The Forest of Forever (The Soren Chase Series, Book One)

by Rob Blackwell

  It was then that he realized what he had become. He was the Charred Man.

  He wandered through the forest, calling to Edolphus.

  Soren was lost. He knew Bethlehem was nearby but had no sense of where. Walking vaguely in the direction where Edolphus had disappeared, he noticed that the woods in Darisam seemed far more alive than they had in the real world. He heard the sounds of nature everywhere, saw squirrels scampering among the trees and birds flying. The colors were more vibrant. The leaves on the trees were an electric green. He heard birds singing.

  “Edolphus!” Soren shouted. “I need your help!”

  His mind felt fuzzy. He supposed being burned alive was bound to create a few setbacks. But he did have one advantage. He knew Edolphus would find him. The final entries of the journal had been ripped out, but the last one Soren had been able to read had made it clear that Coakley’s son would now be looking for him.

  Almost as if Soren had summoned him, a young man stepped through the trees, holding a woman by the hand. He approached Soren cautiously. He looked a bit older than when Soren had seen him a moment ago. But Soren supposed he was in fact older. Time was different here. The past, present, and future were happening simultaneously. What had been months for Edolphus was no time at all to Soren.

  “Where is she, Edolphus?” Soren asked. “Did you see her?”

  “My father took two women,” Edolphus answered. “I saw him take them just after you ran past me. I think he was bringing them to the village. Is one of them your friend?”

  Soren nodded. He focused on the woman with Edolphus. She had long brown hair and green eyes. He recognized her from police photographs.

  “Alice,” he said—the girl who had been taken when Evan was attacked. Soren and everyone else had assumed she was dead. She looked taken aback.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  Soren smiled and saw Alice wince when he did so. To her, he must look like a grinning black skull.

  “You can call me the Charred Man,” Soren said, pointing to Edolphus. “That’s what he named me in his diary.”

  “Edolphus said you can help us,” Alice said. “He said you’re the only one who can. This place . . . I’ve seen impossible things here.”

  “I’m one of them,” Soren replied. “I should be dead. I . . . I don’t understand what’s happening.”

  Soren’s head was clearing up. He looked horrible, but he was beginning to feel more like himself again. He had a mission to complete. He looked at Edolphus, who was watching him with an unabashedly curious stare.

  “You’re not what I expected,” Edolphus said.

  “I’m more man than demon,” Soren said, wondering if that was actually true. “I need you to take me to Bethlehem, Edolphus. Can you do that?”

  Edolphus shook his head, and for a moment Soren felt angry. After all his father had done, how could he still be loyal to him? But he’d misunderstood Edolphus’s gesture.

  “There are too many,” he said. “They will overwhelm you. You won’t be able to get close to my father. They will kill for him.”

  Soren let out a laugh that turned into a cough. A puff of black smoke emerged from his throat.

  “I guess I’ve had enough pain for one day,” he said.

  “We will need the others,” Edolphus said.

  Soren was momentarily puzzled, confused about who Edolphus was referring to. And then it hit him. There were other lost souls trapped in this place.

  “Yes!” he said, and saw Alice flinch again. “Have you seen them?”

  “What are you two talking about?” Alice asked.

  She eyed Soren with distrust. He couldn’t blame her. He knew he looked like a monster.

  “This place . . . it traps people who cross over,” Soren said. “How much has Edolphus told you?”

  “Enough,” Alice said. “I thought he was crazy at first, but . . . we couldn’t leave. I thought if we kept walking through the forest we would eventually get out, but there’s no end to it. It just doubles back on itself. I could travel in a straight line and end up exactly where I started. I don’t know how that’s possible.”

  “This isn’t Virginia anymore,” Soren said. “When you were taken by Coakley, you were brought somewhere else. I think it’s another dimension, but I’m not exactly sure. It’s small and time seems to move differently here. But we aren’t the only ones trapped here. Have you seen the Indians?”

  Edolphus nodded, but Alice shook her head.

  “Let’s start with them,” Soren said. “If my guess is right, they’ll help us.”

  “I saw them the other night. They appeared to be chasing a boy.”

  Soren shook his head.

  “No, they’re trying to rescue him,” Soren said. “In this place nothing is what it seems. You thought me a devil and your father your savior.”

  “And now your places are reversed,” Edolphus said.

  “What can the Indians do for us?” Alice asked.

  Soren smiled at her again, this time conscious of how unnerving it must look.

  “They’re going to help us save my friend,” he said. “We’re going to attack Bethlehem.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Soren didn’t know how long they searched. It might have been hours, days, or weeks. It could have even been longer. Or shorter—he wasn’t sure.

  The frustrating thing about losing any sense of time was not knowing if it was already too late to save Sara. She might have been murdered months ago. Or she might have been taken just minutes earlier—it was impossible to know.

  Edolphus took the lead, with Alice following close behind. Soren called out for Kael and Owen before realizing it was pointless. The legends about this place always involved something mysterious calling a person’s name. If they heard him shouting, they were apt to run the other direction.

  Yet the tactic succeeded in drawing someone else to them. Just as he had given up calling for Kael, a haggard-looking man with a thick black beard stepped out of the forest. He was dressed in a ratty uniform and held a rifle. He aimed it directly at Soren.

  “Give me one reason I shouldn’t blow your head off,” the man said.

  Soren looked him up and down.

  “You’re Samuel Mitchell,” Soren said.

  The man paused to consider this.

  “That’s not exactly a reason,” he said finally. “And you look like the Devil.”

  He cocked the hammer on his rifle.

  “Do you ever want to leave this place?” Soren asked. “How’s that for a reason?”

  Samuel glanced from Soren to Edolphus.

  “I’ve seen you before,” he said to the latter. “You’re with the white Angels of Death. The same people who killed the Yankees I was traveling with.”

  Edolphus shook his head.

  “I’m not with them,” he said. “Not anymore.”

  “Here’s the deal, Captain Mitchell,” Soren said. “How long do you feel like you’ve been trapped here?”

  Samuel paused again, as if calculating in his head.

  “I reckon two weeks,” he replied.

  “It’s been a lot longer than that,” Soren said. “And you are liable to stay here forever unless you help us.”

  Samuel looked Soren up and down.

  “You don’t exactly look right,” he said.

  “I don’t feel right either,” Soren answered.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I need to save a woman,” Soren replied. “Father Coakley, the leader of what you call the Angels of Death, has her in his village. I’m forming a rescue party. After we get her out, I’ll figure out how to escape this place. So my question is: Are you in?”

  Samuel uncocked the hammer and lowered his gun.

  “Hell, if I can join up with the Yanks, I bet I can stomach working for you,” he said. “How many are we facing?”

  Soren looked at Edolphus.

  “A lot,” Edolphus said. “His congregation has swelled since he b
rought us here. The others who were already here have fallen in line. There’s at least a hundred now. Not all of them go to the forest, but they all follow my father. They’re under the jewel’s spell.”

  Samuel raised his eyebrows.

  “A hundred against the four of us? It’s a good thing I’m from the South. I’m a sucker for lost causes.”

  He said it with a rueful smile, and Soren nodded.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s get moving. We’re burning daylight.”

  They found the Indians and the Boy Scout standing in the forest clearing where Soren had been set on fire. Soren supposed it was technically a different clearing—he had been lit on fire in the real world, not wherever they were now—but it didn’t matter. It looked exactly the same.

  When Soren walked out of the forest, Kael raised his bow and nocked an arrow. Behind him, Mingan, Brian, and Danny raised their bows.

  “Stop right there,” Kael said.

  Soren held up his hands as his companions emerged behind him. Kael looked at the four of them and then back at Soren.

  “It’s okay, Kael,” Soren said.

  “How the hell do you know my name?” Kael asked.

  Soren didn’t respond but just stared at him. He saw an expression between pity and disgust dawn on Kael’s face.

  “Holy shit. Is that you, Soren?” he asked. “What the fuck happened?”

  Kael and the other Indians lowered their bows.

  “I’ll explain later,” Soren said. “But I need your help. Actually, we can all help each other.”

  “He said the Charred Man would arrive,” Kael said, and nodded toward the kid in the Boy Scout uniform. “He said he would offer to help us. You’re the Charred Man?”

  Soren ignored the question, looking at the kid and noticing how skinny and exhausted he seemed. He looked even worse than when Soren had spotted him in the forest a week ago.

  “Owen Leggett,” Soren said. “I am very pleased to see you. Your dad sent me to find you and bring you home.”

  He stuck out a hand to shake Owen’s and then pulled it back. It looked awful, although unless Soren was mistaken, he saw pink spots beneath the scorched flesh. Somehow he was growing new skin.

  “We tracked him down,” Kael said. “I saw him wander by and I knew who he must be. I thought he would vanish on us, but he hasn’t.”

  “That’s because you’re already where he vanished to, Kael,” Soren said. “What happened to you last night?”

  “Last night? We’ve been here for weeks, dude,” Kael said.

  “From what I can tell, time is indistinct here,” Soren said. “It’s hard to explain.”

  “I’m not really sure,” Kael replied. “We were paddling back and it was like we hit a wall. The current forced us to shore and then . . . then we couldn’t leave. We’ve been wandering around trying to find a way out.”

  “That’s just what Owen’s been doing,” Soren said. “Isn’t it?”

  Owen nodded. Now that he could see him up close, it was easier to notice the resemblance to his father.

  “And waiting for you,” Owen said. “I’ve seen you in the forest, always running away. You were on fire. I was scared of you at first, but . . . then I dreamed you would help us.”

  “Your father has never given up looking for you,” Soren said.

  That was all it took for the boy to start crying. Soren made a move to comfort him, but Kael shook his head and hugged Owen instead.

  “It’s okay, kid,” Kael said. “We’ll help you find your way out, I promise.”

  “Here’s the plan,” Soren said. “I’m sure you all know Father Coakley. He’s taken a friend of mine.”

  “Annika?” Kael asked.

  “No,” Soren said. “He has her, too, but it turns out we’re not exactly friends. She’s the one who got me trapped in this place. And set me on fire.”

  The look on Kael’s face would have been comical in any other setting.

  “Damn, dude,” he said. “That’s one seriously pissed-off ex.”

  “In a manner of speaking, that’s exactly what she is,” Soren said. “She was working for the Association the entire time, Kael. I think I understand its plan now. One part of it involved sending me here.”

  “Why?” Kael asked.

  “It’s complicated,” Soren said. “But they want the gem. It’s the key to this place. Whoever controls it can open the doorway to Darisam, a place without time.”

  Edolphus started nodding.

  “My father brought the village inside here,” he said. “We didn’t know, of course. But he . . . sacrificed someone, a supposed sinner, and we ended up here. We could never leave. We rebuilt the town as it was before. It took months or maybe longer. I’m not sure.”

  “I suspect the Association has been trying to force its way in for some time,” Soren said. “But it’s been unable to enter. Without the gem, they need Coakley to open the door from the other side. Somehow they knew that when Annika tried to kill me, he would take us back with them. The Association must believe I’ll get the gem and return it to the real world—where they can take it from me.”

  “Why in the world would they think you’ll go along with that plan?” Kael asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Soren said. “But the entire investigation was a trap set specifically for me. Lighting me on fire was part of their plan. Meredith—sorry, Annika to you—said it was the Association’s idea, not hers. They wanted me to be the Charred Man.”

  “How did they even know who that is?” Edolphus asked.

  “Your journal,” Soren replied. “You wrote down everything that happened here.”

  “I still don’t get it,” Kael said. “They want the gem so they can get into this place, wherever we are. Why?”

  “It’s unique,” Soren said. “Think of it as another universe, a place where time as we know it ceases to exist.”

  “Sure, but so what? We came here and all we want now is to get out. It’s not like it’s some paradise or something. What are they going to do with it?”

  “I don’t know,” Soren replied. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

  “And how hard can it be to end up here anyway?” Kael asked. “We did and we weren’t even trying. It’s not like we walked through some magical door or something.”

  Soren had been turning this question over in his mind. He had struggled to comprehend what this place was, but something had changed since he arrived here. Even as the fire had burned away his flesh, he felt some strange connection to the place that had given him insight into it.

  He now understood how and why people were here. Some ended up here accidentally, like Kael and Owen. Others were brought by force, like Captain Mitchell. But both groups had one thing in common—sin.

  Alice had been having an affair with Evan, and Soren suspected Melissa and Gavin had been having one, too. He didn’t know which couple triggered it, but it wasn’t so much the affair as the sin underlying it: lust. It allowed Coakley to come into the real world, kill Melissa and Gavin, and take Alice captive.

  Soren turned his gaze to Samuel, who was brought here by Union soldiers. They were after treasure, but Soren suspected Samuel wanted it, too. His sin was greed.

  “What?” Samuel asked, looking nervous. “Why are you looking at me? I didn’t open no doorway.”

  “When Coakley and his acolytes attacked you, did they touch you?” Soren asked.

  The change of subject appeared to catch Samuel off guard.

  “A few of the buggers got their hands on me, tried to drag me down to the ground, and put a knife through my chest,” he said. “But I got the better of them. You bet I did.”

  Soren inadvertently smiled, and he saw Samuel wince. Glen had teased Soren about moving from one theory to the next, but his mental fog had lifted and everything was becoming clearer.

  Sin—purposeful, unrepentant sin—allowed Coakley to come into the real world from Darisam. Lust, greed, murder—all taking place in Reapoke Fo
rest—gave Coakley the opportunity to come through, likely for only a limited time. Sometimes he killed the sinner, but other times he kidnapped them instead.

  Soren suspected whether they stayed here was based on whether Coakley’s followers were able to touch a target. Alice was here because the acolytes had taken her captive. But when they tried to grab Evan, their hands went right through him. They had already used their limited window in the real world to kill Gavin and Melissa. Evan could see them, but they were effectively ghosts. They couldn’t touch him, and he escaped. Samuel would have also made it out, but the acolytes had grabbed him briefly. He fought them off, but it left him stranded here.

  “Why does that matter?” Kael asked. “What do you know?”

  Soren turned his attention to the Chickahominy. Their circumstances were different. Samuel and Alice were here by force, taken by Coakley, but that wasn’t true of Kael and his friends.

  Yet Kael had also committed a sin, or at least the Indian believed he had. Soren remembered Kael’s words when they were escaping from the attack on the Association’s warehouse. “I had to kill a couple guards earlier,” he had said.

  Soren had seen the guilt written all over his face. Kael felt bad about what he’d done, even if it had been in self-defense.

  Soren looked over at Owen, and the boy seemed to shrink away.

  “I know why they’re here,” Soren said. “But I can’t explain you. What happened the night you were stranded?”

  The boy told the story Soren already knew, about the other Scout who picked on him and how he had left him here. When he got to the end, he was crying.

  “I wanted him to die,” Owen said. “When I realized I was stuck, I hated him so much I wished God would strike him dead. I even threw some rocks at him.”

  Kael put a protective arm around the boy and looked at Soren reproachfully. Soren only nodded.

  “What’s going on?” Kael asked.

  “If you think of Darisam as another universe, sin is the gravity that holds it together,” Soren said. “Some are taken by Coakley because they do not repent for the sin they commit. Others find themselves pulled in because of guilt over a perceived sin. Either way, once you’re here, you can’t go back.”