Free The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5) by Michael Richan Page A

the gift,
fine. But you respect my relationship with your mother by leaving her at
peace.”
    “OK,” Steven said, a little hesitantly. He’d strayed into
uncomfortable territory with Roy and wasn’t sure how to back out of it.
    Roy wasn’t done. “Your mother went to her grave believing
that she’d spared you and Bernard from my abilities. I didn’t agree with her on
that, but her happiness was always important to me. So I’d like to keep things
the way they are with her.”
    “But surely she must know by now,” Steven said.
    “I don’t think so,” Roy said, getting worked up. “Your mother
believed what she wanted to believe. You digging her up to show her your
markings would just crush her. Out of respect for her – and me – you are not to
contact her. Do you understand?”
    “Alright,” Steven said.
    “I…I forbid it!” Roy said.
    “Touché,” Steven said. “You win. I won’t.”
    “Thank you,” Roy said, calming down. He began browsing the
objects again. One caught his eye. It was a small wooden box, about the size of
two cigarette boxes side by side. It had intricate carvings on it.
    Shit! Roy thought. That’s the same box Daniel’s bugs came in. Roy knew
Steven didn’t share his memory of the bugs, and how they killed Daniel. I
need to warn him somehow, Roy thought.
    “There’s some dangerous things in here,” Roy said. “Come see
this one.”
    Steven walked over to where Roy was standing. Roy pointed to
the box inside the case.
    “You best be on high alert with these items,” Roy said. “I
wouldn’t suggest opening or activating any of them before you know what they
do. I’ve seen this one before. The last time I saw it, it contained bugs that
would bore into you and kill you. And they moved fast.”
    “Jesus,” Steven said, looking down at the box through the
case. “I would have opened it without a second thought.”
    “You’d be comatose within seconds,” Roy thought. “So be
careful with this stuff. Don’t even accidentally activate or open anything.”
    “I think I’m done anyway,” Steven said. “I’m going to relax
under the tree for a while.”
    “I’m going back to the library,” Roy said. “I think I stand a
better chance of finding something that will work on Evie from my book than
these objects. Let’s leave early tomorrow morning, if you don’t mind.”
    “I don’t mind,” Steven said, turning to leave the room, Roy
following him.
    Steven wandered out of the object room and into the entryway,
where he strolled slowly to the back archway, still examining himself with the
planchette. He was able to look through the glass at anything else just fine,
but when he landed on his markings, he felt fear begin to rise, and he removed
the glass before it felt as bad as it had been in the object room. He walked
outside and sat under the banyan tree. Even though it was night, the
temperature inside and outside the house was always the same, seventy degrees.
Lights from the house lit the backyard. He took quick glances at his markings,
never letting the glass stay long over his hand.
    If this is how they feel when they see me, Steven thought, then this is a
huge natural defense. But is it an offense, too? If these markings tell them to
be afraid of me, why? What about me is to be feared? Is it just that I taste
bad to eat? Or can I do something dangerous to them? I need to find out what it
is.
     He examined himself with the planchette repeatedly, until he
grew tired and decided to pack it in for the night.
     
    ◊
     
    On the way home the next morning, they stopped for coffee at
a roadside stand in Elma. Piled in the back seat were three books from the
library at Eximere that Roy wanted to study at home to determine their owner.
Steven kept the planchette in his jacket pocket, almost as a talisman. It gave
him comfort to know it was immediately available if he wanted to examine his
hands again.
    As Steven passed the cup to Roy and waited for his own,