The Sisters of Nowhere

t w e n t y - s i x : g w y d y r

It took Wyatt too long to get his bearings. He was still shaken from the images he'd seen. All those weeks ago, Marigold had said that some of the cats predicted the future.

He'd thought she'd been joking.

Now he could only hope that she was.

And then there was the forest standing in front of him that had not been there a second before.

The trees weren't unfamiliar or otherwise fantastic. It looked as if it had been there forever; the pines and laurels and live oaks.

He could smell its earthiness like a perfume.

If Wyatt had gone into it a few seconds earlier to look for the Penny sisters like he should have, maybe he wouldn't have seen him.

Silas.

He wasn't there, and then he was. Just like the forest.

He blew into existence like particles of sand and had solidified within moments, standing only a few feet in front of Wyatt.

They surveyed one another for a moment.

There was still that aura of stormy anger from the top of the boy's shaved head to the tips of his too-big military boots.

"I need to find them," Wyatt said.

"Me too," Silas agreed.

Wyatt did not like the sound of that, but kept his tone pleasant. "If they're in trouble--"

"They aren't."

"How would you know?"

Silas sneered a laugh. "Because I know the forest. It isn't an enemy."

Wyatt asked, "Are you?"

"No."

Wyatt's gut told him not to let Silas near the girls. But it also told him that going into the forest without a guide was a sure way to never find them at all.

So they went into the forest together.

As Wyatt tensed with anxiety, Silas relaxed when they passed through the treeline.

Wyatt could feel its...otherness as soon as he entered.

It smelled and looked like any forest. But there was something else that Wyatt couldn't place.

"Does it scare you?" Silas asked, casting him a sideways glance.

Wyatt thought about it. "No. But I don't understand it, which I suppose is a type of scary. Or perhaps, more accurately, a type of discomfort."

Silas rolled his eyes. "You're wordy. It's annoying."

Wyatt had been called many things, but "wordy" had never been one of them. "No offense, but that might be better than being dead."

To his surprise, Silas laughed. It was ugly. "Careful, Sweater Vest. The trees..." he held a finger to his lips mysteriously and glanced around them, "they can hear you. They don't prefer that word."

And then Wyatt realized why the forest felt different.

He felt watched.

"You're sure they're alright?" Wyatt asked again, subconsciously picking up his pace.

"You walk into an ancient forest that contains mysteries beyond comprehension and the only thing you can think about is the Penny sisters, whom I've already assured you are okay?"