Imperfect (Disappeared #1)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A night wind picked up and rustled the leaves overhead as they stared at each other.

"It's been two months here," Ahuil said slowly. "Since you went back through."

Theodosia shook her head. "How is that possible? That's a much greater lapse than before."

He gently lifted her to her feet. "I don't know. Things have been changing here quickly, and maybe our worlds are getting out of sync. But let's not talk here. It's not safe."

They walked through the dark woods swiftly. Mist swirled heavily along the ground but the sky was bright. An enormous moon, larger than Theodosia had ever seen, filled the sky and the trees looked stark against the light, the black lines of their trunks and branches twisted and deformed. Silence filled the forest uncannily, as if even the trees were holding their breath.

Theodosia soon realized what Ahuil had meant when he said things had changed quickly. The atmosphere in the woods was drastically different, and not for the better. Menace seemed to crouch in its very being. What's more, she could glimpse the new tall buildings among the trees, pushing aside the forest.

Still, one thing kept her from regretting her decision to come back: Ahuil's hand in hers. It felt warm and reassuring and, above all, it was his. Just the realization that he was alive and not angry with her made a world of difference. She felt, perhaps foolishly, that she could resist whatever else confronted her in this disintegrating place.

"Things are so different now," Ahuil said in an undertone as they hurried under the dreadful trees. "The forest is full of half-beings now and they're not afraid to chase us, hurt us even, though they haven't killed anyone. Even stranger, they're not always shadows anymore. Some of them look like us. Like people."

Theodosia digested this for a moment. "How did you escape when I last saw you?" she whispered.

"I'm not sure, actually." He looked back at her quickly. "When you went through, there was this burst of energy and the shadows just backed off. I could almost hear them screaming. Then they just vanished."

Theodosia tried to absorb this. Somehow her leaving had saved them both. Ahuil had been right. She had to go. Now that she had come back, what would happen?

"How have you stayed safe?" she asked.

"I've had to leave my house. Move to the central settlement. For whatever reason, the shadow people don't try to get us there." He shook his head as he walked. "I'm becoming desperate, Theodosia. We have no idea how to fight off the half-beings when they <i>can</i> get at us. Everyone is terrified. We're all afraid our world is trying to exterminate us."

"And Xochi and Yoltzin? They're safe?"

"Yep. They're in the settlement too."

Theodosia went to reply but he jerked suddenly and put a finger to his lips. They crept even more quietly forward through the woods, avoiding the brightest patches of moonlight and snaking their way carefully through the withered trees and avoiding the buildings altogether.

Eventually, they came upon what had to be the settlement, for it was unlike anything Theodosia had ever imagined. A tree of truly gigantic proportions sat in the center. Its trunk was as wide as a castle turret and its many muscular branches spread almost horizontally from the source.

Scores of beds hung from these branches. Lamps hung around them and cast golden pools of light. Hammocks stuffed with cushions hung here and there too. And then there were platforms like Xochitl's that were lashed snugly to the tree.

Even she could feel that the air was clearer here and that the eeriness of the woods had subsided. A communal energy from the Nextic still acted as a barrier against the half-beings. Theodosia stared in wonder, rooted to the ground. She turned to Ahuil, and for the first time since they had been reunited, he smiled.