Initiates (The Book of Adam 3)

by Scott Gelowitz

  Jimmy had continued walking to the door at the end of the row of windows and tried to open it, but it was locked like all of the other doors they had tried. When he made it back, he said, “That looks like a lot of fun to swim in. I wonder how cold the water is?”

  “Well, since it’s locked we can’t find out now. Should we head back?” asked Mark.

  They didn’t have to answer because everyone knew Mark was just pointing out the obvious. Soon they were stopped at the intersection heading to the Arrival chamber.

  “I want to go back to the games now,” said Mark.

  “Don’t you want to check out the Astronomy lab?” asked Kevin.

  Mark stared at him with a blank expression. “Didn’t you see how many stairs there are to get up there?” he asked as if everyone should know that there were just too many.

  “Well I want to see it,” said Kevin. “That’s where my sister is going to spend a lot of time. You can keep on going to the games if you want. Nobody is holding you back.”

  Mark looked at Adam and Jimmy, but they were clearly following Kevin.

  “Ok then, we’ll see you later,” he replied and rushed off down the hallway.

  The other three continued on to the Arrival chamber and then up the slightly curving metal staircase that connected to a catwalk far above the Radome, finally ending at a set of doors. Kevin opened them and they stepped inside.

  It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dimmed light in the room, and after they did they saw that it was just a normal classroom with desks and chairs, but the walls were made of natural rock. A door in the rock on the one side of the room was labeled ‘Astrodome’, and another on the opposite end was named ‘Observatory’. They decided to try the Observatory first, but the door was locked, so they tried the Astrodome. It had a strange looking door that was inset into the wall, and it was open.

  They stepped inside the Astrodome and it was even darker than the classroom, so their eyes had to adjust again. Within a few moments, they stared all around them in disbelief before taking a few more steps inside. They were in a large dome-shaped room, and it looked to them as if they were peering up into a cloudless night sky, without man-made lights or earth-bound items like trees and hills interfering with the view. The stars and constellations were clearly visible in a way they had never seen before and it was awe inspiring.

  “I think I want to take Astronomy,” said Jimmy.

  “Me too,” said Kevin, but neither one looked at the other. They were transfixed on the stars in the same way centuries of others had been before them, but this was only a re-creation and not the real thing.

  Adam was impressed beyond measure, but by his nature he was less impressed by the sight and more impressed by wondering how the room had been constructed.

  No one had noticed the door close behind them until Adam decided it was time to leave a minute later. To his horror, the door had disappeared.

  "Uh, guys," he said. Neither one replied, still looking up. "Guys?" he asked again, "Where's the door?"

  That question got their attention in a hurry.

  Adam realized quite quickly that the dome shaped room had caused them to lose their sense of direction while they turned in admiration of the night sky above. Unconsciously, he had been assuming that the doorway would always be visible so it didn't even occur to him that they would get trapped.

  "Look for an exit sign," he said and they all began searching. "Everywhere else is labeled really well, so why would this room be any different?"

  They searched for a few moments when Adam noticed some strange stars in the direction he thought the door might have been, and as he stared at them they formed the word "Door" dimly. He was about to tell the others what he found when the door opened. The light streaming in momentarily blinded him, but because the classroom on the other side was already dim, it didn't last long.

  "The door," called Kevin and the three ran toward it as fast as possible.

  Two girls stepped inside as the boys neared the door.

  "Keep it open, please," said Adam.

  The girls stopped and held the door until the boys made it.

  "Thanks," said Adam. "Make sure you don’t close the door unless you know exactly where it is," he said.

  The first girl pointed at a note attached to the door that said exactly the same thing, except that it gave instructions how to find the door easily.

  Jimmy stared at the girls in the same he had just been staring at the stars in the Astrodome. He was transfixed. He managed to utter something that sounded like, “Uh.”

  "Probably should have read that before we went in there," said Kevin.

  The two girls giggled and the shorter one said, "Boys," in a sarcastic tone before continuing into the room.

  Kevin nudged Jimmy out of his trance and they started walking through the classroom.

  Kevin chuckled a little.

  "What?" asked Jimmy, defensive.

  "I was just thinking back to last year when you said you didn't want to get caught sneaking through the tunnels," answered Kevin.

  "And?"

  "You were worried about getting caught and your parents grounding you for so long that you would never be able to go on a date." Kevin paused again.

  "What's funny about that?" asked Jimmy, annoyed.

  "As smooth as you were with those two girls back there, not getting a date because you're grounded is the least of your worries," said Kevin, barely able to contain his laughter.

  Adam burst out laughing as he opened the door to leave the classroom.

  He stopped laughing abruptly.

  On the other side of the door he came face to face with Derek Gunderson.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Derek was obviously startled to see Adam too. When he recovered from the shock he said, "I want to talk to you."

  Kevin appeared at Adam's shoulder, but said nothing.

  "Go ahead," said Adam. He could hear Jimmy trying to see past Kevin from somewhere behind.

  "Can I talk to you alone?" asked Derek.

  "No," said Kevin in a much lower voice than he usually spoke with.

  "Can we go in there then?" asked Derek, pointing toward the classroom that they were just about to leave.

  "I guess," said Adam, but his mind was racing. He was glad that Kevin and Jimmy were there with him, because he was positive Derek would be angry with him for what happened with his dad. Surely Derek wouldn't pick a fight there against the three of them, especially since Derek was alone.

  They backed into the classroom and shut the door.

  Adam waited for Derek to speak, but Kevin started.

  "What do you want?" he asked.

  It was strange to hear the annoyance from Kevin because he was always so even tempered and polite to everyone.

  Derek didn't look angry, contrary to what Adam had expected.

  "First, I want you to know that I'm not your enemy," he said, holding both hands in the air. "I just want to have a talk with you about everything that happened."

  "Your dad tried to have Adam killed," said Kevin.

  "I honestly don't know that for sure," said Derek as he put his hands down, "but I wouldn't put it past him."

  His sincerity shocked them and it showed on their faces. They didn't say anything, though, and waited for him to continue.

  "You two haven't met my dad before," said Derek, pointing at Jimmy and Kevin, "but Adam has. He knows that Dad's favorite thing is power, and I know he'd do anything to get more. Thankfully I take after my mom more than him." He chuckled a little.

  Adam was beginning to think he was wrong to be worried about Derek.

  "Anyway, all I want to say is that I'm sorry about whatever happened to you last year. I haven't been told the details but I've got the general idea. I’m supposed to learn more about it while I’m here. What I know is that some old enemy of the Sentinel League was paying the insurance guy, and my dad supposedly, to get you to him because you made a fool of him in the past
. I really want to hear the details, because it sounds pretty interesting. I mean, how many 14 year olds have a price on their head?”

  Adam hadn’t thought about it like that before, but Derek made it sound like the Mob was after him.

  “Regardless, I’m completely against anyone being sold in any way, especially when the person being sold is probably going to be tortured and killed. If my dad is guilty, he should spend a long time locked up to pay for it.”

  Kevin’s posture relaxed.

  “Will you accept my apology?” asked Derek, holding out a hand.

  Adam looked from Derek to Kevin and Jimmy. Their expressions told him what they were thinking, so Adam shook Derek’s hand.

  Derek gave Adam a genuine smile. “Thanks,” he said. “It would have sucked to be stuck in here all year with you and your friends hating me.”

  “You’re not totally off the hook yet,” said Kevin. “Consider it like ‘probation’.”

  Derek chuckled. “Do I get time off for good behavior?”

  Kevin shrugged.

  “So how come you’re here this year?” asked Adam. “I didn’t think you were much older than us.”

  “I just turned 16 a little while ago, but Dad asked that I be sent here for training this year. He figured it’s the safest place for me, given his current situation.”

  That made sense to Adam. Larix would be furious with John Gunderson because Adam got away, so naturally anyone in John’s family would be in danger as well.

  “They even took Mom somewhere so she’d be safe,” he finished.

  “You don’t have any brothers or sisters?” asked Adam.

  Derek shook his head. “Dad didn’t want any more kids.”

  For some reason, that answer made Adam think of Mary and if she had wanted more children. He had never asked and she had never said. Because of that, along with how uninvolved she was as a parent, Adam was pretty sure she hadn’t wanted any children from the start.

  “So you’re in Grade 11 then,” said Jimmy.

  Derek nodded. “It’s going to be interesting. It’s kind-of nerve wracking. You guys are lucky that you were able to come here together. My friends don’t know about the League yet, and I’m not sure if they ever will.” Momentarily his face flashed sadness.

  “Anyway, I just came up here to talk to you. I saw you walk in the door. I should probably go check this place out and head back to my room soon. Don’t want to be late on the first day.” He smiled and cocked his head in the direction of the Astrodome door. It swung open at the exact moment he gestured toward it and the two girls stepped out.

  The taller of the two girls looked at Jimmy, and after she knew they were all watching, she used her finger to trace the stars that spelled the word ‘door’. As soon as she had finished, she looked back to Jimmy and laughed before walking away. Her friend giggled and followed.

  Jimmy had turned red. Adam and Kevin held back a chuckle at his discomfort, but Derek just looked confused.

  “If you go in there, just make sure you read the note on the outside of the door first,” said Adam. “It’ll save you from any embarrassment.”

  Derek looked at each of them, trying to understand what had just happened, but shrugged.

  “See you tomorrow,” he said and walked toward the Astrodome door to read the note.

  The other three stepped out of the classroom to the platform overlooking the Arrival chamber. Once the door closed behind them, Adam spoke.

  “Not what I was expecting,” he said.

  “I still don’t trust him,” said Kevin, “but I’m having a hard time not liking the guy.”

  “I’m the same. I guess if the League let him come here they must not think he’s too bad,” said Adam.

  “Yeah, but don’t forget that his dad must have come here at some point too,” said Jimmy.

  “Good point. Like Kevin said, he’s on probation. Let’s just keep an eye on him for a while,” said Adam.

  Various people were milling about the Arrival chamber as the boys descended the stairs. Most of them were staring around in wonder at the various pockets of Lumiens that were now providing all of the light in the area, since it was after sunset judging by the lack of light flowing through the crevasse above. A group of older boys were standing near one of the lowest points of light with most of them encouraging the tallest of their group to try touching the area. The tallest one was being cautious but was slowly giving in to the group’s demands.

  “We could tell him that nothing will happen,” said Kevin.

  “Yeah, but it’s more fun to watch this way,” replied Jimmy.

  When the tall boy finally touched it and nothing happened, the group surrounding him seemed disappointed that he hadn’t even received a small shock or burn.

  “What now?” asked Kevin once they reached the bottom of the stairs.

  “Let’s go find Mark. We could play a few games before we head to bed,” said Jimmy.

  “Sounds like a plan,” said Adam and he led the way to the gymnasium.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The phone rang its shrill sound early the next morning and startled Adam awake. He was used to the old-fashioned bell alarm in his room, not the annoying sound of that phone. He quickly reached over, picked up the handset and held it to his ear, mostly to silence it as quick as he could.

  “Press 1-9 if you are awake. If you hang up before pressing 1-9, this phone will ring again in ten minutes,” said the robotic voice on the other end of the line.

  The bed had been so comfortable that he felt quite refreshed, and because he was excited about his first day of classes he knew he probably couldn’t go back to sleep anyway. He punched 1-9 into the phone and hung up before hopping out of bed.

  Thankfully, because the bed was so comfortable, he had fallen asleep quite easily the night before, even though his mind was busy. It processed all of the things it had seen, and somewhere deep down, a suspicion was starting to grow. It was a suspicion that his dad might actually have hidden the Heartstone at Area 51. It was one of the safest places in the League, after all. But that would be too easy to track, he had thought, although he couldn’t shake the idea from his mind before he drifted off to sleep. That morning when he woke up, he had forgotten all about his suspicion.

  Sun shone in through the artificial window but the room maintained the same temperature as always. Adam was surprised that the light from the artificial window actually warmed the things in its path, just like a real window, and yet the room wasn’t hot. The wonder made him pause for a few moments just to stare at it in awe, since he knew behind the window was pure stone.

  A yawn and a stretch got him going again, and in no time at all he was ready to go for some food. As he stepped out of his room, Kevin opened his own door.

  “Morning,” he said and Kevin nodded back.

  “Are we waiting for the other two or what?” asked Kevin.

  Adam shook his head. “You know them. We’ll go eat and if they meet us they meet us.”

  Kevin nodded and started walking down the long hallway. Soon, they had made it to the cafeteria, dished up their food and sat down. Adam’s plate was overflowing with many different items.

  “If you don’t gain ten pounds while we’re here – I’ll kiss Mark full on the mouth,” said Kevin.

  “I’m not going to hold you to that,” Adam replied with an uncertain chuckle, “mainly because I do not want to see that – ever.” He shivered to emphasize his point and Kevin laughed back at him.

  “That should tell you how sure I am you’ll gain the weight,” replied Kevin between mouthfuls of cereal.

  “Yeah, but how much do you think Mark is going to gain?” asked Adam.

  Kevin looked thoughtful. “That’s a tough one. I’m gonna go with fifty pounds,” he said without a hint of joking.

  Adam looked back at him and tried to maintain the same straight face, but a moment later he failed and laughed out loud and clear.

  “What’s so funny,” said M
ark as he walked up to the table. He had obviously just gotten out of bed and came straight to their table since his hair was a mess and he carried no food.

  “Nothing,” said Adam. “You better go get something to eat now.”

  Mark’s confused look almost made Adam laugh some more, but Mark rolled his eyes and turned away.

  A few moments after Mark left, Jimmy jogged up to their table.

  “I thought you guys were going to knock on my door before you came for breakfast,” he said, looking unhappy.

  Adam and Kevin looked at each other.

  “We were supposed to?” asked Adam.

  “Yeah,” said Jimmy.

  “Sorry,” said Kevin. “We thought you’d probably sleep until the last minute like you do at home.”

  “But I’m not at home,” Jimmy replied, as if they should have realized that.

  “OK, sorry. You better get some food before Mark eats it all,” said Adam, pointing at Mark in line. That distracted Jimmy just enough that he stopped complaining and headed for the line opposite from the one that Mark was using.

  Soon they were all seated, waiting for Mark and Jimmy to finish eating, insulting each other the entire time. Without warning, Jimmy cried, “Owww!” and turned around. Trevor had popped up behind him. Trevor had obviously smacked Jimmy in the back of the head, based on where Jimmy was rubbing with his hand.

  “You looked like you needed a wake up call,” said Trevor, grinning.

  Jimmy stood up to retaliate and Kassie stepped in between the two brothers

  “You need to be a lot nicer to your brother,” she scolded Trevor, who looked a little sheepish and embarrassed.

  “It’s no big deal,” he replied in a quiet voice, but cowered a little at the look he received in return.

  “We just came to say good morning and have a great first day,” said Kassie, then she turned and sauntered toward the food, dragging Trevor with her.

  “He’s such a jerk,” said Jimmy, scowling.