by B D Grant
I linger in the hall. I don’t want to go back to the dorms yet. I don’t want to go back at all. “Look kid, tomorrow is the best I can do and you’re lucky to get that.”
“I’m not mad or anything. I just…don’t want to go to my room.”
She looks down the hall again. “Alright.” She takes the shoulder strap attached to the laptop case and places it on the opposite shoulder. “We can walk together.”
“Don’t waste your time with people like that,” Cassidy tells me after I described what happened that led me to running into her.
“Easy for you to say. You have my uncle.”
“You aren’t the only one he’s too busy to see,” she confesses. “And I don’t have friends that I can fill my time with when William’s not around.”
“That sucks.”
“It’s my choice. Being around other woman for leisure is not my cup of tea. Your situation is a perfect example why I pick solitude over idiots.”
“Most women aren’t like that.”
She looks at me skeptically. “There are a multitude of idiots and minimal non-idiots. Men are no better either. The good ones must be held onto.” She looks at me as she says, “You never know when you’ll find the next decent one.”
Ashley hasn’t been mentioned but I have a strong feeling she’s referring to her and not a hypothetical guy.
We reach the girls’ dorms. “Have a good night,” she says.
“Wait, I can walk you to the teacher apartments.”
“Students are not allowed that far. No exceptions,” she says adamantly. “You’re about to be late for room checks. See you at lunch.” She continues on her way.
Before class the next morning, I hunt Ashley down. She crosses her arms when I stop in front of her. “I’m sorry,” I say earnestly. “I was mad you talked to Cassidy about me and my anger got the best of me. Please be my friend again.”
“I never stopped being your friend. You had a good reason to be mad and you needed space. I should’ve never told her. I’m sorry.”
She uncrosses her arms, steps forward, and hugs me. I feel relieved. She leans back and puts her hands in her pockets. We walk to first hour together as if nothing ever happened.
For lunch, I get a burger from the cafeteria, wrap it in napkins, and go straight to Cassidy’s office. “There she is,” she says when I walk in. She’s sitting behind her desk on the phone with her lunch laid out in front of her. “It’s your mom,” she mouths to me pointing at the phone. “Here she is,” she says into the phone when I take the chair across from her desk. She hands me the phone. I take it from her and set my lunch on her desk. She eyes it with disgust. She opens the fashion magazine laying next to her food.
“Hey, Mom. How’s it going?” I say excitedly.
“I’m good, sweetheart. Cassidy was telling me we don’t have long to talk. There have been some developments. As a precaution, outside calls have been suspended so this will be our last talk for a bit.”
Cassidy chomps on a stick of celery.
“They can’t do that. What if something happens to you? I won’t know.”
“Don’t think like that. We’re almost done here, then I’ll be joining you.”
“Have you found where the Rogues have them?”
“We’re getting closer. How’s school going?”
“Okay.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Ugh no, Mom.”
“Are there a lot of cute boys there?” she asks, not deterred in the least by my tone from trying to pry information out of me.
“That’s not something I want to talk about.”
“Why not? At your age, I had already met your father. Think about it, you could have already met your future husband.”
“I have more important things to think about, like Dad and the Angelo’s.”
I hear her take a deep breath. “I wanted a normal life for you so bad. This is exactly why we left.”
Something makes a “thump” from her end of the phone.
“You weren’t given a choice this time,” I tell her.
Cassidy whispers to her magazine loud enough for me to hear, “We always have a choice.”
I cover the receiver with my hand. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” Cassidy says taking another loud bite from her celery stick.
“I’m sorry you were pulled into this, my love,” Mom says, sweetly.
“I’m fine,” I tell her. She’s been the one telling me she’s fine so I feel a need to extend the courtesy. “I like it here.” Cassidy gives me a look like she knows better. Mom will have picked up on the lie too. “Not having to hide my ability is nice,” I tell Mom. I’m missing home and worrying about Dad and the others too much to find anything about this place appealing besides that.
“That’s good to hear,” she says, softly.
“How long do you think until you get here?”
“Soon.”
“Give me a round about,” I insist, wanting to have something tangible to look forward to.
“A week or two.” Another indistinguishable noise comes through the phone from her end. “I got to go. I love you.”
“Okay, I love you too. Be safe.”
“I will. Bye, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Mom.”
Cassidy takes the phone, setting it on the retriever. “How are you handling your ability advancements?”
She’s not going to get answers from me that easy. “Why are you stopping my phone calls?”
“I’m not doing anything. Everyone agreed to it last night, among other things.”
“What happened? Mom said there were developments.”
“Thanks to Catherine and Mitchell we have found out Rogues know about us, here. They know about the school.”
I stand up nervously watching the door as if Rogues could barge in any minute. “Are they coming? Don’t we need to get out of here?”
“That reaction is precisely why we aren’t sharing this with the student body. Did your mother sound concerned about your safety?”
“No.”
“There you go. She was the one with the intel. Rogues have known for years as it turns out. Almost from the beginning.”
“How?”
She finishes her last bite of lunch. “Someone told them I imagine.”
“Someone here?”
She nods, impassive as if we’re talking about the weather. “Or a parent. Hence why we’re no longer allowing outside calls. I was granted permission to make this call before the final decision was made last night.” She cleans off her desk and wipes her hands.
“Thanks.”
“Thank William.”
“Would if I could,” I mumble, unwrapping my burger.
“Good point,” she says.
I eat my burger, taking bigger bites then I normally would, in hopes that it will aggravate Cassidy.
She stares at me unfazed. “My turn to ask questions.”
“Shoot,” I say with a mouthful.
“When did you notice the changes in your ability?”
“The day Dad was taken.”
“Stress related,” she says to herself.
“I wouldn’t say that.”
She’s already showing signs of impatience as she straightens her blouse with exaggerated care. This was easier than I thought. She narrows her eyes. “What would you say than?”
“Before, I noticed it before he was taken. I had cut my hand hunting so we had to come back early, and it was on the drive home.”
“How bad were you hurt?”
“I didn’t get stitches or anything, but it was scar worthy.”
I hold my hand up for her to see. It is tiny. She squints but I doubt she can see it.
“Do you mind if I write this down?” she asks, taking a notepad out.
“I’d rather you not.”
She drops it back in the drawer. “Fair enough. Were you taking any medication at the time?”
“Nope,
” I say, and then take another big bite from the middle of the burger where all the good stuff is.
“Have you told anyone besides Ashley?”
I shake my head no. I follow that bite with another. Dad and Jake sort of know but I’m not counting them since I didn’t out right tell them.
“What changes have you noticed?”
“That’s just it, it doesn’t feel like a change. More like an expansion. If I focus when a lie is being told, I can visualize the details behind the lie.”
“Wow,” she says, with an impressed curl of the lip.
She goes to her bookshelf while I finish off my burger. She pulls a book off of a shelf. Then, she goes to her filing cabinet by the door where she takes out an individual sized bag of chips from the bottom drawer. She comes back to her desk and hands me the bag of chips.
I grab it like a hawk excitedly picking up a field mouse. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
She opens the book and I open the chips. Her phone rings but she ignores it. I give her a suspicious glare as it rings a second time.
“I thought there were no calls,” I say.
“We can still make on-campus calls.” She picks it up. “Yes?” She looks at me. “Okay, I’ll be there shortly.” She hangs up. She looks over at me saying, “Most Seraphim have thought true ability advancement is a myth.” She places a sticky tab on the page she’s on before shutting it. “I’m going to read up on it. Same time tomorrow?”
“For what?”
“To practice your ability expansions.”
That sounds like a boring lunch. I square my shoulders and harden my face in preparation for a battle. “One condition,” I say, firmly.
“What?”
“You let me go hunting with the security team that has a hunting pass.”
She shakes her head. “That has all been canceled. We need all hands on deck for the time being. How did you know about that? Has security been talking to you?”
“No one told me. I overheard Tony talking about it.”
“Tony wasn’t one of the security members going.”
“I know. He was saying that the others shouldn’t be allowed to go.”
She smiles a bit. “That sounds like Tony.”
“I’ll make you a deal. I come here during my lunch hour for the next two days and I get to go hunting in return.”
She purses her lips. “Two weeks.”
“One week.”
“Deal.” She holds out her hand and we shake. “Now, I’ve got things to do.” She rises and walks me out.
“When do I get to go hunting?”
“I’ll get back to you on that.”
“Today?” I ask. If she thinks about pushing it off to a month from now I’m going to reopen negotiations.
“You’ll hear something by the end of the day.”
Outside building one, Ashley is waiting for me by the courtyard. I offer her some of the chips I’m still carrying around. She takes a pinch happily.
“How was it?” She asks, crunching on chips.
“It was good. I’m going hunting.”
“Hunting? For what?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Ashley shakes her head at the thought of it. “I don’t think I would go hunting with Cassidy.”
“Not with Cassidy. I’m going with Bryant and Ben.”
She takes another chip. “The hotties?”
“Yeah, them.” I give her the rest of the bag.
“You lucky devil.”
When I get out of my last class, Bryant is waiting in the hall. “Why do you want to go hunting with us?”
“Because I could use a break from this place and hunting is relaxing.”
“Have you ever been squirrel hunting?”
“Squirrel, deer, duck, and a couple boar hunting trips with the guys that share a lease with my dad who had hog dogs.”
He looks impressed. “I’ve never been hog hunting.”
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” I tell him.
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, I don’t think you’re man enough.”
“Ha! I’m gonna tell the boys you said that.”
“Who all is going?”
“Me, Ben, and now you and Dillon.”
The mention of Dillon and suddenly I’m picturing him the first time I saw him walking proudly next to Ben in the courtyard. Ben, with all the looks of a male model, is the one that catches everyone’s eye but Dillon’s the real deal as far as I’m concerned. He has a depth exceeding the other guys and it’s magnetic. My heart speeds up at the thought he asked to go once he knew I would be there. “Dillon wasn’t supposed to go?”
“Not until Cassidy told him he had to.” So much for that. He’s being forced. I don’t have to hide my disappointment to much because Bryant’s watching a few Dyna students walking down the hall. “She wants more protection if a student is going off school grounds.”
“That’s nice of her.”
He turns back to me once they’ve disappeared into a classroom. “How did you get her to let us go?”
“We made a deal,” I say trying to sound mysterious.
“Oook. Well we’re going in the morning. We’re meeting at five forty-five at the tree line past our apartments. We won’t wait on you.”
“Don’t be late. I got it.”
“Do you have anything to wear?”
“Sure do,” I say. I just have to find it.
“Tomorrow then.”
“Bright and early,” I say cheerily.
“I know you’re in here,” I say, digging in my closet. I remember throwing them in one of these plastic bins sitting on the floor. “There you are.” I pull out my wrinkled long sleeve camouflage shirt followed shortly by the pants.
“You need to run them through a dryer,” Ashley says when I toss them on my bed where she’s sitting.
I stand up and go to my bed. I pick my shirt up and give it a big sniff. “It doesn’t smell bad.”
“I meant the wrinkles.”
“Do you think animals are going to care? Because I know the guys won’t.” Jake wouldn’t care and neither would Dad. I bury my face in the shirt without regard to what Ashley will think. I breathe in the shirt’s fragrance thinking about all of our hunting trips. I try to remember every one.
“What are you doing?” Ashley asks in the middle of my painful trip down memory lane.
“Crying,” I say, softly.
She slides off the bed and I feel her arms wrapping around me with my face still covered by the shirt. I don’t know what it is about being comforted when I’m sad but it makes me weep even harder. “Do you want me to leave?” She asks.
I shake my head yes. I take the shirt from my face once I’ve heard the door shut. I crawl on to my bed, sobbing, and sit Indian style replaying the last day I spent with Dad and Jake.
I stare at the shirt and pair of pants imagining that day to be the last memory I get of them. Rogues kill. It’s a fact that has been said repeatedly. If Dad and Uncle Chuck were Rogue members and took off, then they left nothing but bad blood behind. They have no use for Aunt Beth that I know of. Jake’s only chance would be to join them. I can’t see how he would, but it’s likely he doesn’t know who the Rogues are. Mom doesn’t know how much his parents had told him besides knowing he was a Seraphim.
Rogues would have separated them as soon as they could. A book my parents gave me was on the history of interrogation techniques. I skimmed it, finding its contents too dark to be interesting, however one of the chapters was on separation and isolation. Their motives could be revenge for leaving the organization, recruiting a Seraphim youth, or simple capture and question. Knowing would give me a better idea as to what chance of survival they have.
“There’s my favorite underage girl,” Ben rejoices when I make it to the edge of the tree line. Bryant’s with him, less enthusiastic, giving me a weak smile.
“You’re in a good mood,” I tell Ben.
&n
bsp; He walks up and throws an arm around my shoulder giving me a squeeze. “This is happening thanks to you. I might even give you all my squirrels today.”
Bryant smiles more at Ben’s remark. “Don’t think he’s being nice,” he tells me. “Ben hates eating squirrel.”
“You can’t say they don’t resemble cooked rats,” Ben tells him.
Bryant ignores him. “He was pretty peeved when Dillon told him the hunt was off.”
“Only because I knew Dillon enjoyed breaking my heart.” Ben looks down at me with his hand over his chest he says, “I was really heart broken.” Bryant is trying to keep a straight face. Ben squeezes my shoulder to get my attention. “You saved me from that heartache.”
“Where is Dillon?” I ask, growing increasingly uncomfortable with Ben’s appreciation. “Is he bringing the guns?”
Bryant grins, watching something in the distance behind Ben and I. “He’s coming. From the looks of it we have an extra man.”
Ben and I whip around. Dillon is walking up with my uncle. Ben drops his arm from my shoulder moving closer to Bryant. “Thanks for the heads up, bro,” he mutters to Bryant.
“My bad,” he laughs.
“Is he bothering you?” Dillon asks me.
“He was thanking me for getting the hunt back together.”
He hands me a rifle. “You got this?”
I check the chamber, empty. “Yup.”
Dillon passes Bryant his. He pushes Ben’s into his chest chastising him silently with his hard gaze.
“What? I was just thanking her.”
“Good morning, Sir,” Bryant says to Uncle Will.
“Morning,” Uncle Will says, joining the circle. “Taylor.”
“Good morning,” I say, brightly.
He hands me a box of shells. “I hope I don’t embarrass myself. I haven’t been squirrel hunting in decades.”
“I didn’t know you’d be available or I would’ve invited you myself.”
“Cassidy asked my thoughts about it before getting with Dillon. I couldn’t let you have all the fun.”
Dillon, Ben, and Bryant have loaded their guns. “We’re ready when you are,” Dillon tells me.
Once my rifle is loaded Ben asks, “Are we going in one big group?”