by Katrina Cope
When they had reached about halfway to the central mountain, they were not far from a small hill covered in grass and a couple of large rocks. As they passed, one of the large rocks suddenly moved aside, revealing a doorway. Charlie came out, wearing long warm pants and a cardigan, covered in patches of dirt. The Sanctum’s handyman spotted the group slowly making their way along the hidden path. His weathered wrinkles became deeper as his faded blue eyes filled with concern. “What happened?” he asked, watching them aid Aaron and Jayden.
“We had some surrogates blow up while these two were operating them,” Avando explained. “They were sent flying and hit their heads fairly hard.”
Charlie rubbed his dirty hands on the cardigan covering his slightly rounded belly and walked over to them. “Need some help?”
“Oh, Charlie. Thanks for offering, but I think we will be okay.” Avando sounded appreciative.
“Are you sure?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, thank you. They are recovering well, thank goodness. We are just taking them to the doctor to make sure they don’t have a concussion,” Avando said.
The wind howled in their ears as they continued forward. It chilled them to the bone, even in their winter clothes. Despite the discomfort, Jayden was thankful because it kept him awake and alert after his head blow. He gazed at Aaron, who also appeared more alert.
They made it to the main building and passed through the common room toward the doctor’s office. A bright-red flash passed into their vision, aiming straight for them. Jayden looked up just in time to see Juliette, the scarlet macaw, come flying toward him. He held out his arm, and she landed on it with the finesse of an experienced flyer.
“Hello,” she said in a parrot voice. “What are you doing?” She then added sweetly, “Huh?”
This made Jayden smile. Juliette had taken a liking to him ever since his first day, when he’d met her in the large aviary outside. Due to the coldness of the winds, the weather outside, and the fact that they were tropical birds, Avando let the macaws fly around inside the large building in the winter. Jayden had wondered about this, especially when it came to them doing their business, but they had been toilet trained by the students to only go in the gardens.
“Hello, Juliette,” Jayden said. “Kiss?”
She responded with a loud kissing sound against his cheek.
“Good girl. Where’s—”
He was interrupted by another red flash flying down toward the group. It was Oscar, Juliette’s partner. He went straight toward Aaron, as Aaron was his favorite person. “There he is.” Jayden answered his own question before he asked it.
Aaron held his arm out, and Oscar landed on it. “Hello, Oscar,” Aaron greeted the bird.
“Hello.” Oscar returned the greeting.
“Where are your girls? Where’re Lucy and Piper?” Aaron asked.
Oscar tilted his head and looked up with one eye to one of the higher trees in the garden.
Aaron followed the bird’s eye to see what he was looking at and saw two large, bright-red-and-blue birds sitting on one of the highest branches in the tree. “Oh. I see them. We have to keep going, Oscar, so fly off now. I’ll be back later.” He turned to Robert, who was still supporting him a little, and asked, “Can you please grab a couple of nuts out of the container for Oscar and Juliette?”
“Yeah, sure.” Robert moved his chubby body as quickly as he could to the nut container. He then gave a nut to Oscar, who flew off into the tree. He then handed one to Juliette, who followed her partner to eat her treat.
They continued to the doctor’s room to find Doctor Rachel busy sterilizing equipment in a hot-air oven, getting ready for her next patient. Her curly red hair was pulled back into a bun at the back of her head. She heard them come in and looked up from her work.
“Come in and sit.” She smiled as she greeted them, pointing to a couple of plastic chairs. Seeing they were the only ones in the doctor’s area at the moment, and as there were so many of them, she examined them in the waiting room. “What do we have here?” she asked Avando while observing the boys.
“These two were thrown back and hit their heads fairly hard.” He indicated Aaron and Jayden. “They were knocked out for a little while but came to fairly quickly.”
Her kind face flashed with concern as she listened to Avando. She started to look for her little light. “Any signs of memory loss or vomiting?” she asked.
“No,” Avando said. “They seem fine, but we brought them here for a confirmation checkup just in case.”
“That’s good thinking, Avando. You should never muck around with a hard head hit.” She started shining the little light into each of Aaron’s eyes, and then into Jayden’s. She continued doing her general checkup for the next few minutes. “All seems fine. I can’t find any signs of concussion or any other injury, besides bruising. But I would recommend that they take the remainder of the day off and rest, with someone keeping a good eye on them.”
“That’s wonderful news, Doctor Rachel.” Avando sounded delighted. He turned to Aaron and Jayden. “How does watching videos in the Common Room One sound? Would you enjoy this activity for the rest of the day?”
“Sounds pretty good to me,” Jayden said. “I’m not that keen to spend the rest of the day in bed doing nothing.”
Aaron nodded. “I really don’t want to spend the rest of the day in bed. You know what I think of staying in one spot for a long period, let alone in a bed, and especially during the daytime.”
Avando turned to Robert and Eva. “Can you two please accompany these two up to Common Room One?” Then he looked at Eva directly. “Are you able to keep an eye on them for the rest of the day?”
“Of course, Avando,” she said. “I should be able to keep them under control.”
Looking happy with Eva’s response, Avando turned to Robert. “Can you please go back and help Niles? Goodness knows, he could use a little more help after our mishap.”
“Of course, Avando.” Robert sounded as though he didn’t want to be anywhere else. His passion for technology had grown—if that was possible—ever since he had been trained more for the running of Scarlet.
Avando turned to everyone, Doctor Rachel included. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go and sort out a few tasks.”
“Bye, Avando,” they said in unison, and the students made their way to Common Room One, with Robert leaving right after Aaron and Jayden settled on the comfy couch.
Eva grabbed the DVDs and brought them over to the boys.
Aaron flicked through the cases quickly then pulled one out and showed them. It was titled Scream. “What about this one?”
Eva instantly commented in a snarky manner. “Isn’t that a little old?”
“What, are you scared?” He stuck his bottom lip out to show a half-mocking, scared face.
“No!” she answered quickly with her voice slightly raised.
“Okay. I’ll take that as a vote of two out of three, but just in case, I should ask—what about you, Jayden?” Aaron held the DVD up for him to see.
Jayden shrugged. “I don’t scare that easily, so I’m in.”
“Oh, good on you, Jayden! Encourage him, why don’t you?”
Eva crossed her arms over her chest.
“If you’re really that worried, then you can leave us here,” Aaron said. “I’m sure we won’t pass out or anything while sitting on our butts watching a movie.”
“Avando asked me specifically to stay and keep my eye on you two.” She huffed. “Besides, I’ll be fine.” She feigned a brave face and placed the DVD in the player, tried to hide her face, and started to watch the movie.
After a while, Jayden needed to go to the bathroom. He scanned his hand on the identity-handprint scanner—an odd requirement enforced by Scarlet to make sure that only males entered the males’ bathroom and only females entered the females’ bathroom—to gain access then entered the well-lit space. As he headed to the urinal, the room went dark. He stopped in his tracks,
confused. He turned to look behind him, and as he did, the lights turned back on. Unsure of himself, he continued to the back area with the urinal.
He went to the bathroom then started to make his way to the basins. Darkness filled the room again, and he stood frozen. After watching about half of a horror movie, he was feeling a little on edge, but after the head hit, he wasn’t sure if he saw things right. With the room still dark, the door to the bathroom suddenly opened, letting in a flash of light from the outside of the room. Jayden glanced over at the door, but no one came in.
“Ahhh! Scarlet? Is that you?” he called, getting edgy.
There was no answer.
“Scarlet?”
Still no answer. It was odd for Scarlet.
He waited a little longer, and then the lights came on. “Scarlet?” He couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice.
“Yes, Jayden?” Finally, the reply he longed for sounded over the speaker.
They didn’t have a screen for her face in the boys’ bathroom. It made the boys edgy to see a female face looking in on their change area. “Was that you turning the lights off and opening the door?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” She sounded perplexed.
“The lights just went off and on a couple of times, and the door also opened, but no one came in. Was that you?” he asked again.
“Hmmm. That’s interesting,” Scarlet said. “You really did hit your head hard, as I don’t know of any of that happening.”
“Are you sure?” he asked again, feeling bewildered.
“Yes, absolutely! I suggest you get back and rest as soon as possible.” Concern seeped from her voice.
After washing his hands, he left the bathroom feeling unsettled but not sure if he had hallucinated or if it had happened. Not willing to be sent back to the doctor, he decided not to tell the others. He would finish watching the movie instead.
When he arrived back in the common room, he noted that Eva looked white in the face, but he left it alone.
About three quarters of the way through the movie, Eva turned to them and asked, “Are you guys going to be all right for a few minutes while I go and get our two dogs up here for a bit, as we’re not going to be able to take them for a run today?”
“Yeah, sure.” Aaron waved a dismissive hand at her. “Is the movie too scary?”
“No!” Her voice was high-pitched and slightly snappy. “It’s just not my kind of movie.”
~~~~~
FEELING ANNOYED AT Aaron, she left the room gladly, leaving his chuckling behind. She headed down through the common room to the lobby. As classes were still on, the rooms were empty. She moved toward the main door of the building to hear the door behind her close. This was unusual, as the door almost always stayed open. She spun around to see no one behind her. Her heart thumped madly in her chest, and her breathing faltered. The movie had amped her up. Just as she turned around, the lights went out, and for some reason, even though it was light outside, the windows remained blackened. She didn’t like it.
She looked around in the dark but couldn’t see a thing. With a hesitant voice, she called, “Scarlet?”
There was no answer. Eva’s heart thumped louder in her chest and pulsed in her ears. She was sure that if she could see herself in the mirror, her eyes would have been popping out of their sockets.
“Scarlet?” she called again.
Still, there was no response.
“Oh, come on, Scarlet! Now’s not the time to not answer me!” She was close to yelling her frustration and fear. She turned around and headed to the main entrance. She seemed to find every bit of furniture in the area and knocked into everything with her feet. With her senses on high alert, even her long hair was starting to touch her shoulders and face in the wrong way, causing her to jump.
Continuing in the direction where she hoped she would find the door, she bumped into a wall. She felt intently with her hands until she found a door off to the side. She continued to explore around the left of the door for the handprint identity scanner. Finally, she felt something that felt like the right thing. Just as she was about to place her hand on what she thought was the scanning pad, Scarlet’s face suddenly appeared on the screen right in front of her, bright against the darkness.
“Boo!” Scarlet boomed succinctly.
That was the final straw. Eva screamed, and out of reflex, she kicked the screen with a high front kick.
The lights came on, and the screen went black. It was then that Eva saw the results of her actions. The screen was smashed. Horrified that she had broken something, she screamed at Scarlet with anger and frustration.
Scarlet’s soft cackle sounded over the speaker.
- Chapter Four -
Shelly’s Diva
Gradually, the sun rose, welcoming another perfect spring day. The buzz of students’ chatter echoed through the dining room, which overlooked a picturesque lake in the distance. Jayden sat at the dining room table, looking at the view. He had been at the Sanctum for over a year, yet that breathtaking view never grew old. Each day, he reflected on how lucky he was to be there.
He took a sip from his chocolate milkshake and a bite of his white chocolate and raspberry muffin.
Aaron sat next to him. He had become his best friend soon after Jayden’s arrival at the school. Eva joined them and sat across from Aaron. It still amazed Jayden that everyone there had been living on the street at one point in their lives. Everyone started the same way—Avando offered them a better life away from the invisible and hopeless life of the homeless.
Looking around the room, he noticed the absence of Ms. Helen and her usual reprimand at Robert for his lack of hygiene and gluttony. That reminded him of Robert’s absence. “Where’s Robert?” Jayden glanced from Aaron to Eva, who both wore a blank expression.
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Aaron searched the room. “It’s time to eat, and he’s nowhere to be seen.”
“He’s been working with Niles quite a bit lately.” Eva took a sip of her orange juice. “But it’s still unlike him to be missing at food time.”
“Isn’t it?” Jayden continued to search the room. “Maybe we should grab a couple of things for him and go find him.”
“Great idea!” Eva nodded in agreement.
They finished their food quickly, grabbed a couple of muffins, and headed to the external technical workshop where they suspected Robert was.
As they passed through the common room, an excited voice called out, “Ari!”
The three students searched for the owner and spotted Jessica walking quickly toward them. Her attractive face shone with enthusiasm, with her blue eyes glued to Aaron.
Eva rolled her eyes, a habit she had adopted after observing Jessica’s mannerisms around boys, especially Aaron.
Taylor hovered not far behind Jessica, following her every move like an overprotective boyfriend, even though Jessica had made it clear to the group that he wasn’t. Behind him were their street buddies, Declan and Ben, with Damian in tow.
Jessica dashed forward and embraced Aaron, causing his cheeks to turn bright red. Taylor stood wide legged with his arms crossed as he glared at Aaron.
Jayden shook his head—as if Aaron needs more reasons to have trouble concentrating around Jessica. He struggled around her way too much, and his eyes followed her as if he was a besotted puppy. Jayden covered a smirk with his hand as he watched Aaron attempt to return the hug, looking awkward and embarrassed. Jessica brushed off his ineptness as she continued to take control of the situation. After a while, the red finally disappeared from Aaron’s ears.
“I haven’t seen you outside of class for ages, Ari. Where’ve you been?”
Aaron shrugged. “You know. Just hanging around… doing stuff.”
“Well, I’ve missed you. You need to stop hiding from me. Let’s get together more often.”
“Over my dead body!” Taylor wedged himself between them, trying to split their embrace.
Jessic
a glared at Taylor. “You know that can be arranged. Ari here is way better at martial arts than you could even dream about.”
Aaron’s eyes widened, and he moved away from her. “Whoa, Jess. I’m not asking for a fight.”
Taylor towered over Aaron, his additional age aiding his height. He sneered. “Yeah, he’s no fighter, Jess. He’s just a little pipsqueak.” He grabbed Aaron’s arm and shoved his face close to Aaron’s.
Declan, Ben, and Damian snickered, and a hum of excitement buzzed around them over the prospect of a fight.
After gazing at the hand clasping him, Aaron faced Taylor with a straight face. “Would you kindly remove your hand?” His voice was firm, without a trace of fear.
“Or what?” Taylor inched his face closer.
Aaron opened his mouth to respond when a red flash above distracted him—Oscar, the scarlet macaw, flew over them. Although it was early spring, it was still too cold for the birds to be outside during the night.
Taylor groaned, and Aaron readied himself in defense against an attack. When he looked at Taylor, he dropped his defensive moves, briefly showing surprise before he burst into laughter. On the side of Taylor’s head was a long streak. It flowed from the right side of his head and washed over onto the front of his face.
“Ew, is that bird poo?” Jessica screwed her face up in disgust.
Taylor released Aaron’s arm in shock and leaned forward, a repulsed look plastered on his face as he tried to let the excess fall to the ground. Even his thug buddies were laughing.
“Cursed bird!” Taylor yelled. “What are you laughing at?” He sneered at his backup trio, wiped the excrement from his face, then flicked it at the three. Their laughter quickly died as they dodged the attack.