Juniper Berry

by M. P. Kozlowsky

  At the same time, across the table, Mr. Berry joined his wife in her contortions. Shaking convulsively as if electrocuted, he slid from his chair and fell face-first to the floor, where he floundered like a swatted fly.

  Juniper stepped away, horrified and helpless. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Mom! Dad!”

  In an instant, everything went still. At the sound of her voice, her parents’ bodies went limp and the house fell silent yet again. But only briefly.

  Mr. Berry’s face was scrunched against the floor, mouth open, with blank eyes staring out at Juniper, when something popped in his throat. His eyes flickered and two words soared from his mouth in a primal scream: “Save uuuusssssssss!” Then again: “Save uuuusssssssss! Save uuuusssssssss!” Over and over and over again.

  Juniper slammed her hands against her ears and tore out of the room. She flew down the stairs and out the back door, into the yard, the words enveloping her like fog. Her thoughts were a tangled mess of fear, panic, and terrible, terrible grief. Consumed with herself, she had delayed in helping them for far too long and now her parents were possibly lost for good. Her feet kicked madly beneath her. She tried to outrun everything that was happening; she wanted to run so hard that she ended up in the past, back when her life was normal. She ran and ran and ran, refusing to stop until she was where she needed to be.

  Until she found Giles.

  She soon reached the outskirts of Giles’s property, stopping short when she saw figures on the lawn.

  Under pale moonlight, Giles knelt in the grass. Lying facedown on either side of him was a man and a woman.

  “Giles!” Juniper called. She dived to the ground and hugged him tight, but he didn’t move; he didn’t even look at her. She heard him softly crying.

  “They . . . they won’t move,” he stammered. “Their eyes were open and their mouths, and they were making noises and shaking and I had to turn them over, I couldn’t take it anymore.” He pointed to two deflated balloons discarded by their sides. “They couldn’t even wait until they entered the house, just like I couldn’t. And now . . .” He trailed off, sniffling. “And for what? What’s left of them now?”

  “I know,” she said. “My parents, too.”

  Giles finally looked up at her and nodded sadly. Then it was his turn to hug her. Their bodies filled with warmth, the love of a friend. “I have to tell you something,” he said as he pulled away. “These aren’t my parents. Not my real parents, anyway. They’re Mr. and Mrs. Abernathy. I . . . I don’t have any parents, not anymore. I used to live with my grandmother in their servants’ quarters, before she passed away. I had only worked for the Abernathys, but they took me in, cared for me, at least until . . .” He stared at the two figures on the ground. “I didn’t want you to know.”

  “It doesn’t change anything, Giles.”

  “They treated me nice once, like a son. But that was a long time ago, when they were different people.”

  “I saw them,” Juniper said. “Not even an hour ago. I followed my parents down, and they came soon after.”

  “This could have been me,” he said in a haze. “I started to feel it, the changes. Just that, it’s so little, like almost nothing you would really notice. It feels like I forgot something but couldn’t even imagine what it was, or if it was important. I didn’t think anything of it. I thought I’d only do it a few more times, before it got really bad.”

  “Giles, you never needed to change anything.”

  “But I always felt like I had to. If you went to school with me, you wouldn’t like me either. I know it. You would have joined all the rest. You don’t know what it’s like. You’re a pretty girl. That changes things. It means you don’t talk to me and you giggle with your friends while glancing in my direction. You like the boys who beat me up. If we went to school together, I’d want you to like me. But you wouldn’t.”

  “I like you now. I like everything about you. School wouldn’t change that. Nothing would. I’ll always be the one to decide who I talk to, and I want to talk to you. The Giles I first met.”

  Giles locked eyes with her. “You . . . you mean that?”

  “I do. I really like you. I missed you so much these past few days.”

  “You promise you won’t change your mind?”

  “I know who I am.”

  “You won’t forget about me? Really?”

  “Never.”

  Without hesitating, she moved in and hugged him once again. She put everything into that hug, all her love and pain and sorrow and confusion, and she felt all his as well. Then, with his eyes firmly closed, Giles sighed. “Thank you.”

  They separated, and Juniper looked at the Abernathys sprawled on the lawn; she thought of her parents, and her anger surged. “Skeksyl’s not going to win, Giles. We’re going to end this and make things right.”

  “What . . . what can we do?”

  She stared hard at him. “We’re going to get those balloons back.”

  Chapter 14

  AFTER MOVING THE ABERNATHYS safely into the house, they made their way back through the woods. On the way, Juniper told Giles all about Theodore and the balloons and what exactly they stole. They knew it wouldn’t be easy, but they had to somehow get past Skeksyl, find out where that hall beyond his table led, and hope they could find the balloons. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all they had.

  It was a damp and dreary night, and any search for stars would prove fruitless, as the sky was nothing but a cloud of fog. The tree, however, was in sight, and Juniper’s and Giles’s futures, as well as their parents’, were in grave question. Their stomachs churned with dreadful anticipation. Above them, the raven was perched ominously upon its usual bough, head bobbing side to side in sadistic glee. As was always the case, all other birds kept clear.

  Juniper found the mark on the tree and the stairway opened up. “Ready?” she asked.

  “No.”

  Juniper smiled for a moment, then fixed him with a look. “I’m not ready either, but those balloons aren’t going to just float up here themselves.” She took a step forward, then stopped. She looked back at Giles. “I’m glad you’re with me,” she told him. “I couldn’t do this without you.”

  He gave her a shy smile and said, “Me neither.”

  With that, Juniper and Giles placed their feet on the cracked steps and journeyed back down beneath the tree, Neptune gliding past them to guide the way they were all too familiar with. Unfortunately for Giles, the raven squawked a barrage of words that assaulted his ears.

  “The words are stronger down here,” he told Juniper as they descended the stairs. “It’s telling me to convince you to take a balloon this time. It’s practically begging. He wants you.”

  “They want us both,” Juniper said. “Just like they took my parents and the Abernathys. We can’t give in to Skeksyl’s temptations. No matter what.”

  They made their way down the steps and hall and past the six carved doors and found Skeksyl waiting for them at the table, the two chairs already in place, as if all were normal and expected.

  “Ah, my friends,” he squealed, his two hands meeting at the fingertips. “I was hoping to see you again. Please. Please, have a seat.” Without rising, he offered them the two empty chairs with a swipe of his hand and a slight bow of his hooded head.

  Once seated, Juniper spoke up. “I . . . I couldn’t wait any longer.”

  “Yesssss.” He stretched the word, again his yellow smile shining through the cloaked darkness. “Precious time has been lost already, dear girl. But . . .” He stared at the writhing shadows on the wall. “You’re not here about the writing business, are you? No. Not this time. It’s something else now. Yes, I’m sure of it. There are no secrets between us, Juniper Berry. Your parents aren’t well, are they?”

  Juniper froze in her seat. She was not expecting this. Giles, too, stared blankly at the gaunt figure across the table.

  “I know what has happened to them, Juniper. They can’t be saved. It is much too l
ate for them. They will be lost to you, dead, without my help. But there is hope, Juniper, and I can give it to you. I can give you the power, the knowledge, to save your parents, bring them back from the void, even rekindle the love you have been denied all this time.”

  Juniper and Giles were rooted to their seats in shock. But Skeksyl wasn’t finished. “And not just that. I’ll make a special deal with you. I’ll give you everything. For just one balloon, I’ll give you everything you ever dreamed. It’s wisdom, Juniper. You seek wisdom, enlightenment; the world defined and explained. A voice to tell you what is what. Why are you the way you are, what has happened to your parents, and what can you do about it? You want the answers in your lap because with them you will know how to fit in, how to belong. But, most of all, you will know how you can finally have your family back.”

  “Yes.” The word escaped before she could stop it. Was she really considering this? The more she thought about the offer, the more her feelings morphed into genuine yearning. And the more she admitted it, the more the yearnings burrowed into her heart.

  How were they to get past Skeksyl, anyway? It was impossible. But saving her parents, herself—that was something she could do, right here, right now. With such a gift she would never be lost again. She would know true happiness.

  “I can give it to you. Easily. Your very own cheat sheet to the world. No more running to your books, no more running to your spyglasses or Giles or even to me. You’ll never have to seek answers ever again, for you will see the reasons in everything. I’ll give you the world, Juniper, in black and white. You’ll have your parents back, and nothing will ever trouble or scare you again. You want to feel like you belong somewhere? And save your parents, no? This is the only way.”

  “Please.” Suddenly she couldn’t have such a gift soon enough. Skeksyl understood. He always had. And as much as Juniper feared his terrible power, she knew there was no other way. She had come down here to save her parents, herself. And now she could. For just one balloon.

  Skeksyl reached into his cloak. “Tell me, Juniper, what is your favorite color?”

  “Yellow,” she answered.

  And out from Skeksyl’s cloak came a yellow balloon, which he placed directly before him, and a red balloon, which he placed before Juniper. “Red is mine,” he said, to which Juniper replied, “I know.” His head tilted at a slight angle upon hearing these two small words, as if he didn’t understand them. But he was eager and shrugged them off. Then, from within his cloak, he procured a quill and immediately wrote the word “wisdom” on the yellow balloon. Fervently, he brought the latex to his mouth and blew it to size. “The stuff of dreams,” he told her as he attached the string, sealing in whatever it was he breathed into it.

  Finally, grinning, he handed the quill over to Juniper. “Your turn.”

  With her hand quite still, she grabbed the quill, marveling at how comfortable it felt in her hands. One balloon, she thought. Like Giles. I’ll only do it this once, then never again. I won’t become like my parents. One balloon and everything will be right again.

  The quill touched the balloon, creating a small black dot.

  Across the table, Giles called out to her. “Juniper . . .”

  She raised the quill.

  “Quiet, boy. Let her finish,” Skeksyl snapped, refusing to take his eyes off Juniper. “We’ll get to you soon enough. Go ahead,” Skeksyl told her. “Sign your name.”

  Juniper set the quill back to the latex, concentrating on her parents.

  Giles interrupted yet again. “Juniper, wait.”

  She knew he was attempting to stop her, to remind her of why they came, but she couldn’t budge.

  “Boy, you will get your turn,” Skeksyl said with a voice of ice. “Sign your name, Juniper, and the deal will be done. Your parents will be filled with life; they will love you again. Sign your name. Do it.” He grew impatient, like Juniper had never seen him before. He was on the edge of his seat, leaning far over the table. “Do it!”

  The quill began to tremble in her hand.

  “Sign your name!”

  The ink flowed as the quill moved elliptically upon the red balloon, forming a jagged J.

  Giles stood. “Juniper, don’t!” He took two steps toward her before Skeksyl’s staff shot out and blocked his path.

  Neptune screeched as Skeksyl rose to his feet, sending his chair flying out from behind him. In an instant he was looming menacingly over Giles, seizing him by the throat. His pale fingers nearly overlapped around Giles’s slight neck. “That strength getting to your head, boy?” He lifted Giles several feet off the ground and slammed him against the wall. “Perhaps it’s time you knew real strength.”

  Juniper could only watch, the quill now frozen in her hand.

  Giles kicked and gagged and turned blue, and Skeksyl laughed. “Look how pathetic you are. And now Juniper will sign her name and finally see you as you truly are.”

  But Juniper disagreed. She already knew exactly who Giles was. He was her friend, the best a girl could ever have.

  “Tell me, boy,” Skeksyl went on, seething, “what could a pathetic wretch like you possibly offer someone like her? You are still so very weak. Useless flesh and nothing more.”

  “Ju . . . June . . .” Giles choked.

  Juniper looked at her friend struggling in Skeksyl’s grasp, barely breathing, and something shifted inside her. Giles was fighting for her, and knowing this, she no longer cared for the answers Skeksyl offered. The weak boy filled her with a strength she never knew she had.

  Quickly, with Skeksyl’s attention diverted, Juniper reached into her pocket and found the balloon Theodore had given her. She smoothly swapped it with the one on the table. I’ll find my own answers, she thought. I like them better.

  And she made the switch just in time. Skeksyl tossed Giles to the floor, and his head shot back around to her just as her hand returned to the quill. “Enough!” he shouted. “Sign your name!”

  As Giles slowly recovered on the floor, Juniper put the quill to the ordinary balloon and signed her name in full. Skeksyl grinned and giggled madly. “That’s it. Good girl. Now finish it.”

  Juniper brought the balloon to her lips and blew it to its fullest, her eyes never leaving Skeksyl. Even though his face was shrouded in its usual shadows, she could feel how greedily he watched her. He had been waiting for this moment, aching for it.

  Skeksyl snatched the balloon away from her before she could even seal it with a string. “Yours will taste best of all,” he hissed. A sharp tongue darted out of his mouth, licking his pale and cracked lips. His hands, like the rest of his body, were trembling violently. He had to set one on the table before moving on. His breathing became rapid, strained. Odd noises and squeals escaped uncontrollably. His smile grew and grew.

  Finally, urgently, he opened the balloon, brought it to his salivating mouth, and inhaled its contents.

  Juniper and Giles watched with utmost horror and tension as he greedily engulfed her breaths. The air rushed from the balloon, shrinking it in seconds. Skeksyl’s neck pulsed with Juniper’s sweet air. He savored every breath.

  When the balloon was completely deflated, he sat back in his chair, smiling wickedly. His body went limp. The balloon slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor. “You fill me warmly,” he told her. “It feels like nothing I ever experienced. So pure. So true.”

  The room fell silent. Juniper’s mind raced. She was out of options.

  Suddenly Skeksyl’s body shot forward. He became rigid. His hands, stiff and clawlike, grasped at his neck. “What . . . what did you do?” He gagged and retched, yellow mucus flying from his mouth and sizzling on the wood table. Beneath the cloak, his body bubbled. His staff dropped at his side as he fell to his knees.

  Alarmed, Neptune flew around the room, screeching like Juniper had never heard, as his master doubled over in severe pain.

  “Now!” Juniper yelled. Giles ran from the room and down the dark, forbidden hallway. But before she
joined him, Juniper took her yellow balloon with the word “wisdom” written on it, held it before Skeksyl’s shadowed face, and popped it.

  Chapter 15

  JUNIPER CAUGHT UP TO GILES AMID THE SHADOWS of the hall. “June, you did it! You switched balloons! How’d you know that would happen?” he asked her.

  “I didn’t,” she responded. “But he had to be using specially made balloons for a reason, right?”

  “For a minute there, I thought you were going to sign your name on the one he needed.”

  “For a minute there, so did I.”

  They hurried down the hall, not knowing what they would find or where the balloons would be stored, but Juniper felt more alive than she had been in a long time. She nearly floated through that suffocating darkness. If Giles could see her, he’d see her smiling.

  The hall seemed to go on for a very long time—the dark tends to have such an effect on the senses. Juniper couldn’t help but wonder what part of the world sat above them and what was going on there. Maybe one day she’d walk that very spot, the Earth stretched out before her, the horrors below long forgotten. There was so much waiting up there for her. But she first had to safely escape and save her parents.

  When she and Giles finally emerged from the hall, what they saw was astonishing.

  Before them was an underground world, so large and so vast. There was a multitude of torch-lit hallways shooting off in various directions from the immense cavern they stood within. There were staircases twisting and turning overhead, leading to gaps in the ceiling of the cave and to who knew where. Everything seemed to stretch for miles with no end in sight, a subterranean labyrinth of immense proportions.

  “What do we do?” Giles cried, his voice echoing like the loudest thunder. “Where do we go? He’ll be coming for us soon!”

  “I don’t know! I don’t know! The balloons can be anywhere!” She felt the panic rising up inside her. They only had one shot at this and if they failed . . . no, she couldn’t think about that. Her hands slapped at her thighs in frustration, and that was when she felt it. Her monocular. Quickly, she pulled it free, extended it, and brought it to her eye.