"Did you get it?" The figure asked as his partner stepped out of the ephemeral portal, that appeared as nothing more than a distortion in the air, such as created with hot temperatures in the summer.
"Yes, I got the Heart of the Forest."
"And the unicorn?"
"It appeared, but I scared it off. It should still be somewhere in there."
"It better be. You know what problems will occur if we allow it to wander out around here."
"As long as you seal the forest properly, now that you're here, we won't need to worry about that."
"Good, Heathcliff will be pleased."
The first figure begins to summon his magic to seal the portal. "Through and through you nothing shall pass aside from those seeking to abandon the past and not find anywhere; until this seal is lifted by one with the key."
"Do you have to make it so dramatic? The second figure asked. "It doesn't need to be so complex."
"It does if I want to leave a path back in there in the event there's something we missed."
"I assure you that the Heart is all we need to open the gate."
"That may be, but we're dealing with records almost a thousand years old. There may be more we're not aware of that is required. This will allow us to reenter and not have to worry about the unicorn leaving as its forest dies around it."
"Then we better hurry. If the forest does die before we're done and there's anything we still need from there, then it will be lost permanently. If that happens, then Heathcliff won't be happy, to say the least. You know as well as I do what will happen if he's not happy with our results."
"Speak for yourself, you're the one who determined what is needed to open the gate. If there was something you missed, then you will be the one who screwed up Heathcliff's plans to reopen the gate. My only task was to seal the portal after you returned with the Heart. I did what I was assigned to do. Heathcliff will have no reason to be unhappy with me. If you missed anything that stops the gate from being opened, then you will have to answer for that."
The second figure shrugged off the comments, as he started to walk towards the road with the first following. "There was nothing else on the document I found. It made it clear that the only way to open or close any of the gates is with the Heart of the Forest from a Unicorn's forest and that is the only item that can do that without a unicorn opening or closing it themselves, and it was I who figured out that there was a unicorn's forest here in the first place."
The first figure snorted in amusement. "You didn't 'find' it. You stumbled on it without even realizing that it was there until you were in it."
"It doesn't matter how I found it. The fact is that I found it. So, we could at least get the Heart we need. Now all that's left is to find out how to use this Heart to open the gate. If nothing else, we'll just have to go to the gate and see if there's any reaction to it."
"You better hope that's all there is to it. For your sake."
Even though Charlie hadn't been told that she'd have detention, she avoided where she expected Mr. Samuels would be, given that she didn't want to get seen by him, on the off chance that he'd merely forgotten to give her detention. It didn't happen very often, but when it did, it was generally assumed, by the faculty at least, that detention had been given and the student was trying to get out of it. At least, every time Charlie knew of these circumstances that's what happened, though this was the first time she'd been in this situation. In all, Charlie felt it was best to avoid the only one of the faculty who she really knew about her nap in math class.
So, as she made her way out of the school, she took the entrance she usually didn't use. Not only was it on the opposite side of the school in regards to where she lived, it was also where most after school activities typically occurred. While she'd avoided joining any of these when the school year started, she wasn't sure if any of those groups would try to recruit her; some could be rather... insistent, in addition to how some recruiting never ended. She never really understood how these worked, just that none of them interested her and felt like a waste of her time, regardless of how it would look on her school record. It also wouldn't do to have others notice her there, especially if it was one of the teachers, given that it's well known that teachers didn't like students to plot their own way out of the building, and could get testy, to say the least, if they found a student somewhere that they didn't 'belong.' That if they didn't have any business inside the school, they needed to make their way out as quickly as possible. Besides, Charlie was sure that she'd be able to come up with an excuse, though she'd much rather just go unnoticed here. If she was assumed to be with another group, then she'd be able to get out of there quickly, but she was rarely that lucky.
"Charlie, what are you doing here?"
Charlie nearly cringed when she heard the words spoken to her. Not only was she noticed, but she knew exactly whose voice that was. Beth Howard: Mid-length wavy blonde hair, hazel eyes of the same shade as Charlie's, about an inch taller than Charlie's four feet and ten inches, and with skin so clear Charlie could only hope to have. While Beth wasn't anyone Charlie had negative encounters with, she still wasn't someone Charlie held in high regard. Besides, she was friends with Ralph and Tim.
"Heading out of the building. What's it look like?" Charlie replied, not caring if it sounded a little sharp or sarcastic.
"Why this way? Didn't your last class let out on the other side of the building?"
"I have my reasons, I don't need to share them with anyone."
Beth giggled. Charlie felt her hand clench into a fist at that before she could stop it. Beth giggling always seemed to get on her nerves, even though she couldn't really explain why.
"So, if you'll excuse me, I'll just finish leaving school," Charlie said lamely, hoping there wasn't anything else Beth might want to talk about.
"Oh, did you hear about the horse on the football field today?" Beth asked, as Charlie tried to walk by her and failed when Beth took hold of Charlie's arm.
Charlie struggled to free her arm as she answered, "I heard about it, but didn't see it. I didn't go outside during lunch and that's when someone saw it."
To Charlie's dismay Beth's grip on her arm was solid and she started walking in the direction Charlie was heading, so it became more difficult to extract her arm from Beth; not that she didn't stop trying.
"Well, you are going to meet her near the bushes by the football field, right?"
Charlie was speechless. There should be no possible way that Beth should know about that. However, Charlie knew better than to admit to it, at least to Beth, especially when they were where plenty of other people could hear. While Charlie didn't know Beth as well as Mr. Samuels, she did know enough about her to know that she was one of the top gossips in the school. She tended to know things that were happening before most and would share that knowledge, regardless of who it impacted. So, more so than with Mr. Samuels, now was the best time to play dumb.
"What are you talking about?" She asked after a moment when she found her voice, certain that Beth wasn't going to accept that response. After all, if she did know about Charlie's appointed rendezvous with the 'voice,' then she wasn't going to let Charlie out of this so easily. "And how do you know the horse is a 'her?'"
"Don't even start," Beth replied cheerfully, which actually sounded genuine to Charlie's surprise. "Ralph told me everything. He doesn't know more than you, but we know what you agreed to do. Plus, someone there said that the horse was a mare."
Charlie was about to add another protest when Beth added a statement that stopped her. "And I'm coming with you." Even if Charlie managed to convince Beth that she didn't have any idea of what Beth was talking about, there wasn't anything Charlie would be able to do to stop Beth from accompanying her to where she was going to meet the 'voice.' Plus, there wasn't any way that Charlie was going to not show up where she'd agreed to meet with the 'voice' given that she'd promised to show up, and unless there was something that occurred that was completely out of her control that would prevent her from showing up, she'd show up, even if word got around school of her hearing voices in her head.
"If you're going to accompany me regardless of what I say, then could you at least let me have my arm back?" Charlie asked. If she couldn't get rid of Beth, she could at least get it so she wasn't in actual physical contact.
"Sure," she replied, letting go of Charlie's arm. "Don't want Alex getting jealous, right?"
"What are you talking about this time?" Charlie asked, confused.
Beth looked at Charlie carefully as they neared the exit to the school. "You really don't know, do you?" She mused.
Charlie shook her head. "Never mind, I really don't need to know." Charlie only knew of three people at least called 'Alex' and all were in the school. One was the quarterback for the football team, one was known for being a 'teacher's pet' for Mr. Samuels, and the other was one of the cheerleaders who sat at the lunch table with Charlie. Maybe there were more, but it wasn't anything that Charlie cared about.
"So you say," Beth replied, with a knowing smile. Charlie wasn't a violent or confrontational person, but right at that moment she wanted to hit Beth just to wipe that smile off of her face. It wasn't a strong urge, but she certainly felt it. She ignored it, knowing that Beth likely wanted Charlie to react like that. For what reason, Charlie didn't know, but was confident that there was one.
Charlie closed her eyes as they left the building. Normally she didn't have to, but the angle of the sun as it set against the foothills of the town was right in her eyes as they opened the doors, and Charlie always found that her eyes adjusted faster to the bright light when she closed them for a short period. Charlie then let Beth move ahead before she turned to the left. Beth continued walking the direction she had for a moment before she realized Charlie wasn't with her anymore. Charlie might have tried to hide from Beth's eventual search, but there wasn't a point to it, given that there weren't any hiding places nearby that would allow Charlie to potentially give Beth the slip in the first place and that she probably really knew exactly where Charlie was heading anyway.
"Don't think you're going to get away from me that easily," Beth informed Charlie as she quickly caught up to her.
"I'd be shocked if it was that easy," Charlie admitted, not caring about Beth's offended expression.
"But, isn't the football field that way?" Beth asked, pointing to the direction she had been going.
"Yeah, but that's also the way to go where everyone would see us. This may take a little longer, but it'll also be easier to not be seen."
"How often have you come this way?" Beth asked.
Charlie glanced at Beth, half expecting her to be taking notes for a story or some such for the school newspaper. However, all Charlie could see was Beth walking next to her, not overtly taking notes at the very least. "Not that often really, just when it's the better route, rare as that is. Usually I also walk around the entire school."
"Why take this route then?"
"You heard about my nap in math class with Mr. Samuels, right?" Beth nodded. "Well, he didn't tell me I had detention, but I'm not willing to risk that being an oversight, so I thought I'd go this way just in case."
Beth laughed. "Yeah, Mr. Samuels can be unpredictable sometimes, and I can see him doing just that. Though I don't think he does it intentionally, just he doesn't always plan out what consequences to give until he has time to think about it by himself."
Charlie nodded. "Wouldn't surprise me at all. I sometimes wonder if he comes up with his lesson plan during class rather than ahead of time."
Beth laughed. "I could see him doing that too. Sometimes when he's presenting the lesson, he'll stop and have to make corrections."
"I remember at the start of the year when he did that, some of the others in the class laughed and he singled them out for about a month after that."
"He definitely doesn't like to be embarrassed."
"What do you think will happen if he did want me in detention and I don't show up today, but still show up in class tomorrow."
"There's nothing he can do. Did he give you a detention slip?" Charlie shook her head. "Was there anyone else around to verify that he did or didn't give you detention?" Charlie shook her head again. "Then you should be fine. He won't have anyone to corroborate any accusation like that and I know for a fact the principal doesn't care about 'missed detention' if there's nothing to corroborate the alleged detention requirement."
Charlie looked at Beth as they reached the corner of the school building and turned away, starting along a path often used by students after leaving the school, who didn't bother with the main road on the other side of the building. Charlie hoped no one noticed her going this way with Beth. It wasn't about her worried about rumors being spread, but rather didn't want to be considered connected in any way to Beth. Charlie also wouldn't like it if she became thought of as a gossip like Beth. While it might not affect her that much, other gossips might start talking to her during passing periods, thinking that she would be interested in the latest gossip or rumors. It would likely end the peace and quiet she enjoyed being merely another student, not anyone worth any note. At least as far as most of her fellow students were concerned.
"What's the horse like?" Beth asked as they started along the path, walking side by side.
Charlie sighed. "As I told you, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Come on, we both know you were talking with the horse."
"I never left the cafeteria during lunch, so I can't think of how I could have talked to the horse when it was on the football field," Charlie replied, happy Beth gave her that bit of wiggle room.
Beth glared at Charlie. "You know what I mean. Ralph explained that it was like you could hear each other's thoughts, so you didn't have to have gone out to the football field."
Charlie stopped walking, forcing Beth to stop as well; after she took her a couple steps before she realized Charlie had stopped and turned to face her.
"Unless you can prove that, I will deny it and nothing you do can make me admit it, especially when what you're saying sounds like something that would get me a reservation at the funny farm." Charlie didn't consider this outburst her losing her temper. She'd merely lost her patience with Beth, though admittedly she never had much for her to begin with.
"If you can communicate telepathically, then that wouldn't get you sent to the funny farm."
"And how many people at the funny farm tell others that they can do just that?"
It was clear to Charlie that Beth didn't have a response to that, so she continued walking down the path, stepping around Beth as she did so. Beth sullenly started following Charlie this time.
Charlie felt a little bad at that, but she was comforted that she at least had some peace and quiet, aside from the usual after-school sounds as well as the sounds that normally come from an afternoon in the foothills. These were the sounds she'd been looking forward to listening to through the school day. These sounds always helped her feel calm and relaxed, regardless of what had occurred through her day. What typically prevented her from enjoying those sounds usually was Beth and her friends going to Tim's house and talking all the way. Though, most of the time they weren't that close to her, but occasionally they were.
Which actually brought to mind something that Charlie had been wondering about for quite a while. As even when she'd leave school late because of detention or needing to remain to work on something in one of her classes that she couldn't do at home, Tim and his friends would almost always be going to Tim's at the same time Charlie would be heading home. She'd never been able to figure out why, and here was a perfect opportunity to ask one of Tim's friends about that. Besides, it wasn't like there was anything else to do, and it also might get Beth from looking so sullen, just because Charlie wasn't interested in the line of conversation that Beth had been on. So, against her better judgement, Charlie initiated a new phase of their conversation.
"By the way, I've been wondering why you and your friends always seem to be going to Tim's at the same time I'm going home," Charlie asked, not looking at Beth, unsure of how she'd react to her question.
"Oh, it's simple. We make sure you're not going home alone."
"You mean you guys are always following me?"
"Not like that," Beth replied, waving a hand in front of her face. "Have you ever seen the anime 'Erased?'"
As taken aback by Beth's candor as she was, Charlie didn't even have to think about that. "No."
Beth nodded, like she expected that. "I won't go into the details of what it's about, in case you get interested in watching it, but the short part of it is that if someone is seen as always by themselves, then they could become a target for people who might want to prey on them."
"So, you're saying that you think that I'd be a possible kidnapped victim or something if it's thought that I'm by myself all the time?" Charlie asked dryly.
"The problem with your statement is that it assumes that someone who might want to do something to you, like kidnap you, might be someone that everyone in the community trusts. Like in Erased, the bad guy was someone even the hero trusted and didn't suspect. Although, in the foothills, it might not even be a human that's singling you out. Could be something like a mountain lion."
Charlie digested that thought for a moment before responding, not mentioning any of the logical problems she could think of about Beth's statement, like if it was a mountain lion that attacked Charlie, what could Beth and her friends do at that point? "So, you and your friends decided to follow me around like the hero in that anime?"
Beth laughed. "No, in the anime he found ways to befriend the people that were the bad guy's target. We didn't try to make friends with you because it's well known that you don't have friends. No one knows why, it's just known that it's the case."
Charlie nodded. At least she knew that her putting everyone at arms length was working, but at the same time it made her feel a little lonely because of that. She couldn't place her finger on why, but it felt like she was getting in her own way because of that single fact. Though she couldn't figure out how exactly.
Which thought she brushed away about as soon as it came to mind. There were other things that were more immediate in concern to her at the moment.
"So, you just decided to do something completely not creepy in a rather creepy way, right?"
Beth laughed again. "I guess you could put it that way. None of us thought of that. I can't remember whose idea it was to do that, but no one objected."
"So, I take it all of your group has watched that show?"
"It's not a show, it's an anime, and no, not all of us," Beth replied, rather defensively Charlie thought.
Sor-ry, Charlie thought to herself, not sure what nerve she touched there. Charlie was about to ask more, when she noticed the football field through the trees in the distance. Charlie stepped up her pace a little and she could hear Beth doing the same in response.
–It's about time,– Charlie heard the voice say in her mind sullenly.
I got here as soon as I could, Charlie thought at the voice. I didn't forget you.
–But Ralph was able to get here faster.–
Charlie sighed. She could tell that this was likely to be as big of a headache as dealing with others had always been for her, including her family.
Ralph has different classes than I do and might have been closer for his last class than I was, she thought at the voice.
As Charlie neared where she knew the meeting place was, she saw Ralph first, the same Ralph as she expected. Ralph Ward. He had black hair, dark-brown eyes, a little heavy-set, and a tan that made it look like he either was just at the beach or took time to sunbathe, unless he used an artificial tanning solution. Then what she saw next she wasn't prepared for.
At first glance she was looking at a solid white horse with a silver mane and tail, but there was almost a phantom horn growing out of the center of the horse's forehead. The horn was also solid white, but had iridescent colors on it and the locations of those changed as the angle from the light and Charlie changed in relation to the horn. At one moment it wasn't there, but then the next it was. Charlie couldn't be sure if it was real or if she was imagining it, however, it was clear that Ralph and Beth couldn't see it. Charlie couldn't be sure if it was a horse or unicorn.
"So, is everyone here then?"
Charlie jumped as Tim Cooper walked from behind the creature, followed by Wes Masters, Hannah McKenzie, and Amelia Adams. Tim had green eyes, almost matching hair color as Charlie's honey-brown, and was around five foot five. She didn't see them from behind the animal, but still wasn't happy that she'd been so caught off guard.
"Now that you're here," Tim said before Charlie could say anything, "we can get started to where the forest is."
"What forest?" Charlie asked, again caught off guard, much to her annoyance.
"The horse's forest," Ralph replied.
"Yeah, that tells me what forest you're talking about," Charlie retorted.
–The forest is my home.– The voice said in Charlie's mind.
"Ok, fine, we'll go to the forest home," Charlie replied impatiently. Clearly if no one was going to fill her in before they moved out, there wasn't any reason for her to be patient with them either.
Tim, Hannah, Amelia, Ralph, Wes, and Beth gave Charlie a surprised look, much to her satisfaction. "How'd you know the forest was a home?" Beth asked, looking a little uneasy to Charlie.
Charlie walked over to the 'voice's' physical form and patted her neck. "She told me." The denials she made to Beth of being able to hear the horse came to mind and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at doing such a reversal on that at this point, but easily shrugged it off.
"I told them she said you could hear her," Ralph said, looking annoyingly smug to Charlie.
"Doesn't matter," Charlie said her impatience showing again, just wanting this to be over for ever increasing reasons. "Let's just go."
–This way,– the voice said, starting to move towards the road that passes by the school, but not towards the way by the school. She started moving towards where it starts going up the biggest hill in the town, clearly eager to get moving.
Charlie places her hand on the horse's shoulder, as she moves with it. How far is it? Charlie thought at the voice.
–It's not far. Though I'm not sure if there's a better route to take than this one. It's just the path I took to get here,– came the reply.
Charlie thought about that for a minute. 'Not far' wasn't really very descriptive in her opinion, given that Charlie's idea of 'not far' could be different from the voice's, especially with the 'voice' having the body of a horse. She started to consider what environment the forest would be in. Especially when they were essentially in a forest already, though of mountain trees rather than the trees that she glimpsed in the voice's mind.
"So, are you sharing secrets with the horse?" Beth asked, causing Charlie to jump, not having noticed Beth come up on her.
After a moment of trying to get her heart to calm down and catching her breath, she asked her own question, "When did you come up on me?"
"I came up as we started to leave, but that's not an answer to my question." Charlie tried to ignore her, but Beth merely confiscated Charlie's arm. "I'm not letting you go until you give me an answer."
"You better answer her, Charlie," Wes called out from the other side of the horse. "She's like a dog with a bone. She won't let it go until she's done with it." Wes had grey eyes, light brown hair, and was the tallest of the group, at around five foot seven, and all indications that he was still growing.
Charlie wished she could just disappear right now, both visually and physically. She'd never much cared for being around others, let alone groups like this, and she didn't know how to handle it either. Maybe if she was more confrontational she would attack the others and get away, but at the same time, she'd given her word to the voice that she'd help, and unlike many she'd known and seen around, she actually cared about keeping her word. She just had to endure this until they helped the voice out and she could just let this whole thing blow over and get back to how her life had been before today.
"Well?" Beth prodded, her hands clasping Charlie's hand, while still maintaining control of her arm.
Charlie sighed. "I'm not sharing secrets with the voice. I'm thinking about how far the forest might be. The voice said that-"
"Petals," Ralph interrupted.
"What?" Charlie asked, confused.
"Her name is Petals."
"Is that her name or just what you decided to call her?"
"That's the name Petals chose while she waited for us to be done with school."
Charlie shook her head, wanting to be done with this more than ever now. "Anyway, Petals told me that it's not far, but that doesn't mean we'd think the same."
"Like the word soon!" Amelia cried, laughing. "If I tell you I'll be over soon, you might think I mean five minutes, but I might have in mind something like fifteen." Amelia was a slight girl, she always seemed to have a 'skin and bones' look, despite how much even Charlie had seen her eat on occasion, she had dirty blond hair, she stood at 5 foot seven, and her eyes were the blue-grey of a darkening sky before a rainstorm.
Charlie thought about it a moment before replying. "Yeah, I guess something like that. I just want to be done with this."
"I know what you mean," Ralph commented. "It's tough being forced out of your home. After all, that's where you're supposed to feel safe, but when someone makes you feel unsafe to be in your home, that's not a fun place to be."
Charlie was stunned, despite herself. The way Ralph talked, it sounded like he'd had more experience with that subject than she would have thought. Not that it made her feel more comfortable around these other people. It brought to mind that the same could possibly happen to her, which wasn't a very pleasant thought. Though, aside from that, she also had meant being done with dealing with others with the problem of helping Petals. If it was just her and Petals, then she would have been fine with it. She didn't mind animals so much as she did people. Which brought to mind a different problem.
"Could I get my arm back now?" Charlie asked Beth.
"Don't worry, Alex won't find out anything from any of us," Beth replied, wrapping her other arm around Charlie's arm and hugging it tightly.