He went into the kitchen and poured the mugs full of steaming dark liquid. Returning, he handed a cup to Jacey. The heat felt wonderful in her hands.
She took a cautious sip but had to stick her tongue out at the scalding bitterness. “That’s horrible.”
“I told you so.”
Jacey took another taste, this time prepared for how bad it was going to be. Sensei relished his, closing his eyes and sighing contentedly after each sip.
Jacey said, “So you are either a ghost, or you survived your suicide attempt.”
That brought a genuine smile from him, a rare occurrence. “Sometimes I do feel like a ghost, walking the earth, yet invisible to all.”
Jacey let the silence sit, not knowing if he wanted to continue.
He finished his coffee and set the cup aside before speaking again. “I woke up lying on my cot with a man in a white suit standing over me. At least seven guards stood behind him in full riot gear. The man, as I’m sure you guessed, was Dr. Carlhagen. He spoke my name and asked if I was feeling better.
“I swore at him and told him to get the hell out of my cell.” Sensei laughed at the memory.
“The guards took me to a small room, and Dr. Carlhagen sat across from me and said, ‘I have a proposal. I will take you away from this place, and in return you will work for me.’ I asked him what he would have me do and he said, ‘I run a very special school. The students need training in the martial arts.’ I laughed in his face and asked him what kind of school would allow a convicted murderer to teach their children.
“And in his charming way he said, ‘Mario Rosa, I know you didn’t kill that girl. I have faith in you. And I think the harshness of your experience here has made you the ideal teacher.’
“I knew that if Dr. Carlhagen was going to free me, it was because he had connections within the government, and that the public would never know. I said as much. He said, ‘You will be handed over into my custody, so of course, you’ll have to do what I tell you. But I swear, you’ll have more autonomy than most teachers would dream of having.’
“I couldn’t imagine my existence could ever be worse, so I agreed. And within two days I was here on St. Vitus, living in my villa, preparing the dojo, and getting up to speed on the first class that would come into my care.
“A week later, Dante, Ping, Vin, and Sarah arrived as nine-year-olds. Each year a new batch of four came through the gates, and hanging over my head were Dr. Carlhagen’s instructions: ‘Tell them nothing of their futures, except that it will be great. Tell them nothing about the outside world, except that it is a wasteland.’
“Over the years, I asked him several times what would happen to you after graduation. He refused to tell me, and I continued to grow more suspicious. Like you, I couldn’t think of a single reason why the truth should be kept from any of you.”
Jacey wished she’d been memorizing Sensei’s story. But she was too captivated by it to gather the necessary concentration. Half her coffee was gone, and she felt full of energy. “So when Dr. Carlhagen tells us we will become leaders of men, do you believe that?”
He held his hands apart and shrugged. “For a long time I assumed Dr. Carlhagen had built this school as a sort of employee development program. That he planned to produce loyal and extremely talented workers for his business interests. All I ever found out about him was that he had once been a scientist. He developed a few drugs with his long-time partner, a Nobel Prize winning scientist named Michael . . . something.”
Jacey had no idea what a Nobel Prize was, but the idea that Dr. Carlhagen had been a scientist intrigued her. “Did he ever mention working with dogs?”
“No. Why?”
She weighed whether or not to tell him about the video. It would lead her to mention the machine in the white room and the insane idea she’d cooked up about knowledge transfer.
She decided against it because she realized she couldn’t trust him. For one simple reason. “So if I understand your story, Dr. Carlhagen could send you back to that prison at any time.”
“It’s worse than that. I have two children. He also knows where the rest of my family is. I have a younger sister, and it’s possible my parents are still alive.”
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve had no contact with the outside world since I came here.”
So that was why Sensei had been so cagey. Jacey imagined that Dr. Carlhagen would bring Sensei’s family to him piece by piece if he thought it would control the man. No. She definitely couldn’t confide what she’d discovered.
She changed the subject. “If people pay money to see fights and Dr. Carlhagen has all these business interests, then the outside world can’t be much of a wasteland.”
He just looked at her, but his non-denial confirmed what she’d long suspected. Especially since Dr. Carlhagen had given her the gown.
Sarah moaned, and Jacey followed Sensei to check on her. The girl lay twisted in the sheets and stared with wide, fearful eyes at them. “Are you ghosts?”
Jacey knew then that Sensei was right. They had to get Sarah back into the medical ward. He couldn’t protect her any more than he could protect the rest of the Scions. Given Sarah’s state of mind, Jacey had to admit that a medicated stupor was the best thing for her. At least temporarily.
Sensei lifted Sarah as if she was no heavier than a pillow. She didn’t resist. Didn’t even seem to see them anymore. She stared at her hands. “They’re not right.”
Jacey led Sensei across the quad, but stopped him before they went into Nurse Smith’s villa.
“The side door is controlled by an AI. I had to crawl under the view of its camera and pretend to be Nurse Smith to get past.”
“That worked?” He seemed astonished.
“Yes. But I don’t know if it’ll work twice. The AI asked me why I needed to go in the last time.”
He heaved a sigh and looked around, as if a new door into the medical ward might appear. None did.
“Let’s just put her on the sofa in Nurse Smith’s living room,” he said. “I’ll tell Dr. Carlhagen I found her wandering in the quad.”
Jacey held the door open for Sensei, and he crept in, silent as a cat. He had just put her on the sofa when Jacey realized the plan’s big flaw.
She tiptoed to Sensei and motioned him close. “Sarah was strapped down. There’s no way she could have gotten free on her own.”
Sensei closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You’ll have to open the door.”
“Where is the camera located on the AI monitor?”
“The top center. Why?”
“I’m sick of crawling.”
Jacey peered down the hall toward the door to the medical ward. The monitor was dark. In three steps she covered the distance and placed her palm over where she hoped the camera was.
“Sandy Jane,” Jacey said, using Nurse Smith’s voice.
The door clicked. With her free hand, Jacey motioned Sensei past her.
The monitor lit up and the AI’s face appeared. “Why is the camera obstructed, Nurse Smith?”
“My face is all black and blue, and I’m embarrassed to be seen.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Jacey let out a high pitched “Oh!” of indignation and said nothing else. Removing her hand at the last moment, she went into the medical ward.
Sensei was waiting for her, and she led him to Sarah’s room. Once Sarah was back on her bed, Sensei picked up the IV tube. “I have no idea how to reconnect one of these.”
“Let’s just leave it. They’ll think she tore it off in her sleep.”
“Not very believable when her arms are bound,” he said as he secured the straps. “But that’s the best we can do.”
Jacey kissed Sarah’s forehead. “Get some rest.”
They closed the door, slipped into Nurse Smith’s villa on hands and knees, and quietly crept out into the balmy night air.
27
The Snakes Would Have Noticed
&nb
sp; Jacey crept into Girls’ Hall, knowing she wouldn’t sleep that night but determined to get what rest she could. She had no sooner tucked herself under the covers than Belle’s face appeared next to her, pale as a ghost.
“Where were you?”
Jacey sighed and climbed down, motioning for Belle to follow her outside. She knew there was nothing louder than whispers in a quiet room, and she didn’t want to disturb the other girls’ sleep.
The first hints of morning colored the sky behind the eastern hills as Jacey sat on the front steps of Girls’ Hall. “I got into the medical ward through Nurse Smith’s villa.”
“Did you find—” A guttural sob broke off Belle’s question.
Jacey felt a touch of pity for the girl, but not enough to offer more than a light pat on the back. “I searched everywhere. Vaughan’s body wasn’t there. But I found someone else. Alive.”
Belle’s puffy eyes and disheveled hair gave her a wild look, and she wrung her hands together. “Who?”
“Sarah.”
Belle’s head fell.
“There was something wrong with her. Dr. Carlhagen has her strapped down to the bed, and she had an IV feeding her continuous drugs to keep her sedated.”
They sat in silence for a while as Belle absorbed this. Jacey stared across the quad and slowly became aware of Belle’s stare burning into the side of her face.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Belle wiped at her eyes and sat up straighter.
Jacey hadn’t told Sensei about the bodies she’d found. And after learning his story, she knew she couldn’t trust him. Dr. Carlhagen had too much leverage over him.
She didn’t trust Belle either. But despite their differences, they both wanted to know what had happened to Vaughan.
“I found Dante’s father. He was dead. And so were the other three parents.” There was no way she was going to tell Belle about the dog video and the strange machine she’d found. “They were in a walk-in freezer at the back of the medical ward.”
If Belle found this information surprising, she didn’t show it. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she sniffed. “But Vaughan’s body wasn’t with them?”
“No.”
“Doesn’t that seem strange to you? That Dr. Carlhagen would keep four dead people together and not include the fifth?”
Jacey hadn’t thought about it like that. “Where else could he be?”
Belle stood abruptly and started walking across the quad toward the dining hall. Jacey followed her. “Where are you going?”
Belle didn’t answer, but kept walking, skirting around the dining hall and heading toward the warehouse. She went to the freezer room, and flipped on the light. “You said the dead bodies were frozen.”
Jacey couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it herself. There was no way Dr. Carlhagen could leave a dead body lying around without it being refrigerated. But it was clear at a quick glance that Vaughan wasn’t in the warehouse cold room. It was filled with the normal supplies.
“There hasn’t been a lockdown since the night when Vaughan went into the medical ward,” Belle said. “So there have been no delivery trucks to take him away.”
“I was just at Sensei’s villa. No room for a dead body there, and we know there’s no cold storage in the dojo.”
“The kitchens,” Belle said.
“The Snakes would have noticed a body in there by now.”
They checked anyway. Vaughan was not there.
“You know what this means, Jacey?” The despairing croak was gone from voice.
Jacey gasped. “Either Dr. Carlhagen had Mr. Justin bury Vaughan—”
“—or he’s still alive.”
“But where is he?”
As they stepped back onto the quad, both lifted their eyes toward the hacienda. Without exchanging word or glance, they started for the bougainvillea-lined path.
Ten minutes later, Jacey gave the great mahogany doors a tentative tug, but they were locked. The girls circled around, descending the slope to check the doors on the exposed lower level. All locked. They discovered an overhead door like the one on the warehouse, but it too was shut tight.
They continued around the house, eventually returning to the mahogany doors. Belle stood in front of them, her whole body trembling with rage. Jacey pulled the sleeve of the girl’s uniform to keep her from pounding on the doors.
“I’m not giving up,” Belle said. “He has to be in there.”
“We need to think this through before we try to break the door down. Dr. Carlhagen doesn’t know that we know about the bodies, and he doesn’t know that we know about Sarah. I think it’s best we keep it that way.”
“What do you propose?” Belle asked. Her cold demeanor had returned, though she still looked terrible.
“I’ve been invited to dinner here.”
The darkness hid Belle’s expression, but her posture betrayed a mixture of shock and outrage.
Jacey started toward Girls’ Hall, letting Belle chase after her for once.
“What do you mean, you were invited?”
“You know that Dr. Carlhagen invited me to the hacienda two days ago. Didn’t Wanda tell you?”
“No. Wanda never tells me anything. She’s been too preoccupied doing your job.”
Jacey ignored the barb. “She didn’t tell you about the dress?”
Belle grabbed Jacey’s elbow and spun her. “What dress?”
Jacey filled Belle in as they returned to Girls’ Hall. She left out the part about Humphrey’s humiliation, just saying that Humphrey had gotten sick and had to leave early.
“I still don’t know why Dr. Carlhagen invited me up or why he gave me the gown,” Jacey said, though it wasn’t true. But being Dr. Carlhagen’s favorite would only create more resentment in Belle, and Jacey needed the girl’s cooperation.
“He keeps inviting me, and I’ve turned him down. I think it’s time to accept.”
“Good,” Belle said. “And while you’re there I’ll sneak in and look for Vaughan.”
“No! If you get caught before you find him, Dr. Carlhagen will figure out why you’re there. We have to keep him in the dark.”
“Then what’s the point of you going there?”
“He’ll expect me to stay there overnight,” she said. “Once he goes to bed, I’ll have plenty of opportunity to sneak out and look around.”
Belle didn’t like it, and she made that clear, but for once she didn’t argue with Jacey’s logic. “I have to see him, Jacey. I won’t accept that he’s dead until I see him.”
“I understand. I really do.”
Belle turned on her, shoved Jacey’s shoulder. “No you don’t! You got over his death awfully quick.”
“At least I did something. I’m the one who got into the medical ward, while you wept like a Dolphin in your bunk.”
Jacey was sure Belle was going to hit her, but instead she stomped into Girls’ Hall and climbed into bed.
Jacey did the same, though with less stomping. But it was a long time watching the fan spin on the ceiling before she faded to sleep.
28
That Withered Crone
Jacey woke to a crash as the doors to Girls’ Hall burst open. Sensei stormed in and headed straight for Belle’s bunk. Belle didn’t wake, though the noise had startled everyone else. Most the other girls jumped from their beds and cried out with alarm to see the martial arts master lifting Belle from her covers.
She woke up then. “What are you doing?”
All of the girls echoed her question.
Sensei turned back to the door, but Jacey stepped in his path. “Do you have to do this?”
“You knew it would come to this, both of you.”
Dr. Carlhagen must have finally learned what had happened with Nurse Smith the night before.
“Where are you taking her?”
Sensei brushed past her without answering, so Jacey knew the worst was true. He headed straight for the pit. Belle started to scream and fla
il her limbs, but Sensei immobilized her in seconds.
Jacey raced after, conscious that the girls of both Nines were streaming out behind her. As they saw what was about to happen, they screamed. Moments later, the boys erupted from their hall across the quad.
Sensei manhandled Belle, pinning her to the ground as he unlocked the grate. He called to Kirk and Horace. “Lift the grate.” They stood paralyzed until he shouted at them. They snapped out of it and raced to obey.
“Sensei,” Jacey called, “you know this isn’t right.”
“Belle struck Nurse Smith repeatedly. I think if the pit was ever warranted, this is such an occasion.”
“Get in,” Sensei barked at Belle.
She got to her hands and knees and looked up at him with a quivering lip, tears streaming down her face. Jacey thought for a moment she was going to beg for a reprieve, but instead she lashed out with hatred in her voice. “What happened to Vaughan is your fault, Sensei.”
She crawled to the ladder and descended.
Jacey moved to the edge of the pit and peered in. Black water stood higher than ever, and a white oval of Humphrey’s face stared up at her. The water was chest high on him, which meant it would easily reach Belle’s shoulders.
Sensei helped the boys lower the grate back into place and he locked it shut. He stood and addressed the students, all of whom milled about, gaping and whispering to each other.
“Prepare for classes. Assume Dr. Carlhagen’s instructions concerning Humphrey apply to Belle as well. No one is to feed her, speak to her, give her water, or so much as look in the pit without his consent. Is that understood?”
They gave a weak chorus. “Yes, Sensei.”
Normally he wouldn’t have accepted such a lackluster response, but he stalked away, brushing off Jacey’s hand as she tried to stop him.
Wanda appeared at Jacey’s shoulder. “What’s going to happen to the rest of us?” She didn’t seem that concerned about Belle, though Jacey could hardly blame her. Belle hadn’t done much to build loyalty among Jacey’s Nine.
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