Don't Open That Door - GoM 1

20

The Hilux cruised down Main Street when the Yukon skidded out of Kat's street. Alex honked at Tom and both trucks speeded up toward the old sawmill.

Graham and his men still kept the barn. In the middle of the yard, the mother tree was already eight feet tall and slim, young branches grew from its top. There was no trace of the four victims the roots had captured and dragged underground, out of reach for Graham's men.

When the Hilux and the Yukon stopped at the fence, the first to step out was Claire, with a determined frown pursing her pretty face.

Graham came to meet them. "Now what, Al?" he asked. "People in the barn are gonna come back any moment now."

"I need you to keep them safe a while longer," Alex replied. "I've got a way to take this bitch down, but I don't know how fast it'll work."

"Fire," said Claire, eyes on the mother tree. "I think that'll keep the infected people from trying to follow Lila's siren call."

"We brought gallons of fuel as you told me," Graham said.

"Then let's set a circle of fire all around the barrier," said Ollie.

"That'd do," muttered Claire.

She and Claire stayed by the Hilux, going over the spell while the men worked. Tom joined them before starting the fire.

"We're going in now, Tom," Alex said to him. "As soon as we do, set the circle on fire and don't let anybody else in. No matter what."

He fought back his impulse to tell her not to do it and stay safe. He just nodded. She turned to Claire and the girl took a deep breath. Ollie frowned, alarmed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You cannot go in there, baby!" he said.

Alex anticipated Claire. "Can you get me through the barrier, boy? No. So shut your hole and stay back."

Claire rested a hand on his cheek, hoping her smile looked confident and reassuring. "It's okay, love. I'll be okay."

"D'you remember the spell?" Alex asked.

Claire nodded, turning to look at the mother tree and its sprouting crown. She took Alex's hand and stepped up. Tom and Jack had to grab Ollie's arm to keep him from following. The girl tried to walk through the barrier. It didn't reject her, and allowed Alex in too.

As soon as they were past the invisible field force, Alex tugged at Claire's hand. She pulled the girl closer and grabbed her arms, turning around with her. Alex met Tom's eyes for a heartbeat and pushed Claire outside the barrier.

Claire stumbled backwards into Tom's arms, that locked around her.

"AL!" she cried, trying to go back in. "Let go, Tom! She can't do it alone! The mother tree's gonna kill'er!"

Before she could get rid of Tom's grip, Ollie and Jack set the fuel on fire. Fames blazed up, running around the mother tree to surround it in a circle of fire. Through her angry impotence, the girl sensed Tom's fear for Alex and realized she wasn't the only one who hated letting her aunt do this alone.

Alex approached the mother tree cautiously and stopped two yards away. A root shot out of the ground toward her and wrapped around her waist like a hungry, excited claw. She controlled her need to spun around and run away. Outside the barrier, everybody stepped closer to the fire, holding their breath.

The mother tree took a few seconds to detect the poisonous mix running through Alex's veins. But when it did, the root retreated in a flash. Alex reached out for one of the young, fragile twigs spreading from the growing branches. She grabbed it and broke it. Then she stretched out her arm, to touch the trunk with its own snapped limb.

Her voice echoed loud and clear all over the sawmill yard.

"Moriatis abominatio. Luna ista non lucebit tibi. In tera ista nec pascantur."

Behind the fire, everybody traded looks, expecting something bombastic to happen. But nothing happened.

Alex started repeating the spell, keeping the thin branch in touch with the trunk.

"Look!" whispered Claire.

Tom, Ollie and Jack saw the vines that showed from the base of the trunk and slithered over the grass to swirl around Alex's feet.

She ignored them, and allowed them to wrap around her ankles. She managed to keep her balance without interrupting her reciting, even when the vines crept up her legs.

"How many times does she need to say it?" asked Jack.

"Once for every infected person—myself included."

Tom turned to her with an outraged scowl. "They're a hundred."

The girl grimaced. "That's why I wanted to do this with her."

"Oh, boy..." Ollie muttered.

The other three turned to the barrier again. The vines had wrapped around Alex all the way up to her shoulders. And she still kept repeating the spell. She was forced to drop the branch in her hand, but she didn't need it anymore, since she was in direct contact with the mother three through the vines.

Her voice faltered when they moved around her throat. Plain to see they wouldn't stop. She didn't try to fight them. She knew she couldn't. So she kept repeating the spell under her breath. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back, allowing the vines to reach her face.

Claire's fingers sunk in Tom's forearm at seeing Alex give in to mother tree. A moment later, the vines closed around her head. Tom growled and tried a step toward the fire. Claire stopped him.

"It's killing her!" he snarled.

Claire shook her head, her green eyes reflecting the flames. "She's alive. The mother tree's trying to silence her, but the spell's already working, weakening it."

As Claire spoke, the green vines wrapped around Alex turned to wooden bark, imprisoning her in a hard cocoon.