As her sister lay in the bed screaming, the new Norah climbed the wooden stairs two at a time. Smiling, she made her way to the white door, excited to see what was waiting beyond. She glanced back at her sister, now pale and stunned, and went through the door, slamming it shut behind her.
The chain on her feet was heavy as it carried with it the realization that her freedom had been true, compared to what Amy had endured since birth. It had been her fear of becoming her sister that ultimately led her here. Up the stairs, the click of the two deadbolts and the chair being pushed up under the knob brought about a familiar feeling of guilt and pity. This time however, it was basking with fear as she understood that she was now on the other side of that door. The new Norah was set free. Would her curse destroy the island?
On the bed, the young woman wept loudly into the white duvet and pillows, while a single black spider crawled clumsily to her side.
Chapter 6
The Botanist
October 13th, 2013
Looking upwards, Danny Nolan felt a strong wave of reminiscence well up from deep within. The large trees stood over him in all their majestic power, their branches intertwined in each other, bright colourful leaves echoing the same soft rustling as they had in his youth. His ears were tuned into the birds whistling and the crows cries, while the soft whisper of the distant sea, rolled wave upon wave, just beyond the edge of the dense forest in which he was venturing. His nose caught a hint of the crisp Fall aroma that lingered during the months just before the cold settled on Oakwood Island. In the air there lingered the scent of nature’s decaying bounty. The leaves, moss and plants would wilt in the frigid temperatures overnight, only to be reawakened come morning.
Up and over the uplifted tree roots that sprouted along the trail, he had found his trek this morning much easier than what he remembered it as a child. Back then, during their summer vacations, he had continually been trying to keep up with his parents, older brothers and cousins when they came to Oakwood Island. Though he remembered the trees and their overpowering presence around him, the rest was mostly time spent imagining aliens landing in the forest with their spaceship, or mystical dragons flying overhead. He often wandered off from his family as his imagination led him to find his own wild adventures. He hadn’t really cared about the natural surroundings of the forest and plants until his teen years when he got interested in science, and subsequently studied botany in college. Now employed full-time with a governmental research team, he had spent most of the past few years studying the effects of some recently discovered plant organisms in the Manu rain forest of Peru.
He specialized in plant physiology, and had been praised as one of brightest and most promising in his graduating class. When he moved out of the classroom and into his position on the research team, he quickly realized that being the youngest among a group of established researchers would bring with it a lot of the dirty work. He was treated as an intern or summer student for most of the first year he was on board. It was only after his breakthrough discovery in recent months that he had gained several notches of respect from his team.
Danny had discovered a new strain of a parasitical fungus in the rain forest that could infect ants and alter their behaviour to ensure widespread distribution of its spores. Zombie ants, many of his peers called them. Mindless shells being controlled by spores. The discovery came at the right time in Danny’s career, as he had begun questioning his place on the team. His confidence grew stronger following the praise and recognition he received from this discovery though, and his newfound acceptance with his peers allowed him to feel fulfilled in his role.
This trip to Oakwood Island was a welcomed break from the past six months of intensive research in the remote rainforest. He had returned to the island to attend his Cousin Gertrude’s wedding. The ability to explore on his own, mark his own path without filling out scores of paperwork and data reports was refreshing to say the least. He was in his natural element in nature. For Danny, there was nothing more relaxing.
When he had received word that Gertrude was getting married, he was a bit shocked. Having been such a tomboy growing up, she had bullied her share of kids at the park. Poor Tommy Dawson had been the one that had been at the receiving end of so much of her bullying. As time passed, Gertrude, or Gertie as the family and her friends had nicknamed her, blossomed into a beautiful, vibrant and happy-go-lucky woman, which Tommy Dawson no longer viewed as a threat to run away from, but rather as someone with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. They became a couple soon after completing college and were engaged not long after. The wedding was going to take place in a few days on her parent’s property overlooking the sea. This left plenty of time for Danny to explore the dense forest, the tall cliffs and the coastline below.
He walked for what felt like hours in the forest. When he was a young boy, when time held no real importance to him, his treks seemed never ending. Today he soon realized he’d only ever covered a very short distance as a child, as he trekked on the path leading to the cliffs. He had caught a sense of the wonder of nature, and the majestic aura it created around him. He had looked upward at the tall trees, the Fall air starting to turn their leaves bright shades of red, orange and yellow. Soon they would descend to blanket the dirt trail and the ground. There they would decompose and feed the roots that once fed them. The cycle of life in the forest was as clear as nature could explain it, in its own quiet but wise self.
Danny continued on his way, unsure of where he was heading, as this part of the trail he did not remember from his previous visits, so many years prior. The trail could hardly be considered maintained. It had overgrown plants and branches were scattered everywhere. Some trees had lost limbs and a few covered the narrow path. He was thankful that someone had taken the time to paint markers on some trees so the hikers wouldn’t go off track. It was the only thing that reassured him that he hadn’t in fact wandered off of the trail. Here, the sea sounded very close, waves crashing on the coastline. He figured he’d managed to cross the forest completely. Eventually, Danny came upon the edge of the forest. The contrast was stunning.
In the forest Danny had felt contained, held in by the massive amount of trees and plants. Standing just on the edge of the forest now looking ahead, his breath caught in his throat at the vista before him. The path continued straight ahead, a short distance in tall, yellow, overgrown grass. Danny moved slowly towards the trail, carefully examining the path as he walked, unsure how far out he had before his feet reached the cliff’s edge, a good hundred-foot drop to the jagged and rocky coastline below.
He continued on, and could make out some kind of man-made ledge sticking out of the tall grass a bit ahead. He hurried to the ledge to examine its structure and purpose. As he got closer, he understood that this wasn’t where the trail ended. The ledge had been a lookout point at one time. There were remnants of a viewing device here, the metal stand still jutting out of the base of the wooden ledge in one corner. Enclosed on three sides, the ledge stood out and over the cliff. Danny felt uneasy standing on the ledge, especially when the wind would gust and would make the ledge shake and rattle under his feet. On the left hand side, there was a steep set of wooden stairs leading down to the shoreline. A faded red marker caught Danny’s eye. It was painted on the post of the wooden structure, right next to the stairs. He hesitated for a moment and then leaned over the edge. The sea was crashing on the shore line below. Several large rocks, mostly flat, were sprawled from the cliff down onto the water’s edge. He could see there was a small trail that led away from the stairs. He had never been on this part of the island before. His sense of adventure stronger than his reasoning, he decided to venture down the wooden stairs.
The air was much cooler up here, the sea wind whipping away at the coastline; it chilled him even through his jacket. Danny set his foot on the first step, unsure how solid this structure was. It was obviously old, and hadn’t been maintained.
He descended slowly, the stairs creaking under his feet. He held onto the hand rails on each side, taking care to keep his balance. He counted the stairs as he went down. When he reached twenty he was only about a quarter of the way down. Noticing that a few of the stairs near the bottom were missing, he stopped and wondered if he should go back.
Just as soon as the thought came into his mind, he saw a large black shape swoop up from under the stairs, flying right in front of him. He instinctively raised both hands to his face. The black thing cawed loudly in his ears, flapping its wings; it missed Danny by only a few inches. Danny’s body rocked dangerously forward, his balance offset by the sudden appearance of the large bird. He quickly bent his knees and grabbed hold of the railing, regaining his balance. Falling from this height and down onto the layers of large rocks below would have guaranteed him a front row spot in the morgue.
He looked up in the sky and saw the large black crow perched on the post at the top of the stairs, peering down at him with beady black eyes. He felt a strange sense wash over him, almost an urge to climb back up and to follow the crow. The bird cawed loudly and snapped Danny back into the present. He shrugged off the feeling and continued his descent onto the coastline. A few minutes later he was stepping over the broken stairs, and his feet finally touched down on the slabs of large rocks.
He walked out to the left a bit, where the rocks gave way to a small path, with the red markings on the larger formations. He looked up at the high cliffs overhead, the eroding sides dangerously exposing loose pieces of dirt and rock, which could collapse and crush him at any moment. Danny decided he best hurry along his way. Not knowing exactly how far this path led, he decided it was probably best to backtrack and return up the stairs and back through the forest. It was already late afternoon and he didn’t want to be trekking through the forest in the dark. As he turned around and began retracing his steps back to the stairs, his eyes came upon a large opening on the cliff side. From the direction in which he’d come, he had missed it when he passed by, but now he could make out a definite opening leading into a dark cavern.
Danny took off his backpack and pulled out a flashlight from one of the pockets. He swung the bag onto his back, turned on the flashlight and started to head into the cavern. He was amazed that he had never before seen this natural formation in all his years of visiting Oakwood. The sounds of the sea quickly became muffled once inside. With the flashlight, it looked as if this area of the island had remained untouched. Danny felt excited as he explored the cave. He walked carefully on the damp rocks, being careful not to slip. He was surrounded in darkness except for the glow of his flashlight, which he cast back and forth, up and down, looking at the tall natural walls of the cave. A quick scurrying sound behind him caught his attention. He turned on his heels and shone the light towards the sound. A small white crab quickly scurried away, back towards the sea outside. Just as he was about to turn around and head back something in the ray of his flashlight where the crab had stood caught his eye.
Curious, he walked over to the rocks and bent down at his knees to get a better look. He examined it closely. The rock formation held a few deep crevices, and stemming out from one of the fissures there was a large plant, with several overlapping leaves. The plant’s texture appeared almost flesh-like and brown and yellow moss covered the large leaves from tip to base. At the tip of the leaves, where the moss grew thicker, were several clumps of the fungus. These were undoubtedly the spores building up, ready to be released into the air. Danny peered down lower, to look at the underside of the plant’s leaves, and his first instinct had been right. He recognized the thick yellow slime mold that oozed out from under the plant’s leaves and dripped like a heavy pus onto the cavern floor. A small puddle of murky yellow slime had accumulated on the ground just at Danny’s feet. His eyes grew wide as he recognized the properties of this fungus growing on this strange plant.
Plants of this type didn’t normally thrive in this type of environment. But somehow, on this small island named Oakwood, it had thrived and was even apparently ready to release its spores to ensure its survival. Danny instinctively reached for a pair of latex gloves from his work belt, until he realized that he wasn’t on the job. He checked in his backpack to see what he could work with. He couldn’t let this discovery go by without collecting a sample. With the wedding in a few days, he probably wouldn’t have the time to come back here during this trip. He knew he had to gather some samples though, to prove to his team the need to return here to continue research on this remarkable discovery.
In his cargo pant pockets, he found the few sandwich bags he’d emptied at lunch. They had contained roast beef sandwiches that his aunt Helen had insisted he take with him on his hike. He was delighted she had done so. He turned the bags inside out and emptied as many crumbs as possible. The samples might become contaminated with bits of whole grain bread, Dijon mustard and roast beef, but he knew if he didn’t chance collecting these now, he might never have the approval to return to conduct extensive research on this plant. He could store the samples in the mini-fridge of the motel room where he was staying until he got them to the lab for analysis.
He wore the sandwich bag as a mitten, and carefully scooped up some of the slime from the underside of the plant’s stem. He carefully turned the bag inwards again, the bright pus-like content squishing together in the clear bag. Without noticing the small burst of yellow spores puffing out of one of the larger clumps, he continued on with the second bag. Once it was covering his hand, he delicately removed one of the smaller leaves from the plant. He placed it inside the second bag and closed it tightly. He placed both in his backpack front pocket. As he got up, he saw a few small clippings on the large base of the plant. He bent down closer and from what he could make out in the light of his flashlight, they appeared to be claws and bone fragments of some kind of small rodent or animal. He looked at the plant one last time before turning around and setting out for the coastline again.
Outside, still perched atop the wooden stairs on the edge of the cliff, the large crow cawed loudly and flew off in the direction of the forest.
* * *
Two days later, Danny sat in his motel room trying to get ready for the wedding. His throat had started to hurt the same night he’d returned from the cave. During the walk home, he had felt flush and figured it was the fatigue and the excitement of the discovery. Sitting on the edge of the old motel bed now, he realized he was coming down with something. A fever had awoken him in the middle of the previous night, soaked in sweat. He’d tried to go back to sleep but hardly slept at all. This morning he downed some ibuprofen and had hoped he would feel better as the day went on, but it only got worse.
Danny knew he should have stayed in the motel, but he hadn’t wanted to disappoint his family or his cousin. He forced himself to go to the wedding, which had been a mistake. He was flush and feverish throughout the ceremony, with a throbbing headache. He slipped out the back of the church during the ceremony to take several more ibuprofen. The cool air outside the church felt good and he foolishly decided to go to the reception, but he immediately lost what little bit of appetite he had left. The smell of alcohol at the reception party made him feel like throwing up.
He left the reception early and went straight to bed in his motel room. This time sleep did come easily. However, when Danny woke up in the morning, he struggled to open his eyes. The headache had returned and now compounded all the other symptoms he had the previous night. He managed to drag himself to the washroom to relieve himself and it burned when he urinated and the odour that emanated from his now dark coloured urine was foul. He hung the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, took several more ibuprofen and returned to bed. His return flight home was scheduled for the next day, and the day after that he was to fly to Peru to continue his work in the rainforest. He hoped he could recuperate over the next twenty-four hours and have enough energy for his travels.
The next t
ime Danny woke up he was disoriented as the clock radio showed he’d hardly slept at all, then he realized it was the next morning. He’d been asleep for nearly 24 hours, and despite the sleep it became clear to him that his travel plans would be delayed. He could hardly move his body to get himself out of bed. His eyes burned and his head pounded steadily. His jaw felt sore and stiff and he could hardly swallow.
He glanced over to the mini-fridge and clumsily walked over to it. Sitting on the carpet flooring next to it, he pulled open the door with a weak grip. The light from the small bulb inside pierced his eyes with searing pain, the pressure on his head pounded stronger than before. He wondered if this was what a migraine headache felt like.
He felt for the small bags of samples he’d collected, found them, and took out the cold plastic. The coolness of the bags felt good against his sweaty hands. He placed the first bag, the one with the yellow pus on his forehead, and let out a long sigh as the cold suddenness against his burning skin provided a quick bout of relief. He sat there for a few minutes, legs outstretched and his back against the motel room wall, with one bag in his lap and the other on his forehead. He wondered to himself how he could have gotten so sick when nobody else he’d been in contact with had shown any symptoms.
He looked down to his lap and picked up the bag containing the leaf and the bit of the stem. He brought the bag close to his eyes, straining to focus on the contents. The leaf he’d collected had the moss covering it on one side. He turned the bag over and examined the underside of the leaf. He was stunned to see that on this side, implanted right in the leaf was a small patch of what looked like thick but short fur.
He put the samples back in the fridge and the small part of his mind that wasn’t fighting through the fever and headache wondered if it was possible he’d been infected with this plant and the fungus that grew on it. He wondered if the plant was of the same family as the one he’d studied in Peru, which seemed likely as it held some of the same characteristics. However, that seemed improbable to him as the fungus in Peru had thrived only in the rain forest climate. Though damp and dark, the caves did not hold the optimal temperatures for it to develop and grow.
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