The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5) (15 page)

Steven closed his eyes. He couldn’t hear any sounds except
Roy rustling in the distance.
No birds or insect noises,
he thought. He
slipped into the River. Normally it would wash over him, but here the River was
unmoving, and he felt like he’d stepped into Jello.

He picked a spot in the distance – a tree at the edge of the
clearing. He watched the tree intently, and tried to let all other thoughts go
away. Everything became about the tree. What had gone on around it? What had it
seen? What was in this forest?

He stared at the tree from within the River for what seemed
like half an hour. He was about to give up, when he began to feel something
radiating from himself.
Don’t lose it,
he thought, and the radiation
immediately went away.
Roy warned me not to do that. How stupid of me.

He went back to focusing on the tree.
No matter what
happens, stay with the tree,
he thought. After a couple of minutes, the
radiation began again. This time he maintained focus. He felt the radiation
expanding, growing around him.
The tree is it, the tree is everything
,
he thought.
What has this tree seen? What secret is here?

The radiation continued to expand around him until it felt it
was no longer growing, but becoming stable. He stuck with the tree, afraid to
change his thinking, but he knew he’d achieved it – he’d constructed the trance
around himself. He’d gone deeper, on his own.

The light around the tree began to change. A dark blue washed
over everything, and Steven noticed objects in his peripheral vision.
Can I
let go of the tree now?
he wondered.
Is the trance solid enough?
He
shifted his vision from the tree to the objects. They were hanging bodies.

He could see a dozen bodies in the trees from this angle, all
suspended from ropes. He felt the urge to stand, so he did – and he began to
walk towards the tree.

He noticed white objects in the ground. He was able to move
up close to the objects, and he saw that they were bones.
Animal, or human?
he wondered. At the edge of the clearing he saw a large, white, round object.
He bent and picked it up. It was a human skull.

He stepped into the forest. Streaks of white light were
emerging from the ground in a couple of places. He walked towards one of them,
and looked into the light.
It goes down,
he thought.
Into the earth.
How far?

He turned and saw his body sitting in the camping chair in
the clearing. The blue haze was just as strong in the clearing. On the ground
was something red.
Blood?
he wondered.
Something bad happened in that
clearing. Maybe we shouldn’t camp there.

He heard a noise behind him, and he turned to look back into
the forest. At first he could only see the eyes, glowing yellow in the
distance. Whatever it was, it was slowly walking towards him, and soon the body
emerged from the blue fog. It looked like a man, but Steven knew it wasn’t. It
was smiling at him.
It looks hungry,
Steven thought. It stopped, a look
of concern appearing on its face. Its gaze dropped to Steven’s hands for a
moment, then it looked back up at him. Steven could see the revulsion in its
eyes. It turned and walked back into the fog.

Enough,
Steven thought.
That’s enough for an experiment. How do I get out
of…?

He felt himself back in his body in the chair, back in the
River.
That was easy,
he thought.

He exited the flow and stood up. He grabbed the camping chair
and walked back to Eliza.

“It worked!” Steven said, setting down the chair.

“I know,” Eliza said. “Forgive me, I was eavesdropping on
it.”

“You can do that?” Steven asked.

“I was watching from here,” she said. “I saw you form the
trance, that’s all. Unless I enter your trance, I can’t see what you see.”

“There are bodies everywhere,” Steven said. “Hanging in the
trees.”

“Yes,” Eliza said, “I did get a sense of those.”

“It isn’t always blue in a trance you initiate, normally?”
Steven asked. “Everything here was a dark blue.”

“Only here,” Eliza said.

“Roy’s right about the demons,” Steven said. “I think the
woods are full of them.”

“Did you see one?” she asked. “Was it Aka Manah?”

“I don’t think so,” Steven said. “It saw my markings and it
turned away.”

“Interesting,” Eliza said. She had started up a small propane
burner and was boiling some water for coffee. “So we’re surrounded by demons
and hanging bodies. Great. Those markings are going to come in handy while
we’re here. I’m sticking close to you! So, congratulations…was that the first
time you initiated a trance on your own?”

“Well,” Steven said, “the second. The first time was when Roy
and I were dealing with Lukas. He set it up, and I did it without even
realizing it. But I hadn’t been able to do it again, until today.”

“Well,” Eliza said, “everything happens for a reason. I’m
glad you weren’t able to trance when we were focusing at the Unser Estate. It’s
what saved you – and saved us all, really.”

Darkness was settling around them. Eliza turned on a camping
lantern, and Roy joined them. “All done?” Eliza asked Roy.

“It’s ready. Can I show you two the setup?” he asked.

“Sure,” Steven said. They walked with him over to where he’d
been working. Eliza brought the lantern.

“Here’s the ropes. I’ve tied them off on these branches,” he
said, grabbing one. “When Steven has the demon anywhere in this area,” he said,
pointing to a spot on the ground, “Eliza, you and I will each pull a rope, and
hold it in place. Let’s give it a try.”

Eliza handed the lantern to Steven, and grabbed one of the
ropes Roy had indicated. “Ready?” Roy said. “One, two, three – pull!”

Two large mirrors rose from the forest floor, facing each
other.

“Steven,” Roy said, “you can see exactly where you’ve got to
position the demon for this to work. Eliza and I can only hold these mirrors up
until you’re done with the amplification. That’s it.” He lowered his mirror,
and Eliza did the same. “I’m going to cover them with leaves. Any questions?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Eliza said. “I’m worried about
getting the demon positioned though. You’ve only got a narrow space to work
with.”

“About fifty feet square,” Roy said.

“I think,” Steven said, “I should set up right here, facing
the spot.”

“That’s a good idea,” Roy said.

“Let’s get something to eat before we start,” Eliza said.
“I’m starving, and I left a pot of coffee boiling.”

They all walked back to the tent, Steven leading the way with
the lantern. The last of the light was leaving, and it was becoming difficult
to see the edge of the clearing.

Once they reached the tent, Eliza poured them all some coffee
and Roy passed around some MREs.

“Usually I’d expect to see some insects buzzing around that
lantern,” Roy said, looking at it. “Not even mosquitoes seem interested.”

“Nothing normal wants to be near here,” Eliza said.

“From what I saw in the trance,” Steven said, “I’d rather not
be here either.”

“So you did it?” Roy asked.

“Yup,” Steven said. “It was just like you said. Can’t get
distracted or you lose it.”

“Now you know why I use the blindfold,” Roy said.

“I should try that,” Steven said.

“Did you move around?” Roy asked.

“Do you mean in the trance, or for real, physically?” Steven asked.

“Either,” Roy said, slurping hot coffee.

“I think I stayed seated physically,” Steven said. “I did
stand up and walk in the trance though. There are bodies hanging everywhere,
and bones in the ground. Some kind of red substance on the ground here in the
clearing.”

“Oh no,” Eliza said. “Are we sleeping on blood?”

“Looked like it to me,” Steven said. “But I’m no expert.”

“Sleeping on blood-soaked ground is a guarantee for extreme
nightmares,” Eliza said. “So brace yourselves.”

“I walked into the forest a little,” Steven said. “There was
a blue fog everywhere. I saw a demon. I came towards me, until it saw my
markings. Then it turned and walked away from me. I got the feeling there were
a lot more of them in there.”

“Well,” Roy said, “we only need the one. The next time you
trance, once we’re set up, focus exclusively on Aka Manah. It would be nice to
go to bed tonight having taken care of him.”

“I’ll do it however you think is best,” Steven said. “I was
thinking I’d place a chair about ten feet in front of the spot where we need
him to be, then I’d start the trance and call him.”

“And the amplification?” Roy asked. “Are you prepared to do
it?”

“The book says I only need to think about the markings while
in a trance,” Steven said, “after drinking that concoction you’ve made up. So
I’ll start with that, then go into the trance, and amplify his ass if he shows
up.”

“Once he’s between the mirrors,” Roy said. “Don’t do it until
he’s positioned. Both Eliza and I will be in the River, waiting with the ropes.
We’ll know when he’s there. If you see those mirrors go up, you zap him, OK?”

“Alright,” Steven said, finishing off the last of his meal.
“I’m ready if you are.”

“Me too,” said Eliza. “The sooner we do this, the sooner we
can leave.”

“Let’s go,” Roy said, grabbing the lantern.

◊

Steven had been sitting in the camping chair for over an
hour, trancing.

He’s becoming exhausted,
Roy thought.

Why don’t you have him take a break?
Eliza thought.

Roy dropped out of the River and walked over to Steven. Eliza
joined them.

Steven left his trance and dropped out too. “Wow, I feel like
I need to sleep,” he said.

“You were in there a long time,” Roy said. “Most trances
don’t last that long.”

“You did attract a lot of them, though,” Eliza said. “At
least a dozen by my count. All turned away.”

“There’s a dozen more watching, too,” Roy said. “They might
be waiting to see what happens.”

“Yeah,” Steven said, “but not the one we need. What now?”

“We take a break,” Roy said. “A night’s sleep will restore
you. I’d rather do this in the daylight anyway.”

“Alright,” Steven said, standing up and grabbing his chair.
The three of them slowly walked back to the tent.

“Did you sense anything at all that might suggest he’s here?”
Eliza asked Steven.

“No, nothing,” Steven answered. “You saw all the demons that
did approach. But none of them were him.”

“You were concentrating solely on him?” Roy asked. “Not
letting your mind wander?”

“As best I could,” Steven said. “I used the image from my
bedroom the other night. I could picture him perfectly. Didn’t know what else
to try.”

“That should do it,” Roy said. “We’ll try again in the
morning.”

“I’d like to suggest that we construct some protection around
the tent,” Eliza said. “And swallow some before sleeping, too. It only lasts a
few hours, so I’ll set an alarm for us to get up and drink some more throughout
the night. The blood in the ground and all those yellow eyes at the edge of the
forest are really creeping me out.”

“Thank you for helping,” Steven said. “I know this is a huge
risk.”

“When this is over,” Eliza said, “you’ve really got to spend
some time figuring out those markings. It sounds to me like they might be
different for each person. You need to know what yours do.”

“I intend to,” Steven said. “Just haven’t had the time the
past few days.”

“That’s the same excuse you’ve been using with Jason,” Roy
said. “It’s a bad excuse.”

“Jason?” Eliza asked. “Your son?”

“Yes,” Steven said, a little upset that Roy had raised the
subject in front of Eliza. “He’s been showing some interest in the gift lately.”

“He’s approached you about it?” Eliza asked.

“Yes,” Steven said. “Says he’s had dreams. Knows that I and
Roy are keeping something from him. Wants to know what it is.”

“Are you going to tell him?” Eliza asked.

“Yes,” Steven said. “I’m going to talk to him about it, as
soon as we’re finished with Aka Manah.”

“I know it’s a hard decision,” Eliza said. “My son Tony is
ten now, he might start developing an interest in it any day.”

“You’re a lot more prepared to tutor him than I am,” Steven
said. “When I start with Jason it’ll be like the blind leading the blind.”

“Not that bad!” Eliza said, laughing. “I saw you trance today.
You were perfectly fine.”

Even though he knew she was being kind, Steven marveled at
how Eliza’s confidence was infectious. He actually felt good about it.