Feeding Frenzy (Watty Award Winner)

Plan B: Chapter Fifteen

Tonya didn't stop running until she got a painful stitch in her side.  She slowed to a walk but her chest still heaved, and all that breathing made her wonder. Was she inhaling the same contagion that killed Professor Rudolph? Would she die too? How much time did she have before the infection took her over? And that voice. He wasn't just dead, he was able to send his thoughts into her mind. This was a power never mentioned, even in rumours, in her family. What was the purpose of it? To frighten or warn, or was the voice in her head also the means of transmission?

Tonya had been so concerned that sick people were getting real, biological symptoms, that she had forgotten about a less earthy kind of magic. Normally magic was manipulated by means of natural elements like herbs and minerals, but at other times spells could be cast purely through the will of the caster. Such spells were dangerous. As a kid, Tonya had accidentally overheard Helene warning her mother to stay away from a man who practised this art. It had damaged him. When Tonya stepped into the room to ask who it was, her mother had sent her away, claiming she had misunderstood their 'grownup talk.'

Tonya tried to swallow the lump that suddenly caught in her throat. Her parents were mixed up in this, and Aunt Helene too. They never spoke of the danger, but it was real. Whoever was behind this must have beaten them. Why else would Tonya be facing this mysterious force, ignorant of its real power, helpless and alone?

Even in daylight, this patch of the forest between the cemetery and the campus, was half-dark. She shivered and zipped her coat up to her chin, scrunching her face into her scarf. The wind blew through her hair, whipping it around, and making the trees hiss and sway, lending life to the artificial creatures Priya had hidden there. Tonya closed her eyes and stood still, wondering how far the Dead Professor's mind could reach. Could he feel her shivering right now? She had run away without thinking, but now, standing between campus and the dark thing hidden in the forest, she had no idea what to do.

She had failed to find Roberto, failed to stop the bonfire, failed to even find Priya so she could make her understand the stakes. Without really knowing her next move, Tonya started jogging towards campus, away from the creepy trees.

If only she could tell the authorities, but the police would laugh at her. And campus administration? If she could find somebody to talk to her on a Saturday, she would only succeed in convincing them she was crazy. No. Her best bet was to appeal to Ducky and Priya. Ducky hadn't seen Marta's choking scare at the swim team party like Priya, but at least he knew her. Maybe he would listen.

When she reached the Hub Pub, Tonya double timed down the stairs, almost colliding with Ducky, who was leaving, arms full of boxes with cables and equipment.

"Am I glad to see you!"

"Likewise, you can help me load boxes into my car. One more run and I'm finished." He kept coming up past her, forcing Tonya to trail after him.

"That's what I want to talk to you about. The cemetery, and especially the big ash tree, are too dangerous."

"Too right! Priya's concept is to actually scare people." They reached Ducky's car, which was parked near the door. He arranged the boxes into the trunk and shut it. He was about to get into the car.

"Wait! I have to explain something important. Promise me you'll listen."

"Okay." Ducky waited with the door open.

"It's Professor Rudolph. He's dead," said Tonya. "Something unnatural has made him sick, and it came from the woods by the cemetery."

"Dead?"

Tonya nodded and explained how he had checked out of the hospital, and laid himself at the foot of the Three-Century Ash to die. "That tree is supposed to protect the town," said Tonya. "It has for hundreds of years, but now I don't know. Somebody is channelling its power to do terrible things..."