The Pure: Book Three of the Oz Chronicles (18 page)

“How have you been enjoying your GP
pass?”

“Fine,” I say.

“Making friends?”

“A few.”

“I hear you’ve been seen with Archie
Maynard.”

I am tentative, “Yeah.”

“What do you know about Archie?” He
seems to still be focusing on his notebook. He has mastered the ability to
multitask. I almost feel like I am interrupting him.

“He can’t wear glasses,” I say expecting
to be reprimanded. He chuckles instead. “No he can’t. Do you know what happened
to his face?”

I shook my head. “Never came up.”

“He breathed in a rare mold that
infected his sinuses. The doctors removed his nose and eyes to save his life.
His family abandoned him because of his deformity. His own son would scream at
the sight of him.”

“I thought his family... died,” I say.

“He told you that?”

I shrug. “More or less.”

“They are alive. His son is grown now.
He calls periodically to check on him, but he’s never visited. He’s still
traumatized by his father’s appearance.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask.

“Because I’m concerned about your
recovery. Surrounding yourself with the wrong people isn’t healthy,” he says
finally setting his notebook aside. “Archie is perfectly nice, but he’s not...
the most rational person. He makes up stories to help himself cope with his
condition. The world has rejected him. His loved ones want nothing to do with
him. He’s created a fantasy world to give himself a reason to live.”

“You brought me here to tell me not to
hang out with crazy people in a crazy house?”

He closes his eyes and calms himself
before he speaks. “You know I don’t like that word.” Eyes open now. “And no that’s
not why I brought you here. You have a visitor.”

My heart almost explodes. “A visitor...
is it...?”

“Millie B. Story. She is quite
persistent. I’m sorry I didn’t confer with you first. I suppose that’s what I’m
doing with you now. She showed up on the premises today unannounced. My first
inclination was to send her away, but then I thought better of it.” He scoots
his chair closer to me. “I’ve decided that you should make the determination
whether or not you want to see her. You’ve shown great strides over the past
weeks. You may be ready for this.”

“I-I-I...” I can feel sweat forming on
my upper lip. I reach up to wipe it off and I notice my hand is trembling. I
swallow and breathe in deeply. “How do we do this?” I ask. “Is there a
visitor’s room...” I laugh. “I don’t even know if this place has a visitor’s
room. It seems like I should know something like that.”

Dr. Graham gently pats my leg. “You’ve
never had visitors before. It’s all right. We can do this in my office.”

“Here? Now?”

He responds to my shocked expression.
“You don’t have to do this at all, Oz.”

I nod. “No, I should... I should... I
definitely should.”

He presses a button on his pen and
Chester enters the room. “Bring Miss Story in please,” the doc says.

As Chester leaves to do as directed, I
feel a certain amount of disappointment. The pen is more than a pen. And what
happened to the bell?

Time passes slowly as I await Chester to
return with my visitor. I have no idea how I will react. Is she... could she
be...

The door opens again. I clasp my hands
together and place them on my lap. I don’t know what to do. I want to stand and
greet her with a friendly smile, but I am afraid I will stumble to my feet and
give her an off-putting sense of apprehension. So I sit.

I hear her shoes beat against the floor
as she approaches. Dr. Graham stands and extends a hand. I stare at his hand
waiting for hers to zoom in across my field of vision. Perhaps I will recognize
it, and I will feel immediately at ease.

The hand appears and grips Dr. Graham’s
firmly. It is a strong hand covered by smooth ageless skin. The nails are long,
but not too long, strong and healthy. The wrist is the only other exposed
flesh. She is wearing a light, dignified coat.

“Miss Story,” Dr. Graham says. “Have a
seat.” He points to a chair that Chester has placed next to his.

I still can’t bring myself to look at
her face. She settles into the chair and I turn away.

“Thank you for doing this,” she says.

“Don’t thank me,” Dr. Graham says. “This
was Oz’s decision.”

I can feel her smile. “Thank you, Oz.”

I finally work up the courage to look
her in the face. I am amazed. I have no reaction. I do not recognize her. I
would recognize Lou. This is not her. It can’t be. She is a beautiful woman.
The same features and build as I imagine Lou would have if she were the age of
the woman sitting in front of me, but yet, instinct tells me this is not Lou.

“Do you remember me?” she asks.

I shake my head.

“I’m afraid you have us both at a
disadvantage, Miss Story,” Dr. Graham says. “There is no record of a Millie B.
Story in Oz’s file.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” she says.
She hesitates. “What is your life like outside of this building, Dr. Graham?”

“Pardon me?”

“What is your family like?”

He tilts his head. “Family? I’m not sure
what that has to do with Oz...”

She locks me in a stare. “It has
everything to do with him.”

“My family is... I have a lovely wife
and... two daughters.” The doc strains as he describes his family.

“A lovely wife?” Millie B. Story says.
To me, “Don’t you think that’s an odd way to put it?”

I nod. “Yes, very odd.”

“And you seem to have a hard time
recalling them.” She says to the doctor.

“I just find this a bit unusual,” he
answers.

“What’s your favorite color, Dr.
Graham?”

“Color?”

“Your favorite food? Your middle name?
Do you have any pets? C’mon, these aren’t hard questions.”

“I... I...” He is panicked and his face
is flush.

“Doc,” Chester says. “You okay?”

He looks at the giant orderly. “I don’t
know.”

She turns to Chester. “What about you?
If I asked you the same questions, would you have any answers?”

“Don’t drag me into this,” Chester says.
“I hate animals, and I ain’t never been married.”

She shrugs. “Your middle name?”

He has the same pained look as Dr.
Graham.

“How about your last name?”

He strokes his chin with the palm of his
brawny hand.

She turns to me. “They don’t know, Oz.
Don’t you find that the least bit strange?”

I marvel at the terrified faces of Dr.
Graham and Chester. “What’s going on?”

“They have no answers because there are
no answers. This isn’t real, Oz.”

“Stop,” Dr. Graham says.

“Not real?” I say.

“Not real. They don’t know it. They
think it’s real. But it’s just a story, created for you so the Délons can find
the Source. You’re the key, Oz.”

“This is ridiculous,” Dr. Graham shouts.

“We don’t have much time,” she says.
“The Storytellers are adapting the story as we speak.”

“I thought the Storytellers were on my
side.”

“They are, but the ones being held by
the Délons are being forced to write this story. You’re a prisoner being
manipulated so you can lead them to the Source. You have to break out of this
story.”

“They wrote you in to help me?” I ask.

“Yes, but we don’t have much time. As
soon as the Délons discover what the Storytellers have done, I’ll be erased
from the story. Do you understand?”

I nod. “I think I do.”

“It doesn’t matter. Get back to the
cave. You have to be there when Archie gets there.”

I lean back and in a blink she
disappears from the chair. She reappears in a second blink.

“They’ve found me,” she says. “We’re out
of time.” “Wait,” I bark. “Are you Lou?”

She smiles. “Remember my name.”

Dr. Graham suddenly speaks. “My favorite
color is blue.”

There is a flash of bright light. I am
sitting in Dr. Graham’s office watching him write in his notepad. Millie B.
Story is no longer there. The chair she was sitting in is gone. Chester is
gone.

“Why do you want to know if butterflies
sleep?” Dr. Graham asks.

I squirm in my seat. They have erased
her.

***

I do not wait for Bones to escort me to
the janitors closet for Scoop-face’s next session. I am in the closet hours
before Scoop-face is even due to arrive in the doctor’s office. Bones probably
fell to pieces when he didn’t find me in my room. Perhaps he felt “I went
without him” again.

I sit on the closet floor going over the
puzzle that is Millie B. Story. I arrange the letters in every possible
combination and the name still eludes me. Each time I hit a dead end, I grow
more discouraged. I try closing my eyes and forcing myself to remember. A
pattern flashes in my brain. A group of three letters: MIL. Another group of
letters comes to me: STO. I write it down on the notebook. MIL STO. I say it
out loud. “Mil Sto.”

“Ready to get my hypnosis on, Doc,” I
hear Scoop-face’s voice travel through the vent.

Dr. Graham’s muffled voice answers back,
“There is more to your treatment than regression therapy.”

“Right,” Scoop-face says, “and we can
get to that next week. Today... today we get me back to Lou and the gang.
Things are just about to heat up, and they need me.”

“This is what I didn’t want to happen,”
Dr. Graham responds with a heavy sigh. “This is not helping you to progress.”

“Well, duh, Doc. That’s because we
haven’t seen it through to the end.”

I can picture Dr. Graham’s face as he
mulls over Scoop-face’s logic. “This is the last session.”

“I’m cool with that,” Scoop-face says. I
can hear the relief in his voice as he walks to the couch.

“The gorillas had formed a highly
organized ban. In fact it wasn’t just gorillas in their group. It included
every kind of primate you can think of, chimps, baboons, orangutans, macaques,
you name it. They lived in a well-defined order. The smaller monkeys were on
the bottom rung. They served the bigger apes, scavenged for food, assigned to
grooming duties. The macaques were next up. They kept the smaller monkeys in
line. The baboons were the guards. They formed a primate fence around the
perimeter of the encampment. They sounded the alarm when any unexpected
visitors approached (such as us). The orangutans and chimps shared the next
place in the chain of command. For lack of a better description, they were the
diplomats and strategists, and they policed the others to make sure everyone
(or everyape) was keeping to their assigned duties.

“A female
chimp
by the name of Kavi was called. The mandrill signed to her, all the while
huffing and seemingly battling his inclination to call for an all out attack on
us by the other baboons.

“Kavi signed back and apparently
reprimanded the mandrill for what must have been his suggestion for a hostile
resolution to what to do with the new visitors. The chimp knuckle walked to
Ajax and sat in front of him. She signed something.

“‘What’s going on?’ I asked Lou.

“‘She asked Ajax his name.’

“Ajax signed back and the chimp bowed
her head. “‘Is that good?’ I asked.

“Wes smiled. ‘Very good. Ajax is kind of
a rock star among apes. Everyone knows him.’

“‘Nice,’ I said. I turned to April and
Little Bobby and gave them the thumbs up. I heard the rustling of the trees
beside me seconds before I was knocked to the ground. A large mandrill sat on
my chest and peered down at me. It’s mouth in a toothy grimace.

“‘Archie!’ Little Bobby screamed.

“Ajax roared forth and knocked the
mandrill off of me. The two apes momentarily squared off before the smaller
baboon thought better of it. It backed away and eventually bowed its head.

“Wes helped me up. ‘What did you do?’

“‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘I just gave April
and Bobby the thumbs up so they wouldn’t be scared.’

“‘Yeah, well I think it backfired on
you. We all just about pissed ourselves,’ Wes said. ‘I suggest you not do that
again.’

“‘Way ahead of you, pal.’

“Kavi guided us through the winding
pathway to a clearing filled with hundreds of apes. We were at about 2,200 feet
elevation. It made for chilly temperatures and the apes were all huddled
together to give each other warmth. There was the remnants of an old cabin on
the outskirts of the clearing. A picnic table or two was tucked away throughout
the area positioned under towering hemlock trees.

“A large silverback approached. The
gorilla was bigger than Ajax by at least fifty pounds. It surveyed our group
with a stern, almost angry expression. Kavi signed to him. The silverback’s
eyes widened, and it too bowed its enormous head to Ajax. The other apes all
gathered around in a semi-circle and hooted and screeched. It was a celebration
like I had never seen before. It was as if they had been waiting for Ajax.

“The big silverback’s name was Ariabod.
He was the leader, and he ruled with an iron fist. I witnessed him charge other
apes who didn’t give us adequate space, and even tackle a particularly curious
orangutan to the ground. The orange, spindly-armed ape screamed bloody murder
and hobbled off after Ariabod let him up.

“Ajax and Ariabod sat among a small
group of chimps and blackback gorillas. They carried on a remarkable
conversation using American Sign language, punctuated by the occasional grunt
or screech. The humans weren’t allowed to participate in the conversation. Lou
sat on a picnic table with Kimball lying at her feet. I joined her.

“‘I don’t get it,’ I said. ‘How do they
all know how to do that? Sign language, I mean.’

“Lou kept her eyes on the chatty group
of apes. ‘Don’t know. Not much use in trying to make sense of anything that
goes on in this world. If you ask Ajax, he’ll tell ya’ they always knew how to
do it. They just didn’t have any use for it until now.’

“‘You know what they’re talking about?’

“She narrowed her eyes and crinkled her
nose. ‘I can pick up a word every now and then. Ajax is trying to find out
where the cave is. Kavi said she knows of a cave. Ariabod is begging Ajax for
his help.’

“‘What kind of help?’

“‘I can’t figure it out. Something’s
coming.’

“I cringed at the thought. ‘Something
like what?’

“‘Don’t know. Whatever it is has the big
silverback pretty nervous.’ She leaned toward the group even though it served
no real purpose. It wouldn’t help her ‘hear’ the sign language any better.

“‘What about the Keeper? Any word on
that?’

“She nodded. ‘Ariabod knows where to
find the Keeper. He’s trying to make a deal. He’ll take us to the cave and the
Keeper if we’ll help him with whatever is coming.’

“‘Of course,’ I said sarcastically. ‘It
can’t just be easy.’ I sat on the picnic table next to her. ‘So this
something... this means we’re in for a fight, right?’

“‘It usually does,’ She said.

“Wes joined us. ‘What do you reckon has
got that Ariabod all shook up?’

“‘Maybe it’s Bashir or Délons or
Silencers,’ I said. ‘Pick your poison.’

‘Nah,’ Wes replied. ‘These monkeys can
hold their own with the likes of them. They don’t need us for that.’

“‘Then Dacs maybe,’ I said.

“Wes and I talked and paid little
attention to Lou. She stood and drifted closer to the group of apes without us
noticing. We talked about the coming fight and the possible make-up of our as
of yet unknown enemy.

“‘Humans,’ Lou said so softly we barely
heard her.

“Wes and I were surprised she was no
longer sitting at the table.

“‘You say something, sweetie?’ Wes
asked.

“‘Humans,’ she said still staring at the
apes as they signed. ‘It’s humans.’

“‘Humans,’ Wes said. ‘Like us?’

“She turned back to Wes and me. ‘Not
like us.’

“‘Carl,’ I said.

***

“I left Wes and Lou once we had
confirmed that it was Carl and his soldiers headed our way. A pair of spider
monkeys had spotted them about a day behind us. They had been following us
almost from the beginning. I tried to tell myself it was a bad thing, but the
truth was I was glad. I owed Carl for what happened to Tank, and I was going to
enjoy making him pay.

“As I plotted my revenge, Bobby snuck up
behind me. ‘You going to hurt Mr. Carl?’

“I jumped at the sound of his voice. I
placed my hand on my chest to feel my thumping heart. ‘I hope so, Bobby.’

“‘It’s not right, you know.’

“‘What’s not right?’

“‘Hurting somebody. My momma said God
wants us to love each other. Even our enemies.’

“‘No offense, Bobby, but things have
changed. There’s a whole new set of rules we gotta live by, and new rule number
one is I get to hurt Mr. Carl for what he did to Tank.’

“‘I don’t think that’s right, I mean
about the new rules and all. It’s the same rules...’

“‘Bobby!’ I shouted. ‘Go away.”

“He shook his head. ‘I can’t. I gotta
tell you about what’s in you.’

“I shivered at the statement. I imagined
a sundry of different creatures crawling underneath my flesh. ‘Wha... What do
you mean?’

“‘In the book, I was supposed to tell
you after we had the noodles, only we never had the noodles cause Tyrone
smashed them on a count he got that note from that lady. So, I forgot, but I
figure if I tell you maybe the story will be back the way it’s supposed to be.’

“‘What’s in me, Bobby?’

“He motioned for me to lean in closer so
I did. ‘Magic,’ he whispered.

“‘Magic?’ I said. ‘You mean I have magical
powers, like a wizard or warlock or something?’

“Bobby smiled. ‘That would be really
cool,’ he said excitedly. ‘Do you know any magic tricks?’

“I shook my head in frustration. ‘Whoa,
wait, step back. You just said that there is magic in me. What kind of magic?’

“Bobby rolled his eyes back as if he
were literally searching his brain for the answer. ‘I don’t know. I think I
used to know, but the story changed and I don’t remember some things too good.
All I know is the magic will go away if you hurt Mr. Carl.’

“‘What good is magic if I can’t use it
to hurt the one guy who deserves it?’

“Little Bobby shrugged. ‘I didn’t know
magic was supposed to hurt people. I seen a guy saw a lady in half before, but
he put her back together so that’s okay.’

“‘Gee, thanks,’ I said. ‘This has been
real helpful. You got any other useless crap to tell me. Maybe you want to tell
my I’m part elf and Easter bunny, too.’

“Completely missing my sarcasm, Bobby
shook his head. ‘Nope, I never heard that before. Just the magic thing. It’s
supposed to help you.’

“‘Oh, yeah, you’ve been a huge help,
Bobby.’

“Again, my sarcasm went over his head.
‘Thanks,’ he said walking away. I watched him in disbelief. I couldn’t wait to
hand him over to his Keeper. He passed Lou as she approached.

“‘He’s right, you know,’ she said

“‘Right about what? He didn’t say
anything.’

“She stood in front of me with her hands
in her back pockets. She kicked at the ground as she talked. She looked her age
again. “‘Yes he did,’ she said. ‘You just didn’t listen.’

“‘Telling me that there is magic in me
doesn’t do me a bit of good. Telling me I can shoot death rays out of my eyes,
or bench press 10,000 pounds, now that’s helpful.’

“‘You were chosen to be a creyshaw for a
reason. There’s something in you that makes you worthy.’

“I waved her off. ‘Please, I drew the
short straw that’s all. If I have anything in me, it’s a vein of bad luck a 100
miles wide. I’m magically unlucky.’

“She shook her head. ‘You’re wrong. I
can see a lot of the same qualities in you that I saw in Oz.’ She paused after
his name came out of her mouth. It pained her to hear the words. She Shook off
the urge to cry and breathed in deeply. ‘Whatever. It doesn’t really matter
what you think. It will all work out.’

“Kavi slowly loomed in from the brush
behind Lou. The chimp positioned itself between us and scratched her hairy
shoulder while she deliberately avoided eye contact with us.

“‘She want something?’ I asked.

“‘She’s here to take you to your
Keeper,’ Lou said.

“‘Keeper? What now?’

“‘It’s your first priority.’

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
‘Oh, no, no, no. I’m not going anywhere. We made a deal with Ariabod.’

“‘And we are going to keep that deal.
You aren’t. Kavi knows where to find your Keeper. You’ll take Bobby to him.’

“‘Maybe you didn’t hear me. I said no.’

“She stepped forward, a steely look in
her eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I didn’t mean to give you the impression that
you had a choice.’

“‘Don’t play tough with me, Lou...’

“‘I’m not playing,’ she said. ‘You don’t
seem to understand the gravity of the situation we’re in. You think the world
ended and our only mission is to survive. Well, you’re dead wrong. Our mission
is to do more than survive. Our mission is to make up for all the things that
got us here. Your first step in doing that is getting Little Bobby to his
Keeper.’

“I grit my teeth. A vision of Tank
shuttered in my head. He was tied to the post. The lung locusts flew in and
covered him from head to toe. He choked and struggled to breath. ‘He killed
Tank,’ I said.

“‘And he’ll pay,’ she said. ‘I’ll make
sure of it. I promise.’ Kavi signed. She repeated the same gestures several
times while Lou studied them.