Lena Matthews

Dear Diary,

When I first learned about the Forbidden, the nightmares were horrible. I saw that woman from the mall every night, pleading with me for mercy. Then I'd hear a loud bang and she would crumple to the floor lifelessly.

In the end, it wasn't Finn or this stupid diary that helped me tackle my insomnia. It was my dad. The more he talked to me about the Forbidden and trained me to attack, the less scary the nightmares became.

Night after night, the woman contorted. Her wounds would fade, her voice would fade, and her eyes would be filled with anger instead of love. She would stand straighter, and I would see her with fangs, like the vampire that had attacked my mom years ago. Eventually, the bang stopped being scary.

It became my favorite part.

I stopped being guilty and started being angry because it was easier, and my dad facilitated that more than anyone else. The idea that the Forbidden are murderous, mindless creatures with human faces is the Agency's greatest lie, and I believed it. So did Mom, Dad, and Finn.

Now, here I am. I think I've already made my decision. It's time to do the right thing. Today, I have my private meeting with the Forbidden Court. Today, I'm going to tell them the truth.

I ripped the page out of my diary and stared at it. I didn't need any evidence of what I was about to do lying around the house. I closed my eyes and focused, waiting for fire to appear at my fingertips.

It didn't.

As hard as I tried, I couldn't feel that familiar heat inside of me. It was dead, overtaken by vines and leaves. I opened my eyes, confused. I hadn't realized that a part of myself had been closed off.

"Do the fire thing." I muttered out loud, cupping my hands. I sighed when nothing happened. "Whatever."

Even though it wasn't as dramatic, I ripped the paper into tiny, illegible pieces and threw them away. I needed to get to Jane-Anne's house soon if I was going to be on time for my meeting. I made sure to dress up for the occasion, and was wearing the same outfit as my trial. I had actually attempted to braid my hair, but it didn't work out. I ended up tying it back into a ponytail. That would have to do for now.

"Where are you going?" Finn asked as I walked downstairs.

"Jane-Anne's." I answered, not slowing down as I made my way to the door.

"Okay..." said Finn slowly. "Lena, are you alright? You've been acting a little off."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "Off? How?" I asked.

"I don't know, I just feel like something's been bothering you." Finn elaborated.

"Nothing's bothering me." I said defensively. "I'm going to be late." I sped up, anxious to make it outside where everything felt a little bit better. I couldn't avoid Finn forever, but I could definitely try.

When I knocked on Mrs. Pearce's door, I felt like I was interrupting something. Mrs. Pearce let me inside while holding a casual conversation with one of the justices. She was laughing at something someone had said, and paused when she saw me.

"Hey Ivy! We're going to get started in a second." said Mrs. Pearce, smiling. She turned behind her. "Ivy wa koko ga ikimasu!" She called.

"Wakata!" Someone, probably Mrs. Moriyama, called back.

"Come in." said Mrs. Pearce. Her initial cheerfulness was quickly vanishing, replaced by her serious facade. I found myself doubting that I had even seen her smile in the first place.

Next to the door, there was a neat row of shoes, and I decided to add mine to the collection. I made sure they aligned exactly with the black shoes right next to them. Taking a deep breath, I walked to the living room, where everything had been rearranged for the guests.

"Where's Jane-Anne and the mayor?" I asked, looking around.

"Jane-Anne's out, and the mayor's right there!" said one of the justices, pointing to Mrs. Pearce and causing a couple of her friends to laugh. I remembered seeing her at my trial, but I still had no idea who she was.

"That's not true." said Mrs. Pearce modestly. "I'm just helping in any way I can." I caught another justice, with bright blue eyes and white hair, shake his head, as if he couldn't believe that Mrs. Pearce could lie so blatantly.

"Come on, Robert, you know that Mrs. Pearce runs this town." said Mrs. Moriyama playfully. Robert didn't seem amused.

"I suppose your rules have only killed one person in this town, haven't they?" Robert asked, a tense silence filling the room.

Mrs. Pearce cleared her throat. "The mixed kids are now allowed to attend the Forbidden meetings. I have tried to learn from my mistakes."

When no one said anything, I looked around at the group. In total, I counted seven justices, which meant that there was an odd number once again. I looked down and realized that I had been nervously fidgeting with my wrist again.

"Well, I think it's time to get started." Mrs. Pearce announced, breaking the silence. "Take your seats, everyone."

The justices muttered amongst themselves. The living room had three large couches, all of them facing the middle of the room, where there was a single chair that I assumed was mine. Everyone, including me, took their time to settle into a seat, which I could tell was annoying Mrs. Pearce. She didn't have the same reverence or power that she usually did, and it was irritating her.

Even though Carter said that this meeting wasn't supposed to be serious, I felt like I was being inspected under a microscope, just like the trial. The odd seating arrangement had to be some kind of intimidation tactic, and it was working.

On the bright side, Mr. Liu was nowhere in sight, which meant no lie detecting. But I wasn't planning on hiding anything today.

"So," said Mrs. Moriyama, taking it upon herself to begin the conversation, "there has been some talk going around about what happened with Flora." At the mention of Flora, the morale in the room dropped steeply. "The circumstances of her death were... interesting to say the least. Our Forbidden suspect was only there for a few moments, and you are the only witness. As a matter of fact, the attacks began after you moved here."

"Do you guys seriously think that I-"

"No." said Mrs. Pearce, interrupting. "No one here thinks that."

"But do people actually think that I was the one who killed Josh, Rowan, and Flora? That's ridiculous." I contested.

"Who's Josh?" Mrs. Pearce asked.

"I found some autopsy report and just connected the dots..." I mumbled.

"Right." said Mrs. Pearce. "I remember." Something told me that she had no idea what I was talking about.

"I still didn't do it." I repeated pathetically. I may have managed to make myself look guilty by knowing the first victim of the cold woman.

"We're having this meeting because we're all in agreement that you're innocent, Ivy." another justice explained. It was the same one who had shown disapproval at Mrs. Pearce's false modesty. Robert. "Considering that you're a dryad, it's pretty impossible that you're to blame for this."

"But I-"

"We brought you here to pitch another Forbidden-wide meeting, like your trial." Mrs. Pearce continued, interrupting me. "You can confirm for everyone that you are dryad, and dispel the rumors that have been circulating. That should be enough."

"Should be?" I asked.

"Well, there's one more thing." said Mrs. Moriyama. "Many people believe that you mislead us. Mr. Liu may have not detected any lies at your trial, but his methods aren't completely foolproof. If you phrase your words correctly, or fragment the truth, or even convince yourself of your own lies, you can get away with some things. It might be worth it to reexamine a particular claim you made. We can't forget that the reason the Forbidden stood up for you was because of the wolf."

"To put it plainly, the idea of you seeing a werewolf has been called into question, and with it, the Court's initial ruling." another justice added.

"What do they want me to do, bring the werewolf to the meeting?" I asked sarcastically.

"That would work." said Mrs. Pearce.

"Wait, what?" I asked. "You can't..." I was actually at a loss for words. "Werewolves come at the full moon. Your meetings are in the middle of the day."

"According to Google, the night of January 31st wasn't a full moon." Mrs. Moriyama remarked. Despite her high status as a member of the Forbidden Court, I wanted to slap her.

"According to common logic, you can't be two Forbidden at once." I shot back. "I shouldn't have to defend myself for something I clearly didn't do."

"Listen, you don't have to bring the werewolf to prove your innocence." said Mrs. Pearce. "It's just recommended if you want to prove your... worthiness."

"Is that a threat or something?" I asked.

"It's not." Mrs. Moriyama assured me. "We're on your side."

"It really doesn't feel like it." I muttered. My resolve to talk about the Agency was crumbling with each passing moment.

"Well, it sounds like we're done here." said Robert. "Good talk. I'll see you and the werewolf at the meeting."

"What?" I asked, helplessly watching one Forbidden after another get up to leave. "Wait!"

Mrs. Pearce couldn't stop anyone from exiting either, which made me feel slightly better about my predicament.

"Make them come back!" I demanded stupidly.

"When they decide they're done, they're done." Mrs. Pearce explained.

"I thought you were in charge!" I protested.

"I..." Mrs. Pearce faltered for the first time since I've met her. "Not with them." She said finally.   

"I needed to tell them something important." I said. It sounded like I was whining, but I couldn't help it. It had taken so long for me to build up the courage to speak out against my family, and now that chance had slipped away.

"What is it?" Mrs. Pearce asked.

"It's..." I trailed off as I spotted a figure in the window. It had to be Makaya, in her signature blue clothing. "Never mind." I said quickly. "Thanks for the meeting, I guess."

"I know it's not much, but I'm sorry." said Mrs. Pearce. "I don't know why Flora did what she did, and I'm sorry that it's affected you this way. No one asks to be like this."

"It's okay." I promised. "In a really weird way, I think I deserved it."

I put my shoes back on and walked outside. I could see Makaya standing alone on the winding driveway of the Pearce residence. When she caught me looking, she waved cheerfully.

"Are you always following me?" I asked her. "Don't you have better things to do?"

Makaya shrugged, refusing to answer my question. "What can I say? You've been my biggest source of entertainment in a while."

"Thanks." I huffed.

"What's the matter, Honey? You look like you need to get something off your chest." For a moment, I didn't say anything. I just froze. "Come on, Ivy. You can tell me anything."

"It's not." I said, my brain refusing to cooperate with my body.

"Not what?"

I took a deep breath. "It's not my name. My real name is Lena Matthews and I came here with my dad who's an agent from the Agency and Finn and I are agents too and we're looking for evidence of the Forbidden in Atalka-"

"Stop talking."Makaya instructed. "I need you to take a deep breath. You were getting a little red there. In through your nose, out through your mouth."

"Did you hear what I just said?" I asked.

"I definitely heard what you said and we're going to unpack that. First, let's get out of here."

"Could I get a mint julep and some fries?" Makaya asked, not bothering to look at the menu. "Actually, make that two mint juleps."

"Um... sure." I wasn't sure if Monty recognized me from the other night, but he was a lot more focused on Makaya. She seemed to have captured everyone's reverence at Monty's.

"I don't drink." I admitted quietly when Monty returned with the order.

"That's not for you, Honey." said Makaya. "You just dropped a huge bombshell on me, and I'm going to need some assistance to process it."

In my peripheral, I spotted two cops walk into the bar and swiftly turn around when they spotted Makaya. She gave them a wink, which seemed to scare them more.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked.

Makaya swiftly downed her first glass before answering. "Well, I'm not interested in dying, and I don't think you are either. I mean, how are you in that house? Are you sure you don't want to start drinking?"

"I mean, they don't know. Obviously." I said.

"Mm hm. And you need to keep it that way." said Makaya. "Now what was y'all's assignment specifically?"

"We need evidence of at least five Forbidden. I don't think my dad has any evidence yet, and we only have a couple more months." I explained. "I thought that I could just wait it out, but even if this turns out fine and we leave Atalka, I'm still going to be Forbidden. Plus, the Court wants me to find a werewolf now."

"A..." Makaya took another sip and signaled Monty for another round. "A werewolf?" She asked. "How would they expect you to do that?"

"I don't know." I sighed.

"Well, it sounds like you need help." said Makaya.

"Can you help me?" I asked.

"I wasn't talking about me." said Makaya. "Have one of Jane-Anne's babysitters help you."

"You know about that?" I asked, astonished.

"Are you surprised? There's nothing about Setsuka Pearce that I don't know. That includes her questionable parenting choices." said Makaya. "I think she still feels bad about what happened to the Hayate kid, and she's taking it out on her daughter."

"What about the cold woman?" I asked. "Do you know what Mrs. Pearce is doing about that?"

"We don't know what type of Forbidden we're dealing with." said Makaya. She smiled at Monty as he brought more alcohol. "We have a record of every Forbidden in Atalka. Nothing fits, so they either live somewhere else, or they're really good at secrets."

"Maybe I could try and get into the Agency's information base and find a match. If I do that, then we can figure out who in this town has the right predispositions." I said, brainstorming aloud.

Makaya took a couple more swigs. "Good plan, but how are you going to tell the court where you got your information from?"

"Should I tell the court that we're agents?" I asked.

"Absolutely not! Do you want to get you entire family killed?" Makaya asked.

"Okay, fine. I'll tell you. No one else has to know." I decided.

Makaya chewed on a fry thoughtfully. "Then what?" She asked.

"Then we get this cold woman out, and we hope that my Dad doesn't find any more evidence for a couple more months. Then, we leave." I said, shrugging. I tried to not to show how distraught I was at the idea of leaving Atalka behind.

"What if you don't leave?" Makaya suggested slowly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, we might be able to work something out. But, let's take this one thing at a time. You need to find that werewolf." said Makaya.

I nodded, and reached for a couple more fries. Makaya motioned for Monty again.

"Just so you know, you're my designated driver."

A/N: So far, 2021 has felt like 2020 pt 2. But I have some good news in all this! The Gate will be completed. There are officially 13 chapters left in this wild journey, and the next two are going to be really fun, I promise! I am so proud of the way this story has turned out, and I can't wait for you guys to read it. I'm going to continue to release chapters every 5 days until the end. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading. You mean the world to me, and I hope you'll stick with me to the end!

QOTD: Was telling Makaya the right move?