Chapter 14

The moon is full. “Sarge, are you ready?” I ask as I run my fingers through his fur. He looks at me with his big eyes and acknowledges he is ready. He gets up. I am still sitting beside the rock grave. He places his paw on my knee. I can hear him.

“Stay still.” He sits in front of me and begins to howl. He stops places his nose to mine. He looks into my eyes. I start to think of KoKo. I focus on KoKo in the void. Sarge howls again.

“He can hear you, Sarge.” Sarge keeps howling.

“Come to us KoKo!” Sarge howls again. I can feel KoKo breaking free.

“Follow my voice KoKo!” I scream.

Sarge continues to howl. I can feel every move KoKo is making. He is trying to get to me.

“KoKo! I command you to come to me now!” I scream.

Sarge scrambles around the grave. KoKo is breaking free. It will not be a simple task for him. Sarge and I will wait for him. Eyes are on him everywhere. I can feel them. The watchers are on him.

“Let him go!” I know he can do it. I need him. I need him to help me navigate what has to be done. I can see him breaking from the void.

“Follow my voice KoKo. It will lead you to an opening!” Sarge howls again. We have to get him out before my father knows he is trying to escape.

I see a light at the edge of the cemetery. Sarge turns to the light and growls. This is not good. Sarge howls again for Koko. I know it is the three idiots trying to stop me.

“Izzy!” I hear from behind the lights.

“Go away! I know the truth! Begone! I will unleash hell on all three of you!” KoKo is so close to the surface. I do not have time to deal with them.

Sarge stands in front of the grave. He will protect me if they try to enter. “KoKo! Please hurry I need you.” I scream.

Bowen rushes toward the cemetery gates. I hear a voice unleash your light. I hesitate. I do not want to kill him. I just need to stop him. I place one hand on sarge and gather the moonlight with my left hand. I push a sphere of moonlight toward him to slow him down.

“I am warning you Bowen to back off!” The sphere hits him and knocks him to the ground. Sarge that should buy us a few minutes. Sarge howls again for KoKo. The ground is crumbling beneath the stone grave.

I pull the door open. “KoKo!”

Sarge motions for us to go. “We have to go!” The three of us run for the other side of the cemetery. I remember a cabin. I know we are close. My brother was at the cabin. I know we can hide there. KoKo needs to rest.

Tomorrow will be a big day. Tomorrow we rescue Camilla Dawn. I will not be stopped. In six days I have made friends and I have lost friends. I have learned I had a husband and children. In six days my entire life was turned upside.

In reality it was turned upside down the day my brother trapped me in an eternal void. Those memories are still flashes. I cannot seem to focus on all of the void memories. They are too painful. I want to remember a time when my brother loved me. Maybe he still does. Maybe my mother corrupted him. Maybe the truth is we betrayed her. Maybe I shouldn’t care anymore.

Maybe I need to just focus and getting Camilla and the twins and getting back to where I belong. I am not even sure where I belong anymore. Camilla said to not trust the farm. Am I completely positive I can trust her? She is the only one who has been there with me and has not abandoned me. KoKo, Sarge, and Camilla, you three are my priority at this moment, then the twins. I cannot rescue the twins without Camilla.

As we approach the abandoned cabin, I remember Daniel here as a child. “Koko you brought me here once. I remember. I do not remember why.” I look at him.

He is so tired and beat down. He has been through a lot. I know that look. I had that look when I got to the topside.

“Izzy, The cabin is not on the topside or the underworld. It stands alone. It is neutral. I brought the two of you here to escape the underworld and just be children.” He softly replies. Sarge leads the way into the cabin.

I look around at this childhood memory standing before me. I start to cry. There is no time for this. I need KoKo one hundred percent for tomorrow. Sarge lies beside KoKo. I try to start a fire. There is a small fireplace. It is so cold in here.

I take small pieces of wood. As I pick up a piece there is something written on it. I love you, Izzy. There is a raven beneath. Could it be my mother or my brother? I toss it in the fire. How am I going to light this? Why not use my anger? I place my hand on the wood and think of everything that has happened in the last few days. The fire slowly starts to pour out of my hands into the wood. Presto we have heat.

I check on Sarge and KoKo. They are both resting. I lay on the floor in front of the fire. I close my eyes. I smell magnolias. She was here at some point in her life. I hear laughter. I drift into the night.