Empty Streets

by Jessica Cotter

  They left class together, him reaching out to lace his fingers between hers. Her hand tingled slightly at his touch, muffled by the digital barrier.

  "IP time tonight?" Eri asked hopefully.

  "Projects, remember? But I think I should be done sooner than I thought. I should be able to see you tomorrow night, hopefully." He looked at her sideways.

  "Okay, but hurry up. I'm bored." She could feel the irritation on her face.

  He smiled and turned to face her, grabbing her up into a hug and whispering, "How quickly you got addicted," into her ear.

  She laughed, hugging his neck, knowing he was referring to the outside. "You are super addicting. I was left defenseless." She kissed his neck before he lowered her feet to the ground.

  "So, tomorrow then?" he asked, moving in the direction of his next class.

  This was all she was going to get of him today. He seemed way better at this than she was. Sadness started in her chest and spread throughout her body, heavy and cold. He could see the change in her eyes.

  Bodhi walked back to her. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I will see you soon."

  She nodded and watched him walk away, wondering if there was a way to detach yourself from someone once you had grown this involved. It seemed unfair that such an attachment should happen so easily and with such little warning.

  Chapter 14

  Explorers

  Day four of her imprisonment, Eri waited outside of class, leaning against a brick wall, chewing her simulated nails. She wasn't sure she had ever felt nervous before, but she was pretty sure that was what she was feeling now. She hadn't realized what torture it would be to be stuck inside, without even an idea of how long until she would see Bodhi again. She had a stomachache.

  When he appeared near her out of thin air, they surprised each other. She jumped at him, nearly knocking him over with her hug. He grabbed her up, laughing at her enthusiasm.

  "It isn't funny," she said as he walked toward a bench, carrying her with him.

  "No, it isn't. But it makes me happy." He set her down and sat next to her, leaning in and kissing her before she could respond. His lips were familiar and she leaned into him.

  "So? Are you free yet or what?" she demanded.

  "Can we skip class? What happens if you do that?" he asked, twirling a piece of her hair in his finger.

  "Um, I'm not sure…people usually don't, since you can attend a different section at any time. But I think that if you don't make up a section, it comes out of your IP time and it counts as an unexcused absence and after two you have to take these extra sessions about seat time importance and blah blah blah, and if you don't attend THOSE then you have to-"

  "Okay, well, I don't have any unexcused absences and I think today would be a great day to have one. Even though I missed two days excused this week." He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers.

  "I missed a whole week recently, but those were all excused, too," she maneuvered her lips so that they briefly found his again.

  He leaned back, smiling and said, "Okay, watch this." He snapped his fingers and a blanket appeared in his hand.

  She opened her mouth in surprise. "How did you do that?"

  He smiled, "Fancy software. I can anticipate items I might want access to here and when I snapped, it is the equivalent of you pulling up your menu and choosing items. You just can't see it, I saw options through my goggles."

  "That makes sense, but it would have been cooler if you had said magic."

  They stood and wandered to a small grassy area. She watched as he picked a spot, half under a tree and half in the sun, where they could lay on the ground and stare at the sky. They spent several hours manufacturing clouds through the Sims and making the other guess what they were, intermixed with storytelling and random chatting about the Achievement Exam and marriage pool. Eri relayed most of her conversations with Taya and Zander.

  Bodhi rolled onto his side, resting his head on his hand while she lay on her back looking up at him. "Two things. One, Zander is dangerous."

  "How do you know? What do you know?" Eri asked.

  "Boys talk about stuff. Zander gets off on hurting people. Have you seen Taya since your last conversation?"

  "No."

  "I will have my mom check on her records, maybe they have tried to get her meds," Bodhi said.

  "Why would she need meds?" Eri asked.

  "For the post-traumatic stress of being attacked. Even if her body is okay…her mind probably isn't."

  Eri sucked in a breath. "I feel horrible. I didn't know what to say."

  "That's what he wants. He wants to immobilize people. He wants control."

  Eri shuddered. "I don't want to be scared of him."

  "You don't need to be. You are a million times smarter than him. He should be scared of you. Which brings me to my second point."

  "Hmmm?"

  "Zander is an idiot."

  She smiled. "Yeah, so we both know that."

  Bodhi looked irritated. "I could say a lot about what he said regarding wealth, both implicitly and explicitly, but what it really boils down to is that you, my dear, couldn't marry up if you tried."

  Eri narrowed her eyes at him. "Excuse me?"

  "You can't marry up if you are already at the very top," he said. He brushed her hair back from her forehead.

  She reached up and touched his face, gently tracing a circle with a dot in the middle onto his cheek. He smiled back, kissing her lightly, tracing the number eleven on her cheek. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Thank God," she said aloud, looking back up at the sky.

  "Playing hooky, huh? You know that's against the rules," Zander said as he cast a shadow over them. Bodhi stood slowly, keeping his eyes on Zander while helping Eri to her feet.

  "We had a lot to talk about," Bodhi said, his voice level and calm. Eri was reminded of how people in movies acted around wild animals. Bodhi was waiting for Zander to pounce.

  "I wanted to talk to Eri, too. Seems like it is time for you to go to your next class?" Zander said, gesturing at Bodhi.

  "How would you know when my next class is?" Bodhi asked.

  Zander smiled. "Eri, walk with me." He reached out towards Eri's arm.

  Eri moved, evading his hand. "No, thanks, we weren't done." She could feel Bodhi tense next to her. "Stay calm," she whispered under her breath.

  "Why don't you go ask Taya to talk with you? I'm sure she has plenty to say," Bodhi said through gritted teeth.

  "Excuse me? Do you have something to say?" Zander took a step towards Bodhi, pushing his hair off his forehead, a smile slithering onto his face.

  "Bodhi, don't," Eri said, tugging on his hand.

  "Yeah, Bodhi, don't," Zander said, mocking Eri's tone. Her face burned with anger. Bodhi held Zander's gaze while giving Eri a small nod. Zander smiled a big smile and put a hand on Bodhi's shoulder in fake friendliness. Bodhi didn't flinch.

  "Go ahead, Bodhi," Zander said in a low voice. "Come at me. You think you know something about me? Because I know all about you." Zander winked at him and then disappeared.

  Eri's hands went cold as Bodhi's face paled. "What the hell was that?"

  Bodhi shook his head and took a deep breath. "Nothing. He's a bully. You did good not to react to him. He gets off on that. Thank you for reminding me not to give in to him. I think it is safe to say, though, that the rumors about him aren't just rumors."

  "Yeah, we kinda knew that already. Can we report him to someone? Do something?"

  Bodhi shrugged. "We could try…but he didn't do anything to us, really. And I get the feeling he is above the law for some reason."

  Eri shuddered. "I get that feeling, too." Her hands shook with adrenaline.

  Bodhi pulled her into a hug. "Try not to think about him. He was right about one thing, though."

  Eri peered up at Bodhi in surprise. "What?"

  "I have class. And I can't skip math." He smiled down at her.

  She did not return his s
mile. "Okay. I will see you later."

  He kissed her forehead and she disappeared, for the first time feeling safer outside of the Sims than in it.

  * * * *

  Eri lay in bed impatiently, swinging one leg over its edge and tapping the bed frame repeatedly with her heel. Her room wasn't hot anymore; the transition from summer to winter was happening quickly. She needed a clock. She was pretty sure her parents had gone to bed already, but if they hadn't, her lurking around down there to see what time it was would make them suspicious. She decided it was probably close enough to eleven. She had already dressed in all black, this time pulling a hat on her head.

  Eri's heart fluttered in anticipation. She didn't know what Bodhi had found out and she needed to be on her guard; this much she had learned from him. She didn't like living in a state of constant suspicion, but she found she put things together more often when she knew there were things to listen or watch for.

  She peeked out her window and was surprised to see the outline of Bodhi, faintly, in the darkness. He sat below her window, leaning against the brick of the building. He looked up at her and put his finger to his lips. She nodded, sweat springing up on the palms of her hands.

  She lowered herself out of the window with the rope. When he could reach her, Bodhi reached up and grabbed her hips, lowering her slowly and quietly to the ground. As soon as he could, he put a finger to her lips, his eyes intense. He untied her and then tugged hard on the rope, causing it to disengage from the window above them. He coiled the rope around his arm and motioned for her to follow him.

  Once they reached the corner, where the building stopped and the road began, he pulled her back against the building, placing his mouth as close to her ear as he could.

  He spoke into her ear, his voice barely a whisper, almost melting with the breeze. "We have to go somewhere different. All of our usual places have sound surveillance."

  She nodded against him, holding his hand and following as closely as she could. She could hear a car in the distance as they ran on odd paths in directions she was unfamiliar with. He was careful to stay on pavement; she assumed he was trying to avoid leaving footprints. Soon the sound of the car was gone and Bodhi slowed to a jog. Almost a week with no physical exercise had taken its toll on Eri's stamina. She breathed heavily to keep up. After fifteen minutes, she tugged at his shirt and he stopped, turning quickly and crouching down behind a large metal object.

  They had walked long enough that nothing was familiar in the darkness, and when the moonshine escaped from behind a cloud long enough to light the world, Eri was even more uncertain. The ground at her feet was familiar broken asphalt, but it was speckled with what looked like sand. The air smelled different here, moist and earthy.

  She rested her head against him, feeling his shoulders rise and fall. He was much more used to this than she. Eri wondered if having her tow along was difficult for him.

  "Are we close?" she whispered. "The sound of the street cleaners makes me nervous."

  He nodded. "Not much farther. I don't see them in this area very often. We should be okay." He grabbed her hand, pulling her toward him into a small hug before tugging her to her feet.

  For fifteen more minutes, they moved quickly, dodging debris in the street and hovering near the perimeter of large, looming structures. Eri could feel the intentional movement of Bodhi's body and tried to mimic his steps. She wondered if she would ever learn all that he knew, where and how to travel, how to find things out. Finally, he slowed, pulling her close to his side as he approached a large brick building from the side. He pulled out his flashlight, blocking most of the light with his body. In front of him was the side of a building, a metal grate clinging to its side. Bodhi pulled it to the side and a black hole appeared.

  "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered.

  "It's safe, trust me," he said as he guided her into the dark space. She crawled through what she guessed was a ventilation system in total darkness, with no idea where she was going. Her breath came in short spasms and she worried for a moment that she would have an anxiety attack. Just when she wasn't sure what to do, her face hit another grate, which she pushed to the side to move past.

  "Careful not to fall," Bodhi whispered from behind her.

  Eri reached out a hand into nothingness, but could see a dim room in front of her. She reached downward and felt a floor. She crawled forward, using her hands to guide her out into the room. She stood up and brushed herself off head to toe, imaginary cobwebs streaking her face.

  "So. Here we are." Bodhi spoke to her with a strong, normal sound level, which made Eri jump. His voice sounded different here than on the Sims. It was a little softer, but deeper.

  "And what you are saying is we don't have to whisper anymore?" she asked.

  "Correct. And no, you don't have dirt and cobwebs all over you. I've been using that entrance for a couple days, so it's pretty clean." He replaced the vent and moved a piece of furniture in front of it.

  The room was too dark for Eri to see much. It smelled old and dusty. What she could see looked like a living room in a house: the faint outline of a couch, an end table, maybe some book cases.

  Abruptly, the room glowed with a soft orange light. Eri jerked away from its source, wondering if they had been caught.

  "Seriously, a little on edge?" Bodhi smiled at her while adjusting the flame on a small lamp.

  "Some of us have no idea what's going on." She scowled in his general direction, but was mesmerized by the lamp emitting the soft glow. "What is this?"

  "It's a kerosene lamp." Bodhi touched the glass hurricane lamp with a bit of awe and Eri could tell he was as interested in it as she was.

  "Tell me more."

  "Eri, I have so much to tell you I don't even know where to start. But this might be a good spot." He pulled her to him and kissed her softly, then pushing her away to look at her. "The Sims is no place for kissing."

  She laughed. "Agreed. At least other people don't know what they're missing."

  They stood in silence. Eri took a deep breath and tried to relax. Bodhi released her hands and motioned to the room around them.

  "This," he spun in a slow circle as he spoke, "is Ben's house. This is where he used to read books and write stories and grade papers. Ben used to be a teacher, back when teachers were real people in real classrooms and public school was somewhere most of the population went. And that," he said, pointing to the kerosene lamp, "is a mini fire within a glass vessel. I had to light it with real matches."

  Eri turned in a circle, taking in the room. Made of red brick on the outside, with oak floors and plaster walls on the inside, this house looked like nowhere she had ever been. There were lamps that had weird looking bulbs, and electrical outlets all over the place. A thick, flowered rug was under her feet, and the walls were lined with shelves that held notebooks and boxes and real, paper books. Eri leaned out and touched one, grabbing it off the shelf and flipping through the pages. A familiar smell touched her nose, and she shut her eyes, trying to remember where it came from.

  "I love it here," she said. And she did. Something about this space felt real and lived in and happy. Picture frames sat askew on a desk, with strange people smiling at her. For some reason this made her sad. She had never seen a real picture of people smiling. "Who, um, is Ben?"

  Bodhi put his hands on her shoulders. As she became used to her surroundings, she could smell something else, on top of the wood and leather and paper; she could smell dust and decay. She could smell the passage of time.

  "Ben is my only friend left on the outside. He's a truck driver. Ben's family owns this house, but he works too far from here to actually live here. It isn't practical anymore…and he said it makes him sad to be here. He said, though, that before he left he covered all the windows and doors in a material that cannot transmit heat. He made sure he could hide here, if he ever needed to. He might be the smartest person I know."

  Bodhi paused, thinking about how to tell her everyt
hing in a way that made the most sense. He took a deep breath.

  "Look, I need to tell you as much as I can as quickly as I can."

  She nodded. "Let's sit."

  He looked relieved. She always handled everything so well. Eri avoided the dust covered couch and sat on the carpet at their feet, with the lamp to her left. He sat facing her.

  "Specific to your house, they have yet to find an efficient way to monitor a house in pitch blackness without posting people there all the time, which is really conspicuous. They have cameras trained on the building from across the street, but they are not able to pick up enough light at night to see anything, so they're mostly using those to monitor the daytime. For nighttime, they have put in sound surveillance, but it is weak and tripped all the time by wind or street cleaners, so they mostly ignore it. For the last three days they were using heat readers on your house, but since there wasn't any action or real evidence that there would be, they stopped. There are bigger fish to fry…and they think it was your brother leaving, so they think the 'problem' has been solved."

  Eri looked down, blinking hard. Her brother. She missed him.

  Bodhi continued. "My dad is a rule follower and is really careful about sharing things with me, but my mom…she is a bit of a rebel. She is the one who makes sure I have the breathing treatments and the sunscreen to go outside. I signed on to her computer as her, looking at public logs of information. Nothing with serious security clearance, but enough information to put pieces together, information that she has put together, but can't confirm."

  "Finding you wasn't as accidental as I implied at first. I knew your name and where you lived due to the databases my mom has access to. I hope you don't think that is weird, but you know my theory that there are people like us, people that want out of the system, but can't find a way off the grid? I think if I really can identify them by the way their persona looks-that is, if it looks more and more like them before they age out of the Sims-I could look them up in this directory and find out where they live."

  She nodded, encouraging him to continue.