The Immortals

by Mary Hallberg

  The building was just outside The Necropolis, in an area where the streets and sidewalks were dirty and paint peeled off the walls. I would have felt better with security, but at least I had Gage. He laced his fingers through mine as we walked down the street. It was the first time he’d done this, and I tried to ignore the sweat on my palms.

  The gallery was one in a long line of what looked like office buildings. We almost missed it, and figured the one we ended up at was the one because the street numbers matched. Fortunately, someone had at least bothered to sweep the concrete entrance.

  Immediately to our right was a blue carpeted area and a few minglers looking at Luke’s photographs tacked on the walls. Fortunately, I didn’t see any of my family members right away. Gage spotted a picture on the far wall and dropped my hand to approach. I followed him, and when we got up to it he pointed and said, “Isn’t this beautiful?”

  I had seen several photographs already, but not this one. It was a black and white photo of my dad. I remembered the day it was taken; I was ten, so he had just gotten sick. I guess I knew Luke had been taking pictures even that long ago, but I didn’t realize he had saved so many.

  “Who is that?” Gage said. “He looks so much like you.”

  “That’s my dad. Well, mine and Luke’s dad.”

  “Is he here?”

  I shook my head. “He died when I was twelve.”

  “Oh.” He ran his teeth across his lips. “I’m sorry.”

  “It was a long time ago.” I shrugged, but couldn’t help but noticed how much dad resembled grandpa in that picture. Family resemblance, I guess. Gage laced his fingers back through mine and led me to the next photo.

  After we walked through the exhibit, gallery workers handed out coffee and we sat on big leather couches and schmoozed. Gage and I had just sat down holding styrofoam cups when mom, grandpa, Luke and several of mom’s co-workers walked in. One of the co-workers, a woman in her early thirties, immediately gasped. “Why, hello Gage!” she said.

  Gage nodded and smiled. “Hi.” He didn’t act like he knew this woman, but she had probably seen him on TV.

  “McKenzie, is this your new boyfriend?” Mom turned to her co-worker. “How do you know him?”

  “Know him? He’s an Immortal. His brother, Matt, is probably the best poet of the century.”

  Mom’s jaw opened slightly. “Matt Cavanagh? The poet Kenzie is friends with? He’s your brother?”

  Gage nodded. “That’s him.”

  “Oh, is he?” Luke smirked and sat annoyingly close to us. “So, Gage...what is it that you do for a living? Or, should I say, what is it that you do to pass the time?”

  Gage shifted his eyes and squirmed. “Um...I’m an actor.”

  Luke frowned. Actors were still looked down on outside of The Necropolis. I figured it must be left over from the days when hundreds of thousands of people wanted to be actors because they could get rich and famous for what they did. If you said you wanted to be an actor, it was assumed you wanted money and attention, even though it was next to impossible to become famous for acting then and it’s even more difficult now.

  “Interesting, interesting,” Luke said, rubbing his chin. “McKenzie and I have a cousin who wants to be an actor. Did she tell you that?

  Gage nodded. “Yeah, she did.”

  “I keep telling her that she can’t get famous for it like you used to. You have to really love it. Can’t become Immortal for it, that’s for sure.”

  Shut up Luke, I thought. Please, just stop talking. Everyone in the room knew that Gage would have no problem being a successful actor now that he was Immortal.

  But of course he didn’t. “Gage, I know this might not be appropriate since we just met, but since you’re dating my sister I feel obliged to ask: How did you become Immortal?”

  “Charity work,” he mumbled. A standard answer.

  “His dad is Dr. Niles Cavanagh,” I filled in quickly. “The guy who started all those child hunger relief charities.” Gage nodded. I was afraid he might be angry with me for butting in, but he smiled.

  Fortunately, so did Luke as he continued to rub his chin. “Lots of people do charity work,” he said. “Our amazing mother over here has been working for different charities for most of McKenzie’s life. Absolutely hates most of the Necropolis charities. Most of the money doesn’t go to the actual charities, you know, but back into The Immortals’ pockets. Now, isn’t that a travesty? Surely you hate that just as much as I do.”

  Oh my God Luke, I thought. Please, just shut up already.

  But Gage nodded smoothly. “My dad hates them too. That’s why he makes sure that all of the money from every event goes directly to that charity. Every penny he earns for hunger relief goes directly to the meals we provide for people.”

  Luke didn’t try to argue with him anymore.

  I started out life in The Necropolis with a three month supply of TNV and written instructions to apply for a three month refill before the end of October. On the morning of October first, I mentioned it to Jacey. “I’m almost out too,” she told me. “Let’s go pick it up ourselves after class. It’ll be a lot easier that way.”

  “You can do that?” I asked.

  “Of course. I’ve been doing it for months.”

  We pulled up to the TNV factory late that morning. Even though we’d come straight from bio, it took almost forty-five minutes to get there, even with Jacey’s maniacal driving. There weren’t many Immortals sharing the roads here, but there were thousands of Underground workers, and apparently they’d all chosen that exact time to head to work.

  The factory loomed in front of us like something out of an old science fiction movie. It was late morning but cloudy and humid. Even though it was only in the fifties, I shivered and felt bone chillingly cold. I wished I had thought to bring a jacket.

  Jacey slammed the car door, swinging her abnormally large purse out of the way, and motioned for me to follow her. “This way,” she said. She led me up a set of stairs that wound up the outside of the building and led to a gray door.

  The stairs creaked loudly as we jogged up them. “Jacey, are you sure this is the right entrance?” I said from several steps below. “This doesn’t even look like the front of the building.”

  “It’s not,” she said. “Trust me, this is the right one.”

  I doubted this, but I didn’t argue and kept going. She got to the top before me and opened the door with no trouble. The room it opened into was dark, and she flicked on a light switch. I knew this couldn’t be the right entrance, despite what she said. Then again, her definition of right and mine were often different.

  Sure enough, she led me to a row of shelves on the far side of the room, every one of them filled with plastic bags full of syringes. Now I understood why Jacey had brought such a large purse. She picked up two of the plastic bags. “As much as you can carry,” she said. “Help yourself.”

  I hesitated. “Jacey, are you sure this is...I don’t know, legal?”

  “Of course!” she said without hesitation. She picked up two more bags and stuffed them into her already full purse. “They make this stuff by the truckload. That’s why it’s here; it’s for us. Take advantage of it.”

  This was a far cry from putting a little card in the mail and getting a nice, neat, three month supply. “How many people do this?”

  She shrugged. “Lots of people. Almost all my other friends do. Well, all the Immortal ones anyway. I guess a few non-Immortals do it, but they’d probably get arrested pretty quickly.” She snickered. “That little card is just for people who are too lazy to come down here themselves.” She picked up another plastic bag and handed it to me. “Kenzie, there’s nothing to worry about. I promise.”

  I took the bag and squeezed it into my backpack. “Okay, but...Jacey, can we actually get in trouble?”

  I knew I was pestering her and for a second I thought she might get angry. But she just smiled. “Kenzie...we can’t get in trouble for anything.�
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  chapter seven

  Jacey didn’t show up for biology the next morning. I figured she had opted for a spontaneous night out and was still nursing a hangover.

  That afternoon as I sat down to tackle the next novel on my English reading list, I got a call from her asking me to come over. I often ended up at her house after school; sometimes we worked on homework, but she frequently talked me into various time wasters like meeting up with friends and going out to eat or shopping. But from the tone of her voice, it was obvious that we weren’t going to get anything done today, productive or non productive.

  I knew something was really wrong when I tried to open the front door and found it locked. I didn’t even know where the doorbell was so, dumbfounded, I knocked. She could have been anywhere in that huge house, and after a minute, I was afraid she hadn’t heard me. But just as I raised my hand to knock again, the door swung open. Jacey stood in the doorway, biting her lip.

  “Hey Kenzie,” she said. “Come on in.”

  I saw a broken window out of the corner of my eye and gasped. “Jacey, what happened?”

  “Someone broke in last night while we were asleep.” She kept walking to the living room, where Elizabeth sat with her eyes on her phone. She didn’t look up when I walked in.

  “Um...what?” I knew I probably should have said more, but they were both so casual that I didn’t know how to react. I would have been a lot more outwardly nervous if someone had broken into my house in the middle of the night. Then again, this was Jacey and Elizabeth.

  “Yeah, it was actually really early, probably four or so. I didn’t even hear it. Mom did, but by the time she got downstairs the guy had left. She freaked and called the police, but since there are no felony cameras around here there’s not much we can do. So she just went to work and forgot about it.”

  When the Immortals program first began, there was lots of outrage. One of the things people got angry over was the fact that non-Immortals couldn’t testify against Immortals in court. The idea was that Immortals were less likely to commit crimes because clearly we had done something good to get in, so why would we? But still, there was that possibility. So the government installed felony cameras throughout The Necropolis. This way, if an Immortal committed a crime, there was a greater chance it would be caught on camera and they would be convicted and have to face the consequences. They also said it would protect Immortals. Because of our wealth a lot of Immortals got robbed in the beginning. So it would also help if a crime was committed against us. According to their theory, everyone would win.

  “Did they dust for fingerprints or anything?” I asked.

  Jacey nodded, then said, “All they took was a drawer full of TNV. Nothing else.”

  “Damn,” I said. “We just got that yesterday.”

  “It doesn’t make any sense,” Elizabeth said, finally looking up from her phone. “Why would someone steal TNV? Immortals have unlimited access to it, and nobody else would want it.

  “A non-Immortal might want some,” I said.

  “Why would a non-Immortal want TNV just to live forever the way the rest of the world is living now?”

  “Maybe they don’t want to live forever. Maybe they just had some disease they want to cure.” I was thinking in particular of my father. Maybe if grandpa had given him some of the TNV he had access to back then, he would still be alive.

  Elizabeth shrugged. “Well if your trip yesterday was any indication, security is pretty lax at the factory. But whatever, it’s not like they’re going to catch them anyway. Jacey, just lock your doors from now on, okay?”

  Jacey was pushing down her cuticles and not looking at us. “Okay mom,” she mumbled. “So, what do you guys want to do for dinner?”

  As far as I know, the break-in never made the news in The Necropolis or anywhere else. It was a little strange; Jacey was relatively well-known here, and almost all of the crimes in The Necropolis made the news simply because there weren’t that many. But I didn’t think much of it. There had been several break-ins over the past few months, so maybe the stations were just tired of covering them. Then again, maybe they were starting to become a little too common.

  Now that we were well into October, the fall weather was turning even cooler. It was the perfect time to sit by the fire and roast marshmallows. So it wasn’t a surprise when the Cavanaghs held a barbecue on the first Saturday night of the month. They even invited Luke.

  Both of us schmoozed and impressed Immortals by remembering almost all their names. Well, I remembered most of their names. Luke only addressed them after I whispered their names in his ear or said them out loud. I wasn’t sure how many of them were big enough egomaniacs to get offended if I didn’t recognize them, but remembering people’s names is a skill I’ve always prided myself in having.

  I sat by the fire in between Jacey and Gage. Gage snuggled in close to me, even though it wasn’t that cold. He was close enough for me to smell his hair, and I relaxed into his arms. I knew everyone around the fire could see us, and a few even stared. But for the first time, I didn’t care.

  Several hot dogs and dozens of burnt marshmallows later, Gage convinced Luke to play video games with him upstairs and I was left on a log with Jacey, who hadn’t quite given up on the marshmallows. She seemed like she had recovered from her not so devastating ordeal the previous week. Some people would be shaken after a break-in, even if nothing valuable was taken, but not the ever so resilient Jacey. After all, it wasn’t like she had gone to great lengths to get the TNV. All it seemed to have cost her was a few missed classes, and I got the feeling she could live with that.

  “Luke and Gage seem to be getting along well,” she said, sticking another marshmallow on her stick.

  “I know, I’m so relieved. I thought my entire family would hate him.”

  “Why would they hate him?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. My mom isn’t exactly crazy about...well...”

  “Immortals? She probably sees past that. After all, you’re one of us now.” She stuck the stick in the dying fire. It popped and the smell of burning sugar wafted through the air. “And so is Gage, and he’s a pretty cool guy.”

  “He’s amazing,” I said. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”

  “I’m really happy for you Kenzie.” She blew on the marshmallow. “Just be careful who you talk to this about.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  She nodded toward the edge of the campfire, where a mix of older and younger adults were whispering amongst themselves. “My great aunt was a pre-Immortal celebrity. Her family was really rich and I think her dad was an actor or something. She was about to start filming some movie when she got married, but it lasted less than three months. People were always trying to take pictures of them and whatnot, and getting into their business. My whole family blamed the media for ruining her marriage, and everyone who knew about it thought they just pretended to get married for publicity.” She nodded back toward a kid fighting to light up a marshmallow despite the dying fire. “People really like to gossip here, and they can turn even a really good thing into something ugly.”

  I shivered. Suddenly it seemed a lot colder outside than it had before.

  Luke had a photo shoot the next morning and had to leave early. A few minutes later, after Jacey flicked her last burnt marshmallow into the grass, I stood by the front door waiting for Gage to come downstairs. Luke, however, came first.

  “Ready when you are,” he said, grabbing his jacket.

  “I’m going to be a few minutes,” I said.

  “Oh, I gotcha.” He puckered his lips and made obnoxious kissing noises. I slapped him on the arm and he opened the door. “I’ll be in the car.”

  In the kitchen a few feet away, Matt stood against the wall, red plastic cup in hand. Paige had her arm linked in his and her head on his shoulder, but he was staring at the wall ahead of him. Occasionally she'd look up and whisper something in his ear, but he didn’t respond. A minute la
ter, a blonde girl approached from his other side; she was sucking on a lollipop and her hair fell into her (probably acne free) face. She said something and laughed; this time, Matt actually laughed along with her. After she left, Paige turned her head up to his and whispered something else in his ear, but this time she looked annoyed. He kissed the top of her head and pulled her into a hug, but looked straight ahead at the wall as he continued to drink from his cup. They stood like that for a moment until Matt broke away and headed for the punch table for a refill.

  He walked by me a minute later. “Leaving already?”

  I nodded. “Luke has to be at work early tomorrow and he’s my ride.”

  He looked at his feet. “Are you sure? Because I could give you a ride back later if you wanted. It’s not really a problem.”

  “No, it’s not a big deal. It’s getting late anyway. I should get going.”

  “I really wanted you to stay,” he said softly, shuffling his feet now but looking at me. “But I guess if you have to go...”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Maybe next time, okay?”

  “Yeah, next time.” He unexpectedly kissed my cheek. “Good night Kenzie.”

  Gage came down a minute later, panting. “Sorry, I had to put away all my stuff. Are you leaving?”

  “Yeah, Luke’s my ride.”

  “Really? That sucks. Matt and I were going to go out and roast the last of the marshmallows.” He threw a jacket on. “Come on, let me walk you out.”

  His put his arm around me and led me to the front porch, where he closed the door behind us. Luke must have gone around back say goodbye to people because there was nobody else in front of the house. It was the quietest it had been all night.

  Gage balanced on the balls of his feet. We'd had several of these moments over the past few weeks, standing at the doorstep, awkwardly poised for a kiss, but I hadn’t let him have one yet.