The Culling (Book 1): Splinter Skill

by Bell, A. C.

  The shwash of the toilet drew my attention back to the room and the mechanism in the bathroom door knob clanged loudly in the silence as Nikki pulled it open. Dressed in flannel and cotton, Nikki pulled her covers back and nestled comfortably inside her maroon cocoon.

  “Nikki?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “What?” She rolled onto her side to look at me. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, is everything good with you? You’ve been kind of quiet and jumpy lately.”

  “Have I? I haven’t noticed. Everything is fine, though. Why wouldn’t it be?” She frowned, her eyebrows pinched in confusion.

  “I don’t know. Just a feeling I have,” I said. She didn’t respond. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

  “Of course.” She laughed. “What’s with you?”

  I let out a slow breath through my nose and rolled onto my back. “Maybe I’m just tired.”

  “Get some sleep. You have less than eight hours left before you have to wake back up for class,” she teased. “You know, you won’t be able to do that once you’re in the academy.”

  I laughed. “Shut up, don’t remind me.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Maybe you should move to Alaska. I hear it’s night there almost all day during the winter. You could hibernate with polar bears.”

  “And what about the other half of the year when it’s sunny almost all day?” I asked.

  “There is just no pleasing you, is there?” We laughed and she leaned over to tug on the lamp string.

  ***

  I pulled my mythology paper from the printer and began searching for the stapler. Not finding it anywhere on the desk, I rifled through the drawers on my side. My file jacket, the Viesci journal, and a hole-punch, but no stapler. I started searching Nikki's drawers. At the sight of the disorganized stack of papers on top, I absently wondered how Nikki could find anything in here. I bundled them to pull them out when something slipped from the middle of the stack and clunked loudly back into the drawer. It was the same white paper bag Nikki had returned with the night before. Compelled by curiosity, I set the papers aside and picked up the bag. Whatever was inside was way heavier than a box of Neosporin ought to be. There was no pharmacy symbol on the bag, either. I started to open it, but hesitated. Snooping through Nikki's things wasn't cool.

  I put it back and resumed my search for the stapler and found it in Nikki's other drawer. With my assignment put together, I stuffed it into a folder in my backpack and strode over to my bed and tried to distracted myself by starting to read Frankenstein. My glance kept finding its way back to the drawer, though. I picked my phone up off the nightstand and called Justin.

  “Yeah?” he answered.

  "Hey, Justin," I greeted, grabbing a pen from the desk and clicking it repeatedly as I paced the room. "Do you have a minute?"

  "Yeah, we’re on break, so I have a few."

  "Is Nikki around?"

  He laughed. "She left her phone at your dorm again, huh? She went to grab lunch, but she’ll be back soon. I’ll have her call you."

  "No. Well, yes, she did, but, I, uh... wanted to talk to you."

  "Oh. Is everything okay? You sound nervous."

  "Well, um, it's probably nothing, but... have you noticed anything else about Nikki? Any odd behavior? Not just being secretive, but has she been jumpy or anything?" Justin didn't answer, an uneasy silence crawling through the phone. "Justin?"

  "You've noticed it, too?" His voice was quieter, now.

  "Yeah. I asked her about it last night but she says nothing’s wrong."

  I heard him take a deep breath. “This morning she practically had a heart attack when I hugged her from behind. She used to love that.”

  I detected a sad note in his voice and frowned. “Yeah, she’s always liked a good startle. She always drags me to scary movies around Halloween.” I turned and sat in the creaky desk chair, rotating it restlessly.

  “You know, I don’t think I was off about her meeting a guy. I was just wrong about her motive. She’s not in love with someone, I think she’s scared of someone.”

  A knot twisted my stomach at the thought. “We need to find out.”

  “How?” he asked.

  “I don’t know yet. But keep an eye out?”

  “I will. And Adeline?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to get so angry.”

  I smiled. “It’s alright, I’m sorry for what I said, too. You have every right to talk to me about things. It’s just hard to be impartial, sometimes.” I said.

  He gave a chuckle. “I know. Thanks.” The line clicked off.

  Could someone be following her or something? It would be a lie to say it didn't gnaw at me that she hadn't confided in me about whatever was happening. My gaze wandered back to the drawer. Did it have to do with the bag? She'd been really jittery when she'd returned with it.I thought I'd just startled her, but what if Justin was right and she really was in some kind of trouble? Through our entire friendship, she'd only kept a secret from me once. If this was anything like that…

  I dug the package out. I knew what would be inside, but I hoped I was wrong. After another moment's hesitation, I reached inside, my fingers wrapping around cold metal. A gun. Nikki had a gun. It was small, only a .22, but the message it sent was clear; Nikki didn’t feel safe.

  The door opened. “Hey! We’re on break, so I came back to get my phone.” Nikki sent a greeting my way as she stuffed her I.D. back into her purse. When she saw what I was holding, she froze.

  “Why do you have this?” I asked.

  “You snooped through my stuff?” Disbelief knotted her features.

  “I wasn’t trying to when I found it. Why do you have this?” I repeated.

  “The bag just fell open and invited you to invade my privacy?”

  “Yes, I looked in the bag. I have no excuse except I was curious why you came back with it in the middle of the night,” I said. Nikki crossed her arms, refusing to look at me. “Justin thinks you’re afraid of someone.”

  “I can't do this with you,” Nikki said turning on her heel and yanked the door open again.

  “Nikki, you can't run from this!” I put the gun back and followed her to the door. She spun on me, halting my advance.

  “I have a permit for it, okay? It’s not like I bought it from a drug dealer in some dark alley. Lots of people have guns these days. Why do you always have to meddle? This has nothing to do with you, so back off!”

  I stood in stunned silence and watched her leave. Mulling over her words I decided, no, I would not back off. I jammed my feet into my sneakers and trotted after her. Nikki’s flaxen hair swayed behind her as she hurried through the lobby. She kept her head down and ducked through the front doors. Her arms crossed over her chest; uncomfortable and not wanting to be noticed. I hung back so she wouldn’t see me and then cantered to the door. As I pushed into the late afternoon sunshine, I caught sight of Raiden strutting across the pink hued grass toward Nikki. I tucked myself beside one of the spiral topiary bushes along the front of the building.

  “Nicole!”

  When she didn’t notice his approach or his call, he reached out and tapped her shoulder. A startled sound escaped her and she whirled around in a tight ball of nerves.

  “Whoa, sorry,” he said as she clasped a hand to her chest after the shock.

  “What are you doing here?” She asked. Her brows furrowed suspiciously. “Are you following me?”

  “No, sorry, I just think we should talk—”

  “I already told you, no. Stay away from me.” She turned to leave but he followed.

  “But—”

  “No!” Nikki shoved Raiden back a step and stormed off. He let her go this time. He stood there for a few moments rubbing the back of his head pensively and then headed back across the grass. I set my jaw and glared at the back of his head. What had that been about? Once he was twenty paces a
way, I trailed him. A wave of students was coming back from the parking lot after the most recent classes finished for the day.

  Raiden opened the driver door of a black sedan three spots in, but I couldn’t guess the make and model around the car beside it. I didn’t want to get closer and risk being spotted, so I sat against one of the browning birch trees that framed the lot as if I was waiting for someone. I was glad for my instincts when, instead of getting in, Raiden slammed the door shut again and leaned his back on it, facing my direction. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head, glaring down.

  He stood there for a few minutes, either thinking or—based on that door slam—trying to calm down. Was he the reason she’d bought the gun? His demeanor hadn’t been threatening, but she had definitely not wanted him around. The whole thing set my teeth on edge. Even after he left, I sat there for a bit, thinking. My stomach was still in knots when I got back to the dorm. I moved to close the drapes so I could have privacy to change and halted. A piece of paper was taped to the window.

  “The dead can’t dig,” the typesetting read. I lifted the window and tugged it off, peaking around the courtyard. No one was in sight. It occurred to me that I hadn’t been paying attention to the window all afternoon. How long had it been there? A shiver crawled up my spine.

  ***

  Part of me wondered whether Nikki had taped the note to the window. Not to scare me in revenge, but to ward me away from whatever was happening to keep me safe. But no, she had to know that something like that would just egg me on. I mean, I wanted to be a police officer; My instinct was to go toward a threat, not run away from it.

  Regardless, I was unbelievably tense at my physical that afternoon. The physician kept asking me if I was nervous and I mumbled something about a big school project. My tension was further escalated because their x-ray machine was having issues. If they couldn’t get the chest x-ray today, would I still be able to go to my ability test?

  I resisted the urge to tap my fingers on the protective gear I was holding over my gut to block radiation while the nurse looked over the x-ray. After a few minutes, the doctor finally came back. There was a strange expression on her face.

  “Have you ever been involved in any kind of accident?”

  “No, why?”

  “There’s an unusual mass on your collarbone,” she explained. The word “mass” set me immediately on alert. She set the x-ray on the lightbox on the wall and turned it on. Noting my panicked expression, she waved me down. “It doesn’t look cancerous, it looks more like metal, which is why I asked.” She pointed to my collarbone on the x-ray. About an inch of it was crisp white.

  “I swear, I’ve never had surgery like that. What else could it be?”

  “The only way to be sure would be to schedule a biopsy.”

  “Can I still go to my test later?”

  “Aside from this, you’re in perfect health. I can’t recommend that you do something so strenuous before figuring out what this is, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you.”

  True to her word, the doctor approved me for training that afternoon. There was only a dozen of us in the gym. I was bummed not to see any other women. Each of us was given a “badge” sticker to write our names on and I absent-mindedly placed mine directly below the abnormality the doc had found. It nagged at me, distracting my focus. With the worry about Nikki’s gun on top of that, I was having difficulty getting my head in the game.

  Our old and gruff proctor, Officer Gibbins opened the gym door, trailed by a line of people clad in the academy’s matching fitness gear. He blew his whistle and I and the other applicants lined up in the middle of the court. “Alright, today we’ll be doing push-ups, sit-ups, a 1.5-mile run, and a 75-yard dash. You can gain up to seven points in each category and you need at least twenty points to pass the exam. You’ll each get a companion to count your reps and remember, only reps with proper form will be counted.”

  The cadettes lined up across from us until each was assigned and then a burly guy with standard procedure buzzed hair and broad features sauntered up to me and extended a hand for me to shake. “I’m Nate, nice to meet you.” His grip was tight, but his black eyes were light and friendly.

  I grinned. “Adeline.”

  Gibbins blew his whistle again. “Instructors, start the test.”

  “Alright, push-ups,” said Nate enthusiastically. “Drop and give me a hundred! I’m just kidding. You’ve got two minutes to do as many as you can.” His sense of humor was a good distraction. I laughed and got into position and started my reps once he gave me the go.

  Once, Gibbins yelled at someone in military fashion. “You don’t really wanna be here, do you? DO YOU?” I tried not to laugh since it shouldn’t be funny. My total for push-ups came to 48. Top points.

  “Thirty seconds rest and then sit-ups,” Nate said.

  I guzzled some water and relaxed to let my pulse slow down. Thirty seconds flew by and I rolled onto my back. Nate held my feet down and counted my reps again. 53 sit-ups. Seven points again. Once we were all finished we ventured to a small table at the wall and tore into a case of water. The Procter whistled again to get our attention.

  “For the long run, we’ll have you run around the building several times. Stay OUT of the road.” We all started toward the door, forming a line.

  “What about our stuff?” I heard a guy whisper behind me.

  “Who’s gonna rob us in a police department?”

  “That’s why no one would expect it!”

  “HUGHES! MCGHEE!” The Proctor shouted.

  Outside, we all lined up on the sidewalk and did our run. It was probably psychological, but as I ran I kept feeling a pang in my collarbone. It psyched me out and slowed my run time. It was like I felt heavier than normal, like I had to try harder to carry my own weight.

  “11:42,” Nate said as I stepped past him.

  “Gah, I’m slow today,” I said breathlessly.

  He patted my back. “You did great. That’s still six points.”

  I only had one test left. One test to pass before I got into the academy and started my dream. We would each get to try the 75-yard dash twice and the best time would be our winner. The tricky part was that every few yards there would be a cone or obstacle for us to run around or jump over and if we even tapped one, we’d have to start over. If we failed twice, we’d get a zero and fail the entire exam, even if we got over twenty points in the other categories. The guy who tried before me failed and sat on the ground with his head in his hands saying his dad would kill him.

  My turn. I stepped up to the line, looking over at the Gibbins at the finish line. Anticipation nibbled at my stomach. I got into position and just focused on my breathing. The whistle blew and I kicked off. I lost a little momentum at the first cone but picked it back up so quickly that I almost hit the first hurdle. I eased up a little to refocus. Swerve, jump, swerve, swerve, jump, swerve. My sneakers squealed on the floor as I broke to a stop at the finish line.

  “17.6,” Gibbins said, patting me on the back. “6 points, good job.”

  I grinned and wound around him to head back to the group. Nate beamed, his white teeth a bright contrast to his ebony skin.

  “You did it! 26 points!”

  I cantered over jovially, not bothering to hide my glee. Nate held his hands up high for me to high-five and I jumped to slap my palms against his. He winced and his mouth formed a little ‘o’ as he shook his hands.

  “Dang, girl, that’s quite the arm you’ve got.”

  “Sorry,” I said amidst chuckles.

  He grinned and held a fist out for me to bump, which I did (gently this time). Only two people had failed the physical test once everyone had gone through the dash. The first guy left in a huff and the second sat against the wall to rest while the rest of us lined up again. The Proctor paced in front of us, a strange grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Nate plopped an exercise mat on the floor fifteen feet behind Gibbins and Nate and another of the
instructors stood at attention on either side.

  “Alright, cadettes.” Gibbins paused, letting it sink in. Giddiness filled my chest. He was calling me a cadette. “We’ve got one more task ahead of us.” He pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket and unfolded it. “When you all arrived, you signed one of these. I know most of you thought you wouldn’t have to take the ride until you officially got into the academy, but here at the Norwich department we like to wean you early. That’s right, you’re all about to get tazed.”

  Everyone groaned, me included. We got in line alphabetically, so I was near the back as usual. I crossed my arms and tapped my fingers impatiently. When it comes to things I’m dreading, I prefer to get it done and over with. Luckily, I got my chance.

  “Do I have any volunteers who would like to go first?” Gibbins asked. My hand shot up, along with Hughes’s. “Sorry Hughes, ladies first.” Hughes offered me a fist bump for my moxie as I passed. Gibbins shook my hand, speaking at a regular decibel. “We can either attach the electrodes beforehand or we can shoot them at you.”

  With all my peers watching, and all of them male, I didn’t want to look weak. “Shoot me,” I said with a nod.

  “10-4.”

  Nate gave me a reassuring smile as I approached the mat. He and the other guy both took hold of my arms to support me. I braced myself for the hit but I wasn’t ready when it came. My whole body went rigid as electricity coursed through me. Pain burned my shoulder and I screamed. The boys eased me forward onto my stomach as the electricity stopped. The rest of my body started to relax, but burning pain continued to sear my shoulder blade. I gingerly lifted myself to my hands and knees, balling my fists and groaning in pain. “Should it still burn?” I asked through clenched teeth.