Forlot - Books 7-9

Chapter Eighteen

"I have to go," Kyle said to me. "I promise that we will meet again very soon, Ari. I promise."

"Hold on." I grabbed his wrist before he could get out of my sight. "You do not have to. That is my best friend."

"Your...best...friend?"

I nodded. "Yes. But if you want, we can all be the best of friends. You, me, and Collin. Collin might like that."

"No." He wrapped his thumb and fingers around my own wrist and tugged my hand off. "You must know that will never occur."

"What? Why not? Collin is a nice guy."

"And he is nice? Boy...I have competition."

"What are you talking about? Do you have a problem with Collin or something?"

He brought his face close to mine and kissed the tip of my nose. "You will be mine. I will return for you."

Before I could respond to his statement, Kyle turned and rushed into a deep part of Forgotten Forest, disappearing in the blackness.

I did not want him to leave. And why did he anyway? Was he shy? Did not trust some people?

Or was there something that he did not want me to know?

"Ah!" I was suddenly tackled to the hard ground and fell on my stomach. I did not need to guess who had tackled me, for this person was known for doing so.

Collin. He always does that when he believes that I am in danger.

He was lying on top of me and sounded like that he was out of breath.

"Ari...you...should not...trust that!" he warned between breaths. "Do not...trust...that thing!"

I sighed heavily and thought that he was talking about Kyle. "I will go against your warnings if you do not get off of me," I said. "You are heavy!"

He did what I requested and mumbled, "Sorry." He helped me up and dusted pieces of dirt off my clothes. "I just needed to warn you."

"About the guy whom I was with?"

His face twisted in confusion. "Guy? What guy?"

"The boy. His name is Kyle. I told you and the others how I met him, remember?"

"Oh. That Kyle."

"So what could you possibly warn me about him?"

"Nothing. You rescued him, right? He cannot be bad. I mean, it is not like that he purposely went in the quicksand to make you rescue him."

I rolled my eyes. Like my imagination, his would sometimes run wild. "Kyle is not the type of person who would do that."

Collin pointed at a tree that I was near. "This is what I was warning you about."

I examined the tree that he was referring to. "What about it?"

"It is a poisonous tree."

"Really? How do you know?"

"See the tiny barks on it? If one those sticks into your skin or even pokes you, the poison will enter your bloodstream, and you will die fast."

I was pretty intrigued by his claim. "That is both cool and scary."

"That is what I said!" He gave me a slap on my back. "No wonder some people at our school think that we are related. Brother and sister." He then grew sad, and that was because he accidentally reminded himself of his dead brother. "I miss him so much."

I embraced him in a hug. "I know that you do."

"Why did he have to die?"

"I am not sure. There are some sick people in this world."

"But...I thought that we were safe from real worlders."

"Collin, we will never be separated from them. They will keep coming back to destroy what our writer has created."

When Collin was feeling better, the two of us left the forest and returned to the campsite. Our classmates and David, Garcia, and Belinda were there.

But not Melinda.

Panic rose inside of me, for I thought that my sister was the next victim, and Collin and I rushed up to Belinda.

"Belinda?" I said, trying to keep calm. "Where is my sister? Where is Melinda?"

Belinda faced us and was chewing on a piece of gum. "Your sister?" she said. "Why, she is at the lake and searching for any clues that could lead to Valerie's death. Unlike the rest of us, she believes that her death was anything but accidental."

Huh. Melinda and I are truly sisters. I thought that Valerie dying was not accidental too.

"I will stay here," Collin said, shaking. "I swore that I would never go anywhere near that lake. I do not desire to die also!"

I felt like arguing with him, but after the unfortunate event, I could not blame him. So I ran down the dirt path by myself and was on the alert to find my sister.

The sooner that I found the lake, the sooner that I would find her.

It was not before long that I came across the lake. And there was my sister. She was standing real close to the lake and staring down at the water.

I got off the path and went up to her. "Hi, Melinda."

"Hi, Ari." She had her hands on her hips.

"Belinda informed me that you were looking for clues."

"Yes, and I still am. I know that Valerie did not drown on accident."

"I am glad that you feel that way."

She glanced at me. "Why, Ari?"

"I feel the same. I believe somebody caused her death."

"Hmm. I want to show you something." She led me to the other side of the lake and pointed. "See those?"

I looked to where she was pointing and squinted. There were two sets of footprints. The first ones were small, and the ones behind those were big and had patterns...

...that reminded me of patterns on shoes.

"You know what this means?" Melinda asked me.

I shook my head and glanced back up at her. "What?"

"Valerie was pushed into the lake. She was pushed."