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CHAPTER FIVE
JOEL
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“From out of nowhere, a sudden icy breeze comes, stealing me away from my thoughts. It’s cold enough to drive us both deeper into the water to escape it.
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“Whoa.” When Cody pulls away, his gaze darts all around us. “That’s weird. The wind’s blowing, but nothing’s moving except that little line of ripples in the water. Look, not the trees, grass, bushes, or anything else.”
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“And it’s like ninety degrees out, too. Where’s an icy breeze like that comin’ from?”
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“Follow the ripples with your eyes,” he says. “The breeze is coming from the other side of the bush where we left our clothes. And look, that patch of underbrush is moving in the forest beyond it.”
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“Wanna check it out?” I ask.
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“To be honest, Joel, no. This is a little too weird for me.” Cody frowns. “There’s something almost supernatural about it.”
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“Dude, we gotta find out what this breeze is, and what it means, weird or not.” I smile, hoping to calm him. “It’ll be an adventure.” I wiggle my eyebrows and wink at him. “Come on, let’s do it.”
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Cody ponders the rustling foliage on the forest floor before he sighs. “Yeah, okay, but that wind’s way too cold. We’d better get dressed first.”
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Using shirts to blot ourselves dry, we wrestle socks and pants over damp legs and feet, throw on our shoes and shirts, and take off into the woods together, leaving our pond behind us. Using my hands, I study the shape of the wind as we walk, and I discover that the mysterious breeze is a narrow shaft of horizontal air that hovers off the ground about three feet, making things seem even more bizarre, and the breeze harder to follow.
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After journeying in silence through the forest for a while, Cody puts his arm out to stop me. “Wait, Joel. The more I think about it, the more this situation is creeping me out, and we’re getting deeper into the woods the farther we go.” His face scrunches up in worry. “I hate to say this, but I think this is something supernatural, and we’re being … led somewhere.”
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I can’t deny the truth in his words. This is strange. And maybe we should think twice before we get ourselves into something we may not get out of. “Agreed. But led by what, and to where?”
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“That’s the creepy part. Should we go back and get a few more people to come with us? What’s happening right now isn’t normal, and I don’t like it.”
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“But what if the breeze stops and we never find out where it came from?” I ask. “We may never encounter it again.”
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Cody ponders my words in silence. “True. Okay, let’s keep going, but stay close.”
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“Don’t worry. I was ‘bout to say the same thing to you.”
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As Cody and I press on through the maze of pines, I make a careful note of the sun’s position in the sky, ensuring we can find our way back.
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We make a few course corrections along the way, crossing abandoned dirt roads, scrambling over large boulders protruding from the ground and dodging rotting stumps as we go, until the breeze eventually leads us to the base of a steep mountain blanketed in moss-covered rocks, tangled undergrowth, and tall, swaying conifers.
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To the left lies the beginning of a narrow trail, barely visible through the rustling leaves of the bushes. We run to it and climb.
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The trail turns and slopes upward, causing me to slip. Cody tells me to dig my feet in at an angle, and after that, I’m as surefooted as he is.
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As we reach the top of the trail, Cody asks, “Is that a cave?” He points at a narrow, jagged opening in the mountainside ahead.
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“Yeah, and them shrubs piled in front seem dead compared to the rest.”
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“Looks like someone put them there to hide the entrance,” Cody says. “I wonder what’s in there.”
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Cody and I tread across the leveling ground until we reach the wind-brushed bushes. We pull them from the entrance, and take a few cautious steps into the mouth of the cave.
Cody grasps my hand.
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“Uh, Cody?”
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“Yeah?”
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“You’re crushin’ my fingers, dude.”
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“Oh! Sorry, I’ll loosen up.” He looks at me. Fear clouds his eyes. “Don’t let go yet. Okay?”
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I shake my head. “Hadn’t planned to.”
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A natural hole in the cave’s high ceiling allows a glowing, golden shaft of light to shine in, illuminating things well enough to see. The opening is strewn with hanging graybeard moss, and dark, gnarled tree roots dripping water from their twisted ends.
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When we move a few steps further into the main, open chamber of the cave, we notice the wall to our left has a series of prominent rocks spaced a foot or two apart from each other, ones which stick out about fifteen inches, follow the curve of the cave wall as they move upward, and end at another level above the entrance.
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The protruding rocks form a clumsy staircase of sorts, one wide enough for us to climb single file, and they look like someone chiseled them out of the cave wall, maybe centuries ago.
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Cody gazes at a ledge above. “If anything bad is lurking in here, waiting for us, that’d be where.”
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“Will ya go up there with me?”
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Cody releases my hand, nods, and allows me to lead the way. “Be careful, Joel. Wild animals are nothing to mess with, so be alert for anything you may see or hear.”
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My ears stay focused, listening for any noises outside of our own as we creep up the dark rock-stairs, right where the breeze leads us.
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It’s clear now that these ancient, man-made steps lead to a larger chamber, one which delves much deeper into the mountain—I’d say at least two hundred feet in every direction.
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As we reach the top and move into the larger cavern there, strands of glowing blue plant life greet us. They dangle from an expansive ceiling, one that rests about twenty feet above Cody’s head; their glow highlights more of his Native American features and reminds me of a starry night sky. Pods of green luminescent mushrooms work in concert with the blue plants and the light from the natural hole, illuminating this chamber nearly as well as the lower one.
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“Wow,” Cody says, “this is beautiful. We studied bioluminescence in science class last year, but I’ve never seen it for real. I had no idea it would be this incredible. But wait a second.” Cody frowns, contemplating what he sees, his fears all but gone. “We learned that these are some kind of glowworm, and they’re only supposed to be found in New Zealand. Let me recheck that day.” Cody grows quiet, his eyes tracking back and forth as he scans through the memory. “Yeah, I was right. And these green mushrooms are only found in Malaysian Borneo. I wonder what they’re doing in a cave in Italy.”
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“And they’re laid out in patterns that don’t seem natural at all. To me, it looks like someone brought ‘em here.”
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“Still, I think I could look at these things all day. It’s like peering into the darkest night sky and seeing more stars than you thought possible.” His gaze becomes one of child-like fascination. “I love this.”
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I prompt Cody to follow the breeze, and we end up at an indentation set into a wall of the cave, one no bigger than the size of a teacup saucer, hidden behind an outcropping. The hole has a back, a left and right side, and a top, but no bottom.
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“Looks like we found the source,” Cody says, shielding his eyes against the wind; it’s coming from within the hole.
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“I wish we had a flashlight or a torch or somethin’. I’d like to peek down in there.”
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“Well, that’s not happening.”
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“We could go back and get one, or ...”
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“Or what?” he asks.
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“One of us sticks his hand down into that hole and finds out what’s in there the hard way.”
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Cody’s brows rise. His eyes widen. “Yeah. And that would be you.”
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I giggle at him. “Somehow, I knew you were gonna say that. All right, let’s do this.”
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“Joel, wait! You’re really gonna do it?”
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“Unless you know of a better way of findin’ out what’s in there. Besides, we’ve come this far, so why stop now?”
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“But what if something pulls you in?”
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I set my hand on his shoulder and wink. “Pull me back out.” I take a breath and cringe. “Here goes nothin’.”
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As my hand enters the hole and plunges into its dark, creepy depths, Cody’s breathing grows rapid.
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I finally reach the bottom—which is a good thing because I was running out of arm—and the frigid wind stops when my hand bumps against something. It’s small, hard, and wrapped in paper.
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I take the object, quickly withdraw from the hole, and give it to Cody before slipping my hand under my armpit, working to warm it. “Looks like someone wanted to hide that.”
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“There’s writing on the paper,” Cody says. He angles the thing toward better light and shows it to me. The words dance in the blue and green glow around us. “It says, ‘If an icy wind brought you here, this is why.’”
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Chills rush through my body, ones much colder than the breeze.
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Cody looks at me, gulps, and unwraps the package, revealing a flat stone with intricate designs and etchings of symbols on both sides. He opens the wrappings further, revealing words written there.
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Cody smooths out the paper and reads aloud.
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You are not here by chance; you are here by design. It was no random stroke of luck that saved your family’s future; you were chosen, like we were. They saw something inside you, something they could use.
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I hope the experiments are over, and that the stone you hold in your hand will mean nothing more than any other to you, or to them. But if they’re still experimenting with kids’ minds like we think they will be, then they’re still looking for this stone. Keep it hidden here. Never speak of it anywhere within the compound. They are listening.
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Let them do their thing with your mind. If you don’t know what that means, you probably soon will. Their technology and instruments target specific areas of the brain, which makes you more in touch with higher things—amazing, beautiful things—so don’t be afraid to let them do it.
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Once each procedure is done, don’t let on too much about what you can do, see, and hear. String them along. You’ll make plenty of new discoveries every week or so, but keep the good stuff to yourself. Make something up if you have to. Doing so will keep them from messing with you and will keep both you and your parents safe. They think the results take time to fully manifest, but the big results come almost immediately. Don’t tell them this. Let them think what they will.
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Do not trust every being you encounter. Your awakening may attract a few of them. One of the good ones led you here, like it did us.
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Cody trembles until I move behind him and pull him close. My hands steady his as I read aloud over his shoulder.
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The stimulated parts of our brains led us right to this rock when they sent us out looking. We could hear it; we could feel it buried in its resting place beneath the ground near the old theatre. I smuggled the stone away in my sock, and we brought it here, right where the cold breeze led us, fearing that if we gave it to them, our usefulness would be at an end.
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I found a piece of old metal, a broach, in that same hole, and gave that to them instead. We told them the metal was what we sensed. They bought our story and moved on.
There’s another stone beneath the sanctuary, about three feet under the ground in the northwest corner, but they don’t know that. Only tell them about it if your lives are in danger or if you need to buy yourselves some time.
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They can’t do much with the stone that’s there. We figured out that the stones work together, and they’ll need this one to go with it. We don’t know exactly what they’ll use the stones for, but Austin heard that creepy lady in robes mention they want to summon a golden being, one who’s been trapped in the Netherworld for a long time. We can only assume this is the stones’ purpose.
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“What!” I yell. “Are these robed freaks takin’ stupid-pills?”
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“Keep reading, Joel.”
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I steady my breath and find the place where I’d left off.
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With that in mind, our best advice is to keep this stone hidden here. There’s something in the walls of the cave that blocks the stone’s mental signal.
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That’s all the information we have at this point. We’re set to graduate tomorrow and then we’ll be gone. Keep this as your most guarded secret. Don’t even tell your parents.
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Good luck. We are with you.
— Nick, Josh, Kaylee, Hannah, and Austin.
The Original Five.
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“Joel?”
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“Yeah?”
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“I need to sit down.”
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We sink to the floor together and lean against the wall. Cody locks my hand in another death-grip. “Dude, what are we gonna do?”
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“We return this rock to where we found it, go back to our room, and act like none of this ever happened.”
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“Joel, my dad said these procedures would be okay, but I’m still a little scared of what they’re gonna do to us.” Cody sighs as his eyes drift shut. “I don’t want my mind messed up more than it already is.”
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“Well, them other five kids survived, and they said we’d see and experience wonderful things. That part sounds kinda excitin’. Actually,” I gesture to the crumpled note, “all the things we’ll be able to see and do does.”
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Fear fills Cody’s eyes. They widen again. “Exciting?” He shakes his head. “I might think so too if it weren’t for a lady I saw back at the compound before I left, she was watching us. And there was a man on the rooftop listening to us, too.”
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I frown. “That’s strange.”
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“Between that and this note, there’s more going on than we know, Joel. Not to mention these beings those other kids spoke of. I saw one before I left home, and it spoke to me in my head. The thing was in the fog outside our camper and it scared the crap out of me.”
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“Are you serious?”
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“Yeah, but there was a second being too, and it chased away the first one. It was blue, and it seemed less scary. I’d wondered what the heck all that was about.”
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“To be honest, I saw one too, on the way to the airport after my dad kicked me out of the house and sent me here early. Mine was greenish, and it didn’t seem evil to me or anything, and it spoke to me, too. I bet your blue one and my green one are the beings the letter talked about.”
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Ok, Joel, reason this out. Be brave for Cody.
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“Look, there may be one of ‘em with us right now, and we’re fine.” I ponder our situation further. “The letter did say one of the good beings led us here, so it’s probably the blue one you saw, or maybe my green one. We’re still alive, we know what’s comin’, and we know what to do and what not to do now. If one of the good beings led us here, that probably means they wanna help us. We can also assume they’ll protect us, too.”
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“Do you really think so?”
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I sigh and rest my head against his. “I know so. Besides, if we stick together, we’ll be all right, no matter what.”
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Okay, so I don’t know the beings will protect us, but the concept makes sense.
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I’ll never give voice to anything like this in front of Cody, but him saying that he’s seen a dark being scares me, not to mention he still feels it now and then. And they’re watching and listening … I’m not sure I like the sound of that.
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I wish I knew the truth behind all this.
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“That’s what I like about you.” Cody’s words draw my attention back to him. “You stop and think things through, like my sister does. It seems like I’m the only one who can’t do that.”
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Cody turns the rock in his hand as we gaze at it. He looks at me, searching my eyes for several moments before switching his gaze between my lips and chin.
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“Joel, can you please change the subject? Talk about something else. This is a lot for my mind to deal with at once.”
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“Okay, let’s get to headin’ back. On the way out, we should get rid of them dead bushes and put newer ones in their place right quick.”
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We re-wrap the stone and return it to its resting place at the bottom of the hole, then descend the rock-steps and head outside.
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Now it’s time to change the subject like he asked. We both need to get our minds off of this.
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“Maybe they’ll have our new room ready when we get there, Cody. I can’t wait to see it.”
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“Me, too.”
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“I can’t believe you asked for somethin’ and I didn’t. I never even thought about bargainin’ for anything. Clearly, you’re the brains of this operation.”
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“Well, you have a lot to cope with, Joel. It’s not your fault.” He stops for a second. “I’ll make you a deal. You teach me how to be braver and think things through, and I’ll teach you, well, something I’m good at.”
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“That’s the best deal I’ve heard since I got here.”
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“Oh, and we should agree that we won’t let them separate us,” Cody says. “If they do, for whatever reason, we’ll both stop cooperating until they change their minds. I can’t handle this by myself. There’s no way.”
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“Good call.”
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We both spit into our palms and shake hard on it.
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“Pact sealed,” I say.
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“Pact sealed. We’re gonna be great together, Joel, I can tell.”
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I sure hope so.
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“Let’s get this entrance hidden right quick, and then go get some food.”
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“Hey, Joel? I’d like to show you something special on the way back, if that’s okay.”
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“Sure. What is it?”
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Cody pauses before responding. “I love being in the woods, especially when something’s bothering me. I always do it at the same spot, but that spot needs to be special. Fallon pointed out a place when we first got here, and it looks incredible. I can’t wait for you to see it. It’s secluded, and there’s a waterfall and a big tree we can climb and sit in. Best of all, no one can see us there.”
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“That sounds amazing.”
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Cody locks his gaze with mine. He stands there watching me and blinking. “I’ve never had a friend to take to any of my secret spots before.”
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I set my hand on his shoulder. “Well, I’m glad I’m the first one.” Against my better judgment, I shuffle closer, speaking gentle words. “It’s nice that you wanna share somethin’ that means so much to you.”
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Cody sighs, and lowers his head. “I wanna share everything with you, Joel.”
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His words make my heart flutter.
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Cody looks up and gives me what I think is a quick peck on the cheek. He’s already looking around for green bushes to put in front of the cave before I realize what he’s done.
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We hide the cave’s narrow entrance as best we can, and head back toward the compound, walking jam up next to each other, enjoying the gentle breeze and the subtle warmth of the late afternoon sun on our skin.
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“I’m sorry about earlier,” Cody says unexpectedly. “I didn’t mean to dodge your offer of talking about my past. I do wanna get more of this off my chest, but not right now. How about tonight when we have the time?”
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I smile and nod. “Cool. We’ll do it tonight then. And we’ll get settled into our room and fix it up all nice. I can’t wait.”
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“Don’t be too eager, Joel. Some of what happened is terrible. And you must promise me you won’t tell anyone, no matter what.”
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After gulping down my nervousness, I make myself answer him. “I promise, Cody. No matter what.”
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