by G. P. Ching
Ms. D had arrived and was waving her arms to get their attention. When everyone had quieted down, she said, “Very good, very good. Where is Amuke? Where is menagerie?”
“I am here, Headmistress.” Amuke jogged toward the stage, followed by Paul and three boys Finn did not recognize.
“Who are they?” Finn asked Wendy.
“I don’t know. Other than Paul, I’ve never seen any of them before.”
“They must be part of the troupe, like the others in aerial.”
“Yes, but then why are they here? I thought the purpose of this performance was to showcase student talent,” Wendy said.
“I don’t know.” Finn did a double take as Juliette and Hope entered the theater at the balcony level.
“Wow, that costume is incredible,” Wendy said.
Hope’s long auburn hair was twisted along the back of her head and tucked beneath a pointed hat adorned with peacock feathers. The dress she wore sloped over one shoulder and skimmed along her body to her hips where more peacock feathers gathered and plummeted to the hem of a floor-length skirt. Next to Juliette’s high-necked, Victorian-era garb, Hope looked youthful and dangerously beautiful, a powerful elegance that brought a hush over the other troupes.
Ms. D clapped her hands to call everyone’s attention to the front of the room. “I am delighted to have you all here. We have four weeks until our final performance. Four weeks until your parents and our guests will sit in these seats and expect to see the stunning results of your rehabilitation.”
“Tell us!” someone yelled from menagerie.
“Patience. This is the first time for these students.” Ms. D spread her hands. “It is tradition at Revelations for the performance architect, that’s me, to announce the theme of the spring performance and approve the proposed acts of the troupe leaders. Once your act is approved, your leader will help you perfect your performance over the next four weeks. Exceptional performers will be featured in Revelations promotional materials.” She rubbed her hands together, glancing at each of the troupe leaders. “The theme of Revelations spring performance will be… Metamorphosis!”
Applause rose up from students and teachers alike.
Ms. D continued. “We will take our inspiration from the lifecycle of the butterfly, explore the changes manifesting within, and develop acts that draw the audience into your transformation. The preparation, the waiting, the painful act of transition, the loom of death, and then the explosion of new life. Bring me ideas!”
“I will open with a simple wooden box,” Theodor said. When had he arrived? “I will toss in ordinary objects, a red ball, a yellow teddy bear, a green kite. Then I will levitate the box and ignite it above my head. Out of the fire, doves will emerge and fly over the audience—one red, one yellow, one green. The box will reduce, folding in on itself. With the snap of my fingers, the doves will return to the flames right when the entire thing crumbles to dust and three origami doves drop into my hands.”
“Perfect, Theodor. Who is next?”
“Red silk cocoons,” Orelon yelled. “My students will suspend from the ceiling, slowly unraveling themselves with a series of moves demonstrating strength and flexibility. They will perform multiple death-defying feats. And then, the boy”—Orelon pointed to Finn—“will scale the silk to the very top until he stands in the rigging above the stage. He’ll dive headfirst toward certain death. At the last moment, he will pull up and fly over the audience, until he circles back and lands effortlessly on the stage.”
Ms. D clapped her hands in delight. “I want to see the girl as a catalyst. Use her. Wendy must be the reason he flies. Jenny, dear, costume is everything on this one. We must design wings for this boy. Perhaps we could light him on fire! Yes, yes, his wings could burn away.”
Fuse tossed up one pointed finger. “A phoenix! The flames will appear to completely consume him. Jayden will emerge from the inferno and perform the fire dance of the Seven Kingdoms.”
“Excellent. You have me. The boy is not a bird but a phoenix. Jayden, you will rise from the ashes. Then… then… Amuke?”
“The troupe will start with a dance to display our athleticism. At the conclusion, Paul will call the baby tigers to the stage. He will run them through their paces, then transform them into adult tigers. The audience will delight in the animals’ grace and discipline.”
“Fabulous! You’re sure the tigers will perform predictably?” Ms. D asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Unequivocally,” Amuke said.
She pointed a finger at his head. “No blood on the audience.”
“We will take precautions.”
Finn frowned. Why would there be blood?
“That leaves resilience. Kirsa, what say you?”
The beefy woman surveyed her charges. “We will start with a glass water bowl in the belly of a giant oyster. The water will represent the transient nature of life, our students, the pearls. Amanda will dive from a platform into the bowl. Of course, the water will seem too shallow for her not to break her neck, but our audience will delight in her survival and explosive exit from its depths. Michael will follow and pull Amanda back into the water. Amanda will become angry at his antics. They will battle violently in the small pool of water. Then Amanda will flip out of the bowl and close the oyster’s shell so that Michael is trapped inside. Michael will drown. After he is dead, she will regret her decision, lift him from the liquid, and with love’s first kiss, bring him back to life.”
Mike’s gaze darted around the room, his face paling and his head shaking vigorously.
“Your student does not appear confident in his ability to perform your proposed act, Kirsa. Are you quite certain you can resurrect him?”
“He’ll be ready,” Kirsa said.
Ms. D bobbed her head.
“You’re talking about drowning him in front of a live audience,” Finn yelled. “Don’t you think you should ask him if he’s ready?”
Orelon nudged his side. “Watch yourself, Finn,” he whispered in his ear.
Ms. D paused, a wicked smile bending her lips. “I am sure Ms. Hildburg will adequately prepare her charge, Mr. Wager. Your assistance in this matter is unneeded. I assure you, Michael will return to his parents unharmed. Oh, excuse me, his aunt. As I recall, his parents are no longer with us.”
Finn gritted his teeth. It was a low blow to bring up Mike’s home situation in mixed company.
“What if I can’t do it?” Mike yelled, garnering sharp glances from around the room.
Ms. D narrowed her eyes on him. “Mr. Carson, if you believe you cannot… sink to the occasion, Ravenguard and Applegate would be happy to help you do so.”
From her place above the theater, Hope met Finn’s gaze and placed a finger over her lips. He refrained from saying anything more but crossed his arms over his chest in disgust. This wasn’t right. Mike was in real trouble here.
When no one offered further protest, Ms. D said, “Very well. I approve your proposals. Be prepared to perform your act in four weeks’ time. One show only. Metamorphosis will be our most brilliant work!”
Everyone broke, rushing to begin preparations and practice their new acts. “We should bring the silks back to the gazebo. Easier to practice there,” Orelon said. He jogged toward the rear of the stage.
“Our act is going to rock,” Wendy said, smiling.
“Yeah. We’ve got the best troupe,” Finn said, but he wasn’t thinking about his act. He was worried about Mike. He had to talk to Theodor. Was this Kirsa’s revenge? Did she mean to hurt Mike as a way to get to Ms. D?
Mike folded in on himself as he followed Kirsa out of the theater. He wouldn’t be ready in time. How could someone be ready to drown?
If Finn wanted to save his friend, he’d have to do something and fast.
“You have to help him,” Finn said immediately upon entering Theodor’s office that afternoon.
“I’m afraid there is nothing I can do. If I suggest to Victoria that Mike isn’t ready, she�
�ll insist on intervention by Ravenguard and Applegate. As you know, that is a highly risky alternative. Your friend may never fully recover psychologically from the process.”
Finn balled his hands into fists in frustration. “What do they do? What happened to Amanda and Paul?”
“I can’t say I know for sure, Finn. The two of them are very secretive about their work. They take the student to a building off school grounds, at the base of the mountain. When they come back, the student is forever changed. You must have noticed that the admissions counselors are the muscle around here. This island changes people, and Ravenguard and Applegate have been here a long time. The star has made them very good at what they do, and what they do is discipline. My advice is to stay as far away from the two of them as possible.”
“Then can’t you use magic to help Mike adapt?”
“My magic doesn’t work that way. Mike is struggling because he doesn’t belong in resilience. When Ms. D selected him, she was fitting a round peg in a square hole. Victoria knew that Mike would fail in Kirsa’s troupe but intended to use him to punish Kirsa for questioning her judgment when she reassigned Hope. Victoria is dense if she hasn’t figured out that Kirsa intends to sabotage the show in retaliation.”
“But he could die! They’re talking about drowning him.” Finn grabbed the sides of his hair. “We have to do something.”
“There’s nothing I can do.”
Finn lowered his voice. “You said you wanted to overthrow Ms. D. Now is the time. If you become performance architect, you can change the act and save Mike.”
Theodor gave a sad laugh. “Even if I was strong enough to challenge her for her position on my own, I can’t get close enough. Ravenguard and Applegate are never far from her side. If you were a fully trained magician, maybe we could do it together. But you are not. It’s too soon. I’m not ready and neither are you.”
“Then what can we do to help Mike?”
Theodor frowned. “I’m afraid, given the circumstances, Mike is going to have to help himself.”
32
Hope and Juliette
Each day after breakfast, Hope followed Juliette back to her tower apartment for her enchanter training. She wondered how they would develop enough music to support all of the acts in Metamorphosis in only four weeks. Juliette didn’t seem concerned, and Hope worried it was because she wanted Hope to fail.
As usual, before Juliette even reached the door, one of her servants opened it for her, as if the woman had been waiting there, standing at attention. Hope wasn’t surprised. Juliette ruled her corner of Revelations with a tight fist and a sharp tongue.
Juliette’s apartment was acutely Victorian, all gilded mirrors and feathered shades. There wasn’t a patch of wall or table that hadn’t been decorated in some way. An antique trinket rested on every bare surface. Juliette didn’t give the opulence a second glance as she navigated the foyer and sitting room to pause at a window overlooking the gardens.
Hope wasn’t certain if Juliette’s perpetually stiff posture was due to the whalebone corset she insisted on wearing or the proverbial stick she acted like she had up her butt. The woman was awful. Critical. Petty.
And Hope’s best bet for solving the mystery of the lost souls.
“You’ll never be ready on time,” Juliette said toward the glass.
“Tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it.”
Juliette pursed her lips and gazed down her nose at Hope. “When last we met, we addressed the topic of control. Today we continue that lesson. It is important that you be able to split your illusion between multiple listeners. You may find yourself with a need to have the guests on stage right see something entirely different from those on stage left.”
“Why would we want part of the audience to see a different performance?”
With a look of annoyance, Juliette smoothed the side of her hair. “If you must know, accidents have been known to happen. At times it is simpler to disguise the error than correct or hide it. For example, if a performer breaks their leg by falling from a great height, those nearest the stage might hear the snap. You cannot undo the sound of the breaking bone. It would be better to show them the bone’s magical healing as if it were part of the act. On the other hand, if possible, we always conceal the break. Splitting the illusion is necessary, if and when we must improvise.”
Hope swallowed, her lips rolling together before she hazarded her next question. “It sounds like you have experience with this scenario. How often do students get hurt during the show? Do you expect someone to get hurt?”
Juliette’s prim-and-proper demeanor morphed into something darker, something cruel, eyebrows peaking in mock surprise. “Are you asking about young Michael? What did you think would happen when he had to take your place so unexpectedly?”
The words struck like a snakebite, knocking Hope back a step. Was Juliette accusing her of being at fault for Mike’s precarious position?
“As an enchanter, you see what no one else sees. Even the performance architect is blissfully ignorant of the reality on the stage behind her. An enchanter’s voice is a cosmetic to cover every blemish. As my apprentice, you need to know that, yes, students get hurt—seriously injured. It’s your job to make sure no one else knows it.”
“How seriously injured? The brochure for Revelations said the school has never had a serious accident.”
“Oh, don’t concern yourself, dear. We haven’t lost one yet.” Her eyes darted toward the window and she lowered her voice. “They all end up exactly where they’re supposed to be.”
Hope’s skin prickled, her gut tightening ominously as if she were in the presence of evil. Was Juliette human or demon? She focused her abilities, dropping her consciousness into the purest part of herself. Breathing deeply, she smelled perfume and powder and an undercurrent of malice, but not the arsenic-sweet stench she’d been taught was demon or fallen angel. She came out of her power sure that, although Juliette had a dark soul, she was human. Still, the disclosure that the enchanter had hidden serious accidents in the past worried Hope. Juliette had confirmed that Mike was in real danger.
“Howard? Gertrude?” Juliette called to her servants. “Please join us. Hope needs to practice on someone.”
The two redheaded servants jogged into the room and took a seat on a teal camelback sofa.
“Enough talk. Produce a juggler for Gertrude and a dog for Howard. I must see both illusions. Do it now.” Juliette lowered herself onto a firm chair near the sofa.
Hope straightened, clutched one hand in the other, and began to sing.
33
A New Plan
I need to talk to you,” Hope said, charging into their room after class. Rain pelted the window, and the sky outside was a dark gray color.
Finn leaned over and turned on the lamp. “Talk.”
Hope floundered for the right words. “Juliette implied today that she expects Mike to be seriously injured during the show. As enchanter, she plans for me to cover it up so the audience doesn’t see it. She’s done this before. The way she talks, it’s part of our role.”
“I think Juliette and Kirsa want a tragedy. Kirsa thought she’d be the next enchanter, and Juliette assumed it would be years before she’d be ousted from her position.”
“If Mike dies in front of a live audience, it would be a way for both of them to get their revenge against Ms. D and the school. Revelations’ first death,” Hope said. An icy-cold ripple cut through her system. “And if they find a way to frame me for it, they’ll both get what they want.”
“Do you think they would do that?” Finn asked.
“I don’t know if they’d be bold enough to go that far, but Juliette has been abrasive since the moment I joined her troupe. It’s like she’s setting me up to fail, Finn. The only consistent message I get from her is that I won’t be ready in time for the performance. And did you see Kirsa’s face? She said straight out that her intent was to drown Mike and resurrect him.”
�
�We have to do something,” Finn said.
Hope sighed. “We need help. We need a friend.” It pained her to admit it, but she regretted more than ever not visiting the Immortals before coming to Revelations. She’d thought she could handle whatever came her way. She was wrong.
“You’re talking about the note. You want to go to Murder Mountain.”
“We have to go. Maybe this stranger can help, or at least get word to someone outside the school about what’s going on here. Maybe they can stop the performance.”
Finn toyed with the side of his shoe, quietly contemplative.
“Oh my gosh, Finn. You don’t want the show to be stopped.”
“I’m afraid for Mike. We have to help Mike. But the show must go on. The problem isn’t Revelations, it’s Kirsa.”
“After what happened with Amanda and Paul and how badly Mike was beat up today, how could you believe this school isn’t dangerous? A school with no academic classes, where children can’t speak to their parents, and medication is lost and never replaced. A school with a hive under its floor and clowns that are doing God knows what in the basement. This place isn’t a school—it’s a work camp, a circus of child slaves performing for profit. Someone needs to put an end to it, Finn, permanently. Whatever they did to Paul and Amanda, it isn’t right. Can’t you see that this place is like a cult? Yes, they change you, but at what cost?” Hope stared at him incredulously. What had he become? Why was he buying into the bullshit?
Finn took a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks. “Before this island, the only thing keeping me from having my face rubbed in the dirt on a daily basis was Mike. He protected me. And my special ability, if you could call it that, was cruising under the radar. I was practically invisible. I was a geeky lightweight with a YouTube channel where I played stupid pranks on other people to make me feel better about myself. Just a scrawny kid with no mom and nothing going for him besides a rich dad.”