by P. T. Hylton
Mason rounded a curve and stopped. He bounced back and forth from foot to foot, too excited to stand still. “This is it. Right up here.”
Frank shined his flashlight where Mason pointed, but he couldn’t make out much more than the vague shade of the cabin.
Mason continued on without waiting for a reply.
The shape of the cabin grew more distinct as they approached, and before long he could see a hole, blacker than the rest of the structure, that could only be an open door. When they were ten feet away, a figure emerged from the darkness.
Even though he couldn’t see more than a silhouette, and even that was only faintly visible, he knew. His senses were suddenly a bit sharper. The tang of the forest burned in his nose and the dark figure’s every footfall rang like a gong in his ears. His hands were cold and clammy.
Frank reached down with a shaking left hand and clicked the Cassandra lock into place on the latch of the box.
The shadowy figure raised something to chest-level. Frank heard a click and the object illuminated, covering a twenty-foot radius with light. He blinked against the harsh illumination of the lantern. It was a moment or two before his vision adjusted enough for him to clearly see the man standing before him.
Zed said, “Hello, Mason. I see you’ve brought company.”
Mason practically danced forward. Zed squinted in Frank’s direction, his eyes apparently adjusting to the light the same as Frank's. Maybe the man was human after all.
“Why, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that was Frank Hinkle.”
Frank stood frozen on the spot. He didn’t know what to say, what to do. He wanted to lunge at Zed, gouge at his eyes, but he knew such a gesture would be worthless. The man wouldn’t die and couldn’t be hurt. Or, was that still true now that he no longer had his beloved pocket watch? He certainly seemed to have healed from the incident on the top of city hall.
While Frank was still mulling over how best to test Zed’s vulnerabilities, Mason spoke. “He did it, Zed! Just like you said he would. He found a lock box in my dad’s office. And he brought it with him.”
As Mason spoke, Frank bent down as far as he dared and dropped the lock box onto the ground. He hoped Zed had been too focused on Mason to notice the move.
“Please, Mason, let’s not jump right to business. I know you grew up in the woods, but that’s no reason to forget your manners.” Zed took three long steps forward, encircling them all in the light of his lantern, and extended his hand. “Frank. Last time I saw you, you looked a bit worse for the wear. But the mirror and its time-shifting ways are peculiar. I’m not sure if the last time I saw you was the last time you saw me.”
Frank stared at the hand like it was made of vile, rotting meat. Then he looked Zed up and down. The man looked exactly like he had the day he sent Frank Away, right down to the wide smile and the brightly colored tee shirt. Not bad for fifty-some years later.
Zed slowly lowered his hand. “Well then. It’s going to be like that, is it?”
Frank still held his tongue. There were things he wanted to say to this man, but everything that came to mind seemed so inadequate to express the utter despair he felt. In the last few hours, he’d learned that the man he’d given up everything to save was long dead, and the only man in the world he truly wished was dead was alive and well and standing in front of him.
Zed sighed. “I felt you arrive, you know. I’m pretty tuned into this place, and I felt a,” he paused, as if looking for the right word, “crackle. It crackled when you arrived. The time you spent in the Away marked you, and the woods sensed it. As soon as I realized it was you, I began hoping things could be different between us this time.”
Mason said, “I found him down by the creek. One of the Larvae was locked in on him. I put it down and brought him here.”
“Fine, fine,” Zed said, his eyes never leaving Frank. “It can happen, Frank. We can work together. I know it seems unlikely, but alliances do change.”
He waited, his eyes wide and hopeful. Frank said nothing.
Zed waved a dismissive hand at him. “Okay then. Let’s forgo the howdys and the fat chewing and get to it. Where’s this lock box?”
Frank met Zed’s eyes. He tried to put all his hatred into that look. “Zed, Mason’s crazy as all hell. After a couple hours with him, I’m getting nostalgic for the Ones Who Sing.”
Zed met his gaze. The smile never left his face, but his eyes were ice. “That can be arranged. But, really, is that any way to talk about family?”
Frank’s heart sank. Until that moment, he had been open to the possibility that Mason was a crazy person. But even though he had no reason to trust Zed and many reasons not to trust him, something about hearing him say it made it more real to Frank.
He glanced at Mason and saw the hurt look on the man’s face. He felt bad for the guy. It wasn’t Mason’s fault he’d been raised by the worst foster father in history. He hadn’t picked his circumstances. Still, choice or not, that didn’t make him any less dangerous to Frank. Who knew what sick ideas and programming Zed had put into his head?
“How long have you been here, Zed? I came through the mirror a couple months after you did, but from what Mason tells me you’ve been here much longer.”
Zed smiled, neither confirming nor denying. “How are things back in Rook Mountain? You all keeping the place warm for me?”
Frank suppressed a laugh. “You think you’re going back there, is that it?”
“I left once before, if you remember. After you opened the box.”
Frank shook his head. “I don’t buy it. Seems to me you would have gone back already if you were able. Besides, you don’t have your toy anymore. The pocket watch.”
Zed’s smile wavered for only an instant. “I’m not going to lie. Losing that hurt. I’ve had it a long time. Longer than you could imagine. There are other Tools. The mirror. The lighter. The knife. Perhaps you’ve even seen the coin. Little silver thing. You’d know it if you saw it.”
Now it was Frank’s turn to smile. “I did see it. Right before I came through the mirror, in fact.” He paused to take in the hungry look on Zed’s face. “I stuck the knife through the coin. It made the worst sound when it shattered.”
Zed drew a sharp breath, making a noise that could almost have been described as a gasp. “You’re lying.”
“Not at all. We also destroyed the lighter. And the key. And the cane.” He counted them off on his fingers as he listed them. “And Christine was going to destroy the mirror as soon as I came through it. Hope you weren’t counting on that to get back.”
Zed’s lips curled, making his smile look like it was painted on his face. “But she wouldn’t have been able to destroy the knife, would she? I think when I get back to Rook Mountain, the first thing I’ll do is pay the Osmonds a visit. Then I’ll show them how that knife really works. Oh, the things that can be done with that knife. If I’d had that from the get go, I wouldn’t have sent you Away at all. I would have made things so much more painful.”
Mason looked back and forth between the two men, as if he were trying to figure out the rules of a sport he had never played. “Uncle Frank’s brought us the hidden box. That’s what you wanted, right?”
Zed nodded. “It is. But your uncle has the strange talent of being able to hide things. Even from me. And he doesn’t seem to want to tell me where the box is. Frank, I believe there is a book in the lockbox you found. I can use the book to get us out of here. You may have noticed that this forest is not well. It’s used up. The animals have died out. Even the Larvae are sluggish. This place is dying, and we will die with it unless you give me the box.”
Frank said nothing. No way was he going to put his trust in Zed to save them. Wasn’t that how the Regulations had been passed into law to begin with?
Mason’s breath quickened. He said in a soft voice, “Uncle Frank, please give Zed the box. You don’t want to make him angry.”
“It’s okay, Mason,” Frank said, though h
e knew it wasn’t.
“Yes,” Zed said. “It’s fine.” He turned toward Mason. “Use the compass.”
Mason’s face lit up. “Of course.” He pulled the Tool out of his pocket and squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, his face fell. “The compass can’t find it either.”
“Impressive,” Zed said.
“There’s something else,” Mason said, his voice suddenly urgent. “Frank saw someone in the woods.”
Zed’s eyes narrowed.
“The man with the beard.”
Frank had seen Zed in some extreme situations. When he was attacked by the Unfeathered in Rook Mountain. At the end of the battle on top of city hall when Zed knew he had lost. But Frank had never seen Zed truly afraid. Not until now.
When Zed spoke, his voice was slow and quiet. “We need to move quickly.” He turned to Mason. “Frank has the box. We have to make him give it to us. He has to reveal it of his own free will. I can’t dig it out of his head unless he lets me.”
“Okay,” Mason said. “How do we do that?”
“We’re going to have to hurt him.”
Frank took a short step backwards. He knew he should run now. He should run into these woods and hide. But Mason and Zed had lived here for years. He didn’t think he could evade them for long. And then there were those creatures. The Larvae.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” Zed asked.
Mason nodded.
“It may not be quick,” Zed continued. “Frank doesn’t break easily. I know from experience. But we need that box if we’re ever going to learn your father’s secrets. We might have a long night ahead of us, and I need to know you’re with me all the way.”
Mason pulled a rusty knife from his belt. His voice sounded tired when he spoke. “I’m with you.”
“Good.” Zed rubbed his chin as if deep in thought. “We’ll start with the feet. It’s amazing how much pain can enter the body through the bottom of the feet.” He looked at Frank. “Unless you want to give us the box. We can look through it together.”
Frank felt his heart speed up. He slipped his hands into his pockets, hoping to find something, anything, to help, to buy him a little time. He was surprised when his hand closed around something metal. The thing his brother had asked him to bring. The Cassandra lock. He’d forgotten he had two of them now. The one he’d brought with him and the one he’d found on the lockbox in Jake’s office.
Something Zed had said moments earlier now came rushing back to him. Your uncle has the strange talent of being able to hide things. And it was true. The locks Frank made could render objects invisible to prying eyes. It was how Will and Christine had hidden the Tools from Zed for so long.
“Sounds like you’ve got a fun evening planned,” Frank said, “but I’ve gotta run.”
The fingers of Frank’s right hand snapped the Cassandra lock shut. As it closed, he concentrated with all his might and imagined the thing it was locking was him. He squeezed it tightly in his fist and willed himself locked away from Zed and Mason.
Zed’s jaw fell open.
“Where is he?” Mason asked. “Where’d he go?”
Frank bent down and carefully picked up the lock box. He backed away slowly. He knew he was invisible to their eyes, but he wasn’t sure if the lock would also mask his sounds.
As Zed and Mason searched for him, Frank slipped into the forest.
CHAPTER FIVE: THE PRICE
1. Sanctuary
Sophie watched the Larva as it gathered itself into a tiny ball and prepared to launch into the air.
“On its lower left side,” she said. “Do you see it?”
Logan gritted her teeth. “Where? Be more specific. What am I looking for?”
“It’s a little bump. You don’t see that?”
Logan glared at her. “If I saw it, you think I would have asked the question? The thing’s covered with hair. How am I supposed to see a bump?”
“Fair point. Okay, you see that spot with slightly less hair?”
Logan squinted at the creature. “I really don’t.”
The thing began to quiver.
Sophie stepped toward it, her knife extended.
“Come on!” Logan yelled, but by that point, Sophie’s knife was already buried to the hilt in the Larva.
Sophie flicked the resulting sludge off her knife and looked back at Logan. The woman was beyond frustrated.
“You said you wouldn’t do that again!” Logan bellowed.
“It was about to leap at you. What was I supposed to do?”
“Maybe let me learn the hard way.”
They were entering their third hour of this. In that time, Sophie had killed a dozen of the Larvae while trying to show Logan their weak spot. The plan was for Sophie to teach Logan and then for Logan to teach the rest of Sanctuary, but the plan wasn’t playing out too well so far. Maybe if she could have pointed out the spot on a dead or immobile Larva, it would have been easier. But the way the things melted when killed wasn’t conducive to a proper learning environment. Whenever Sophie got near a live one, it pounced at her and she was forced to put it down.
“It’s not your fault,” Logan said. “Sorry I snapped. Let’s find the next one.”
They were walking one of the thinner, less well-kept trails and it was the middle of the day, so the Larvae were plentiful. Between the events of the last few days, switching day shift to night shift and back again, and the stress of trying to teach Logan, Sophie was exhausted. But from what she knew of Logan, the woman wouldn’t agree to stop until she’d mastered the strange art of Larva killing.
As they walked, Logan said, “You been to see Carver yet?”
Sophie shook her head. “Not yet. I wasn’t sure if he’d want to see me.”
“Good call. He’s a little torn up right now. Send him a note and then wait a day or two before you go.”
That wasn’t the advice Sophie had expected, but she was quickly learning she never knew what to expect with Logan. Even though the hazing was only a week ago, Sophie found herself starting to like the woman. Given time, they might become good friends.
Frasier had removed Carver’s arm that morning. An amputation was a terrible thing in the best of circumstances; Sophie couldn’t imagine how horrible it must have been in this under-equipped location. Apparently, all talking about the past aside, Frasier was a man who knew his way around traumatic injuries. Carver was expected to pull through.
As a weird side effect of the injury, Sophie had gotten her own cabin. Carver was recovering at the Welcome Wagon, and so she and all her possessions, scant as they might have been, were moved into a vacant cabin. It just so happened to be the one next to Logan’s.
Sophie had laid in bed last night for hours, unable to sleep in spite of her tiredness. She’d stared at the compass with one thought in her mind. Taylor.
Now that she knew she would never see her family or friends again, the idea of dealing with Taylor had grown in her mind from simply something that should be done into something that had to be done. Coming here—putting her parents through losing another child, forfeiting whatever shot at a normal future she might have—it had to mean something. It couldn’t just be a random, freakishly strange series of occurrences. Something good had to come of it.
And the more she thought about it, the more she came to realize that carrying out Taylor’s punishment was the only positive outcome possible. Maybe all of it, Heather dying, Taylor escaping, had happened to put her in this very place at this very time. Maybe she was the only one who could do what needed to be done. She couldn’t get squeamish now.
As she watched the compass, she had seen his position moving throughout the night. It wasn’t surprising considering he was working the night shift, but there was something satisfying about constantly tracking his position. It made her feel like she had one up on him.
One aspect of the compass troubled her. Whenever she wasn’t thinking of something specific she wanted the compass to find, its nee
dle pointed at her. Just like Rodgers had said.
She’d been using the compass for other things, too. She’d found that by thinking of something and pressing the broken clock symbol, the compass would point her to it. It came in handy for everything from finding her way around the strange, shifting landscape of Sanctuary to finding a missing sock.
She could have used the compass to point them to the nearest Larva, but she had no intention of revealing it, not even to Logan. If she had been willing to share the compass, this could have been over with much more quickly. Logan could have held it and seen the Larva’s kill spot as quickly as Sophie had. But it was Sophie’s secret, her edge, and she wasn’t ready to share it with anyone.
“How long you been in Sanctuary?” Sophie asked. Then she quickly added, “That’s an okay question to ask, right?”
Logan revealed a rare smile. “Yeah, it’s fine. Some people are touchier than others about the whole past thing. Me? I couldn’t care less. I’d tell you my story, how I got here, but I wouldn’t want to bore you to death. It’s like I said to you during the hazing. Life starts the moment you arrive here. The rest isn’t really worth talking about. At least not for me.”
Sophie thought about her mundane life in Nashville. The woman did have a point. This was certainly more exciting.
“Nine years,” Logan said.
“Wow,” Sophie said. “And Mason’s what? Eight?”
Logan scowled. “Yes. Jake and I got right to it. Don’t get judgy.”
Sophie held up her hands in mock horror. “Trust me, I’m the last person who should be judging anyone.”
Their eyes scanned the trail for Larvae, but they came up empty.