“Thanks for walking me home. Want to come over for dinner sometime?”
I think I heard a laugh, but I wasn’t sure. “You’d be lucky if I did.”
I saw Nate turn away when Devon grabbed his arm. A red light travelled inside Nate’s skin, then vanished. What the hell Devon? What did you just do?
“What the hell was that?” Nate jumped, avoiding eye contact.
“Relax. We’re getting out of here. I don’t care what happens.” I wanted to run up to Devon and hug him but I had to stay quiet. I knew he wanted out, I knew it. It was an impossible task to contain my happiness.
“I put a sense tracker on you. When I’m here,” he knelt down and put his hand to the ground. The earth
66
flashed bright red, and then faded. “You’ll know it. You come all right?”
“I thought you hated me?” Nate said.
He laughed, “If it means getting out of here, I won’t argue.”
“You weren’t for the idea before?” Nate asked.
I could only hear silence for a few moments, and then Devon cleared his throat. “Kaylin was with me. I’d do anything to protect her, and my family. But a part of me knows staying here isn’t what’s best for us. If I die doing this, I die protecting them.”
I swallowed hard and turned away, he really did care to protect us. I turned my head back around to look at them, seeing Nate walk away. “I expect to see you here soon.” Nate said in the distance.
“Likewise, we’ve got work to do.”
Chapter 4
Large vines slapped me in the face as I stumbled out of the passageway and into the sights of my mother. I couldn’t believe Devon did that. I was surprised, shocked and happy all at the same time. I saw that Annabelle was washing some clothes and Mable was picking vegetables while my mother was quietly roasting leftover squirrel. She squinted up at me, and then continued to season the squirrel.
“Devon here yet?” She asked.
“Not sure.” I replied as if I didn’t see him and Nate talking in the forest.
She stood up and crossed her arms over her grey wool sweater. “Tell me the truth, Kaylin. What did you
68
expect to accomplish here? Going out and seeking the help of another Enchanted?”
I was about to reply when Devon walked through the passageway.
“He actually came looking for us.” He casually said as if he never left to begin with.
“What?” My mother demanded.
“Want the truth?” Devon asked. She nodded her head and leaned back on her heels, waiting for the answer. I was surprised that Devon was contributing to the cause this much, I didn’t know what changed him.
“He came to our sector a while ago. He gave me a note, but I didn’t know what it meant. So, we went to find him. There’s a way out mom, we should take it.”
Wow, it was like Devon took a truth serum. Maybe you should take that, Kaylin. I could tell my mother had no idea what to say. She was stone faced and speechless. Although, I didn’t exactly blame her. It was a lot to take in, and if you would have told me all of this a month ago, I would have reacted the exact same way.
“You’ve disappointed me.” She finally said.
“Mom, we’ve wanted to get out ever since dad disappeared. This is a chance,” I added, fleeing my inner dialogue.
She turned to me in disgust. “Don’t you dare mention your father. I’ve had enough of you two. It’s not going to happen, not with this family. He can escape with the other clans, but not us. I forbid it.”
Devon and I exchanged glances but kept quiet.
“Let’s eat.” My mother spat, sealing off the discussion.
69
My mouth was dry as I chewed the squirrel. I wanted to go out hunting to get something fresh, but I doubted my mother would ever let us leave again. Everyone sat in silence, chewing away at their meat. Annabelle and Mable occasionally glanced at Devon and I, but didn’t speak.
“Can we at least talk about this?” Devon finally asked, fed up with all the silence. At least he said something.
“No.” My mother responded without hesitation.
“Give me one good reason why you want to be trapped here.”
“Enough Devon, that’s enough.”
I glanced over at Devon whose gaze fell to the ground. I spotted Annabelle staring at me with sadness, and Mable poking Annabelle.
“Mom,” Annabelle began, eyes still focused on me. “Why can’t we at least visit the Coperton clan to see what they came up with? It doesn’t hurt to try.”
Instantly, our entire family looked confused. Did Annabelle just attempt to help? I was happy, I really was but I knew this would end badly. Our mother was already stressed out with us; I could tell she felt cornered, defeated almost.
“Oh no, not you too.” She shook her head.
“I just don’t see why we can’t.”
“You aren’t old enough to see why.”
Uh oh, my mother was playing that card. When I was Ann’s age, my mother would tell me that exact thing when I asked her to teach me certain spells. It ticked me right the hell off so I could only imagine how Annabelle was feeling. I didn’t want this, though. She wasn’t
70
supposed to get involved. Once again, I blame myself. She stood up with sparks in her fingers, pointing at my mother.
“Mom, I’m thirteen. I’m not a kid anymore, and if there’s a way out, I’ll take it. Maybe that’s why Dad’s gone. He was sick of being locked in here.”
I knew that put a dent in my mother’s conscience, as well as my own. That was something she should not have said, no matter the circumstance. I watched as my mother rose to her feet, and put down the pot of meat, eyeing Annabelle with an everlasting glow in her eyes.
“You are not to talk to me like that Annabelle Rose Desirea.”
I expected my sister to back down, but she was a feisty little thing. “Then how am I to talk to you mom? We’re prisoners. One day, someone finds a way out of this place, and you won’t take it!”
Mable blocked her ears and Devon pulled her against him. I hated that my sister was fighting for my cause; she had nothing to do with this. In a way, she had to realize that my mom was only trying to keep us safe; we all had to realize that. I decided to stop the fight and stood up to hold Annabelle back.
“Ann,” I breathed out. “Let it go. It won’t change anything.”
Her shoulders were tense at my touch. She turned to look at me and then ran behind the two trees in the corner of our sector. I stared at my mom then followed after Annabelle. It was the least I could do for my sister trying to fight my battles.
“Mind if I sit?” I asked approaching her.
She kept her eyes locked on the ground, “If you were Mom, I’d mind.”
71
I swallowed hard and sat in front of her, placing my hand on her knee. “You shouldn’t have done that, you know?”
“I was trying to help. Plus, what I said was true.” She picked up a stone and tossed it against the wall. Her voice grew quiet and faint, almost like she didn’t even want to admit what she was about to say. “I’d do anything to get out of The Labyrinth and find Dad.”
I didn’t expect her to say that. I didn’t realize everyone wanted to get out. I understood, though. “It had nothing to do with you, Ann.”
“It had everything to do with me, Kaylin? It has something to do with all of us, not just you and Devon. You think Mable and I don’t know what’s going on? We want to leave. We hate being Enchanted, we want to leave.” The red in her eyes pierced into mine like needles. “Don’t tell me I’m too young to understand this, I want to help.”
I wrapped my hands around hers and sighed. I knew exactly how she felt, even at her age. It’s complicated when you’re young, but even more complicated when you’re older.
“You’re brave, Ann. I appreciate everything, but mom won’t budge, not yet. We’ll figure something out, all right? Just pro
mise to never fight my battles for me, I can handle them on my own.” I kissed her forehead and hugged her tight, her wool sweater grazing my cheek.
“Come on,” I helped her up and took her hand as we walked back towards our family.
Nothing really changed. Devon was still holding on to Mable, while my mother was sitting quietly alone,
72
washing pots. “Go sit with Devon and Mable,” I nudged Annabelle towards their direction.
“But-,”
“I’ll talk to mom,” I exhaled. Nodding, she ran over to Devon as I made my way to my mother.
“If you’re here to lecture me again, I might just light myself on fire.” She blurted out, eyes still on her pot.
I knelt down beside her. “I’m not going to lecture you anymore. But I know deep inside you want to get out, mom.”
Her shoulders relaxed and she looked up at me, sighing. “We all want to get out, Kaylin.”
I didn’t think twice to answer. “Then why can’t you even consider this? We’ve been here long enough.”
She wiped her hands and stood up. “If it’s between finding an escape, but not promising to protect my family, and protecting my family but staying here, I’ll choose the option where I can keep you safe.”
“We die, we die together. We escape, we escape together,” I said. Which was true; we were together, and that was all that mattered. One of us couldn’t get hurt without hurting the other. We would fight side by side until there was nothing left to fight for. We would protect each other with everything we had. We were more powerful as a team anyways. I couldn’t let this go, not with how far I’ve come.
“If anything happened to my children, I wouldn’t know how to deal with myself, Kaylin.”
“You wouldn’t let anything happen to us mom, and we won’t let anything happen to you,” I reassured her.
I bent down to hug her tightly. It was the first genuine hug that we’d shared in a very long time. We
73
spent most of our days bickering or ignoring each other. To me, it had never occurred just how much security she could give just by wrapping her arms around me. She leaned her head against mine, and released.
“How’s your arm?” She asked.
I thought about when Nate helped me. How I haven’t felt a twinge since then.
“It happened yesterday and it was Nate who helped me. He used some kind of water spell, and it never burned up again.”
“What spell did Nate use?”
I shook my head, clueless. “I have no idea. The pain just stopped.”
“I have a question.” She asked very abruptly. I nodded my head and waited for her to begin talking again. “Do you see Nate? You know, the real Nate.”
I knew this was coming and I didn’t want to face it. “Yeah, and it’s confusing. He sees me too. Impossible right?” I laughed uncomfortably.
Her face was serious. I knew she wasn’t telling me something. “Yes, it’s quite unlikely.” Then, she was off toward my sisters and Devon.
She was lying. I could tell there was more. Why she didn’t want to tell me was beyond me. Was it bad? I tried my best to push the thoughts to the back of my head. After all, it was probably nothing. Always tell yourself this, Kaylin.
Devon had one arm around each of my sisters. Annabelle was reaching over his lap to hold Mable’s hand in hers.
74
“Annabelle, I’m sorry,” my mother began. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I was just upset.” My mother sat beside Ann, grabbing her hand.
“It’s okay mom.”
My mother smiled at my sister and grabbed her chin. She got up and stood in front of Devon, crossing her arms.
“Where is Nate’s clan?” She asked, unexpectedly.
All of our eyes grew wide, especially Devon’s. My heart started to beat. Was this actually the turning point? Were we actually going to get up off our ass and move for once?
“I placed a sense tracker on him. He’ll know where I am, I don’t need to find him.” Devon said.
My mother took in a huge breath and looked back at me.
“I might regret this later on,” she said with a wince, “But if there is an escape, we should help the Coperton find it. It won’t be easy. We are Enchanted, remember this. You’re going to be side by side with your nightmare.”
“You mean-,” Devon began.
She nodded slightly and cut Devon off.
“I’ve decided to accept the offer. You’re all right. The Enchantress has no right to keep us here.” I looked around at my family, their faces lighting up with joy. “But kids, the deeper you get into The Labyrinth, the more you’re going to want to turn back. Are you all sure you want to do this?”
I looked down at my tattoo and watched as crimson light travelled through each letter. I never felt more ready for anything in my entire life. Sure, I was
75
nervous, scared, mostly. But I know this is what I need to do, what we all need to do.
“We’re sure.” Devon answered for all of us.
She looked up at the sky and then back at us.
“I wish there was another way, but this seems to be our only option. We’ll get ready and leave at dark. We could use it to our advantage, so we don’t see their faces as clear. We’ve got three clans to face, two clans to convince, and one of the longest roads ahead of us.”
***
Since my mom agreed to find the escape, we spent the remainder our time gearing up. Devon sharpened all of our knives and mom taught my two sisters some basic, necessary skills. The skies faded to black, quicker than usual tonight, as if The Enchantress knew we were coming to find her. I didn’t care, I wanted to find her. Destroy her, find out why she’s been doing this to me, and to us all.
Proud, Kaylin...
Now the voice finally returned. I knew I would be hearing it somehow; I was doing what it wanted. We were one step closer to an escape, starting somewhere. This was a reckless plan, but I couldn’t let my conscience get the best of me. It seemed pretty simple: Find the escape, destroy The Enchantress. But, it wasn’t, and I knew that it wasn’t. No matter how much I wished the road would be clear, that was farthest from the truth.
We had to work side by side with our biggest fears, people we didn’t want to see at all. If there really was a village where all the Enchanted lived together, was the curse lifted there? I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out, I
76
had to. But for now, I just need to focus on the moment we’re in. We have to find Nate and prepare ourselves for the first clan, Coperton. Good planning Kaylin, you’re actually being rational for once.
“Are you ready?” My mother asked, slipping knives into her brown hunting belt. She exchanged her wool sweater for a grey long sleeve that wrapped around her skinny figure, and a pair of my black pants. The rest of us just dressed in full black. I stood and watched as my mother grabbed a small box from underneath her clothing basket. “Kids, come here please,” she called.
“Presents, mom?” Mable smiled.
We all gathered around her and waited for her to speak. “Your father and I were waiting to give you these, but I feel like this is an appropriate time to show you.” She opened the box that contained six different knives. Each knife was silver with Desirea carved inside the blade. Our initials were engraved at the handle of the knife. “Be careful with these. They are very powerful. One slice could burn a person from the inside out,” she explained handing out the knives.
I held mine in my hands and examined the blade. The writing was in beautiful cursive and shimmered whichever way I turned it. I rubbed my thumb over theK.D carved at the bottom and placed it in my knife belt. “Thank you,” I held my mom’s hand.
She nodded in appreciation and placed her knife in her belt. “Ready?” She asked.
We all nodded our heads and my mother stepped in front of us, leading us out of the passageway and into the Grean Forest. I took one last look at our sector, our
77
home, and smiled. Thank you for giving me a place to live all these years. As torturous it was living inside your own personal hell, I was going to miss the sector; that, and all the memories of growing up as a kid, my father...
I had to leave it behind. One by one, we followed each other single file.
“What happens if Nate doesn’t show up?” My mother asked.
“He’ll show,” Devon responded. “The spell I used is powerful. It’ll burn his arm if he doesn’t come fast enough, so let’s hope he’s in the middle of something important.” Devon finished, smiling.
My mother turned around to him then trailed back to walk with Mable and Annabelle. “I don’t remember teaching you that,” she said confused.
Devon took a few moments to answer, his shoulders kept tense. “Dad taught me.” He finally replied.
Nobody spoke after that. Every time my father was mentioned, it was like a red light inside all of our brains. We just didn’t know what to say, especially me. I shivered at the memory of leading my dad astray. I couldn’t think like this anymore. I was one step closer to finding a way out of this, and finding him. A part of me believed he was out there somewhere, waiting for me to finally retrieve him from whatever cage The Enchantress put him in.
My mother walked hand in hand with my sisters, keeping them close. “I haven’t been in this forest for a long time.”
“Well, it hasn’t changed,” Devon responded.
“Devon, how much longer?” My mother asked.
“Almost there.”
78
After a few more minutes of walking, we were standing in the middle of the forest. Devon moved away from us, and walked behind a tree stump. I watched him place his hand flat on the ground and a red crimson light flashed into the earth. He stood up again, and glanced towards the trees.
Kaylin...
Enchanted: The Labyrinth Page 6
