The Forbidden Trilogy

by Kimberly Kinrade

  Luke's power held out just long enough. Their drop through the sky had slowed, allowing them to hit the water with less force.

  Both conscious now, they released each other. Luke worked to unhook Lucy from her parachute before the mass of sinking nylon pulled her down to the bottom of the ocean.

  Lucy looked up, searching for Beleth, the man named after a fallen angel, the man who could change his body into anything, and even add wings. But the night did not yield its secrets to her.

  Only the light of the full moon prevented them from drowning in darkness.

  "Luke, we have to swim. There must be a shore somewhere close. Robert told Beleth we were near the base, so we have to be near land."

  Luke grunted, probably too tired to speak.

  She listened carefully and thought she detected the sound of lapping waves. That must mean a shore. With one arm over the other, she pushed her tired, cold body to swim, grateful that they'd at least been wearing their gear when all this happened.

  Luke swam by her side.

  Lucy's backpack weighed her down, making each stroke harder, but she refused to let it go. The sphere in her pack pulsed softly, sending her a warm, glowing energy that kept her from freezing in the icy water.

  Luke lagged behind, drained by the use of his power and the torture he'd endured.

  She reached out for him. "Come on, you can do it. I think I hear the shore."

  "What's it saying to you?"

  "Haha, you're so freaking funny. You should save your strength for swimming."

  Rain beat down on them and the water surged and fought itself, fed by the energy of the storm.

  Muscles burned, eyes grew heavy, but still they pushed.

  When Lucy felt the solidness of earth under her feet, she nearly passed out in relief, but they could still drown in this water. "We're almost there. You can walk now."

  Luke stumbled and she caught him and helped him to shore. They collapsed on the wet sand, too tired to find shelter or food.

  Too tired to do anything but pass out.

  ***

  Crystal blue waters lapped against the pale sand. To Lucy's left, a rocky cliff jutted into the water and a water fall fell from it, filling the quiet morning with the sound of water splashing. Inland, a forest, or maybe jungle was a better word, blocked her view of anything beyond, filling her vision with trees that created a canopy over the land. To both sides of her, the watery edge curved around, making her think they were probably on one of the smaller islands in Hawaii. Though she'd traveled the world many times for assignments, she'd never been to Hawaii. This wasn't exactly how she'd envisioned her dream vacation.

  Luke groaned and sat up, joining Lucy in her survey of their surroundings. "Morning, Sis. You survive okay?"

  She stretched out her body and mentally scanned all important parts to make sure she hadn't sustained any serious injury. Everything hurt, but nothing felt injured. "Yeah. Sore, tired and thirsty, but I'll live. What about you?"

  He'd had it worse, and Lucy worried about the dark circles under his eyes and how pale his face had gotten. Even his bright blue eyes had lost some of their spark, and now looked washed out and tired.

  "I'll be fine. But yeah, I'm thirsty as hell."

  Nothing like swimming through salt water and running for your life to dehydrate you. The more Lucy thought about water, the more she craved it. How long could someone survive without water? Her survival teacher had said they could live without water for maybe three days, under optimal circumstances. She considered the state of her body and the level of dehydration she already suffered from.

  Yeah, no. I won't make it three days. And by the looks of Luke, he had even less time.

  No matter, as she didn't intend to be stranded that long, and they could surely find some fresh water somewhere.

  She rose to her feet, grunting under the pain of exhausted muscles, and pulled Luke up. "Time to hunt for water."

  The walk gave them both a chance to explore the island and stretch their bruised and tired bodies. Lucy led them towards the waterfall she'd seen, in hopes that it was fresh water and not salt. "It looks pretty close, maybe a ten- or fifteen-minute hike?" Her wetsuit clung to her in uncomfortable ways, but she was loathe to change into clean clothes until she could rinse the salt and sand from her body.

  An hour into the walk, she began regretting her choice to hike in the wetsuit.

  Another half hour and they finally arrived at a small lake fed from a waterfall above, and the lake in turn fed the waterfall she had seen from shore. For a moment, she forgot about her thirst and admired the beauty of her surroundings. The water caught the sun and shimmered like liquid crystal. The rocky shore of the lake had a colorful assortment of rocks that, when wet, shone like gems.

  They approached and looked into the lake, at their own reflections.

  Lucy wasn't vain, but even so, she shuddered at the mess that looked back at her. Her long hair had turned into a nest of tangles that any bird would be happy to lay eggs in, which might not be so bad; at least they'd get some food out of it.

  Luke nudged her. "Just ten or fifteen minutes, huh?"

  She stuck her tongue out at him, then realized how dry and thick it felt. Her thirst crashed into her and she plunged her hand in the cool water and drank greedily.

  Once they both had their fill, Lucy told Luke to turn his head while she peeled off her wetsuit and plunged naked into the water to rinse off the sweat, dirt and salt. She would have given a kidney for a bar of soap and some shampoo, but she sucked it up and did her best, then got out and sun dried in a private spot behind a rock while Luke took his turn in the water.

  Her pack included khaki cargo pants, an IPI t-shirt, and a sweater. She slipped into the clean clothes and dug through her pack to find her cell phone and walkie-talkie.

  Luke, who'd already rinsed and dressed, frowned at her. "Who are you going to call? Everyone's dead."

  Lucy refused to think about that, focusing instead on the mission. "Not everyone. Someone in HQ must know where we are or what to do. Someone must be monitoring the lines."

  She tried the walkie-talkie first, but only heard static. None of the channels worked. Next she tried her iPhone, but it didn't get a signal. She flipped through the pages of her apps, as if Apple made an app for "Escape from a deserted island." With a deep sigh and shoulders slumped, she turned the phone off to preserve batteries, and stuck both useless pieces of technology back in her pack.

  Now satiated by the water, a desperate hunger clenched her stomach. "I'm starving. We need to find something to eat."

  "Don't think there's fast food here, Luce."

  She smacked her brother in the arm. "We'll find our own food, smartass."

  He rolled his eyes. "Right. With what, handmade spears and bows?"

  "If we have to. I have no intention of starving to death, do you? Besides, we can look for berries or fruit. Something to tide us over while we figure out our next step."

  He sulked and didn't reply, but he followed when she stomped off.

  Lucy didn't know what his problem was, but he'd better get with the program or she'd have to kick his ass.

  They retraced their steps into the jungle, heading along the shore as much as they could to avoid getting lost in all the trees.

  While Lucy and Luke had both been trained in outdoor survival, so much depended on knowing the unique plant life of the area. Which berries would kill you, and which would save you? Which roots were edible and which would make you sick? Lucy had never been that interested in it, so she retained only bits and pieces of the training.

  "We should stick to eating fruits or vegetables that we recognize, so we don't poison ourselves by accident."

  "Wouldn't want that."

  Normally, Luke was sarcastic or funny or witty... but though his words were pure Luke, his tone was more like angsty emo teen. Nothing like her brother's normal disposition. It had been a hard day and a half, but he needed to snap out of it and focus. Noth
ing would be gained by sulking.

  Lucy ground her teeth to keep from saying something she'd regret later, and put her attention back on the jungle. What looked edible? Nothing. She couldn't imagine putting anything in her mouth that lived in this damp, stinky place. Maybe they could try fishing, or maybe hunting would be better. Catch some meat, roast it over a fire. She'd had to skin an animal before—not fun, but she could do it to placate the gnawing hunger in her gut.

  The jungle moved around her like a living thing. Bugs scuttled through the thick layers of leaves and mulch under her feet. A few flying scoundrels bit at her. At least they could find a ready meal on the go, she thought, as she slapped herself silly in an effort to kill them.

  After another two hours of hiking through the dense foliage, Lucy collapsed against a tree. "I need to rest. I'm dying."

  Luke sat next to her, shoulder to shoulder. The warmth of his body felt comforting and familiar. Whatever weird thing he had going on, he was still her twin and best friend. She was glad not to be alone.

  She nudged him playfully. "If we don't find food soon, I might just have to eat you."

  He tried to laugh, but it came out sounding broken. "Sure. Go ahead and try. Besides, I've got too much muscle, I'd be chewy. You, on the other hand, have some nice soft spots right there." He poked her in the stomach and she squealed.

  "Did you seriously just call me fat? You're such a dork. I'm not fat. My abs are tighter than yours."

  The banter would have been comforting, if it hadn't felt so forced. She wanted her normal brother back.

  Her sphere pulsed softly, the first time she'd felt it all day, and the vibrations of power soothed her. A stillness descended on her, and she wondered if this was the stillness Bethel had spoken of.

  The moment shattered at the sound of something above her head. On a branch sat a giant.... It looked like a butterfly, but about five times bigger than any she'd ever seen. It had large soft wings colored in a swirl of jewel tones, and it looked right at her.

  She nudged Luke and whispered, "Check it out. A freakishly large butterfly. Catch it!"

  "I'm not catching it. And besides, that's not a butterfly, it's a moth. Butterflies have skinny antennas, while moths have furry ones, like that."

  "And since when do moths have colorful wings? Huh, smarty pants?"

  "It's not a butterfly, and what do you want it for, anyway?"

  "I don't know. Maybe we could cook it. It's huge."

  "Seriously? You want to eat some kind of weird moth? What if it's poisonous? Thought we were only eating things we recognized?"

  "You're the big bug lover, and you said it was a moth, so you recognized it. And I'm hungry. People eat bugs. It's not unheard of. Did you know that apes share a very similar genetic makeup to humans, and that if humans ate more like apes, they'd be much healthier? Well, apes eat a lot of green leafy vegetables, but guess where they get their protein?"

  Luke shrugged.

  "You're not going to guess? Fine. I'll tell you anyway. They get it from bugs found in their greens. Bugs like this one. I'm not saying we should start serving it for dinner at home, but for now, when we're so depleted from using our powers, being attacked, jumping from a plane, swimming through an ocean and passing out on a deserted island, yeah, I think we need to get some protein in us however we can. And since you are apparently too chewy, it's Bug Brunch time."

  The lecture exhausted Lucy, but she wasn't going to let their only chance at food escape. She reached up into the trees and tried to catch it. It stared straight at her, as if it knew what she was thinking, and then fluttered away, stretching its long, beautiful wings as it flew. It was even bigger than she'd first thought, and its wings glittered in the sunlight.

  Luke also watched as it flew away. "Weird. You're right, that's not like any moth I've ever seen. It kind of looks like an Attacus Atlas, but even those don't get that big. They have beautiful wings, but not in jewel tones—more maroon to tawny. Besides, they're only found in the tropical areas of Southeast Asia. I have no idea what that was, but it was amazing."

  Hunger pangs made it hard to think, but a part of her was glad she'd failed at catching the creature. Something so beautiful should not be torn from the world. Then again, beauty wasn't the only criteria of worth. One of the most amazing beings she'd ever met would not be considered beautiful by any stretch, but he should never have been torn from this world, either.

  Adam. A tear slid down her cheek as she thought of her friend. They'd only known each other briefly, but he'd died to save her. He'd been part of that horrible lab in Russia, where creatures that were part man, part beast spent their lives in locked rooms, stared at and poked and prodded by scientists. But Adam had been special. He'd been her friend.

  Luke wrapped his arm around Lucy's shoulders. "You thinking about Adam?"

  She nodded. "How'd you know?"

  "Sam may be the only mind reader, but I know you like I know myself. Maybe better sometimes. Think our butterfly was a mutant?"

  She sniffled and wiped a stray tear. "Don't know. Maybe. Or maybe you don't know bugs like you think you do."

  Luke ruffled her already messy hair. "Them's fighting words, Sis."

  The jungle creaked around them and Lucy stood and smiled, grateful for the distraction of her brother. "Sorry, I only fight guys who can give me a real challenge."

  Luke stretched his long, lean body, like a panther, then pounced. Lucy shrieked and ran from his mock attack, leading them deeper into the jungle.

  Their games were short lived, as neither had the stamina to keep up, but the dark mood that Luke had been carrying seem to have lifted, and Lucy relaxed and linked arms with him as they walked. No more doom and gloom—time to get serious about the food business.

  The sun caught the glint of something metallic in the ground, and Lucy bent to examine it. She pulled a bit of metal from the mossy ground. Its jagged edges looked torn apart.

  She handed it to Luke, who examined it and said, "Hmm... guess there are humans here somewhere. Or were. Wonder what it's from."

  They kept walking over a small hill, and discovered the source—the plane they'd jumped from the night before.

  Luke's breath hitched and his body turned hard and still. "Let's get out of here. I don't want to be here."

  The plane had nearly broken in half, now sewn together by a few random bits of metal—like some kid's toy that got dropped and stepped on.

  But it was real, and there would be dead bodies on it.

  Lucy wanted to flee, to get away from everything the plane represented and all the memories it called to the surface. But pragmatism won out. Or hunger. She needed food, and the plane had food. She shoved down all memories and insecurities, and put up an emotional wall that allowed her to stay focused.

  "I'm not leaving without food. Plus, there might be a way to contact someone, a radio or something. It could be our only chance to get help."

  She walked toward the plane, slowly, waiting for Luke to catch up. For several long moments, he didn't move. When she was about to turn around and coax him, or drag him, with her, he finally took a step and broke the creepy statue stance he'd been sporting.

  She relaxed once he walked beside her.

  The center of the plane lay open like a gutted fish. They stepped over the debris, choosing each step with care, and entered. It was well past noon, probably close to two or three in the afternoon, and the bodies had been decomposing since the night before. The smell gagged them both and forced them to cover their noses. The humid heat of the jungle—the worst possible environment for preserving a body—accelerated the decomposition.

  Lucy couldn't afford to vomit, not with an empty stomach and just a bit of water. She took small, shallow breaths and ignored the stench as best she could.

  Agent Morrison's body lay crumbled up in a corner, as if he'd been a used piece of paper tossed aside. His severed hand lay several feet from him, his blood brown and flaking. Lucy pushed back the memories of that mom
ent and silenced the guilt that threatened to overwhelm her. She wished she could have stopped it, could have saved him. She wished there'd been a better choice to make.

  Robert's dead body haunted her. His head had been blown away by Beleth, but she'd inflicted the real damage. He'd left her no choice. He would've killed Luke.

  She turned away and focused on locating the fridge. It was in the front of the plane. On her way, she spotted Luke's pack, with all his gear, and picked it up.

  Luke still stood on the edge of the plane, staring at her as if she were a stranger.

  No time to deal with him right now. "Here." She tossed his pack at him, and on reflex, he caught it. "Might need that stuff."

  The mini fridge presented its own challenge. A dead guy still clutched the handle, which he'd probably grabbed when the plane started to tilt. She'd have to pry his hand off to open it.

  Dear God, this is gross.

  She gripped the stiff, cold hand of the dead man and, one by one, peeled back his fingers. The body blocked the fridge when she tried to open it, so she braced herself and pushed him away a few feet. By then she was panting and dizzy.

  Thanks for your help, Bro. Sheesh.

  It contained sandwiches, drinks, and a few bottles of alcohol. To the side of the fridge, a few cans of food lay scattered about. She opened her pack and stuffed the food into it, then slung it back over her shoulder. The weight of the pack nearly toppled her over, but she righted herself and made her way to the cockpit.

  She'd hoped to find a radio or way to communicate to someone for help, but the cockpit was destroyed. The nose of the plane must have hit the ground first, because it had crushed in on itself, leaving little to explore in the control panels, and leaving the pilots buried under the debris.

  Unable to endure the smell any longer, and seeing no point to a more comprehensive search, Lucy made a beeline back to Luke and into the fresh air. She slammed her pack into his chest, hitting him with more force than necessary. "Could've used some help there, you know. Thanks for that."

  Before he could reply she stalked off, back into the jungle and away from the plane.