Into the Forest Shadows (8 page)

Grandma gestured to the coat hooks next to
the door. "Please take off your cape. It is warm in here."

A chance to take off the annoying cape? Her
hand hesitated on the ties. For a reason she couldn't define it
felt wrong. She pulled it tighter around her neck. "No, thank you,
I'm still a little chilled."

Grandma gave her a bright smile that tipped
to one side, "I'm so glad you are safely here. Could you help me
with a little something?"

Kate set the basket on the kitchen table. How
wonderful it felt not to be carrying the weight of it. "Sure."

"Back here. I have a problem with the, uh,
well, it isn't working right."

Kate followed Grandma down the hallway. Come
to think of it, Grandma wasn't even walking right. Grandma had a
very precise way of moving, almost gliding across a room, a grace
Kate had tried to imitate in the past to no avail. Tonight she was
almost loping.

Grandma turned and motioned Kate into a room.
Grandma's main laboratory and it looked like it had been
ransacked.

Grandma put a hand on her back and pushed her
inside. She pointed to the computer on the desk, "There, that one.
I can't get it started."

"Did you have a problem in your office?"

"Trying to find something. Nothing is
organized. I need to fix that." Grandma cleared her voice and
pointed towards the computer on the desk. "Please take a look. I
just need to get inside."

Grandma retreated to the door. Kate surveyed
the mess in the room. This definitely didn't feel right. Grandma
was always organized.

Kate sat down at the chair. The keyboard sat
askew from a monitor displaying a simple desktop with a few icons.
She opened the main files.

Only the minimum files and applications of a
clean install appeared. The large storage system showed the same.
Blank places where Kate could recall massive data files. A quick
scan of the drives showed nothing left.

"How are you doing dear?" Grandma asked with
her rough voice.

Kate took a deep breath and turned towards
the door. Grandma hovered there, almost guarding it. "I'm trying to
get into the files. This may take a bit. You have a better computer
than we do at home. Could I have a drink of water, please?"

"In a moment. See what you can find first,"
Grandma said calmly. But the eyes were hard. Grandma's eyes never
looked like that.

So, she was going to be watched.

Kate shifted in her seat, bringing her phone
out of a pocket.

No signal again. That didn't make sense.
Grandma's house had a communication relay that she used to keep in
close contact with the city. Several Gatherer camps forwarded their
communications through it. She slipped it back into her pocket.

She opened the operating system files,
searching out the main programs she knew Grandma used. One of the
data logs she forced open with a text editor.

A new window appeared in the middle of the
screen.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Shadows. Go back to
your allies and inform them you failed. All the information you
seek has been destroyed. And, Travis, dear, if you are reading
this, a bit of advice: Stay away from my daughter and
grand-daughter. Or several planetary authorities might learn about
activities you would prefer no one know about."

Kate quickly closed the window and backed out
of all the files.

"What is wrong?" the fake Grandma asked.

And Kate knew she was fake. Her real Grandma
could have moved in and out of the system in her sleep. The voice,
the way of talking, the way she guarded the door.

"A glitch," Kate said quickly. "I'm running a
utility to see if a storage drive failed."

She started a utility she knew wouldn't help
anything, but it displayed a large colorful moving graph that would
fool the person behind.

"Wonderful, dear."

Her real Grandma erased everything, on
purpose. Where was Grandma now? Who was the imposter behind her? Or
creature? And what did Grandma mean by "Shadows"? The questions
made her shiver.

The program dinged as it reached one of the
levels.

Somehow she had to get out of this house and
before Ayden returned with Bunbun.

But how to get out of the room and alone long
enough to make her escape?

Kate stood up, pushing a key to make the
computer emit a noise. "There, that will take a few minutes."

"Success?" Grandma asked.

"I won't know until this is done," Kate moved
forward with sure steps, hoping her face didn't betray her
nervousness. "Bathroom time. I'll be right back."

The fake Grandma backed up, glancing down the
hallway, "Ah yes. The bathing room."

"Maybe you could make some tea while we wait?
We can drink while we wait on the computer," Kate said, making it
to the safety of the main hall bathroom.

Kate closed and locked the door behind her
quickly without waiting for an answer. She flipped on the light and
turned on the fan. Only then did she give a sigh of relief.

Part one finished. Now to get out of the
house.

She tried her phone one last time. Nope, no
signal. She put it away.

She turned on the water at the faucet and
moved to the window at the back of the sprawling bathroom. She
pushed aside the bright-colored curtains and stood on an upended
garbage pail.

With the windowsill digging into her stomach,
she pulled, pushed and wriggled her way through. She kicked out
with a leg, tipping over the other side.

Kate caught herself with her palms in the
dirt. One leg came free. She braced herself and kicked free her
other foot. She rolled through the flower bed.

Now to get away from the house. Kate crouched
down and started running past the darkened windows, glad hardly any
lights illuminated the outside. She went around the back side of
the tree, staying away from the front where the fake Grandma might
be lurking.

Once around the house she straightened and
broke out into a full run out into the main orchard. She tripped on
a root, caught herself, and kept running. Her eyes scoured the
orchard for Ayden.

No sign of any bunts. Did Grandma have one of
the Trailing Willows in her orchard? She didn't recall seeing any,
but then she'd had no reason to look for them. Now the trees around
her took on a whole new meaning.

No sign of Ayden anywhere. Kate continued
deeper into the orchard.

"Bunbun, stop playing," she heard Ayden
say.

She turned towards his voice, tripping over
one of Grandma's many sensor units.

"Kate, is that you?" Ayden called out.

"Keep your voice down," Kate hissed. She
stumbled again and found her footing only after digging a hand into
the dirt.

"I should have known. Only you are so noisy
going through the woods," Ayden said. She found him kneeling next
to the roots of a tree. "Why are you out here?"

Kate leaned up against the tree. "Something
horrible has happen."

A little squeak from the roots and Ayden's
hand shot out. "Got you! Now, no more playing, Bunbun. Good grief,
he's absolutely shaking"

Kate studied the clearing. No shadows so far.
"He's probably sensing what I just encountered. Tell me, what
forest creature can change shapes?"

Ayden stood up, cradling Bunbun, "What do you
mean?"

"The person in the house right now is not
Grandma. It may look like her, but it doesn't sound like her or act
like her. Grandma purposely erased all her files and left a message
to the "Shadows" that they failed. Oh, and did I mention that the
house communications are out? I had to sneak out of the house."

Ayden looked towards the house and then back
at her. "Now it's my time for the accusations. You're saying this
to get me worked up, aren't you."

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kate shivered, "I wish I could say I am, but
I'm not."

"Wait, the bird," Ayden said slowly.

"You saw that big thing, too?" Kate
asked.

Ayden stuffed Bunbun down into his coat and
buttoned it up tight to his neck, "Yeah. It could have been
carrying a human."

"Oh great, my Grandmother was carried off by
a giant bird? Do you mean she just became dinner?" She stopped,
realizing she'd raised her voice. The thoughts and images running
through her head struck fear to the very core of her heart.

A soft beep from behind made Kate whirl
around. Ayden grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.

A white body glided into view. Kate squinted
her eyes, the shape of it familiar.

"Wait," Kate pulled at Ayden's hand, "Isn't
that Grandma's housebot?"

"That is correct, Ms. Kate," the little robot
said.

Ayden relaxed, and Kate stepped out from
behind him. "What are you doing out here? You aren't designed to be
outside."

"That is correct, Ms. Kate," the housebot
said. "I am here at the request of Ms. Olivia to await your
potential arrival. Your voice print has been verified. Message
commencing."

"Hello Kate," her grandma's voice said from
the housebot. "I'd hoped you wouldn't have to hear this message,
but the Shadow Creatures are growing bolder by the moment. I
believe you saw one this morning. It was not your imagination. The
Watcher is not the only intelligent creature of the forest."

The volume dropped so low that Kate had to
kneel in front of the robot. "I don't have much time to explain,
but basically you've just become the new helper. It's up to you to
get the information to those who can do something about the current
situation before it spirals more out of control than it is. Be
wary. Use your instincts. Be very careful of who you trust and
when. You currently have a series of blocked memories. The housebot
will help release them. Kate, this is very important. I'm counting
on you to do this."

"Blocked memories?" Kate echoed. She looked
up at Ayden.

Ayden shrugged, "I know what the Shadow
Creatures are, but not any of the rest."

Kate turned back to the housebot. And into a
face full of spray.

It smelled horrible, setting her into a
series of violent sneezes. She sat back, waving her hand in front
of her face, trying to get the stuff out of her face.

"What did you do that for?" Kate
demanded.

Grandma's voice continued, "Remember the
"Flight of..."

A wave of dizziness swept over her. Kate sat
down hard, propping herself up with her arms locked, trying not to
fall over.

From somewhere up above she heard Ayden say,
"Not again!"

She felt his arms go around her as darkness
rose up to greet her.

She opened her eyes to find herself sitting
in Grandma's living room. Bright daylight streamed through the
windows. The smell of fresh baking bread wafted in from the
kitchen. Grandma wore a shirt with bright flowers.

She remembered this day and yet she didn't.
She found Grandma studying her intently.

"Feeling okay, dear?" Grandma asked.

Kate nodded, "I guess. The tea tasted
strange."

Grandma looked down at the cup in her hand.
"Sorry. I'm still working on the flavoring."

Strange tasting tea, but not like she
remembered drinking earlier that day. Earlier? She found her days
mixed up.

The scene continued, Kate stuck in a mixed-up
limbo between active participation and an observer, "I said I would
help. This is to help me remember later, right?"

"Later, and only if something happened to me
and you need to warn the Watcher."

Kate frowned. "I've never even talked to the
creature. I think Uncle Travis has, though."

Grandma smiled. "It's just as well you don't
get along with your Uncle Travis. I haven't quite figured it out,
but I believe he's involved."

"Involved with who?" Kate asked, her head not
thinking right. In fact she felt a little bit dizzy. "You asked for
my help, but so far this isn't making any sense."

"Involved with the Shadow Creatures. You
might have seen them once in a while, lurking in the shadows. They
don't like direct daylight, which is where they get their name, and
some of them are far too intelligent for their own good. For your
future self to understand, the spray you just encountered is the
final trigger to become a Watcher's helper."

Grandma rubbed a bunt's furry head to her
forehead with her eyes closed. She reached out to put it to Kate's
forehead. Kate flinched away, but Grandma grabbed her on the upper
arm and held her still. "A bunt won't hurt you."

The touch of the humming bunt on her forehead
set her entire brain tingling.

"This is now passed to you. With the
activation of these memories you now take my place as a Helper,"
Grandma said. "As a helper, the Watcher will listen to you as well
as many others of the forest. Find him. A bunt will help you
transfer the information in a way the Watcher will understand. Now
I will tell you a part of what I've learned."

The bunt settled on her lap. Kate looked down
at it with new eyes. For a creature smaller than a house-cat, it
packed a mental wallop. It chittered at her and hopped down to the
floor, running with its tail straight up to hide under one of the
chairs.

"I'm living longer than I should," Grandma
said. Kate's eyes flew to her, "It's been noticed. I've had a
breakthrough in boosting human immune systems and I anticipate
other breakthroughs. The Shadow Creatures have noticed, and are
very unhappy about humans living longer than they already do. To
them we are the ultimate interloper.

"I'm now a threat, and the Shadow Creatures
have only one way of dealing with threats, and that is to destroy
them. If it were only the Shadow Creatures I wouldn't be so
worried. But there are rumors of newcomers to the forest, allying
with the Shadow Creatures."

With her mind clearing, Kate thought of
something Grandma said earlier, "Is Uncle Travis a part of
this?"