Journey of a Girl

Secrets We Keep: Chapter Nine

Crying did Credence a world of good.

She was still clinging to a bitter resentment towards herself, so she focused on finding something to break.

My tree, she decided.

All those creatures were still imprisoned. She would release every last one, and the Collector couldn't stop her. She would show him exactly what she thought of his gift.

"John," she called to the woods, "come to me now."

She wasn't sure if John had the same keen sense of hearing as the Collector, or the power to be at her side when she desired his presence.

"John?"

After a moment of silence came the sound of footsteps. John stepped from behind the trees.

"You called, my lady?"

"Don't call me that," Credence snapped but her anger quickly deflated. "Will you show me where my tree is? Please."

He shot her an odd look at the word 'please' but didn't remark on it.

"Of course. Follow me."

Credence remained silent, and John likewise offered no conversation. They were still in the woods when John stopped, but there was no discernible landmark to suggest they'd arrived anywhere special.

"It's through there," he said and pointed ahead. "I will wait here."

"You're not coming with me?"

"I've been given strict instructions not to go near it." He gave a short bow before adding, "I will call you to dinner soon."

"What if I choose not to answer?"

"I will have to fetch you from the tree, of course. That will displease my master. I ask that you refrain from making it come to that."

Credence answered with a short nod, neither confirming nor denying her promise to appear when called, and moved into further the trees.

"Keep walking forward," she heard John say behind her. "You'll find it shortly."

The air grew thick and humid. The leaves on the trees became hued with strange colors, pink and black, and blue glowing mushrooms dotted the landscape. Branches stretched until they blotted out the dusk sky and there was no light left that didn't come from the fungi.

The path was familiar. She had walked it before, she had to remind herself. How many years had passed since she first followed this trail with Josiah by her side?

A light appeared in the distance, becoming brighter with each step closer, and when Credence spotted the tips of white branches she knew she had found it at last.

The Collector's Tree.

It was just as breathtaking as she remembered, but there was a feeling of foreboding around it. An air of wrong, but deeper than that, a thread of sorrow and remorse. It made sense, as the tree was a prison, and all the life around it was miserable.

Something crunched underfoot.

She looked down to find shards of glass and splintered wood. Remnants of broken cages. Exactly as she had left it.

And suspended from the branches were thousands of captives, those she had failed to save, still tormented in their confinement.

Would they be angry or grateful for her return?

The first prisoner she approached, a feathered snake coiled inside a bottle, hissed at her and shied away, trying to put distance between them.

"Don't be frightened," Credence whispered. "I'm going to save you."