such an electric connection with me as Chance did.
Luckily, the next day at school, Chance was
conspicuously absent from class. His presence did me good
– I was able to concentrate better, take better notes, and even
last a full half a minute against Alice before she inevitably
pinned me down. Misty was just as friendly to me as she had
ever been – that is to say, she acted as if I didn't exist, a
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quality I apparently shared with the rest of the school. But
there was nothing personal in Misty's snubs, it seemed – or
at least nothing that suggested she had any jealous feelings
about me and Chance. I was simply one of her classmates,
and hence I lived outside the dreamworld she had evidently
built up in her head.
That afternoon, Varun headed for swim team
practice, and I decided to give the hiking another try. I had
told Varun about getting lost – leaving out everything that
had happened after I killed the wild boar – and he
encouraged me to try walking again, drawing me a more
detailed map of the area. “I totally understand that you don't
want to go on the tourist routes,” he said. “But don't go
getting lost.” He smiled. “You'll be able to collect plenty of
stones if that's what you’re after.”
So I decided to follow Varun's trail. As time had
passed, the encounter I had with the Veteri seemed more and
more surreal – had it even happened at all, or had I imagined
it? Or was I really never in any danger – had Chance been
playing up the threat in order to make himself look like he
was saving me? After all, it made little sense – even if Veteri
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still lived in the mountains, why would they care whether or
not a random hiker came across them? Chance was probably
just trying to make himself look like the big hero. At this
point, I wouldn't have put it past him.
Thus armed with my bravado, I set off in search of
the stones. Yet no sooner had I made my way into the forest
than I felt that same calling again – a force striking me so
deeply that it took my breath away. The stones are this way,
Mac. You need to find them.
They are yours.
Oh, no, I told myself. I wasn't falling for that again.
If my mind was playing tricks on me – which for all intents
and purposes it seemed to be doing – I wasn't going to let it
win. I was going to be in control.
Mackenzy, your stones...
The calling was clearer this time – so clear that it
sounded as if someone had spoken the words out loud. I
looked up, but nobody was there; the leaves and vines
remained unrustled.
Fine, I thought. I'd veer just a little bit off the trail
Varun had drawn out for me – but I'd mark my way back. I
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reached into my backpack, taking out my gym towel and a
pair of nail scissors. I snipped a small piece off the towel and
threw it to the ground – then another, and another, leaving
the purple pieces of fabric on the ground to mark my trail. If
I was going to go into the woods, I'd sure as heck be sure that
I had a way to get out again. I felt a twinge of
environmentalist guilt, but determined that I'd be sure to pick
up every piece on the way out again.
I followed the source of the voice, hearing its call
again – whether it was in my head or not I did not know.
Mackenzy, your stones...
At last I found myself at the mouth of a cave, well-
hidden beneath a curtain of vines. The feeling of beckoning
grew even stronger, and I ducked as I entered the cavern. I
gasped in surprise as my eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Smeared across the cave were simple paint drawings –
drawings of a group of stick-figures sitting around a hearth,
of a bonfire, of the Sun. I turned on my flashlight to see more
and continued walking along the walls of the cage, making
out three separate frescoes of flame.
My flashlight flickered and immediately died out. I
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silently cursed my battery life as I looked around. Suddenly,
a light seemed to glint on the floor in the distance. Had
someone else left a flashlight here? I staggered towards the
light, keeping myself steady on the rock walls, only to trip
and fall over a loose rock, muddying my knees in the
process.
“Get it together, Mac,” I mumbled. But as I shook off
the dust, I noticed that the source of the light was at my feet.
A large orange stone – perhaps the size of a fist – stood
before me. I picked it up, feeling its perfect round
smoothness in my hand.
Yet as I touched the
