by Sarah Noffke
“It’s just coincidence, right?” he said.
“There are no coincidences in this universe. Learn that right away and you won’t be blinded to the obvious workings of this world,” she said, and again she reminded him of an old sage, although she still appeared young and mostly innocent.
“But—”
“This isn’t really that bizarre,” she said, cutting him off.
It was definitely uncanny to Zephyr. He was used to rules and order and systems that were concrete. This world was metaphysical and it was both amazing and shoving him far outside his comfort zone.
A figure rushed by the open door and then doubled back. Zephyr’s eyes registered who the figure was before she solidified in the doorway completely.
Adelaide turned and rolled her eyes. “Oh fuck, you survived,” she said. “Let’s throw a party. I’m in charge of the streamers.”
“Thanks for your sympathy,” Rox said. “I actually would have been back earlier, but I had to give that creepy guy’s security a run-around so they didn’t follow me to the docks.”
“Creepy guy?” Adelaide said.
“Yeah, I think I met the guy in charge of this messed up organization,” Rox said.
“Olento Research,” Adelaide supplied. “While you were gallivanting all over Los Angeles, I was discovering real useful information on the case.”
“Olento?” Zephyr said. He’d never heard of it, but he didn’t know why he would have.
“Yeah, that’s a strange name,” Rox said, musing on it. Then she sniffed. “I smell like a wet dog from running and fighting. I’m going to peel off these clothes and shower.” She pulled at the tank top, her eyes on Zephyr.
He turned his gaze back to the book in his hands. “Thanks for covering for us. And I’m glad you got out safely.”
“Yeah, what he said, except about the getting back safely part. Maybe next time wear higher heels with really slippery bottoms,” Adelaide said, which earned zero reaction from Rox.
Chapter Thirty
“Fostering Dream Traveler abilities is a chief goal of the Lucidites. We are all stronger when we build each other up.”
- Lucidite Employee Manual
Early winter winds greeted Kaleb’s face with a rude slap of cold each dawn that he ducked out from underneath the overpass. Soon the cold nights would kill him if he didn’t get out of Salt Lake City. This wasn’t a city where the homeless survived the frigid season if they didn’t seek shelter. Even now he had the overpass to himself, when in the late summer he had shared the space with other transients. Most of those had taken up residence at a homeless shelter. But Kaleb knew the guards would be looking for him there. They’d have their eyes on everything. That’s why he knew he had to get out of the city. His hometown and the comfort it used to provide had been compromised.
The store clerk didn’t acknowledge Kaleb when he entered the sundry shop. The guy with an assortment of acne scars was too engrossed in tapping on his phone, probably texting a buddy or updating his status. “Can’t wait for tonight. Epic party at Stevens,” or “This job blows and not in a good way.” Those were a few of the potential status updates Kaleb imagined the store clerk typing. He was never lonely as long as he had the banter in his head. It usually made him laugh at himself and the strange things he came up with. His family had never appreciated his humor. They called him strange. Thought the weird observations he made about people and the world were a distraction from his faith.
“You are indirectly ridiculing people, which isn’t the way of a faithful heart,” his mom often had said to him. Kaleb didn’t understand faith. He didn’t understand his family’s religion. And yet it had been all he knew, which was why he abandoned it to find his own way instead of going on the Mormon mission. The sad part was, his parents wouldn’t even have suspected he’d been abducted since he’d run away, declaring he was going to find himself. Kaleb hadn’t even made it to the state border before someone abducted him. The memories before the lab and change were more than fuzzy. They were just a series of images of him in the woods and then he blacked out. And after that, when he awoke, he found that he didn’t even fully know himself anymore. He was something entirely new and bizarre. He was a monster.
The first aisle was empty when Kaleb turned down it. He slipped a bag of pretzels off the shelf, pretending to study the ingredient list, while he slipped beef jerky into his pockets. His mouth was already salivating at the thought of tearing the jerky apart with his teeth.
A screeching sound most wouldn’t have heard told him the clerk had slid off his stool. It was the button on the bottom of the clerk’s jeans that scraped against the seat of the stool, making the noise. Kaleb grabbed another handful of jerky, dropping the pretzels on the shelf. He turned for the exit just as the clerk came around the corner, knocking into him and causing a stick of jerky that hadn’t quite made it all the way into his pocket to slip out, falling to the dirty store floor.
“Hey!” the guy yelled, reaching out and grabbing Kaleb’s worn shirt. Something took over the boy and he lunged at the store clerk, pressing his face in close to his. And a growl Kaleb had only heard when in werewolf form escaped his mouth. He knocked the guy’s hand off of him in a swift movement and pressed both his hands into his shoulders, pushing him with a force he didn’t know he owned. The guy stumbled back before giving Kaleb a look of pure offense.
“You little shit,” the store clerk said, stepping forward.
But Kaleb was already reaching out. He grabbed the guy by the shoulders and picked him up a couple feet with ease and then threw him backwards. Immediately he was amazed by the force. The store clerk flew back several feet, ramming hard into the counter wall. Kaleb stared at the guy, whose head lulled forward, his body limp. Was he dead? Had Kaleb killed him?
Then the clerk shook his head, his eyes still closed, but he looked to be trying to awaken from a bad dream. Without hesitation, Kaleb darted forward, knocking the guy on his side, and withdrew his wallet from his back pocket. The guy was probably planning a big night based on the amount of cash in his wallet. Kaleb yanked it out and slipped the bills into his own pocket. The money would be enough for a bus ticket. Then he sprinted for the exit, never noticing the security camera on the wall, recording everything that had transpired.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Dream Travelers are prohibited from working at Olento Research.”
- Olento Research Employee Manual
Mika wadded up the newspaper into a giant ball and launched it across the room.
“Hey,” a bodiless voice said as the paper hit an invisible figure and bounced on the floor.
“Damn it, Kris! You know better than to sneak into my office unannounced,” Mika said, rocketing to a standing position and leaning over his desk.
In front of the desk, roughly five feet from it, something flickered like static on a television until a woman appeared, her brown hair tucked behind one ear. “How is it that you think you can give me the power of invisibility and not expect me to use it to sneak up on people?” she said, her voice amused.
“Prowl into my office again in your invisible form and I’ll strip you of your skill and your ability to walk,” Mika said.
Mika flicked his eyes down to the rest of the newspaper on the desk, giving Kris a chance to roll her eyes at her boss. “I’ll have an assignment for you soon. I don’t have a job for you right now though,” he said, studying the article from the Los Angeles Times. Another attack had happened, the witnesses reporting they saw a wolflike figure attack a woman in her front yard. The woman was unable to provide a report since she was dead.
“I heard you were sending Morgan to Salt Lake City,” Kris said. Morgan was the only other invisible subject Mika had made, and also Kris’s twin brother.
“Yes, that’s right and also none of your business,” he said. The newspaper Mika had thrown had reported the attack on the store clerk. Mika had already arranged for the security footage to be delivered to him. He wa
s certain it would confirm his suspicions, that the boy who had thrown a guy much larger than him was Kaleb.
“Well, maybe I want the boring job of staking out in front of Kaleb’s family’s house,” Kris said.
Mika ground his pointy teeth together. “Stay out of cases that you aren’t assigned to.”
“Is it because I’m a woman?” she said, her hand now on her hip. Her large eyes seemed to challenge Mika, to provoke him to tear her in two.
“Yes, it’s because you’re a woman, and also because you’re my thief. However, remember that I don’t owe you any information on the subject,” Mika said.
“If I’m your thief, then let me go steal Kaleb for you,” she said.
“You really think you can catch and bring in a werewolf? Have you looked in the mirror?” he said, casting a glance at the slender woman.
“And let me get this right, Morgan can because he’s a man and so much stronger than me? We are both invisible and can employ that to our advantage,” she said, pulling up the other hand so both were on her hips.
“When the hell did you start thinking that I counseled employees on what they wanted? You do as I say or you will disappear and not because you’re invisible,” he said.
Kris regarded Mika with a cold stare that was soon replaced by a wicked grin. “I didn’t realize when I took the role as your research specimen that it was an until death do us part gig,” she said, not at all flustered by his threats.
“I’m really demonstrating an astronomical amount of patience right now, but that will not last another minute,” he said, pressing his fingernails into the palms of his hands as he balled up his fists.
“Sounds like I should disappear then,” Kris said before flashing another smile and flickering until she faded away. Mika heard her footsteps on the Oriental rug as she exited.
Kaleb was getting desperate, Mika knew, stealing and acting out. The aggression of the wolf was surfacing, making a previously calm Mormon boy a monster. Everything had gone to plan. Now Mika just had to get his hands back on his experiment and implement the brainwashing which would ensure the werewolf followed orders.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Time traveling into the future is strictly against Lucidite laws as it can create holes in the fabric of time.”
- Lucidite Employee Manual
“Oh, so there’s the lost dog who got left behind,” Rox said, shaking her head, her knee-high boots making a click-clack sound on the linoleum of the infirmary.
Connor looked up from the book Adelaide had left with him—well, actually she had dropped it on a bed ten down from his and said “Fetch.” Still, after he climbed out of bed and used an extraordinary amount of energy to get the book, he was glad he’d spent the effort. The Dream Traveler Codex was a wealth of information. He’d spent the entire night reading and finishing the book, which had been written by the Head Official of the Institute, Trey Underwood, the head of the science department, Dr. Aiden Livingston, and the head strategist, Ren Lewis. Trey and Dr. Aiden had come by to introduce themselves and welcome Connor to the Lucidite Institute. Trey had a tender look of genuine sensitivity when he said, “If you need anything while here then know my door is always open to you.” The guy who looked too young to have a PhD, Dr. Livingston, had requested Connor come to his lab to have tests run. When Connor asked why, obviously put off by the idea of being poked after months of treatments, Aiden said, “Can’t fix you unless I know what exactly you are.” The idea that Connor could return to normal, not be a werewolf anymore, was the first ray of golden sunlight he’d experienced in months. But then a fear quickly set in.
“You won’t take away my power as a Dream Traveler, will you?” he had said to Aiden
“Whatever happens will be your call. We don’t consent for others at the Institute,” Aiden said.
“Where is Ren Lewis?” Connor had asked, wondering where the third person who wrote the Dream Traveler Codex was. Trey and Aiden only exchanged nervous glances, Aiden having to look down at Trey, who sat frozen in his wheelchair.
“Ren isn’t here anymore,” Trey finally said, a strange expression masking his face. Ren Lewis had been the main author of the Codex. It was strange to Connor that he’d leave the Lucidite Institute.
“Trent Reynolds is our current head strategist,” Trey had continued to say. “But Adelaide is the agent in charge of your case.”
Now, not only did Connor know who he was after reading the codex, but he knew he’d somehow been converted to an ancient and secret race. How had he never heard of these people? According to the book, he’d been a non-gifted Middling before the conversion; he’d been the other race.
Connor blinked up at Rox, the memory of his conversation with Trey and Aiden washing to the background of his mind. “Who are you?” Connor said, wondering why the men at the Institute appeared polite and the girls, at least Adelaide and this girl, were full of attitude.
“I’m the lovely lady sent to retrieve you,” she said. “My name is Rox.”
“Like the stones?” he said.
She shook her head. “No, like short for Roxanne. Now, come on, Connie. Follow me.” Rox then turned on her heels and trotted out of the infirmary.
Connor, who hadn’t been outside of the infirmary yet, sped forward, realizing his strength was returning.
“Where are we going?” he said, following Rox into a long hallway. The overhead lights shimmered off the stainless steel walls and made the carpet sparkle, like it had a shiny sheen interwoven into it. “Where am I?”
“Earth,” Rox answered with a loud laugh. The girl pushed her short blonde hair behind her ear and gave him a light smile.
“Thanks,” he said flatly. “Where’s this place?” He pointed to the ground.
“Oh, the Institute is under water, hence the lack of windows,” she said, clicking a button next to a door. The placard read Scapes Escapes. The door receded into the wall at once and Rox strode forward into a dark set of rooms, partitioned by glass walls. The space was lit by blue lights overhead, which were much more pleasant to Connor’s eyes than the bright lights in the corridor. He’d always preferred the dark, but more so now that he was a werewolf.
“Oh good, you’re able to complete simple tasks,” Adelaide said to Rox, not covering up the grimace on her face.
“I can do all sorts of things,” Rox said, dragging out the seat next to another guy and pulling herself up to sit at a conference room table.
Adelaide rolled her eyes at this and turned to face Connor, who stood lamely in the entrance to the conference room. “Hello, Connor. You and I have already had the displeasure of meeting,” she began. “This is Zephyr Flournoy,” Adelaide said, indicating the guy with silver and black hair. He looked young and old at the same time. “This is one of your fellow werewolves who left you behind to rot in that awful cell.”
“Thanks, Adelaide,” Zephyr said, his voice deep. “You really know how to promote good relationships from the beginning.”
“No, I don’t,” she said like he was being serious.
Zephyr stood and extended a hand to Connor. “Welcome, man. And I’m genuinely sorry that you weren’t broken out with the rest of us. If I would have known—”
“It’s fine. I was asleep when it happened,” Connor said, his eyes studying Zephyr. Another werewolf. He’d been locked up with them, but he’d never really talked between the bars to another one. Most were drugged so heavily that anytime he called out to them they only mumbled unintelligible words in reply. Now it was strange to look at the man before him and know he was like him. Half man and half wolf. And also an artificial Dream Traveler.
Zephyr simply nodded and took his seat, but Connor sensed that there was still a weight in his eyes. A burden. Leaving Connor behind didn’t sit well with this guy, but why should he care? They had all been prisoners. Every man for himself, right?
Adelaide, who stood pointing at the seat next to Zephyr, said, “Now sit, boy.”
Connor shook h
is head but took the seat, already feeling the exhaustion creep back into his head. He’d need to rest properly tonight. No more reading.
“We now know that the organization responsible for turning you into puppies is called Olento Research,” Adelaide began. “I can’t dig up a permanent location on them, only on their sister company, Parantaa Research. I’ve sent spies to infiltrate that organization and learn as much as I can. The owner is a man named Mika Lenna—”
“The man in the silver suit,” Connor said, the figure popping into his mind’s eye.
“I’m not aware of his fashion,” Adelaide said, shaking her head at him. “I do know that he’s a well-known humanitarian. He has more money than God and gives away a great deal of it to charity. Furthermore, the pharmaceuticals he produces are lifesaving drugs that are revered for their innovative properties.”
“So you’re saying we can’t go directly after Mika without bringing heat on us?” Rox supplied.
“Good, she’s not as dumb as she looks,” Addy said, almost as if to herself.
Connor looked between Adelaide and Rox, neither girl showing any emotion. “We have the lab location. Can the Lucidites use that evidence and report this to the authorities?” Connor said, and as the question fell out of his mouth he immediately regretted it. Firstly, because he realized what an elementary approach it was. And secondly because of the look of obvious disappointment covering Adelaide’s face.
“Who are these authorities that you think we should call?” she said, pinning her hand on her hip and looking to be humoring him now.
“I don’t know, maybe like the police or the US government,” Connor said.
“Right,” she said, drawing out the word. “We already have the dumb FBI sniffing around the case. The last thing we need is a bunch of uppity suits screwing up my case.”
Adelaide had to be young, like early twenties. However, she didn’t act that way. Maybe at times, when she wasn’t trying, a rogue emotion of fretfulness slipped through her demeanor, but otherwise she was steadier than most. And she carried herself with an authority Connor hadn’t witnessed in a girl. She was bossy, but not in a bitchy way. More like in a “go fuck yourself and see if I care” kind of way. “Oh, so the FBI are involved already,” Connor said.