by P. T. Hylton
Sophie sighed. “So you can’t do it. And you won’t teach me to do it. Where’s that leave us?”
How could he explain to her everything he was feeling...the way he knew this would end? The inevitability of it all weighed on him. Maybe standing up to a force of nature like Zed had been a mistake all along. Who was he anyway to defy a being who could bend and twist the very laws of nature? Jake was just a man. And not a very good one at that. He’d lucked into some good things, sure, like his family back home and his family here, and he’d avoided prison unlike some Hinkles he could name, God bless them. But at the root of it all, he was an average man.
He flashed back to that riverbank in Rook Mountain where Zed had held the gun to his head that day so long ago, only hours before he’d crossed through the mirror and came here. Maybe he should have died on that bank. A part of him wished he had. This, having lived so many years and suffered so much, only to die at the hands of the same madman, seemed too cruel.
But then he thought of Mason. The accidental son he’d never meant to bring into the world. He thought of Logan and the strange, passionate, and wonderful relationship they shared. He thought of his unlikely friendship with Nate. And all the other relationships he’d had here in the place he’d built.
“I didn’t make up the name Sanctuary, you know,” Jake said. “It was already in the book. It was the secret name for this place. It was the book’s name for it. When I saw that, I knew what I needed to do. I needed to create a safe place. A place where everyone was welcome. What I said before about Zed? He looks for talent. He finds the best people and twists them until they’re doing his work and loving it. He finds the diamonds in the rough. But I wanted to be different. I took anyone. The book alerted me when someone was going to call for Sanctuary. It even allowed me to look at the person, to learn about them before I let them in. But I never did. Who am I to make that kind of choice? So I left it up to chance. I pulled people in at random. I never knew anything about them until they appeared.”
“And what about me?” Sophie asked. “You said you never pulled me in. How’d I get here? How’d it work for me?”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe it had something to do with that compass.”
“Maybe.” She glanced down at it. “Turn right ahead. So what’s the plan? We hope he just stands there while you do your thing with the book?”
Jake couldn’t help but smile. “The man does love to talk, so we’ve probably got five minutes while he gets around to saying hello.”
He saw Sophie look down at the compass, then give it a shake.
“The needle,” she said. “It’s spinning like crazy.”
A cold sweat broke out on Jake’s skin. “We’re too late. He’s gone. He’s back in Rook Mountain.”
“You don’t know that. Let me try again.”
But Jake wasn’t listening. Something had caught his eye. There was smoke in the sky. It was coming from the direction of the cabins. The blood drained from his face. Mason. Logan.
“We’ve gotta go back,” he said. He pointed to the smoke rising from the forest.
Sophie gasped. “I’ll lead the way. The compass will show us the fastest route.”
They ran through the forest, sprinting down a winding trail until it spat them out of the woods in front of the Welcome Wagon.
Jake gasped when he saw the flames devouring the cabin. And it wasn’t just the Welcome Wagon. Judging by the pillars of smoke, at least ten other cabins were on fire.
“My God,” he said. “We have to get back to my house. Now.”
“Jake,” Sophie said. “Look.”
He turned back to the Welcome Wagon. There was a dark shape in the doorway. And it was moving.
A man stepped out of the house. He was covered in soot but appeared to be unburned. Like the other banished people they had seen, he was naked, but there were no Larvae perched on his shoulders or hands. He had long dark hair and a massive bushy beard.
“Is that Zed?” Sophie asked. Her voice was a choked whisper.
“No,” Jake said.
“Is it one of the people you banished?”
Jake shook his head. “I’ve never seen that man in my life.”
The man walked toward them. “Where is Zed?”
5. Rook Mountain
Sean clutched the cut on his hand and watched the hypnotic swirl of the shadow creatures spinning overhead. They had done it. They had stopped time. Anger and panic bubbled up inside of him.
A few of the Unfeathered streaked across the sky, but they seemed to be keeping their distance. Perhaps they were afraid of the shadows creatures. If so, it would be the first time Sean and the Unfeathered had agreed on something.
He tried to clear his head. It wasn’t the whole town. It couldn’t be. The police cars less than a block away were paused. It was just them. Alone. Cut off from the world. Him, Wendy, and a dozen zealot teenagers.
He turned to the Zed Heads, and yelled, “Is this what you wanted? Congratulations. Things are back to the good old days!”
They looked at him, their eyes wide, a bunch of scared kids.
Wendy yelled, “Watch out!”
He looked down and saw another one of the round spiky creatures near his foot. He jumped back. “Damn it! These things just keep coming.”
Wendy swung the hammer, cracking the creature in half. An image popped into Sean’s head of going to Chuck E. Cheese as a kid and playing Whack-a-Mole.
The shadow creature wormed its way out of the broken shell.
“The little one joins us! The little one!” The sing-song collective voices sounded excited now. They spun faster and faster.
Sean put his hand on Wendy’s shoulder. “They’re waiting. Waiting for us to crack more of those things and hatch their babies or whatever.”
“What do we do?” Wendy asked.
Sean shook his head. More of the round creatures were spilling through the doorway. If Wendy killed them, the population of shadow creatures would grow. They had already proven they could stop time. What would happen if they kept going faster?
Yet it wasn’t safe to let the creatures live either. Colt’s ruined face proved that. The boy lay on his side, curled in the fetal position and moaning.
“We need to run,” Sean said. “Get the hell out of here. Maybe the creatures will clear out on their own.”
He heard a crack as Wendy brought down the hammer, releasing another shadow. “You think time will start again?”
“I have no idea. But I think it’s our only chance at this point.”
Sean started to say something else, but then stopped. Something was approaching the doorway in the tree from the other side. Something much larger than the round creatures.
A dark figure filled the doorway and began to step through.
The Zed Heads murmured with excitement.
A girl Sean didn’t know knelt down and put her hand on Colt’s shoulder. “It’s happening. Just like he said.”
“I can’t see,” Colt said. “Tell me when he gets here.”
Sean drew a sharp breath as the figure stepped through the doorway. A familiar bald head emerged from the light, and then a long, well-muscled body. Zed.
He wore khakis that were a size too big and a worn tee shirt, a strange ill-fitting version of his usual attire. His face, arms, and feet were smeared with dirt. Even the teeth revealed by his wide smile were speckled with mud.
The Zed Heads gasped when he stepped onto the pavement.
“My faithful children,” he said. He looked at Sean and Wendy. “And you two. It’s good to be home. You won’t believe how I’ve spent the last few years.”
“Zed!” a girl yelled. “Look out! By your feet!”
Sean squinted at the creatures surrounding Zed.
Zed chuckled. He crouched down and ran his hand along the spikes of the nearest round creature. “The Larvae? No need to worry about them.”
Sean nodded toward Colt. “Tell that to your boy, here.”
Zed clucked his tongue. “That’s unfortunate. He probably spooked it.” He reached out a hand, and the creature on the ground leapt onto it. Sean could have sworn he heard the creature purr as it rolled up Zed’s arm and rested on his shoulder.
“They’re so easy to control at this age,” Zed said. “It’s later you need to worry…” His voice trailed off, and the smile melted from his face. He looked upward.
It was then Sean noticed the silence. The shadow creatures were no longer singing. They weren’t even spinning. They just hovered. It was as if they were surprised. Zed spoke again, quietly. “There’s no need for trouble here. Let’s all go our separate ways. You can return to your realm and leave this one to me.”
Sean realized he was addressing the shadows.
“It’s him,” the shadow creatures sang. “The one with the watch. He betrays. He hurts.”
Zed said, “We’ve been over that. I’ve made amends. Haven’t I helped? I provided a place for your young.”
“No amends,” the shadows said. “No amends!” Their voices were louder, so loud Sean wanted to put his hands over his ears. They started spinning now, and as they did they changed shape, forming into a funnel cloud.
“Go back to your own place,” Zed said, more loudly now.
“This is our place!” they roared.
Zed looked at the Zed Heads, and Sean saw something like love in his eyes. “I appreciate your sacrifice. If I knew how to survive them, I’d tell you.” He took another step backwards.
The girl who had warned Zed about the Larva spoke again. “What are you doing?”
Zed grimaced. “I’m going with Plan B.” He glanced up at the shadow creatures one more time. “I’ll send your young through the door. As many as I can. Think of it as a peace offering.”
“No peace!” the shadows wailed.
But Zed was already stepping backward through the doorway and into the tree.
“What’s happening?” Colt asked.
“He’s gone,” one of the boys whimpered. “He left us.”
Sean turned toward the Zed Heads and saw their faces fall as, one by one, they realized their savior had abandoned them.
“No!” Colt screamed. “That’s not possible. This is a test. He’s coming back for us.”
Sean couldn’t help it; he felt sorry for the kid. He’d been duped by Zed and his lies just like the adults had back in the Regulation days. Worse, really, considering he’d been brought up with Zed’s laws. He’d been faithful to what his parents, his teachers, and his town had taught him.
Another one of the creature Zed called the Larvae passed through the tree's doorway. Then another two, side by side. True to his word, Zed seemed to be sending them.
“Wendy, give me the hammer,” Sean said.
She put it in his hand.
He took a deep breath, pressed the broken clock symbol, and swung the hammer. It hit the doorway, and the hammer stopped like the door was made of rock, sending a jolt of pain up Sean’s arm. He swung again, harder this time, and he cried out in pain as the hammer hit the door. He could have sworn it felt a little different this time. Like there was a bit of give to it.
“What is the one with the hammer doing?” the shadows sang.
“Wendy, listen. Those things aren’t going away on their own. Not as long as their...Larvae keep coming through. I want you to take the kids and get the hell out of here.”
Wendy shook her head. “I’m not leaving. I’ll stay with you while you take down the doorway.”
He grabbed her around the waist with his free arm, pulled her close, and kissed her quickly but deeply. As they broke, he said, “Wendy, I love you, but that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Save these kids. Get out of here.”
She gritted her teeth and nodded. She gave him another quick kiss and turned to the kids. She pointed at the two largest boys. “You two, come help Colt. We’re getting out of here.”
The kids didn’t argue. The two boys hustled over and helped Colt to his feet, one supporting him under each arm.
Sean swung the hammer at the nearest Larva. He didn’t want to take another swing at the door until Wendy and the kids were clear. He had a feeling the shadows weren’t going to be pleased.
Wendy called back to him one last time. “Sean, do it quick and then run.”
He nodded. “I will. I promise.” Anything to get her moving. He wanted her safe. Her and those kids. That’s what he had to think about now.
There were six Larvae around his feet. He hit one of them with the hammer, but two more came through the doorway before the shadow even left the one he’d hit. He had to act now, or he might not be able to finish.
He swung again, putting everything he had behind the hammer. It hit the doorway, and a bolt of pain shot through his arm. Without giving himself time to think about it, he swung again.
“Stop!” the shadow creatures sang. “Let the little ones free!”
He tried to ignore their song, though it was so loud his ears rang and his head pounded. He swung the hammer again.
A sudden pain, like a dozen knives, shot through his right calf. He looked down and saw one of the Larvae buried in his leg.
There was no time to worry about that now. He swung the hammer again. This time, he swore he heard a crack as the Tool struck the doorway.
He cried out in pain and dropped the hammer as one of the Larvae crashed into his right arm. He wouldn’t make it much longer, he knew. He’d have to do this southpaw. He picked up the hammer with his left hand and swung again. And again. And again.
He could see tiny cracks spidering across the doorway now.
A Larva hit him in the lower back. He braced, willing himself not to fall. He knew if he did, he’d never get up again.
He swung the hammer again and again, making a little more progress with each hit. All the while, the shadow creatures were spinning faster and faster, singing more and more loudly.
He tried not to look around, tried not to notice the dozen or so Larvae around his feet. He could barely stand, and only three of them had attacked so far. How many more would it take to bring him down for good? He was all too afraid he knew the answer to that question: one. Or, none and a bit of time.
The creature on his back shivered, and Sean yelled in agony as the spikes covering the thing wedged themselves deeper in his flesh.
He took a deep breath and swung again. The cracks were spreading. It wouldn’t be long now, but how much longer did he have?
Another swing. Another bolt of pain running through him. Another encouraging spread of cracks in the door.
He pulled back the hammer. He’d give it everything he had this time, do everything in his power to make this swing be the last. But before he could bring the hammer forward, a Larva launched itself from the doorway. It came at him in an arch that seemed almost lazy, but that he was still unable to stop.
The creature hit him square in the throat.
He dropped the hammer and fell to his knees. He wanted to grab the creature and tear it off, but he remembered the way Colt’s hands had been punctured in a dozen places, and he forced himself not to touch the thing.
He concentrated on breathing. He was relieved to find he could still do so.
It was over now. He had failed.
He stayed there on his knees, his eyes growing cloudy. Everything in him wanted to lie down on the ground, but he was terrified of getting closer to the rest of the Larvae.
He heard a cracking sound, and he strained to see past the Larvae.
Wendy was swinging the hammer at the doorway. She looked back at him over her shoulder. He saw the pain and terror in her eyes, but she tried to keep her voice light. “The kids are safe. Now stay quiet and let me work.”
He watched, though it was getting more and more difficult to do so, as she smashed the hammer into the doorway three more times. On the fourth hit, it sounded like thunder and glass shattering. The tree split.
The doorway grew dark, no
w nothing more than a crack in a tree that looked charred, as if it had been struck by lightning.
But Wendy didn’t stop there. She hit the Larvae, one after another, taking the closest ones to her first and working her way outward.
Soon they were all gone. No, Sean remembered. Not all of them.
“This is probably gonna hurt,” Wendy said.
She started with the one on his leg. As the hammer hit, a stab of pain shot through his body like a bolt of lightning. Before the initial wave of pain had passed, she brought the hammer down again, this time striking the Larvae on his arm. Then the one on his back. Each blow was agony. Through the pain, he saw the shadows leak out each time the shell fell away.
Only the one in his neck was left now. She raised the hammer and paused.
“You ready?” she asked.
He wanted to yell hell no he was not ready, but he couldn’t speak. He could barely even move his head. Anyway, she wasn’t waiting for a response. She swung the hammer.
It felt like his windpipe was being torn out. It was the worst pain of his life. But then the shell fell away, and it was a bit better. The torture of the dozens of stabbing spikes was gone, but in its place, a dizzying amount of blood leaking out of him. He put his hands to his throat to try to stop it even as it poured down his chest.
Wendy stared at the shadows in the sky. “It’s over! That’s all of them! Now leave us be!”
“The little ones are home. They have joined the song. We will put you back in the river now.”
The shadows spun faster and higher, until they disappeared from sight.
The air filled with the sound of police sirens. Two cars skidded to a stop behind them, and four car doors were thrown open.
“Where are those kids?” one of the officers asked. “I just saw them, and then they disappeared.”
Wendy ignored them. She bent down next to Sean. “Hey, you’re gonna be okay. No way am I gonna let you leave me alone to explain all this.”
He tried to speak, to tell her he wasn’t sure she had a choice, but all that came out was a croak.
She put her hand on his cheek. “You did it, you know. You stopped Zed from coming back. You saved those kids.” She glanced down at the hammer in her hand. “Okay, maybe I helped a little. But you loosened it for me.”
