to bet that this cave has another entrance or an exit. We just have to feel around for loose rocks or maybe a secret door. We will cut through the rocks if need be.”
“With what?” an older girl says.
“How many of you are over ten?”
Seven of them raise their hands.
“Good. You are stronger than the younger ones. That means that you can help me better than they can.”
“You’re just a little kid as well,” lighter boy says.
“I am a lot of things. We are wasting time discussing this.”
As Wesley and the seven older kids look around the cave for bigger holes or instruments to make smaller holes into bigger ones, the younger kids do a bit of exploring of their own.
“You are lucky to have such a good friend, Andrea,” a girl says.
“Who are you?” Andrea asks.
“Jasmine.”
“Hello.”
“Hello back.”
“Wesley is my friend.”
“I think he’s cute.”
The others giggle.
“Yeww,” Andrea says.
“How are we going to find our way?” a little boy asks.
“We will be careful where we step. And there are tiny holes that will let in enough moonlight for us to at least see the walls,” Jasmine says.
“Why do I feel like the older kids are trying to be like our parents?”
“What’s your name?” Andrea asks.
“Oh, that’s Kevin. Just wait until he starts asking you twenty questions. It’s something he always does,” Jasmine says.
“Not true.”
“Ask,” Andrea says.
As they continue looking around in the cave, judging their footing by making small steps and staying linked together by locking arms, Andrea feels like she may not be able to answer all twenty questions.
“Question number one. Where do you come from, Andrea?”
“Ow,” another little boy says.
“You okay, Tim?” Jasmine asks.
“Fine.”
“New York,” Andrea says. “Where are the babies here?”
“No babies. Every kid is at least four or older here. There has never been babies here. Everyone that moves here is already a toddler,” Jasmine says.
“Question number two. Are you special, Andrea?”
“Why?”
“Because the cycles don’t affect your parents.”
“I don’t know.”
“Question number three - -“
“Leave her alone. She doesn’t need to answer your questions,” Jasmine says.
“Okay. But you know that my twenty questions always helps.”
“Not in this situation,” Jasmine says.
During their trek, they don’t realize that they are close to the mouth of the cave. Kevin is the first to notice. He unlocks himself from the chain gang they formed and runs straight for the mouth. As he reaches it, he is bounced backwards.
“Kevin!” Jasmine helps him up.
“There’s something there stopping us from leaving. It felt like jelly. It doesn’t hurt to touch it.”
They immediately start feeling the invisible substance.
“He’s right. It’s sticky but doesn’t hurt,” Tim says.
Andrea is reluctant to touch it.
“Maybe we can somehow tear through it,” Jasmine says.
At the back of the cave, Wesley and the older children give up finding a hole or instrument to help them escape.
“It’s hopeless,” lighter boy says.
“Where are the others?” Wesley shines the lighter. “Andrea?” He takes off. The others follow him.
“Where could they have gone to?”
“Andrea?” Wesley is full of fear, full of worry. He can’t fail at keeping her safe.
Andrea and her group attempt to pull on the invisible jelly wall.
“Stretch!” Jasmine pulls the hardest.
Poor Andrea is just not strong enough to pull it hard. She sits down. Her little body is tired.
“Andrea?” Wesley pulls her up.
“Wesley. We found a way.”
Wesley shines the lighter where the younger kids are.
Jasmine turns to him. “Don’t stand there. Help us.”
The older kids run over. Wesley remains by Andrea.
“We will get out.” Wesley puts his arm around her.
“The lighter. Let’s burn it,” Jasmine says.
Lighter boy comes over to Wesley demanding his lighter back. Wesley hands it over. Lighter boy walks up to the mouth of the cave and sets the lighter inside the i
nvisible jelly mold. “Ugh, man, what is this stuff?” he says as he shakes his shoe. He shines the lighter down but doesn’t see anything.
“Hang on.” Wesley leaves Andrea. “One of you go and sit with Andrea.”
Jasmine stands next to Andrea.
Wesley puts his hand into the invisible jelly mold. “It feels like the honey pits of… It doesn’t matter. We can eat our way through it.”
“What?” Tim says.
“I am not putting that stuff into my mouth,” lighter boy says.
“Then you can stay here.” Wesley starts tearing away and putting the invisible stuff into his mouth.
Andrea and Jasmine walk over. “Let’s do it,” Jasmine says. She starts eating.
It doesn’t take long before they all start doing it. Except Andrea. She refuses to touch it or go near it.
The invisible barrier starts breaking apart and coming down. When a big enough hole is made, everyone jumps out of the cave. Except Andrea.
“Andrea, come with me,” Wesley says.
She stomps her feet.
“Andrea, don’t make me take you over my knee.”
The invisible barrier starts growing back over its wound. Wesley can’t waste any more time. He lunges, grabs Andrea, and they fall onto the grassy path. The others help them up.
“I can’t believe we got out of that cave,” Jasmine says.
The sun is rising. The little specks of gold and red shine through the trees. Andrea shudders. Being in the forest reminds her of the forest she was in before. Where the darkness had its hold, but couldn’t sustain it. Everyone is cheering, praising Wesley. Andrea sits by herself on the grass. She tilts her head to one way. The grass tilts with her. She is about to speak up, but doesn’t. She feels like no one will hear her anyway. They are too busy pushing Wesley onto a pedestal.
Everyone stays together as they walk out of the forest.
“We could have just waited. The sun is up,” lighter boy says.
“It didn’t feel like it took all night,” Wesley says.
“Who cares? We got out. Now we know that we can do it again,” Jasmine says.
Andrea remains quiet. She has much to consider. If it happens again, will she be able to find her way to Wesley and will he set them free again?
Wesley stumbles into his house. Mentally exhausted. He listens for his parents. No one comes to greet him. He goes into the kitchen and washes his face and hands. Footsteps come.
“What happened?” Arianna asks.
Wesley walks over to her and reaches out to hug her. She pulls away. “We were taken to the cave inside the forest.”
“And?” She can’t even look at him.
“And something happened. Why would you take us to this place knowing what lives here?”
“Ask your father.”
Wesley walks through the house. “Father?”
“You won’t find him. He and Michael have gone into the forest to look for you and Andrea.”
“And you didn’t stop them? What did Andrea’s mother do?”
“I told her to remain in her house. I told her this was the men’s responsibility since they wanted us to move here.”
4
The end may never be near. As you chase it, it moves further away.
Abbey looks out her window, anticipating the moment Mark will appear. She has decided that she will try to fight the cycle’s unbreakable control over everyone, but she will have fun with Mark as well.
A blinking light appears at the end of her driveway. Mark is waiting.
Abbey and Mark head towards the beach, but she stops right before they reach the sand.
“What is it?”
“I want to do this in my house. In my bed.”
“Abbey, we don’t have to. We can fight the cycle.”
“We are going to do both. Come with me and I shall show you.”
“Are you two sneaking off to do something bad?” Wesley asks.
“Go back to sleep, kid.”
“No. Let him come with us.”
“Abbey, he’s just a kid.”
“We need someone who isn’t affected by the cycle.”
“He’s a kid, that’s why he isn’t affected.”
“I don’t think if he was our age that he would be affected. Let’s just take him.”
“I am not okay with a kid watching us do sexual stuff.”
“We will not do that in front of him, but I do want to show him something.”
“Have you two seen my father and Mr. O’Kelly? Andrea’s father.”
“No,” Abbey says.
“We went into that cave. We ate our way out. But when I came home I found that my father was missing and Andrea’s father was missing too. They went into the forest.”
“Come with us.”
Abbey is all stealth-like going to her house. Mark and Wesley don’t see a point to walking like a ninja, so they walk casually.
“You ate your way out of the cave?” Mark says.
“Be quiet.”
They enter the house and hear nothing. Abbey is confident that they can proceed without interference. Without warning, the cycle takes hold of her. She grabs Mark and starts kissing him.
Wesley backs up to the front door.
Abbey backs away from Mark. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”
“What are we doing?” Mark asks.
“There’s the rule book I want to show Wesley. The residents were given rule books the moment they moved in. It goes into detail about the services that are available for us. It tells us when we can leave to visit town.”
“My parents didn’t get that. I’m pretty sure Andrea’s didn’t either.”
“That only proves further that you are all different. The cycle does not affect you.”
“They went into the cave though.”
“I think it was for a different reason. And Wesley is very clever. He will figure out the rule book.”
“What’s there to figure out?”
Abbey opens a door.
“I don’t like basements,” Mark says.
“Neither do I.”
“Are there monsters down there?” Wesley asks.
“No, don’t be silly. It’s a basement.” She flips the light switch on.
“You don’t know what lives inside the basements I’m familiar with,” Wesley says.
Abbey goes down first, followed by Mark. Wesley wavers for a second then follows. Abbey points to the glass cabinet against the far wall. “It’s the grey notebook with the frayed cover.”
Wesley opens the cabinet and searches. He finds the notebook and hands it to her.
“You go ahead and read it.”
Wesley opens it. The pages almost fall out of the spiral binding. He flips through the pages quickly. He comes to the last page and suddenly looks up at Abbey. “You really believe this?”
“He’s just a kid. He believes everything is imaginary.”
Wesley hands the notebook to Abbey. “I know, better than anyone that not everything is imagination, but I also know where the line is drawn.”
Abbey looks through the notebook. She has read it a dozen times. It doesn’t go into detail about the cycles, but it does talk about what they can and can’t do.
“This is a waste of time. Abbey, I don’t know if I can control it anymore.”
“I thought that by showing you this… but I was wrong.”
Wesley tries to look sympathetic.
Mark grabs Abbey’s face and starts kissing her. She responds by kissing him. Then she stops. “What happened in the cave? How did you escape?”
“Abbey, come on.”
“The entrance to the cave was covered with honey from… it doesn’t matter from where. We figured out eating through it was the solution.”
“No. It’s something else.”
No matter how much it may liberate her and the others, Wesley fights against his better judgment to tell her. Unfortunately, he hates lying. “There are honey po
t trees where I come from, and the honey always gets on everything. There are only a small number of ways to get it off you. One of the best ways to get rid of it is to eat it. If you can’t eat it, you have to find the bark of a Vyre tree. The roughness is so strong that it can peel your skin off. It’ll take off the honey.”
Abbey and Mark look at each other completely confused.
“You asked me. I’ll take the notebook and try to help decipher any clues it might have.” She hands the notebook to him. He looks through it once more.
The people of the left side gather on the bridge as the last day of the cycle ends. Abigal has been waiting since 7:30 am. “I trust that everyone is very satisfied.”
“Mildly,” Darma says.
“What news on the newcomers?” Jacob asks.
“Their children spent some time in the cave but apparently were able to escape it. Thus, the cave no longer can hold the children during the cycle.”
The shock on everyone’s face is apparent. But now they have a bigger question.
“What will happen during the next cycle?” Darma asks.
“I don’t know. But we will all gather here on the next morning.”
Abigal spots her daughter and Mark standing close together. The crowd disperses. Abigal has questions for her daughter.
“Will we tell her the truth?” Mark asks Abbey.
“Abbey. Mark. How was it for you two?”
“You asked everyone for seven days how their nights went. They all had sex. Maybe not as much as they were supposed to, but they appeased the cycle.”
“And did you?”
“Yes. We did. But we did it because we wanted to. We fought against the cycle and won.”
“Mark, anything you want to add?”
“The gathering is over. If you don’t mind, Abbey and I are going to spend some time together before the new cycle comes.”
Abigal is left alone on the bridge until Melanie and Arianna walk up to her. “We can’t find our husbands. Who do we talk to when someone goes missing?” Melanie asks.
“Missing? Are you sure that they are missing?”
“Do we look like liars? Why would we lie about our husbands missing?” Arianna asks.
Relics and Runes Anthology Page 90