by Meg Collett
“Because,” I said, “a massacre isn’t gruesome enough.”
“Eh.” Hatter shrugged.
“Sorry to interrupt your patrol, Hatter,” Sunny said, the corners of her smile shaking slightly. “I wanted to show Ollie the bay.”
“Be careful, don’t want to scare her off,” Hatter warned, winking at Sunny.
As soon as he finished speaking, heavy treads landed on the rook’s nest beside us. Sunny gasped, but I turned to find Luke standing next to me. I hadn’t heard him come up the ladder and I was the one standing closest to it. With him up here, the rather large rook’s nest felt stiflingly small and my spine tingled at his nearness. I couldn’t help but think of the rumors.
“Cause we would hate for that to happen,” he said. He nodded at Hatter. “Your patrol’s over. Want to go hunting?”
“Sure thing, L-man.”
“For ’swangs?” I asked. I crossed my arms and studied Luke. A gun was slung across his back and knives were cinched in his belt.
“No,” Luke drawled, letting Hatter descend the ladder first. He put his hand on the ladder’s grip and looked back at me. He sucked on a caramel candy. “For Santa Claus.”
As he started down, sexy rumors or not, I fought the urge to kick him in the face.
* * *
Sunny showed me a map of the estate, which was too big to walk in one day, with each fence line being around one mile long. I didn’t know why I expected to see gas lanterns and outhouses, but the prison estate had its own power plant, water and waste treatment facilities, and an entire field of turbines that powered a margin of the energy a place like this took to operate. The university even had its own small airport and runways, which I supposed was how I’d arrived. Not that I would know since Luke had drugged me.
Sunny told me that when the estate had operated as an actual prison, it had been for the most violent criminals in the United States. They brought all the murderers and terrorists up to this small, isolated patch of Kodiak Island where the criminals would be cut off from society. The estate had to be self-sufficient, because they had almost no outside contact with the world.
But there’d been a few new additions to the crumbling stone prison to make it more hospitable for the students. The courtyard where we’d first emerged was a hub of activity for young people, who wanted to study outside before the Alaskan winter crept in. Here, Sunny and I had an early lunch since I’d missed breakfast, and she showed me the general store, which basically looked like some rich kid’s wet dream with designer clothes and super-techie devices. Not that I minded; Dean had put some credits on my student card, and I used them to buy all the pretty clothes and supplies I needed to get through my first couple of weeks at the university.
Sunny did a good job of keeping me away from the dorms, and when twilight came and it was time to go back inside, her voice was cheerful and bright as we ate dinner with Dean in his office. The conversation felt a little too forced as he asked about my day and everything Sunny had shown me. When a bell chimed through the building, Sunny met Dean’s eyes. He nodded.
“Okay! Time to go see the dorms.”
Dean stayed behind as Sunny led the way back to the prison’s entry. I kept quiet, my guard way the hell up. “So, she said, clearing her throat. “At twilight, all students must report back to the main building. You check in with your student card.”
“What happens if you don’t?” I liked knowing what punishments I was up against.
“If you don’t check in? You have to. Like, no one can be outside when the sun sets. That’s when, you know . . . the ’swangs are out there.”
“But they can’t get in here, so what’s the big deal?”
“It’s a precaution to keep us safe.”
“Right.” Sunny didn’t notice my sarcasm.
“So students are free to be in whatever part of the main building until nine o’clock—”
“What happens at nine?”
“Curfew. You have to be in your rooms, checked in, by then. That means you have to swipe your card again. Nine is lockdown. There’s one thirty-minute warning bell before curfew, which we heard up in Dean’s office, and then a final ten-minute bell.”
Lockdown sounded interesting. Interesting enough to set my teeth on edge.
I asked a few more questions that Sunny artfully dodged around, her maneuvering so smooth I wondered if someone—perhaps Dean—had told her what to say.
Once we were back in the entry and standing by another heavy iron door, Sunny took a deep breath. “This is where we sleep. Where our rooms are. They might feel a little . . . oppressive at first, but, trust me, it’s for our own safety.”
Wrong thing to say. My spine stiffened. Sunny noticed my reaction and bumbled on, but I ignored her as I swiped my card and pushed through the door into the dome.
I looked up. And up. And up some more. Inside the structure, the dome was much larger than I’d imagined. It had no windows, but my eyes eventually adjusted to the darkness. The only exit was the door I stood in now. Behind me, tension rolled off Sunny in waves.
Then I saw the cells.
They lined the outer walls of the dome, one stacked on top of the next until I had to squint to see the curving ceiling far above me. A gangway encircled each level, allowing for walking space in front of the rooms. In the middle of the gigantic space stood a tall tower stretching halfway up the dome’s height. Atop the tower was a booth made purely of glass. Guards stared down at me from inside. Another watch tower.
A watch tower for prison cells.
And the rooms were definitely cells. In the front, along each walkway, were sliding doors made of an impenetrable material resembling plastic. At least they weren’t bars, and there would be some privacy inside the rooms when the doors were closed. I shook my head. Was I really trying to justify this?
This was what Sunny had been hiding from me all day, the bad thing her and Dean were so worried about. I looked back at Sunny. I’m not certain about my expression, but it had the once smiling, bright girl looking worried enough to step away from me with her hands up.
“Prison cells?” The words ground out through my clenched teeth. “Are you serious?”
“She is serious,” Dean said, stepping through the door. He put his hand on Sunny’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “We knew how you would feel about this given your past. That’s why we waited until now to show you. This way, you could see the other parts of the estate and know that this is anything but a prison.”
“If it’s not a prison,” I growled, “then why do you have cells?”
“It’s for your—”
“My own protection,” I finished. “Why do they lock then? Why have a watch tower? Why no windows and only one door?”
Dean smiled. “You counted the exits. Smart. But all those things exist so we can protect the students from ’swangs. Night is the dangerous time. We lock you inside to lock out the monsters, and the watch tower is so we can watch over you while you sleep. Ollie, you have to understand. This is a war, and these students are our future. We protect our future. Without them and without you, the world would be nothing but a fear concentration camp run by vicious dogs.”
I gritted my teeth. I would feel better if I were on the other side of the door and not blocked off inside here. But they had me cornered, and I assumed Dean knew that.
“You really think I’m going to buy this whole safety bullshit? You have a huge-ass wall out there. Why do you need all this in here if the ’swangs never coordinate a real attack?”
“If it helps any,” Sunny said, her voice quiet, “the doors locking at night really makes you feel safer. I mean, sure, you’re locked inside, but nothing can get to you.”
“Unless someone opens the doors during an attack,” I said, directing this at Dean.
“The ’swangs can’t do that. They’re hardly more than rabid animals.”
Rabid animals who need to be kept out with thirty-foot-tall fences, numerous huge watch
towers, rook’s nests, a prison security system with key cards, and a dome of locking cells with another huge watch tower. I called bullshit. Bullshit a hundred times over. Dean was lying to me about something.
Maybe lying to all these students too. I wondered if Luke knew what it was.
A beeping noise grew throughout the building, like the one I’d heard in Dean’s office. Not quite an alarm, but not that soothing either. It echoed over the intercom system and boomed in my ears.
“Ten-minute warning to lock down. What’s your choice, Ollie? You’re not a hostage here, and this isn’t your prison. Remember that we can help you if you help us.”
I stared at Dean for a solid minute as I thought through my options. There weren’t many. Staying on the run and buying black market medical supplies was expensive, and I was tired of living like a bum. I shifted back on my heels and studied the cells. This was how I’d expected my life to go after all. Most murderers don’t count on freedom their whole lives. So why did it freak me out so bad now?
“Let me show you to your room. Maybe that will help you decide.” Sunny stepped forward and took my arm, aiming me toward a set of stairs. We went up to the third floor, our footsteps ringing off the metal landing. We were well out of Dean’s earshot, though I still felt his eyes on my back.
“Seeing my room won’t help,” I said back to her.
Most students were already inside their cells. Some had numerous people inside one cell, friends catching up on last-minute gossip. Others were alone, studying. Some played music or watched television. It looked like a normal college dorm, except for the thick sliding doors I kept passing.
Sunny leaned over and whispered in my ear, “If it helps, these rooms are really easy to sneak out of. You swipe your card and then leave right before lockdown. No problem.”
“They have all this security and they don’t crack down on curfew?” I asked.
Sunny shook her head, making her silky dark hair bounce against her shoulders. We were still walking, curving around slightly toward the other side of the dome. “They have checks sometimes, but not very often. Besides, we’re inside the building, it’s not like ’swangs can get to us. Most of the time, it’s just horny guys sneaking down to the girls’ levels to sleep with their girlfriends. The guards normally look the other way.”
I didn’t like that either. I’d heard too much shit about safety and doing all this to protect the students. No way were guards looking the other way when valuable future soldiers snuck out. Maybe Dean and the adults wanted the students to feel like they had some amount of freedom, of control. But I wasn’t going to be fooled.
“Here we are. This is where you’ll stay. I’m down the walkway a bit.”
I looked into my room, not expecting much, but I was surprised. The bed was built for the slight curve of the outside wall, but it looked deliciously comfortable with a white down comforter and cream-colored fluffy pillows. More than I’d ever had. There was a television, radio, and desk, where a sleek white laptop sat beside a curving metal lamp. A plush gray and black fur rug covered the bare, cold concrete. In the back corner stood a small bathroom.
I stepped inside, walking until I came to the middle. With my back to Sunny, I closed my eyes and imagined myself locked inside here. Locked. Inside. My breathing turned shaky.
I’ve killed a guy. I’m a murderer. Landing myself in prison was inevitable, but I believed I had a few more years of freedom left in me. But if I could swallow sleeping in a jail cell, I might be able to secure my freedom for life. Thinking of it that way made the decision easier.
I turned back to Sunny. She watched me patiently, her eyes understanding. “Two minutes,” she said. “You have a toilet and sink in your private bathroom, and there are showers on each level.”
I ignored her, lost in my own thoughts, which turned to basements and locked doors. Little girls and bad men. Blood and screams. Pain that can’t be felt, only wedged into a deep, unforgettable part of the brain. I swallowed. “What if I say no right now?”
“Dean will take you to an empty apartment in the barracks. All the professors and hunters who live here, like Luke and Hatter, stay in apartments over there, but there’s always some left open for hunters or parents passing through.”
Hunters and professors had apartments. Students had cells. Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit. This was all about control. Not safety. I would have to sacrifice a part of my pride to stay in here. I would have to give them some control over me. I hated that. Hated it down to my cellular level.
“Thirty seconds.”
But this was a place where I could belong. Where I was wanted, at least by some. Where I could be special and powerful if I passed the evaluation with Dean. But I had a choice.
I glanced at Sunny. She shifted on her feet as her eyes darted down the row toward her cell. She would be late if I kept this up. I gave her a tight nod. “I’ll see how tonight goes.”
“Great!” She jumped in my cell and gave me a quick hug before careening back outside, her slippers slapping down the row as she ran toward her room. The beeping got louder. I watched as the doors started to slide closed.
When they locked, they locked with a deafening bang. I was glad no one saw me flinch at the sound.
F I V E
The doors unlocked at five the next morning. I know, because I sat on the rug in the middle of the floor all night and watched the lock until it released. Moving quickly, I slid open the door enough to slip out. My steps were silent along the walkway, everyone else still asleep behind thick doors. One guard in the watch tower gave me a nod as I descended the stairs. I expected someone to at least try to stop me, but the main door’s handle easily turned beneath my clammy hand.
No one stopped me on the way out the front door, either. Not that I saw anyone anyway. Apparently I was the only one who couldn’t sleep well inside a prison cell. Interesting.
I needed to get outside to breathe. I slapped my card against the reader and waited for the front door’s release. When I heard the click a moment later, I shoved my way out and gulped down the cool, dewy morning air. I hadn’t put on a jacket. Or shoes. But I breathed.
My legs made their way to the rook’s nest overlooking Tick Tock Bay of their own accord. I climbed the ladder, thankful that the nest was empty, and sat down. I let the chilly morning air and the beautifully cruel view wake me up, clear my head. I needed to decide if the prison cells were enough reason for me to run. Over the years, I’d run away for a lot less.
Footsteps crunched behind me, and I looked out over the edge of the nest’s landing. Far below me, Luke passed by on his morning run.
He didn’t look up, but I kept to the shadows in case as he approached the rook’s nest. His tan skin was slick with sweat, his shirt clinging to his muscular chest. A loose piece of black hair flopped into his eyes with each stride. Every inhale and exhale looked carefully regulated, each stride perfectly measured and executed. Corded muscles roped up his legs, bulging with every footstep.
He moved the way he looked: dangerous and menacing.
I might have drooled a little as he passed below the nest and continued on. It wasn’t bad enough that I actually needed to wipe my mouth or anything, but there was definitely drool. Fear University had hot hunters. Point for the “stay” category. Not to mention Luke didn’t seem to be that bad. Or that brainwashed. He was grouchy and a little worked up over me being a civvie, but he didn’t seem like a total asshole.
Famous last words.
* * *
“There you are!” Sunny climbed up the rook’s nest ladder later that morning. Her cheeks flushed pink, the tip of her nose red. “How was last night?”
I stood and dusted myself off. “Pretty good for my first night in jail.”
“Ollie—”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. For our own safety. What’s on the agenda for today?”
Sunny quickly recovered from her worry and grinned. “So you’re staying?”
“Until I decide
I’m not.” I wiggled my toes against the cold and hoped the blood still flowed down there.
I would figure out how to deal with the prison cell issue. The promise of this place was too great to pass up because one little cell bothered me so much. Bothered, not scared, I told myself. I wanted to lock myself inside that damned cell until I didn’t panic, didn’t see basements, didn’t want to tear my fingernails off on the doors as I tried to claw my way free.
Sunny noticed my bare toes wiggling. “Goodness, Ollie! You must be freezing! Let’s get you inside then we can grab some breakfast before we start the testing.”
She clapped her hands and turned back toward the ladder, her motions hurried, like she really was worried for my toes. I followed at more sedate pace, but my long legs easily kept up with her as we traversed the rungs.
“So do you have any family back in the real world?” she asked.
It made sense everyone in here would think of the outside as the “real world.” To them, Fear University and their war with the ’swangs was their entire world. They were isolated and separate, fighting in a war no one else knew existed. “No,” I answered.
“Really?” Her surprise was cute.
“Really.” My voice came off a little harsh, and Sunny fell silent below me. Our footsteps rang off the metal later as we climbed down. I scowled at the concrete fence and tried again. “Lone wolf and all that, you know?”
“Must get lonely.”
The morning breeze blew across my shoulders and into the loose strands of my hair until I shivered. “It’s not too bad once you get used to it.” Wanting to avoid any more talk about my life, I said, “So you have a crush on Hatter, huh?”
I shot a grin down to her so she would know I was joking. She saw my face and laughed some more. Her laughter, like church bells I remembered from a time long ago, made my heart ache until I shoved the memory back in its lock box full of other forgotten things. “I don’t have a crush on him!” Sunny resumed her descent. “Okay maybe. But I’m trying really hard not to. Dating hunters is an awful idea. Anyway, Luke is way worse than Hatter. And Hatter is pretty bad.”