Jayden's Cybermountain

by Katrina Cope

  He exited the bathroom just as the other boys were coming in.

  “Who the heck are you?” teased Ben, taking one look at Jayden. “You look like a different person.”

  “Tell you what—it does feel a whole lot better,” Jayden said. Then he leaned toward them and took a couple of exaggerated breaths in through his nose. “You know what? They really weren’t exaggerating about the whole stinking thing.” He chuckled.

  “All right, pretty boy. We’re gonna fix that now,” Taylor said, rolling his eyes.

  The two boys grabbed their clothes and headed off to the bathroom, while Jayden started to look at which bed he thought he’d prefer. He decided that the top one looked good, especially because of the glass ceiling. He climbed up and pulled the covers back far enough to crawl in. He snuggled between the sheets, with his head on the pillow, and let the mattress soak up all the aches and pains from his body.

  His eyes studied the room, capturing everything while the light was still on. He wasn’t certain that when he woke in the morning it wouldn’t turn out that it had all been just a dream. Turning flat on his back, he stared up at the glass ceiling, wondering what the view was going to be like when the sun came up.

  It was just a few more minutes until the other boys had finished cleaning up, and they, too, were deciding which beds they wanted. Once they had finished, Ben turned off the light, allowing the view beyond the ceiling to reveal itself. Jayden again gaped in wonder as the majestic moon and stars appeared above him in the night sky. They were free to glow brightly since there were no streetlights to detract from their shining beauty. While he was taking in this splendor, his eyes slowly closed and he fell into the deepest sleep he’d had in a long time.

  ~~~~~

  AARON TOOK A deep breath. The air is so clear up here, he thought. The birds had begun singing their good mornings to the world, welcoming the beginning of a brand-new day. The sun had just begun to peek over the horizon. He had finished his half-hour jog already and was about to start his Tae Kwon Do practice. It was about five thirty in the morning. He knew for his thirteen years he was an exercise junkie. It was more proof when the rest of the students were more than likely still asleep.

  He’d never been a great sleeper because he’d always had too much energy—especially in his younger years. Most people would expect a young child to have a lot of energy as they usually do, running their parents ragged. However, because he always had so much energy, it had caused a huge amount of friction in his family because he was such a handful for his poor parents. He’d run wild and do outrageous things, all because he couldn’t focus and didn’t know how to calm down. He’d get up to all sorts of mischief. Eventually, a doctor diagnosed him with ADHD.

  Knowing the name of his problem didn’t help his parents, though, as he was still uncontrollable. They tried everything possible after getting advice from the experts, including medication. Still, he was unmanageable. In the end, his parents couldn’t handle it any longer, and gave up looking when he ran away from home. He was only ten years old and so lucky Avando discovered him only a month later scavenging out of a garbage bin. It was the only way a kid of ten knew how to get food. He was virtually skin and bone.

  Amazingly, in a little over three years, Avando and his team of professionals had managed to tame him. They gave him various exercises, sports, and challenges to focus on that didn’t require long periods of sitting, thinking, or concentrating on the same thing. Not only that, Aaron had managed to become really good at these things. So good, in fact, that he had won the video tech challenge for that week.

  Hmm, he thought, smiling to himself. That video game we played last night was epic. It was so much fun with a group effort to plot against the enemy. There was so much action and fighting. We even got to blow up the building, while the major leaders of the enemy were grouped together having lunch. Awesome!

  Violence was something he’d never condone. In fact, he hated it when people were unjustly picked on—but it was only a video game, after all, and what guy didn’t like blowing stuff up, or at least seeing it happen? It really got the blood pumping.

  He found his favorite tree. On it, he’d drawn a life-size person with the correct head, stomach, and knee height for target practice. He continued with his training against the tree with enthusiasm—an indication of the energy that was pent up inside of him. The sweat was running down his face, back, and pretty much all over his body. As he practiced, he let his mind wander. He hoped Avando had managed to collect a few more new students from the underbelly of the street the previous night.

  After some more practicing, a bright-red flash of color passed across his peripheral vision. He turned his head toward where he saw it while continuing his training. A few moments later, he saw it again. This time, though, he was looking straight at the red flash. It all made sense now. It was one of the scarlet macaws that stayed on the mountain with the students.

  Charlie must be letting them stretch their wings, he thought. He finished his practice and wandered off to see if he could find Charlie.

  Not too far away, Aaron found Charlie with two of the majestic macaws sitting outside of their cages on external perches. They sat patiently with their heads cocked to one side, surveying the sky and watching other macaws fly around. Charlie stood between the two grounded birds, clearly frustrated.

  As Aaron continued to walk toward him, he heard loud cursing coming from Charlie. Aaron smiled. Charlie was obviously having bird troubles. What do they say? he thought. Never work with kids or animals if you want things to go as planned. Charlie worked with both. Aaron’s smile widened as he came closer and the cursing grew louder. Charlie was normally a very caring person, although he did have little patience and a very short temper. Sometimes Aaron put it down to lack of sleep—because he knew that once you managed to see through his temper, you loved the guy.

  “Hey, Charlie!” Aaron called out, having almost reached the cursing man.

  Charlie spun around with a shocked look on his face. “Aaron! You didn’t hear me, did you? If Avando found out, I’d be in so much trouble. He really doesn’t like it when I curse near the students.”

  “It’s all good, Charlie! I won’t tell. Anyway, I’ve heard worse…especially out of your mouth,” he added with a cheeky grin. “I’ve even said a few choice words myself—which I learned from you.”

  “Oh, squawking birds! That’s what gets me into trouble. Don’t let Avando hear you or I’ll be in even more trouble.” The wrinkles on his forehead deepened.

  “I’m very careful, Charlie. I won’t cause you any grief. Besides, I mainly said that to try to make you feel better. Clearly, it didn’t work.” He chuckled. “What’s making you so upset, anyway?”

  “These blasted young macaws aren’t coming back when I tell them to.” There was frustration in his voice. “No matter how much I call them, plead with them, or try to bribe them, they only come back when they darn well feel like it. I have to get back to the main building shortly because I have to organize a group of new students who arrived last night.”

  “So, we did get new students?”

  Charlie nodded.

  “That’s great. There are more young people off the streets. Avando is such a saint.” He felt excited relief.

  “Only one of the young people is joining the main group straight away. The other four have to have their systems cleaned.”

  Aaron wrinkled his nose. “Ooh! Nasty. Such a shame the other four won’t be getting the perfect start in joining us.”

  Charlie nodded in agreement and then gazed up in the sky, looking for the birds.

  Aaron followed his gaze and saw a distant flash of red. “Let me see if I can help you with these young birds. Why don’t you stand over to the side? Or maybe you should even hide under a tree so they can’t see you.”

  Charlie did as instructed—he seemed willing to do anything to get the birds put away again so that he could move on. Aaron moved over to where Charlie had been standi
ng between the two older birds. He approached the bird on his right, the one with the slightly smaller bill and shorter feathers, and addressed it. “Hello, Juliette.”

  “Hello,” the bird answered.

  “Do you want a scratch?”

  “Scratch,” the brilliantly colored bird responded. She put her head closer to Aaron and tucked her beak in. Aaron reached over and started to scratch the back of her head while she moved it in various directions so that he was able to scratch her in different parts.

  “That’s a good girl,” Aaron said to her. He gave her a peanut. He then left Juliette and went over to the bird on his left. “Hello, Oscar.”

  “Hello,” the bird responded.

  “Do you want a scratch?” Oscar did exactly what Juliette did. “Good boy,” Aaron said to the robust male bird while giving a peanut to him also. “Shall we see if we can call your babies down?” he asked the birds.

  He turned and looked up into the sky to locate the young birds. After a short wait, he saw one in the distance. “Who’s that?” he asked the parent birds. He watched the birds as they tilted their heads to the side to look at the flying parrot.

  It was only a couple of seconds before Oscar spoke out. “Lucy,” he said.

  “Thank you, Oscar.” He showed his gratitude by giving him another peanut. Aaron made a whistling sound and called out, “Lucy! Peanut?” He held out his arm as a landing perch. He waited and watched as the bird circled above them, slowly coming down to their level. Aaron felt impatient and he wished she’d hurry up, but he didn’t let it show. He was soon pleasantly surprised—from out of nowhere, a red flash came at him from the left and startled him. He twisted quickly and found that the red flash was Piper, the other young bird. Piper landed next to her mother. “Hello, Piper.”

  “Hello.”

  He handed her a peanut. “Do you want a scratch?” After she’d finished her nut, she put her head down like her parents had, ready for a scratch. Aaron at the same time grabbed the foot chain attached to the stand and fastened it around her leg. She didn’t panic or get upset because she already knew what the chain was for. Seeing her sister so happy to come down, Lucy also decided to join the others and landed next to her father. “Hello, Lucy. Good girl.”

  “Hello,” she responded.

  Aaron handed her a nut as well.

  “Scratch.” Lucy said to him.

  Aaron laughed. “You cheeky girl,” he said, and started to scratch her behind the head while reaching for the leg chain.

  After the chain had been fixed to her, Charlie came out of his hiding place. “How in the devil did you manage to do that?” he asked, looking bewildered. “I don’t think they would’ve come to me within the week, the way it was going.”

  Aaron responded with a laugh. “They’re aware of your temper, even from that far away. They knew you’d give them an earful when they landed—not to mention no peanut, or even a scratch. Come on. I’ll give you a hand putting them away.”

  Juliette climbed on to Aaron’s arm while Charlie encouraged Oscar to climb on to his. They each undid the lower part of the leg chains of the younger birds and then fixed them to their wrists so that the birds wouldn’t be able to fly away. Then they walked over to the large enclosure. Once there, they let the birds go, packed up the chains, checked their food and water, and walked to the main building. Aaron went to get cleaned up while Charlie set off to get the new students organized.

  - Chapter Four -

  Pain Of The Good Samaritan

  Jayden became aware there was light shining on his eyelids. He peeked out through slits and saw the clear blue sky through the glass ceiling. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he opened them completely, taking in the view. It was a pleasant sight to start the day. No tall buildings, no scurrying of people going to work, no exhaust fumes in the air, and no one giving him a dirty look because he was filthy and living on the street. Instead, it was all very serene.

  He looked around to see if the other boys were still in the room. Ben and Declan were fast asleep on the bunk beds opposite his. He peeked over the side of his bunk to the bed below. Taylor was still there, and he, too, looked as though he hadn’t woken. Letting his eyes wander around the room, Jayden tried to spot anything he might have missed the previous night in all the excitement and exhaustion. Peering toward the wall that was made of dark glass, he was pleasantly surprised to see that it now showed an oasis glimmering in the morning sun.

  There were many gigantic trees scattered across a large, green expanse. This green expanse didn’t look like a tailored lawn—instead, it looked more natural. Underneath the trees were rocks and logs that had been grouped together. They looked as if they could be seats, but at the same time, they didn’t look like any seats that had been bought from a shop.

  About one hundred yards away, there was a large, crystal clear pool of water surrounded by rocks that was kept filled by a six-foot high, cascading waterfall. Various ferns and greenery surrounded the waterfall and clustered around the rocks. At the edge of the pool were strategically placed, large, flat rocks. These looked the perfect size for lying on, especially if you had a couple of pillows.

  This place is something really special, he thought. It’s better than those places I saw on the pages of the magazines I covered myself with on the streets. He positioned himself on his bed so that he could continue gazing at all the natural beauty before he had to get up.

  “Morning, boys.” Charlie had entered their room. He twisted the covered toes of the three who were still sleeping—and did it roughly enough to wake them. “Up you get. We have to get you assigned to your proper rooms today.” He pointed to everyone in the room except Jayden. “And you three have to go to rehab.”

  There was a small groan of protest from Declan. Charlie told him, “It won’t be fun in there, but it’s necessary—and you’ll feel so much better after those drugs are out of your system.”

  Dreading detox, the three boys rolled over and pretended to go back to sleep.

  “Come on, get up!” Charlie pulled back their bedcovers enough to allow some cooler air onto their faces. “This is still a nice place,” he reassured them. “You’ll just be separated from the rest of the students until you’ve gotten over the worst of it—that’s all.”

  The boys started to get up. In the meantime, Jayden was already up and looking for clothes. He was keen to explore the rest of the place, especially after what he’d already seen.

  “Okay. You must be hungry again,” Charlie said. “It’s been a few hours since you last ate. Besides, it’s already eight. You’ll just catch the end of breakfast if we go now.” The mention of more food made the three boys move more quickly.

  Once they were ready, they walked out to the guest lounge to find Jessica already sitting on the couch. She was waiting for them while watching the news on the enormous TV, clearly interested to find out what was going on in the world.

  She looked up as the boys came through the door. “About time! And I thought women were the ones who took ages to get ready,” she teased.

  “Well, we did have to wake up first,” Taylor said.

  Jayden saw that Taylor’s eyes were fixed on Jessica. Jayden looked back at Jessica and noticed that she looked quite beautiful. Her skin was freshly washed and her blonde hair, which now looked clean and silky, fell elegantly down around her shoulders. In addition, her eyes were more radiantly blue than before. Jayden looked back at Taylor. He was amused to see Taylor looking bashful as he turned away to hide his expression.

  “Look who’s the beauty queen,” teased Ben.

  “Like you can talk,” Jessica teased back. “I barely even knew ya had eyes with your face always bein’ so dirty and all. Ya eyes kinda blended in—with them bein’ brown—the same color as the dirt on ya face.” She laughed.

  “Ha, ha,” said Ben slowly with sarcasm.

  It was obvious that Jessica knew she’d won that little fight. “Anyway, while I was waitin’ for ya sleepyheads I was
shocked to see what’s been happenin’ in the world. Ya should see this. I still can’t believe it.”

  She turned her attention back to the TV, and the boys watched the broadcast with her as it was replayed on the screen. Horror washed over Jayden when a car that was parked on the street exploded near a café that was filled with people. The explosion encompassed all the buildings and the people in the vicinity.

  “What the—?” Jayden asked.

  The others were too shocked by the awfulness that was unfolding to say anything and just watched the TV in silence. Finally, Jayden found his voice again and turned to Charlie, who was still standing with them. “What just happened?”

  “That was what you call a car bomb.” Charlie’s face looked worn, and sadness filled his eyes. He sat down on the couch next to Jessica.

  “Why was it parked and set off there?” Ben asked, pointing at the screen while giving Charlie a stunned look.

  “That’s what some people do in this world,” Charlie said and slowly shook his head. “They’re mentally ill. They think that they have the right to blow up cars, buildings, and people because they’re trying to make a political statement, or because they think certain kinds of people deserve to die.”

  “Are ya serious?” asked Declan.

  “Yes, unfortunately. Sometimes people are so angry at the government of a certain country and what they stand for, they punish the people rather than the government to get their point across.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair. So it’s not just the people on the street who get mistreated?” Jayden asked. Anger welled in his stomach.

  “No, it’s not. But there’s a positive side to all of this. Here, at the Sanctum, if you learn as much as you can, you’ll be helping to build small weapons, which can help us to combat these terrorists.”

  “We will?” asked Jessica. “Like we’re gonna be able to do that? That sounds extra impossible.”

  “Well, with the help of Avando and the professors in the school, combined with the effort you put in, I truly believe that you will. I don’t have anything to do with that part of the Sanctum, but I’ve seen many great results from students in the past.” Charlie glanced at his watch and said, “Anyway, we’d better get going before breakfast is over if you want to eat. Scarlet, please turn off the TV.”