The children were comatose. It was as though they were in a trance that they could never wake out of. Their eyes were opened and glazed over, unseeing. The absolute silence of the room was unsettling and when Nathan walked over to the closest crib on trembling legs, there was no reaction out of any of the children. They were clean and obviously cared for, but there was something unhealthy about the look in their faces.
It was blank. The babies weren't laughing or crying or waving their arms, or chewing their toes like normal babies did. The children didn't move at all, except for the rhythmic rise and fall of their chests as they breathed. They did have that much life in them, but nothing else. And they were all boys. Not that that surprised Nathan – he knew nothing else.
An oppressive, heavy feeling came over him, making it hard to breathe and he ran out of the horrible room and back to where he was originally. He didn't understand anything about what he'd seen except it was wrong, terribly wrong what they were doing to those children. And right then and there, sitting in the hard chair, he vowed that someday he would stop it.
:::::
Nathan never knew if people had been watching him as he went into the rooms, but he supposed not, since he wasn't confronted about it when someone finally came into the plain, dull room. He was glad she hadn't come in until much later than when he returned, for his hands and knees had been trembling long after he sat back down and his stomach felt queasy. It was the first time he had ever seen such a thing in all his thirteen years, and he was sure he would never see anything so horrible ever again. He hoped not.
A hooded figure came in, one that was higher up than the normal ones – this was showed by the decorative embroidery on her cloak – and Nathan didn't know her name. They all looked alike, and he only knew a couple by their names. The others had never volunteered that information.
“It's time for the ceremony,” she said curtly. There was no apologies for having kept him waiting for so long, and her tone was neutral, so he breathed a small sigh of relief. He still wondered why he had been put in this room in the first place, but that was all behind him now. He was going to the ceremony, and that's all that mattered.
He followed her into a room with a high ceiling, a place he'd been in a couple of times before, for other graduation ceremonies and such. Attendance was mandatory for the entire facility – staff and students alike. They tried to have as few ceremonies as possible, meaning that some of the graduates were only a few days or weeks away from turning fourteen or nineteen. He was lucky in that he would be allowed to graduate on the very day of his turning thirteen, along with twelve other boys. A couple of them he knew by sight, but the rest were unfamiliar to him. There were dozens of dormitories, though, so that wasn't strange at all.
He walked on to the stage where the other twelve boys, plus the woman who had brought him in and a couple of others were standing. In their turn, each boy took the pledge to fight for the queen whenever she needed protection, and to work for nothing else but the betterment of the facility and the Outside. Nathan was the last person to take the oath. He wondered if it was a sign of some sort.
He repeated the words that would launch into the Outside world every night. “I, Nathan, do promise to uphold the laws of this facility, my home; to work with others for the good of my home and the Outside; to fight for and protect the queen whenever the need may arise; and to obey those who rule over me in everything...” As he spoke, Nathan was again reminded of the fact that he had no last name. None whatsoever. All the other boys had last names, although they never used them except in the most formal of situations like this, but he had none. Yet another reason to believe that he was somehow different than the rest of them.
“You're not like us...you'll never be one of us...” Hate filled words that Dylan had spat at him only a few days ago filled his head, but he pushed them resolutely away and focused on repeating exactly what the woman in charge said. Then, it was done. There was no congratulations, however. Instead, the boys were quickly ushered into a room that was off to the side of the platform they all had stood on.
“You will now have the tattoo of your birth date and name put on your shoulder,” the leader said. The equipment was taken out, and the process was started on the first boy.
Nathan had expected this, but now he had one small problem. He didn't want to have the permanent symbol of his just first name on his shoulder forever, but he had no last name. No matter. His shirt would cover up the mark well, and no one would really know the difference. So when the time came, he rolled up his right shirt sleeve and sat stoically through the little stinging pains as his name as date of birth were tattooed on to his shoulder.
And now it was done. He was now officially part of the third caste, and could now go Outside. He shivered in secret delight at the thought.
Chapter 2 – Illusions Of Grandeur
The first work detail Nathan went on was two days after his graduation ceremony. His sleep had been haunted by the images of the room, or children's ward, or experiment chamber. Whatever it was, it had chilled him to the bone and it was only when engaged in actual activity that it went from his mind. At any times of stillness, it stayed there. He considered telling it to one of his casual friends, but they could betray him and he didn't want to take that risk. So he kept the burdensome secret inside him, letting it weigh him down more and more every day.
The morning and afternoon before the night work detail, Nathan was a bundle of jittery nerves. Some of the slightly older boys who had been out before told him, with a withering look, that going to the Outside world was nothing to be excited about. “All you do,” one of them stated with a scornful look on his face, “is clean dumb houses and do repairs around the villages we go to and harvest food to put in store rooms. And everything is deserted except for guards so I don't see the point to anything.”
This did nothing to deter Nathan. The other boy might be immune to the excitement of it, but to Nathan it would a fresh, new experience and nothing anyone said could ruin that. He did puzzle over the deserted part of the boy's disheartening spiel, but he decided to see everything for himself and then draw his own conclusions. Of course, the work itself would probably not be that fun, but the newness of the experience would make up for that.
The whole squad of boys and young men waited for what seemed an interminable time to Nathan. He had no real idea of how much time was passing, but it seemed like quite a lot. He was standing next to a young man of maybe sixteen or seventeen, who had darkish hair and a nice smile. Nathan liked him at once and decided to risk a question. “Why aren't we going?” he whispered, as some of their guardians stood nearby. “We're all ready.”
The young man shook his head. “It's always like this. We're ready to go, but then they wait. My name's Hunter, by the way.”
“Nathan,” he replied, shaking Hunter's offered hand as firmly as possible. Then, with a whoosh of pride, he added, “I graduated two days ago, you know.”
Hunter nodded. “I think I remember seeing you.” He turned back to staring at the door, waiting for it to open. Nathan wanted to engage in further conversation, but seeing that Hunter seemed to like to keep to himself more often than not – he had seen him before, just sitting pensively by himself – he let things go for the moment.
However, he wanted to learn more of Hunter and maybe make friends with him if he could, despite his being three years younger, or so. Everyone his own age seemed immature and petty. And, Nathan had to admit, they probably shied away from him because of his rather explosive temper. Laii was right, but just because she was didn't mean he could change just like that. But he wanted a close friend, someone he could say things to without fear of betrayal. Important, secret things.
Without a warning the huge front doors creaked open. The women who were standing around talking in huddled groups came to life. “Before you leave, you have to be divided into units of ten. There will be thirty units, enough to take on ten villages tonight. The usual ten. The older one
s can guide the newer.” She began to read off names, with a pause after each set of ten to indicate that that unit was complete. Nathan was put into the unit Hunter was taking charge of, along with Dylan. With a glance at both Nathan and Dylan, the woman reading out the list coughed slightly and then said “Aaron, you'll take charge of Dylan. Hunter is with Nathan. The rest of you follow Hunter as well.”
Nathan sneaked a look at the person put in charge of Dylan. To his surprise, it was someone about his age, actually a little younger than Dylan but probably a couple months older than himself. The woman must have had great faith in Aaron's maturity if she was putting him in charge of Dylan. Nathan sniffed. It wasn't his concern. And now he would be able to learn more about Hunter.
“So, team, we're going to split up. You five will get the three house on our left, and the rest of us will take the right. Remember the rules. Just the first floor and put everything back where it came from, even if it was out of place.” Hunter laid down the law, and the other boys and young men gave quick nods and disappeared into the inky darkness. Nathan envied them their quick professionalism but consoled himself with the thought that if he kept coming on work details – and why would he stop – he would be just the same in a short while.
With five of their number gone, the ones left were Hunter, Nathan, Aaron, Dylan, and the boy who had given Nathan the description of what is was like outside, who had introduced himself to Dylan as Chad. Nathan couldn't stop looking all around him, drinking in the sights and smells and sounds, even though it was nighttime. There was a quiet chirping which sounded pleasant and even a little comforting although he didn't know what it came from. The air was cool and had a sort of aura of a bit of humidity and a wet smell mixed with the slight breeze.
The sky was deep black, darker even than the hoods and cloaks that the women inside wore, and it was studded with tiny white lights that Hunter had called 'stars'. They were a beautiful sight, but whenever Nathan tried to focus on one, it always faded out. He rubbed his eyes and tried to see it again, but with the same results. He found that if he only looked at a star out of the corner of his eye, or ran a quick, sweeping glance over the sky, he could see everything much better.
Hunter touched his shoulder. “We should be going,” he said in a low voice. For a moment Nathan thought he meant they should go back to the facility, but then he remembered why they were here. With a nod, he followed Hunter to the first house. “They're always unlocked whenever we come,” Hunter remarked offhandedly, “not like the facility.”
“I've always wondered why,” the boy named Aaron said. “You'd think that if people actually lived in houses like these, they'd lock them up. We could filch something and they'd never know who did it.”
Hunter shrugged. “It doesn't matter. Let's just get the job done.”
Now it was Aaron's turn to shrug. “Whatever,” he said, his voice a little too flippant, bordering on rebellious, even. Hunter took no notice of this and Nathan found his admiration for the young man. And Aaron didn't seem a good choice to keep an eye on Dylan. Chad just hung in there, completely unenthusiastic about his work. Nathan was unimpressed with all of them except Hunter. As for himself, he would work harder than any of the others – Hunter included – and show he was the best.
They entered the first house. It was dark and cool inside, just like outside, but Hunter quickly switched on several lights and Nathan was able to see what was inside. It was a gorgeous, luxurious house and to eyes that had seen nothing but the comparative starkness of the facility, it looked like he would have imagined heaven might have, if he had known of such a place at the time. And if it hadn't been so absolutely filthy. There were dirty plates all over the place, as well as spilled food and drink on the floor and dirty shoe prints everywhere.
“This is one of the worse ones,” Hunter said, more more Nathan's clarification than anyone else's, all the others having gone out before. “I've never actually been in this house before but it's pretty rare to have something as messy as this.” Nathan nodded as if he had known that all along, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief. If Hunter hadn't said anything, he would have gotten disheartened despite his vow to not be.
They moved as quietly as possible, picking up plates and putting cushions back on the couches in what seemed to be the main living area. “But didn't you say not to move anything?” Nathan asked. He was, of course, referring to the woman who had read out the list and laid down the rules.
Hunter shrugged again. “We always do this. I think it basically means not to touch anything that wasn't dirty, just out of place. If we don't clean the dishes, who will?” With a grimace he picked up a sticky plate and held it by his fingertips. He walked to the kitchen, where there was a huge sink, two actually, and a large centre counter space that was separate from the rest of the counter. Nathan followed him.
“But nobody lives here, do they?” he said, puzzlement in his voice.
“I honestly have no idea. But,” he added, pointing a shadowy staircase Nathan hadn't noticed before, “there is a second floor.” He left the kitchen and went back to the main living area. All the dishes had been picked up by the others during Hunter and Nathan's small exchange.
“Good work,” Hunter said approvingly. “Nate, go find me a mop, will you?” It took a moment for Nathan to realize that Hunter was talking to him, as he had never been called Nate before, just plain Nathan. It didn't fit well on him; he didn't feel like a 'Nate', but if that's what Hunter wanted to call him, that was fine. A nickname meant you were accepted by whoever called you that name. At least as long as it was a good nickname.
Then Nathan remembered what Hunter had asked him in the first place. “A mop?”
Hunter nodded, not getting what Nathan meant. He had no idea what a mop was but he didn't want to let the other boys – or even Hunter – know that so he turned around and headed toward the entrance hall, sure he would know what it was when he saw it. “It's probably in the kitchen,” Hunter called out to him.
“Oh. Yes. Right.” Nathan's face burned as he heard Chad and Dylan snickering over his mistake, but a moment later his vision cleared of red when he heard Hunter give a short correctional remark. It was mild correction, but correction nonetheless. In less than an hour, Nathan had figured out that Hunter didn't get angry quickly, if at all. He supposed that was a good trait to have in a friend, but didn't really care. All he wanted was to be fully accepted.
He came into the kitchen and looked around. If he had known what Hunter wanted it for, his search would've been easier, but right now he couldn't even guess. There was nothing in the kitchen that looked remotely what he imagined a 'mop', whatever it was, would be, but he didn't want to go back empty handed. Then, his eyes caught sight of the shadowy staircase again.
Whatever could be up there? He had no idea, just like Hunter, but he felt brave enough to try and see. And maybe the mop would be up there. At least if he were caught, he'd have an excuse for going up there in the first place.
With footsteps that made no sound on the velvety rug running all the way up the stairs, Nathan inched his way to the second floor. He was torn between going up quickly and seeing as much as he could before he was found, or going up slowly and quietly and perhaps making it back down before he was caught. In the end, fear won out over bravado, so he crept up as quietly as possible.
He could hear the dim, distant sounds of conversation coming from downstairs and wondered that they weren't quieter. If anybody did live on the second floor, they would be able to hear very clearly that there was someone else in the house beside themselves. But he doubted anyone did live permanently in here. It was just too strange to have the house deserted every time units came to clean them up. But, then, how did everything get so messy?
When he reached the top of the stairs, he let out a huge whoosh of breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding in. His heart was thumping wildly with the pressure of keeping it in for so long and he felt all shaky. But that soon passed and he was abl
e to look around his surroundings with a more critical eye than before.
He wasn't able to see much. The upstairs was just as shadowy as the bottom had been before Hunter had taken charge and switched the lights on, so that was disappointing. Also, the upstairs was pretty much like the downstairs in how it looked. An open concept, although most of the doors were shut, and, Nathan noticed, locked from the outside. When he went closer, however there was no key. How odd.
One door wasn't locked, so he carefully turned the knob around and eased it open. You'll probably get in major trouble one of these days for opening doors willy-nilly, he thought to himself with a grin, but he didn't turn back. It was a sleeping room, of this he was certain, but as far removed from the dormitory he slept in as anything could be. There was only one bed, it was covered with what looked to be soft, light material and-
Someone was sleeping on it. That someone shifted around a little and moaned softly in their sleep, but it could have just as well been a blood curdling screech for the way it affected Nathan. He bolted out of the room and down the stairs as fast as he could and leaned against the kitchen counter, breathing deeply in and out in a futile attempt to calm his racing heart and the adrenaline pumping through his body. He at least had enough presence of mind to glance at the large clock that was hanging off the opposite wall and saw that he had been up there for only about two minutes. That was a relief as it meant he most likely hadn't been missed.
Dylan sauntered into the kitchen and with hardly a glance at the still recovering Nathan, he went over to a door that opened into a tiny closet. He took out a pole that had a bunch of cloth strips tied to one end. “The mop,” he said in an offhanded tone and took it out.
Vengeance Is Mine Page 2