Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
“Wait. So you’re telling me that you’re going into debt for a bunch of prisoners?” This pisses me off. And all the trees grow huge, their boughs creating a canopy that now shades us.
“Maybe?”
“So we have to put them all in prison.”
I might smirk a little too much here because Pie says, “As fun as that would be for you, it’s not fun for me. I’m not in charge of… justice, or whatever. I have no idea what these people did to be in that perp book of Tarq’s.”
“Perp book?”
“Yeah. He had a book of defectors. And all our monsters were in there.”
“Well, there you go. They are criminals. They belong in the Bottoms prison. We should send them there right now.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because one, we’ve got some alone time here, and two, we need to think this through. What about the devil?”
“What about him?”
“He’s holding Jacqueline and her kids prisoner.”
“Oh. You didn’t mention that part.”
“I should’ve. But I’m stressed. He wants me to bring him Tarq.”
“Well, that’s not gonna happen.”
“What if he kills them? I can’t just leave Jacqueline in the hands of the devil.”
“He spelled you, Pie. That’s… not nice. He’s not nice. I don’t think we should worry about him.”
“Well, that’s because you didn’t see him. He was…” She sighs.
I recognize this sigh. “He was what?” And boy, these really are some growly words. Flowers pop out of the grass. Like… a whole carpet of them.
“Hot, Pell. He was hot. Like—”
“So fuckin’ hot?”
She giggles. “Yeah. But don’t worry. His spell didn’t work on me. I stepped through the door, pretty intent on getting Tarq and hauling his ass back here, but then I stumbled into a memory of us and whatever hold the devil had on me just kinda… faded away.”
“Ohhh.” My mood lightens. “When I was in the hallways, I had a memory of us too. That day in the Jeep, when you came from town the first time and learned about your Book of Debt. You were so cute that day.”
She frowns. “Was I cute? Or was I just kinda dumb?”
“Pie.”
“What?”
“Always cute.”
Her frown disappears. “Well, I don’t quite remember it that way. But my memory was of me writing that spell over your tomb door. Now that”—she winks at me—“that was a day to remember.”
“Do you think we had these memories at the same time?”
“I think we did. I think that’s what broke the devil’s spell. I heard your voice and it snapped me out of it. And look.” She points to the sky and the trees all around us. “We’re doing something here, don’t you think?”
It’s hard to deny. This place was gray nothingness and… well, now it’s not. Now it’s a lot like the woods in my tomb. Not exactly like the woods—it’s too young—but it’s still growing. “You know what?”
“What?”
I’m still looking up and around, but then I lower my gaze to find Pie’s eyes. “I think this is my tomb.” Then I squint my eyes at a tree. “I know that tree.”
“You know that tree?”
This makes me chuckle. “Pie, I’m a creature of the forest. I’ve been living in the same home for two thousand years. Why is my personal relationship with the trees such a point of contention with you? Wasn’t I right about the trees on the other side of the Granite Springs door?”
“You were.”
“I’m right now too.”
“Fine. You can be right. Tell me how you know that tree.”
“Look.” I take her hand and walk over to the tree. “Do you see this broken branch right here?”
“Yep. I do.”
“See where it’s connected to the trunk? It’s star-shaped.”
“OK.”
“Well, that’s how it started. Just a broken branch that left behind a star-shaped scar. But over a couple thousand years it turned into a huge hole. Still star-shaped. If we ever get back to my tomb, I’ll take you to see it. I lived in it for a while. Maybe seventy or eighty years.”
“So why did you move out?”
I think about this for a moment. It was a pretty long time ago. “Hmm. I don’t really remember. I think I just wanted more space. But the point is”—I touch the scar on the tree—“this is how it started. I remember that very clearly.”
“So…” Pie slowly turns in a circle. “We’re in your tomb.”
“I think so. I think all we have to do is wait.”
Pie’s turn completes and she’s looking me in the eyes. “What are we waiting for?”
“Time, Pie. To catch up, I guess.”
“So we’re in the past right now.”
“A memory.”
“But we’ve never done this before. And aren’t the hallways just there to show you something has happened in the past?”
I can’t really agree or disagree. “I guess.”
“So that means…” She starts to spin in her circle again, looking up at the sky. “That means something else is happening here.” She looks down at me. “And we should go look for it.”