by Ryan Decaria
Boulsour’s eyes drooped.
“They’re up to something. They’re the bad guys.”
He reached over and took the keys out of the ignition.
“Come on. We have to stop them.”
Nothing.
Anika tried to open her door, but it hit the wall after two inches. She couldn’t get out. She tried to climb over him and open his door, but he pushed her back.
“Dude!”
He folded his oafish arms.
Anika fumed.
After a few minutes, the shady men returned and, after looking around, entered the school, and slammed the door shut.
After a few more minutes, Boulsour opened his door and started the process of climbing out of the car. Anika checked her phone. Missed calls from Jackie, Misty, Yoko, Margery, Billie, Hawking, and her father. She’d have to deal with some of them soon.
Boulsour finally made it out and Anika climbed out after him. She followed him across the field, jogging to keep up with his long gait. As they neared the tree line, Anika could see several mounds in the brush. As they got closer, she could make them out.
Fresh meat. Likely flanks of beef or lamb, still bloody, left a trail from the river to the school.
Something burst from the brush. Boulsour leaped in front of her as an alligator snapped at the meat. Peering around Boulsour, she squinted at the animal. It was grayish and had a longer snout. Not the beast.
The brush rustled in several places. Anika staggered back. Boulsour pointed toward the school.
A dozen gators poured through the brush. A few stopped to attack a beef slab, but the rest crawled toward her.
Anika turned and sprinted toward the school, Boulsour at her heels.
The gators sped after them.
Anika tripped, her phone flying out of her hand. Boulsour grabbed her shirt and kept her on her feet, pulling her forward. Over her shoulder, Anika saw a gator snap up her phone into its toothy jaws.
She kept running.
A gator snapped at her heels. Boulsour brought his massive fist down on its snout, sending it tumbling across the grass.
Anika ran on, glancing over her shoulder.
Boulsour turned to battle the gators.
He smacked two with broad swings of his fists. He grabbed another two by their tails and flung them back toward the river.
Three skirted around him, still after Anika.
She rounded the dumpster and dove into the car, pulling the door closed. The gators slammed into the side of the car.
Boulsour was on them, knocking the gators away. They ran off.
He opened the door and squeezed in, handing her the keys.
Anika begged Boulsour to action. They needed to fence off the school ground so the alligators couldn’t attack during the day. She needed to let her friends know she was okay. She needed a new phone, and money. Lots of money. She didn’t explain why she needed the money, and he didn’t ask.
Boulsour drove her straight home, in spite of her protests, set her on the porch, locked the gate behind him, and drove away.
Anika was stuck and had no way to contact her friends, other than a flashlight out her window and smoke signals. They probably thought she was knee deep in swamp water if they were tracking her phone, which, knowing Linh, they were doing. They probably thought she was dead.
She could probably scale the fence with minimal injury, but then she’d have no protection if any gators showed up, which was highly probable and terrifying. She closed her eyes for a moment.
When Anika dreamed at night, it wasn’t her father who came for her. Nor Agent Macy with a vicious hook for a hand. Nor guards with guns, labcoats in gas masks, or insect monsters. It was always the alligator with a scar on the side of its toothy face.
Her eyes fluttered open.
That alligator was a marvel. Perhaps Dravovitch’s lab’s greatest accomplishment they knew nothing about. Left alone, the alligator would cause a disruption to the town and to the surrounding ecosystem. Worse, what if he procreated and his spawn had the same abilities? She had to find a way to stop the beast for good, even if that meant killing it.
Even on her porch, behind the huge iron gate, Anika felt vulnerable and shivered in the warm breeze. Her friends didn’t do a drive by to see if she was home. After a half-hour or so, Anika gave up and went inside, locked the door, and worked on plans to capture Blake’s dad.
When Boulsour showed up in the morning to take her to school, he handed her a bag with five different cell phones, a bottle of Pepto Bismol, and two thick stacks of hundred-dollar bills.
“Did you at least tell my father about the principal?”
His eyes drooped.
“Well, great.” No one knew anything about a swarm of gators running loose or the hairy-lipped threat at the school.
Boulsour was her chauffeur, her driving instructor, her protector, and she considered him a friend. Still, she didn’t know if she could trust him. Not about the matter of her father’s imminent betrayal, which made her want to pull out the F word.
Maybe he was doing exactly what he was supposed to do.
She had no flunking clue!
There it was.
Language, Anika.
She stomped to his Mini and opened the door for herself. She didn’t speak to him on the way to school. Even the thrill of his driving was wearing thin.
As they approached, Anika noted new orange webbed fencing protecting the schoolyard from the river and swamp beyond. Boulsour had likely done it himself, which probably took most of the night. He swung into the lot and stared ahead, his hands still tense on the steering wheel.
She got out and walked around to the driver side. Boulsour struggled to turn his head far enough to look up at her. He rolled down the window, and Anika leaned in and kissed him on his forehead.
“Thank you.”
Boulsour smelled of ginger and honey. And a little like death.
“I know you’re doing everything you can to protect me, and I’m grateful.”
His lips didn’t move. His pupils didn’t waver.
Anika stepped back, and Boulsour gunned his tiny car out of the parking lot. She tracked the Mini until he whipped around the corner. Moreau High loomed behind her. Inside those walls waited an entirely different danger, and Boulsour didn’t stick around to save her.
What had Principal Esposito said to her on her first day at Moreau High? “I can’t protect you from him.” It seemed that Esposito was trying to protect her from other things, but he didn’t do a great job of it. Wherever Esposito ended up, his protection efforts for the school was likely gone as well. One thing Anika was sure of, in this town, no one got to walk away.
She feared Esposito had met a grizzly end like so many before him.
Even knowing the dangers, Anika headed into the school. Her friends would be worried and angry, but she needed to let them know she was okay. Plus, she had plans to put into motion. The details were mostly complete, but she needed Hawking and the physics team to put it all together.
As Anika walked through the doors, Billie squealed, sprinted toward her, and grappled her, nearly knocking them both to the ground. “You’re alive!”
Her friends emptied the benches, relief washing across troubled faces. Jackie, Misty, Yoko swarmed them, joining the group bear hug. Hawking took a moment to stuff a few electronic devices into his leather satchel before joining in. Linh abstained, as usual, but she actually looked up from her laptop and smiled. Sasha wasn’t with them.
“What happened?” Misty asked when they finally let go and gave her a little breathing room.
Hawking ran one hand through his curly fauxhawk and kept grabbing her shoulder with the other like she might teleport away at any moment. His horn-rimmed glasses were tucked into his silky purple shirt which had an intricate tribal pattern running asymmetrically down his arms. “Your phone signal finally gave out in the middle of the swamp.”
“We had all my drones out searching for you.” Yoko
took Anika’s hand and squeezed a little too hard. “Not all of them made it back.”
“Pankina told us they rushed you to the lab,” Misty said. “We called over and over, but the secretary kept saying she wasn’t authorized to tell us anything.”
“We tried your phone a million times, too.” Billie ran a hand through Anika’s hair. Attempting to straighten it or to make it messier? Anika could never quite tell. “But you never answered.”
Anika inspected the office doors. Pankina wasn’t standing guard, which was good because Anika didn’t want anything to do with that vile woman. She couldn’t confront her. Not yet.
“I couldn’t find out anything at work.” Jackie placed her hands on her hips, her teal cinch top showing more cleavage than was probably allowed at school. Anika doubted anyone would try to have that conversation with Miss Sassypants. “Doctor Soren was wrecked. Your dad was unavailable the whole night.”
Misty frowned. “We thought you finally got kidnapped.”
Billie grinned. “Or murdered.”
Anika couldn’t help but smile. They finally let her go, and Anika headed for the nurse’s station. “Come on. We have a lot to cover.”
Jackie punched her arm. “Why didn’t you let us know you were okay?”
“Yeah.” Billie punched her other arm.
Anika held the door as her friends piled inside. “An alligator ate my phone.”
“What?” Jackie and Billie cried out.
Anika closed the door behind them and relayed the events of last night. She handed Linh the bag of phones. “Boulsour gave me these. Can you pick one for me and make sure it hasn’t been tampered with?”
Linh took the bag and swam a finger around the contents. “Yuppers.”
“It’s been Pankina the whole time,” Anika said. “She tried to kidnap me.”
“The history teacher?” Misty asked.
“She’s dangerous. You guys can’t ever leave me alone with her.”
Jackie harrumphed. “She told us you were hallucinating.”
“I blacked out, but not before I got a look at her thugs. They were the same guys I saw last night, feeding the alligators.”
After a moment of silence, Jackie spoke up. “What do we do now?”
“We have to figure out what she’s up to.” Anika turned toward the whiteboard. “But that’s not even our most pressing issue. I finally figured out how to save Blake’s father.”
“Anika,” Yoko said, “we think Sasha is right. It’s too dangerous.”
“It won’t be if Sasha is with us.” Anika picked up a marker. “Has anyone seen her?”
“She went into the swamp looking for you.” Hawking balanced his phone, a tablet, and a Switch in his hands, somehow operating all at once. “She didn’t come to school today.”
“We have to split up.” Billie vaulted out of her seat. “Misty and I will handle Pankina.”
Anika frowned. “Billie, you need to lie low.”
“Nonsense.” Billie waved her off. “I have an idea. She won’t suspect a thing.”
Anika hesitated. If Billie’s identity was discovered, she could end up in serious trouble. “Are you sure?”
“We got this.” Billie grabbed Linh’s hand. “I’ll need you, too.”
Yoko popped up, mouth open ready to object.
“Relax,” Billie said. “I’ll bring her back in one piece.”
Yoko’s overprotectiveness of Linh was a little worrisome. The two girls had been friends for way longer than the town of Moreau existed. Something special was going on in Linh’s head, allowing her to, well, Anika wasn’t sure what she could do. She seemed stable and highly functioning, but Yoko was always by her side, keeping her steady. Anika would have to look into that later if she could find time.
“Be wary,” Anika said. “Pankina’s up to something, I know it.”
“We got it,” Linh barked, flashing some kind of gang sign. Billie had a way of bringing out the best in people.
Misty put her arms around the two girls and aimed them out the door. “You need anything else, let us know.”
Yoko’s mouth finally snapped shut, and she sat back down.
Now to put her plan into action.
Anika would have preferred Billie sitting this one out. Going after Blake’s dad was dangerous, even with Sasha along. Still, Anika needed a driver, and Billie had experience driving a big rig. The fact that it was stolen at the time was irrelevant.
Anika snatched Hawking’s Switch away from him and set it on the counter. He stared at his hand like she’d taken a finger. “Hey.”
She replaced it with a stack of paperwork from her backpack. “These are some rough schematics I drew up last night. I made at least fifteen revisions, but I think it’s close. I need you and the physics club to do the math. Make it better. Make it work. I’ll figure out how to actually build it later.”
Hawking inspected her work, scratching notes in the margins. His parents were the only ones out of this group who didn’t work at the lab. Instead, they ran the mortuary. He flipped the last page and inspected the back side. “We could build this, easy.”
“Only the kids you trust,” Anika added.
Hawking started over, scratching through Anika’s blueprint wherever he didn’t like something. “Got it.”
Anika handed Jackie a list of supplies. “We need someone to go shopping.”
Jackie read over the list and raised an eyebrow. “This won’t be cheap.”
“Right? You’re going to love this.” Anika fished out the cash and dropped it on the desk. “Cash is not a problem.”
Jackie grabbed a stack of bills and flipped through it. “Hot tamales.”
She handed Yoko a schematic of an automatic trap door mechanism. Well, a stick-figure schematic. Mostly chicken scratches. “I need you to make this happen.”
Yoko rotated the paper a few times before smiling at Anika. “You need me?”
“Yes.” Anika said. “Especially you. I need the doors to slam closed as soon as possible. I don’t trust anyone else.”
Yoko beamed.
“But we don’t have much time,” Anika continued. “I need the information as soon as you can get it, so we can get it all put together.”
Her crew nodded.
Her crew.
Anika never imagined having a crew or even needing one, but here she was, planning another heist. “We need Sasha. When will she be back?”
Hawking stuffed his electronics and Anika’s notes in his satchel. Except for his tablet, which had some kind of diagnostic readings open. “I can find her.”
Anika put her hands behind her neck. She owed Sasha her life more than a few times over. “Does she hate me?”
“She’s furious,” Hawking said, “and I don’t blame her.”
Jackie straightened the stack of money. “I don’t either.”
“She doesn’t hate you.” Hawking slung his satchel over his shoulder. “But I don’t think she’s going to help you with this.”
“Please,” Anika pleaded. “I don’t think I can pull this off without her.”
Hawking frowned. “You know your plans have a way of getting us into trouble?”
“I had nothing else to do last night. No phone, no internet, and no transportation. I looped through the events in my head until one iteration finally worked consistently.”
“You’re a strange woman.” Hawking opened the door. “I’ll go find Sasha and convince her to help.”
“Thanks.”
“How are you going to locate Sasha?” Jackie asked. “You can’t call her, dummy.”
“It’s easy.” He held up the tablet. “I check the levels on the power grid. Linh secured me backdoor access into their system. I follow the fluctuations.”
Jackie scrunched up her face, which turned a shade reddish. “So, what? You two are a thing now?”
Hawking shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe.”
“She can’t give you her heart,” Jackie said. “She doesn
’t have one.”
“At least she’s honest with me.” Hawking left, slamming the door behind him.
Jackie covered her mouth with her hands, tears forming in her big brown eyes. Yoko sat with her mouth wide open, staring at Jackie.
Anika didn’t have time for any of that. She turned toward the whiteboard. “Okay, ladies. Ready to steal a monster?”
Anika eyed Billie suspiciously every time she interrupted Ms. Bolton and Misty’s intimate discussion of Romeo and Juliet.
Of all the oddities in this school, somehow Ms. Bolton’s fixation on Misty was the creepiest. As far as Anika knew, Ms. Bolton had no contact with Misty at any other time besides during class, but during class other students barely existed. In another school in another town, she’d have reported it, but with all the chaos, the students had other things to worry about.
Except today. Billie increasingly forced her way into the duo’s conversation. The other students perked up, obviously curious what bit of mischief she would bring to the table. Claire pulled the earbuds out of her ears and sat up straight.
Ms. Bolton’s face grew a little more colorful at each interruption and Billie matched it with a flippant carelessness that was as calculated as Anika’s own schemes. Misty played along perfectly, tossing out oddball counter positions, each causing Ms. Bolton to adjust her line of questioning. Ms. Bolton was after something, but Anika couldn’t understand what she was doing.
The girls had a plan, though they didn’t care to share it. Linh had helped them hide a tiny camera in a button, but no matter how hard Anika tried to press them, they kept it secret. They also noted Anika now knew how they felt half the time.
Touché.
“I’m curious.” Ms. Bolton stood up and walked around her desk, fixing the waistband on her tweed skirt. She sat on the corner of her desk and flipped her golden locks over her shoulder. “What would you have done?”
Misty cocked her head and played with her hair flippantly. “I would simply…”
“I would have knocked his teeth in,” Billie interrupted.
Ms. Bolton slapped her hands together. “I don’t know how it is in your country, but in my class, you will show a little respect to your classmates.”