by G. Bailey
We’ve barely even made it to the curb when a great, thundering rumble emits from the building. I turn around just in time to see it give a last shudder before the whole convention center collapses in a heap of rubble. All any of us can do is stare in horror.
I feel numb as I sit at the kitchen table back in our suite, my head in my hands. I’m filthy, still in my torn and rumpled uniform. Some of the others have showered and changed, but I can’t bring myself to do anything other than stare into the distance, the tears on my face stinging my eyes along with the coating of dirt and grime. Hazel and the twins have gone back to their room to clean up, leaving me and the guys in our suite, trying to process what happened.
None of us says anything; we’re all standing around the common area, listening to the broadcast on the TV.
“...Tragedy struck this morning when an occult convention being held in downtown Boston was attacked in what authorities are calling a terrorist bombing. The current death toll is around 79, including several faculty members of a nearby boarding school, as well as six international businessmen. The conference, which was advertised as a “by invitation only gathering of supernatural enthusiasts from around the world”, was the first of its kind, and has been surrounded in secrecy ever since its announcement. Authorities have not released a motive, and no known group has yet taken responsibility for the attack. The story is unfolding.”
Landon shakes his head and mutes the TV. “This is unreal.”
None of the others speak immediately, until finally Silas asks, “Does anyone know if Josie made it out?”
Shade snorts dryly. “You think she would’ve? The whole ceiling came down on her.”
“Hey,” Hunter snaps, glaring at the wolf shifter, “don’t talk like that.”
“What? I’m just being realistic!”
“You’re not helping.”
“Guys, stop,” I tell them weakly, lifting my head with great effort. They all turn to look at me, and I can feel fresh tears welling up in my eyes. “She got buried saving me,” I murmur, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Boots,” Silas says, moving over to me, “that wasn’t your fault.”
“Oh, it wasn’t?” I turn to stare at him incredulously. “I lost my form. If I’d been able to hold it, she’d still be alive right now.”
“You don’t know that.” But there’s doubt in his eyes.
I can feel myself getting choked up, and I squeeze my eyes shut, shaking my head. “This feels like a bad dream.”
“Well, what the fuck was that?” Landon asks. “They were humans, that was for sure. Some kind of extremist group?”
“It has to be,” replies Hunter. “This is what we get for publicising the conference. I guess we should have known it was going to happen.”
“But why?” I ask, running a hand through my hair. “I mean, I thought the point of all this was to find a peaceful solution.”
“I guess the humans didn’t get that message,” Shade remarks.
We all look up at the sound of a knock on the door, and Silas gets up to answer it. Standing behind it are two men dressed in the uniform of the American Academy; their eyes are dark and their expressions serious. “Is everything all right?” Silas asks.
The two men look at each other. “As a matter of fact, it’s not,” the first one says, before nodding to the other. “Count them. Make sure they’re all here.”
“Wait a minute-” begins Landon, but the men are already forcing their way inside, taking note of all of us, watching them incredulously.
The second man nods after a moment. “Yes,” he says. “They’re all here.”
“Excellent,” says the first. “We’re on first watch.”
“What the hell is going on?” Shade demands, crossing his arms. “What are you guys doing in our room?”
The second man turns to him. “The five of you are being restricted to your dorm until further notice. Effective immediately, on orders of President Hawthorne.”
Chapter 18
For a moment, all any of us can do is stare at them. Shade is the first one to speak up. “What the fuck do you mean, on orders of President Hawthorne?!”
“Yeah,” Silas adds, taking a step closer to them, “what the hell is going on? What about the rest of the Academy students? And why does it matter if we’re in our rooms or not?”
The two men look at each other, and I can see the wheels turning in their heads; I know that look—it’s a look that says they’re debating whether to tell us the truth or not. These aren’t the decision-makers, they’re the cronies, and that doesn’t bode well for us. These orders came from the top, and I suspect, if the American Academy is involved, that Hawthorne wasn’t the only one giving them out.
The first man sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Listen,” he says, “it’s really not our place to discuss this.”
“Like hell it’s not,” Landon pipes up. “If we’re being put on lockdown again, it had better be for a good reason. Is the school in danger? Is that it? Do they think another attack like the one that happened at the convention center is going to happen here?”
“There… is a possibility,” admits the second man. “This sort of thing has never happened before, not with so many shifters in one place.”
“So it was an extremist group, then,” Landon confirms, crossing his arms. “That’s just great.”
The second man nods grimly. “The humans are lashing out. Somebody in the know organized this. We can’t say more—we don’t really even know more, to be honest, other than the fact that-”
But the first man elbows him, shutting him up. “Confidential,” he hisses, and Hunter and I look at each other.
“Well, what about the other students here?” I ask, stepping forward. “The kids across the hall - Hazel, Ruby, and Xander. Can we see them? Wouldn’t it be enough to just restrict us to the school grounds?”
“That’s not possible,” the first man replies.
“Why not?”
He heaves a sigh, exchanging another glance with his partner. “There is a schoolwide lockdown in place, that’s correct,” he replies. “The witches already have plans in place to expedite travel back to the U.K. campus. That doesn’t apply to you five, however.”
I could swear I feel my heart stop in my chest. Now isn’t the time for us to be getting “special treatment” from the Academy, especially in the aftermath of what we overheard being discussed by the school board. “Why?” I ask in a weak voice. “Are we in trouble or something?” I’m not even sure why I bother to ask the question; some part of me deep down already knows the answer, and one look at the other guys is enough to tell me they do, too.
“It’s not that,” the second man, clearly the more sympathetic of the two replies. “You’ve been… selected. All five of you. In the aftermath of the attack, the school board called an emergency vote—they’ve decided that drastic measures are necessary in light of what happened at the convention center.”
“The experiments,” Silas murmurs, his voice barely above a whisper. “They’re going to restart the experiments again. That’s why you’re isolating us. That’s why you’re sending the others home, but not us. We’re not on lockdown - we’re prisoners.” It’s not a question, and the looks on the men’s faces are enough to confirm as much.
“I’m sorry,” says the second man. “Really. We don’t like doing this, but the decision has already been made. The five of you are to remain here until arrangements can be made to take you to a special testing facility.”
“What? No!” Hunter cried, pushing forward. “This isn’t legal! My dad is a board member. If he knew about this, he wouldn’t-”
“I’m afraid your father was out-voted,” replies the first man coolly. “This is an urgent situation, and it sure as hell isn’t normal. We’re under orders to make sure the five of you are transported securely without causing a disturbance to the rest of the students. We’re going to be stationed outside your room, and we would strongly
advise you not to make a scene. This will be much easier for all of us if we can-”
“Bullshit,” exclaims Shade. “You can’t just trap us here! We’ll fight our way out if we have to. There’s no way in hell I’m going to let you use us as guinea pigs.”
The first man gives a heavy sigh, as if he was expecting this, and moments later, he’s pulling something out of his pocket—it looks like a normal stone from a distance, but when he places it on the floor, it begins to glow, a rune-like shape carved into its surface lighting it up with a red glow. “I’m really sorry that we have to do this,” he says, “but believe me, this is for your own good - and the good of the shifter community.”
“What the hell is that?” I demand, pointing at the stone on the floor.
Hunter groans. “I’ve seen one of these before. It’s a charm - probably enchanted by a witch, if I had to guess.”
“You would be correct,” says the first man. “It’s a ward, and it’s been charmed to keep the five of you from accessing your shifter abilities.”
“Are you serious?!” Landon demands. “This is insanity!”
“A violent reaction isn’t something the Academy wants to risk,” the second man explains. “We’re sorry, but this is the only way to keep the situation from getting out of hand. Please don’t touch the rune; it will only hurt you if you try to destroy it. As soon as you’ve all been safely brought to the testing facility, we’ll have it deactivated by one of the resident witches.”
“Fuck you!” yells Shade, lunging forward, and I can see he’s trying to access his form, but it’s no use; the stone gives out a pulse of red light, and in spite of his best efforts, nothing happens. The wolf shifter stares down at his hands in disbelief, his grey eyes wide, before leveling an angry, betrayed gaze at the newcomers.
“Someone will be by shortly to bring you your dinner,” the first man says, his tone businesslike and his expression verging on smug. “I would advise you all to save your energy; you’ll probably need it for what’s coming.” He nods at the second man, who shoots us a regretful look over his shoulder, and then the two men make their way down the hall and to the door. I hear the sound of it opening and closing, followed by the muffled noise of their conversation resuming once they’re outside. They’re settling down in the hallway, guards for a dorm room that has now become a jail cell.
“This is fucked up,” Landon mutters, kicking a chair and rubbing a hand across his forehead. “This is so fucked up.”
“You’re telling me,” Silas replies dryly. “I’m only just now getting my dragon form back, and they’re about to ship us off to have our powers drained. Again.”
“They’re sure as hell not,” snaps Shade. “I’m getting out of here. I’m not about to let them turn me into a test subject.”
“Good luck with that,” Hunter replies, snorting. “How are you going to leave, exactly? We’ve got to be more than fifty feet up. You couldn’t make that drop if you tried.”
“It has to be better than getting tortured to death in a lab somewhere,” the wolf shifter fires back.
I slump into a chair, feeling like the world is collapsing around me. Is this how it’s going to end, with us waiting to get carted away to some underground bunker, never to see the light of day again? The thought of it is enough to bring tears to my eyes, and I wipe them feverishly with my sleeve, ashamed of myself. It’s all too much, and some half-mad part of me wonders if maybe Shade has a point, if I shouldn’t just throw myself off the balcony and hope for the best? At least then Hawthorne wouldn’t have the satisfaction of knowing he got the best of me, got the best of us. At least then they wouldn’t be able to use me to hurt anymore shifters. But even as I think about it, I know I can’t do it; I don’t have it in me, and in spite of his bravado, I’m pretty sure Shade doesn’t have it in him, either.
“I can’t believe the board voted in favour of this,” Hunter mutters, running a hand through his hair. “Why the hell would they do that? I know the politicians are human, but the school board is mostly shifters. Why would they just sign away our rights like that?”
“They probably felt like they didn’t have a choice,” Silas replies, sighing. “If humans were willing to destroy a convention center full of innocent people, then they sure as hell won’t have any qualms with coming after the Academy, if it comes to that. They probably figure this is the only compromise that won’t lead to even more death.”
“That’s such bullshit,” Shade mutters. He has his arms crossed over his chest and is pacing back and forth by the windows. “The whole point of this damn conference in the first place was figuring out a way to put a stop to this without more people getting hurt.”
“Yeah,” Landon agrees, “but that was before a bunch of military types attacked us point-blank. They’re scared—we all are.”
“So what now, then?” Hunter asks, sitting back in his chair. “We can’t just wait for them to come take us, can we?”
“What choice do we have?” Landon demands. I watch as he rolls his shoulders, closes his eyes, and tries desperately to get into his siren form, but nothing happens, even as he strains. The stone on the floor flares a bright red, and when Silas moves to pick it up, he lunges away from it, cradling his hand and letting out a hiss.
“Are you okay?” I ask, eyes wide.
“It burns,” he replies, examining his hand. “It’s like it knows who we are.”
“Damn it,” I mutter, putting my head in my hands. I can feel the tears coming, and I’m hopeless to stop them. As much as I don’t want to look weak in front of the others, I can’t help it. Here I was, finally having found a place—a family—and now the same people who made me what I am are trying to take it all away from me. Slowly, I raise my head and look around at the faces assembled in the dorm room: Silas, Landon, Shade, and Hunter, these guys I’ve come to know so quickly, so honestly, in spite of everything that makes us different. We’re the same, in the end, we’re on the same side, and I…
I love them; I realise with a start. The revelation is so sudden and so strong that it’s nearly enough to knock me out of my seat, my eyes going wide and a warmth flooding my chest. Holy shit, I actually love them. Not like, but love.
It feels so simple, and yet so powerful. Maybe it’s a truth I’ve known for a long time, but been afraid to admit to myself. But now, in the face of torture and death, in the face of losing these guys to Hawthorne’s treachery, it’s become as unavoidable as it is magnificent. It doesn’t matter that I feel this way about all of them. It doesn’t matter that our connection comes from an unethical experiment. It doesn’t matter what the future holds.
I love them, and no matter what Hawthorne might have to say about it, no matter what ugly ways he has of trying to bend us to his will, I’m not going to lose them. Not now.
Chapter 19
I sit in silence, the wheels in my head turning, as the others continue to debate our current situation. I feel strangely calm all of a sudden, like the newfound revelation has brought with it a sense of security I didn’t even know I was missing until just now. I have to remind myself that we’re not out of the woods yet; nothing has actually changed and now isn’t the time to get complacent. It’s one thing to promise yourself you’re going to do something, and it’s another entirely to actually do it.
“So what do we do, then?” Hunter asks, crossing his arms. “I’m not about to just sit here and wait for them to come take me away.” None of the guys seem to have noticed my sudden change in demeanor, which is fine by me; there will be time to talk about our relationship - to talk about everything - but that time isn’t now.
“All right,” Silas says, running a hand through his brown hair, “we need to think. We can’t use our powers to get out, so what can we do?”
“Maybe we should just bite the bullet,” Shade suggests. “We can just pick the damn thing out and chuck it out the window. Hope for the best.”
“Forgive me for not wanting to touch that thing,” Landon repli
es. “For all we know, holding onto it for that long will kill us.”
“Okay, fine,” Shade says. “Let’s go out on the balcony and pretend we’re going to jump. I say, they want to run tests on us, we might as well make them work for it.”
“And what the hell is that going to accomplish?” Hunter asked, exasperated. “Other than making them more pissed off at us.”
“Listen, I’m open to suggestions here,” Shade snapped. “I don’t hear you guys getting any bright ideas.”
“What about Hazel and the twins?” I ask, lifting my head. The others turn to look at me as if they’ve forgotten that I’m here. “I mean, they’re in the next room over. Maybe they can get us out of here.”
“I don’t like their odds, even if it would be three against one,” Silas admits. “I don’t like any of our odds against those guards, actually. We’re students, and they’re not. They have the upper hand. Besides, for all we know, the Academy has already moved them out. They’re trying to isolate us, and so far, it’s working.”
“All right,” I say, sighing and putting a hand up. “You have a point. We can’t depend on them breaking us out, so we’re going to have to break ourselves out.” I purse my lips, brow furrowing as I look around the room. There has to be a way out of this, there has to be… And then, in an instant, an idea comes to me. “Wait,” I exclaim, standing up. “We don’t have to use our powers!”
“What are you talking about?” Hunter asks incredulously. “How are we supposed to beat them if we can’t shapeshift?”
“We do it the old-fashioned way,” I reply, giving him a crooked smile. “We fake an emergency, get them to come in here, and then we jump them. If we can hit them with something, knock them out…”
“That’s… not a bad idea, actually,” Landon admits, crossing his arms. “We just need long enough to get out of range of that charm. Then we can find Hazel and the others and high-tail it the hell out of here.”