“Well when I said that, I didn’t mean to do it for all eternity. So you can stop now. It’s embarrassing.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I know.”
I groan. “I’m serious. I don’t want you super in-tune with my emotions or whatever.”
He shrugs. “It’s not like you can tell if I’m doing it or not, so just pretend that I’m not.”
“How am I supposed to pretend now that I know you most definitely are doing it?”
“Okay. I stopped. There.”
I can’t see his face but it sounds like he said it with a smile. “You’re lying. You’re still doing it, aren’t you?”
“Nope. Definitely not lying, and definitely not still doing it.”
I sigh. “Whatever. Do what you want.”
“I will.”
The trees are getting smaller and closer together, and the ground is getting softer with moss and fallen leaves instead of bare dirt. The air is refreshingly cool in the shade of the canopy.
I walk faster so that we’re walking side by side. “Don’t you want to know who did it—you know, how the investigation thing turned out?”
“I figured you didn’t want to talk about it since you didn’t mention any details besides it being over.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. I just thought you’d ask me about what you wanted to know.”
“Well, just tell me everything.”
“But what specifically do you want to know? I don’t want to bore you.”
“I won’t get bored. Besides, we have a long way to go. Just tell me everything.”
And so I did. I told him all the details of everything that happened with the investigation as we continued walking through the forest. And after that, after we found the Red Tree and left the pocket universe, I told him about Ron and our adventures on the road before I made it to the camp.
Chapter 26
Ron and Giselle’s eyes are glued to the window. Carl holds his brother in his arms for a while, and then finally, he lays him back down on the mattress and covers him with the sheet, like normal. Then he goes to the open laptop on the table and unplugs the HDMI cord, letting it fall to the floor.
He slumps into the folding chair and stares at the laptop’s screen for a moment. Then, he wipes the tears from his face with the back of his hand, puts on the headphones, and starts typing.
“Wait a minute,” Ron whispers, pushing Giselle so they’re both away from the window. “The laptop still has power. He’s using it.”
Giselle’s brows furrow. “Then what happened to Noah?”
“I don’t know.”
The both peek in the window again. Carl is still typing, fingers flying over the keyboard.
“He’s definitely still using it,” Giselle says, when they lean away from the window again. “Maybe Noah isn’t dead.”
Ron shakes her head. “Then why would he cry like that? The cord did go into Noah’s head, so maybe there was an infection.”
“It’s possible.” Giselle stands up. “But anyway, looks like they don’t need our help, so let’s just go.”
Ron nods, getting up. They walk around the side of the house slowly and then pick up the generator and propane canister and head back to the store.
“Why do you think Carl did that to his brother in the first place?” Giselle says as she rolls the generator behind her.
“I think he’s doing experiments on him to develop a new technology or something. On that laptop, I saw Noah talking to a boy, saying ‘help me.’ And in Iris’s dream, that’s what Noah said too—help me. I’m pretty sure Noah is gifted. Maybe the screen shows what’s, like, in Noah’s mind.”
“That’s not possible. Technology isn’t that advanced.”
Ron shrugs. “Maybe Carl found a way to do it.”
They reach the store, so Giselle opens it. They return the generator and the propane. Giselle locks the store.
“Are you guys not going to keep the store open today?” Ron asks.
Giselle sighs. “I guess not. Iris doesn’t seem to be in the mood.”
“But can’t you do it?” Ron asks as they walk up the exterior stairs.
“It’s Iris’s store.”
“But you have keys to it and you go out to buy products, too. I’d say it’s both of yours, wouldn’t you?”
“No, it’s Iris’s. She’s very stubborn about running the store herself. Something about her father.”
They open the door and enter the living room. Iris is nowhere to be seen.
Ron spots their laptop still on the table by the couch. She points at it. “Do you mind if I use your laptop again?”
“Go for it.”
Giselle walks down the hall and closes a door softly.
Ron sits at the couch and pulls the laptop on her lap, opening it. Ron left it charging overnight, so it has a full battery. She unplugs the power cord. The power is still out so it isn’t charging anymore.
The first thing she does is check her email.
So her suspicion was correct. Noah is gifted and it has something to do with dreams. But Chrys said he can make things that happen in dreams happen in real life too. In that case, why didn’t the monster in Iris’s dream come to life? She’d have to ask Chrys about the logistics of it when she comes later. If she comes.
God, Ron hopes she comes.
And then, Giselle’s brother. He’s in the camp, like Giselle suspected, but Ron figures it’s best not to tell Giselle she knows. If Iris and Giselle find out her friend is gifted and in the camp, they’d have no reason to trust her anymore.
But it’s strange to think how close the brother and sister have been all these years—one in the camp in the forest and one in the small town nearby. They’ve probably both known where the other was this whole time, so why is he trying to contact her now?
Maybe he knows his sister still holds a grudge for the scars he gave her. Maybe he’s hoping Giselle has forgiven him by now.
The gift of
