The Stars Will Come

Chapter 8 - What Happens In The Woods, Stays In The Woods

        "May! May! MAY!!!" Eden was shaking me by my shoulders.

        "What? What! I'm awake!" I sat up, putting my hand to my forehead. I had a terrible headache. Always after doing that, I have to rest for a while.

        "I need to rest. Let me sleep" I said to Eden, "How's Grift?"

        "He's all better... how'd you do that?" Eden asked. I sighed.

        "It's what I was going to tell you when we were at your brother's tree house, before we were attacked. I have a power, like you to do. I can heal any injury. He's wrapped in vines, isn't he?" I could hear Eden struggling with the vines, trying to pull them off.

        "Yeah. How did you know that to?" I could hear Eden's disbelief in her voice.

        "Happens every time. Don't bother. They won't come off, and believe me, I've tried." Eden stopped sawing at the vines with her knife.

        "When did you first find out about your power?" Eden sheathed her knife and sat next to me.

        "When I was 2 years old. I had found a kitten in the forest and she was dying. Her legs were broken and she had been left behind by her mother. I had picked her up and started cuddling her. I closed my eyes and BAM! She was all better. Pretty strange, isn't it? I was knocked out for several hours, but I saved the kitten"

        "Umhm. Do your parents know?"

        "No. I only told my uncle. He told me to never tell anybody, not even my parents. I only told you because you told me about your powers. ...I'm going to sleep now." Eden sighed and laid down.

        "May... aren't you able to see the stars in the forest?" I grumbled and turned to face her.

        "Yes, we're far enough away from the city to see the stars clearly." I answered.

        "Ok, but then where are the stars?" I looked up to see what she was talking about. My mouth dropped open.

        "Wawawah!" I didn't understand, there were no clouds to block the view. The stars would have most definitely come out by now. We should have been able to see them. I stood up to see better.

        "I'm going to climb this tree to see if it is just in this spot of the sky that we can see." Eden quickly hoisted herself up onto the branches and climbed. As I waited for Eden to come back down with her news, I studied the vines covering Grift.

        They were a different shade of green than what normal vines were. These were a variety of neon green to pastel green. The vines seemed to start shifting and wiggling the longer I studied them. But then I blinked and they return back to normal.

        "Same as always." I murmured under my breath. Eden dropped to the ground behind me. I turned around,

        "It's all over May! The whole night sky! Not a single star in sight. It's a bit creepy looking up at the night sky and seeing no stars. May,... I'm scared." I went over to where Eden was standing and hugged her.

        "I know... I'm scared too." I whispered. "This is giving me a strange feeling. I don't like it."

        Grift started moaning and we rushed to him. The vines started retracting into the ground, where they disappeared.

        "Eden? Eden?" asked Grift, his eyes still closed.

        "I'm here, Grift. What is it, is there something you need?" Eden leaned in close to her twin, trying to catch what he was whispering. She listened for a moment, before sitting back up again. She had a blank look on her face, processing what Grift had just told her.

        "What did he say, Eden?" I asked after a moment.

        "He... he... he said 'You look to the stars, but They've never looked back at you. But ever since She was born and first Spoke, all They've done was watch you. Now They come, as one, to take what is Theirs'. I don't understand, May. Do you?" I thought about it for a moment, then fumbled at my waist.

        "My uncle! Last night I found a book that he had left for me. It contains all the information we need, according to him. He mentioned you guys, did you know him?" I looked up at Eden.

        "No, at least I don't think so. What was his name, his full name?"

        "It was Alfred Lenard Taylor. He had a doctor's degree in philosophy, science, mathematics, and many other topics." I pulled out the book and showed it to Eden. After reading the note on the front cover, she looked at me.

        "I do think I knew him. There was this anonymous person that would help us from time to time. For example; there was this time when Grift was really sick and I couldn't take him to the hospital. I was feeding him soup and taking care of his needs, but he would just throw up the food and refused my help. Then one day, there was a package tied to one of the lower branches of Grift's tree. In it was  the medicine that Grift needed to get better. With it was a note, saying 'Give these to Grift, it will make him better. Keep on doing what your doing and he will be good as new soon. - The Doctor'. I think that you uncle might have been using the term 'The Doctor' to hide behind while he was helping us."

        "I think you're right. He really did like watching 'Doctor Who'. Seems like something he would do. If it really was him, he would have drawn a little doodle in the corner. Like a fez, or a bow-tie, or maybe some suspenders."

        "Yeah, there were always a little something in the corner. I thought it might have meant something, but I could never figure it out."

        "Yup, it was him. But it's strange, how'd he know about you two in the first place?" Eden had no answer, she just shrugged.

        "Whatever, let's see what your uncle wrote in that book. We need to know, before we are attacked again." I gave Eden the book and turned around.

        "You start reading, I'm going to go take care of Ryan. I'll be back soon," I quickly sped off to where Ryan was sleeping.

        "Ok, but be careful! And see if you can find some water for us, as well as maybe some berries!" Eden called to me.

        "Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, I  will have Ryan to protect me." 

        As I walked away, Eden opened my uncle's book and her mouth dropped open in surprise.