by C. S. Harte
Emily kicked it away. She raised the mace above her head ready to deliver a killing blow.
Kayla feigned defeat, waiting for Emily to near. She snatched Emily’s ankle when she approached.
They entered The White Room together.
Emily froze in response to her new surroundings. “Where… Where are we?”
Kayla drifted into unconsciousness, away from the pain and exertion.
Kayla woke in the living room of a mobile home. She looked down at her leg. The massive wound was gone. She wiggled her jaw with her hand. I’m healed. How?
There was a huge portrait photo of her on the wall, elegantly framed. That’s a cute picture of me.
A lit candle burned underneath it. Judging by the wax build up, many candles had been sacrificed. A shrine. For me?
She walked towards the screen door and looked outside. Tommy’s truck!
She heard wood chopping. “TOMMY!” She ran toward the sound.
Tommy turned around. “Kayla! You’re awake! I thought you were going to sleep all day.” He gave her a powerful bear hug and raised her up in the air. “I missed you, baby!”
“But… how did I get here?”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re here now.”
Tears streamed down Kayla’s face.
“Aww, don’t cry. I’m so happy you’re home.” He kissed the tears away, wiping the rest with his shirt sleeve.
Kayla smiled and closed her eyes. “Please, let this be real.”
“I think someone has been dying to meet you.” Tommy whistled loudly.
Charlie barked and raced towards them.
“CHARLIE!” Kayla dropped to her knees.
Charlie jumped on top of her. He whined while frantically licking her face and hands. His tail was wagging vigorously.
“Seems like someone missed you as much as I did.” Tommy laughed.
“I missed you too, buddy. I missed both of you!” Kayla stood up and kissed Tommy passionately.
“Well, that was nice and unexpected.” Tommy grinned.
“I’m so glad you waited for me. And that you and Izzy...”
“Speaking of Izzy, she’s here too. Come out Izzy!” Tommy waved Izzy over.
Izzy walked out from behind the trailer towards Tommy and wrapped her arm around his waist. “We’re both happy you’re back.”
Kayla took a step back, shaking her head. “No… but I thought…”
“I’m sorry Kayla. You were gone for so long. We waited for you. You never came home.” Tommy pecked Izzy on the cheek.
Charlie nuzzled his head underneath Izzy’s hand.
Izzy gave Charlie a good rub on his head and then on his belly.
Tommy smiled and pointed towards Izzy’s belly. “The best part since you left is this little girl.”
Izzy rubbed her bulging stomach. “I’m due in a month, can you believe how fast time flies?”
“How could you? How could you both?” whispered Kayla.
“Because you need to wake up Kayla,” said Izzy.
“Yeah, Kayla. You need to wake up,” repeated Tommy.
Charlie barked loudly at Kayla.
“Charlie’s saying the same thing. This is no time for sleep,” said Tommy. He walked over to Kayla and put his hands on her shoulder.
“It’s very important that you wake up right now.”
Kayla laid down. “But I’m so tired. I just need to rest my eyes.” Kayla closed her eyes.
The sound of Charlie barking drifts away as if he was heading in the opposite direction.
Tommy grabbed Kayla’s leg and squeezed hard. A rocket of pain soared into her brain. “WAKE UP!”
35
Emily smacked Kayla across her cheek. “Wake up already.”
Kayla shifted up slowly. She squinted her eyes from the harsh white light of the room. She strained to see a blurred image of Emily hovering over her and instinctively covered her face fearing another hit.
Emily raised her arms in truce. “Relax. If I wanted to kill you, I already would have. I know I said I wanted to kill you, but I’m not the kind of person who can just murder someone.”
Kayla inspected her leg. The pain had subsided. There was a tourniquet made from Emily's shirt sleeve tied around her thigh to slow the bleeding. “Why are you helping me?”
“For starters, it seems you brought us somewhere. And I guess you’re the only person who can bring us back. At the time, it made sense to keep you from bleeding to death.”
“This is the White Room.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Am I supposed to know what that is?”
Kayla inhaled a deep breath before releasing an exasperated sigh. “The whole story is too long. Here are the cliff notes.”
Emily sat down next to Kayla. “OK.”
Kayla explained everything to the best of her knowledge.
Emily’s forehead furrowed. “This house is an illusion? Nothing is real? OK… How hard did I hit you?”
Kayla continued ignoring Emily's questions. “Masa figured out that I can cancel illusions, which is how and why you are here. I figured you would stop attacking me if you saw this place. It seems I was right.”
Emily stared at her feet. “What does that mean for my sister? Is she still alive?”
“According to Masa, yes. I’m sorry I hurt Haley. I really am. But it wasn’t on purpose. I had no idea what I did until others told me. We were getting along before that.”
“If you say so,” Emily said in a soft voice as her posture relaxed. “Who’s Tommy?”
“How did you… I guess you heard me sleep-talking.”
Emily nodded.
“He’s my friend that’s a boy. Maybe boyfriend. We were almost official before they brought me here. I think my best friend may be trying to get with him thinking I’m dead.”
The tension faded from Emily’s face. “I’m sorry to hear that. I know how it feels to have someone try to steal my boyfriend.”
Kayla sighed. “If you’re referring to me, I wasn’t stealing your boyfriend. Jaime and I are just friends.”
“I saw you two holding hands last night.”
“I was showing him this place so he would believe me and help me escape.”
“You have a way out of Eden House?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Masa is keeping most of the details to himself right now. I’m supposed to meet with him — OH GOD, Masa’s dead isn’t he?”
Emily placed a hand on the back of her neck. “About that... The dead Masa you saw was a sim. We were in a backup training simulation with a sim-Masa. I killed him to distract you.”
Rage poured into Kayla’s body, drowning her senses in hate. Her fingers coiled into a fist, fingers digging deeply into her palm, squeezing her knuckles white. The tendons in her neck flared as she struggled to contain her fury. Kayla swung wildly at Emily from her sitting position.
Emily dodged the attack. “I understand why you just did that, but I’m not sorry for what I did.”
“You’re evil. Pure evil,” Kayla said through gritted teeth.
“I’m not a perfect person. I know I have anger issues. But I thought my baby sister was dead. You lost someone close. You understand the grief and anger that comes with that.”
“Which was why I’ve been trying to talk to you. Then you went all psychopath on me.”
“My sister may or may not be alive because of you. Either way, you've had some responsibility in all of this.”
“I know…” Kayla’s shoulders drooped. Her anger was ebbing.
“Just bring us back to the house. Out of this White Room. If you stay away from me, I’ll stay away from you.”
“OK. But you can’t tell Helen about this place or my new ability.”
“Whatever,” Emily said, avoiding eye contact with Kayla.
“I need you to swear that you won’t. Otherwise, I’m just going to leave you here.”
“Fine. I swear I won’t tell Helen. Let’s go alr
eady.”
Kayla took Emily’s hand and closed her eyes.
The dojo returned into view. Sim Masa was still lying in a pool of blood.
Emily rushed out of the studio without saying a word to Kayla.
“A thank you would be the appropriate gesture. Perhaps an apology for slicing up my leg and almost breaking my jaw,” Kayla muttered. She picked herself up and headed for the exit. After making it halfway down the hallway, her vision started to dim. She looked down to see blood streaming down her leg. Her knees gave way, and she crumpled to the floor. The world faded to black.
Maria, Naveed, and Victor finished a training session.
“Hey someone is sleeping in the hallway,” Naveed said pointing to the body on the ground.
“That’s weird,” Maria said.
Victor used his speed talent, rushing to the body. “It’s Kayla. She’s hurt badly.”
Maria and Naveed ran to Kayla.
“Who do you think did this?” Naveed asked.
“That doesn't matter right now,” Victor said in a harsh tone.
Maria picked her up. “We need to get her to the infirmary.”
Victor blocked Maria. “No, I think we should bring her to Masa. He’ll know what to do. Jaime said not to trust Helen remember?”
“Masa should be in Studio B right now,” Naveed said.
Victor moved out of the way.
Maria sprinted towards Studio B.
36
Masa and Jaime were practicing their form in Studio B.
“Isn’t Kayla supposed to be here by now?” Jaime asked.
“She will be here soon,” Masa replied.
The entrance to the studio opened.
“MASA!” Maria screamed.
“Oh, there’s Kayla. How did you know?” Jaime joked. He did a double take. “What’s wrong with Kayla?”
Masa and Jaime ran towards Kayla.
“She was unconscious in a pool of blood when we found her,” Maria said, her voice frantic.
“We didn’t want to bring her to the infirmary,” Victor said.
“That was a wise move,” Masa said.
“Emily did this.” Jaime scowled.
“If Emily did this, then why is she bandaged?” Naveed asked.
“Please. Let us attend to Kayla’s injuries.” Masa said with urgency.
Everyone’s attention focused on Masa.
“Maria put a circuit suit on Kayla. They can be used to heal the person wearing it while preventing damage.”
“OK.” She ran to the changing area. The oversized suits made it easy to slip onto an unconscious Kayla. It immediately shrunk after Maria zipped it closed.
“Can the suit fix the gash on her leg and the blood loss too?” Naveed asked.
“Yes. I have seen it heal far worse, but it is not instant. We will let Kayla rest for now,” Masa said.
“Jaime, you said Emily did this?” Victor asked.
“It’s not anyone in this room. It’s not Helen,” Jamie replied.
“It definitely wasn’t Aida or Brennan. Those two lovebirds just want to be left alone,” Victor said.
Jaime nodded. “I talked to them about coming with us. They didn’t want to. Said they liked it in Eden House because they have everything they want.”
“That is fine. We are not going to force people to leave,” Masa said.
“If it was Emily who attacked Kayla, do you think she knows about us? About escaping?” Maria asked.
“We should assume that Emily knows everything and plan accordingly,” Masa said.
“Agreed,” Jaime said.
“Masa, what is your plan to escape Eden House?” Victor asked.
Masa glanced at the entrance to the dojo before answering. “Kayla has a passive ability. Illusion Awareness. I have seen her use it. Jaime has too.”
“It’s true,” Jaime affirmed.
“This ability allows her and the people she’s physically in contact with to see through the illusions of Eden House. I am training her to control it — to turn it on and off. And strengthen it to encompass a wider area.”
Jaime raised his hand, interrupting Masa. “About that, I’ve been to the White Room, and there’s nothing there. I didn’t see an exit.”
“There is one area of the house where I think it will be different.”
“The Final Exam,” Victor said.
Masa patted Victor’s shoulder. “Correct.”
Kayla coughed herself awake.
Everyone turned their attention on Kayla.
“Take it easy.” Maria caressed Kayla’s forehead.
“How did I get here?”
“I brought you here.”
“I need to stop passing out.” Kayla laughed weakly.
Jaime bolted to Kayla, smiling at her as he spoke. “I hope you got the other guy pretty good.”
“Nope. Your girlfriend kicked my ass. Though she did sucker punch me.”
“I wouldn’t really say she’s my girlfriend.” Jaime frowned.
“She knows about us. The plan. The White Room,” Kayla said.
Jaime shushed her. “Just heal up first. Masa's got everything figured out. You know him.”
Masa cleared his throat, commanding everyone’s attention. “The circuit suit will mend Kayla. She is safe now. We cannot wait for Kayla to get better. We need to continue training. Our execution needs to be flawless. I’m afraid time is running short if we’re to execute our escape.”
“I’m going to stay here and watch over Kayla,” Maria said.
Masa nodded. “Jaime and I vs. Victor and Naveed. Round one. Get into positions.”
Masa and Jaime moved to one side of the dojo. Victor and Naveed moved to the other.
“Do not hold back,” Masa ordered.
Victor and Naveed nodded their understanding.
“Hajime!” Masa yelled.
Jaime conjured a fireball in his hand and hurled it at Naveed.
Naveed summoned a giant boulder from beneath the dojo floor to block the fireball.
Victor ran behind Jaime and attempted a jump kick into his back.
Masa quickly froze Victor in mid air to save Jaime.
Victor fell to the ground frozen in his jump pose.
Naveed broke the boulder into hundreds of smaller pieces and propelled them towards Masa and Jaime.
Masa created a shield of ice to block the rocks heading for him.
Jaime tried to dodge his stones but could not evade all of them. He tumbled to the ground after multiple hits, grunting as he landed.
Victor vibrated his body. His ice prison started to melt. Once freed, he snuck behind Masa to sweep his legs.
Masa jumped to avoid the sweep, and with a flick of his wrist, his ice shield shattered into large spheres of ice. They orbited his body like satellites, acting as interceptors of potential attacks.
Victor jumped back to avoid Masa’s new ice defense.
Jaime pushed himself up and formed a ring of fire around Victor, cutting him off from Naveed.
Masa lifted his arms in the air. Dozens of ice arrows crystallized above him.
Naveed crossed his arms over his chest. The ground around him began to loosen, lifting into the air. Like a magnet, Naveed attracted the floating Earth swirling around him, condensing onto his skin, forming a stone-skin armor.
Jaime shot fireball after fireball at Naveed.
Naveed was unable to avoid all the fireballs with his reduced mobility, a negative aspect of his armor. His protection was cooking him alive, and he was forced to release his stone-skin.
Once Naveed was vulnerable again, Masa immediately dropped his arm. The ice arrows rained down onto Naveed, forcing him to surrender.
Only Victor remained, still trapped within Jaime’s fire ring. The flames grew taller whenever he neared the edge.
Jaime held out his palm and slowly squeezed his hand. The fire ring began to shrink.
Out of options, Victor said, “You got me!”
Jamie smile
d and blew onto his hand. The fire ring disappeared into a puff of smoke.
“Reset. Round Two,” commanded Masa.
37
Kayla woke in her bed. She immediately examined her leg. The wound was gone, there was no trace of a scar. She wiggled her jaw. No pain there either. Kayla scratched her temple. That did happen, right? Emily kicked my butt. Maria cradled me like a baby. The line between illusion and reality was becoming more and more blurred for Kayla. She clutched her mother’s locket, seeking an anchor, scared that her sanity was drifting away.
The doorbell buzzed.
Kayla jumped out of bed. “Coming!” She approached the door slowly, expecting another note to slide underneath her door. “Who is it?”
“It’s Mr. Williams. I’ve been sent to bring you to the Governess’ office.”
Kayla opened the door in her underwear.
Mr. Williams coughed. He was taller than Kayla but kept his stare above her head.
Kayla noticed his uncomfortable gaze. She shimmied to hide her lower half behind the door. “Mr. Williams, I haven’t seen you in some time.” She smiled.
“Well, I supposed it could be due to you spending a vast majority of your time unconscious, in a coma.”
Kayla offered an uneasy laugh. “That makes sense. Why does Helen want to see me?”
“I’m afraid I’m not privy to that information.”
“Give me five minutes to get changed.” Did Emily tell her about the escape?
Mr. Williams and Kayla blinked into Helen’s office.
“Good Morning, Kayla,” Helen greeted. She gestured for Kayla to sit in the chair in front of her desk. “Tea and crumpets, Mr. Williams.”
“Right away governess.” Mr. Williams blinked out and returned a moment later, holding a pot of tea and crumpets. “Will that be all?”
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Williams.”
He flashed out.
“How do you feel this morning?” Helen asked.
“Fine. 100%. Thanks for asking.” She knows about my fight with Emily! What else does she know?
“Would you care for some tea?”