by Luna Wolf
By
Luna Wolf
Copyright © Luna Wolf 2017
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locals are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, real locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental or used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2017 Luna Wolf
Cover copyright © 2017 Luna Wolf
Editor: Lyn Forester
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Book design Luna Wolf
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Five
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter One
The Test
I rub my eyes and shake out my arms, trying to get rid of the heaviness from too little sleep. “I demand to know why we are here!” yells a guy, shaking the bars of the large cage, which I and at least a hundred-other people were shoved into at an obscene hour of the morning. He climbs the vertical bars and shakes them harder; the clang of them echoes throughout the entire warehouse. I wish he would be quiet, his noise on top of everything else makes my heart hammer even harder in my chest. If this keeps up, I will blend in with my surrounding again, and someone will run into me for sure.
“Will you shut up? Some of us are still trying to get some shut eye!” yells another guy, somewhere off in a corner of the cage.
I bite my lip. Why are we here? They’ve never done something like this before. Most of the people here are around eighteen or nineteen, so it has something to do with graduation. Are the rumors true? I let out a shaky breath. I need to calm down, or I will lose what little control I have over my ability.
The guy on the bar turns his head in the general direction of the other one. His wild white hair adds to the crazy-look in his four eyes; they all blink a second off sync. “You shut up! We have rights and deserve to know why they are keeping us here!”
As if to answer his demands, the lights in the building go out, and the flash lights turn on. Security guards come from around the corner. How long were they there? I haven’t seen hind nor hair of them since they caroled us in here like cattle.
“The cage will be lifted. You will then form a line, and one by one each of you will go into that elevator,” says the head guard, Richards. He points to the elevator across from him. It opens its doors on cue. “If you try to run and escape the tests that you are about to be subjected to, you will be shot and killed on the spot. This will be your final exam.” I want to roll my eyes. They are always threating to shoot us, but no one has tried testing their threats yet. I know I won’t be.
The cage lifts away from us. With a little effort, we form a line and one after another we go into the elevator. No one tries to run, who would want to end their life being that stupid? My heart hurts from how hard it hammers in my chest. Why in the world are they having us take the elevator one at a time?
I step into the small metal box and turn around in time to stare in the eyes of the girl who will go after me. She has utter terror gleaming in them. The doors slide shut with a bang, and I place my hand on the wall as the thing moves. This can’t be a normal elevator; it feels like it moves to the side and not up and down. A ding resonates, and the door opens into a white room. Three guys stand at the center. I force my hands to my sides and keep them from crossing over my body in a nervous gesture. I recognize one of the guys, but that’s only because he was the one climbing the cage and being insane. Of course, I get sent to be in his group. I hope he’s smart enough not to get me killed.
The one at the middle scoffs. His yellow hair stands on end, it reminds me of a cockatoo. “Great, a girl, just what we need to keep us weak.”
I lick my lips. I want hide. I don’t like confrontation. It takes everything inside of me not to blend in with the white of the surrounding walls and disappear right in front of them. I doubt it will gain me any extra point anyway, most likely will earn me a point deduction. I don’t want to be one of the ones that fail. If a person fails the final exam, it means they have either been killed, or failed so badly that they’re sent to Lockdown. I don’t know what happens there, but there must be a reason no one ever returns it.
“They just expect us to follow their commands, like a dog?” The crazy-haired one from before runs to the far-right wall and climbs it like a spider until he sits on the ceiling. A dome covered camera hangs from the center. He goes to it. His hair hanging in long white wisps from his head. “Fuck you!”
Good god, he is going to get us killed. I can feel it. Why did I have to get stuck with the insane one? A rumble shakes the room, and the wall in front of us lifts to reveal another section of the room. This one has something painted on the floor. On the other side stands a doorway with a red X painted next to it. Spider guy comes back down the wall to stand with us.
The only other guy in the group, who hasn’t said a word, walks toward the design on the floor. His hands look like crab claws. I put my hand up. My mouth won’t form the words to stop him from taking another step. His foot lands on the design, nothing happens. I lower my hand. Perhaps this isn’t one of the exam tests yet, but why did they paint the floor if it wasn’t some type of puzzle to figure out?
He takes another step, an alarm blares, the ground underneath him crumbles away. Spider guy rushes to the edge and tries to grab for him. The spikes at the bottom of the pit impale crab guy before he even knows what hit him.
Spider guy shakes his head as he stands at the edge of the design. “The bastards got him.”
Cockatoo glares and folds his arms over his chest. “Moron, didn’t even think first. Good riddance.”
I go to take a closer look at the design. I stand next to spider guy. I have a feeling I can trust him not to push me into the hole that crab guy died in.
At first, the design looks like it is made up of over lapping circles and pentagons, but at a closer inspection I can see even more shapes: square and a triangle. This is a...
Spider guy points. “I remember something like this from Math class. It looks like a complex tessellation, it’s made up of just two shapes but really there are more.”
I nod. At least I didn’t have to say it aloud.
Cockatoo laughs. “All right, genius, then how do we get across to the door?” I scrunch up my nose. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way.
I look at the design again. Each shape is large enough for one average sized foot to fit in, so that must mean there is pattern to how we must step across.
“They are placed like stepping stones, we just have to figure out what the correct pattern is, and we will get across without being impaled.”
He’s right, they would be set up like stepping stones. So, we just need to find the pattern that repeats from here to the door and follow it. Come on, mouth, and tell them that. I open my mouth, and only a squeak comes out. They look at me and my cheeks warm up.
Cockatoo tilts his head to the side. “Have something to say, girl? Spit it out.”
I would if I could, but I’m paraly
zing shy. My vocal chords never work when I’m with people I don’t know. I walk over to the area where the continual pattern starts and touch the beginning circle. I hope one of them sees it, otherwise, I’m going to have to test my theory out for myself. What if I’m wrong? That means death for me, and call me crazy, but I don’t want that.
“I see the pattern,” says Spider guy. He then looks to the wall, I know what he’s thinking. He could crawl along the wall to the door and leave us to figure out who tries out the pattern theory. Which would be me. I doubt Cockatoo will want to be the guinea pig. “I could always crawl along the wall to the door, but that would be a kind of douche move, if you ask me.”
Spider guy gives a sigh and brushes his white wispy hair out of his face, showing for a moment all four of his black eyes. The hair falls back down and hides them from view. Can he still see out of them? “I guess I will volunteer. Bastards won’t be able to take me down with a simple puzzle trap. I’ll be quick, with my spider reflexes. With a crack of his neck. He steps up to the first circle.
My heart picks up ten-fold. He may have been annoying this morning, but I don’t want to see the guy get impaled for being the one brave enough to test out a theory. No one deserves to get impaled. What an awful way to go.
He stands on the first stone. All seems well, but it seemed well for crab guy the first step, too. The danger will come with the second step, and every one after that. Spider guy glances back at us as he takes the next step—placing his foot in the center of a triangle—so far he remains alive. I hold my breath. I won’t let it out until he has made it to the other side or failed to make it down the right path. He did say he could save himself with his spider abilities. I hope that’s true. The third step comes with a square. So far, so good.
He makes it across to the door and lets out a breath, I follow his example. “You go next” Cockatoo pushes me hard in the back. I stumble forward, just barely stopping myself from stumbling onto the puzzle and killing myself with the wrong step.
“Hey, man! Not cool!” yells Spider guy. “We need to be working together against the bastards, not for them.”
Cockatoo shrugs. “I was just being a gentleman. Ladies first and all that shit.”
I don’t say anything, even though I’m angry. What use would it be to speak up? With a shaky breath, I stand up straighter. I take the first step on to the same stone Spider guy used. Of course, with this one I have nothing to worry about. I take the next step. Placing my foot into the triangle. Again, no break.
“That’s it. Keep following my steps.” Spider guy holds his hand out to me. It’s kind of comforting how there’s someone on the other side rooting for me: waiting. I take the following steps with confidence. Always, keeping an eye out for where I place my foot, and the hand waiting to take mine on the other side.
My hand touches his, he pulls me toward him. I steady myself against his chest. My face heats up. I’ve never been this close to a boy before. He smiles at me—his four black eyes blinking one second off from each other—I smile back. I did it. I was brave and did it!
Cockatoo hops across the path with no hesitation. “Well, that was easy,” he says, when he makes it to us. I let go of spider guy. I want to slap him, but I know I don’t have the guts to do it. He’s a cocky S.O.B. and I hate those kinds of people.
A rumble shakes the room. The fallen stones of the puzzle come up to make it perfect and whole again. Crab guy’s body disappears underneath it. How many people are going to have to do that room after us?
Spider guy looks in the two directions we can go in. “Which way should we go?” The hallway we stand in, goes for as far as I can see in both directions. Lighted by ancient florescent lights. I’ve only ever seen them in holograms that taught about the long ago past. I don’t like them. It hurts to see in their light and there’s a strange hum filling my ears.
“What are those things?” Cockatoo points to the lights hanging from the ceiling.
“They’re fluorescent lights. Did you sleep through all education programs?” Spider guy says exactly what I was thinking.
Cockatoo folds his arms over his chest. “Maybe. Don’t like them.”
“They’re probably using them to psych out our senses while we move onto the next test. I can’t believe they weren’t kind enough to give us another elevator ride.”
I start walking in the direction ahead of me. It’s as good as any place to start. I hope I’m not walking toward my death. I want to live on and see what comes next. Eighteen is just too young to die, in my opinion.
“Lady’s choice, I see.” Spider guy comes to walk next to me. We keep walking for a few feet. “Aren’t you coming, too?”
I glance over my shoulder. Cockatoo has chosen to go in the opposite direction. “I rather not be stuck with a chick and some know-it-all.”
“Suit yourself. It was this know-it-all and chick that saved you from dying in that room!”
He holds up his hand and gives a wave, as he continues walking.
Spider guy just shakes his head. “He didn’t even know what fluorescent lights were. He’s not going to make it very far with just the air between his ears to go from. Don’t you agree? At least we got each other.” He throws a lazy arm around my shoulders and I tense up, but allow him to leave his arm there. Oddly enough, it’s kind of comforting right now.
“I’m Octavius, by the way. That’s what I have others call me. Even some of the doctors call me it. Better than having to remember a long stream of numbers, right?”
How did he choose that name? Here’s where I’m supposed to tell him my name. I chose it last week, when one of the elders told us that if we passed our challenges, we would be able to choose a name to go by. I lick my lips, and open my mouth. A squeak comes out. Damn it. I’m comfortable around this guy. Why can’t I speak?
“Not much of a conversationalist, are you?” My cheeks heat up, as does my body. I’m starting to blend in with the off yellow-white all around us. “Whoa! What happened to your body? I know you’re still here, my arm is resting against you still.”
I keep walking. He follows with his arm still around my invisible body. Crap, I blended all the way. I’m such an idiot. I take in a breath and let it out, willing my heart-rate to go back to normal. If I can make that happen, I will become visible again. “Ah, there you are. Are you spliced with chameleon or something?”
I nod. I guess it’s obvious now.
“I know a few chameleon splicers. Talked to them a few times during lunch. I’m not the type who likes to stick only to my own kind. That can piss some people off sometimes, but I don’t care. Anyway, none of them were mute. Are you one of the semi-perfects, or perfects that are spliced with more than one thing?”
I shake my head. He smiles. “I’ll call you Squeak, then. If we pass these challenges, we will be able to have real names on our files. So, let’s pass this crap and show the bastards that we don’t break.”
I smile back. No one has ever given me a nickname before. I give a nod. The humming from the lights above us gets louder. A ringing echoes in my ears. I frown. I don’t like this.
“Is it just me or are those things making more noise? Their lighting sucks. How could anyone ever see with these things on? I don’t know how people of the past did it. Idiots.”
The lights flicker ahead of us go out. We stop in our tracks. Every hair on the back of my neck and arms stand on end. The darkness grows closer. My mind screams for me to run, but my body does stands still.
“I have a bad feeling about this. Do you think this is the next challenge?”
I can’t even move my head to give him a response. Thud! Thud! Thud! Something big approaches us from the dark. Octavius takes my hand. I look to him. The last light over us flickers out. The expression on his face—before all lights around us went out—fear. I bet he can see what’s coming better than I can. “Hide yourself, like you did earlier. We don’t want this thing to get us,” he whispers so low I can barely make it out. His ha
nd leaves mine and a sound thumps from above me. Whatever the massive thing is, it’s getting closer. Thud! Thud! Thud! I press my back against the wall, my heart beats faster than a humming bird’s. I know I am invisible. Let’s hope whatever this thing is it can’t see past my facade.
I don’t dare breathe. The thing stands right in front of me. Heat flows from it in waves. What the hell is it? The lights from behind us flicker back to life. My eyes squint in pain at the sudden intrusion. It only takes me a second to recover. I press my body as flush with the wall as it will let me.
I can only describe it as a monster. The thing must be at least seven feet tall, if not more. Grotesque and oddly shaped balls of muscles protrude from all over its body. Globs of drool free fall from a gaping mouth, which has a sharp toothed under-bite that almost cuts into what might be the nose. Only black holes sit where the eyes should be. Pig like grunts erupt from it.
I bite my lip. Please don’t find me. Its head turns toward me, how? I don’t know. The neck appears nonexistent. Its ears, flop, reminding me of elf ears—like the ones that helped that St. Nick that was part of one of the old religions.
Before I can react, its massive hand flies toward my face, and its stubby fingers go around my neck. I’m certain I’ve remained invisible; its blind, but it still happened to find me. I can’t mask my scent after all. My hands go to grasp at the arm. I dig my nails in, but it does nothing to detour the monster, I doubt it even feels it. I look to the ceiling, Octavius hangs from it. His hands and bare feet pressed against the flat grey concrete. I’m not a good fighter. I’ve always made a seventy-five in combat. I was always better at the sneaking around, and getting something from point A to point B without being noticed.
Octavius reaches into his black cargo pants and pulls out a large pocket knife. He muffles the click of it opening with his other hand, making his body hang by his two feet alone. The monster’s head turns in the direction of him and grunts loudly. It swings its head back toward me: a glob of drool flings itself away from its mouth and lands on my cheek. If it wasn’t crushing my larynx, I would scream right now. I know I would. My vision moves into blurry territory. A few more seconds and I will be dead. Killed by asphyxiation.