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There’s a song tugging at her just barely on the edge of her awareness. She’s heard somewhere before. She knows she has. The more she concentrates on it the harder it is to grasp. And as awareness tugs at her consciousness it left her all together.
She woke up feeling as if she’d lost something, something important. She blinked her eyes open. She was in her bed, but she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten here…
She pushed herself up with a gasp. The forest— the fire— the… the… the something…
“Hey! Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. You’re okay.”
Her dad was in a chair beside her bed, but on seeing her awake he’d moved to sit on the edge of her bed, pulling her into a hug.
“You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay” he whispered under his breath.
Valerie brought up her hands to hug him back.
“What–” her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. “What happened?” her voice was raspy. She could vaguely remember screaming.
“You don’t remember?” he asked, sitting back a bit, and handing her a glass of water from the bedside, while keeping a hand loosely on her shoulder.
She drank, gratefully. “Kind of.” she said.
“The Fentons said you tried to run into the forest, even though–” he faltered, “even though it was on fire. They said– they said you were screaming, that they had to hold you back.” He paused again, closing his eyes for a moment. “When they brought you here you were unconscious. I thought… I thought you were…”
Val leaned forward and pulled her father into a hug, he gripped her back tightly.
“I’m okay. I’m not… I didn’t go in. I’m okay.” She felt her stomach clench with guilt at what might have happened, at what she might have put her dad through. She pulled back. “Did it… did it work? Did the forest burn?”
Her dad looked away and she felt her gut clench. “It did at first. We could see the flames from here, but then there was… I don't know how to describe it. It was this surge of energy and then the temperature dropped. When we looked at the forest again all the trees were covered in ice.”
Valerie closed her eyes, exhaling shakily. It had been working. It could have worked. It must have been a monster that stopped the fire. Her fists clenched. She’d hunt that monster down. Then they could try again. The forest had to be destroyed.
But… there was something else… if she could just remember… she was sure she had dreamed something… or maybe seen something when she was close to the forest? Something important. Something she needed to remember.
“Valerie?” her father asked, hesitantly.
Her gaze snapped to his. “Yes?”
He stared at her for a moment. “Nothing, your gaze just went distant for a moment.”
She smiled. “I’m ok.”
He smiled back, but it was strained. He stood up slowly. “I’ll get some food started. You must be hungry.” he said, not taking his eyes off her.
She nodded and moved to get out of bed. That’s when she felt it. She moved the covers looking down at her left ankle. There was a metal band with glowing green lights around it. She looked back at her dad. “What’s this?” she said, barely managing to say it above a whisper.
Her dad swallowed. “It’s to keep you safe. After… when the forest started burning all the children started heading in that direction. It was chaos. They were all screaming…” he paused before clearing his throat. “We were lucky–” he cut himself off again, looking pleadingly at her. “We were lucky we were able to catch them all, keep them from leaving. The Fentons— the Fentons made these. They’re to keep the children safe.”
Valerie took a shuddering breath in. “What does it do?” she said as evenly as she could manage.
“All they do is keep you in town. The Fentons have something at the borders of town, some kind of energy field, the anklets will keep you from going through it.” He was still looking at her pleadingly. “They gave them to all the children. It’s to keep you safe, it’s to keep you all safe.”
Valerie closed her eyes, clenching her fists. “I understand.” she said, her voice tense.
“And…” her dad hesitated before continuing in a rush, “you can’t go out with the Fentons anymore. They’ve confiscated all your gear.”
“What!” she whipped her head in his direction. “But what if more monsters come? How will we defend ourselves?” She pulled herself to her feet, ignoring the shaking in her legs, and the metal band around her ankle.
Her father straightened and his expression hardened. “The Fentons will take care of it. I never should have let you go out in the first place.”
“What!”
“You’re a child. You need to let the adults handle this.”
“The Fentons can’t be everywhere at once. If I can help people I should.”
“That is not your responsibility.”
“But I can help!”
“I don’t care! I’m not going to lose you!” he said, his voice raised.
Valerie opened her mouth to argue, but closed it when she saw the expression in his eyes. He was scared, and could she really blame him? Children were falling into comas, and she had almost been one of them. She was all her father had, and he was all the family she had.
She slumped. Across from her, her dad exhaled shakily.
“Valerie…”
“I know.” she said, looking at the ground.
“I just want you to be safe.”
“I know.”
Her dad waited for another moment before sighing again. “I’ll go make something to eat.”
Valerie waited until her dad had left to fall back onto her bed. Her hands tugged at her hair, and her eyes wouldn’t leave the anklet. She wanted to scream. How was she supposed to protect people without a weapon? How was she supposed to stop whatever was in the forest if she couldn't leave the town?
She shuddered when she thought of the forest. She could still feel it tugging at her. And the thought of it burning… her feelings were all mixed up. Part of her still wanted to destroy the forest, but another part of her… another part of her wanted to protect it.
And there had been something… something in her dream… something important…
She shook her head. What was this thing, this monster, that could worm its way into her thoughts and influence her like this? It was terrifying.
But that was why she needed to be out there. That was why she needed to keep fighting. Her dad wouldn’t understand, and she felt guilty about scaring him. But she couldn’t sit back and do nothing.
She had to find a way to remove the anklet. Had to find a way to fight the monsters. Had to defeat whatever it was that was hiding in the forest.
She wouldn’t let her ability to fight be taken from her.