by Blair Drake
He didn’t have an answer to that. What the hell was he saying? He wasn’t a freaking mutant!
They continued to work for another hour or so. “Again,” Endel would automatically say after each task Reese performed.
How many times had Reese heard that today? Hundreds in the short time since they’d started. Reese would perform another task to make a coffee pot start working or make the hands on the clock on the wall stop moving. Anything less than perfection received a reprimand by Endel. It got to the point where Reese didn’t have to always concentrate on something. He could simply move past it and make it work or break.
So much of his life suddenly became clear as he performed each lesson. As a child, his mother would usher him away from the living room when something simple as unexplained changing channels on the television set off an argument between his parents. Reese had never understood why the television channel would all of the sudden change from his dad’s favorite show to something else. Now he knew it was him doing it.
Memories of his childhood came colliding back one by one, leaving him with a hollow feeling he couldn’t ignore. His mother once told him he was magical. But now he knew that he was just different. He’d known that other kids didn’t live in household’s where their parents fought because the toaster blew up for no reason or the washing machine would suddenly start working even when his mother hadn’t turned it on. He didn’t know anyone else could actually use a microwave. They couldn’t have one in their house.
Growing up, he hadn’t given much thought to these little things as they were happening. Now that he was standing in the energy room performing small tasks that resembled things that had happened when he’d been a child, they became so clear.
Raven stood and paced or sat and watched him the entire time they’d worked. She listened to Endel giving instructions to Reese, and then giving instructions to her. As the hours went on Reese was sure he’d never remember all of it.
She was coming with him when he made this journey to the other side of the underground. After all this time of Raven being stuck in a cold and dark concrete prison, she finally had her opportunity to escape. He didn’t understand why she’d hadn’t gone with the others when she’d had the chance. But it didn’t matter. She was coming with him. He was going to help her escape this place with him. Reese had been here less than a day and already he couldn’t stand it. How long had she lived in this world?
Reese ignored the growling in his stomach until it became too noticeable for even Raven or Endel to ignore.
“We’ll eat a meal now,” Endel finally said. “There’s nothing more I can teach you that you’ll listen to above the tremendous thunder in your stomach.”
Finally! Reese wasn’t sure if he was more excited about the prospect of eating or getting out of the energy room, not that anywhere else he’d seen so far was much better.
Endel leaned over the table and began rolling up the map that he and Raven had spent hours studying. Then to Reese’s surprise, he walked back over to the metal drawers and slipped the map inside.
“What are you doing?” Reese asked. “Don’t we need that?”
“You can’t take this with you. I wish you could. But it shouldn’t leave these walls. You’ve studied it enough today. You’ll have to make do with what you remember. If you have questions, I will answer them, if I can.”
“How? You aren’t coming with us, are you?” Reese asked. He didn’t want to appear ungrateful, but the way the old man walked, he and Raven would lose precious time waiting for him to catch up.
“No. I must stay here.”
“Then how can you answer questions if you’re not there. How will you know?”
“Come. I’ll explain it all upstairs while we eat.”
Endel shut down the power switches he’d turned on earlier and blanketed them in darkness again. Reese fought to see in the darkness. Then, as if he’d instinctively remembered all the things he’d practiced, the lights turned on enough for them to see.
Endel smiled. “You’re getting the hang of it. Use it sparingly. Come.”
A few minutes later, they were in the back of Endel’s shop. Reese didn’t ask what kind of food Endel put in front of him and Raven. He had a feeling questioning his good fortune in having any food at all would put him in the doghouse with Endel again. But the bread was good and it satisfied the rumbling in his stomach that had become annoying as they’d climbed back up the stairs to the shop.
As Reese finished the last of his bread, he heard a bell ring in the shop. He lifted his head to Endel, who just sat and drank some green concoction he’d mixed up while Reese and Raven ate.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” Reese asked.
“Get what?”
“Wasn’t that the door? Don’t you have a customer or something?”
“They’ll wait.”
He took a sip of the green stuff.
Reese felt his face twist into a disgusted frown.
“Aren’t you afraid they’ll steal something,” Reese asked.
Endel finally turned his attention to Reese. “I’m more afraid of setting you free into that city. They’ll wait, or they’ll leave. If they take something, I’ll find out about it and it will be dealt with.”
Reese sat back in his chair and took in the meaning of Endel’s words. Who was he? What kind of power did he have over theft here that he wasn’t even worried about his shop being ransacked? They’d been in the energy room all day and he hadn’t even uttered a word of worry about what was happening back in the shop.
A few seconds later, the bell rang again. Endel nodded in acknowledgement.
“There are things you need to know,” Endel said, putting his drink down on the table and reached into his pocket. “This talisman is powerful. Through it, I can communicate with you.”
Endel handed the talisman back to Reese who studied it with a critical eye.
Endel smiled knowingly. “This talisman wasn’t put in your pocket by accident. Someone put it there to help you and give you guidance. And so it shall. You’re very lucky. This talisman is a great gift.”
“It just looks like a pin with a stone. Are you sure?”
Endel gave him a hard stare. “It’s a talisman. And if you’re going to question everything I say then it won’t be any help at all. I’ve seen this before. A long time ago. It explains a lot of why you came here and didn’t wander to some part of the city.”
“It does?” Reese asked. “That’s a relief. Because I have no idea how I ended up here.”
“I should be able to talk to you through it.”
“How?”
“That’s for me to worry about. You won’t be able to summons me, but I’ll be able to check in with you. Keep it will you at all times. Without it, I won’t be able to help you.”
Reese put the talisman safely back in his pocket. How could Lalane know that someone like Endel… Had this all been planned? Had she and the headmaster sent him down here to live or die?
Anger surged through him. Was this a sick joke? Screw them! He didn’t want to be here anymore than he’d wanted to be at the Cliffs.
“Listen to me. Both of you.” Endel tapped his hand on the table as if struggling to get his attention. “Some of what was on that map has changed through the years. I’m sure of it. But if you commit to memory the things that are anchored here, you should be able to figure out where you’re going, what places are safe, and where you can hide in the tunnels in a pinch if you need to.”
Reese already felt panic trying to remember all the things he’d seen on that map. How was he supposed to know what he was looking at based on a tiny square or triangle scratched into fabric?
“It’s hard to figure out how far we need to go,” he said. “Do you know how long it takes to get to the portal?”
“I suppose it depends on how you measure. Time has a length just like distance does. It’s all relative to how you see it.”
“I have no idea what you’re talk
ing about. I can run the mile in track and make good time.”
“Down here you can’t. If you think you can get through this running as if it were an open road, you’d better think again.” Endel pointed to Raven, but continued to look at Reese. “You’re not alone. Remember that. Just because you could make a quick run for it, doesn’t mean she can.”
Raven had remained quiet for a long time and then asked, “How far is the epicenter? Is it still really dangerous?”
Endel seemed pleased with her question. “I was wondering when you would get around to that. You’ll have to watch yourself. There is big money by the epicenter and the areas beyond. But it’s still a rough bunch. Do you remember, Raven?”
Her eyes flared, and then she nodded which made Reese’s stomach drop.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“It’s all money and trade,” Raven said. “It’s survival down there. They don’t care about life. If they think you’re here to take away their work or replace them…” She shook her head. I’ve only heard stories. I…met a few people, but it was a long time ago when I first got here.”
“You were down there?” Reese asked.
“Never close to the epicenter. I stayed in the city one night before Endel found me. That’s where I heard the stories. The men are afraid of young people. They don’t believe that there is a portal. So when they see someone who doesn’t seem to belong here, they get overly suspicious. We’ll have to watch out for that.”
She glanced down at the clothes he was wearing and sighed.
“What about you, Endel?” Reese asked. “You had to have gone to the epicenter at least once in your time here, right?”
He shook his head. “I have no desire to mix with that bunch. And I’ve known enough not to ever go down there. That’s why I’m an old man instead of a dead yungin’.”
“Then how can you even be sure there is a portal?” Reese ground out in frustration. “For all we know you’re sending us into a trap!”
“Then stay,” Endel said quickly. “You can live in the far tunnel where Raven found you for as long as you can survive. I’ll supply you with food and you can live your days out there. However long they are.”
“What are you saying? No! I can’t stay here,” he said, looking at both of them. “I won’t stay here.”
“Then it’s settled. Regardless of what you know and what you don’t know, you have to make the journey to the north of the city. I believe there is a portal there because I know there is a portal on the south end. You can’t have one without the other. You can believe what you want. Others did, and made the journey blindly. They didn’t make it.”
“How do you know that?” Reese challenged.
“Because they didn’t make it far. Word of mutants and strangelings gets around quickly. It’s the stuff that breeds fear. And there is a lot of fear out there.”
For the first time since he’d arrived, Reese felt real fear deep in his belly that he thought he’d vomit. All this time, it hadn’t seemed real to him. None of the tests that he’d performed for Endel or even being here, seemed real. It was as if he’d magically appear back in Headmistress Hettie Lalane’s office with Jasper waiting for her to talk to them about whether or not they’d applied to Gray Cliffs University, the college adjacent to the Gray Cliffs Academy.
There was no way he was going to GCU. He wanted out of there. But here? He wasn’t sure exactly where he was going or what he’d expected his next step would be. But it wasn’t this.
There was a portal. How insane was that? He could walk out of the shop door, make it halfway down the center street and then what? Could he just keep going until he found the tunnel to travel in? A doorway to go through? No, he’d known it wasn’t going to be that easy. He’d looked at that map and it was too confusing.
Reese’s shoulders sagged. “How do you even know that there is a way for me to get out when I get to the end of this thing? What if it’s worse than what was behind us?”
“You’re going to have to rely on blind faith.” Endel’s face became serious. “There was a child who’d gotten out, and had come back. Foolish child. Foolish. Sometimes you don’t get a second chance.”
“What an idiot!” Reese said.
Raven gasped, but Endel stood up and glared at Reese’s outburst. “Just be sure you’re not one, too.”
Endel motioned to the clock on the wall. Reese turned, and studied it with amazement. The pendulum was swinging, and the second hand moving. He hadn’t broken it.
Endel drew in a slow breath and looked at him directly. “You have it in you. You just need to learn to control it. If not, it will be your downfall. You need to leave at first bell.”
“First light,” Raven whispered to Reese.
Reese nodded, but had no idea what that meant.
“If you’re determined to go—”
“I am.”
Endel sighed. “Then first bell is the best time. Just remember. There are two bridges on either side of the epicenter. Avoid walking through the epicenter if you can. It will take longer, but it’s safer for you. You’ll need your eyes wide open and you’ll need to stay calm. You need to notice everything and stay in control. And you must go blindly over the bridges. Be swift and fearless in the dark, and you’ll both make it.”
“Are you sure we’re ready?” Reese asked, nerves racing through his veins as if he’d been out on a run.
Endel look almost sympathetic. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Neither one of you should be here. One way or another you won’t be. Finding that portal before it closes is your only alternative if you want to get out of the underground city. Keep that talisman close. In times of trouble, it will help you find your way.”
Chapter 5
“First light. What does that even mean? There’s no light down here except the light that’s man-made,” Reese said, fuming as they moved back toward the tunnel they’d emerged from when they’d gone to Endel’s shop. “And even with it, I can barely see where I’m going.”
“There may not be natural light down here,” Raven said, leading the way down the tunnel. “But the city does operate on a normal clock. At the end of a day there is a wind down in the city. It becomes quiet, but only for a short time. Sometime after midnight, the city becomes alive again, and it continues that way until second bell.”
They’d been walking for a while and already he was bored looking at the concrete walls. “Why is second bell in the morning and first bell at night?”
“Who knows?” Raven said with a chuckle. “I didn’t make the rules. All I know is that after first bell is when most of the businesses close down and restock their goods. That’s the time we can move through the more populated section of the city safer.”
“Won’t the people working question seeing us? I mean, this blazer doesn’t exactly look like the…” He fought for a kind way of saying rags. He hadn’t really thought much about what Raven had been wearing until now when he had nothing to pay attention to except her and concrete walls.
“What?”
“Did you get those clothes here?” he asked, taking it in a different direction. “I mean, maybe I should try getting something like what you’ve got on.”
She shook her head. “These are easier for me. They’re ugly. You don’t have to pretend they’re not. They’re not like the dress I was wearing when I got here.”
Reese had a vision of Raven with a short black dress and boots, and her dark hair all curled as some of the girls did at school. Damn, she’d be fine.
“Endel said it was too dangerous. People would notice me too much if someone ventured down to the south end of the city.”
“Does that happen a lot?”
“No. Why would anyone go down there? There isn’t anything of value there. No homes or businesses. But Endel still thought I should stay invisible and the dress wasn’t practical. It had a ton of buttons down the front of it and went all the way to my ankles. So he got me this big gray shirt and the baggy pants
so I’d blend in with the walls easier. I hate them. But they’re warm.”
“What about in the city? Won’t people…notice?”
She shook her head. “They’ll notice you before they notice me. That blue jacket is…different.”
He glanced down at his school uniform. “Maybe I should ditch the jacket.”
“No,” she said quickly. “It won’t really matter anyway. People are in the city at all hours. You can’t get away from it. You have to act like you belong there.”
“Is that what you did when you were out in the city?”
“It was only the one time. But yes. I was still dressed in the clothes I came through the portal wearing.” She smiled. “I loved that dress. It was bright green and had gold buttons from my neck all the way down to my ankles.”
Okay, so it was a little different from the slinky black dress he envisioned, but whatever. She was clad in gray now and her long hair was tied back in a loose knot in the back of her head.
“What you need to do is move during a time when people are either busy or sleeping. Lots of people come out at night, the dangerous kind of people. Or those who work for vendors. They’ll be busy stocking shelves and moving goods through the city quickly while everyone else sleeps. Most of them are greedy and are so hungry to steal attention from the other vendors that they’ll be noticing what the other vendors are doing so they can beat them at their game. Some will be too busy to notice anyone new. At least that’s what I’m hoping.
“One thing that wasn’t clear on the map is the staircases. There are lots of staircases that lead up to apartments and buildings high in the city. The main streets and businesses are further down and filled with people during the day. But high in the staircases there are paths that lead to different buildings and alleyways. They’re like neighborhoods. Most of our movement will be in the tunnels behind those buildings, like we’re doing now.”
“You mean there are houses on the other side of these walls?” Reese put his hand on the cold concrete as if trying to feel movement. He felt nothing.