The Forbidden Trilogy (67 page)

Lucy ignored him.

"Anyway," he continued, "where are you
leading us, my—"

Lucy shushed him and pushed aside a curtain of weeping
willow branches, though some of them appeared to move by themselves, and
revealed the biggest weeping willow Lucy had ever seen. It sat in the center of
a meadow that was surrounded by clear water and covered in flowers. A patch of
dirt created a path to the tree.

Something landed on Lucy's hand. A large, beautiful firefly
glowed bright yellow, like a mini sun. More of them floated in the sky,
illuminating the mist that shrouded this place in mystery and magic.

Hunter took Lucy's hand, and the firefly flew off, leaving a
smudge of glowing light on her skin. He ran his thumb over the spot, as
mesmerized by it all as she was.

Through the darkening leaves, the bugs flew and mist
gathered, creating the effect of floating lights in a magical garden.

In a whisper that only Hunter could hear, Lucy said,
"Are we dreaming? This place is amazing."

"Lucy
...
Lucy...."
The voice in her
head returned, familiar and deep. "Hunter, do you hear that? Someone
calling my name?"

He shook his head, his brow wrinkled in concern.

She led him down the trail, and Luke followed. The voice
seemed to come from the tree.

Lucy crept slowly along the dirt path, fireflies still
hovering around her. Beside her, large, colorful fish in greens and reds jumped
in the water and splashed her as if playing.

Luke lagged behind, and not because of his ankle.

He's been lagging behind ever since we came to this
island.

His voice startled the fireflies around her. "You sure
about this, Luce?"

Hunter squeezed her hand, a silent sign that he believed in
her, even if her brother didn't.

She continued forward without replying. As she reached the
long branches of the weeping willow, the fireflies surrounded the tree. She
pushed through the branches, though once again most of them moved by
themselves.

Lucy felt like she'd entered a secret world. A few stones
sat by the trunk, and massive roots pushed through the earth in places.
Beautiful flowers grew from the branches and swayed as if to silent music.

She walked closer, needing to see the trunk. The bark formed
some kind of pattern, something she should recognize. Then the pattern moved
and she realized it wasn't carved into the tree, it was growing out of the
tree—the same color as the bark. She traced the contours of it with her mind,
playing connect the dots as she did as a child. A head... arms... a body...
and....

Oh my God.
Lucy and Hunter gasped at the same time.

"Lucy," the voice whispered, this time out loud.
"You have found me."

The face in the bark moved, and opened its eyes.

Hunter pointed his sub-machine gun at the tree, but Lucy
stopped him. "Wait."

The tree's mouth moved as it talked. "It's been a long
time. When I first felt you on the island, I couldn't believe it. But it's you.
You're here."

Lucy studied the face. The hawk nose and twitch above the
left eyebrow—harder to see when carved into bark, but still there. The face,
the voice... and he knew Lucy.

It all came together in a flash. "Mr. Krevner?"

"Yes, it's me and," Mr. K looked up at the tree he
was attached to, "a little more."

Lucy could barely process this. "What happened?"

Mr. K hesitated. "After Sam went on assignment, Rent-A-Kid
reassigned me to a new facility. I refused to go, so they bagged me during the
night, dragged me out to a helicopter and brought me here. Or near here. I
became one of their—"

Luke, who had just now caught up, pushed through the
branches and stopped. "What is that?"

"Look at him, Luke. Look closely."

Luke studied the tree as carefully as she had, and his eyes
popped open. "Mr. K?"

"It's good to see you, Luke."

Luke stepped forward and stood next to Lucy. "What
happened?"

Mr. K sighed, an exaggerated movement for a tree. "It's
a long story."

Luke pushed for more information. "I bet, but
how—"

"No," Lucy interrupted. Talk of the past—a past
rather forgotten—made for a solemn reunion. "Not right now." She
turned back to Mr. K. "It's good to see you."

Mr. K nodded and smiled.

Hunter kept his gun lowered, but ready. "So, anyone
want to fill me in here?"

Lucy faced Hunter. "Mr. K was a teacher at our old
school, and our best friend's mentor, actually. While Sam was away on
assignment, someone burned down the art studio, destroying all her art, and Mr.
K disappeared. Our headmaster said he quit, but I could tell he was
lying."

She looked back at Mr. K. "We thought you were dead.
The doctor who experimented on Sam said he killed you. It broke her heart. If
it's any consolation, we had a lovely memorial in your honor."

Mr. K frowned. "I might as well be dead. But that's
neither here nor there. I'm glad I wasn't forgotten, and I'm so sorry to hear
about Sam's work. I didn't know that. That last painting she created was the
finest piece I've ever seen. Tell her I said so. And tell her to never give up
on her art. She's a genius."

Tears filled Lucy's eyes, but she nodded. She feared Mr. K's
words would open up an old wound in Sam, but maybe it would also help heal it.

Mr. K cleared his throat and changed the subject. "So,
tell me. How did you get down here?"

Hunter pointed at Lucy. "She saw a shiny bug."

She smacked his shoulder. "Hey!"

"Then," added Luke, "after said bug chased
us, she made us jump off a cliff."

Mr. K looked confused. "So let me get this straight.
You guys ran away from a tiny bug, and decided to jump off a cliff, in order to
avoid this creature?"

All three of them fidgeted in embarrassment and spoke at
once, "Oh no." "It was a big bug." "Huge."
"Enormous." "As big as... well, almost as big as you."

Mr. K chuckled. "Ah, the beetles. They wander this
place as well. I would not bother them again, for they'll remember you."

Lucy gritted her teeth. "Bugs can remember people? They
won't come hunting for me, will they?"

Luke shook his head. "Not usually."

"As you saw, these are no normal creatures." Mr. K
closed his eyes for a moment. "But they will leave you in peace, if you do
the same."

Lucy rubbed her chin. "But, if you're... stuck here
like this, how do you know so much about the beetles?"

Mr. K rustled his leaves. "The same way you know when
someone's looking at you. The same way you can feel when someone's dragging
your energy down." He looked at Luke, then back at Lucy. "We're all
interconnected. Though, I suppose physically, I'm connected more than
most."

He wiggled his legs that flowed into the tree. A gentle
breeze blew through his branches and a look of peace settled on Mr. K's barky
face.

Lucy couldn't imagine being trapped like that, unable to move.
"Does it hurt?"

"At first it did, but now, not much. I think most of
the pain is phantom pain, from thinking it should hurt because I can't walk.
But really, I'm so fused into the tree that I've become the tree in many
ways."

"You were the voice in my head," Lucy said.
"You told me to wake up when Luke needed me."

"Yes. I thought you earned that hint."

Hunter looked around. "Speaking of hints, do you have
any idea where we are?"

"In a valley at the center of the island."

"A valley? That's great. How do we get out?"

"You don't."

Hunter shook his head. "There's no way out?"

"There's a way out," said Mr. K.

"Great. What is it?"

"I'm not telling you."

Hunter grabbed his head, sighed, turned around and mumbled.
"Great. The tree is telling me it won't tell me something. I'm talking to
a tree, and it won't talk. Man, I'm going crazy." He walked out, past the
branches.

Lucy wanted to follow him, but needed to find out more from
Mr. K. "Why won't you tell us?"

"Because it wouldn't do you any good. If you're going
to find the way the out, you'll do it yourself."

Okay,
so
not helpful.
Lucy had liked Mr. K as
a teacher, but even then he could be cryptic. Looks like he hadn't changed that
much, after all. "Any tips?"

Mr. K paused to think about it. "Yes. Take it easy. You
three have been through some crazy things these past few days. Have a break.
Clear your minds. That sort of thing."

"Okay then." Luke turned and hobbled out, avoiding
eye contact with Lucy. "I'll go set up camp."

Mr. K called out, "Don't you start any fires near me,
young man, or I'll whip you with my branches."

Lucy chuckled. "I should probably go help them."

"Yes. But first, how's Sam been?"

"Um... She's been good. She just had a baby."

"Really? I did not see that coming."

No," Lucy agreed, "none of us did. They used
her—Rent-A-Kid used her—but she's fine now. We all escaped. So I understand
what it's like to be used and experimented on. Some of it, at least."

She stepped closer to Mr. K and almost reached out to touch
him, but stopped herself. The act felt too intimate, too violating.

Mr. K noticed and nodded. "Thank you. We'll talk more
about my story later. But for now, why'd you insist on climbing onto that
log?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. It felt like the right
thing to do."

"Ah. Instincts are a wonderful thing. I'd like you to
do something for me, Lucy."

She shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. "Okay. Sure."

"I want you to sit down."

She found a rock near Mr. K, but asked before sitting on it.
"Is this okay?"

"Yeah, it's okay."

She sat down.

"Now, just sit still for a while."

"How much of a while?"

"Two minutes."

"Okay."
That's hardly anything. Easy peasy.
She stilled herself.

"Close your eyes."

Lucy did.

"Now relax."

She released the tension in her muscles and breathed deeply.
I can totally sit still. Not a problem.
Time passed slowly, and her body
twitched, but she forced it still. Her nose itched, and she tried to ignore it,
but it consumed her whole attention. She forced herself to focus on something
else—the breeze through the trees, the smell of the flowers. Her mind spun in
circles, looking for anything to grab onto for a distraction. Her body, bored
from inactivity, tried to rebel, but she wrestled it under control.

Mr. K's deep voice broke through her thoughts. "You're
holding your breath."

Oh, right.
Lucy exhaled and inhaled, reminding
herself not to stop.
How much longer?
She started counting in her head,
but she didn't know how long she'd already been sitting there, so she didn't
know how long to count.
Has it been two minutes yet?
She opened her eyes
a little bit, to peek at Mr. K, but something else had grabbed his attention.

She finally counted to two minutes, which meant she'd been
sitting still for even longer than two minutes. "Okay. That's been two
minutes, right?"

Mr. K chuckled. "I didn't realize we started counting.
At what point were you sitting still?"

"What? That whole time I—"

"Lucy, you fidgeted like a schoolgirl whispering in
class. Your thoughts blared like a noisy trumpet. Do you think that's
still?"

She harrumphed and crossed her arms, knowing she looked like
a petulant two-year-old, but not caring. "No. I guess not."
Stupid
stillness.
"I'll try again."

Luke called out from the valley. "Lucy, we could really
use your help with camp."

She jumped up, grateful for an excuse to move around, be
active. "I gotta go help. I'll see you soon, Mr. K."

"I'll be here. Not going anywhere." He chuckled at
his own comment, but it was laced with sadness.

Lucy ducked out, eager to escape his presence.
But he's
everywhere, isn't he?
She'd find a way to conquer that whole sitting still
thing, just as soon as she found a way out of this valley.

I sat in the kitchen with Father Patrick, Bernard and
Darren. Susie had gone to tend to multiple students who'd woken up with
headaches. I tried to feel bad that I'd hurt my friends, scared that I could
have destroyed their minds if Susie hadn't calmed me and encouraged me to let
go, but I only felt emptiness and fear—a deep, clawing, painful, gut-wrenching
fear that felt like it would rip me in two.

I'd showered off Mrs. Beaumont's blood and dressed in clean
clothes, going through the motions as my mind spun, trying to piece together
the puzzle of this night.

"Are you sure you heard Drake?" Bernard's kind
eyes drooped with fatigue. "Stress can play tricks on us, make us think
things that aren't real."

I sighed. "Yes, it was Drake, I'm sure of it. He came
to me while I was showering and said my father, Steele, is behind Ana's
kidnapping. But Steele had to be working with someone here, so I need to
interview everyone immediately, starting with Mary."

Darren rested his hand on mine, then pulled it away. Ever
since Drake had contacted me, there'd been an awkward gap between us that
probably wouldn't go away. Drake had always stood between us, but now he
presented a visceral reality.

He was coming to Washington, and he'd help me get our
daughter back. Maybe then we could be a real family—a simple life with Drake
and Ana. It seemed the stuff of fantasy, based in a reality that didn't exist,
and maybe couldn't exist.

"Drake doesn't know anything?" Darren loved Ana.
He'd been doing little things for her since she was born, and it occurred to me
that he probably thought we could be together, given time. Was his heart
breaking too? Would any of us ever find happiness?