by Leito, Chad
Asa had no time to think about this now. He would think about defense another time. Now, his only job was to score.
As he flew over the Plaid, still hundreds of feet into the air, he saw the Wolves swap positions on their Starting Platform. Jordan Hall moved to the center, anticipating Asa.
Asa cursed, and when he got to the end of the Plaid, he began to dive at a steep decline towards the goal. His stomach dropped and the cheering of the crowd disappeared as the air started to scream around him. The wind at his back was pressing him forward at an alarming pace. He knew that any moment he would look up and see the giant form of Jordan Hall swooping towards him.
This is suicide, Asa thought.
And then, with all his fear, an odd sensation began to come over his body. His shoulders began to tingle and prickle. The feeling swept up and down his frame.
If the wind hadn’t been pulling so hard at his face, he would have smiled. He knew from experience that the odd sensation in his shoulders was built up electricity.
Come at me, Hall! Asa thought.
He was shooting straight at the Wolves’ middle goal when a figure passed over him; it was a defender from the Wolves. Someone missed me. Someone just misjudged my speed.
Asa hoped that it was Jordan Hall who had flown over him in error, but the hope was short lived. Asa saw Jordan’s shadow first; it covered an area of water the size of a small fishing boat. And then, Jordan’s huge frame came into sight. He was diving right at Asa, head on. Not only was he huge, but also he was willing to put his body in jeopardy for the game. This made him a great player. Asa was the only Shark attacking the middle goal; if he didn’t score, they would have a slim chance of winning.
Both he and Jordan were falling at over one hundred miles per hour, and were angled so that they would collide with deadly force. Jordan was right in front of the goal. Asa wondered if Jordan thought Asa would get scared and veer off.
But Asa didn’t.
Just as they were about to collide, Asa shoved the tingling feeling out of his shoulders and into his palms. The electricity was released just as Asa touched Jordan, and a sound like a cannon went off in Asa’s face.
Jordan was thrown off course, and Asa continued on in a straight line towards the goal. His palms hurt from the electricity output.
As was usual, he had expended all of his body’s energy in creating the blast. Suddenly, he felt like he weighed a thousand pounds. His wings began to slip with the extreme exhaustion, and he thought that he wasn’t going to make it to the goal.
He gritted his teeth. NO! For Roxy! For Bruce!
He clenched his hands into fists and used every ounce of willpower he had to hold his wings up for the next few seconds. If the wind hadn’t been behind him, this would have been impossible.
Feeling as though he had just ran an ultra marathon, and then competed in a power lifting competition, Asa’s body relaxed as he passed through the goal. He slammed into the water, hard. He skipped twice like a stone, and then went under. He had no energy to swim.
I hope someone notices me and comes in after me, Asa thought. I hope we won. The announcer was screaming something, but from underwater, Asa couldn’t make out what it was.
And then he went unconscious.
36
The Dance
“Asa. Asa. Asa, get up.”
Asa’s eyes opened, and his first thought was, my god I’m tired.
Viola was above him, and in the background he saw the dirt ceiling of her dwelling. He was lying in his hammock. “Asa, you’ve got to get up and start getting ready for the dance.”
“The dance?” Asa asked. He felt incredibly groggy, as though his brain was moving at a quarter the pace it usually did.
“Yes, the dance.” She looked at a little gold watch on her wrist that Asa had never seen before. She was wearing a blue dress, and there was a towel on her head; she had apparently just gotten out of the shower. She had no makeup on. “We need to leave here in an hour.”
Asa leaned back and closed his eyes. “Wake me up in thirty minutes,” he said.
Viola tugged at his wrist. “No. You need to get up, now. You’ll need extra time to figure out how to put your tuxedo on.”
Asa’s eyes opened. “I have a tux?”
Viola nodded. “The raccoons brought it. It’s all wrapped up in a bag. Why don’t you go sit down on the couch, and I’ll bring you some coffee.”
Asa agreed. He tore his body out of the hammock, walked over, and sat down. His joints were stiff.
Viola handed him the coffee. It was hot, and had a small amount of milk and sugar. He blew steam off the top and took a sip. The coffee tasted delicious. It was dark and full-bodied. Viola had Academy issued coffee grounds delivered to her dwelling. Asa believed that the coffee bean plant had to be genetically enhanced. He hadn’t tasted coffee that was anywhere near this good before coming to the Academy.
It wasn’t until Asa was halfway through with his coffee that he looked up in alarm and remembered why he was so tired. “The Winggame championship,” he said out loud. “I electrocuted Jordan Hall.”
Viola’s nose was three inches from a mirror on the wall as she applied eyeliner. “You really electrocuted Jordan Hall,” she said with a little laugh. “He was unconscious for like five minutes. He’s okay, though.”
Asa drained the remainder of his coffee. “Did we win?”
She turned and looked at him with her blue eyes—her right eye had eyeliner on it and the left was still naked. “Do you really not know?”
“No. What happened?”
“You must have gone out cold right after you electrocuted Jordan Hall,” she observed. “Like, really out cold.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what happened. Just tell me.”
“We won.”
Asa leaned back against the seat cushion and smiled. “Really?”
“Would I joke with you about something like that?” she turned back to the mirror and continued to apply eyeliner. “I don’t think that the Wolves were anticipating us diving like that. They kind of got frazzled, and as we dove towards their goal, they got out of the way.” She smiled. “Well, everyone except for Jordan Hall.”
“And what about defensively, how did we do?”
“Roxanne was able to submerge two of the Wolves offensive players, and hold them off until we scored five points. We won five to four. You should have heard the crowd.”
The smile grew on Asa’s face. He stood up, grabbed his clothes bag, and took the coffee mug over to the sink where he stood rinsing it. “I wish I could have heard them. Wow. I can’t believe we won!”
“Bruce would be proud,” she said.
“Definitely,” Asa said. And then, Viola’s meaning washed over him, and his elation was momentarily gone. Bruce would be proud if he was alive. He’s dead. The Multipliers killed him, and they’ll kill the rest of the student body if I don’t drop the bombs tonight.
Asa felt suddenly nauseated. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Viola didn’t respond; she was concentrating on her makeup. Asa grabbed the leather bag and headed into the bathroom.
He turned on the faucet, undressed, and sat on the toilet, waiting for the water to warm up. Looking down at the leather bag with his tuxedo inside it, he wished that he could simply enjoy the dance, like everyone else. He thought Teddy had a great idea, though, in planting the bombs along the mouth of the Multipliers’ cave. He thought that if he did a good job tonight, the impact could be devastating to the Hive.
Especially if it collapses down on one hundred thousand of those bastards.
Asa stepped into the hot water of the shower, and for the third time, he considered the radio that Teddy had been talking into last night, and went over the possibility that Teddy could be leading Asa into a trap. “But he hugged me,” Asa said to himself. “If he wanted something bad to happen to me, he could have bitten me right then!”
He rinsed the smell of the Moat off of his body with Academy i
ssued soaps and shampoo. He turned the water off, dried himself with a towel, and then stepped out of the tub.
He looked at his naked body in the mirror and for a moment, and was shocked at his appearance. He hadn’t look at himself much since entering the Academy; with how busy his semester had been, every second of every day was scheduled for him ahead of time. He never had any time to relax.
He looked over his body, and felt like he was looking at an image of what he might look like when he was older with years of intense exercise. But that’s the current me. His shoulders were broad, and his thick arms went down by his side. Green veins snaked around his hard muscles.
Asa had to admit; the strength mutations were one upside of being in the Academy.
As he took the clothes out of the bag and began to dress, he was struck by a new reason for why it would be perfect for the Multipliers to attack tonight. Not only would there be alcohol at the dance, and not only would it be in a confined area, but the students would all be wearing clothes that prohibited them from withdrawing their wings. The Academy issued suit that the students were given had small flaps that would open when a student needed to expand their wings. But, the attire they would wear to the dance was made out of normal fabric.
Asa stared at himself in the mirror as he pulled on his vest, tightened it, and then put his tie on. He would be wearing a shirt, a vest, and a jacket; there was no way he would be able to draw his wings out through all that fabric.
I had better stay only an hour or so, he thought. He did not want to be there when the Multipliers attacked. He wanted to prevent the attack from happening altogether.
Asa was straightening up his jacket when he looked down and saw a jewelry box in the bag that his tuxedo came in. He took it out, opened it, and saw a gold Rolex sitting inside foam outcroppings.
He wasn’t even sure that he had seen a Rolex before. He took it out, put it on, and stepped out of the bathroom.
Asa and Viola left shortly after that.
Outside, the air was cold. The sun was setting in the West and fog had moved over the mountains. Asa looked up, and could barely see the summit of Mount Two high above him; it was a dark shadow in the hanging moisture.
Asa and Viola moved down the mountainside, walked beside the pavilion, and then crossed over to the rope bridge towards Fishie Mountain. The dance was to be held at Town Hall, and since none of the students could fly in their formal wear, the second semester students were going to meet the Fishies in front of Fishie Mountain, where boats would carry them over the water toward Town.
Asa felt stiff and constricted in his tuxedo. His Academy issued suit moved so freely, and he had grown accustomed to its flexibility. He wiggled his wings out of his shoulder blades a couple of inches and pressed the tips against the back of his shirt. The fabric was strong; he wouldn’t be able to force his wings out if he needed to.
Asa watched as other students moved across the rope-bridge towards Fishie Mountain. They looked like ghosts in the fog.
When it was Asa’s turn to cross, he felt dizzy, trapped. It was unnerving to be on an unsteady bridge, so high above the earth, and not be able to withdraw his wings if he fell.
Although he was a bit anxious, he made his way over the bridge without incident.
As he and Viola walked through the marble hallways of Fishie Mountain, he was emotionally brought back to last semester. There was a fresh, lemony smell that covered the hallways, and everything shined from the raccoons cleaning. The sights and smells reminded him of how incredibly anxious he had been last semester, when the Multipliers within the Academy were actively making attempts to take his life. Something has definitely changed. Not only did they allow me to compete fairly in Winggame, but my team won the championship. Asa strongly believed that the Gill Initiative, and this semester’s fairness were a result of the message the crows released about Alfatrex. That had been a warning shot to Robert King that communicated a clear message: Treat Asa Palmer fairly, or we will release more.
Asa reflected on this semester’s predicament. The Academy Multipliers have let me be, for the most part. But now I have to worry about Multipliers from the Hive. He felt nauseated as he thought of what he would have to do that night.
It wasn’t until they had made it all the way through the winding corridors, out the front door, and down the long pebbled path at the foot of the mountain that Asa saw Jen, standing on the shore, waiting to board one of the Academy’s Viking-like wooden ships. She wore a red dress, and her hair was pinned up with golden clips. A dozen gold bracelets wrapped around her left wrist. In the formal wear, her confident, tough demeanor looked somewhat out of place. There was a feminine flare to the way that she carried herself, but there was also something very strong and enduring about her. Asa thought that this might be due to years of having to care for herself at home after her father died.
Also standing, waiting for the boat, was Charlotte. Asa inhaled deeply and a wave of emotions came crashing over him. She’s not dead! he thought. He had been nervous about her ever since she went on the jog out in the woods.
Charlotte and Jen were standing five yards away from each other, and Asa couldn’t help comparing them.
They were both beautiful. Jen was shorter and looked more athletic, like a gymnast, whereas Charlotte was tall and slender. They both had confidences and insecurities.
Jen moved with an unmatched sureness. She was brash, bold, and sometimes did things without thinking (like sneaking away from the Sharks’ morning run to smoke cigarettes in the arctic jungle). But Jen had human, normal emotions, too. Asa had seen this when she broke out in braying sobs after Bruce had been killed. But immediately after watching him be slaughtered, she wanted to follow the Multipliers. She was capable of making quick decisions.
Charlotte had shown a similar level of composure, but in different ways. When Conway and McCoy initially kidnapped Asa and Charlotte from their homes, Charlotte never screamed, or cried. She remained calm, and kept a level head as she asked the graduates questions about the Academy. When Conway went to the bathroom, she probed McCoy with questions she knew Conway wouldn’t be comfortable answering. Charlotte was sly. She was more contemplative than Jen was.
Asa looked at Charlotte. He watched her green eyes as she looked out onto the water and her pale, smooth skin. She was wearing a black, floor length dress made of delicate material.
Though Charlotte and Jen were different, Asa had feelings for both of them. But don’t worry about Charlotte; you can’t have her, he thought. He remembered how she used to be pained to see him, and how when they ran into each other on the mountainside a few days ago, she had been so easygoing. She had been so relaxed. She has gotten over me, he thought.
Charlotte looked over and caught Asa staring at him. He started to look away, then stopped. It was something in her eyes. She kept her gaze on Asa for a moment, and he felt like she was trying to communicate something to him.
“Look at you, Palmer. In a tuxedo. Wow!” Jen said, breaking his train of thought. She smiled and stood next to him. “It’s good to see you standing again, I was worried about you after the game.”
Asa smiled back at her, but the expression felt heavy on his lips. It felt forced. His mind was on Charlotte. “I’m glad to be standing too. That always happens to me when I use my electrocution ability; it takes so much energy.”
They boarded the boat, sat on the rows of wooden benches, and sailed towards Town. The fog was thickening by the minute. Asa and Jen sat near the back of the boat; Jen sat very close to Asa, and they talked for the entire trip about the Winggame match. Asa was only half invested in the conversation. For one thing, he kept thinking that he would leave in a short time and return to the Multiplier’s lair—this was constantly on his mind. Also, Charlotte kept giving him looks. She sat next to Shashowt, who was her date. They were involved in a conversation, but Charlotte looked just as distracted as Asa was. Asa felt that her glances were too long for her to not be communicating something.
But what?
They arrived in Town, and walked along the cobble stone path. Asa was somewhat taken aback by how normal everyone looked in their formal wear. We look like average teenagers. No one would guess that we all had folded up wings within our shoulder blades, and different special powers.
They walked for a few minutes in between the stone buildings before reaching the green lawn that stretched out in front of Town Hall. The white pillars of Town Hall had been wrapped in strings of light for the celebration. The windows were polished to perfection, and the grass was clipped like a golf course.
Jen took Asa’s hand as they climbed the front steps. He felt slightly guilty for doing so, given his apprehensions about her and his lingering feelings for Charlotte. He did not pull away, though. Her touch felt nice. And, I might die tonight, Asa told himself. Or, I might be bitten, become a Multiplier, and never see Jen again. These were real possibilities that he was trying to fully understand. I might as well try to have a good time for the hour that I’m here.
Raccoons in black bow ties held the doors open for the students. The raccoons themselves looked cleaner than usual, with fluffy, dry fur that looked like it had just been shampooed and blow-dried.
As they walked inside to the foyer, Asa was beginning to feel uneasy about the prospect of the dance. What if the Multipliers don’t wait to come and attack? What if they barge in in the first five minutes?
His anxiety mounting, Asa tried to act as normal as possible, keeping up polite conversation with Jen.
They entered one of the banquet halls, which was meticulously decorated for the occasion. Thousands of candles surrounded the room, atop decorative tables of differing heights. It gave the room a beautiful ambiance, but all Asa could think was how easy it would be for the Multipliers to come in, knock over the candles, and then lock the doors. We would all burn alive, Asa thought. There were dozens of large, round tables draped with gold-encrusted white table clothes spaced out in the room. There was a great wooden dance floor near the center. Along the walls, interspersed with the candle tables, were refreshments. There were cookies, pieces of cheese, meats, and crackers, punch, soda, water, and liquor.