Part 18

I stared at the teacher, who somehow always had the worst timing on things. First, she takes me away from my relaxing summer vacation, then she proceeds to make Alex mad at me for no reason at all, and subsequently sent the two of us off to God knows where. Now, she shows up just as Alex is about to work whatever magic he's got running through him. Can't she just leave me in peace for once?!

"Sorry, sweetheart. I need to protect you guys."

I growled at her. She didn't provide that much protection, and even though she's had her moments, I don't think that it can compare with the amount of anxiety and anger that's been directed towards her over the last two days.

"What could you possibly be protecting us from?", I growled at her.

"Easy there, honey bear. Don't go scaring off the one friend you've managed to get." I turned to look at Alex, and he didn't seem bothered. In fact, if someone handed him a box of popcorn, he'd be watching this like one watches a movie. He had even moved to the other side of my makeshift bed to get a better view of this.

"Yeah, I don't think he's bothered. But anyway, what are you protecting us from?" I restated my original question to let her know that I wasn't dropping the matter. We had a long staring contest, and all of me was scared about what her dreams would be like. Finally, she gave in.

"I am here to protect you against three things. First: yourselves and each other. Second: the world around us, and those who want to turn you over to the people who took the others. And third: the people running the organization that is capturing everyone with abilities." As she was telling us this, she was organizing things: putting bottles on shelves, reshelving books onto a large, beautiful, mahogany-colored bookcase. Then, she took a broom out of nowhere and started sweeping. When she finished sweeping, she turned to us and said, "And it will not be long before the leaders realize that not everyone was caught at the cabin. Which is why we must go."

"Go??", Alex asked. "Go where?!"

"I am oh-so-very glad you asked." With a glint in her eye and a smirk on her face, she turned to the trunk of the tree and said, "Fruni." There was a hissing sound, like steam being released, and a part of the tree swung open and revealed a staircase. The staircase wrapped around the inside of the trunk, leading to a hollow space inside of the tree. The handle on the staircase was made of dark brown wood, polished to the point where it had absolutely no chance of splintering. The hollow space was dark at first, but as I stood there, I started to hear a slight noise, like something rubbing against something else. As I listened, it grew louder, and I realized that I was listening to the wind. I heard it fill the space and bring a sense of life with it. As the wind blew higher and higher in the space, it floated up the staircase and was released through the door. After I couldn't hear the wind anymore, I looked around, only to realize that the room was lit. Candelabras were placed at evenly-spaced intervals around the room, giving the area a warm and homey feel. There was a plush couch just to the left of where I stood, at the bottom of the staircase. To the right, there was a small desk and a large bed. As I looked around it one more time, I noticed a smaller structure beyond the couch. As I made my way to it, I noticed that it looked like a piano seat but that there was no piano present. As I turned back around, I noticed Alex and the teacher standing at the staircase.

"What is this?" I asked, pointing to the seat.

"What does it look like?" the teacher asked.

I took a look at it again, and said, "A piano seat."

She gave a small chuckle and said, "My dear, you could not be more wrong." She went forward and placed her hand under the seat. After a moment, there was a click, and she stepped away. A second later, four pieces of wood appeared, one attached to each side. She raised each piece so that they sat at a 90-degree angle, and connected them. Then she stepped back and beckoned me forward to take another look at it. As I walked forward, I realized what it was. A crib. A baby crib. I looked back, to see fondness all over her expression. After a few seconds, I risked the biggest question that day.

"Have you been here before?"

"A few times", she said. She sniffled, and I could see the memories coming back to her. "I gave birth to my daughter here."