{Viola}

The night is warm and still and quiet as Todd and I run, hand in hand, towards Ben's place –

But something is trying to reach out to me.

Todd doesn't hear it, I don't think, and his determination to get to Ben's house before sunrise blocks the message that is trying to sneak its way into my Noise. We're looking over our shoulders every now and then as we go – watching to make sure that the shadows of Mona and the Elder Spackle aren't lurking behind us, ready to attack. I tell myself that the steady thumping of my heart is only because of adrenaline, because of anticipation. I try to ignore the fact that really, it is fear that is edging it's way inside –

But they can't hurt you, Viola. Do not be afraid.

There it was again, that voice in my head. On impulse, I stop mid-run, blink a few times against the darkness as if that will clarify whatever it is that I'm hearing. Am I hallucinating? Am I dreaming? I wouldn't have been surprised if it were either one – the lack of rest I'd gotten in the past few days had already caused a series of bizarre dreams, horrifying nightmares.

But the voice in my head didn't feel made up, didn't feel like a hallucination or a dream –

It was the Land –

Calling out to me –

Do not be afraid.

Viola, wut's wrong? Todd asks me. I can't see his face in the darkness that surrounds us, but I can hear his Noise; concerned, but ten paces ahead of itself, as we still had a ways to go to get to Ben.

I… I think I'm hearing something. Do you hear it, too? I ask him.

No, I don't hear nothin'. Todd says – and I try not to sound disappointed through my Noise. Todd had never connected with the Land in the same ways that I did, never really heard it's warnings or signals. Perhaps he was always too distracted to let its message into his head, but tonight, I was hearing it loud and clear.

It's the Land, Todd. I say to him, squeezing his hand in the dark. Telling us that we don't have to be afraid. What do you think that means?

But Todd already has a million things on his mind, his Noise already too full. He shakes his head no.

We'll talk about it when we get to Ben. He says. They could be anywhere, watchin us right now. It ain't safe.

I start to agree with Todd, but something is still tugging at my Noise, telling me that we aren't in any danger. It doesn't offer any explanation – but as Todd and I start heading towards Ben, I can't get the message out of my head.

…

The sun starts to rise, coloring the sky orange, just as we reach Ben's house. It's like he already knew that we were on the way; when Todd gets ready to knock (bang) on the door, Ben flings it wide open. There are bags under his eyes and worry in his Noise – he hasn't gotten much sleep, either.

I could hear your Noise from a mile away, Todd. Ben says, then steps aside, offers us passage through the doorway. Todd lets me go first, then he shuts the door behind himself. He quickly locks it, then places a chair underneath the doorknob, just in case.

We wanted yer to. Todd says. Mona and the Elder Spackle are making threats again.

Questions are spilling through Ben's Noise and Todd fills him in on everything the kids told us – but I don't bother to stick around for the details. Instead, my eyes follow the glow of a single candle light that flickers in Ben's living room, and before I even realize it, my tired feet walk right into the room, where I allow myself to heavily flop onto the old sofa. Despite the sound of their Noise in the hallway, the living room is nice and quiet – that peaceful moment just before night turns into day. For the first time in almost twenty four hours I allow myself to close my eyes and rest, and with the last bit of consciousness I have left, I wonder why I hadn't listened to Todd, and Hildy, and Mistress Lawson when they told me I ought to catch some sleep. Now was not the best time for it – not with frightened women and children still back at me and Todd's house, not with Mona and the Elder Spackle still making their threats –

But there was that voice again, that message from the Land, telling me that we had nothing to be afraid of –

For reasons I couldn't explain, I let myself believe it.

I open my eyes when the cushions deepen beside me.

Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. Todd says, sitting on the edge of his seat; elbows on his knees and looking at me over his shoulder. You shud get some rest. Ben and I will work on our plan, in the meantime.

What plan? I ask him – but before he can answer, Ben comes back into the room. Two cups of something steaming in each of his hands.

Coffee? He asks us, and I shake my head yes, thank him after taking the cup he's handing out to me. But Todd only dismisses him with a wave of his hand.

We need to let the settlers kno wut's goin on. Todd says, just as Ben takes a seat in the armchair across from us. It's not just our Noise she's tryin to stop, but theirs too.

Ben nods in agreement, but his Noise is already searching for an alternative solution. I don't think it's necessary to raise alarm, just yet. And besides, her threats don't really impose immediate danger. It's not like she has an army coming after us.

But she cud. Todd says, looking at Ben with seriousness in his eyes. If she convinced enough Spackle, and maybe even some of the settlers who are still skeptical about Noise, they cud all come against us, and we'd be back, fighting another battle.

It was the paranoia talking, Todd's natural instinct to prepare for the worst. I had it, too, regardless of the fact that we've had better days than bad ones since the end of Aaron's war – but the reassurance that comes to me from the Land puts all of that fear at bay.

Todd. I say, placing my hand on his shoulder. Remember how I told you that something was reaching out to me?

He looks at me, tired. Shakes his head yes.

It's the Land. I say, confident that I'm correct. It's saying that we don't have anything to worry about. That we don't have to be afraid of them.

Why not? Todd asks. It's a question I don't really have the answer to – but do we always need one? It's the Land we are dealing with, after all, no definite explanation other than what we feel to be true.

Because… they can't hurt us. I say, but I know that Todd is looking for a reasonable answer, so I try to find the words to convince him.

Sure, the Elder Spackle has Noise, but she can't use it like we can. And she doesn't have an army, like Ben said. But aside from that – I don't think she'd try to start a war, Todd.

So why all the threats? And the stalking? Todd asks, kind of impatient. But I know it's only the frustration that's getting to him – I try to reason with him as best as I can.

To get in your head. To frighten you into believing that our Noise is dangerous. I say to him, and then, I'm worried too, Todd. But the Land… the Land can't be wrong. Can it?

Todd was the first to tell anyone around him that the Noise he'd gotten from the Land was the best thing to have ever happened to him, (well, second best, Viola, cuz yer the first) - he'd always say. He knew that it was always leading us in the right direction, no matter how much destruction went on around us, no matter how much chaos. Wasn't that the point, then? To listen to the Land, to trust it?

Todd couldn't argue with me on that one, but instead of responding, he just sighed. Laid back against the couch.

What are we gonna do about the women, then? And Sean and Sophie? They ain't got Noise like us yet, they won't believe it. How are we gonna keep them safe?

I'll go to them. Ben says, already standing up, already getting dressed to head out. The two of you look horrible. Worse than during the war. I'm making you rest until I get back.

Neither me, nor Todd, had enough energy or will to protest. We saw Ben out with a simple wave, and it wasn't even five minutes after he left that we both fell asleep, heads touched together, chests rising and falling in sync –

But Todd wasn't actually asleep. His Noise was calmer than it was before we got here, but it was still flickering with a concerned thought or two, and even though I'd grown used to sleeping beside his restless Noise, I couldn't ignore it this time. When I opened my eyes, the room was full of daylight. Todd was staring over my head, out the window.

"Ben's takin too long." Todd says, not looking at me, eyes still trained outside. "Wut do yer think he's doing?"

"What he said he was doing." I say, then push myself up so that we're at eye-level, shoulders touching. "If something had gone wrong, we would have heard of it by now."

Todd nods, knowing that this is true. The day is actually very peaceful, and it doesn't make sense, this strange calm after the night we'd had, but I go with it anyway. It's what we wanted, was it not?

"But only if it's real." Todd says, answering to my Noise. "I don't want to believe in it if it's only an illusion. Mona and the Elder Spackle could be anywhere, about to do anything."

"So you don't believe the Land, then?" I ask Todd, and he shakes his head no.

"That's not it." He says, and then, "I just can't hear it like that, not like you can."

"So you don't believe me, then?" I ask, which I know isn't true, isn't fair. Todd gives me a look that I deserve for saying something like that.

"Yer kno that ain't it, either." He says. "I just wonder how yer Noise got like that."

"Got like what?" I ask. He shifts in his seat.

"To where the Land speaks to you, sends you messages. I'm connected to it, sure, but I've never gotten a message from it or nothin."

I never thought about it like that, shrug my shoulders in response. "I don't know." I say, and then, prepare to joke, "Maybe I'm the chosen one, or something."

Todd laughs, barely, but his smile is still there. "Yer know, maybe yer are. The Land trusts yer, Viola. And yer not even from here."

I nod slowly, wrestling with feelings of both guilt and pride, like I'd taken something from those native to The Land, but knowing that I'd never use it against them.

"It's why the Elder Spackle is after us." I say, in a whisper, afraid to admit. "The Land says not to worry but… but I know she's still thinking it. Others are, too."

Todd doesn't know what to say, but he doesn't have to, cause I can hear and feel and see the love and comfort spilling between his Noise and mine. We sit there that way for a few moments more – Todd's head on my shoulder, my cheek on the top of his head, until we both hear the door slowly unlocking. Casually opening. Footsteps follow, accompanied by Hildy's voice, quiet as she whispers to Ben, who doesn't lock the door behind him. I sit up and look over the back of the sofa when they finally come in, am getting ready to ask, How are the women? How are Sophie and Sean? But they're telling us something else before I can get the words out –

Todd. Viola. Ben says, which makes Todd sit up now, alert. Mona is outside. The Elder Spackle, too. They want to speak to the both of you.

And there it is again –

Not worry –

Not shock –

Not fear –

But that message from the Land, once again –

Don't be afraid.

Author's Note: Hey guys! Finally got these chapters out for y'all, and now that it's spring break, I'll try to get out a couple more! Hope you all are doing well and staying safe wherever you are (And if you've seen the Chaos Walking movie yet, I would LOVEEEE to know what you thought of it! I haven't gone to see it yet, but I'm still SUPER excited and ready to see it whenever I get a chance!) Until the next chapter! XD