Abe kept climbing trees every so often to try and see the clearing. It was impossible. There were too many trees, and the buildings in the clearing weren’t high enough. His best hope was to wait until dark to see if he could see the lights from the clearing. It was his only hope. He had to get to Sam before Josef did.

There was still a chance Josef was still in the woods hunting for Abe. Still a chance Abe would run into him. A chance Josef would use to kill him. But Abe had to try. It was his mission to help the clearing any way he could, and right now they were in danger. He had to warn them.

The day turned cool as the sun was beginning to set. The darker it got, the more his anxiety grew. Sam usually didn’t have his meetings until around midnight. He still had time to do his plan. He could still find the clearing in the dark.

He had no survival training. There was no point in Musical Land. No one expected to be stuck in the woods. Abe tried desperately to remember anything at all in history books about navigation without modern conveniences. The sun rose in the east and set in the west. That was the extent of his knowledge. He tried to remember which way they went, but the sun had been completely covered by trees when they traveled to the clearing, and Abe stupidly forgot to keep track of it. Abe closed his eyes, trying to remember. He was quite sure the sun shone the hardest on his back. If he wanted to get to the clearing, he would have to move the opposite way the sun traveled in the sky.

With his back toward the dying sun still giving off rays, Abe climbed another tree as high as he could go. This tree barely crested over the top of the others, so Abe did his best to use his height to see past the trees, but it was no good. He squinted, trying to see some artificial light, but he couldn’t. Maybe it wasn’t dark enough. Abe hoped that was the case. He climbed down the tree, branches scraping against his skin.

He hoped down and heard a ripping sound. Part of his sleeve was now hanging in the tree. Abe mumbled a quiet curse before he reached up and grabbed the sleeve. He used it to press against the graze on his head. He should have done this when he first discovered the wound. He couldn’t lose too much blood, it would be dangerous.

The darkness didn’t take long to descend once the sun had set. Abe used the opportunity to climb another tree and squint among the darkness for any artificial light. He waited a while, stubborn. Frustration threatened to take over logical thought. He needed to get back to the clearing now. He couldn’t waste any more time trying to find it. He needed it now.

He waited ten minutes in the trees, willing the clearing to appear, for some brilliant thought to strike him as to where to go from here, but there was nothing. Dejected, he climbed down the tree and walked in the direction he assumed was east.

He wandered for hours. Every so often he would climb a tree, but it gave him nothing. Maybe the lights in the clearing weren’t bright enough.

Abe tried to dispel that thought as soon as it entered. He needed hope, not despair. It would be just as dangerous to let depression overtake him. He couldn’t allow that here. He needed to focus.

Abe climbed another tree, and once again, it gave him nothing. The night was cool, the insects chirping. The bulk of his depression was right outside his mind, waiting for any show of weakness before it broke in and wreaked havoc with his emotion. Some already misted in, making his joy feel numb and his hope beginning to dissipate. He couldn’t fail this time. Too many lives were at stake for him to be hopelessly wandering around. He needed to find the clearing. He couldn’t have run far. How far had he run?

His foot slipped on the last branch and Abe felt him slide the last couple feet to the ground. He landed on his back, staring up at the forested sky, seeing nothing, feeling pain.

He pushed himself back to his feet and felt around in the dark for his torn sleeve. He found it, brushed off the dirt, and hesitated. He shouldn’t be putting a dirty rag against an open wound. He was no medical professional, but he was pretty sure it was a bad idea.

Abe looked through the darkened woods. He had no idea where he was. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t find the clearing. He had no idea what time it was, but he knew it was late. He was exhausted and hungry. He hadn’t had anything to eat or drink all day, and he was only running on adrenaline.

The depression came without warning, crashing down on him as he sagged under the weight. He tried to brush it off and kept walking, but the thoughts came. He’d failed. He couldn’t find it. It didn’t matter that there was still time, what was the point? He failed at everything, how was this any different?

Abe kept walking, because the consequences of stopping were too great. He needed to do something, or his mind would never recover. He let the dark thoughts pass, trying not to pay them any attention as he kept walking. Certainly he would find the clearing soon. He’d been walking all day. He could feel it in the way his legs quivered in pain, how they screamed at him every time he took another step.

He kept Little Sam in the front of his mind. He didn’t spend much time with Little Sam, but it didn’t matter. Josef threatened to torture the child, and for that alone he knew he had to find the clearing. He had to. For Little Sam’s sake. He couldn’t let that child come under Josef’s wrath.

Abe found himself on his knees, his lungs quivering. He fought with every part of his being to stay awake, but he knew he pushed his body past it’s ability.

You failed. Again, his depression said as his vision swam in front of him. The dark woods grew even darker as his body hit the ground.

***

Marie let out a gasp as her eyes snapped open. Her head didn’t hurt nearly as much. Her dad was at her side.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think I am,” she said as she lifted her hand to touch her head. It didn’t register that her joints only clicked a little as she did so. “How long was I asleep? What happened?” Marie lifted her hand in front of her as she flexed. The joints were rusty, but she could still flex them. This wasn’t at all what she expected. “What did they give me?”

Her dad smiled. “Forgetting formula.” He told her the story, and Marie listened, eyes wide, as the story got more and more insane. When he finished, Marie still stared at him, processing everything.

She stared at her hands, flexing them again. Alice came in and her dad immediately moved out of the way. Alice was listening to her heart and lungs with a stethoscope before Marie noticed she was there.

“Seriously? Mrs. Germain just gave it to us?” Marie asked, her eyes darting between her dad and Alice.

Alice gave a small smile as she took the earpieces away from her ears. “Vlad would know better. He was there, I was here with you.”

Marie shook her head as Alice took out a flashlight. “How’s your head?”

“Still hurts, but not as bad,” Marie said. Alice nodded before briefly shining the lights in her eyes.

“Well, I think it worked. At least, it’s given you more time, and time is what we needed. As far as I can tell, the formula is doing a great job distracting the omnitocil. I will be curious to see what these next few days bring, but what we’re seeing here is a really good sign,” Alice said.

“Sophie?” came Charles’ voice.

“Is it done?” Sophie asked.

Marie opened her eyes to see Charles holding up a syringe. Sophie ran up to Charles, pulling up her shirt sleeve. “Stick it in me.”

Charles set the syringe on the table and pulled out two chairs. “Sit down first. I don’t want you fainting.”

“Yeah, okay. Just hurry up,” Sophie said as she plopped down in the seat.

Charles sat down next to her and injected something in her arm before pulling it out and sticking it in a bag. Marie realized it was the formula reversal. The antidote? Marie wasn’t quite sure what to call it.

Sophie’s eyes went wide. “Oh.”

Charles glanced up. “Are things okay? Do you already remember?”

Sophie met his gaze, opened her mouth, then closed it again. She opened it again. “Oh.”

Charles glanced at Alice in the room before looking back at Sophie. “You remember?”

Marie sat up a little. “I gave you the formula that brings all the memories back at once. I forgot. It might be too much at once.

Alice walked out of the room. “We might need to prep for shock.”

Sophie turned and saw Marie. Marie could see how wide her eyes had gotten. “Oh,” Sophie said again.