Chosen (22 page)

I checked my phone’s clock, and cringed.  More time had passed than I had thought.  I would have to leave right now if I wanted to make it to the cafeteria on time.  Leaving my room in the condition it was, I hurried out the door.

I walked briskly, passing a stream of other kids who must have been just returning from lunch.  I hurried forward.  So far in my stay, I hadn’t eaten much at all, and felt that was a bad habit to get into.  Thankfully, by the time I got to the cafeteria, the serving line was still open, although I could see the kitchen workers just starting to put things away.  I grabbed a tray and rushed forward, getting to the warm food just before it was taken away.

Most of the cafeteria was empty, except for a small group of athletic-looking guys huddled around one far table.  I considered walking over and introducing myself, but decided against it.  I sat down by myself and ate the food.  It was absolutely delicious.  I hadn’t realized how hungry I really was until the first bite.  When I was done, I felt like I had eaten enough to fuel me for an entire week.  The timing was absolutely perfect.  If I left now, I thought I would make it to the lake on time.

I went outside and walked slowly, taking time to enjoy the glorious sunshine.  I strolled through parts of the main yard leisurely, taking a look at that beautiful fountain in the square, noticing all the disparate architecture that, somehow, fit so well together, and even passing by that house where the party was held.  I wondered again just how Liz and the student council got access to it.  Who else was even
on
the student council?  And what about the mysterious note I’d gotten inviting me?  Was that just the student council’s way of making the party seem more exclusive? 

“Hey, Tracy!” someone called behind me.  I recognized Chris’s voice.  I felt a little rush of excitement, and had to steady myself before turning around.  I didn’t want to seem
too
eager to see him.

“Hey you,” I said with a smile, giving him a hug.  “How are you?”

“Great,” he replied with a devilish smile.  “What’s going on?”

“Oh, just looking around,” I said. “What about you?”

“Going to a meeting.”  He made a face. 

“Oh.  Who with?”

“My father,” he answered solemnly.  He didn’t look like he was looking forward to it.

“Oh, that’s right.  You said he’s a professor.  Right?”

“Yeah, exactly.  It kind of sucks, though, that the only time he has time to see me is during his office hours.”

“He’s that busy?” I asked.  “But at least you get to see him here.  My parents are literally on the other side of the country.”

“I guess,” he laughed.  “And yeah, he’s always working.  Since I started living in the dorms with everyone else, we’ve kind of just… drifted apart, I guess.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

He shrugged.  “I’ve gotten used to it by now.  Not that I wish it hadn’t happened, though.  But yeah, I’ve got to run.  When I just saw you, I thought we needed… to talk about
us
.”

“What do you mean, ‘us’?” I asked suspiciously.

“I mean, are we dating now, or boyfriend-girlfriend, or somewhere in between…?”

“Oh!  I hadn’t thought of that yet,” I told him honestly.  “You’re right though.  It’s something we should definitely talk about.  Later today?”

“Sure,” he agreed cheerfully

“Just give me a call?”

“Okay.  Will do.”

“Great.”,” I said, giving him a quick hug.

He turned around to leave, and after a second’s hesitation, I called out his name.  “Chris, wait!”  He turned around, and I went on my tiptoes to give him a little kiss.  He smiled dreamily, and touched his cheek.  “I’ll see you later,” I said.

Not long after, I was on the path from the main yard to the dorms, looking for the small trail leading to the lake.  It was no more than a half a foot wide, and made entirely of downtrodden earth and mud.  I thought I could have walked by it every day this year and never seen it had I not been looking for it.  It extended over the hills into the forest.

The forest that covered the northern half of the island was enormous and imposing.  Grassy hills had sprung up where it had been cleared to make room for the main parts of campus.  Everything north of here was pure wilderness.  As I walked toward the tall, dense trees, making sure to stay on the path lest I enter the woods in the wrong place, I felt a little like an adventurer, entering the wild, untamed parts of the world.  When I got up to the edge of the woods, I looked for that orange, triangular mark that Liz told me about.  I spotted it on a tree about a dozen feet away, and started toward it.

From there, finding the next triangles turned out to be pretty easy.  There were hints of the path on the forest floor, making it fairly easy to go the right way.  There were a few times, though, when I had to climb over a toppled evergreen, or sneak around a rotting, half-cleaved trunk to spot the next marker. 

As I moved farther and farther away from the civilized part of the island, the trees seemed to grow a little denser, and the air turned a little thicker.  Soon, the sounds of the bustling main yard faded, replaced by a serene, calm quiet.  I could hear the birds right above me.  Every now and then, I picked up the hurried footsteps of some small animal.  I hoped there weren’t any large predators here, like bears or anything like that.  The wind rustled high above me, shaking the tops of the tall evergreens.  Small needles came showering down.  I took in everything, realizing how much these trees reminded me of the forests back home.

It took me another half hour before the orange triangles brought me to a clearing in the forest.  There, I saw the lake for the first time.  I had to stand still for a minute just to admire its beauty.

The shimmering blue surface of the lake reflected the sunlight perfectly.  Not a single wave marred the calm water, which looked in enviable harmony with its surroundings.  Everything about the lake, from its pebble rock beach, to the way the trees lined the edges, looked as if it had been placed there by a brilliant artist.  The place was a sanctuary from the rest of the island, protected by the shelter of the forest. 

Across the water, I saw a young deer lapping at the lake.  I approached slowly, taking care not to make any sound.  The fawn still noticed me, its ears up and alert.  It stared right at me.  Then, sensing no immediate danger, it returned its attention to the lake.

I looked around for Liz, but couldn’t see her anywhere.  I wasn’t sure why she wanted to meet me here, but I wasn’t complaining.  The spot was absolutely pristine.  Picking a seat underneath the shelter of a tall tree, I settled down on the ground, leaning against the gnarled bark.  I inhaled deeply.   Nature here was untouched by humans.  I heard a wild bird call in the distance.  Its cry was answered by another closer to me.  I was perfectly content to wait for Liz.

A small breeze made its way through the trees and across the lake, stirring up the calm surface.  The water lapped gently at the shoreline.  In the serenity of the moment, I found it fitting to close my eyes.  The lake was just so peaceful, so very calming that I couldn’t help myself.  And, without realizing it, I drifted off into a blissful sleep.

Chapter Fifteen – The Seekers

“Tracy?  Hey, Tracy!”

I was awakened by something nudging my leg.  Groggily, I looked around, trying to figure out what it was.  I saw Liz standing over me, hands folded in front of her chest.  Suddenly the end of her toe jammed into my leg.

“Hey!” I protested, pulling my leg away.  “What’s that for?”

“Trying to wake you up.  Duh!”  Liz moved to do it again.  I scrambled up before she had the chance.

“I’m up, I’m up!  Jeez…” She hadn’t been gentle about it, nor did she look particularly happy right now.  I rubbed my leg.

“So what’s going on?  I told you we need to meet at four, and I don’t find you here until hours later?”

“Hours later…?  What are you talking abou—”  I looked around for the first time, and saw in alarm that it was already getting dark.  The dying rays of the sun were reflecting off the calm lake surface, and the shadows of the trees stretched far along the water.  “How long was I asleep?” I said, half to myself.

“Don’t know,” Liz replied.  “I found you here just now.”

“I got here right when we were supposed to meet!”  Could I really have slumbered for that long?  Something didn’t add up.  “Before that, even.”

“Well, you’re here now, at least,” Liz said with a sigh.  “There’s a lot we need to talk about.”

“I know.”  I wondered if what she wanted to talk about had anything to do with what I wanted to talk about.  “Where do we begin?”

“Actually, I need to tell you something, first.”

“Sure.  What is it?”

Liz bit her lip in a moment of uncertainty.  “Actually, it would be better if I show you.”  She turned around and took a few strides away, before looking back at me.  “You coming?”

With a start, I realized I was standing still, and quickly followed her.  My entire upper body felt stiff, especially my back, from falling asleep in an awkward position.  But why had I dozed off, anyway?  I hadn’t
felt
particularly tired.  Anyway, those were questions for another time.  “Where are we going?” I asked Liz.

“You’ll see,” Liz said in the same secretive voice Chris had used when leading me to the crystals.

“I don’t see why we had to meet all the way out here,” I said as I picked my way through the undergrowth, catching up to Liz.  “I mean, the lake is nice and all, but wouldn’t it have been easier to just talk in one of our rooms?  Or somewhere in the main yard?  Why did we have to come so far?”

Liz shot me an inscrutable glance, followed by the barest of frowns.  “Just come on,” she urged.

She led me halfway around the lake.  At a gnarled old stump of a tree, she turned into the deeper forest.  She seemed very sure of the way she was going.  After walking for maybe five minutes, I had no idea where we were.  We had taken so many twists and turns that it would have been hard for me to say which way the lake was, now.  Liz, however, shared none of my uncertainty. 

“Where are you taking me?” I asked again, breaking the uneasy silence.  The only sounds I could hear were our footsteps crunching on the dry forest floor.

Liz nodded ahead.  “It’s not much farther.”

“What is it, though?” I asked.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Liz replied vaguely.

I sighed.  Against my better judgment, I kept going.  There wasn’t much that ever felt threatening to me, but walking toward some unknown destination in a quickly darkening forest would definitely have been on the list.  The orange glow of the day’s remaining light shone sporadically through the trees, casting rays where the canopy wasn’t too thick.  One of those smaller rays shone down ahead, and as Liz walked through it, I thought – just for a moment – that the air around her took on an almost angelic luster, much like the way it shimmered around the crystals.

The crystals!  Around them was the last time I had zoned out inexplicably.  Today, it happened again, although this time I had merely fallen asleep.  Both times, it seemed, I had, somehow, lost complete track of time.  It was more than that, though.  It was as if I had just ceased to
notice
the passage of time.  Nothing like this had ever happened before.  It was frightening.  I wondered if the two events were related, and if so, if either of them had anything to do with the concussion I’d suffered recently.  I made a mental note to go back to the clinic and get myself checked out if it ever happened again.

Suddenly, I picked up the faint scent of burning wood.  A fire?  I looked around, but couldn’t see anything.  It disappeared so quickly, I thought I had imagined it.  But not long after, the smell returned, stronger this time.

“Do you smell that?” I asked Liz.  In my head, I tried to retrace the path we’d taken back to the lake.  If there was a fire somewhere in these woods, I didn’t want to be anywhere near it lest it flare up.  Not that I expected to be able to outrun a forest fire. “That’s not a fire, is it?  I asked anxiously. “We should probably turn back.”

Liz turned around to face me.  “I think it is,” she said gravely.  “And I can see it right now.”

“What?” I shrieked.  Panic gripped me.  If there was a fire burning this close to us, we had to
run
to have any chance of getting away.  With any luck, it would still be small, and wouldn’t ignite any of the heavier vegetation.  If those caught fire, we’d both be done for.  “Where?”

“Right there,” Liz said, pointing in front of her.  She stood at the top of a small incline, and was pointing down the other way.  I couldn’t see anything from where I stood.  I raced up toward her, expecting to see the worst….

Instead, I found a wide, flat clearing in the woods up ahead.  There were small stumps scattered all around, where trees had once stood.  Right in the middle was a raging
bon
fire.  Thick, dark smoke curled up into the sky.  Every once in a while, a passing gust blew toward us, bringing with it the smell of burning wood. 

Liz laughed beside me.  “Scared ya, didn’t I?”