Another sharp turn pushed me into the door, Elsie squishing me from the other side. We untangled ourselves, laughing as we did so, and I began to wonder if Mark was going a little overboard.

"Whoa, easy!" Bryan exclaimed from the front seat. I saw Mark smirk in the mirror, but he slowed down anyways. He got over himself and returned to our conversation.

"So Elsie owned the night, huh?"

Elsie, who was sitting next to me, nodded enthusiastically, her bubbly personality even more noticeable with her pride.

Mark smirked again. "Well, I could've predicted Taylor wouldn't win…"

I rolled my eyes as Bryan turned around in his seat to look at me, but he had a sheepish grin on his face. Not only had Elsie beaten both of us, she had put us to shame in all three games. I swear, Mark brought it up just to make me look bad… probably because he knew I liked Bryan. That's what big brothers do, I guess.

Glancing over at Elsie, I was not at all surprised that she was oblivious to Mark's antics. She was now talking about the guy who had been in the lane next to us and how he'd scored strikes left and right. Bryan grinned and would've defended me, acknowledging his own defeat. But instead he let Elsie continue on her spiel, since no one could possibly interrupt her anyway.

"…And I'm like, really? He could've—I love this song! Turn it up," she said, suddenly even more excited. Correction—only Elsie could interrupt Elsie. I chuckled.

Mark turned up the volume and my chuckling turned into a groan. "You know I hate this band!" Mark nodded with a smile as Elsie began singing along with the lyrics.

"Yeah, I'm not a fan either, Taylor," Bryan said. I rolled my eyes in agreement, inwardly rolling them at Bryan, too. It was great that he was on my side here, but I'd been hoping he would make a move at some point during the night. After Mark picked us up and we had started on our way home, it was pretty clear nothing was going to happen. True, it would've made Elsie a third wheel, but she could easily slip out for a bit or something. I thought Bryan would've figured this out…

I caught Elsie's eye and it was clear she knew what I was thinking. She continued singing while giving me a look that said I needed to step it up. I inhaled through my nose and wondered how I'd go about this with Mark in the car.

I tapped Mark's shoulder. "Hey, can we stop for pizza on the way back? I'm hungry." Mark's brow furrowed.

"Didn't you eat at the bowling place? I thought they had pizza there."

Elsie stopped singing long enough to chime in. "It looked crappy, so we didn't get it. All we've had is some candy."

"I'm sure Mom and Dad won't care if we take another 15 minutes to get home," I said, adding a pleading edge to my voice. I didn't really want pizza, since I'd eaten before we went out, but if it would buy me some more time with Bryan, maybe I could think of some way to drop a hint.

Mark slowed down and took a hard right, just to make us all lean left again.

"I guess, but you're paying." Elsie grinned at me, shadows passing over her face as the car turned off the main road. Luckily the pizza place was on the other side of the lake, only a pit stop before the road to our house. We lived on the outskirts of the town, among all the back roads that were nearly pitch-black at night. I shivered.

"Bryan, what kind of pizza do you like?" Elsie asked. I knew her well enough to detect her mischievous tone, and I only hoped Bryan and Mark couldn't tell.

"Pepperoni is good," he said.

"Oh, pepperoni is Taylor's favorite," Elsie said. I nudged her. Mark gave me a look in the mirror, knowing how much I hated pepperoni. I ignored the whole conversation and turned to look out the window. It was dark but clear, and the moonlight almost lit up the road as much as the lights in town had. Good. It was calm, almost spooky, but peaceful.

"Hey, what's that?" Bryan pointed out the window. I followed his gaze and looked past the road to a peninsula that jutted out into the lake's middle. It was hard to see, but it looked like blue and purple lights were shining inside the trees.

"That's weird," Elsie said slowly, trying her best to see over my shoulder. She straightened up. "Maybe someone's setting off fireworks?"

Mark glanced over a few times, still wary of the road. "In April? I guess, but not likely. It doesn't really look like fireworks anyway… the light's too steady."

I shrugged and looked back at the road. Someone was standing only several yards in front of the car. I grabbed Mark's shoulder suddenly.

"Lookout!" I yelled. Mark saw the person and jerked the wheel, making the car swerve hard. I heard Bryan shout as Elsie's head collided with mine, sending a shooting pain through my skull. We were pushed to the side as the car turned wildly, and then a sudden jolt forced us back and knocked me into the window. The front of the car seemed to cave in and I heard the crunch of glass breaking only seconds before everything went black.

My hearing wasn't working… it felt like I'd passed out. Had the car stopped? I couldn't tell, since everything felt like it was spinning. Slowly I lifted my head from the seat next to me.

Wait… Elsie had been in that seat. And… what about Bryan?

What about Mark? No, Mark had to be ok…

I turned to the door and reached to open it, but froze at the sight of my bloody hand. No, the blood wasn't coming from my hand. I reached up and felt my ear, pulling back an even bloodier hand than before. Almost nauseous and very near panicking, I reached for the door again.

The handle wouldn't budge. My hearing was still funny, but there were sounds outside, and light. I turned to the front. We had crashed into a tree from what I could tell. Bryan's head was leaning against the window, his airbag deployed. I tried to see Mark, but between his airbag and the twisted metal, I couldn't see anything other than his hand…

Help. I need to find help. I crawled over the seat, trying to avoid glass as I went, and realized suddenly that Elsie's door was already open.

"E-Elsie?" I tried to call her name, but it came out almost as a whisper. I was about to call again when I heard a shout.

My head was pounding. I ignored the pain and put one foot out of the car, looking back at the road as I did so. I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Two guys, roughly mine or Mark's age, were in the road. One was standing, fists clenched, moving his arms in deliberate, manipulative motions, as if he were controlling something. There was some sort of glow coming from his movements. I leaned out a little farther and saw something… dark, almost transparent. It was following the guy's hands while at the same time appearing to fight against them. And there were hideous, gut-wrenching noises coming from... the thing. The sound scared me so much, and I felt like something very, very bad was there…

"I've got 'em!" The guy shouted. He let out an excruciating sound that made me want to jump out and help him somehow, and I would have had I not turned and seen the other guy on my right.

He was just yards from the car… I don't know how I missed him. His back was to me, and he was crouching, looking at something on the ground.

"First one's dead," he shouted. He stood up, and between his feet I could see Elsie lying on the pavement, blood spattering her shirt.

"How many more?" The guy who was fighting appeared to be winning, and yet he still sounded like something was urgent, like they needed to get out of here.

"Three more left—" I was still gaping at the first guy, but then their words registered in my head and I whipped my head back towards Elsie.

The second guy was still standing where I'd left him, but now he had turned—and was looking straight at me.

I was about to get out and ask him to call the police when I heard the first guy shout.

"Kill the rest!" My eyes widened and I gaped at the second guy, who was now coming towards me. Kill the rest…

Finally my instincts kicked in. I screamed and pulled my foot back into the car, trying to shut myself inside. I slammed the door but the frame was bent, causing the door to merely bang against the car.

There was a loud thud on the other side, and almost immediately the guy began trying to pull the door open. I screamed again, hoping someone , anyone, could hear me. But we were in the middle of nowhere, and I was the only one left…

My hands slipped and I fell back, the door flinging open in front of me. I backed up into the car, knowing I was trapped.

"Mark! Bryan!" I screamed. One of them—I'm not sure who—groaned faintly, but nothing more. The guy jumped into the car and caught me by the throat, forcing me into the corner by my seat. His eyes were focused on his hand, which I could feel was covered in blood like mine. He squeezed my throat hard—I couldn't breathe. I tore at his hands, trying anything I could to get him off. I tried bringing my leg up to kick him in the stomach, but both my legs were trapped underneath me.

The edges of my vision turned black, and I felt myself slipping away. I slowly stopped struggling. This was sad, so incredibly sad… I felt so much regret, and also anger, like I'd been cheated out of the long life I'd always expected.

I got one last look at the world. My killer was wearing a brown shirt. He had blond hair and brown eyes, which—I'd noticed—hadn't yet looked at me.

I needed to give it one last try.

"Please…" With my voice cut off, it was all I could do to even mouth the word. I wanted to live.

And miraculously… it happened. His eyes slowly looked up and locked with mine. His grip slowly loosened, and when I felt it was loose enough I pushed his hand away, gasping for air. It fell at his side and he continued to look at me curiously, but also with the same determination I'd seen from the start.

My neck hurt but I could breathe again. The guy continued watching me, and then moved closer. I realized he could change his mind at any moment. I needed to get away… get away…

Everything went black once again.

 

2: Chapter 2

Was it all a dream…? I slowly opened my eyes just enough to make out my surroundings. I was lying in a bed, but the unfamiliar ceiling and a throbbing headache told me it had really happened.

I opened my eyes all the way and was about to jump up and make a run for it when a face suddenly appeared over me. I snapped my eyes shut.

"Nice try." I opened them again to find a woman not much older than I glaring over me.

"It was worth a shot," I mumbled. My voice came out hoarse. The woman frowned and disappeared, returning with a cup of water. I sat up slowly and took it from her, but didn't taste it.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not spiked or anything. Drink it—you need it more than you know." I hesitated again, took a small sip, and immediately gulped it down. I set the cup down and looked around.

I was in an RV of some sort, and an old one, too. The window next to me had no glass, barely even a frame, and the bed I sat on was merely a lawn chair cushion on a table. The floor was warped and cracked, and I noticed a hole nearly a foot in diameter only inches from the woman's foot.

And the woman, who was leaning against a filthy counter, was at the moment glaring at me— hard. I returned the glare but not for long, soon losing my confidence and looking away.

"Did I do something?" I asked after several minutes of silence. The woman thought for a moment, sighed, and then massaged her temples.

"No… you didn't." She abruptly took one hand from her head and extended it. "I'm Torri."

Surprised, I took her hand and shook it, but then remembered that I was not here to make new friends. I dropped her hand and stood up shakily.

"I want to go home," I declared. Torri shook her head and bit her lip, and I could tell she expected this. She looked at me with a blank expression, then opened her mouth and shouted loudly, "Rowan!"

Footsteps sounded outside, and soon a guy appeared in the doorway. But it wasn't just any guy. It was the one I'd seen moving his hands so oddly, the one who'd told the other guy to—

I backed up onto the bed and prepared to jump out the window, only to discover a thick forest on the other side. Shoot.

Torri rolled her eyes. "He's not going to hurt you... for now." The guy—Rowan—elbowed her sharply in the side.

"Hey, lay off! I should at least give the kid a fair warning," Torri protested. Rowan frowned at her and looked at me. He was tall, with dark hair and broad shoulders. I stared back at him and didn't back down, seeing as he wasn't as intimidating at Torri.

"I want to go home," I repeated sternly. Rowan's expression didn't change. He nodded to Torri, who left the RV and was soon shouting to someone outside. I realized there were other people out there, and wondered if they knew I was here.

Rowan suddenly stepped forward. I shrank back.

"They're all on our side… they won't help you escape." I folded my arms and glared at him without response. Rowan's face softened as Torri returned with food and several bottles of water.

"We know you've… suffered some loss. We'll give you a day to yourself." Torri set the food on the grimy counter and followed Rowan out of the RV, closing the door firmly behind her.

It wasn't until they were gone that Rowan's words registered in my head. The memories from the past night suddenly flooded my mind, and I fell back hard against the wall.

Elsie's dead… Bryan's dead… Mark's dead… my mind was suddenly reeling. I buried my face in my knees and wrestled with the emotion, feeling drained and angry and confused all at once.

What had happened to me?

Three days. It had been three days since I'd even set foot out of the RV, and when I finally did… I was surprised at what I found.

I knew there were other people around, but not as many as twenty. Torri led me around as if we were on a tour, pointing out the various aspects of the campground. These tents were for food storage, those for supplies. The firepit was over there, and the river was down the hill. Her gruff manner and the way she held my wrist the whole time, made me feel unwelcome, but the people I met weren't quite as cold.

First, there was Rowan, who nodded at me but didn't smile. He was roasting some meat over the fire with a woman in her thirties, who I soon learned was Gina. She grinned at me and offered me some rabbit, which I refused. Everyone else was just as friendly as her, including Park, also in his thirties, and West, a very pale man who was passing by, a gun slung over his shoulder. I met several other people around the camp, all of them welcoming, but none as welcoming as the lady in the last tent in the row.

Her name was Isadora, but Torri never spoke about her without calling her Old Isadora, which was fitting since she was at least sixty years old. She had white hair and bony arms, and she wore a white shawl that was so dirty it looked gray. She didn't smile or shake my hand, but pulled me in for a hug as soon as Torri brought me in. That was the first time Torri let go of me outside the RV, and although I could've knocked Old Isadora down and made a run for the doorway, the old woman's kindness somehow kept me from trying.

I was led back to the RV, where Torri took me to the roof and had me look around.

"There's nothing but woods out there," she said. "So even if you tried to run away, you'd have nowhere to go." I saw nothing but trees in every direction, and, feeling hopeless at the truth of her words, turned to Torri in desperation.

"But… why?" Not why would I run away, but why was I here. Torri knew what I meant, and for a minute I thought she was going to help me. Instead, she wordlessly hustled be back down the ladder to the ground and led me back inside the RV.

Days passed, but they seemed like months. Every day I thought of Mark, Elsie, and Bryan, and every day I thought of a way to escape. But nothing came to me, and I gradually came to look forward to interacting with the friendly people and prying into Torri, who seemed to be the person in charge of me. Every day I asked her, "why am I here?" and every day she would shake her head and offer me food, or pull someone into our conversation, or—if I was in the RV—simply walk out. Despite the repeated rejections, I could tell I was getting to her, and I knew it was only a matter of time before something caved.

After a while, the RV became more like a bedroom for me than a prison. I was free to come and go as I pleased, do what I wished, but always with someone watching me. Old Isadora found me every day and asked how I was doing. West taught me how to cook meat, and showed me how to test it to see if it was done. Edgar, a balding man in his mid forties, showed me how to bait a hook and fish in the river. I rarely saw Rowan (which was good, since it was always hard getting along with him), and I often wondered about the other guy I'd seen that night on the road. Where was he? Had Rowan killed him? I had so many questions, none of which were being answered. Was my family looking for me? Why were these people camped here? Was I anywhere near home? Why was everyone being so nice?

Why wasn't I dead?

 

3: Chapter 3

Bang bang. A hard knock woke me with a start. I glanced out the window and noticed it was earlier than usual. Groaning, I got out of bed and threw on some clothes before going out for breakfast.

"Sleep well?" Rowan asked as I stepped out of the RV. I stopped, blinked, and gave him a look, wondering why he was my wake up call today. Torri was usually the one to come get me… no, she was always the one who got me. But it was morning, and I was not a morning person, so I let Rowan lead me to the firepit without complaint.

A few others were already eating, but not as many as usual… maybe everyone normally ate breakfast later. Easily finding a free stump, I sat down as Old Isadora handed me a bowl of what looked like oatmeal. She watched me eat a few bites before kneeling down next to me.

"What's your name, dear?" I then realized I hadn't told anyone my name, or anything about me at all. Not that they needed to know, or even deserved to know, not even Old Isadora. I didn't answer her, and I was going to clam up and finish my breakfast in silence until I glanced up and realized everyone was looking at me, all other conversations having died down. I slowly put down my spoon and looked at Old Isadora. She nodded, encouraging me, and I suddenly wondered if these people cared—cared about me. That made no sense, absolutely no sense at all, and I suddenly felt frustrated. Who kidnaps someone and then treats them as one of their own? Well, psychopaths maybe, but these people didn't look like crazies…

Then maybe I could give a little. "Taylor," I said quietly. Old Isadora nodded, as did some others. Rowan, who had been standing behind me, came around and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Taylor," he said. There was no smile, no smirk. Just his hand. I was so shocked that all I could do was stare at him for a minute. But I came to my senses and accepted the handshake.

Breakfast continued as normal, and as Torri's absence grew longer, I began to think that now I wouldn't be watched as closely. Maybethis was my chance to slip away, although it would be better to do at night. I needed to know if Torri would be gone then…

I hated to take advantage of anyone, but if I wanted to succeed at any escape attempt, I would gladly make an exception. Old Isadora, if anyone, would be least likely to suspect me of anything. So I finished my oatmeal and took my empty bowl over to West, who was in charge of washing the dishes. Old Isadora was in front of me, and after I had handed off my bowl, I fell in step behind her.

"When will Torri be back?" I asked bluntly. I tried to make my tone sound insecure, as if a day without Torri would be hard to bear (though honestly, it would probably be the best day at the camp yet). Old Isadora detected nothing and answered my question without missing a beat.

"She'll return after a few days or so," she said. I raised my eyebrows, wondering where Torri would be for so long before remembering my act and throwing on a disappointed voice.

"Oh," I said. Old Isadora stopped, her blue eyes looking into mine so deeply, like they always did.

"You can do a happy dance if you want to." I felt my jaw drop in surprise, but I quickly closed it. Old Isadora pulled her shawl up around her shoulders and I caught just a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Just make sure no one's watching." And with that, she continued on her way, leaving me baffled but feeling better, knowing that I wasn't the only one who thought Torri was a little harsh. Who knew someone as old as Old Isadora could have so much intuition… and spunk?

"Taylor!" I turned around on my way back from dinner and saw West jogging up the hill.

"Hey." Despite all the kindness I'd received, I'd still been keeping my emotional distance from everyone—this greeting was far from a familiar hello. West knew this, but didn't seem to care. He caught up with me and paused, wringing his hands uneasily.

"Uh, you're not going to stay in the RV tonight."

"What do you mean?" I asked. West sighed impatiently—but I don't think it was me he was impatient with—and shifted his weight.

"Well, Rowan and I are going out to meet Torri, and… well, you need to come with us."

I wasn't a bossy person, nor rebellious for the most part. But I was sick and tired of being told what to do.

"And why do I need to do that?" I said loudly, my eyes narrowing. West seemed to be afraid of this. He ran a hand through his hair and finally looked back to me.

"Because there really won't be anyone else here." I was on edge and ready to object, but I suddenly realized… he was right. Nearly everyone was gone, and it then clicked that this was why breakfast had seemed so empty.

"Well, where's everyone going, to a camping convention?" West ignored my smartmouth and began wringing his hands again.

"I can't tell you that." I rolled my eyes.

"What else is new?" I snapped.

Now West seemed frustrated. "Look, act like an adult for once and just go with it… we'll explain everything soon." I perked up and I looked at him, trying to get any other sign from his face. Nothing.

"Fine… I'll go with you guys." West grinned and led me down the hill. I saw a couple people with backpacks walking around the camp, but most of the tents were still set up, so it didn't appear that the whole camp was moving location. If not, why was everyone leaving…?

"So where is Torri, anyways?" I asked as I followed West, trying to get some sort of clue.

"On the boat… it's not much, but it's good enough to live on for a few days," West called over his shoulder.

We were going on a boat? The last time I'd been on any sort of boat was when Mark and I had kayaked around the lake at the campground up north. We had spent the entire day paddling along the shore, exploring the waters and scoping out the best fishing spots.

And now Mark was gone. And I couldn't even go home to grieve with my parents, go to Mark's funeral, walk in his room…

"West!" someone farther down the hill called him over. I had stopped walking long ago, lost in thought, and now saw that West still hadn't noticed. Seizing the opportunity, I turned to run, but saw Rowan coming towards me from the top of the hill. My heart sank. He was glaring at me, and I could tell that he knew what I was up to. Maybe I could've outrun West from where I was, but with Rowan only a few feet away, I didn't stand a chance.

Rowan didn't even stop. He walked past me, grabbing my wrist firmly as he went. West looked back up at us, blushing ever so slightly, and I could tell Rowan wasn't too happy with him for getting distracted. I rolled my eyes and struggled to keep up with Rowan's long strides as we headed towards the lake.

West was right. The boat was alright for sleeping and eating and fishing… but it was still a load of crap. I knew from the moment Torri shut me in the room below deck that it was somewhat dirty. Old Isadora's words came back to me, and I really hoped we weren't going to be here more than a day.

No wait, I didn't care. Because I wasn't sticking around another night.

I'd had enough of the people, of the lifestyle, of the secrets. Oh heck, the secrets were the real issue. I'd been trying to find out why I was here since the day I'd first met Torri. Whatever it was they were hiding, at least I knew it meant a lot to these people, since even kind Old Isadora wouldn't tell me. That was comfort, if anything.

But even with the kinder people around, I couldn't stay and put up with this. I'd been forming a plan ever since Rowan dragged me onto the boat (Torri no happier to see me than Rowan was to bring me on board). I'd observed the deck, the couple steps down to the room I was in, the side of the boat…

And once I saw the light from the last lantern go out and heard the deck above go silent, I put my plan into action.

Torri had never locked me in the RV… I guess these people didn't believe in force like that, or maybe they just didn't have any locks. Either way, it was getting past the person standing guard outside that would be the tough part.

I opened the door to my room and, to my relief, saw West sitting in the chair just outside. The chair was still below deck, so it was doubtful Torri and Rowan could hear our conversation from up above.

West stood as soon as I opened the door. "What's up, Taylor?" he asked, still trying to be nice.

Pretending to be sleepy, I shivered. "I… left my jacket on the deck."

In the dark I saw West nod, and he turned to go up the stairs with me. I somewhat regretted dumping all the blame onto someone who had treated me as well as West had… but that didn't make what he and everyone else was doing right. I followed him up onto the dock and around to the circle of lawn chairs Torri had set up before we came.

"Can you look over there?" I whispered, pointing towards the wheel of the ship. West nodded and turned, giving me time to slip over the rail and lower myself into the water. Even though it was summer, the water was cold, and I bit my lip to keep from yelping as first my legs, than my shoulders were submerged. I silently thanked Mark for teaching me how to swim.

I wasted no time in taking a deep breath and plunging beneath the water. I swam around the side of the boat and headed in an off direction, away from the side I'd dismounted from. I swam as far as I could and when my air ran out, only poked my lips above the water to breathe. I did this two or three times before finally feeling sand beneath my feet.

Poking my head above the water, I turned and saw the boat several yards away. A few lanterns were lit, swinging wildly. Despite the shivers, I smirked in triumph as I turned my back on the boat. Thinking my mission was accomplished, I silently walked up onto the shore… and heard a big splash.

Crap. I broke into a quiet run, or mostly quiet, as the splashing sounds faded behind me. My wet hair was plastered to my face and covering my eyes, and I was constantly wiping it away as I pushed branches aside. After a while I paused, listened, and heard nothing but a slight breeze blow through the woods.

"Finally," I half mouthed, half whispered. I was panting, and it was loud, so I tried to quiet myself, but it just grew louder, and louder. I realized it was getting hard to breathe, very hard to breathe, but why? I wasn't running anymore—

I fell to my knees and bent over, still struggling for air. I heard a sound in the distance farther off and panicked, knowing I had to get out of here, but I couldn't go anywhere if I wanted to…

A low, guttural noise made me look up, and shiver of pure fear coursed through my body at the sight in front of me. At first it only looked like the trees were blended together, like a solid object was in front of the little moonlight that illuminated what I could see of my surroundings. But looking closer, that object was moving, and some dark light radiated from it…

Suddenly, I was whisked off my feet and pulled into the air, stopping several feet from the ground. I clutched my throat, no air coming in at all, and could hardly believe what I was seeing. The moving object was inches from my face, a swirling mass of black and deep red that could easily have been my eyes playing tricks on me, but I could see something like a face amidst the cloud-like rolling. Yet it wasn't the visual that scared me so much as the sensual. I felt something so dark, so… evil, like the mass in front of me was radiating it. I felt it in waves and it was so, so powerful and it seemed to drain all my strength in a moment. The low guttural sound grew louder, hurting my ears and I was losing my vision as I faintly began to see flickers of purple light appear…

A brilliant light shone from behind me. I was dropped to the ground as the low growl turned into a low roar. I rolled on my side, coughing and sputtering, and looked up to see—

Rowan. He had his hands out in front of him and his legs braced as if pushing a heavy object, but he was at a standstill. White light shone from his shaking hands as he twisted and turned them, and I suddenly realized that he was doing the same thing he'd been doing the first night I'd seen him on the road…

But I couldn't stay and watch. I got to my feet as soon as I could and fled, away from Rowan, away from—whatever that thing was. I was still wheezing but I needed to go, to get out of this nightmare. But I soon realized all my energy was gone. I tripped with every step, stumbling blindly through the woods. It wasn't the swimming or running that had made me so tired, that couldn't be—

Something hit me hard from my right side and I was knocked to the ground faster than I could blink. I thought it was another creature, but in the moonlight I saw a hand, and I could hear someone panting.

"Let me go!" I screamed, but with all my energy it came out only as a loud whisper. I soon had one hand pinned under me, one pinned by my head, and a hand over my mouth.

"Calm down!" I recognized Rowan's voice, which made me struggle all the harder. But any struggling I could manage was almost no movement at all, and my squirming soon stopped.

"Calm down," Rowan repeated. His mouth was right next to my ear, and it made me furious that I'd lost yet again. But I was drained, completely drained, and there was little I could do.

"That thing… will kill you." I lay completely still now, debating on whether or not to believe him. He was probably right…

Rowan took his one hand off my mouth. "Trust me," he said. Had I any energy, I would have rolled my eyes. Instead, they began to close.

"Taylor? Taylor!" I fought to keep awake. I heard crashing in the woods and soon saw two pairs of feet next to us.

"We need to get her back to camp… I saw sparks." I was barely aware that Rowan had sat up, and suddenly someone was carrying me. There was nothing I could do now, and I surrendered myself to the fact that being with these people was better than running into another one of those things.

After what seemed like an eternity, I was set down on a bed. I heard low voices and shuffling around and faintly noticed something cool and wet on my forehead. I looked up and focused, and was able to tell that I wasn't in the RV.

Torri's face appeared then, a concerned look on her face.

"You're safe… just rest…" her words faded as I finally drifted off.

 

4: Chapter 4

I woke up with a start, heart pounding, my clothes slightly damp from sweat. This was odd, because it was somewhat chilly. I let my eyes adjust to the dark and discovered I was in a tent. That was new. Slowly rising from the air mattress I had been sleeping on, I found the tent entrance, unzipped it, and stepped out.

The first thing I saw was the fire pit, only a few feet from my tent. The coals inside were almost cold, with only a few glowing embers remaining. It must be late. I walked over to one of the stumps and sat down, and it wasn't until I looked up that I realized I wasn't alone. I jumped, surprised, but didn't get up. Rowan and West were sitting across from me, watching. I cleared my throat uncomfortably, suddenly feeling very tired.

This must have shown, because West got up and wordlessly handed me a plate of meat and potatoes. I didn't feel hungry, but after taking a bite, I realized I was famished. I ate everything, even the meat grizzle. When I'd finished, I felt much better.

Rowan and West still hadn't spoken, and I figured it was because they were mad at me. I wanted to scowl at them, but thank them at the same time. After all, whatever had gotten a hold of me had drained me of all my energy. I wouldn't have gotten back without their help.

After a few more minutes of silence, I couldn't take it anymore. I was about to ask them what had happened, when a figure suddenly emerged from the darkness. I barely had time to recognize it as Torri before she marched up to me and grabbed my shoulders—hard.

"You idiot!" she exclaimed, her voice almost echoing in the night. "We do everything we can to protect you, and what happens? You go and almost get yourself killed!"

Rowan stood up and got between us. "Calm down—she didn't know!" West stood and nodded in agreement, still watching me.

Torri released her grip on me and instead put her hand on her hip. "She almost killed herself!" she repeated to Rowan, as if he hadn't heard. "If you hadn't found her, she would've been dead!"

"But I did find her," Rowan said in a voice so low and even it sounded like he was challenging her. This seemed to come across the same way to Torri, because she said no more and sat down on a log, glaring at me.

Rowan returned to his seat, looking from Torri to West. I couldn't see their faces very well in the dark, but I could tell they were waiting for something.

Finally, Torri sighed. "Okay," she said. Rowan got up and left abruptly. I was itching to find out what was going on. West rose, reached over a couple seats, and picked something up.

"Your jacket," he said. I took it eagerly, now noting how cold it was, but then I blushed. Yet West's tone didn't imply he was mad at me, and I watched his retreating back as he too walked off.

I turned back to Torri as I wiggled into my jacket. She was looking at the fire, which had by now pretty much fizzled out. She took a deep breath and looked at the ground.

"Do you know why you're here?" I shook my head. "Do you know what… what attacked you last night?"

I felt my brow furrow in the darkness. "Last night? You mean tonight?"

Torri shifted her weight. "No—last night. After we brought you back to camp, you slept through the day and most of tonight—pretty much twenty-four hours straight." I blinked slowly, suddenly feeling very out of it.

Torri continued. "Ok, this may sound a little crazy, but now that you've seen them… well, I think this will be easier."

"What did I see, exactly?"

"Don't interrupt," she snapped. "I'm getting there."

Well then, I thought. I zipped my jacket up a little more and stuck my hands in my pockets, ready for her to continue.

Taking another deep breath, Torri began.

"First off, the reason why we're all here, in tents in the middle of the woods, is because we are the Sent." I immediately rolled my eyes, already predicting where this was going. But then I remembered the night before and what Rowan had done. Maybe it was time I finally gave these people a chance.

"…and our job is to add beauty and joy to the dark places in our world… as well as fight off the evil forces opposing them." I thought about the strange creature that had tried to suffocate me. So far, this made sense.

Torri continued. "The strongest evil forces are visums, creatures that never expose themselves by choice but breed darkness and evil everywhere they can. Our group has learned how to fight them, and we've been at war for generations now—"

"Hold on a minute," I interrupted, not caring if it ticked Torri off. "You said they never expose themselves by choice. Well, didn't that… visum expose itself to me last night?" In the dark I could see Torri shake her head. "They can only be seen by those who have seen them before."

The night of the car crash. Torri seemed to know I had put this together. "You were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rowan and Kyle were on a mission, and you guys happened to run into them…" she trailed off, leaving me a moment to butt-in.

"A mission?" I asked. Torri exhaled loudly.

"Stop interrupting!" I guess that wasn't my cue. So I sealed my lips and listened to the rest of the story.

These people—the Sent—lived out here in the woods, isolated from society, because those who didn't know about the visums weren't supposed to. If someone was exposed to a visum, it would make it its goal to kill them. The Sent had found out how to defeat them (hence, the light and hand motions Rowan had been doing last night) and were constantly going out into the real world, fighting the visums where they could and combatting the evil with joy. This part was intriguing. According to Torri, the Sent could sense visums and any dark presence, and when they sensed this dwelling around normal people (whom Torri referred to as 'the Others') they could push the darkness away and replace it with something good.

Because I hadn't known how to use these powers, the visum that found me last night could've easily killed me. Lucky for me, Rowan had appeared at the right moment and saved me in the nick of time. Those purple sparks I had seen meant that I was pretty much dead, or about to die. If they had turned blue, there would have been no hope for me.

"I'm surprised you were able to get up and run afterwards," Torri said. "That visum had completely drained you. Thus, the reason you slept through all of today." I shivered at the memory, never wanting to be in the hands of a visum again. Suddenly, I remembered seeing the blue and purple sparks before… right before I'd seen Rowan in the middle of the road that night.

After making sure Torri was through for the moment, I posed my question. "So…blue and purple sparks mean… visums are killing people." Torri nodded, slowly. My eyes widened. "We saw purple and blue sparks near the lake the night I met—er, ran into—Rowan. So who…?" I trailed off, noting that Torri most likely knew whoever it was.

I couldn't see her face in the dark, but I could tell she had stiffened. After a moment, almost in a whisper, she answered, "Nearly everyone."

Everyone? "What happened?"

Torri rubbed her temples, and from the way she spoke I could tell it all seemed unreal to her, even now.

"It was the slaughter," she said. "Only a few of us were out on missions that night. Those people are all that's left. Somehow, for reasons we can't explain, the rest were killed. Kyle was the first to return, because he had you, and he and Rowan found the camp in ruins, everyone dead—" Torri broke off.

I was silent for a moment. I wanted to respect Torri's and everyone else's loss, since I knew how it felt to lose someone. But that was the exact reason I had to ask another question.

"Kyle… the guy who…" Torri nodded. Kyle was the one who had tried to kill me.

I was suddenly very angry. "Rowan told Kyle to kill us," I said. "How can you sit there and grieve over your people when—"

"It wasn't like that!" Torri snapped, her tone so sharp I immediately fell silent. "We do everything we can to avoid exposing Others to the visums. But when it happens, the visums will come after them. Since it's a slow and painful process to be killed by a visum, we… sometimes have to resort to doing it ourselves."

I gaped at her. "Why couldn't you just do what you did with me? Bring me back and show me what they are—"

"It's been tried before," Torri said, cutting me off again. "They don't believe us, or for the most part, they run away. Even people who have seen a visum are skeptics, and they end up being killed by a visum anyways, which only makes that visum grows stronger." I was about to object, shooting that down as a pathetic excuse, when I realized she was right. Despite my encounter with the visum and how it had nearly killed me, I still wasn't sure everything Torri was saying was true. At the moment, it all seemed like a tall tale, with parts of the story being undoubtedly true while most of them were still questionable.

I sat back and ran a hand through my hair. This was difficult. Torri stood to go, and I was about to stand as well when it suddenly it dawned on me.

"Torri?" She turned. "Why didn't Kyle kill me, then?"

"I don't know," Torri said quietly. "He was supposed to." And with that, she disappeared into the night.

My mind was reeling as I went back into my tent and lay down on the mattress. Even Torri didn't know why Kyle had spared me, but apparently she and everyone else was ok with it. Or, they at least weren't doing anything about it. But why me? Kyle had killed Elsie—no, she was already dead, as were Bryan and Mark, as far as I knew. At least this explained why Torri and Rowan had seemed so upset with me that first day in the RV. I wasn't supposed to be alive, and now that I was, I was a burden to them. Either they go ahead and kill me themselves (which would be awful since I'd already been spared once), or they try and convince me that all this stuff about visums and the Sent was true. And although it looked like they had chosen the second option, I still didn't know if they'd succeeded.

Clearly my body was still tired from the night before, so I pulled up the covers and curled up underneath. I mulled over everything Torri had told me as I drifted off to sleep. My last thoughts were of noting that I hadn't seen Kyle around the camp yet and, of course, wondering why he'd let me live.

Days later, people began returning. Rowan—who had been a lot more open to me now that I knew the truth—explained that almost everyone had been on missions. For the past few days, it had only been us four from the boat, Old Isadora, and Edgar at the camp. I felt a little bad that Rowan, Torri, and West had to end their mission because of me. But no one mentioned it, so I didn't dwell on it much.

I had noticed some changes. Torri was no longer guarding my door every night or escorting me to meals. I guess now that I'd had a fair warning, it was pretty much up to me to decide. Since nothing bad had happened yet—other than the visum attack which, if I believed the story, wasn't any person's fault—I figured I'd stick around. If I didn't get any more proof that what Torri had told me was true, I would leave. But for now, I was here, a member of the group.

Being a member didn't come without duties. Rowan began giving me jobs, saying I had to pull my weight. I was told to keep the fire burning one day, wash dishes the next. I didn't mind helping out, but I didn't feel like a real part of the Sent either. I mean, what did I know? How to run away and nearly be killed by a visum. I had no idea how to fight them or 'spread joy' or anything else. Again, if I didn't get any proof that this was real, I wouldn't stay.

This was what I was thinking as I walked down to the lake one afternoon. I had nothing to do, so I figured I'd sit alone somewhere and think things out, just to be sure I was making the right choices so far. I found a grassy slope that hung over the lake a few yards down the shore. Hoping nobody would worry I was gone, I lay on my back and closed my eyes…

I must have drifted off, because a noise jerked me awake. My blood ran cold, knowing that it could be a visum, and I looked around frantically, ready to scream if I needed to.

But after scanning the woods and making sure I could still breathe, I relaxed. I turned to my left, towards the camp—and saw Kyle. He looked just as I'd remembered him that first night—blond hair, a little on the short side. He was sitting next to me—just sitting there.

I found this extremely creepy.

"Long time no see," he said. I blinked, surprised at his casual tone. Unsure of what to say, I remained silent. Kyle stretched out on his back, like I had been, and gazed up at the blue sky. Not wanting to awkwardly stare at him from above, I laid back down, also looking at the sky.

"So I know Torri told you most of what you wanted to know," Kyle said. Again, I remained silent. Until I knew I could trust him, I thought it best not to encourage him.

"Is there anything else you have questions about?" I rolled my eyes. Of course there was—there were a ton of things I wanted to know. But should I ask him, or get answers from someone else…? Clearly, I had no idea how to act around someone who had tried to kill me.

"How about… what we do. Spreading light and joy," Kyle said, filling in the silence. He went on to explain that the Sent did this in a couple ways, most commonly by using their powers to simply put light into dark places. He used the example of a dark alley, telling me how if he or Rowan or anyone lit up the alley with their powers, bad things were less likely to happen there in the future.

Another way—and his personal favorite, he noted— was to basically be the guardian angels the Others always talk about. If a car is going to crash, the Sent could maneuver it into a bush or something else to cause a milder impact. If a ladder was going to fall, they could hold it up until Others were out of the way. They were little ways, he said, but they did a lot.

"I like to call them things like, 'intervene, remain unseen' and 'manipulate the Others' fate.' It's more fun that way," Kyle said, his grin audible in his voice.

Despite my opposition, I couldn't help but chuckle. "How about, 'use the power, save the hour'?"

Kyle laughed. "You're quick," he said, clearly impressed. I blushed slightly, and I was glad he couldn't see it. After a few minutes of silence, Kyle spoke again.

"So, I'm going on a mission tomorrow with a couple others... you haven't been on one yet, right?" I shook my head, but then remembered we weren't looking at each other. "No," I said aloud.

"Well… want to try it out tomorrow, then?" I bit my lip. There was no way I trusted Kyle yet, not even with other people around. Being alone with him right now , even with everyone else only yards away, was scary enough. And who knew? Maybe when I was alone, something would happen, whether he attacked me or the visum came back…

I shuddered. "Maybe another day," I said. I heard a rustling, and I turned to see that Kyle was sitting up, looking at me with a complicated expression. At first I thought he was disappointed at my answer, but I then realized… he was sympathetic. He looked as if he wanted to help, to take away everything that had happened, or at least make it better—

And then, in a soft but perfectly clear voice, I heard him say it. "I'm sorry."

I felt a lump rise in my throat, and I turned back to the sky. His apology wasn't just for my grief or my encounter with the visum. I knew it was mostly for what he had done. My hand automatically reached up to rub my neck, as it did whenever I thought about this, but I didn't want to make Kyle feel bad. Instead, I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

I didn't know if it was because Kyle noticed this or because the tension had returned, but he suddenly got up and started walking towards the camp. I propped myself up on my elbow, not sure if I should ask. But I did.

"Kyle?" I called. It felt weird to say his name. He turned.

I let out a shaky breath. "Why… why didn't you kill me? You haven't told me yet."

Kyle looked down at the ground, standing stone-still for a minute. He turned away and continued walking, but before I lay back down I heard him call over his shoulder,

"Maybe another day."

 

5: Chapter 5

"Hey!" I turned and smiled as Gina walked over to me. Rinsing the last bowl, I picked up my damp towel and began to dry it off, relieved to be done.

"This is the last of them." Gina set another stack of bowls on the ground. I stopped drying the one I had and groaned.

"Wish you woulda brought these over earlier—I thought I was finished." Nearly everyone was in camp today, since somehow most of the missions had ended all around the same time. And more people means more dishes, more dishes means more washing, more washing means more work for me.

Gina grinned. "Hey, at least it's just soup—try scrubbing dry mashed potatoes off those bowls." I laughed, seeing her point, and began tackling the remaining bowls.

"So what do you think so far?" Gina asked, taking a bowl from me and drying it. That was a big question. Lots had happened in the past few weeks… was that all it had been?... and I was still trying to take everything in.

For starters, Rowan and Torri had taken me on a mission (I didn't count that night on the boat as the real experience) and it was… interesting. We had hiked along the backroads, ones I had never been on before. We did most of our walking at night or in the early morning, trying to stay out of sight. Rowan said this mission was to add light wherever we could, and since it sounded easy, I didn't hesitate to go.

But the idea still sounded weird and foreign. I expected to be bored the entire time, watching Rowan and Torri do some sort of meditating while I pretended to understand, but didn't. Not even close. When Torri said the Sent had powers, she wasn't kidding. I first saw them in action when Rowan came across a wilted flower. He firmly pressed his hand on the ground around the flower's stem, and I watched in awe as the petals lifted and grew firmer, slowly gaining health. After a few seconds, the flower looked good as new.

Torri, meanwhile, wasted no time on plants. There was some roadkill a few yards ahead, and she went up to it and lifted both her hands. I half expected the dead animal to come back to life and run off into the brush. Instead, the ground around it suddenly began to glow, faintly, and then it returned to normal. I asked Torri what she had done, but she shushed me, still watching the same spot. After a few minutes, a squirrel came up to the road and was about to run across it when it suddenly halted, sniffed, and turned back, scampering into the woods.

"We can't bring dead things back to life," Torri had said. "But we can prevent death in the future, although this—" she nodded at the ground— "was pretty useless. We usually don't waste time on animals and plants unless they specifically bring joy to humans. Mother Nature knows what she's doing, so we don't worry about those things." This made sense, and I then realized this whole mission was intended to train me, start me out slow. Thankful for a transition, I'd eagerly followed Torri and Rowan around for the rest of the mission, watching them do other things like regrow grass in a dry patch of ground and make a creek expand slightly.

I was completely in awe, never having believed any of this was possible. But it was happening right before my eyes.

On our way back, Rowan had stopped at an old tree. Many of its branches were dead, and its bark was peeling off.

"Wanna give it a try?" I stared at him, surprised that he thought I was capable. Was I capable? All this time I'd felt like I was on a tour, watching demonstrations but never thinking I'd be doing anything like this.

"You have to know what you want to do—you can't just wave your hand like a magic wand and expect things to change." I nodded, but hesitated.

"But what do I do?" I asked. Torri looked at me.

"The power is already in you, and you've seen us do some things, so you know it exists. You're aware. Just focus on what you want to happen, and try to feel the power flow from your heart, through your arm, out your hand…" It all sounded so religious to me. I wanted to laugh as I lifted my hand towards the tree trunk, feeling very dumb and inexperienced. But I closed my eyes and did as Torri had instructed, envisioning what I wanted to see change…

"Awesome!" Rowan exclaimed. I opened my eyes and saw the broken pieces of bark on the ground slide back into place on the tree's trunk. Surprised, I let out a gasp, but continued to move the bark into place until the fragments on the ground were gone. I went up to the tree and ran my hand over the now healthy-looking wood, almost expecting the pieces to crumble off and my confidence to fall with it, like in a dream. But it stayed. I had done it.

Several other missions followed this one, although none involved visum. Torri and Rowan said they wanted me to be well-trained before anything like that happened. We worked more with plants, then animals, and once even went into a nearby town and did some work there, doing things from the shadows.

All this I related to Gina, and I finished long after the last bowl was clean. She smiled and leaned back against a tree.

"That's how we started out as kids… plants, then animals, then people, then…" she trailed off, and I knew what she was going to say. I looked down at the towel in my hand, no longer damp but wet.

"So people are raised here… from birth?" I asked. Gina nodded. "That's how it's always been done." The Sent must have been a large group before the slaughter, I mused.

"Gina, what… what caused the slaughter? Why couldn't the Sent fight it off? Most of you guys were at camp, Torri said…"

Gina shook her head. "We still don't know… that's what bothers us the most." Yeah, I'd known that feeling before. But now I had some answers. These people didn't.

And now, that really mattered. I'd really gotten to know everyone—after I'd learned who they were and what they did, a wall had been torn down and everything was out in the open, especially personalities.

Torri, luckily, hadn't really been mean to me on purpose—she was a gruff person by nature. She was always serious, chuckling every now and then, but very stern nonetheless. She was one of the leaders—whether before the slaughter or not I couldn't tell, but she definitely held that status now. While she often appeared bossy and demanding, it was her thorough instruction combined with her gruff manner that made her come off this way, which is how I'd viewed her the first few days I'd been here. But it was evident that the group needed her, and everyone knew she was just the way she was and meant nothing by it.

Rowan took me by surprise. Of course everyone had been upset with me at first, and he was no exception. I had later seen his polite side, like when he shook my hand at the firepit that morning, and I now realized he was a really good guy. I noticed how much he respected everyone—helping someone out with work when he had some spare time, listening intently to people when they spoke, giving me tips and explaining things about how camp life worked. This gave me a lot of respect for him, both as my mentor on missions and as a friend.

Old Isadora was just what I had labelled her before—spunky and kind. She was the group's moral support, giving encouragement to me and to others, advising people on big decisions. She never went on missions, and I guess I assumed she hadn't even before the slaughter. But Edgar said she used to go out with teams all the time. The slaughter had hurt her deeply, since all the kids she had always cared for were killed. The emotional toll was too much, so now she was retired from missions and dedicated herself to care for everyone who was left. She was the mother of the community, you could say.

And then there was Kyle. He wasn't around much—whether it was because of me or because he simply went on a lot of missions, I didn't know—but when he was around, somehow we always hit it off. At dinner one time he made me laugh until I cried, telling me funny stories about little camp mishaps and the crazy things that sometimes happened (apparently West had accidentally cried wolf while on lookout duty one night, making everyone run out in their pajamas, when it was only a bear rustling in the brush). And when I was practicing my powers on plants and animals, sometimes Kyle would secretly mess with me, reversing whatever I had done and making me work harder. I'd be incredibly frustrated until I found out, but it always helped me in training, and the goofy grin on his face never failed to make me smile. I wished I could spend more time with him, but he wasn't around often and I wasn't ready to go on a real mission with him yet. But I felt comfortable, despite our first encounter, and that alone was a step forward.

All this ran through my head as I walked up the hill with Gina, each of us carrying a milk crate of clean bowls. I had a lot to learn about being a Sent member… but was I even willing to commit to that? Several times I considered learning how to fight the visums and then taking off, going back to where I belonged and showing my parents I was ok. And why couldn't I do that? Like I said, it was unspoken that it was my choice as to whether I'd stay or not. Then again, I'd feel bad leaving these people, especially after they had saved my life twice. Was that enough to guilt me into giving up my whole life back home?

But I had a while before a decision needed to be made. For now, I was here, I was alive, and I was happy. Yeah, I was actually happy.

6: Chapter 6

Kindling. I remember how fun it was as a kid, running around the campsite, collecting twigs and sticks, picking up anything I could. I always felt like I was helping Dad so much with all the work of pitching camp, even though I can now see that my little fists hadn't contributed a whole lot.

Now it was a different story. Someone—who assigned the jobs around here?—had given me the task of starting the fire for the day, which also included filling up the wood boxes. West had said he would get up and oversee my work, but he was still asleep when I got down to the fire pit. Collecting the kindling was the first step, and even though it was my job, I was still kind of hoping he'd help out.

"It's just wood… grow up," I muttered. Honestly, I didn't like going out in the woods alone. What if a visum showed up? Despite the numerous trees and flowers I had helped restore, the thought of fighting a visum scared me.

I began humming as I worked, trying to remember what Torri had already taught me about building fires, when a rustle nearby made me snap my head up. I stopped humming and froze, listening. No sound.

"Animals," I whispered. After a moment longer, I resumed my work. Hmm, bark… was that kindling…?

Just as I was about to reach for another twig, something hit me hard in the side. I jumped up, panic overtaking me, and whirled around. Someone ran off into the trees to my right.

"Who's there?" I shouted. No answer I looked down and realized I had dropped all the sticks I'd been holding. I scooped them back up, keeping a wary eye out, and was just about to return to camp when I was nearly knocked over again, the attack coming from behind this time.

"What the heck!" I turned around instantly and saw—

Kyle. I blinked. "What did you do that for?" I asked.

A smile slowly spread across his face. "Want some help?" He nodded at the sticks, which were once again scattered all over the ground.

I exhaled in exasperation… and confusion. "Um, yeah, sure." We picked up the sticks together, and I began collecting more. After a minute I paused and watched him wander off towards camp, searching the ground, before I continued.

Not five minutes passed before he ran into me again, but this time I was ready and held on to my kindling, stumbling but not falling from the blow.

Kyle slowed and grinned at me. "One point for you," he said, and went back to work as if nothing had happened.

"One point for…?" A game. This was a game.

"Ohhhh," I whispered to myself, finally understanding. Apparently, if I held on to what I had upon impact, I scored a point. Well, ok then. I found a good spot and began grabbing twigs by the handful when I suddenly thought of something.

Turning around, I saw Kyle a few yards away. He was holding a few sticks but seemed to be distracted by some sort of mushroom at his foot. He was bending over. Perfect.

I casually wandered towards him, picking up a twig here and there, and when I was a few feet away, I clutched my sticks and heaved into Kyle's side. He yelled and rolled onto the ground, losing everything he was holding, and landed on his back. I laughed victoriously.

"Yeah!" he said, getting up and grinning. "That's what I'm talking about!"

And so began a morning of the most fun chores I'd ever done. Together we gathered more kindling than we needed, even if all the pummeling slowed our progress. I was good at sneaking up on Kyle, but he was quick on his feet, making it difficult for me to avoid his attacks even when I saw them coming. We developed unspoken rules throughout the game: no pushing when we were unloading the wood into the box, no knocking sticks out of anyone's hands. Eventually I stopped keeping score (although I was winning) and just had fun with it. By the time it was over, we were laughing and panting… and slightly bruised.

"You… know… how to… have a good time!" I exclaimed as I plopped down on a stump. The camp was just starting to wake up, and a few people were milling about.

Kyle grinned, not looking at me, and began positioning the kindling in the fire pit. "Hey, if we didn't shake things up somehow, who would ever want to work, you know?" I shrugged and handed him some larger sticks from the box.

"I guess…" Maybe what I meant was that he had a way of making fun things happen—the spontaneity of it, that was the best part. I opened my mouth to voice this, but not trusting the words to come out without making me look dumb, I decided against it.

Kyle soon had the fire burning steadily, just in time for West to meander over.

"Wow, looks like you didn't need me after all," he said with a yawn. I raised an eyebrow.

"Well thanks for getting up so early to help me out—I appreciate the effort." Kyle smirked, keeping his head down. West looked at me in surprise.

"I needed my beauty rest," he claimed, rubbing one hand down his cheek. I laughed as he sat down.

"Sorry," he said as he stared into the fire. "I should've been up—" Suddenly, he jerked his head up and looked at us, wide-eyed.

"I'm supposed to be frying up the potatoes!" and he took off down the row of tents.

I shook my head, smiling, and glanced over at Kyle. He had a thoughtful expression on his face.

I cocked my head. "What, do potatoes intrigue you?" I smiled, but his expression remained the same.

"Do you want to try something?" he asked. I gave him a look.

"Depends…" I said slowly. Kyle looked around, stood up, and motioned for me to follow. Normally I would have hesitated, but after our fun and games I figured I could trust him, even if it was only temporary.

I followed Kyle into the woods, and as we got farther from camp I could sense something wasn't right. The woods felt… eerie, empty, but as if something were there, like a haunted house where the ghost is just about to jump out. I shivered.

Kyle glanced back at me. "You feel it?" I nodded, not sure what 'it' was. After a few more minutes, Kyle stopped suddenly, just outside a clearing. He turned to me and spoke in a low voice.

"What's the hardest thing you've done so far?" I was about to ask him what he meant, but then I knew. He was talking about my power.

I thought for a moment. "I channeled a stream into a ditch once… I filled it completely." Kyle chewed his lip, then nodded slowly. I didn't like the look of that.

"It's not too powerful," he said. At first I thought he meant my power, and I was about to insult him back when I suddenly felt everything around us thicken, like the very air we breathed was now denser, heavier—

I began to panic, remembering that night by the lake, and started to turn back, but Kyle grabbed my shoulder.

"Just try," he hissed. I stopped and looked at him, unsure, but he nodded and motioned at the clearing in front of us. I could barely make out the shape of it, not sure where it started or ended but definitely familiar with the way the trees and ground seemed to be distorted…

I held out my hand, not daring to close my eyes, and concentrated on feeling the power flow. I was surprised to feel a strong surge run from my chest through my arm and out my hand, and for a minute I thought something had physically come out from my palm. How strong was my power…?

A hideous shriek interrupted my thoughts, and my concentration faltered. I stretched out both hands, trying harder, now able to see the visum more clearly before me. It looked much like the one I'd seen that night, dark and ominous and almost in a definite form but not quite, and the evil was seeping into me, flooding me…

"Kyle…?" I said, starting to feel weak. No answer. I glanced behind me. He was gone.

"Kyle!" I said louder, taking a step back. The visum screeched again, abruptly moving in my direction, almost knocking me over in the process.

"Help!" I yelled, my confidence now lost. My chest tightened and I began to breathe fast, unsure of whether it was the visum's doing or my own panic—

Suddenly, he was there. Kyle stretched out both hands and bent his fingers, and I could almost see the power coming from them. The visum growled, stirred, and vanished within seconds.

I let my hands down, out of breath. I turned to Kyle and was about to chew him out, but he looked impressed, as if I had done way better than he expected.

He opened his mouth, and I expected a compliment—

"One: Never step back when fighting a visum. It gives them power." And with that, he turned back towards camp, stopping to make sure I was following. After a moment, I ran to catch up, still taken aback.

We soon got back to camp, and by then I was over my surprise. It made sense that Kyle had wanted to test me—although how he chose to do it I'm not sure I agree with. But then again, he hadn't been the one training me, so he didn't know where I was at…

Rowan and West were sitting at the fire pit when we got back, and they rose as soon as they caught sight of us.

"Where were you?" Rowan asked. I glanced at him—his tone had an edge.

"Aw you know, just flexing the muscles," Kyle said, grinning and pretending to fight off a visum behind him.

West, nervously wringing his hands, looked at Rowan, who was glaring at Kyle.

"You didn't make her try anything serious, did you?" Rowan asked, referring to me. I didn't want to get Kyle in trouble, but I felt like I should say something.

"It was a small one… I couldn't do it, but Kyle took care of it." I offered Rowan a smile, but he threw up his hands.

"Kyle, man, no! You can't do that! She isn't ready!" Kyle rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pockets.

"She's more ready than you think she is—she almost had it. You haven't taught her anything about visums—she needs to learn somehow." This time I kept my mouth shut. Rowan glared at Kyle, staring him down.

West looked from one to the other before carefully choosing his words. "The more you expose her, the more they'll follow her," he said, addressing Kyle.

"I know that," Kyle snapped. He turned to Rowan. "But you've got to stop babying her. It's clear we need more fighters, and you're just taking your good old time—"

"You should be glad I'm even doing this! It was all your idea! If you hadn't—" Rowan stopped, looked at me, ran a hand through his hair, and sighed.

"Just be careful," he said before turning back towards camp. West followed him, glancing back at us apologetically.

Kyle remained next to me, deep in thought. I waited for him to say something, maybe to explain exactly what Rowan was talking about. If you hadn't… what?

"Two: Never make Rowan mad." And with that, he headed into camp.

7: Chapter 7

“I’m telling you, it’s not in Africa.” I rolled my eyes, annoyed but not surprised that the argument was still going on.

                Torri shook her head. “Rowan, seriously. Egypt is in Africa—always has been. What idiot doesn’t know that?” She took the stick she’d been carrying for the last few yards and waved it in front of Rowan’s face.

                “I didn’t know that,” I said. The two of them ignored me—as usual—and kept on their bantering.

                Rowan pulled his head away from the stick, making a face. “There’s a desert in Africa, but Egypt’s not in it, I guarantee you that.” Torri hadn’t stopped waving the stick in front of him, and now he grabbed it, broke it, and tossed it into the weeds.

                Torri grunted. “I’ll prove it when we get back… I have a map somewhere. How much do ya want to bet on it?”

                I sighed, only half paying attention to searching for garbage, the task Rowan and Torri had given me for today. If I saw any litter, I was supposed to crumple it up with my power before putting it in the trash bag I’d been dragging for the last mile. Clearly, the pace of my training was beginning to sputter and slow. Rowan and Torri had assigned me pretty much everything there was, from healing injured animals to filling in potholes on the road. I’d been able to accomplish nearly all of what they’d asked of me, and now it was a struggle to find anything more for me to do. My guess was that Rowan wanted to make sure I was more than ready to face a visum, and for that reason he hadn’t yet challenged me to something more significant. I’d expected Torri to take a stand and insist that I needed the experience—like Kyle had—but she also seemed to know not to mess with Rowan.

                But in the meantime, every hour of training was more boring than it was productive, and not just for me. Rowan and Torri had lately started bickering about minor things during my training sessions. One time it was about how old one of the Sent members was (I didn’t know the person), yesterday it was about grammar (“There are a lot of” or “There is a lot of”?), and today it was about which continent Egypt was in. It was entertaining at first, but eventually it wore off.

                “…the crossing of the Red Sea?” Torri was saying. “They crossed from Egypt to Israel, and the Red Sea separated the continents.” Rowan began to object, but his mouth had only formed an O before he stopped and considered Torri’s point.

                She smirked triumphantly. “Ha! Told you I was right!”

                “I never said that!” Rowan exclaimed, looking genuinely ticked off. “I’m just thinking about it…”

                I spotted an old can and mashed it together before picking it up and shoving it in the bag. The task was so easy I didn’t even have to think about it. If only I could challenge myself, then things would be easier…

                Why can’t I? I was still stopped in the place where the can had been, Rowan and Torri continuing on without even glancing back. Would they even notice if I slipped away?

                Not before I disappeared, I thought. A small smile crept upon my face as I looked around me. Empty fields to the left, woods to the right. Decision made.

                I wondered if I could call a visum to me. That would help. If I used my powers, maybe—no, that wouldn’t work, because visums never showed up during training, and that’s when I used my powers most.

                “Unless they’re afraid of Rowan and Torri,” I muttered, ducking into the trees. I paused and, not hearing anyone call my name, continued on. This really was ridiculous. If I was supposed to be trained in how to defend myself, and if Rowan was too stubborn to let me face a visum, shouldn’t I at least be learning about them, textbook style? Were visums attracted to our powers, or just to people who had seen them (like West said)? Did they stay near people or roam the woods? How could you tell when a visum was doing something bad or if it was just nature or coincidence? What if—

                Wait a minute. I had come to a creek, one that I’d worked with before during training, and I could sense the same heavy spookiness I’d felt that day with Kyle. A visum was here. I strained to remember the first time I’d fought one, trying to determine if this one was stronger than the last. I had no idea how good I was, and the last thing I wanted to do was suffocate again.

                It was behind me. I turned and was immediately knocked to the ground, a horrible sinister feeling striking me in the chest like a rock. I scrambled to my feet, scared but ready, and wasted no time fighting back. This visum looked about the same as the last one, and after a moment I somehow knew it was the one I’d fought with Kyle that day.

                “Welcome back,” I said. The visum growled in response. I channeled my power more, focusing intently on the figure in front of me, pushing back the evil and actually feeling it begin to withdraw. How would I know when it was gone? Was I supposed to destroy it or chase it away? What if I couldn’t do this?

                I pushed that last thought out of my head and put all I had into my hands. Concentrate. Don’t step back. But I could step forward…

                And that did it. The visum had been shrinking slowly up to this point, and as soon as I stepped closer, giving a final burst of power as I did so, the visum emitted some sort of cry before vanishing all together. It sounded like electricity in the movies, a quick zap that came and went in a blink. It was gone.

                I put down my arms and realized I’d been holding my breath. I exhaled and rested my hands on my knees, feeling a tingling sensation in my arms. I glanced back up where the visum had been, then down at myself.

                “Where did that confidence come from?” I said, a little surprised at what I’d just done.

                “There you are!” Torri suddenly appeared from the trees and ran towards me, a wild look on her face. “What the heck were you thinking? You could’ve been attacked by a visum—”

                “I was.” Torri blinked. “What?”

                I nodded to my right. “I was. A visum found me and I destroyed it—er, I think. It disappeared with a zap, if that’s any proof.” I smiled.

                Torri just looked at me, not even flinching when Rowan came from behind her. He glanced at Torri, then looked at me.

                “What happened?” Torri turned to him, put her hands on her hips, and stuck her chin in the air.

                “She did it, that’s what happened,” she said defiantly. “I knew she could it, but you said no, and I bet you she’s been ready since—”

                Rowan stepped past her and towards me, a quizzical look on his face. “How big was it?” he asked. Torri stopped talking and waited for my response.

                I held my hands out at almost arm-length. “This big,” I said. “It was the one Kyle destroyed in the woods that day—” I stopped myself.

                Torri raised an eyebrow. “If he destroyed it, how did you destroy it again—”

                “He didn’t destroy it,” Rowan said. He looked up and closed his eyes, sounding a little stressed. “He just chased it away so that it would come back and attack her.” He looked at Torri. “Believe me, I know him too well. This was his way of challenging her, even when I said not to.”

                I took a step towards Rowan, stopping an inch from his face. He looked down at me, obviously uncomfortable, but he didn’t back away. I cocked my head and narrowed my eyes, noticing a bead of sweat on his brow.

                “Well, I did it, didn’t I?”

 

 

                Three out of four… not bad, I thought as I hurried to keep pace with Gina, Park and Rowan. We were all returning from another mission—my third thus far— and after recounting everything, I had determined my stats. Of the four visums I’d confronted, I’d managed to kill three. The fourth I had chased away, and hopefully I’d be able to destroy it next time it came around.

                “…that recruiting could be a good thing, as we see here.” Park gestured at me. I stayed silent, not having paid attention to the conversation for the last few minutes.

                Rowan shook his head. “I still don’t like it… it causes problems. Taylor just happened to be a good candidate, and those aren’t easy to come by— not as easy as Kyle insists.” I was apparently being given a compliment.

                Gina waved her hand in the air. “Ok, stop right there. We’re not getting into that.” She looked at me. “So what do you think so far? Living the dream?”

                I laughed. “It’s not exactly a fairytale, but it’s pretty cool.” Actually, it was really cool. Now that I’d gotten my feet wet, I felt more like a member of the Sent, able to at least do some of what they did every day. I wouldn’t say it out loud, but fighting visums was one of those things that was scary but thrilling at the same time. I was useful now and not just sitting around at camp doing chores.

                But I knew there was more to being in the Sent than this. I could see it just from being around these people every day. Half the time they would come back from missions completely drained (I’d felt that before). More often than not I would hear snippets of conversation around a dwindling fire late at night, after most people had gone to bed, about how hard someone’s day had been or a tough decision they’d had to make on a mission. I wasn’t exactly sure what they meant, but I knew enough to see that what I had experienced so far was the nice side of the Sent life.

                And that was probably Rowan’s doing, for the most part. Even though he and Torri were my trainers, he was the one who made the calls and he was always there when I went on a mission. I wasn’t sure why, nor was I sure why Kyle hadn’t been on any mission with me yet. Or was that second one just coincidence? I planned to ask Kyle next time I saw him—

                Which would be now. We had arrived at the camp a few minutes ago, separating to our various tasks to help with dinner, and Kyle was busy filling up bowls with some type of soup.

                “Hey,” I said. He smiled and handed me a ladle.

                “Hey. Enjoying the missions?” I nodded, wanting to pose my question but not sure how to ask. Instead I said, “So, you’re pretty clever.”

                Kyle didn’t look up, continuing to methodically spoon the soup into bowls as West took them from him and handed them out. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

                I laughed. “Ok, no need to be modest about it.” Kyle grinned as I continued. “That visum you never killed… I got it a few days back. Feisty little guy.”

                Now Kyle laughed. “Little guy? Well, he wasn’t big, but he wasn’t small, either. He was a big deal, though… especially for some people.” I knew he meant Rowan. I looked back down at the soup.

                “Yeah… what’s his problem? Is it with me, or is it with you…?” I trailed off. This was a bit more forward than I’d intended it to be, but Kyle didn’t seem to mind.

                “Both. He doesn’t have a problem with you, though… you’re more of work in progress. Me? I’m a problem.” He ran out of bowls and I handed him another stack before returning to my own.

                “Ok… but it’s not like you did anything wrong.” Kyle shrugged. “Depends on how you define wrong.”

                And that’s where it ends, I thought, not feeling comfortable pursuing the subject. Kyle was an ambiguous person, but I knew that now was not the time to pry answers out of him. We didn’t know each other that well… in fact, he was probably one of the people here that I knew least. I made a mental note to change that.

                “This should be enough,” Kyle said. I stopped filling the bowls and rested the ladle on the pot rim, Kyle doing the same with his. We each grabbed some food and I headed over to the stumps.

                “Taylor! Come here!” Torri waved me over from the other side of the firepit, and I could tell from Rowan’s exasperated look that they wanted me to settle another one of their disputes. I rolled my eyes but smiled and joined them.

                Rowan spoke before I’d even found a seat. “We’re trying to tell if West’s shirt is brown or black,” he said, nodding at West. “Torri says it’s brown, but I say it’s black.”

                I glanced over at West, who was clearly wearing a brown shirt. He was handing out bowls to people and appeared to be telling Kyle a joke as he did so.

                “You’re wrong, Rowan,” I said, my eyes focused on Kyle. “You’re wrong.”

8: Chapter 8

Finally! I sighed, tired, my flashlight illuminating the spider I’d been chasing around my tent for the past twenty minutes. I hated bugs—one reason why living in the woods was not my thing—and this fear had significantly slowed the process of getting this spider out. I watched for a moment as it scrambled away, then headed back to camp.

        Mark would’ve gotten it for me, even if I woke him up for it, I thought, feeling a pang in my chest. I shook my head as I approached the firepit, pondering how unfortunate it was that my tent was the last one in the row—

        “Taylor.” I turned, surprised to see several people sitting on the stumps. A lantern had replaced the coals that usually lit the area—how had I not noticed this earlier?— and I looked at the faces, seeing only Torri’s eyes trained on me.

        “What are you doing up?” I hesitated, not exactly wanting to admit a spider had given me so much trouble, but I didn’t have to.

        “Come on over.” I leaned forward and saw Rowan, an empty stump next to him. I tugged my sweatshirt up around my shoulders and walked over.

        “What are you doing up?” I asked Torri, reflecting the question. I glanced around the firepit and saw several people, to my surprise. In addition to Kyle and Torri, Rowan, Edgar, Old Isadora and two more I didn’t recognize were there. I took a seat.

        “Welcome to the leaders’ meeting, where all the decisions are made for your every day benefit,” Kyle said, sounding like a guy from a TV commercial. I chuckled, but immediately regretted it. The mood seemed heavy, as if I’d walked in on an intense discussion. I waited for someone to say something.

        Kyle cleared his throat. “Taylor, this is Ian—” he nodded at a tall man in his forties who I’d seen around before, “And Jeanine.” A woman with dark hair and a nose ring nodded in my direction. I nodded in return.

“What were you saying?” Edgar said, looking at Torri. Their faces were distorted by shadows, and I felt a chill run through me.

        Torri shifted. “Well, Kyle and I have been talking and… our numbers are low. This is bad not only because the visums are taking advantage of it, but also because it leaves our group more vulnerable in general.” This explanation, though not directed at me, seemed to be for my understanding.

                We waited for her to continue. Torri looked up at Kyle. “And… we think we should start recruiting people.” This caused several people to react, in different ways. Rowan stood up and turned his back to everyone, rubbing his chin. Edgar looked down as Ian nodded slightly.

                Of course, Rowan was the first to speak. He turned to us but didn’t sit down. “Torri, you’ve heard what I’ve been saying these past couple months. And as good as everything’s been working out, there were a couple times—” He hesitated.

                Ian turned to me. “Recruitment is when we go into a town and look for people who would make good additions to our group, usually more solitary people who don’t have many roots in society.” He paused. “You were recruited… though it was under different circumstances.” My eyes widened in surprise, mostly at the fact that Ian knew my story. Had I been discussed at these meetings…?

                Rowan interrupted my thoughts. “Look, Taylor—things have worked out so far, but recruiting just isn’t… reliable. It’s risky, bringing in outsiders. We risk exposing ourselves along with risking these people’s lives, should they choose not to join us.”

                Edgar pitched in. “Up until now, we’ve only recruited a few people, all at very young ages. Other than that, we haven’t had reason to bring in new members and deal with the trouble—no offense. But like Torri said, our numbers are low…”

                Old Isadora spoke up. “Taylor may just be one situation, but you all have done well with her. It may be risky, but from what you’ve been telling me about these recent missions, recruiting at least a few people seems to be necessary.”

                “But we’re doing alright as we are,” Rowan said. “We need to slow down and think about this, think about what’s at stake here—”

                “But that’s what you’ve been saying since the slaughter!” Kyle exclaimed. “It’s time we actually did something.”

                “Kyle’s right, man,” Edgar said. “I’m not saying I’m all gung-ho for recruitment at this point, but we need to decide what we’re gonna do, whether it’s bringing people in or spacing out the missions.”

                Jeanine spoke up for the first time. “If we choose the right people, recruitment shouldn’t be too much of an issue—”

                “And how do we know who those people are?” Ian asked. “Sometimes it may be clear, but for the most part, these people won’t be flashing neon signs waiting for us.”

                “Exactly!” Rowan said, not angrily, but definitely with force. “This isn’t something you can just rush into and decide to do on a whim—”

                “Hey, no pointing fingers,” Kyle said, standing up.

                “Everyone.” Old Isadora’s calm but firm voice brought the debate to a halt. She looked at each person and spoke slowly. “I think we all need to chew on the idea and reconvene in a couple nights. For now, we should move on to our next topic so Taylor doesn’t think arguing is all we’re capable of.” She smiled at me, as I did to her.

                “Tasks,” Ian said. Rowan and Kyle took their seats. “People haven’t been keeping up, and I don’t think it’s because of fewer hands.”

                “I agree,” Edgar said. “We need to stress this to everyone. I’ll tell West to be firm about it when he hands out positions tomorrow.” Oh, so West was responsible. I lowered my head, hiding my smile.

                “And maybe someone should team up with him on this… who could we appoint?” Torri said.

                “What about Taylor?”  I heard Jeanine say. I looked up, surprised. “Me?”

                Rowan shrugged. “Why not? It will help you get to know the camp and the people here a little better.” I considered this a moment. Not a bad idea.

                “Cool,” Torri said. She stood up and stretched. “On that note, meeting adjourned…. I have a mission tomorrow and don’t want to fall asleep while on watch.” I heard murmurs of agreement as everyone stood to leave.

                “We’ll meet again in two nights,” Ian said as everyone dispersed. “Put some thought into this, everyone—form your own opinion.”

                Even in the light of the lantern, I could see Rowan roll his eyes. “We’re more mature than that, Ian,” he said. And he promptly left, leaving an air of disapproval behind that clearly expressed his opinion of the recruitment.

 

 

                Gina had taken me on her mission yesterday, and I had just gotten back an hour or so ago. I hadn’t wanted to go, but it had been exactly what I’d needed.

                Missions consisted of a given group of people walking out to a town or, as in all of my missions so far, somewhere else in the woods that was far from camp. It was always at least one night, sometimes up to a week, that we stayed in a given place. We mostly watched for visum, silently sitting somewhere alone but not far from each other. It was making ourselves vulnerable, Torri had explained to me on my first mission, and the visums would be drawn to it. More than half the missions, however, took place in a town, and I heard those were more interesting, due to the fact that we had to remain unsuspicious while interacting with the visums that were targeting people. I was more than ok with not tackling that type of mission right off the bat.

                For most of yesterday and all of last night, Gina and I had been by a river that, I was told, led into the lake I had swam across that night on the boat. We had found a few visums, only one of which Gina had had to help me kill, and she thought it had been a big success. I had too, especially because of all the time I’d had to think things over. Recruitment really struck a chord with me, given that I’d been in that situation and, well, I still was. I had weighed the pro’s and con’s, almost deciding against it after revisiting all the trouble I’d had adjusting. But then I remembered I’d experienced the rough draft of the process, and others’ would be a lot smoother. Plus, we did need the people. It had surprised me just how much everyone had been suffering on the missions, as I’d learned at the meeting and from Gina. While people came back fatigued, they were also often plagued with depression, which was heightened with the slaughter and their grief over those who had perished. It opened my eyes to how much I didn’t know…

                And this was what led to my sudden inspiration just before I was about to fall asleep. Now, back at the camp, I had to find Kyle and tell him about it. After searching nearly every area I knew, someone finally told me Kyle was out hunting with some others and should be coming back soon. I helped Old Isadora sew some shirts and was about to start on another when I saw the hunting group return. I met them at the cooking benches and caught sight of Kyle.

                “Hunting can be… gross,” he said without even looking up. I glanced down at the squirrels—now with bloody, matted fur and frozen faces—and shuddered.

“How was your mission with Gina?” he asked.

                “Oh, uh, it was good,” I said, surprised that he knew. I hesitated. Kyle finished unhooking the squirrels he’d caught from the rope and straightened up.

                “Spit it out,” he said, heading towards to river. I fell in step beside him.

                “Well… I’ve been doing some thinking about the recruitment stuff…” Kyle raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

                “And I think I agree with you.” Kyle smiled, and while I thought he would hold it as a win against Rowan, this didn’t appear to be his reaction.

“If it’s under certain conditions,” I added. Kyle nodded.

“We can’t take anyone who has connections with people, of course, and when we train them, we have to go by their rate of success when we determine how they should be challenged…” I felt like I was babbling. “Basically, if you end up forming a recruitment team, or something—count me in.”

Kyle paused and looked at me. “I’m glad you said that,” he said. I blushed slightly. “Would you mind saying it again at the meeting tonight?”

“You mean… I can come?” I hadn’t assumed I was part of the group—I hadn’t contributed much— but apparently I hadn’t been intruding as much as I’d thought.

Kyle shrugged. “I think they need to hear you say this. And it would be good to have a newbie in the group.” I smiled.

“I’ll be there.” Kyle nodded and extended his hand. I shook it firmly, but quickly took it back.

“Squirrel guts!” I exclaimed. Kyle laughed and wagged his fingers at me. “Fresh and slimy!”

I shoved him with my clean hand. “Yuck!”

Kyle motioned towards the river. “I was just on my way to wash up. Wanna come?” I rolled my eyes, grinned, and started towards the water.

9: Chapter 9

I glanced at Torri out of the corner of my eye while pretending to inspect something on my fingernail. She was preoccupied, having a conversation with Jeanine. Perfect.

Reaching into my bucket, I stole a few berries and swiftly popped them in my mouth before Torri could see. Blueberries were definitely my weakness, and as soon as Torri had found this out, she'd been determined to keep me from eating the camp out of house and home. Not that a few berries from four full buckets would make any difference—

"Someone's sneaky." I jumped. Park came up behind me, a smirk on his face. "Can't hide from my eagle eyes."

I grinned guiltily. "I can't help it… who's gonna miss a few more berries anyway?"

"More?!" I cringed at Torri's voice. Park laughed. I turned and saw Torri glaring at me, though there was also a good amount of disbelief in her expression. "Taylor, you're gonna eat these at dinner tonight too, I hope you know that. Have some self-control."

I nodded solemnly. "Ok, ok I'll stop." There was a pause between the four of us, the only sound being our footsteps on the forest floor. "But just in case—" I handed Park my bucket and moved to the front of the group.

"Someone could've done that a while ago," I heard Torri grumble as Park clapped in approval of my actions. I smiled and shook my head.

A few minutes later we got to camp, and I was tempted to help volunteer to prepare dinner when I caught sight of Old Isadora. She was sitting outside her tent in her lawn chair, as she often was. But there were two people sitting at her feet—two people I didn't recognize.

I gaped at them for a minute, wondering if they were maybe Sent members I just hadn't run into yet. But by the look of their clothes and the intense expressions on their faces, I doubted it.

"They're new." I didn't break off my gaze when Rowan spoke from behind me, so engrossed I was. But I didn't have to look at him to hear the disapproval in his voice.

The leaders had met to discuss recruitment, as agreed the night I'd walked in on their meeting. After lots of debate and opinions, the majority concluded recruitment was necessary. The older, more experienced leaders would start it out, choosing only those who looked like they'd join us. Although it totally depended on the response of whoever we brought in, we had a loose plan: observe the person, show them a visum (under safe circumstances, of course), and slowly train them to use their powers. This would be done with significantly less hostility than I'd experienced, along with more efforts from Sent members to reach out to them and be inviting, welcoming. This announcement had been made to the Sent as a whole, with plenty of agreement and objection. But regardless, it was going to happen.

That had been several weeks ago, and I'd only heard that people were having difficulty with recruitment so far. It was hard to determine who would be willing to come with us, and some people—leaders included—found it hard to muster up the courage to approach anyone. This I understood, though I was still frustrated that people weren't doing more.

But I can do my part, I realized. I was one of the Sent, but I had just come from the critical point that these two people were in now, giving me their perspective as well as the Sent's..

Rowan shifted his weight, waiting for me to respond. I took a deep breath, ignored his comment, and walked over to Old Isadora.

The three of them looked up at me upon my arrival. I smiled at them and extended my hand.

"Hi," I said. "I'm Taylor."

 

 

Lukas and Amy. They were twins, about my age, and so far… they were actually doing alright. I was happy for them.

And I was happy that I could help. For the past few weeks I'd been making an effort to help the twins in their transition—​answering questions, explaining our ways, and just leaving time to joke around and be friendly throughout it all. But I was only around them half the time—honestly, it was Old Isadora who was doing most of the work. But it was still evident that everyone in camp was doing something to help them out.

I'd learned their story a few days later, at a leader's meeting. Ian and Jeanine had brought them in. They'd found them one day, living by themselves in a dingy apartment in some nearby town, surviving on their own after their parents had died and recently becoming independent from the care of their unwilling guardian. They wouldn't have been much different from typical Others, except that they were almost constantly being plagued by a number of visums. Ian and Jeanine had been horrified, and after observing the twins for a week or so, they'd driven the visums away and brought the twins to camp. It sounded crazy, and I was surprised they were so open to our ideas, something that was obvious from the moment I'd met them.

"The credit is really yours for the taking," I'd pointed out to Old Isadora one day while watching West teach Amy how to cook over the fire, Lukas watching nearby. Old Isadora hadn't agreed nor disagreed, but I knew she had been the key. The twins clearly felt comfortable around her—Old Isadora always had that effect on people… I remembered this from my own experience. And the more at-home they felt, the more they opened up. I'd learned a lot about them in the past few weeks, mostly in terms of their personalities….

Amy was quiet at first, which I took to be shyness. But I soon realized this was just how she was—low-key but sweet and, in a way, cute. She was alos kind of blond, both literally and figuratively (that made her all the more fun to be around, though). While we were busy giving kindness to her in many forms, she was always giving back, in ways like acknowledging our directions, returning favors, and simply being willing to strike up a conversation with anyone who wasn't already involved in one.

Lukas, on the other hand, was a bit opposite. He was quiet, but not always in a pleasant way. He reminded me a little of Torri, actually. Lukas was always laid-back, having a very chill attitude about everything. Often I couldn't determine what he was feeling during our work—annoyed, bored, happy? He didn't seem to be all-out enthusiastic about fighting off demons in the middle of the woods either, which was the same skepticism I'd had upon coming here. That was ok, almost expected. Yet sometimes, in things related or not related to the Sent's mission, he just didn't care. Or so it appeared.

But who could tell? The twins had only been here so long—people didn't even know me yet. These things just took time. But I was very eager to help them adjust nonetheless, and I couldn't wait to see how our first recruiting efforts turned out.

All this I'd been mulling over for the past few days, and especially now as I washed my clothes in the river. My thoughts kept returning to high school, and how great it had felt to finally not be a freshman anymore. I'd returned my second year knowing the building, some teachers, my friend group. It was just easier, more relaxed, and I felt like I had… more of a voice. This was exactly what it was like here, and not just because of Lukas and Amy. Between fighting off visums, taking initiative with chores, and the leader's meetings, I'd slowly begun to realize I could have a say in how this group worked. And that was awesome.

You don't know everything, I thought to myself as I rinsed the soap out of my shirt. That was true. I had yet to go on a mission into town, and I was one of the only ones in camp who hadn't been directly impacted by the slaughter, a significant part of the Sent's history. But that's ok, I told myself. And it was. My role here would be different, but that didn't make it of any lesser worth.

10: Chapter 10

I finished the last of my soup, savoring the delicious broth. Who knew West was such a good cook?

“It’s weird though… the kind of thing you only see in the movies.” I glanced up at Lukas, rejoining the conversation. He was sitting across from me, Torri in between us, as we finished our meal. We were the last of the camp to eat, having returned late from some training with the twins.

Torri shrugged. “I guess so… don’t ask me though, it’s always been a part of my life.” She nodded at me. “Taylor’s the one who can relate.”

Lukas nodded, not looking at me. “At least we’re not the only ones,” he said, referring to him and his sister. I murmured in agreement and set my bowl beside my stump, noting the slight awkwardness I often felt around him. Even though Lukas was here, he wasn’t always here, preferring to stay back and listen or just observe. Mark had been a little like that, so I totally understood. It wasn’t necessarily my way of being in involved in a conversation, but it wasn’t wrong to be wired that way either.

“Hey, guys!” Amy came over from the river, having given her bowl to Edgar to wash. She plopped down on a stump and wiped her brow.

“I see why it’s called training… it’s hard work.” She began taking out her messy braid. Torri gave her a look.

“You think that’s tiring? Wait until you go into town and fight the visums in action—that’s a workout.” She smirked. “And so is saving someone from them.”

I sighed in frustration, knowing all too well what she was referring to. “Can you blame me? I thought you guys were insane.” I didn’t want to mention how poorly I’d been recruited right then, both because of Lukas and Amy and because I didn’t know the details. I had yet to know the how’s and why’s of my recruitment, since the motives with me clearly weren’t the ones used with the twins.

Amy nodded. “I can imagine.” She began re-braiding her hair, overlapping the strands at a steady pace. She looked at Torri. “If you guys bring in more people, let me know—I can give them some pointers.”

Lukas scoffed and stood, bowl in hand.

“What was that for?” I asked, hearing the edge in my own voice. Torri looked at him as well. He rubbed his neck with his free hand.

“We’ve been here only a few weeks—do we really know anything?” Well, yes. You know almost as much as I do, I wanted to say, but I bit my lip.

Amy rolled her eyes, pausing in mid-braid to wave her hand in the air, as if swatting away Lukas’ attitude like a fly. “He’s just mad that I’m so gung-ho about all this when I haven’t even been here long. He says it’s unwise to be so gullible and ‘easily swayed.’” She finished her braid and stood as well, looking at her brother. “But it all makes sense so far.” She grinned at Lukas. “And if they turn out to be a bunch of loonies, I have you to protect me.” She playfully bumped her shoulder against his before heading to Old Isadora’s tent.

Torri, expressionless as always, returned her attention to her food. “You have a valid point, Lukas—just know that we’re not trying to brainwash you.”  Lukas didn’t say anything for a moment.

“I wondered why everything was going so wrong,” he said quietly. I pondered this, trying to imagine how it felt to be under so many visums’ power and not even know it. When had a visum been working in my own life? I shuddered at the thought.

“… so I guess I owe you guys one.” I covered my smile with my sleeve, not wanting to ruin the moment. Amy had said earlier, while Lukas was busy moving rocks on the road, how coming to the camp had lifted a weight off their shoulders. “He won’t say it, but I know it goes for both of us.” She paused. “Life is so much happier now. We’re glad you guys found us.”

And I considered that good progress, our first recruitment successful.

 

 

Everything had been cleaned up and the sun had long ago set. I had planned to return to my tent and go right to sleep, as I usually did from a long day’s work, but I didn’t feel tired. That was new. When had I last had some time to myself? I paused to think about it, stopping outside my tent. Too long. With no mission planned tomorrow and no leader’s meeting tonight, I took advantage of my free time. I picked up the lantern outside my tent and headed down to the river.

The moon was high in the sky and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. I found the same grassy slope I’d been at only a few months earlier, where I’d first met—well, first been introduced—to Kyle. Turning the lantern low to conserve energy, I pulled my knees up to my chest and let my thoughts wander, admiring the beauty of the lake at dusk. Recruitment was going well, Lukas and Amy were great, the Sent was making progress… all was well.

Not to my surprise, Kyle kept coming to mind. It was amazing, the awkwardness we had then compared to the friendship we had now. How long ago had we been sitting on this same slope, complete strangers? Not that he was my best friend now, or anything even close—I knew Torri more than I knew him, despite her hostile nature—but I still enjoyed what we had.

I reached over to the lantern, absent-mindedly tracing its round top with my finger. Kyle was different, although I didn’t know how. He was ambitious and independent, but so was Rowan. I chuckled at this thought, noting how differently these characteristics showed in each of them. Yeah, very differently. Kyle was just more goofy and spontaneous, but in his unique way—

A tingling in my fingers suddenly caught my attention. Why was that happening? I looked down at the lantern, but nothing appeared to be happening. I stopped tracing the top, and the tingling died down. When I began again, it came back.

Rowan and Torri didn’t tell me about this, I thought. I scoffed at myself. Of course they hadn’t told me—Rowan had wanted me more than fully prepared before I tried anything new. But what if this was something unrelated to my powers…? No, I knew it was real—I could just tell. Interesting. Well, there had to be some way I could use this…

If a visum were around, I could have tried it out on them. But none were in sight, so I scanned my surroundings until I saw a dying bush near the forest’s edge. That would work. I crawled over to the bush, dragging the lantern with me.

“Now what?” I whispered to myself. Any time I’d used my powers, it had always been something coming from inside of me—I’d never taken power out of anything else. I assumed that was an upper-level thing the Sent could do.

I really had no idea how to approach this. I remembered what Torri had said to me on my first day of training: Just visualize what you want to happen. Ok then.

I stretched out my hand and pictured the light leaving the lantern and going into the bush. Nothing happened. I tried harder. Still no results.

Guess I’m not as good as I thought. That was depressing. But I was determined, and began trying everything I could think of. I used two hands, concentrated harder, turned up the light in the lantern, stood up. Nothing seemed to be working. This threw me off a little—was a tingle really all I could do?

Wait a minute. My eyes widened as it dawned on me. I got back down on my knees and aimed both hands towards the lantern.

Suddenly, the bush burst into healthy, thick green leaves that looked nothing like it had before. It even grew in size, almost doubling, and I staggered backwards at the sudden change, surprised.

“That’s it,” I breathed, amazed. I’d been picturing the light visibly coming out of the lantern and into the bush. But it wasn’t the light itself that would help the bush—it was the light’s power.

“Took me long enough,” I muttered, smiling, but feeling kind of dumb. Hey, I could at least say I’d taught myself how to do it.

This task completed, I sat back down on the slope, only then noticing how dark it was. It was late. I sighed, picked up the lantern, and headed back to camp. At least now I was tired and would get a good night’s sleep.

11: Chapter 11

I was still groggy, barely aware of someone shuffling around outside my tent. I pulled my mind out of sleep for a moment, trying to remember what my job was for today. Meal clean-up… good, I don’t have to get up early…

                The rustling was louder, and closer, and I realized someone was trying to open my tent door. I sat up and looked in their direction, confused and trying to comprehend what was happening.

                “Taylor, what the heck is wrong with your tent?” It was Torri. I crawled out of my sleeping bag and unzipped the door for her.

                “What’s going on…” I began to ask. But the look on Torri’s face stopped me. “What’s wrong?”

Torri’s forehead was wrinkled in concern and her eyes flashed with worry. “Lukas is missing.”

                Now I was fully awake. I ducked back into my tent to get my sweater, coming back a moment later. “What do you mean, missing?”

                Torri held the tent flap aside. “Amy went to find him this morning so they could make breakfast with Gina, but he wasn’t in his tent. No one’s seen him, and he’s been gone a while—his sleeping bag is cold.”

                A chill swept through me. It was a cooler morning, but that wasn’t why.

                “Let’s go,” I said, stepping out of my tent and zipping it up before following Torri out into the main camp.

                A group of people stood in the center of the camp, most of them being leaders. Amy was there, too. She looked uneasy, and I wondered if she knew how serious the situation was. I spotted Kyle and Rowan talking to each other in low voices, concern etched on both of their faces. When they saw Torri and I, Rowan quieted everyone.

                “Lukas can’t have gotten far,” he said in a rush. “We’re going to pair up and spread out. Amy and Kyle will go north. Torri and West will go along the river. Taylor and Ian will head towards the road we use for training…”

                I nodded, feeling my body start to shake slightly. Why was Lukas gone? Had he given up on the Sent and gone looking for a town, somewhere else to live? Had he just gone for something else, not telling anyone? I hoped—really hoped—a visum hadn’t found him. As Torri always reminded me, I was lucky to be alive after that visum attacked me, and we all knew Lukas was likely unaware of how serious visums’ attacks were and what would happen if no one found him…

                “… search tents here at camp.” Rowan finished, inhaling quickly, looking around at us. “When you find him, get him back to camp safely. Don’t be angry… we’ll sit him down and explain the seriousness of this once he’s here,” he said, glancing at me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise—he was one to talk. That had been his exact reaction to my getting into trouble—anger. Was this some sort of apology? I tried to read his eyes, but he looked back to the rest of the group.

                There were more important things to worry about. We split up and set off, everyone going to their assigned places. Ian and I had just entered the forest, heading towards the road, when suddenly we heard a yell.

                “He’s back!” someone behind us exclaimed. I looked at Ian and whirled around, hoping it was true. There was Lukas, in the middle of the camp, a line of fish hanging over his shoulder. We hurriedly walked over to him, and I bit my lip to keep from demanding an explanation.

                Ian posed the question instead. “Lukas, where were you?” It sounded kind of dumb, since it was obvious Lukas had been fishing. The real question was why he’d gone.

                Lukas shrugged. “We were supposed to have fish for breakfast, and I didn’t see any, so I figured I’d catch them.” He looked at us, chin down but eyes boring into ours, and I realized he was challenging us, daring us to tell him what he could and couldn’t do.

                I had no idea how to respond to this, and I think Ian was even taken aback, but just then Kyle appeared. He ran up and stopped, putting a hand on Lukas’ shoulder, panting.

                “Hey, Lukas… you can’t…” Lukas turned to him, bringing the fish off his shoulder and around in front of him. He looked them up and down, not looking at Kyle at all. “Can’t what?”

Kyle had by now caught his breath, and he glanced at us, unsure. Lukas’ defiant attitude looked somewhat innocent, as if he really had no idea of the danger he could’ve been in. At the same time, there was no acknowledgement of our concern.

Torri, who had been watching all of this from a distance, came up and gently pushed Kyle aside. “You haven’t fought a visum yet, Lukas. You’re too vulnerable without someone around here to watch your back. Visums know this, and they’ll come looking for you. And… well, let’s just say they won’t be as nice to you as before.” I looked down at my feet, not wanting to see Lukas’ reaction.

“Ok.” I raised my eyes to look at him, surprised that he was so… submissive.

“Let’s cook these up.” Or was he? Still looking at his catch, Lukas left us and headed over to the benches by the firepit, walking in his usual lazy manner. Torri watched him go, biting her lip with a blank expression.

“We have to get it through his head—” Rowan began, but Ian stopped him.

“He understands. I think this is just his way of reacting to it.” Ian looked at Amy for confirmation. She looked perplexed, but she nodded slowly. Ian nodded too, and no one said anything for a minute. Torri was the first to break the tension and left to go help set out plates, and one by one we dispersed, leaving me standing alone.

Did he really understand?

 

I plopped down on a stump by the campfire, so glad to finally be done washing dishes. I sighed in relief and set my lantern on the ground in front of me. Almost everyone was in camp today, which meant more people had eaten, so more dishes had been used, so there was more work for me. I think dish-washing was my least favorite job of them all.

No one else was at the firepit at the moment… I think there was a card game going on in the trailer at the top of this hill. I had wanted to join, but it was probably in full swing by now, so I’d likely end up just watching for the most part.

Suddenly, I glanced up. Kyle was sitting on the stump next to me—I hadn’t even heard him come over. I jumped a little, then blushed at my sudden start.

“Do you enjoy sneaking around?” I asked. He shrugged, gazing at the lantern. “I guess I’m just stealthy.” I felt uneasy at his word choice, but waved the thought aside.

Neither of us said anything for a while. Excited voices drifted down the hill, indicating that someone had just made a good move. I rested my elbows on my knees, chin on my hands, and gazed at the cold ashes in the firepit. Scratch that—I wouldn’t say I was uneasy, but maybe… uncomfortable, a little at least. But being alone with anyone you don’t really know can make you feel uncomfortable—

“So what have you done so far?” Kyle asked suddenly. I furrowed my brow, although I doubted he could see my face well in the lantern light.

Unaware of my confusion, Kyle answered his own question. “Survived a visum attack, for one, although I wouldn’t give you the credit for that.” I rolled my eyes, yet I knew it was true.

Kyle continued. “You’ve accomplished every training task Rowan and Torri could come up with. You’ve fought off a visum on your own and several others while on missions...” He was right. But what was he getting at?

“…and you’ve already earned a leader position with us,” Kyle finished.

“That was your doing,” I said, still staring into the empty firepit. “And the only thing I really do is help West enforce jobs which is, like, easy—”

I fell silent, having more to say but feeling the need to stop. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kyle turn his head to look at me.

“What I’m saying,” he said softly, “Is that… you’re doing really well. And we’re glad you’re here.”

I turned and looked at him in the dark, shadows cast over both our faces but features still visible in the dim light. He had no expression on his face, but his tone told me he’d meant what he’d said. And even though I was never good at receiving compliments, I held his gaze for what seemed like minutes, in a silent thank you.

Finally Kyle stood up and left, disappearing into the dark. I watched him go, feeling like… I had a purpose. There were lots of questions, and lots more to learn, but… that was ok. I was where I was supposed to be.

 

“It’s just so stressful!” West exclaimed, adding more leaves to the pile he’d accumulated. I snickered at Park as the two of us passed by West, laughing at his OCD.

“Just keep going… you’ll get them all eventually!” I called over my shoulder, shifting the stump I was carrying. Park chuckled as we reached the firepit, his chuckle turning into a grunt as he eased his stump down between two others.

“At least we know he’ll do a good job,” Park said as he took my stump from me and positioned it in the circle.

I scoffed, wiping sweat from my brow. “Yeah… and it’ll take twice as long.” Despite West’s various responsibilities in the camp, everyone knew he was a little lazy.

It was clean-up day. Since few people were on missions and fall was in full swing, Ian had declared today a work day. West was raking, Park and I were adding stumps to the firepit, Rowan and Kyle had gone to stock up on firewood—

“Hey, guys!” I grinned as Amy came up behind us, a basket full of blankets in her hands. Water dripped—almost streamed—from on corner of the basket, and there was almost as much water on Amy herself. I examined her clothes, nearly soaked through, and noted that her wet bangs were plastered to her forehead.

Torri walked passed her and set some skewers on a stump next to us. “You were supposed to wash the blankets, not yourself,” she said. The monotone in which she said this and the way she didn’t even glance at Amy set Park and I off, laughing so hard we could barely stand up.

Amy looked down at her shirt in disbelief. “Oh… yeah, I guess I got carried away.” I wiped tears from my eyes, a grin on my face, as Torri left, still with no expression. I chuckled some more before Park and I headed back to grab the last of the stumps.

“Taylor, help me out,” Edgar called, nodding at the various fishing poles that were all but falling out of his arms. Lukas was trailing behind him, carrying a bait box and a roll of fishing line. I waved to Park and grabbed a few poles from Edgar, turning around to follow him up the hill. This beat having to haul another stump back from the woods.

“Where are you taking these?” I asked, knowing that all the fishing gear was usually kept by the river. Edgar nodded at the firepit. “We need to do some sorting, but things get lost in the grass.” I nodded, then turned back to Lukas.

“Looks like you’ve got the easy job!” I said jokingly. He smiled, but didn’t reply. I turned back towards the firepit and set the poles down.

“Start taking the line off these poles,” Edgar instructed Lukas, indicating the ones I’d carried. “I’ll replace it with new stuff.”

I was about to ask if I could help when something wet landed on my nose. Confused, I looked at Edgar and Lukas, who hadn’t seemed to have noticed anything.

Another landed on my cheek, then on my shoulder. Lukas looked up, and I saw a fat drop land on his forehead.

“It’s gonna rain!” I heard West yell from his leafpile. Edgar straightened up and held out his hands, then picked up his poles.

“We’ll put them in the supply tent,” he said. Lukas and I picked everything back up, and I noticed the sky was getting dark. Suddenly, I felt the temperature drop and it began to rain harder.

“Taylor! Help me!” I turned and saw Amy at the clothesline by the forest’s edge, desperately trying to pull down the blankets she’d just hung up.

“Leave them—they’re soaked anyways!” I called. Amy paused, as if she hadn’t even thought of this. She shrugged and dropped the blanket, letting it land on the ground, and bounded towards me.

“But don’t let it get dirty!” I shouted. The rain was almost pelting me now, having already dampened my hair.

“Argh!” Amy yelled. She turned around, flung the blanket in the basket, and ran in my direction. “I’m gonna get soaked!”

I laughed, nearly dropping my fishing poles. “You were already soaked before the rain even came!!” She caught up to me and punched me in the shoulder, grabbing some of my fishing poles and running with me towards Edgar and Lukas, the two of us laughing all the way.

12: Chapter 12

 “I think it’s going to rain.” I groaned and glanced up at the sky, seeing dark clouds moving in from the west.

            “Hopefully Torri will call it a day before it comes down… I’m so done getting soaked,” I said, glancing ahead at Torri’s back. She and Lukas were walking along the road ahead of us, finding different tasks for him to do for practice. I looked at Park, who was walking next to me, as he kicked a rock with his boot. It tumbled forward and nearly hit Torri’s ankle, but she didn’t notice.

            “I can’t remember the last time I was on this road,” Park said, changing the subject abruptly, a habit that annoyed me. I shrugged, unable to help him come to a conclusion.

            Torri stopped suddenly, and the rest of us did too, even Lukas. A visum was nearby, but I couldn’t tell where. Park craned his neck to the right, listening, but up ahead Torri was intently gazing straight ahead.

            A growl to my left made me jump, and I immediately put up a defense. Park joined me as the visum attacked… though at this point it wasn’t nearly as intimidating as it had been before. Yet the evil radiated off it like heat, and I felt my blood run cold as the black shape shifted and hissed. We were almost through with it when two more swarmed over Torri and Lukas, catching them offguard.

            “Torri…?” Park said, leaving me and running towards her. As far as I knew, Lukas hadn’t had any experience with fighting actual visums yet—Torri needed all the help she could get.

            “I’m steady,” I heard her reply. I wanted to look at Lukas and see how he was doing, but my visum was fighting harder, my stomach sinking more and more as I pushed it back. Rather than being terrified, I was seeing how my reaction to visums was gradually becoming one more of uncomfortableness and strain. I just wanted it to go away. But it’d be over soon… no big deal…

            I heard a screech and knew that someone’s visum had been destroyed.

            “Hey, can someone give me a hand—”

            “Shush!”

            I glanced at Torri, her tone harsh even for someone as mean as her. She was still fighting the visum but now she was listening for something. I saw her lean towards Lukas and speak in a low voice, and he took off jogging down the road where Torri had been looking earlier.

            This didn’t look good. I concentrated and managed to scare my visum away, but not destroy it. I kicked myself for that, but I was too nervous at the moment. I ran over to Park and Torri, who were now fighting three visums. I confronted one and it engaged, its growl low and sinister.

            “What’s—” Torri elbowed me hard in my gut before I could even get the words out.

            “I hear someone,” she hissed. I felt my eyes widen. People were out here? Normal people? When was the last time I’d seen a regular person?

            Suddenly, Lukas came back, panting. “A police cruiser is on its way here… it just turned the corner down the road.” I gasped.

            “Come on,” Torri groaned, and I saw her wince at the volume of her voice. Her eyes flashed as she looked over at Park.

            “Take Taylor’s visum and let’s move them into the woods,” she said. “Taylor, stay with Lukas.” I gulped, scared that we would be found out but almost as scared to be in charge of a new-bee on my own. Would I know how to lead if things went wrong?

            But I did as she said. Silently, with the visums still moaning and growling, Torri and Park headed towards the woods. I could see the veins in Park’s neck bulge with effort, and I knew they’d be exhausted after handling three visums on their own. Gosh, did I want to help.

            Instead, I dashed back to Lukas, who was on his way back up the road. I caught up to him and we both veered off into the woods, somewhat hidden but still able to see the road. We didn’t speak.

            Lukas stopped suddenly, holding out a hand in front of me. I froze. I couldn’t hear any cars… had the policemen left?

            “Well, hey there.” Startled, I jumped a mile and spun around at the same time, coming face to face with a deputy. He was looking at us curiously, head cocked to one side, thumbs hooked in his belt. He didn’t look happy.

            I smiled. “Hello.” Lukas glanced at me and I wanted to slap him. Could he be any more suspicious?

            The deputy unhooked one of his thumbs to wipe his brow. “What are you kids doing out here? The rain will be coming any minute.”

            I smiled again. “We were just taking a walk—”

            “And we kinda got a little lost.” Lukas looked up at the clouds, as if noticing them for the first time. “I don’t want to ask too much, Sir, but would you be willing to give us a ride back to town?” He pointed up the road in the direction we had been walking towards.

            My smile froze on my face. What?

            The deputy nodded grimly. “Sure thing. It’s a good twenty minute walk or so to any town from here. My car’s this way, up the hill.” He turned and, having no choice, we followed. Seething, I kept glancing at Lukas, not confident a whisper wouldn’t be heard, trying to figure out his motive. He avoided looking at me.

            “We get a lot of people out here doing things they shouldn’t, so we patrol the area often…” the deputy said. I nodded, still trying to keep calm. “…usually don’t find anything bad, but it’s good to stay on top of things…”

            Lukas nodded and asked the deputy a question, but I didn’t hear. My heart was beating so fast I couldn’t think. We rounded the corner and arrived at the police cruiser. We got in as thunder rumbled in the distance. I looked hard out the window as I buckled my seatbelt, hoping Torri or Park had seen us leave, but there was no sign of them in the trees.

            The deputy droned on about stuff as he drove down the road, going a little fast, I noticed. Lukas acted completely normal, and I was getting really frustrated… and nervous. Why were we going into town? Did Lukas want to go on a mission there? I scoffed at the idea before I’d even finished thinking about it.

            Was he betraying us? My mind, which had been racing, screeched to a halt, and I felt my face go slightly pale. I glanced at Lukas again, chewing this over. He hadn’t said anything to the deputy about visums, or being kidnapped. But he hadn’t said anything to me either about his plans.

            We were entering the town now, which was more like a city. How many months had it been since I’d been in any type of civilization? But it wasn’t anyplace I recognized… it was somewhere else. Did Lukas know where he was? I tried to remember the turns we’d made so that I could get back to camp.

We had been driving for roughly half an hour when Lukas suddenly interrupted the deputy and pointed to a bus stop ahead of us. “There will be fine, thanks,” he said.

“Sure thing.” The deputy pulled up to the curb. Lukas and I got out, thanked him, and watched as he drove away.

I whirled around, glaring at Lukas. “What the heck is going on? We could’ve gotten ourselves out of that without having to come all the way out here! What are Torri and Park gonna think when they come back and we’re gone?”

Lukas, unperturbed by my reaction, shoved his hands in his pockets. “Taylor, I want out.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“I want out,” he repeated. “The Sent is a great cause and all, but… it’s not for me. I’m glad you guys helped out Amy and I, but now that I know how to defend myself, I want my old life back.”

I was shaking. Hadn’t anyone told him? He couldn’t go back, not now. A brief thought flashed across my mind—could I go with him? No, that was stupid, there was no way. I had more experience than Lukas did and even I couldn’t defend myself fully against most visums. Even if I could, I couldn’t leave… someone would come after me for fear of my exposing their mission.

And that’s what they’d do to him, too. “Lukas… they’ll kill you…” I said, my voice wavering. He shrugged in an oh-well kind of way, as if I were telling him he had mud on his boots.

“I can fend them off.” I narrowed my eyes. Something wasn’t right—he was avoiding the real issue.

“Is that really what’s going on here?” I asked. “What about Amy? You’re leaving her behind?”

“She can follow me if she wants to. If not, that’s her choice.” I looked at him in disbelief, picturing Amy’s face crumbling when she heard the news. I knew she wouldn’t leave us, and I think Lukas knew it, too. He might as well be dead to her if he did this…

My words caught in my throat. Lukas wasn’t allowed to leave, whether he was aware of the danger or not, for his own good. I was in charge here… would I have to…

No, I couldn’t. There was no way. I had to convince him to stay, because it wasn’t possible to actually… I hadn’t been trained to…

I stood there, debating on what to say to convince him, when a bus pulled up. The doors opened and people streamed off, and suddenly I saw Lukas turn and head into the crowd. I panicked, and for a moment I couldn’t move. Then I began pushing and shoving, calling out his name and trying to find him among all the other people. When the crowd cleared and the bus pulled away… he was gone.

 

Funny how differently I thought of everything now. In my life before the Sent, I’d been running around, hanging out with people, and being impatient about the littlest things. I’d taken for granted all the modern conveniences everyone used without a second thought—electricity, ovens, washing machines. The thing I dreaded most was sitting through a long, boring chemistry class. That was nothing compared to the things I dreaded now.

I thought about this as I sat in my booth in the little café, only a few blocks from the bus stop I’d left hours ago. Lukas had left me frazzled and uneasy, and I had absolutely no idea what to do next. I didn’t have any money, so I’d asked the waitress for a water and told her I was waiting for someone. I’d head back to camp eventually, but right now, I just needed to think.

Did I do the right thing? What should I have done? It wasn’t like I could’ve done anything to Lukas in public. But I’m sure I could’ve done better than wandered into a restaurant and just sat. I could’ve tried harder to find him… I probably still should be doing that right now…

I sighed and rested my head on one hand, stirring my water with my straw. I knew what was really bothering me, and it confronted me like a monster. Recruitment had failed. Sure, Amy was still with us, but would she follow Lukas once she found out he was gone? Despite my assurance earlier, I had my doubts. Even if she stayed committed, I could picture Rowan’s face when he heard the news, and how he’d run his hand through his hair in frustration, then turn and yell at me and Kyle and the other leaders who had thought this was a good idea. Just the thought made my stomach turn with guilt, but I couldn’t avoid it.

And what about my reaction? Would Lukas have stayed if I had tried a different approach and reasoned with him another way? Granted, I was far from qualified to have been thrown in this situation. But still, I knew I could’ve handled the it better, somehow.

How had we not seen this coming? That day he disappeared… it was like foreshadowing…

I glanced up and noticed there were more people in the restaurant now. It made sense—it was almost dinnertime. I got up, really hoping I didn’t have to pay for the water, and headed outside, not wanting to be in the thick of the crowd. More people were coming in as I left, and I turned, heading towards the road that would lead me back to camp, but then I stopped. The guilt still weighed in my gut like a brick, and the last thing I needed right now was to be chewed out by Rowan or anyone else. I looked back towards the city and, figuring I was already in a load of trouble, turned around and headed deeper into the maze of buildings.

Hours passed as I wandered around the city, remembering things I used to do, noticing things I’d nearly forgotten about. I was itching to find a news broadcast and see what had happened in the world since I’d been gone. It had only been a few months since the car accident, but it felt like years. I kept glancing down at my clothes, hoping no one noticed my shabbiness. I didn’t look nice enough to live here, but I didn’t look bad enough to be homeless. Regardless of how I looked, I felt pretty good and, to an extent, was enjoying myself.

Some vender on a street corner was giving away free samples of popcorn—carmel corn, the sign said. I took some and merged with the crowd, popping a piece into my mouth as I did so. It was sweet and delicious, and I realized I hadn’t had anything to eat since lunch that afternoon. This was another reminder that I had to return to camp sooner or later—not that I was planning on staying in the big city anyways—so I finished the popcorn quickly and went on my way.

Farther down the street, I saw flashing lights. At first I thought someone had gotten pulled over, but then I saw ambulances and caution tape surrounding the alley off the main road. Traffic crept around the scene, and I saw people gawking. A few paramedics were milling about, but there didn’t seem to be any big emergency. I briefly wondered how long it had taken for someone to find Michael’s car and the three bodies, with the fourth still missing…

This thought made me realize that, if I were somehow recognized, it could lead to problems. I ducked my head and casually walked by the scene—

“Hey, you!” I cringed and thought about running, but knew it would be less suspicious not to. Slowly I turned and came face to face with—the deputy.

Crap. “Me?”

The deputy approached and took off his hat, looking sympathetic. I got ready to run, wondering if he was going to arrest me for something or try to take me to the police station. There was a street farther up that I could easily lose him on…

“I’m sorry, Miss, I never got your name,” he said kindly. I blinked, confused.

“Alaina,” I said, hardly missing a beat. He nodded slowly and looked down at his hat.

“Alaina, I’m sorry to tell you this but…” My eyes widened, my heart raced, and I nearly took off before his next words.

“…your friend, the one you were walking with earlier… I’m afraid, there’s been an accident.” I froze, a pang of worry shooting through me.

“An accident?” The deputy nodded.

“He’s… well, he’s not with us anymore. I’m truly sorry for your loss.”

I felt the world sway beneath my feet, and I sat down on the curb. The deputy knelt beside me.

“We’re not sure what happened yet, but the paramedics are doing all they can…” I didn’t hear anything he was saying, my mind reeling. Lukas was dead? He was gone? What happened?

I realized the deputy was waiting for me to answer. “What?”

“Was he family? Do you know who his relatives are?” Suddenly I was in the spotlight. Fear swept through me.

“I… I didn’t know him well,” I stammered. I jumped up and took off down the street, not looking back.

 

It was good that I was alone. That was about the happiest thought I had that night as I slept under some bushes in the park. I tossed and turned, leaves poking my sides and twigs snagging my hair. But even if I’d been on satin sheets, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep. Not only was I distraught about Lukas being gone, but I also felt responsible for what had happened to him.

The pieces had slowly been coming together as, little by little, I’d calmed down enough to think. I hadn’t been able to do anything to Lukas when he’d left, but I hadn’t followed him either. I knew that the visums would be after him, which was why keeping an eye on him was important.

The deputy had said the paramedics didn’t know what had happened. Of course they didn’t—Lukas had been killed by a visum. If I had seen the visum attack him, I would have been able to intervene and probably save his life.

I wondered if, possibly, the visum that I had scared off on the road earlier was the one that attacked him. It would likely have come for me, but I’d been at the restaurant all day, and from the look of it, Lukas was alone in an alley. Of course he would be the first victim. I’d never know for sure if it was the same visum, so I couldn’t pin the blame on myself.

But I was already drowning in guilt as it was, and all I wanted to do was push these thoughts out of my head and sleep. It would temporarily take away the pain, even though part of me would always tell me it was my fault. Because it was.

My last thought before I finally drifted off was how Amy was going to take the news. It was then that I finally began to cry.

 

 

13: Chapter 13

There was a fountain in the park, I’d noticed last night. I got up early, before anyone was in the around, and did my best to wash off, enough that I didn’t look like I’d slept under a bush. The sun was just peeking above the clouds as I finished, shivering. Despite the serene morning, I was far from happy. Every movement seemed to take twice as much effort.

I walked around the park, letting the air dry me, trying to be distracted by something, anything. There were squirrels running around, scampering on the ground and gathering nuts. A light breeze blew through the grass, moving it in waves that repeated again and again. I heard a dove coo from somewhere in the trees, a calm, sleepy call.

Food. My stomach was growling so much I was sure it was louder than my footsteps. I stopped and thought for a minute. Where could I get food? I had no money.

You gotta do what you gotta do, I thought, eyeing a dumpster across the street. There was a restaurant right next to it, hopefully guaranteeing some decent food. This was totally gross, but I didn’t have much choice. Besides, it was only for a day or two… I could go back to camp anytime I wanted.

I was about to open the dumpster when I saw a delivery truck farther down the alley. The logo on the side belonged to a bread company, and I suddenly felt my mouth water. The delivery guy was just disappearing into the building, and when I was sure the coast was clear, I stole a couple loaves from the truck and hid myself behind the dumpster, not wanting to risk being seen during my walk back to the park.

It was rye bread, and I had never tasted anything so good in my life. I wanted to gobble it down, but I knew it was better to go slowly. Still, I ate quickly and had nearly finished a full loaf before I felt satisfied.

I stored the extra bread behind the dumpster, planning on coming back later that day when I got hungry again. My task complete, I stood to… what would I do now?

Why not wander the city? Despite the meal, I was still feeling crappy. But what else would I do, sit in an alley and feel miserable for myself? That sounded worse.

So I got up and began walking, and that pretty much took up most of the morning. I walked and thought and mulled over everything, from the Sent to the first attempts at using my powers to my life before the Sent. As much as I missed that old life, I knew I couldn’t go back. I missed my family, yes, and a whole lot of other things. But strangely enough, I felt at home in the woods, in my tent, around the firepit, along the backroad. I found it strange… logically, I shouldn’t be ok with it. Yet somehow, I felt as if I were meant to be there.

Although, so far, my destiny with the Sent had been anything but meaningful. Every time I thought of Lukas a wave of regret and guilt washed over me, and I had to build myself back up again to keep from crying. This led to memories of that night on the pond, when I’d escaped and nearly been taken by a visum. Torri had been especially mad about that. Rowan had been too, but not so much. How would he react when I came back after this? As much as I wanted to deny it, I knew in my gut that he wouldn’t be showing me mercy for this second critical mistake.

I must have made several wide circles around the city by the time I finally began to grow bored of walking. It couldn’t be much later than noon… the day was dragging by. And that was fine… perfectly fine.

Deciding to skip lunch and save the bread for an early dinner, I returned to the park and found a shady spot in the grass. I lay down and thought I might just take a nap when I noticed a little wildflower a few feet from my head.

I stared at it. It was the same kind Rowan had strengthened when I’d first seen the Sent’s powers in action. This flower was perfectly healthy, and it swayed gently in the breeze, seeming to smile and wave at me as I continued to gaze at it.

That gave me an idea. If I were out here on my own, wandering around alone, I might as well practice my powers, ones that didn’t involve fighting visums. I remembered Torri telling me the night after my attempted escape that the Sent’s mission was to fight the evil in the world and add joy and light at the same time. Well, I hadn’t really done much of the latter on the missions I’d been on… it was something the Sent did on missions to town, which I hadn’t yet experienced… but I was in town now, so why not do it here?

There was a patch of dry grass by the tree I was sitting under. After glancing around, I put my hand in the middle of the patch, and the grass turned green and lush, almost to the point of making the rest of the park’s grass look shabby. I smiled.

This was the distraction I’d been looking for. Soon I was up and touring the outskirts of the park, looking for anything I could help. There were wilting plants I strengthened, litter I cleaned up, and some branches I extended to give birds’ nests more privacy, things like that. As much harm as I’d done, doing some good—even if it wasn’t necessary for the world—was necessary for me. Somehow, it made me feel better.

Finally, the sun began to set again, and the crowded city began to clear out. Feeling a little more optimistic, I began the long walk back to the dumpster for dinner. Maybe tomorrow morning the truck would be there again, and I could swipe a couple more loaves…

When I’d made it back, it was nearly dark. The sky was crystal clear above me, so much so that I could see the stars twinkling. Music drifted out some nearby window as I groped behind the dumpster for my bread. I finished the remains of the first loaf before moving on to the second.

This time, I ate slowly, and when I’d finished, began humming along with the music. It was slow and dreamy, perfectly matching the shadows that were stretching across the city as the sun’s last rays ended this day and began a new one somewhere else. It was a funny kind of mood to be in, especially given the circumstances.

I continued to hum, and after a while I noticed something familiar. It wasn’t the tune, and it definitely wasn’t the dumpster next to me…

The lantern. That was it. That night I’d spent on the slope by the lake, using the lantern’s light to restore the bush… I felt the same way now as I did when I’d used the lantern’s light.

That was odd. There wasn’t any light around me, save for the glow in the windows farther up the building. So why was I thinking about it now…?

The music. Maybe it was the music. People, the Others, always said music was powerful—I’d believed it, too, but not in this way. Maybe it had something to do with Sent powers…?

Rowan and Torri hadn’t mentioned music before, but then again, they hadn’t mentioned the light either. Curious, I listened to the music again and focused on how it made me feel. I let myself get lost in the notes, then I looked around for something to try it out on. Not that I could see anything in the darkness anyways.

In fact, it was very dark now—I couldn’t see anything. I got up and began looking around, searching for something to test my theory. Funny how scary and unsafe being alone in the city at night would have felt only months ago. I chuckled.

A streetlight lit up an area around the corner of the building. I walked towards it, being sure the music was still in earshot. What could I do here…

            A bike was parked along the curb near the light, and I noticed it had a flat tire. The bike itself looked old and beat up, but it had numerous bags tied to it and a basket fastened to the handlebars. It looked like it was used a lot, and I felt bad for the person who’d have to deal with this before they went to work tomorrow…

            But did they have to deal with it? I felt my eyes widen at the thought. I had worked with nature and fought visums, but didn’t have much experience with non-living things, aside from garbage. But really, could they be that much more difficult than fighting off evil, dark visums?

            I’ll give it a shot, I thought. I went up to the tire, looking around to be sure no one was watching. I touched it and closed my eyes, letting the power of the music flow through me, visualizing the tire like new again—

            I felt the pressure return to the tire so fast that I jumped back, startled. It looked normal again, which was what I’d wanted. But I had barely touched the tire before it was suddenly restored… Were these types of things easy to fix, or was music extremely powerful?

            Right away I jumped up and began walking along the road, wanting to search around the city and find more things to work on. This was cool… maybe if I improved my skills I would be able to help out more at camp to make up for everything. Whoa, that was twisted thinking… nothing I could do would ever be able to make up for the loss of Lukas. The guilt began creeping up on me again, and I was about to focus back on my quest when I suddenly felt something else...

            I’d felt the presence of visums before when I was on missions, but right now the feeling was ten times more intense. My first response was fear, then panic. Something was very, very wrong.

            Oh my gosh, I’m all alone, I realized. I stopped dead in my tracks, feeling so helpless and vulnerable that I wanted to scream and hope someone, anyone would hear…

            I was a few feet from the streetlight, and as I turned toward it, I saw them. Two large visums, slowly coming towards me. The air became dense and everything seemed to quiet. The visums bypassed the streetlight, avoiding exposing themselves, and I heard them growl as they approached. My only thought at the moment was how looking at them was like looking at the devil. The evil was palpable, and I felt myself trembling as my knees began to give out.

            Running would do no good, even if I could manage to move. Going indoors would only expose Others to the visums, resulting in their deaths. My only option was to fight, but I doubted I would survive without someone else here to help me. And no one was here.

            But I needed to try. I set my eyes on the most threatening visum and channeled all my powers into it. The visum groaned and lurched towards me, as did the other one. I had never fought two visums before, nor had I seen anyone else do it. I aimed one hand at each visum and cried out, the stress of dividing my powers between two attacks so intense that I felt weak immediately, like I was lifting weights that were too heavy.

            I can’t do this, I thought. The smaller visum roared, as if hearing my thoughts. But I have to do this, I thought, pushing it back further. I couldn’t step forward if I wanted to—I could barely hold my ground now as it was.

            I was crying now, silent, painful tears running down my face as my muscles shook with fatigue and I gritted my teeth in concentration, trying to keep from making sound so that no Others would hear and walk into the death trap waiting for them.

            Frantically, my mind tried to strategize, adrenaline the sole source of my energy now. The visum on my right seemed to be a lot more aggressive than the one on my left. Maybe if I focused on that one, I could destroy him first and then destroy the other one…

            Any plan would work now. I found the right amount of power to keep the less threatening visum at bay, then channeled the rest at the other visum. It recoiled and screeched loudly, sending chills up my spine. I whimpered in distress but fought on, seeing the visum’s power waver. Even though it was only minutes, it seemed like hours, and with every passing second I felt myself grow weaker and weaker…

            Suddenly, I remembered the music. Desperate for help of any kind, I strained my ears against the visums’ screeching, trying to hear the tune I’d heard before—

            There it was! I gasped and groaned, focusing on the music and adding it to the force penetrating the aggressive visum…

            Its screech suddenly got louder, and it was all I could do not to cover my ears. I grasped the music’s power with all the psychological strength I had and channeled it into the visums, focusing on nothing else but destroying them. The physical strain was so great I couldn’t feel my limbs anymore.

            The screech got louder still, and I suddenly realized I was yelling along with it. Suddenly, the visum shrank into itself, and with the same zapping sound I’d heard several times before, it was reduced to nothing and vanished.

            I may have smiled… I couldn’t tell… as relief flooded over me. I turned my other hand towards the smaller visum, which seemed to have lost its confidence. I was going to be ok… I was going to live…

            But I was worn out. I had no energy left. Killing this visum would normally be easy, but with no strength left, I only managed to scare it away before collapsing to the ground. The last thing I remember was laying on the cold pavement, physically unable to move, the bicycle tire I had restored slowly fading from my vision as I fell into a deep sleep.

           

 

 

 

14: Chapter 14

It seemed like only moments later that I slowly came to. I rolled over and planned on going back to sleep, the warm bed too comfortable to leave and my strength not yet returned—

Wait, a bed? I sat up so fast I got dizzy. Yes, I was on a small bed in a rather nice looking apartment. As good as it felt to be back in an actual bedroom again, I knew I shouldn’t be here.

Quietly, I crept out of the room and down a small hallway. I entered a living room of sorts and spotted the front door at the other end. I glanced to my right and saw a woman through the doorway to the kitchen. Her back was to me… she was making something on the stove. I desperately wanted to thank her, especially for not taking me to the hospital, but even if I had allowed myself to meet her, I couldn’t have explained much. So I made my way to the door and slipped out, feeling bad but at the same time knowing I was doing her a favor by distancing putting distance between us.

Once outside, I found my bearings and headed straight for the dumpster. Last night—two, three nights ago?— had made me realize just how much danger I’d been in. People had warned me not to go out on my own, but I guess I figured since I knew how to fight visums now, I was alright… which was exactly what Lukas had thought. How stupid of me—would I ever learn my lesson? One mistake after another…

That was it. I was done. I’d finish the bread I’d hidden and find my way back to camp. I would take whatever punishment awaited me, and then… well, then I would take a nap, because I was still tired.

I should have probably waited and gotten some food from that nice lady, I thought, kicking myself for not thinking of that earlier. Oh well.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the dumpster. I glanced up at the sun as I reached behind it, trying to determine how much daylight I had left to get back to camp. It looked early still… I would have enough time…

“Where is it?” I muttered. I looked down and realized my hand was groping around for nothing—the bread was gone. Shoot. Now I had nothing to give me energy for the trip back. Maybe I should go back to the apartment…

A noise on the other side of the dumpster caught my attention. I slowly stood up and, curious, walked around the corner.

There was my bread—in the hands of a little girl. She couldn’t have been more than seven years old, her hair tangled and dirty, falling over her eyes. Her clothes were filthy, and her feet were bare. She was wolfing down the bread as if she hadn’t eaten in days, and from the look of her, maybe she hadn’t.

Not wanting to scare her, I remained motionless and watched as she finished off the loaf, knowing she needed it much more than I did. Soon the bread was gone, and the little girl murmured happily as she picked the crumbs out of the end of the bag.

I took another step forward, and she jerked her head up, eyes wide. I held out my hands and crouched low, trying to be friendly.

“Don’t worry… I won’t hurt you,” I said gently. The girl continued to stare at me, and I could see her legs tense, ready to run.

“I can get more of that bread for you,” I said. I paused. “I’ve… I’ve been searching for food, too.”

The little girl seemed to relax some, but was still wary. As if on cue, I saw the bread truck pull up to the restaurant farther down the alley. I motioned for the girl to stay, then snuck down to the truck and took two loaves from inside. I came back and found her in the same spot, still gaping at me. I handed her one loaf, then sat down a few feet away and opened the other for myself. After a moment’s hesitation, the girl opened hers and began to eat as well. I smiled to myself but said nothing as the two of us ate in silence.

Minutes later, we were finished. I took our empty bags and put them in the dumpster and turned to look at the girl. She stood and cocked her head, no expression on her face.

“I’m Taylor,” I said, unsure of what else to do. The girl opened her mouth, appeared to think for a minute, then said, “My name’s Emilee.”

My heart melted at her soft, fragile voice. I smiled.

“Are you… all alone?” Emilee looked down. I bit my lip, wondering what to do. I couldn’t just leave her here. Maybe the lady who had taken me in last night could help her?

It seemed like a good idea, but at the same time, I didn’t want to do it. I guess it was because I could relate to her, just a little, and I felt bad that she was on her own. Whatever the reason, I didn’t want to leave her.

Slowly, I extended my hand. “Do you want to come with me?” I asked.

Emilee looked up at me, at my hand, and with almost no hesitation, intertwined her fingers with mine. I felt a small lump ride in my throat as we turned and headed down the alley.

 

Rowan is not going to be happy. The thought kept repeating itself in my head as we walked down the road, now far from the city. I glanced down at Emilee, who was examining a dandelion she’d picked a while back. Here I was, returning from what was probably the worst mission in the history of the Sent, and I had at my side a new recruit about whom I knew absolutely nothing. I mean yes, she was alone, so that was good. And she was young. But Rowan hated recruitment, and I was pretty sure he hated me… I doubted he would be alright with my decision, even if I had chosen an excellent candidate.

Loud footsteps jerked me out of my thoughts. I grabbed Emilee’s shoulder, but before I could react, someone ran into me hard from behind.

“Taylor!” I knew that voice. I caught my balance and turned to see—Amy.

Oh man. She was not who I needed to see right now. I bit my lip.

But she didn’t notice. “Kyle… needs your help… it’s a visum,” Amy gasped, out of breath, sweat dripping from her forehead. She looked exhausted and frantic.

As if noticing her for the first time, Amy glanced down at Emilee, who was staring at her, wide-eyed. Amy straightened up and looked at me.

“Who’s she?” I opened my mouth to explain, but all that came out was, “She’s new.”

Amy sloppily wiped the sweat from her forehead and groaned. “Well, I’d really like to take her right to camp, but Kyle needs us now. Come on, we have to go!” She grabbed my free hand and tugged me in the direction she had come.

Since when does Kyle need anyone’s help? I thought as I tried to help Emilee keep up with Amy’s full-out sprint. He was usually alright on his own… which, now that I knew how dangerous that was, surprised me…

But I didn’t have time to think about that. Amy led us off the road, through some woods, and into an open field. I could feel the visums’ presence before I even saw the battle that was raging, and no sooner had we emerged from the trees than a visum headed straight towards us.

I let go of Emilee’s hand. “Get behind me!” I shouted to her. I didn’t turn to see if she obeyed, but put my hands up and began pushing the visum back. Worried about Emilee’s safety, I immediately assessed the situation.

Kyle was a few yards away, holding off a visum that looked far from ready to give up. Another one was leaving him and lunging towards Amy, who was running towards Kyle. Neither of them looked to be in great physical condition, and I could feel the weakness from the night before begin to overtake my muscles as well. This didn’t look good.

I turned back to my visum and determined that it was the least powerful of the three. If I could destroy it quickly, I could help someone else, or maybe take off with Emilee and return with help.

“Ah!” Amy’s scream startled me, and I turned to see that she had fallen and was now lying on her back in the grass, trying to fend off the visum who now had a huge advantage. I tried to walk towards her, but my visum was on the opposite side, making it impossible for me to move towards Amy without taking a step back and thus losing ground with my own visum.

“Amy!” I screamed. I glanced back at my visum, then back towards her. “Kyle—” I then noticed a blur out of the corner of my eye. What was going on? Another visum? I mustered all the strength I could and scared my visum away, not having the time or power to destroy it completely. I turned to help Amy just in time to see Emilee attack the visum… and destroy it.

I gaped at her, completely in awe of and confused by what I’d just witnessed. Amy got up and helped Kyle destroy his visum, and when it was gone, the two stumbled down onto the grass, exhausted. I walked over to Emilee and looked at her, then at Amy and Kyle.

“I… I had no idea…” Kyle looked at Emilee, then at me.

“She… she’s a Sent member… Oscar’s daughter,” he said. I sat down, trying to comprehend this, as Emilee walked over to Kyle and sat next to him. He gave her a hug, still trying to catch his breath. I had no idea who Oscar was… my guess was he was one of the Sents who had been killed in the slaughter.

Amy, surprised as well, looked at Kyle and Emilee, then at me. She stood.

“Let’s go back to camp,” she said, as if she couldn’t stand to be away any longer. I nodded, feeling the same urgency, and beginning to follow her. Emilee jumped up and ran over to me, grabbing my hand and falling in step with my stride. I looked up at Kyle, who grinned.

“Looks like you’ve made a new friend,” he said. I grinned back at him, slinging my free arm over his shoulders.

“Looks like you’ve found an old one,” I said softly, squeezing Emilee’s hand.

15: Chapter 15

“How far are we from camp?” I asked. Amy glanced up—she’d been zoning out, I could tell—and looked to Kyle for the answer.

“Not far… it’s maybe a twenty minute walk,” he said. We fell silent again, all of us exhausted from the episode with the visums only minutes ago. I was still awed that Emilee was one of us… it was the biggest shock I’d had since Lukas left. Would I encounter any more surprises?

Emilee hadn’t let go of my hand since we’d begun the trek back, but I was more than glad she didn’t. Somehow I felt like we needed to be together, even after I’d decided to take her back to the Sent with me. Walking with her wasn’t enough—I needed to be sure she was here, and Emilee felt the same way about me, from the looks of it.

Amy ran up next to me then, and I tensed. She didn’t seem to notice.

“So where’s Lukas? Is he still in the city? Did the police take him?” I bit my lip and panicked, not sure what I should say.

Amy was still talking. “…told us how you guys had to split up, and they had just killed the visums when you were driving off in the police car. Torri said this wasn’t bad, since you were likely just going along with whatever the policeman said to avoid suspicion…”

I nodded, still trying to think. Should I lie and tell her Lukas was alright? Should I tell her the truth? What if she flipped out and got upset, at me in particular?

I realized then that Amy was waiting for an answer. I turned back to her.

“What?” She sighed impatiently.

“I said, where is he? You do know where he is, right?” I know where he was, I thought, but I didn’t say anything.

It was then that I noticed my pace had quickened. I was walking faster, and I saw Emilee glance up at me, not in question, but more in… knowing.

“Taylor, come on. If you don’t know where he is, where did you last see him then? I won’t go into the city on my own, I promise. And you may not have to go either…”

I didn’t look at her, or Emilee, but began jogging slowly.

“… they know where it is, since they know the city better than we do,” Amy was saying. Emilee squeezed my hand. I felt the tears come then, and began running.

“Taylor? What are you doing?” Amy started running to keep up with me.

“Amy…” I heard Kyle call.

I squeezed Emilee’s hand back and began running faster, tears streaming down my face and blinding me as we made our way through the woods. I wasn’t sure if I knew the way from here, but it didn’t matter right now—

“Taylor! Stop!”

No. I can’t, I thought. The wind was rushing past my face now, and I heard whimpering. I began to slow, thinking it was Emilee, but I then realized it was me.

“Where’s Lukas? Where is he?!” Amy was screaming now, farther behind us. I let out an anguished cry and began running faster, Emilee in tow, unable to bear it any longer.

Soon we were at camp. I slowed to a walk, wiped my face, and prepared to smile and greet whoever I would run into. I crossed my fingers, hoping Torri and Rowan in particular would be gone.

And they were, along with pretty much everyone else. That was a relief. I realized they were probably out looking for Lukas and I.

Without hesitation, I walked down the line of tents to Old Isadora’s.

She was sitting outside on her stump—meditating, it looked like. She heard us approach and looked up. She seemed relieved when she saw me, and then her eyes fell to Emilee. Her smile faded and she opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Emilee let go of my hand and ran into Old Isadora’s arms. Old Isadora held her and rocked back and forth for a moment. I smiled and began crying all over again at the reunion. I was a mess, we all were, but that was ok. How long had Emilee waited for this day, to be back with those she knew?

Finally, Old Isadora pulled back, but Emilee didn’t. She remained in the old woman’s lap, and it wasn’t until Old Isadora began chuckling that I realized Emilee had fallen asleep.

“You can put her in my tent,” Old Isadora whispered as I stepped forward to pick Emilee up. We went inside and I laid Emilee on the makeshift bed, her breathing even and a look of peace having come over her face. I would have stayed there and watched her longer had Old Isadora not motioned me outside.

“Now, tell me where you have been, child,” she said quietly, zipping up the tent behind her. I felt dread knot my stomach, but reminded myself that if it was safe to tell anyone, Old Isadora was the person I could trust.

And so I sat in front of her stump and told her the entire story, beginning with the vicious visum attack on the road and ending with Amy running after us. Many times I hesitated, the images so vivid in my mind that I found it hard to speak as the pain of the memories flooded back. A fresh set of tears spilled as I talked, and I was sure my eyes were bloodshot and puffy by the time I finished.

Old Isadora listened until the end, her expression never changing. When I was through, she bowed her head, and I knew what she was going to say.

I jumped up, hearing a commotion in the camp.

“Amy and Kyle must be back,” I said. “I… I need to tell her—”

“No.” Old Isadora’s voice was stern, and I turned in surprise.

“No,” she repeated. “You need to get your sleep, all of you. There will be time for discussion afterwards, but Taylor, look at yourself. You’re exhausted.”

It was true. I had almost fallen asleep several times during my story, and I was filthy, I knew that for sure.

“Go lay down, and we’ll sort this out later.” I hesitated, but obeyed, walking slowly back to my tent. It was a miracle no one stopped me on the way, but maybe I looked bad enough so that they knew better.

I collapsed in my tent, relieved to finally lie down and let my mind go. I was shot, done, through. It would be hard facing everyone again when I woke up, but for now, sleep was where I needed to be.

 

 

When I opened my eyes again, it seemed like no time had passed. I felt rested and… alive, for lack of a better word. Yet the time of day was the same as when I’d fallen asleep yesterday, two days ago…?

“I guess it doesn’t really matter,” I muttered. My voice was hoarse. I ran a hand through my hair, noticing how dirty it was. I was disgusting. Before I did anything, I wanted a bath. I threw supplies into a bag and slung it over my shoulder.

Stepping out of my tent, I suddenly remembered Emilee. I bet she was up as well, probably getting hugs and welcome back’s from all the Sent members. I smiled, knowing how happy they probably were to know she hadn’t died in the slaughter after all.

I straightened up as best I could before walking into camp. Everyone was back now, it seemed. I greeted a few people as I headed towards the river, them giving me sad smiles in return. Did I really look that pathetic? I was slightly self-conscious, but really, after everything I’d been through, appearances weren’t something I was too worried about.

Passing the supply tent, I paused to be sure I had brought soap. It wouldn’t surprise me if I forgot…

“Taylor?” I glanced up.

It was Rowan. Oh man. I put my head back down and continued rummaging. There was the soap…

“Taylor.” Rowan was in front of me now. I hoisted the bag back onto my shoulder, but didn’t look at him.

Rowan paused. “I know about Lukas—everyone does. Old Isadora told us the whole story at dinner.” I closed my eyes, thankful that I hadn’t had to speak in front of everyone. But now Rowan knew—and I knew what was coming next. My knees felt weak, and I continued avoiding his gaze. I had failed, to the point where someone lost their life and I had almost lost mine… again. None of it would have happened if I had just stayed with Lukas, if I had followed him, if I had been more firm about staying together.

“I…I’m so sorry…” My voice broke. It didn’t make up for it, I knew it wouldn’t. Nothing ever could.

It was quiet for a minute. Then, gently, Rowan put his hands on my shoulders… and drew me into a hug.

His deep voice was suddenly soft in my ear. “I am, too.”

Startled, I stiffened and almost pulled away, unsure what to make of it. There was no yelling, no glare. Just Rowan, and it was a side of him I had never seen before. I realized then… Rowan had forgiven me.

New tears formed and began silently trailing down my cheeks. I rested my head on Rowan’s shoulder and accepted the embrace, feeling something I hadn’t felt in a long time… peace. It was over, and I was back. After being alone for so long and having to feel a dark evil I had never encountered so much of all at once—this was exactly what I needed. And Rowan, somehow knew that, even before I did.

After what seemed like forever, Rowan pulled away. I adjusted the strap on my shoulder and looked him in the eye.

“Aren’t you mad at me? Isn’t… isn’t Amy mad at me?” Rowan shook his head and smiled slightly.

“We’re not mad, Taylor. No one is. The situation was way beyond your knowledge, and if anyone’s to blame, it’s us—for not explaining things well and for letting you and Lukas break off on your own.”

I gaped at him. “But… he’s gone. Amy—”

“Amy’s torn up about it Taylor, but she’s not mad at you,” Rowan said. “Lukas took matters into his own hands and disobeyed what we’d told him, however little that was.” So it was just a bad situation gone wrong.

“I mean, you did make mistakes,” Rowan added. “But they’re not the reasons the visums got him. Even if you had pursued him, he would’ve lost you at some point, as determined as he was to get away.”

Up until that last statement, it had sounded like Rowan was excusing me. Now though, that point made, I began to believe him.

“And,” Rowan added with a smile, “You found Emilee. We thought she was gone, but now she’s back where she belongs. Some good came out of it.”

I gave him a sad smile. “At a cost,” I said. “Honestly, before I knew she was a Sent member, I thought you were going to kill me for recruiting another person right after Lukas’ recruitment backfired.”

Rowan chuckled. “And I totally would have!” He paused. “Do you know why you found her?”

I frowned. “Why? Well, we were both hungry, and she found my bread—”

“That may be part of it, but she came with you because she trusted you… because you’re both gifted.”  The way Rowan said this made it seem like a privilege.

“You mean we are both Sent members?” I asked.

“No—that’s true, but there are some Sent members who have powers with special abilities. Their powers are enriched—they can do more than the average person. They also have a special bond with other gifted people, which is why you and Emilee are so drawn to each other.”

“Whoa,” I said, letting the words sink in. I paused. “Is that why I was so quick to learn when I first came here?” Rowan nodded. “Had we not been so distracted by the slaughter and reconstructing our community, we would’ve been able to see it sooner.”

That made sense. “Who are the other gifted members?” Rowan’s smile disappeared.

“The visums during the slaughter got most of them, something we still don’t understand to this day. If anything they would have been the ones who survived—when gifted members work together, they’re especially powerful. The only ones left now are Old Isadora, Kyle, Emilee, and you.”

I couldn’t believe it. This explained everything, like why I could use music and light to scare away visums, and why I had excelled so well at training.

“Chew on that as you clean up,” Rowan said, almost smirking at me. I blushed and wiped my face, knowing the tears and dirt probably didn’t mix so well.

“Yeah, I will,” I said. Rowan nodded and turned to go. I watched him walk up the hill, mulling over all he said and, mostly, the soft side of him that had finally shown through. I continued on my way to the river, thinking it ironic how my biggest mistakes had been what brought out this different side of him.

But it had turned out ok, and now I didn’t have to worry. The burden was lifted from my shoulders, and even though Lukas was gone, Emilee was here and Kyle and Amy were alive and I had done what I could … everything would be alright.