Hell's Hollow (17 page)

I sat by MK. “Don’t be afraid,” I said.

Her eyes rolled around as if it was hard for her to keep them still.

I backed up against the tree so I could draw on its strength. I let The Hollow spill into me, used it to reinforce my shield. And then I took MK’s hands.

Chapter Seventeen

Please,
I prayed,
don’t let me hurt her.
An image of the chipmunk racing around The Hollow popped into my mind, and then its little face just before it died.
Don’t think about that! I didn’t kill Zach.
Taking deep breaths, I cleared my mind.

Slowly, cautiously, I let down part of my shield so that I could feel around inside of MK. She twitched. Her thinking felt heavy and slow. A layer of fear and anxiety lay below that. I let myself go deeper. Random images of d
isasters shot through my brain — a four-car pile-up, a twin-engine plane crash, a drowning child. My breathing quickened. It was uncomfortable inside MK’s head. Pulling the healing force of The Hollow with me, I went deeper into a place of darkness, a place that felt like a dungeon — cold and scary and lonely. Thoughts skittered around with no purpose or connection. Heaviness weighed on my heart. I opened myself to The Hollow, let it rush through me, striking at the darkness with its golden light. It felt as though the dark places were being consumed.

And then in a still darkened corner of MK
’s mind, I saw an image of her — tiny and weak and locked in a little cave that was barred with bones. An image of me ran to her. The MK in the cage looked young, about my age. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, rocking, tears trickling down her face.

“Mary Kate,”
I said to her.
“It’s time to come home.”
And then I directed The Hollow into her cave. The energy raced at the bars, smashing them into a million pieces, each one reflecting the light of the healing energy like a mirror. Little MK stood up, stunned. The Hollow coursed into her. It was too much. She was too fragile. Like the chipmunk. I pulled back, calling The Hollow away from her.

The ground rumbled beneath us. I wasn’t sure if it was real or not.

“Sera?” Luke’s voice yanked me back to reality.

MK’s hands were twitching wildly in my own. I tried to slam the energy out of her body, out of my own, back into the ground. But it filled me up, wouldn’t be pushed back. I wrapped my shield tightly around myself to separate The Hollow from MK. The world seemed to erupt into light and then there was nothing.

Prickly sequoia needles scratched my face, my body felt cold and worn. I heard dogs barking, birds scattering. Something was squashing my arm. A voice said, “I can’t get any of the equipment to work. The dial on the BP cuff is spinning out of control and the O2 sat monitor isn’t working either. Her pulse feels normal, though.”

Mom was yelling at someone in a hushed tone. “I trusted you. How could you let me down like this? I told you her behavior was concerning me, that she was trying things that were dangerous. How could you let this happen?”

The puzzle pieces clicked into place. I was in The Hollow. She was yelling at Luke. Why were there dogs? Where was MK? Who else was there?

I opened my eyes without moving my body. Two EMTs sat beside me, checking my pulse. Policemen searched the woods. Luke looked shamed. Mom kept trying to use her cell phone, which of course didn’t work in The Hollow.

My head pounded. I felt like I might puke. I closed my eyes, let The Hollow slip back inside me, calm my aches, and soothe my stomach. With my shield partly lowered, I searched for MK’s dark tug. I didn’t sense her anywhere nearby. Where could she have gone? What could have happened? Unless she was
… No, she couldn’t be dead. If she was dead they wouldn’t be searching the woods for her.

I sat up. “Luke?” I needed water.

Mom handed me a bottled water from the bakery, as if somehow she’d known I would need it.

Luke kneeled down beside me. “MK’s okay,” he whispered. “At least I think she is.”

“What happened?” I asked.

He looked to Mom, whose lips tightened. Her shoul
ders shrugged ever so slightly — permission for him to tell me.

The EMTs stood up to talk to Mom. “She seems fine. Everything looks normal except that rash. We can take her in for observation if you want.”

I turned my attention to Luke. “At first it seemed like not much was happening,” he said. “Then her twitching got worse. That’s when the ground felt all weird and rumbly and I called your name. Then, just as you were passing out, she got up and made this weird sound — kinda between a squeal and a scream. She didn’t even seem to notice us. Next thing I knew, she was tearing off her clothes and running into the woods. And then, um, Mom got home a little earlier than expected.”

Oh God.
‘Running into the woods’ — just like the chipmunk racing around. That Johnny Rocket guy said she was at risk of a heart attack. What if she’s out there somewhere needing help? What if …
“Find her,” I said. “Fast.”

Mom and Luke looked at each other. My lips trembling too much to speak, I pointed at the little grave. Mom gasped. Luke covered his face with his hand.

My mind kept picturing an MK-sized grave.
Please don’t let her be dead.
The image in my mind switched to MK looking just like the chipmunk before it died — like it was surprised, like I’d tricked it.

The dogs barked wildly.

“We’ve got her!” one of the policemen yelled.

“Thank God,” another one said. “Let’s get the hell out of this place. It gives me the creeps.”

I took a minute to say a prayer of thanks of my own, so relieved that she wasn’t dead.

MK came through the woods completely naked. A policeman threw a rough gray blanket around her shoulders. Her face seemed lit up. She was still grinning like a madman. Freeing herself from her police escort, she ran to me, swept me up in her arms and spun me around. “I’m free!” she screamed. “How can I ever thank you?” She hugged Mom and Luke. “I’m free!” she kept yelling.

Something like elation bubbled up inside me.

“All right, MK,” Mom said. “It’s been an exciting afternoon.”

“Look,” MK said, “no more twitching.” She held out her arms. “And my thoughts! I can think! All the scary pictures are gone — gone! The … the… the crazy… it’s…” She put her fists together than opened her hands out like an explosion. “Gone!”

Mom tightened the blanket around MK’s nakedness. “Let’s get back over to Meadowland. Ma is probably worried sick about you.”

“Meadowland?” MK looked to Luke and me. “You can’t let her take me back to Meadowland! I’m fine! I’m free! I’m sane.”

“I’m sure it feels wonderful to be out and about. And maybe you don’t need to go back to stay. But we should at least have the doctors take a look.”

She shook her head, backing away. “You can’t make me,” she said. “Can she make me?” she asked the police officer.

I recognized him. Robby Linden, a high school friend of Mom’s. “I think your sister is just concerned for your health and safety. There’s no harm in getting checked out by the doctors, is there?”

“Any doctor you want,” MK said. “Just not at Meadowland.”

An image of MK being handcuffed and forced into a police car came into my mind. Mom crying. MK screaming. That guy Gran called Dr. Death was strapping MK into some kind of electroshock machine.
“It’s where you belong,”
Mom was saying in a heinous evil voice.

“She does not!” I yelled out loud. “She doesn’t belong there anymore. Let Dr. Gates come check her out at home.” I clawed at Mom’s arms. “Please! Don’t send her back!”

Mom wrapped her arms around me. It probably looked like a hug to those standing around, but it felt like restraint. “Please,” I murmured.

“Okay,” Mom said. “We’ll call Dr. Gates. But if she says MK needs to go back to Meadowland, that is the final word.”

I nodded, sobbing like a little kid. My head felt heavy. I needed sleep.

“There’s the matter of them kidnapping her from the facility,” Robby Linden said, looking at his little notepad like he didn’t know what to write. “And can one of you kids please explain what exactly happened here that caused one to faint and the other to go streaking?”

“I hardly think taking their aunt on an outing can be called kidnapping. It’s a family matter,” Mom said. “They were only trying to give her a little break from the routine. We’ll take care of it from here.”

“Seems to me if a woman is running naked around the forest she ought to be back where she came from,” Robby said.

“Oh, Robby, so sensible,” Mom said. “You’re right. We’ll let the doctor check her out and decide what to do from there.”

Robby scratched his head. “I guess that’s okay, unless Meadowland decides to press charges.”

Mom’s eyebrows scrunched up the way they do when she’s tired of telling me to put my laundry away. “You’ve been a great help. Thank you for getting here so quickly.” Then she put her arm around MK and led her to the path toward our house.

Luke scooped up MK’s clothes and took my hand. I noticed how the policemen all seemed to be avoiding the actual Hollow, as if they and The Hollow were magnet ends that couldn’t stand to get close. While they stood around talking and taking notes, the four of us went home.

Halfway up the hill I ran out of steam. I felt like I couldn’t take another step. “Let me just rest here a minute,” I said, knowing that it would take a lot longer than a minute for me to find the energy to get up the hill.

Luke squatted down and offered me a piggyback ride. He carried me the rest of the way home, past the police cars and ambulance in the driveway, straight to the couch in the living room where he plopped me down.

Mom got my heart quilt and covered me up with it, then set a couple of bars of dark chocolate on the table. She handed MK a towel. “How would you like to take a long, hot soak in the old claw foot tub?”

“A bath?” MK asked, her voice lilting like she’d just been offered a brand new car.

Mom nodded. “If you feel up to it.”

MK rushed to my side, kissed my cheek, and ran off to the bathroom. Mom called Dr. Gates. Luke sat by my side, staring at his hands.

“Don’t date that girl with the red hair,” I said, as I faded toward sleep.

“How do you know about Melissa?” he asked.

“She’s a fake. She’ll hurt you in the end.” Sleep tried to take me.

Mom came back from getting the bath started for MK and said, “Until Dr. Gates clarifies MK’s status, no one needs to know about this, not even the other boys.”

I tried to stay awake, but my heavy lids wouldn’t open.

“Seraphina, are you all right?” Mom asked.

“Just resting my eyes,” I said.

“I mean … your thinking, does it feel clear?”

Truthfully, it did feel a little jumbled. Had I just said something about someone named Melissa? It was probably fatigue. “Mm hmm,” I mumbled, hoping she’d let it go when she realized how close I was to sleep. As my mind loosened and sleep crept over me, I imagined Zach down in The Hollow waiting for me. His messy hair hung in his eyes, eyes that looked at me as if he really liked me, more than like even, and excitement stormed my body. But then the image shifted and Zach began to melt like a candle left too close to the fire, like a hallucination brought out into daylight.

The sun had warmed my room by the time I woke up. I was in my own bed, though I didn’t know how I’d gotten there. I was still wearing my clothes from the day before. I changed into clean shorts and a T-shirt and went out to see what had happened.

Mary Kate sat on the couch looking through old photo albums. “There she is,” she said, “the girl of the hour!”

“You’re okay?” I asked her.

She held out her hand and I went to sit beside her. “Better than okay, better than great, better than maybe ever.”

I wondered if that was true for Zach, if he was doing better, if we’d made a dent in his scars at all. I wondered why he hadn’t been coming down to The Hollow. If my passing out too soon meant that he hadn’t been healed, we could try again. I’d held out longer with MK, long enough to heal her. I could do it for Zach, too. The dream image of his melting face popped into my head and sent a shiver up my arms.

Mom came out of the kitchen, set down a tray with a pot of tea and a plate of maple scones. My stomach growled. “How are you feeling?” she asked me.

“Okay,” I said. Truthfully, I felt kind of worn, but I didn’t want her to worry. “Did Dr. Gates come?”

MK squeezed my hand. “She convinced your mom to give it a go for a day or two at home. She’s going to come by and check on us again.”

I couldn’t believe it. It had actually worked.

“Where’s Luke? And is Gran okay?”

“Luke went home last night. He promised to visit later. And Gran is fine. She’s happy for MK… and for you,” Mom said.

“How about you?” I asked. “Are you okay?” I was sort of surprised she wasn’t flipping out that I disobeyed and that Luke and I broke MK out of Meadowland.