by P. T. Hylton
He remembered the crush he’d had on her and how she’d been the first to take him into the woods in the daytime. And he remembered the sharp, bitter pain in his heart when he learned she’d killed Dad. When he realized she’d betrayed them all.
And now Uncle Frank, the first blood relation he’d seen in over fifty years, had to die in order for Zed to make things right.
But they hadn’t considered the possibility Uncle Frank would be able to hide not only physical objects, but himself, too. Impossibly, he even managed to hide from Mason’s compass. The needle spun and wobbled with uncertainty when Mason tried to make it locate Uncle Frank.
The compass had never failed him before and its inability to locate Frank had his stomach in knots.
He looked up toward the tree to his right, the one he thought of as the King’s Crossing tree, and the one ahead of him, the Bluff Haven tree. These trees had been in the same position for days now. Things weren’t moving around as quickly as they used to. Not nearly as quickly as they had when he was a boy.
He glanced down at the compass. Almost there.
He walked fifty more feet to the base of the Bluff Haven tree. He pushed aside the ferns and opened the chest. He had similar caches hidden throughout the woods. With Larvae, you could never be too careful. He made sure he always knew the location of the closest chest.
He looked at the contents of the chest and considered his options. He’d need the .38. He strapped the pistol to his side.
With his gear in place and some extra ammo in his pocket, he closed the chest.
He was ready.
He didn’t like what he had to do. He’d rather have gotten to know Frank a little more. There were so many things he would have loved to ask him. But Zed needed Mason to do his duty.
Frank was blood, but Zed was family.
A scream rang out through the forest, and Mason knew it was Uncle Frank. He turned and ran in the direction of the noise.
2.
Frank screamed as the creature buried itself in the flesh of his forearm. It hit hard and stuck there like a dart thrown into a dartboard. He reeled, and his back slammed into the broad trunk of the tree behind him. He let out a groan as the creature squirmed, digging its quills deeper into him.
He shook his arm hard, trying to dislodge the Larva, but he only succeeded in increasing the pain tenfold. Waves of agony raced up his arm. He forced himself to be still, and he took a deep breath. Then, twisting it so the creature was against the ground, he slammed his foot against the Larva and pulled his arm away hard. It detached with a wet sound.
Frank yelled in frustration as blood poured from his arm. The creature compressed itself, preparing to launch back at him. He staggered to his right, hoping to duck around the tree.
A figure raced out of the undergrowth toward him. Mason.
The man held a pistol in his hand. Ignoring Frank, he stopped three feet from the creature, took a moment to aim, and fired. The gunshot echoed off the trees and bounced around in Frank’s head. The Larva deflated and dissolved into sludge.
“You have no idea how difficult that shot was.” Mason grinned at Frank. “That’s two you owe me.”
Frank was no longer holding the Cassandra lock. He cursed silently. He must have dropped it during the struggle. His eyes scanned the ground and he saw a flash of metal near Mason’s right foot.
Mason squinted at Frank’s arm. “Geez, it got you pretty good. I’ve got medical supplies back at the cabin. Had to learn to patch myself up. I’m not bad at it, if I do say so.”
Frank cradled his injured left arm. The amount of blood pouring out of it was alarming. Both his hands were slick with the stuff now.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mason. Not the way you’ve taken up with Zed.”
Anger flashed across Mason’s face. “You’re mad I took up with Zed? Does that offend your delicate sensibilities? I was a child. He took care of me. What would you have done?”
Frank took a step back. He didn’t like the way Mason was waving that gun around.
“I don’t blame you,” Frank said. “You did what you needed to do to survive. But things are different now. I’m gonna find us a way out of here.”
Mason chuckled. “I met you like twelve hours ago. I’ve lived here my whole life and you think you can just find a way out? If it was possible, I would have found it. Or Zed would have.”
“I found the box. How long were you looking for that?” He let the question hang in the air a moment before continuing. “Look, I get it. I’m just some guy you met a few hours ago. But I’m asking for your trust. Family’s important to me. That’s why I came here in the first place. And I’m good at finding my way out of these situations. I’ve done it before.”
Mason shook his head. “You’ve never been here before.”
“No, but I was in the Away. Zed sent me there. And he said it was impossible to escape. But I did it.”
Mason paused for a moment and then shook his head “No. You don’t know what it’s like here.”
Frank smiled weakly and held up his shredded arm. “I’m learning pretty quickly. Look, Mason, I need your help here. Turn around and walk away. You never saw me. I promise I won’t leave this place without you. I’ll find a way out, and I’ll come get you. We’ll leave together.”
A scene flashed through Frank’s mind: introducing Mason to the family back in Rook Mountain. Christine, this is your sixty-year-old stepson. He didn’t even want to figure out what Mason’s relation to Will would be.
“That won’t work,” Mason said. “Zed wants you dead, but listen. I think I can talk him out of it. Let me take you back to the cabin. I’ll see to your arm and we’ll talk about Zed.”
“I’m not going back there, Mason. That man wants to torture me, and I’ve experienced his brand of torture before. I didn’t much like it.”
Mason raised his gun. “Then I have to kill you.”
Frank grimaced. “How do you think Zed’s gonna feel when he finds out you killed me before you found out where I hid the box?”
“Fine. I won’t kill you yet. I’ll shoot you somewhere painful. Like the kneecap.”
“And then what? Carry me back to the cabin? See, the only way you can get me there is if I come willingly. And that ain’t happening.”
Mason sighed. “You’re starting to remind me more of my dad.”
Frank nodded toward the gun, still pointed at him. “So are you. He was a stubborn son of a bitch, wasn’t he?”
Looking at Mason, with his cold eyes and his ragged clothes, Frank couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. If what he’d said was true, he’d grown up alone except for occasional visits from a madman. What must that have been like? Frank had experienced a taste of something similar when he’d been in the Away with the Unfeathered and the Ones Who Sing, but at least he’d been an adult. To experience all that isolation, the constant threat of violence, as a child must have been horrible. And to have lost his family, too? Mason surely knew more about fear and grief than Frank ever would.
A stab of pain shot through Frank’s arm and he cried out.
Mason shook his head, his face drawn with what looked like genuine concern. “Please. Let me help you.”
“You heard what Zed said earlier about torture. The best way to help me now is to leave.”
Mason’s face hardened. “Fine. Then we wait.”
“For what?”
“For Zed to arrive. Or for you to bleed out. Whichever happens first.”
“Really? And how’s Zed gonna find us?”
“This is his place. He won’t have much trouble in that regard.” He looked at his compass and smiled. “It won’t be long now. I asked the compass to locate him for us. The needle ain’t moving, so he’s either standing still or heading straight for us. And Zed doesn’t stand still. Not when there’s work to do.”
While Mason was speaking, Frank noticed a dark shape on a branch behind Mason. It was one of the Larvae.
Frank ra
n a hand through his hair, considering the risk involved. He didn’t want anyone to die. He fully intended to keep his promise to find a way out of here, and he intended to take Mason with him. But that couldn’t happen if he was being slowly sliced and diced by Zed, or, worse yet, sent back to the Away. He had to get out of here, risk or no. For his sake and for Mason’s.
Frank took a deep breath and began to whistle.
Just like before, the Larva reacted to the whistle like it was being zapped with a kiloton of electricity.
“What the hell?” Mason asked. The creature contracted one final time and launched itself into the air. It rose in a high arch unlike anything Frank had seen the creatures do before. Mason glanced at Frank, then turned his gaze upward toward the creature. His eyes grew wide. As it descended, he flung himself backwards.
But it wasn’t enough. The Larva buried itself in his shoulder. Mason released a guttural howl of pain, but he didn’t stop moving. He pulled a hunting knife out of his belt and brought it up hard, stabbing the creature.
It may have been Frank’s imagination, but he could have sworn he heard a tiny squeal as the knife pierced the Larva.
It all happened fast, but it was enough time for Frank to act. He dove at the ground and scooped up the Cassandra lock. He squeezed it in his hand and willed himself invisible to Mason.
Mason yanked out the knife and the remains of the creature dripped off his shoulder. “Uncle Frank! Don’t do this!”
Frank couldn’t wait any longer. He planted his feet and delivered an uppercut that had all his weight behind it.
Mason careened backwards and fell to the ground.
Frank put his foot on his nephew’s chest, pushing his body flat. Then he leaned down and yanked the gun away. He paused for a moment, then took the compass out of the stunned man’s other hand.
Mason screamed in frustration.
Frank picked up the lock box.
“You’ll never survive,” Mason said. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to do what I just did? You’ll never figure out exactly where to hit them.”
Frank backed away, resisting the urge to respond.
“I tried to help you.” Mason’s voice came in a breathy moan. “Whatever happens next, don’t forget I tried to help you!”
Frank staggered away, deeper into the forest. He didn’t dare stop for fear of the Larvae, but he stuck the gun in his belt and the compass in his pocket and pulled off his shirt. He wrapped it around his injured arm as tightly as he could, hoping it would be enough to stop the bleeding.
When he was confident he’d secured the shirt, he pulled out the compass. He gripped tightly, pressed the broken clock symbol, and thought, Safety. Take me to safety.
To his relief, the needle spun immediately.
He followed the direction of the compass for ten minutes until he reached a cabin. The exterior was almost hidden with ferns and moss. It looked a lot like Mason’s except for the foliage.
He cleared the overgrowth away from the door and went inside.
It was musty and dim in there, but it was empty. He carefully searched the house until he was confident there were no Larvae inside. Then he found a spot where plenty of light was coming through a window. He took the lock off the box and pulled out the book.
His heart sank when he saw the text in the book was written in a strange language he couldn’t identify, an odd combination of hieroglyphics and tiny slanted scribbles.
There has to be something in here that can tell me about this place, he thought. The compass was still in his other hand, and the needle spun wildly at the thought.
He looked at the compass for a moment and then began turning pages. He was nearly to the end before the needle began to slow and finally stopped.
The words on the page were handwritten in a sloppy, hurried cursive. But it was English. And it was legible.
Frank began to read.
CHAPTER SEVEN: ALWAYS SPINNING
1. Sanctuary
Sophie gripped Mason’s small hand in her own and stormed down the trail, so angry she could hardly see straight. The message on the Rook Mountain tree—Don’t trust them Sophie—was gone. As if it had never been there.
The moment she saw the pristine, unmarred bark of the Rook Mountain tree, she’d known she’d been incredibly stupid, and that her stupidity and the return of a recently banished person to Rook Mountain were not unrelated.
All the messages. They’d been, what? Tricks? A way to make a naive woman follow orders?
All this time, she’d considered herself so smart. She’d thought she knew what was best. But now she knew the truth. She’d been used.
And below anger there was something else. The sinking feeling that not only had she been tricked, but that the trickery had resulted in something awful. That her actions had brought about consequences she didn’t want to think about.
Mason was quiet, his wide eyes fixed on her face. For that, she was grateful. She needed to think. The path back to Jake’s house was blissfully free of Larvae but also cruelly short.
They rounded the bend into the clearing and nearly collided with Logan. She dropped to her knees when she saw Mason, her face awash with relief. She pulled him into a tight hug, and the boy let out a surprised squeak.
Logan looked up at Sophie. “Thank you. I was so worried.”
Sophie nodded. “Where’s Jake? I need to talk to him.”
Logan nodded toward the house. “There’s a bunch of them up there. Planning what to do. This is jacked up, Sophie. I don’t know what caused this, but I’ve never seen Jake this scared. He’s all panicked. I think we have to prepare for the worst.”
“What’s the worst?” Sophie asked.
“Mommy,” Mason interrupted. “Sophie took me into the woods. She killed a Larva right in front of me. It was so cool!”
Logan’s eyes narrowed. “You took my son into the woods? During the day?”
Sophie withered under Logan’s accusatory gaze. It was almost more than she could handle right now. Besides, she didn’t have time for this.
“I’m really sorry,” Sophie said. “I need to see Jake now.”
“Wait,” Logan yelled as Sophie brushed past her, but Sophie ignored her and kept moving.
There were eight of them in the living room when Sophie arrived. Jake and Nate were huddled close together in the corner, deep in conversation while the rest of the group chatted nervously among themselves. There was Leonard. And Frasier. And Gail and Evan, who Sophie thought might be a couple, but she’d never gotten around to asking. And another man whose name she couldn’t remember. And Taylor. Of course, Taylor would be there.
Sophie scurried through the group towards Jake.
“Hey, we need to talk,” she said.
He glanced up at her. “Good. Glad you’re here. Most of us haven’t actually killed Larva. We’re gonna need you.”
“Yeah, before that though, there’s something we need to discuss.”
Jake smiled a nervous smile. “I agree. That’s why we’re all here.” He looked at the group. “I know some of you have seen some scary things in the past couple hours. And those of you who haven’t have at least heard about them.”
“Is it true Vance came back?” Gail asked.
“Yes, it is. And not just him. All of them. All the banished.”
A terrible moan rolled through the group. Even though some of them had seen it, it hadn’t been real until they heard their leader confirm it in his own voice. Sophie felt a cold lump in her stomach. This was all her doing.
“They were wandering around Sanctuary,” Jake continued. “They seemed confused. Then, a few minutes ago, they wandered back into the woods.”
The door opened, and Sophie saw Logan and Mason squeeze into the room.
“There are still a lot of questions,” Jake continued. “Let me tell you what we know. In the last few hours, someone broke into my office and stole the book. Then this person used it to reverse all the banishments.”
&nb
sp; “Why would someone do that?” Evan asked.
“That’s a good question,” Jake said. “A better one is how they did it. They would have had to find a way into my locked office. But it’s even more troubling that they knew how to use the book. It took me years to figure out how it worked. And they released all those people in one fell swoop. That isn’t an easy task. It would take a deep understanding of the book.”
Logan’s voice came from the doorway. “Look, I don’t want to minimize anything, but what are we talking about here? Twelve people? And from what I hear, they aren’t armed. They’re wandering around the woods naked. Let’s round them up.”
A murmur of approval ran through the group.
“Two things about that,” Jake said. “First, and less importantly, these people didn’t come back right. Nate saw Vance eating handfuls of dirt. We don’t know what they’re capable of. We have to be cautious.”
Logan said, “Seems to me their craziness could be a help rather than a hindrance. If they’re eating dirt, it should be easy to outsmart them.”
“There is a bigger problem,” Jake said. “I banished one person most of you don’t know about. To fully understand how dangerous he is and how careful we need to be, I need to do something I probably should have done a long time ago. I need to tell you about my past.”
So he did. He told them about Rook Mountain, and about the Tools. He told them about the Unfeathered and about the mirror. But mostly he told them about Zed. About the man who couldn’t be killed and wouldn’t be stopped. The man who always wore a smile as he twisted minds and manipulated people into hurting each other.
To Sophie, some of it was familiar. She’d read the reports along with everyone else when Rook Mountain had changed that day in March. But some of it was new. Like his explanation of the Tools. Sophie felt the metal of the compass growing colder in her pocket as Jake talked about the powerful objects with the broken clock symbol and about the terrible things Zed had done to acquire them.