"No," Paxton said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, we wouldn't know," Kiernan said with a pointed look at Paxton. "We could ask Master Chang about it."

"Who's Master Chang?" Mellie asked.

"She's one of the only people who researched the DNA of the people who can hear more than other people," Kiernan explained. "She discovered that it's similar to the wizardry lineage in Harry Potter. It usually stays within families, but there are always exceptions, like muggle-borns and squibs."

"Oh!" Mellie let out a breath. "So my parents could just be normal."

"Well, we could go meet her, see what she thinks," Paxton offered.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Kiernan said, rubbing his hands together. Mellie forgot about her homework and her paper due soon, and instead joined the two on the sidewalk.

"Are we going to walk?" Mellie couldn't help but ask.

"Of course not. Her house is about an hour from here on foot. We're going to take a car."

Mellie looked around but saw no cars anywhere. When she voiced her thoughts, the two just smiled. "This," Kiernan thrust his hands out, "is where the car is." Suddenly, an orange car blinked into existence. Mellie jumped, while the two boys stepped into the car, Kiernan in the back seat and Paxton in the driver's seat. She shook her head and stepped into the shotgun seat.

She looked out as they drove into forests. Only murmurs made it through the car, and Mellie was finally able to enjoy a ride through the woods.

"Different, huh?" Kiernan said from the back seat.

"Yeah," she breathed, taking in the scenery.

"We're almost there," Paxton said and turned right onto a gravel road.

A final turn into a driveway and the car came to a halt. Mellie looked out of her window to see a medium-sized house, with bright green vines covering the dark gray bricks. The trio quickly got out and walked up to the brown door, Kiernan leading the way, while Paxton brought up the rear. Kiernan knocked, and 56 seconds later (yes, Mellie counted), the door opened to reveal a petite woman with a vine curled around her dark hair. A flower in mid-bloom was in her hand, and her slightly yellow shirt had small dirt spots. All of these things, however, did not take away from the authority that she held herself with. Mellie found herself waiting for the woman to speak and deliver her verdict.

"Master Chang," Kiernan greeted the woman, "we have a few questions that we think only you can answer."

"Always the questions with you, Wessex," she said, a hint of kindness in her voice. Then she noticed Mellie. "Oh, you brought a girl."

"Hello," Mellie held out a hand towards Master Chang. "I'm Mellie Willis."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mellie. Please, come in, the lot of you."

"FREE ME!" the trees around her shouted just before she stepped inside, "This is where your quest shall begin."

"Master Chang can hear trees as well," Kiernan said to Mellie before plopping into one of the many seats scattered around the living room.

The living room in itself was beautiful, ornate decorations framing the window, and a painting of three people.

"Tea, anyone?" Master Chang asked, and walked to the small kitchen.

"Master Chang, we actually wanted to ask you a question about the trees," Paxton said politely.

"What about them?" she replied, coming back with four mugs and a teapot.

"Have you heard any weird things coming from the trees lately?" Mellie asked.

"Well, they have been a bit irritable as of late." She poured the tea out, the mugs steaming. She handed each of them a mug and they sipped them in contentment.

"They've been screaming at me for a long time now." Mellie supplied.

"Well, they have told me a few rumours of an area of this forest that's chained off, and no one is allowed to get close." Master Chang sipped her tea, ignoring the looks that the teens passed each other.

"Do they know where it is?" Kiernan asked. Master Chang just sipped her tea and looked straight at Mellie.

"You tell me."

"Mister Tree, could you tell me how to get to—"

"Be more aggressive! It's all about establishing dominance!" Master Chang shouted from the porch.

"Listen to my brothers and sisters along the way," the tree replied.

She repeated the words out loud to the others on the porch.

"Well then let's go!" Kiernan said impatiently.

"How do we know that we can even reach them?" Paxton said.

"You don't," Master Chang said to him. "You can only hope."

"That's optimistic!" Kiernan said. "Let's go!"

"Alright." And they began their trek, the trees occasionally telling them the way to go.

About an hour later, the trees around them hushed, and they could hear sounds around them, beeping like warning signals.

"The wind is telling us to turn back," Kiernan whispered.

"So are the dead," Paxton whispered back.

"The trees are just... silent," Mellie observed.

"FREE ME!" the trees shouted suddenly, the voices clearer. Mellie hadn't realized that the other voices were foggy until she listened to these.

"I think we're close," Mellie said.

"Whyever would you think that?" a dry voice came from behind us. The three of us turned sharply to see a man all in black leaning against a tree, spinning a blade in his right hand. "Your journey ends here. Can't you see that?" he smirked. "Or hear it?" The boys behind her drew a breath.

"What do you want?" Mellie asked the man. He chuckled.

"Well, you already know too much, so I suppose I'll have to kill you," the man straightened. "I'll give you a choice. Who will die first?" He smiled widely.