by Aurora Smith
“Then let her say that.” Mr. Jerk Tortellini knew me too well and he was staring me down, trying to catch me in a lie. I gave up, there was no way I was leaving Liam out to dry like that.
“I helped,” I said and Tortellini practically did a side kick; victory was his. I was a goner.
“But I need them to fix me first!” Ashley said, although it looked very difficult for her. Served her right.
“Yes, right.” He deflated and sat back down in his chair with a thunk. “How long will it take to put her back?”
“A couple of weeks,” Liam answered with a frustrated sigh.
“Until then you will be moved into different groups and your time together coming up with a proper antidote for Ashley will be supervised. Neither of you will be alone for the reminder of time that you are here.”
“Yes sir.” Liam nodded but I was mad.
“That’s not fair, what about what she—’ I threw my hands up in the air in Ashley’s direction and she looked like she wanted to bite both of them off, which she could have done easily with those new chompers.
“Abby is fine, just look at me!” She started flapping her chicken wings and I had an evil laugh that I had no control over.
“You deserved it!” I snarled. That’s when the entire room exploded. Christina grabbed me around my waist and Justin got a hold of Ashley who was coming right at me.
“Maya, calm down.” Liam was talking quietly and my body calmed a little.” I was still angry and my fists were clenched tightly against his chest. He put his open, calming hands on my face and forced me to look at him. “Trust me.”
“Maya!” Justin’s warning call made the room settle, both Ashley and I were breathing like we’d just finished a marathon.
“Everyone go back to bed. I will see Liam and Maya after breakfast.”
“Yes sir,” Liam said, then poked me.
“Fine!” I said angrily.
We all walked out of the door, one by one like we were in a prison line. All we needed were the shackles and handcuffs. Right before we split into two groups, one line going to the boys’ cabin and one to the girls’ I uttered one more thing. Refusing to not have the last word.
“You’ve improved if you ask me.” I hissed to Ashley. Another explosion took place and I was less receptive to Liam this time as I went after Ashley.
***
“I’m so so so sorry, Maya!” Christina was begging for my forgiveness, which I had already given to her, as we walked to the cafeteria the next morning. Abby walked beside us; her brow was furrowed and she looked frustrated, which was a switch from her normally solemn, please don’t notice me demeanor that she usually put off. Vanessa was just pissed off that she missed all the fun.
This had been the longest week ever and I was glad it was coming to a close. I would treat Monday like it was New Years. I was turning over a new leaf. No more mysterious, brooding boys and their brothers. And no, I didn’t know which brooding boy or brother I was speaking of in particular, they were both in that category and I was equally intrigued with both of them, but as I said. I was staying away. Mostly because I didn’t have a choice. We walked into the cafeteria and Cupid swooped down on me.
“Come with me, Miss Justice.” I gave my friends an “I’ll see you around” look and followed him to a solitary table with food already at it waiting for me. Orange juice, an apple and a blueberry muffin.
I was allergic to blueberries.
“Gee, thanks,” I mumbled as he hustled away, his overly large hindquarters waddling as he snatched up Liam who had just walked in. Cupid put him on the other side of the room at his own table. We made eye contact right away and he crossed his eyes at me. I chuckled and crossed mine back at him. Call me strange but he was kind of hot. I mean, oddly so. He was turning out to be the most awkward guy I ever met and even though I felt like I knew a great deal about him, he didn’t know that I knew it so there was still this mystery about him.
“Good morning.” Mr Torricelli was in front of the room with his hands up for attention. The politer kids stopped what they were doing to look at him while most of us looked up at him bored and only offering a few moments of our attention before going back to what we were doing. I wasn’t doing anything and had no one to talk to, so he got my full attention for once.
“I want to remind everyone about the talent show that we will be having in one month’s time. You may go out of your groups if you wish but let me remind you that there will be no nudity or profanity or sexual content in any skit, talent or power that you decide to depict. A collective mumble rose from the tables of unappreciative youngens who were apparently gearing up to have a group orgy on stage, seriously who did he think we were?
“Sure take all the fun away,” I said and everyone chuckled.
“One month, you have one month ‘til we hold the talent show. Get it together because we are bringing back the hook.” He sounded grumpy now and like he had just that second decided to bring back the “big hook.”
Defeated, Mr. Torricelli sat down at the head table and began scarfing his pancakes, bacon and eggs. I had no idea why he kept this head camp counsellor gig year after year. Perhaps it was the cabin and its perks. I mean that place was tricked out, I should know, I broke into it last year and put everything in the opposite direction than it started in. It was such a subtle difference that one would have this nagging feeling those things were was out of place but nothing really was. It took hours and the freak said some crazy stuff in his sleep.
I looked around the room, complete boredom on my side and an apple core on my single person table. Justin was spinning his head back and forth from me to Liam. He looked like a hunky Italian bubblehead, his face going through eleven different emotions in under five seconds. I raised my eyebrows at him and he raised his back. Liam joined in on the awkward eye triangle contact we were all making.
After breakfast I was introduced to my new group and it was my worst fear come to life. Not only was I not with Christina anymore, I was with the popular kids. It was a strategic move and I respected the obvious thought that tortellini had put into it. It was an all-girl group, and they were ridiculously pretty and tall. Not to mention their soft long hair and normal sized eyes. I’m willing to bet that not one of them wore rainbow boots or superhero t-shirts or had chipped blue nail polish. I really needed to find me some nail polish remover asap. They all looked at me like I was a loose mouse that got caught in their room. One of those cute ones that are adorable, but small and creepy so you don’t know if you want to catch it and let it loose or kill it. Their polite stank faces were plastered perfection. I had no idea who any of these chicks were yet, although I assumed I would find out and have it rubbed in my face.
After breakfast I followed Cupid down one of the hallways in the recreation center and into a medium sized room that had been geeked out with all kind of science gear. Liam walked in behind me and his face burst into a smile that would make a blind child see.
“Mr. Frankenstein, Miss Justice, you will create the antidote for Miss Kendall as swiftly as possible. Mr. Callen here will be keeping an eye on you. There will be no funny business, am I understood?”
“Yes sir,” we said in unison. A kind of unified taunting if you will.
“Very good.” Cupid nodded to Mr. Callen and headed out the door, probably back to his cabin to pay no attention to any of the children here at camp.
“Hi,” he said, smiling kindly at me.
“Hi.”
“There will be no speaking,” the troll Mr. Callen said to us. He was approximately three feet tall and hairy. He looked like a pile of cat hair vomited up; sweat was dripping off his forehead.
“Hey,” Liam whispered. I looked at him from the corner of my eyes and noticed he jerked his head over to the troll and then closed his eyes. I shrugged my shoulders but Liam did it again. Did he want me to put him to sleep?
Smiling, I looked over to Mr. Callen then he dropped like a fly.
“Now that’
s better,” Liam said and knuckled my chin fondly.
Part Two:
Liam
Chapter Fifteen
Blue liquid bubbled to the surface of my beaker. The sulphur smell, I hoped, impressed Maya because it was all for show. I already had the antidote. It was tucked away in my room, folded into a pair of socks, but I couldn’t just give it to Ashley that quickly. Not because I wanted Ashley to suffer any more than she already was, I truly felt bad for that, but I didn’t want Maya to have to leave camp yet. She seemed particularly attached to this ridiculous place. All of the silly creatures that all tip toe around each other with powers they couldn’t use. Everyone hanging in the balance of trust that no real harm would come to any of them when all it would take was one person to tip it in the right direction.
Maya was different. Her mere presence was astonishingly frightening but I am almost positive she had no idea that she caused that kind of reaction. She claims she had not been in my dreams, but I can’t help but think that she was lying to me. I knew how her father felt, it was raw but controlled, and I could feel the pulled back energy of a practiced nightmare. The last week, since I had meet Maya though, I had been experiencing pure vibrant power in my dreams that truly tapped into the parts that terrified me most. Why, though, would she be so interested in my mind and why would she lie about it? I thought maybe she was interested in me but after hearing last night that she and my brother had been together I realized that she must still be trying to find information about him like she had been the first day that we had met. I was disgusted with myself after I had shown her that he had been grown, a family secret that I let my pride decide to divulge, and that was not fair to him or my family. Why did I constantly try to hurt my brother? I didn’t want to be that person anymore but when it came down to it, I was just a Frankenstein. No matter how much I fought it. I cared more about my own feelings and what people thought of me than the good of others. Yes, I was better than I used to be but how does one change their DNA? I have tried that too, and it was impossible. As a scientist I knew this, but I still tried to be better, one can at least pretend they are someone else. When people are looking, anyways.
“So, how long is this going to take?” she asked me.
“A couple of weeks,” I answered. I longed so much to talk to her freely, without fear of her judging me, but that didn’t seem possible. Her eyes looked longingly at me and I wanted so much to believe that it was because she wanted some part of me. Friendship; maybe more? I wondered if she knew about Sheila yet. I’ll bet Justin spoke about her, trying to turn her away from me. “So, how are you?” I said awkwardly and I regretted it once I said it.
“Eh, not so great. I mean, I kind of hope this takes a long time.” Her head came up to my shoulders, she looked up at me with those beautiful round, green eyes when she spoke and I needed to know more about her. And not just because I wanted to take her and examine her brain and her abilities to travel into someone’s dreams. It’s bad to experiment on friends, or so I’d been told. I flexed my hand that was cramping; the burned skin pulled on the untouched skin. The contrast was a painful reminder of the perfect person I used to be.
“You should have just agreed that you had no part in it,” I said.
“I couldn’t just let you take all the blame; I had just as much to do with it as you did.”
She looked up at me again, and she was annoyed. But maybe it was the big bird who just landed on her shoulder.
“Oh yeah? What is neutralization?” She asked.
Her eyebrows went up and she looked confused.
“Errrmmmm…”
“It is a neutralization of both acid and base that is a result of water plus salt.”
“What now?” She laughed and it made me smile, the skin on my face pulling this time. More reminders of my current state, which I had little control over, but continuously tried to remedy. I was so close to finding the solution, just a few photons away. I was so tired and thought many times of giving up but every time I saw Justin’s face it pushed me forward.
“I’m just making my point that you had nothing to do with it.”
“But I brought you into the room, found her things and gave you the water bottle that she drank from. I was almost caught with you, too.” While she said this her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, perhaps she was thinking of how close we had gotten; the way we were crammed underneath the bed. Her little frame was almost indistinguishable on top of mine. I wanted so badly to kiss her in that moment, just to be close to her, to anyone. I was glad afterwards that I hadn’t. I imagine her reaction would have been bad, and the fact that she was out with Justin later that night led me to believe that our relationship was friend based and superficial at that.
“So, you wanted to talk the other day, and I was unable. We could talk now,” I said, hoping that maybe she could convince me to open up.
“Oh. Well, we were talking about…what were we talking about before you told me to go away?” She was teasing, I think. Our language barrier was large. French men weren’t sarcastic like the Americans were. Or did she really think I had told her to go away?
“I believe you were asking me about my burns.” Her hands froze for a moment then she looked up at me with seeping curiosity.
“I was wondering,” she said.
“I assumed. What would you like to know exactly?” Mr. Callen’s chest rumbled as he breathed in deeply, his fat face was slumped into his neck, his sleep seemed unwakeable at the moment.
“You said you got the burns in a fire. What happened?” she asked.
I wondered if she had known what really happened and that’s why she was asking me. I didn’t mean to glare at her but I caught myself doing it.
“Actually I got them in my lab, it was my mistake to say it was in a house.”
“In your lab in France?”
“Yes.”
“Ummm. Tell me about Carl. Is he really big and afraid of fire?”
“No, that is the book,” I answered. “Hence the black crop topped, green guy with stitches that Hollywood created.”
“That’s not what he looks like?” She looked shocked. Maybe she hadn’t been in my dreams.
“No, not even close actually.” I was pleased that the conversation had turned away from my burns; it was a subject that I didn’t like talking about. The way I looked or even more, how I had gotten them, but I did appreciate that she didn’t just ignore them either. I think this is what I liked most about Maya. Maybe she was just uncouth, but I appreciated it none the less.
“Well…” She looked expectantly at me. “What does he look like?” Her face was joyfully expectant and I enjoyed the way her big eyes danced from my eyes to my lips as she waited. This antidote may just take the entire summer to create.
“The movies have him as an almost neon green, but he is more yellow if you ask me. His hair is actually quite nice, it’s down to his shoulders and fairly soft. I used to tease him and say he could be in a shampoo commercial.” She laughed and I loved it.
“What else? The stiches, does he have crazy stitches everywhere?”
“Not everywhere. His face, neck and torso and bottom are from one solid man, and his arms were sewn on but they had the hands on them. Why people think that my grandfather would find two arms without hands and then use them is beyond me. Both of his legs are from different people and are sewn onto his body, but they are very similar, it took Victor Frankenstein almost two years to find all of the parts to make and complete him.”
“He’s tall right?” she asked me.
“Yes, he is, around eight feet.”
“So no bolts in his neck?”
“No bolts.”
“Is he nice?”
Ahh, the question I had been waiting for. I didn’t know how to answer that one. I thought for a moment that I should cause a small, harmless explosion. That would definitely change the subject, but Justin would come running in here like a crazy man and accuse me of trying to kill everyone in sight.<
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“He is a decent guy,” I said and she looked confused. I considered myself to be of higher intelligence than most and I saw that she knew that Carl had killed my old girlfriend. And if that was true then she knew Justin’s version of events, which wasn’t completely accurate.
“And your lab is in your house? The one that you set on fire?” We were back to this.
“Why do you say I set it on fire?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I just assumed with all of the sciency stuff.” She shrugged. I studied her a moment then answered her original question.
“It is, it’s in the house that Alphonse Frankenstein bought, my family has been in it ever since.”
“The same lab that Carl was created in?” This girl really didn’t know anything about my family.
“No, Carl was created in Germany, at the University of Ingoldstadt. I believe he borrowed the lab from a professor of his.”
“Oh, then when was the lab built in your house?”
“Ah.” I wasn’t sure what to say, this was a part of our history that was our own and completely uncorrupted, because no one knew about it. I shouldn’t have told her about the lab in my house, this was going down a road I didn’t want to go down. I could feel the temper in my chest rising, the same one that haunted my brother, but I was smart enough to hide it. Then I did what any logical man would do when backed into a corner.
I made something explode.
I dropped the tiniest bit of red solution into the beaker and a cloud of pink erupted from the top. I grabbed Maya’s face and protected it against my chest and I closed my eyes lazily, waiting for the smoke to vapor away. Her hands went around my waist, she was afraid.
“Don’t be scared.”
“I’m not,” she said defensively and unfortunately her hands left my back and went straight down at her side.
“Que continue?”
“Vous partiriez!” I said to a frazzled looking Justin. Had he been running around the whole camp looking for us and then followed the explosion? It was really unfortunate that he did happen to find me, again, on the other end of it.