Chapter 56

The Grille was gone. Instead of a Pico Mundo afternoon, I was surrounded by trees on all sides. They were unlike any trees I had seen before, certainly not any species native to California. Their bark was dark grey with slivers of faintly glowing blue specks. Their towering trunks, reminiscent of redwoods, supported massive branches with dark green leaves, high up in the air. The sun shone through in streaks of kaleidoscopic radiance. Brilliant colors, shades both familiar and new, flashed within the beams.

I took a deep breath. My lungs swelled with the cool, sweet air. I never thought air could smell and taste so delicious. It was an undeniably outdoor scent, but far sweeter and purer.

I stood frozen, intoxicated by overloaded senses. Something whizzed past my head, piercing the dead silence. I spun around, but didn't see anything. A moment later something else buzzed near me and this time it planted itself into the tree next to me. It resembled an arrow, but organic in nature. It was short, perhaps about three inches, crimson and chestnut in color with a black tip. Shuffling noises, moving towards me, came from a short distance away. I didn't hang around to see to whom they belonged. I took off running in the opposite direction.

I weaved among the gigantic trees, through various unusual bushes and brambles. I glanced back over my shoulder, checking to see if anyone, or anything, was close on my heels. In that instant my shoe caught on a protruding root and I went down fast. I managed to throw my arms out in front of me just in time, absorbing the brunt of the impact with them and my right shoulder. My white t-shirt, pristinely clean when I got here, was now smudged with mud. The mud was brown and looked like the same brown mud we had in Pico Mundo; I guess brown mud is the same everywhere you go.

I started to push myself to my knees when something caught my eye. To my left were bushes, about two feet tall, with thick, gnarled branches. One set of branches, barely off the ground and concealed by large fern-like leaves, twisted in the shape of a handle. From this low perspective it was clear the handle was unnatural, formed by someone or some thing. I knew I didn't have much time before whatever hurled the mini arrows was upon me. Out of desperation more than anything else, I lifted up on the handle, causing the entire bush to pivot upward, revealing a small burrow underneath. Without thinking I shuffled into hole and lowered the bush over me, blocking out the light entirely.

Within seconds I heard movement above and around me. Leaves crunched and twigs snapped. I held my breath, fearing even the faintest of noises would draw attention to my hiding spot. Lifting the bush to reveal a sliver of light, I stole a glance at what pursued me.

Two creatures, about the size of golden retrievers, crawled through my field of vision. Their bodies resembled beetles, iridescent red which faded darker to inky black down their insectile legs. Curling upward from their rears was a scorpion-like tail, tipped with a bright red stinger.

I lowered the bush slowly and remained dead still in the darkness. I'm not sure how long I rested in hiding; my perception of time was disjointed in this strange place. When I was sure the beetle-scorpions had put enough distance between them and me, I tentatively raised the bush and scrambled out onto my feet. The sky had faded to a blueish-purple hue. I walked in the direction from which they came, hoping not to cross their path again.

I traveled along for what seemed like an hour, but could have been more. From behind me a voice rang out, "Odd, is that you?"

I spun around quickly and saw a young girl and boy running toward me. I recognized the girl immediately; her name was Penny Kallisto. In the first account of my adventures, I helped Penny bring justice to Harlo Landerson, the man who raped and killed her. She had appeared to me as a ghost then, unable to talk. Now, that limitation seemed not to exist.

Jumping into my arms, Penny choked out, "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done without your help."

With my arms wrapped around her, I replied, "Hey Penny. It was an honor to help you. I'm sorry for what he did to you. You didn't deserve that."

Letting me go and taking a few steps back she said, "We've been waiting for you Odd." She motioned to the boy standing next to her, "This is Jack."

I offered my hand to Jack and he shook it. "Hi Jack, nice to meet you." I turned to Penny and asked, "Waiting for me? Why?"

Penny answered, "You helped a lot of us to cross over here, now we need your help again."

"Where is here, by the way?"

"I'll let Stormy explain that to you. She's going to be so happy to see you."

"Stormy is here?! Where is she?"

"We'll bring you to her. But first we need to get you changed so you're not such an easy target for the chaerilagas."

"Chaerilagas? Is that what you call those red and black things with the big tail?"

Jack spoke for the first time, "Yeah, they are the sentries. They patrol these forests, working for the dark people. They're nasty little devils. You don't want to get shot by their darts."

Dark people? I had a million questions but I didn't want to waste any more time. I wanted to see Stormy, to hold her in my arms. "Let's get out of here," I offered.

Penny and Jack were dressed in black long-sleeved shirts and black pants. They pulled their dark brown packs off their backs and started rifling through them. Jack pulled out a black shirt and Penny pulled out some blacks pants.

Penny said, "Put these on. And rub some mud on those white shoes until we can get you some boots."

As instructed, I pulled on the shirt and changed into the pants. I sat down and grabbed a handful of dirt. Smudging it onto my shoes I asked, "How far are we from Stormy? How long will it take to get to her?"

"We aren't far," Jack answered and lifted his head toward the sky. "But, we probably won't get there before it gets dark. We need to get moving so we're not out here when the chaerilagas really start swarming. We were going to hunker down before we saw you. It's not wise to roam around at night."

"We'll be fine," Penny said. And with a smile she added, "We need to get you to Stormy. Let's go."

We started off, single file with Penny in front and Jack behind me. Stopping from time to time, Penny would pull out a bottle of water and share it with me. They walked in silence and, fearful of drawing attention to us, I remained quiet as well. As the sky turned darker the blue specks in the trees grew brighter. There was no need for flashlights; the ambient blue glow was more than adequate to light our way.