by Leito, Chad
When Asa heard this news, he was elated. After working at such a nonstop pace for ten months, the hours of lost sleep were catching up with him. Roxanne informed him that there weren’t classes in either June or July.
“What do you do, then, if there are no classes?”
Roxanne shrugged. “Just hang out. You can do whatever you want, really—just no leaving the Academy. Last year a bunch of students organized a baseball league and played among themselves. Personally, I spent a lot of time with Travis.” She frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly, and then brightened. “You’ll have fun.”
Flying Class had its success as well. Asa took Teddy’s advice and changed tones as he traveled throughout the giant wooden obstacle course. His echolocation no longer supplied him with bad information; a steady change in pitch prevented this from happening, and made it so that he could accurately anticipate all obstacles ahead. With this advantage, he grew so that he regularly splashed through the finish line with the best times, but, like Stridor, he was unable to use the spear gun to hit the target that would allow him to select from a list of available mutations. He tried shooting above the target, below it, to the left, and to the right; no matter what strategy he used, the spear always hit an invisible force field and crumpled to the ground. Twitching, Teddy told Asa that he would figure out how to hit the target, but after two months of pondering, Teddy had no good ideas. Asa thought that the game was rigged; he believed that hitting the target could actually be impossible.
Along with the bears and flowers that painted the wilderness, another animal had returned—the crows, Asa’s guardians. They flocked to the mountains where they made nests in the forests close to Asa. Sighting the red birds that sometimes preyed on the crows was becoming a rarity. In the past, Asa had been fearful of the black birds’ incessant stares as he walked by, but now he welcomed them. Each morning of April he found them waiting on the mountain above his dwelling. They were perched there like sentinels, and with their presence, Asa felt mildly better about the Multipliers that lurked on the Academy’s boarders, and the possibility of an attack from the Hive.
And, he was making friends. This was a thing he thought would never happen after the tarnish of his reputation last semester. He and his Winggame teammates (except for Stan and Janice) often ate dinner together. They talked about their pasts, and shared histories. They began to trust each other.
One Friday night they sat around a table in the cafeteria below the Town. Winggame standings and scores scrolled over the walls in a rainbow of neon colors. The Sharks were ranked third in the league, and Asa proudly saw his name pop up on the list of the best scorers. In the overall category, Roxanne was ranked best on the team, due to her defensive prowess. She finished third in the race for the league’s most valuable player award.
Being Friday, they didn’t have to wake up early in the morning, and were in especially cheery moods. They were having such a good time that they found themselves still talking after the cafeteria cleared and the custodial raccoons began to filter in and clean up after the students. They spoke of Winggame, different strategies, and gossiped over the recent annoying thing Janice, who all agreed must be a compulsive liar, had said.
The time went by without them noticing; Asa’s abdomen was sore from a fit of roaring laughter he had suffered from after watching Bruce do his imitation of Roxanne’s Multiplier boyfriend, Travis. Roxanne didn’t defend Travis, but laughed along with the rest of the team. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at Bruce, and when he looked back at her she bit her lip. Seeing this made Asa uncomfortable; they were forbidden to be together; Travis would murder Bruce if he ever showed that he was interested in anything beyond a platonic relationship with Roxanne.
“Wow, it’s midnight,” said Jen, gazing at her armband. She was sitting by Asa. She always sat by Asa, who sometimes found Charlotte staring at him from across the cafeteria as they ate. “Where did the time go?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think it was this late. Look at the rest of the cafeteria; it’s completely cleaned. I bet even the raccoons have gone to bed,” Bruce observed.
It was quiet for a moment, and then Asa looked up and saw Lilly Bloodroot staring at him; her purple eyes were like stormy skies, her white hair was like lightening. “Asa,” she said. “Can I ask you a question?”
Asa felt the good mood run out of him, and suddenly his heart was in his throat, pumping nervously. He had been expecting someone to ask him about what had happened last semester for some time now, and a premonition told him that the time had come. His teammates were spending dozens of hours with him every week. Don’t they want to know why everyone thought I was a murderer last semester? He found that his mouth was too dry to talk, so he nodded.
“Tell us; if you weren’t responsible for the death of all those people on your Winggame team last semester, why did they all die? And why were you poisoned your first meal here? And why did that mountain lion chase you and Charlotte into the jungle last semester?”
Asa’s teammates were staring at him solemnly. The cafeteria was empty, and the scores continued to roll over the ceiling and walls. “Not here,” Asa said. “But I’ll tell you. Let’s go somewhere else.”
They traveled as a group to Viola Burns’ dwelling, which was carved diagonally adjacent to Asa’s. Though Viola’s door was only yards away from Asa’s, the rock surfaces within were much darker. A tree sat above her door, and inside her dwelling smelled strongly of earth. She made tea for them and they sat on her wooden benches around the kitchen table. The walls and ceiling were knotted with the roots of the tree above them. Paintings lined the walls on canvas made from bark, and the fire, which was vented through wooden shutters in the ceiling and walls that were opened with drawstrings, illuminated the entire room.
Asa made them all swear to secrecy, and then revealed everything. The whole story was told with the help of Jen, and by the time he had filled in all the details, beginning with the crows, the wooden vents showed that morning had come.
Having a group of students understand him was a relief to Asa. He felt lighter than before. None of his teammates betrayed their oath of secrecy, and Asa was glad to have a cohort of students that he could come to with his questions and concerns. It was now possible for him to seek multiple frames of reference when he had an issue.
Though nothing could replace the mother and father that he wished would have stayed on the earth and taken care of him, he began to use a new word to describe his team in his mind: Family.
On the night of April 30, Asa was lying in his hammock as it rocked gently back and forth beside the fire, thinking of how much he loved those he had gone through the Task with. In a way, the atrocities of the event had brought them closer than would have been possible otherwise.
The polaroid of his father rested on his chest. Though he didn’t understand his dad, or his suicide, he wanted to try. There must be a reason you left me, he thought at the ceiling.
That was when a knock came at the door.
Thinking that it must be Jen, Asa hopped up in his bare feet and padded over to the door, placing the polaroid in his suit beside his chest as he went. He removed the padlock from the door and opened it up to feel the cold air rush in and to see the moon shining between silver clouds in a black sky. Two Multipliers stood there, watching him.
Asa’s sympathetic nervous system went into high gear, dumping cortisol and adrenaline into his bloodstream. From Asa’s perspective, time seemed to slow down as the Multiplier on the left smiled widely—threateningly.
“Mr. Palmer, we’re sorry to come knocking on your door so late, but there is an investigation going on.”
Asa furrowed his eyebrows and his legs flexed slightly. He did not respond, but instead prepared himself for a fruitless fight; if it came to fighting, he would surely lose.
He knew these Multipliers. The one on the left with the dark eyes, the black hair, and the toothy smile was Derden, the Multiplier who had shot Brumi. His trench coat hu
ng heavily all the way down to his boots, and the shiny leather reflected the silver moon like oil.
Beside him was Travis, Roxanne’s boyfriend. Asa noted that his carefully buzzed head was showing its first short gray hairs. The cajoling, charismatic expression he often wore was gone, replaced with a face that might have been carved out of stone for how unflinching it was. “Can we come in?” Travis asked, his voice husky.
Asa was frozen in fear. Out the door, he could see the Town. There were no burning buildings, as he would have expected in a Multiplier attack. A crow cawed. “An investigation?” he asked, surprised that he was able to find his voice.
Travis put a wide palm on the door, ensuring that Asa wouldn’t close it. “I asked you a question Palmer.”
“Huh?”
“Can we come in?” he growled, showing black gums. “Pretty please?”
Asa looked at the firm hand jarring the door open. There was no way that Asa could keep them out using force. Travis’s question had been fake; the Multipliers were going to force their way in if Asa didn’t allow them to enter. “Yes, come in,” he said, backing up.
The Multipliers walked in, gazing about the room, which was dimly lit by the embers in the fireplace. With their backs turned, Asa gazed out the door, and thought about running. While the Multipliers were stronger than any Academy student or graduate, they couldn’t fly. If Asa were able to get into the air…
“Shut the door.” Derden said curtly.
Reluctantly, Asa obeyed. He was betting on the odd chance that these Multipliers were actually authorized to come talk to him. He didn’t want to give the Multipliers any reason to punish him.
“Stand here,” Derden pointed out a place on the floor. “Keep your hands where we can see them.”
Asa obeyed, crossing his hands in front of himself. Behind Derden, Travis was digging through the stone drawers beside Asa’s oven. He roughly tore out all of every drawer’s contents, scattering pots and pans noisily onto the floor.
“Do you know where Teddy Jujune is?” Derden asked, scrutinizing Asa’s face.
“No,” Asa said.
“You haven’t seen him today?”
“No, sir.”
“He’s not in here?”
“No.”
Travis was now removing the animal furs from the wall; Asa wondered what he was looking for.
“We have trackers on your armbands,” Derden said. “Our GPS says that Teddy’s armband is somewhere in your dwelling. Is that true?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” Asa could say this honestly; he had no idea where Teddy was, or his armband. He hadn’t seen him in over a week.
Asa’s heart rate rose as he thought about the secret compartment above his dwelling. His mind went to the additional portion that Teddy had carved out of the underwater tunnel that led to the safe room. What if Teddy died up there? What if he overdosed on whatever he’s been injecting himself with?
Sweat beaded on Asa’s forehead as he saw Travis tear the animal skins from the furniture, leaving a mess on the floor.
“Teddy hasn’t shown up to class in two and a half days. Do you know why, Palmer?” Derden sneered.
“No, sir.” His anxiety was growing. Travis was now moving towards the bathtub near the fireplace; directly overhead was the water tunnel that led to the secret compartment.
Asa was more frightened by the changes to the secret compartment than anything. He hadn’t been up to see what it looked like in months, and yet every night he heard Teddy (or someone, at least) drilling in the rock above him. For all Asa knew, Teddy could have stashed a dozen multiplier corpses up there.
“Your friends with Teddy, correct, Palmer?”
“Yes sir.”
Travis was running his hands along the lip of Asa’s bathtub, looking for something of interest. All he had to do was gaze upward and he would find something extremely interesting—a secret compartment.
“And you haven’t been concerned for him?” Derden growled. “You don’t know where he is?”
“He’s a bit flakey, sir. I’ve learned to not be too concerned about Teddy. He disappears to study a lot.”
Travis was now looking at the wall of the fireplace. He stepped onto the lip of the bathtub and directly above him was the tunnel that led to the secret compartment.
“We searched Teddy’s dwelling before we came here, Palmer. Why does it look as though no one has lived there all semester?”
“I don’t know,” Asa said, swallowing.
Asa saw with horror that Travis had now looked above his head at the hole in the ceiling. The red glow from the fire’s embers made him look like a devil, and he smiled with his infected mouth. “Look what I found, boys. What is this, Palmer?”
It’s a safe room in case you bastards ever try to kill me, he thought.
“It’s a place where I can store snow and melt it into water,” he said. “For bathing.”
Travis pressed his palms into the stone on either side of the tunnel above his head and was able to hoist himself up so that he was eye level with the water. Asa’s heart was beating like a snare; he could hear it in his own ears, and hoped that Derden wouldn’t be able to detect his increased anxiety.
Travis’s grin washed from his face. “Derden, get over here. Look at this.”
Derden eyed Asa threateningly, and turned towards the bathtub. A moment later, he was facing the water alongside Travis.
Asa felt like he might faint.
The two of them looked at the water. Asa rubbed the bottom of his sweating foot on the leg of his suit. Finally, Derden and Travis jumped down.
“That little reservoir you’ve got,” Travis said. “It’s disgusting.” And he spat on the floor. “Let’s go, Derden. He doesn’t know anything.”
Travis began to walk out the door, but Derden turned to face Asa. He got so close that his nose and Asa’s were one finger-width away. Asa had a strong urge to turn away, to back up, but refused his instincts.
Derden’s breath was hot and stunk of rotting meat when he spoke out his purulent mouth. “I better not find out you’re lying to me, Palmer,” he said, challenging Asa’s eyes. “I’ll kill you myself, if you are. I’m going to give you one last chance to tell me something I don’t know. You’re hiding something. I can tell.”
Asa breathed through his nose despite the terrible smell of Derden’s Salvaserum secreting mouth. “I’m not hiding anything.”
Derden growled briefly from his throat before spinning and marching out the door. The Multipiers had left Asa’s dwelling a mess. Paintings were strewn over the floor, along with animal hide and papers that he had scribbled school notes on. His cabinets hung ajar, and all of his kitchen supplies were scattered.
22
Teddy Changes
The Multipliers had left the door to Asa’s dwelling open. Asa walked over, slammed it shut, and secured the lock. He leaned his back on the wood and groaned. His heart was still hammering, and he wanted to curl up on his hammock beside the fire, holding his knees to his chest in the fetal position.
No. Think! What is there to do?
Asa looked at the mess of pots, pans, and furs that Derden had thrown across the floor, and decided that he would have to clean his dwelling later. Right now, he had to think of a plan. He looked around at the stone, contemplating. He could see the Multipliers’ handprints in the soot below the secret compartment. They had been so close to figuring out what that was! I can’t let them come back here! Asa was sure that when they first noticed Teddy missing, they had searched his armband in their GPS system. The system had probably given them latitude and longitudinal coordinates that matched up with Asa’s dwelling.
It’s the altitude they’re wrong about. Teddy’s probably right above me.
Asa was also sure that if they didn’t find Teddy’s armband soon, they’d come back. And they won’t find it elsewhere, because it’s probably above me. The second time the Multipliers came to visit Asa, they’d do a more thorough search; he di
dn’t like the chances that they would overlook his secret compartment twice in a row.
And what will happen if they do find the secret compartment? Asa wondered. For a moment, he breathed, feeling better. I guess that there are no rules that say I can’t have a secret compartment. Maybe it’s okay. Maybe I’m just paranoid. Or, maybe there is something to be worried about. Teddy has been doing SOMETHING up there—he’s been drilling for hours every night. What if he’s been killing graduates up there? Or doing drugs? Or what if he’s been using the internet to tell the outside world about the Academy?
Teddy hasn’t been doing anything bad up there, Asa told himself.
Then why does he never talk about what he does all night?
It seemed like the room had suddenly grown cold. He had been concerned for Teddy since the beginning of the semester when he started making cynical jokes about killing his friends. Teddy wasn’t normal then—that was obvious. But his sporadic nature only increased as the semester went on, and now, Asa was able to admit that he was scared of Teddy.
“I’m very scared of him,” he said out loud, and then whispered, “terrified.”
More than that, he was scared of what he would find in the secret compartment above him. Bodies? Drugs? Weapons? Teddy’s corpse, eyes wide with a syringe beside him? There was no way to know without looking. He would have to go investigate. Otherwise, the Multipliers would be back, and they would discover his secret.
“And I’m worried about him. I love him.”
Asa stood still for a moment longer. He didn’t want to go up, through the cold water tunnel and discover what was up there. In the past months, he had lulled himself into a false sense of security by never taking steps to know what Teddy was doing. What you don’t know can’t hurt you, the saying went. Willing himself to move, Asa walked towards the bathtub and hoisted himself up so that he could see the cold water. The water was entirely still, as though it was a pane of dark glass.
Looking at the dark entryway, Asa thought of the first time he had discovered the extra hallway that Teddy had carved into the water-tunnel. Remembering that time, he realized how frightened he was that his friend would murder him. He had been hesitant to follow him into the safe-room in the first place, and was jumpy—becoming anxious with Teddy’s every action. He had known that there was something threatening, terrible, about his friend at that time, but he hadn’t accepted it yet.