Broken (Disappeared #2)

Chapter Two

Theodosia picked her way through skinny white birches, her carpetbag in hand. She had only a vague idea of where she was going. She had tried to remember landmarks on previous trips to and from the baobab tree that contained the portal, just in case she had to make the journey on her own.

She sighed as she picked her way through a tangle of roots. Her ability to ensnare herself in impossible situations was really reaching new heights. At least she had practice in navigating forests. Yet the English forest was home. The Nextic one was almost totally unknown to her. She could only hope and pray that some innate sense of direction would guide her back to the baobab.

The forest had changed as soon as she left the settlement. The sunshine was gone, replaced by a sky full of oppressive mist that threatened to drown everything in gray haze. The trees didn't visibly breathe anymore. No birds fluttered in the treetops, no squirrels scampered along the ground. The absence of sound alarmed her more than anything else.

Except maybe the towering buildings. There was even less forest than she remembered. Instead of an odd building here and there, a full city was forming that was forcing the woods to grow around it. The constructions were unlike anything she had seen before. Uniform in appearance with rows of tiny windows, some had what looked like balconies. Others appeared to have sets of stairs climbing up the side.

The buildings left her feeling unsettled but at least there weren't any half-beings, the half-visible creatures of the emerging civilization that sometimes resembled animals, sometimes people. Theodosia crept forward cautiously nonetheless. They had a way of appearing suddenly.

It was possible that they couldn't harm her. The mist didn't sicken her the way it did the Nextic. Nor had anything happened to her the night she had slept unprotected in the woods. She had to believe that she was protected. There was no other option.

The forest became denser and the buildings receded. She stumbled over a root and regained her balance, clutching her carpetbag close as she caught her breath. When she looked up, a thicker bank of mist lay in front of her. She approached it, curious. In its depths was a sculpture: a serpent made from mounded earth and covered in moss. It was one of Xochitl's creations.

The mist was so dense that it looked like it was trying to swallow it up. Theodosia kicked at the cloud angrily. It dispersed for a moment and part of the serpent came into view. But the mist quickly resettled.

A wave of sadness hit her. For Xochitl, who had painstakingly made the sculpture and whom she would probably never see again. She hadn't said goodbye — it would have been too painful. And for this disappearing world that wasn't hers but which she loved anyway. Theodosia had always longed for a simpler life that was in harmony with nature. Ahuil lived exactly in that way. She wanted nothing more than to join him. That wasn't meant to be but it still cut her deeply to see his magical home swept away without reason or explanation.

She forced herself on. It wasn't the time to start feeling things. Let one emotion in and the rest would crash down the gate. She clutched her bag tighter, hoping that each step would strengthen her resolution and crush any residual pain.

She focused on counting her footsteps. When that didn't work she tried to pretend as though she were home in Helenshire, going for a stroll in the woods. Before she had met Ahuil. Before she knew what it was like to have her heart broken.

It was impossible to maintain that fiction — she could not ignore where she was. Shadows from the ghostly buildings shrouded the forest. Then the trees ended and she had to backtrack to avoid parts of road or lampposts. Fear bloomed deep in her gut as the shadows lengthened and the air grew colder. She didn't want to sleep alone and unprotected in the forest. She was also starting to seriously doubt whether she was going the right way. Theodosia began to walk more quickly, her heart beating to the pace of her increasingly frantic thoughts.

Memories of her youngest sister, Louisa, back in England squeezed in with her fears and worries. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to kiss her carroty head. The thought of Louisa gave her a new sense of determination. She refused to die alone in this strange forest, banished by Ahuil, unloved, and unable to see her sister again.

Tomorrow I'll wake up and this will all be a dream, she told herself. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other.

Then she thought she heard her name.

She stopped, listening. Had someone followed her? A wind picked up and swept through the forest, rustling the dead leaves on the ground. Theodosia shivered and pulled her cloak tighter. Nothing. It was only a fantasy that someone would come to help her.

Taking a deep breath, she continued on.

And then she heard it again: "Theo!"

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