Secrets in the Dark (24 page)

Doug nodded, “Yeah, that’s
the place.”

Faith bit her lip and
shoved her hands into her pockets. “Check the map. Where are the
Rejects?”

Brady pulled the map out of
his pocket. It was already showing signs of wear — the edges were
getting tattered and there was a new tear where it had been folded
one time too many. On it, the red dots were hesitating near the
place where this road left the mountain road.

“
You don’t think they’ll
follow, do you?” Faith asked.

“
No, they’re staying on
the Mountain Road,” Brady told her. We watched as the dots began to
move past this road.

“
No Rejects to bother us
today. Yoo hoo!” Olivia told Faith, and they exchanged a high five.
I glanced around and saw everyone smiling or laughing as we started
moving again.

Too bad all our time in
Chimera couldn’t be like this. We didn’t have to rush. We didn’t
have the Rejects chasing us or things howling at us. We weren’t
lost.

I’m having a good
time!

Chapter 28

Don’t Go There!

The road continued to twist
and turn over hills that were growing in size. Sometimes we could
see the road crossing in front of us in the distance. It would be a
much shorter walk if we could cut straight across, but no one
suggested it.

It felt like we’d been
walking a long time. Finally, I said, “I wish there was something
interesting to see on this road. At least the mountain road has
strange rocks and signs and poison apple trees to look at.” I
finished talking as we climbed to the top of the tallest hill so
far.

I stopped, staring where
the road should have been at the bottom. There was no sign of it —
all I could see below was a thin yellow mist. It wasn’t a nice
color, like lemon or sunflower. Instead, it was a filth
yellow-brown.

“
Well,
that’s
certainly interesting.”
Olivia said, sliding her eyes over to look at me.

Note to self — Next time
define “interesting”.

“
Do you think we’ll be
able to see where the road goes once we’re inside that?” I
asked.

“
I don’t see any way
around it.” Olivia looked worried as
she
scanned both sides of where the road should be.

“
It doesn’t look like this
stuff goes very far past the road on the left. See?” Doug pointed
where I could see just a tiny strip of road showing. “We could just
walk around it.”

“
No way!” I crossed my
arms over my chest and glared at him. “You know Ronny told us not
to leave the road. Don’t you remember the ‘you can get lost
forever’ part?”

“
We’ll only be a couple
steps away. How could we get lost?”

Brady cleared his throat.
“We need to get closer and inspect it. It may be easy to get
through. Or it may be easy to stay on the edge of the road. We need
more data to decide.”

When we neared the bottom
of the hill, I got a whiff of something rotten. As we got closer,
my steps slowed. The smell was much worse here — a
mind-numbing-puke-inducing reek. Just like the fabled Bog of
Eternal Stench. That made a hysterical giggle burst from my
lips.

If I touch it, will I
smell bad forever?

I came to a halt a few feet
away, breathing through my mouth. I was afraid I’d lose my
breakfast if I inhaled through my nose. I couldn’t stand the
thought of walking into that stuff — maximum grossitude!

The fog moved like
something alive. It covered most of the road, and the area on the
right was completely hidden from view. But to the left, the woods
were mostly clear. Mostly. When thin tendrils of the mist weren’t
hiding the view as they advanced then ebbed.

A small ripple within the
fog caused it to swirl closer, and a thin wisp brushed up against
my arm. It was deathly cold. It stuck a moment, stinging, like the
time my finger got stuck to a metal ice tray in our freezer. Even
worse, it left a disgusting greasy smear on my skin. I jumped back,
but not before I’d gasped at the feel of it.

Big mistake.

I thought it smelled bad
before. But when I sucked some in, my throat felt greasy. The stink
of something rotten almost knocked me down. Like last summer, after
a week of record heat, when I waited too long to take out the
trash.

I’d only wrestled the
overstuffed garbage bag halfway across the yard when I dropped it
on my feet. It burst open, spilling slimy table scraps dripping
with spoiled milk and disgusting goo onto my shoes.

I’d never forget that
nauseating smell — rancid meat, sour milk, putrefying fruit — not
if I lived to be a hundred. I’d thought I’d never smell something
that gross ever again.

But this was
worse.

I smelled my arm
frantically, and then sighed in relief. It still smelled normal. I
yelled, “Don’t touch it. It’s grossiferous. We do not want to go in
there!” The others stopped, watching as
the dirty yellow mess writhed and pulsed across the
road.

Faith stepped next to me
and shuddered. “It feels…bad here.”

Bad? What a wimpy
word!

As if something heard
Faith, there was a sudden skittering sound, a scuttling from inside
the fog. The mist began to swirl in dizzying eddies, full of pale
shadows and murky shimmers of light.

It almost looked as though
there were…faces…in there. Faces peering at us, and then slowly
disappearing from view.

No, not bad. Creepulsive.
Creeporrific! No way am I going in there!

I wasn’t the only one who
felt that way. Olivia sounded alarmed, “We have to go in
there
?”

I was relieved when all
four of our familiars raced in front of us, blocking the way. Rusty
began barking at Doug in obvious warning.

“
Guess not,” Doug told
her. He backed up and asked Brady, “Where are the
Rejects?”

Brady’s eyes tracked back
and forth, looking for the four small red dots. Then his mouth fell
open. He looked at Doug, raising his hands defensively. “They must
have doubled back. They’re coming right toward us.”

“
Can we go back to the
first road?”

“
No, the Rejects are
behind us. Besides, that road goes back to the tree, remember? We
don’t want to do that.”

Doug sounded like his teeth
were clenched together. “So what do you suggest? We can’t make it
to the second road without going through that!” He thrust his
finger at the seething vapor.

Olivia snapped, “Stop
yelling, Doug. The Rejects’ll hear you.”

He turned on her, a sneer
twisting his lips, but his voice was controlled. “Want to go
through the woods again?”

“
Are you nuts?” I asked.
“We’re not leaving the road! Although if
you
want to get lost in there, be my
guest.”

“
That’s cold,” Doug said,
and had the nerve to smirk at me. My teeth ground together as I
tried to think of a good come back. I don’t know what I would have
answered, but Brady interrupted.

“
Look, it’s too late to go
back, we’d run into the Rejects. We have to go ahead!” Brady
pointed to the left where the edge of the road could still
occasionally be seen as
the fog surged
then receded. He pointed to the map. “It doesn’t look like this
stuff covers much of the road, probably a few feet.”

“
How can you tell?” Doug
raised his eyebrows, both of them, and gave Brady a
make-me-believe-it look.

“
The map is totally blank
where the
fog
is.
See?” Brady pointed at the map.

Olivia frowned in
confusion. “How can fog hide what’s on the map?”

I said, “Maybe it’s
magic.” And I was suddenly sure I was right. It
was
magic — evil magic.

Faith said, “I don’t
remember it looking like that.”

Brady pushed his glasses up
on his nose. “Part of the map, on the right, was always blank. But
I know the road showed last time.”

“
I
really
don’t want to go in there,” I
said, feeling sick.

Brady had been staring
intently down the left side of the road. “We can make it, we just
need to keep our toes on the road. We’ll be able to do that! It’ll
be no problem.” He watched a long strand of mist drift across into
the woods on our left. “Uh…most of the time.”

“
If we face it we can see
if it comes toward us, and can keep away from it.” Doug sounded
excited at the idea.

“
Keep away from it? What
if we have to step back?” I gulped. “We’d be off the road.” This
was a
very
bad
idea.

“
We’ll form a chain. That
way if someone loses sight of the road, the others can pull them
back.”

We stood there a moment,
looking at each other, but no one had a better suggestion. The
Rejects were behind us, coming our way. There was nowhere else to
go.

Doug grabbed my hand and I
reached for Faith. Olivia came next with Brady at the end. I
tightened my grip, and worried I was holding too tight, but neither
complained.

Doug turned sideways,
inching down the edge of the road. It was bordered by strange
grass, growing in straggly tufts. Some had long blades, like green
steak knives. I found out the hard way the pointed tips were
razor-sharp and stung when they stabbed you.

As I watched, one of them
reached out and stabbed Doug’s ankle. Deliberately. He yelled, but
didn’t stop. Since we had to shuffle along sideways, we had no way
to avoid them. After I saw one stab me, I refused to look
anymore.

I followed closely after
Doug, trying to keep my toes on the edge of the road without taking
my eyes off the shifting, swirling fog. No way was it going to
touch me again! It was harder than it looked — to keep up with Doug
while watching the road, my feet, and the fog at the same time. I
ground my teeth together as I felt another long sharp blade dig
into my leg.

Doug had already taken half
a dozen steps when he had to jump off the road to avoid a thick
finger of mist. It was weird — I could see him, but the moment both
his feet left the road, he began twisting his head side to side
with a nervous expression on his face. His gaze went past me twice
before I realized he couldn’t see us.

I called to him, but it was
obvious he couldn’t hear me. I could see his lips move, but the
sound was so muffled I had no idea what he was saying.

I squeezed his hand and saw
his face relax. He took a small step back, but his next step had
him heading directly toward the bit of fog retreating back to the
road. I tugged his hand urgently and he changed course. I squeezed
his hand twice, hoping he’d take it as encouragement.

The fog finished
retreating, so I could see when his toes touched the road. His
voice sounded hoarse when he said, “Freaky! I couldn’t see the
road. I couldn’t see you either.”

Before I could answer, a
new surge of the murky vapor made me take a hasty step backwards.
Instantly the road, the stinky mist, and all of my friends
disappeared. All I could see were woods. That was bad, but it made
it look like something had cut my hands off at the wrist. That made
me feel a bit sick. I could have cried with relief when I realized
I could still feel Doug and Faith holding my hands.

Please don’t let me have a
stupid expression on my face. They can see me standing
here!

No wonder people got lost
off the road. You could be standing right next to it and never
know. Unless you accidentally stepped on it.

I felt Faith tugging on my
right hand, while Doug pushed on my left. I moved toward Faith, and
when my toe touched the edge of the road, I could suddenly see it.
I could also see the churning fog only an inch from my nose. I held
my breath, ready to step back again, but it retreated.

“
Thanks guys!”

Doug didn’t waste time. He
started along the edge of the road and I followed quickly. The
sooner we got away from here the better!

Doug and I had both
reached the edge of the fog. I would have fallen to my knees and
kissed the ground, but I still had hold of Faith’s hand. She had
almost reached me when Olivia was forced to step off the road. I
could tell she was
yelling something, but
had no idea what. Faith and Brady had to wait until the fog began a
slow retreat. Then they hauled Olivia back to the road.

Olivia looked pale and was
breathing too fast, but that could have been because she’d been
yelling. She didn’t say anything, just started moving as fast as
possible, careful to keep her feet touching the road.

Then it was Brady’s
turn.

It looked as if he’d make
it with no trouble until the last two feet. Then, as if something
realized we were getting away, the mist didn’t just drift across
the road, it surged straight at him. It moved so fast he didn’t
have a chance. It wrapped around his face, then it started to drag
him across the road! He struggled convulsively, fighting it. He
finally jerked back from it, barely keeping his feet on the
road.