Animal

by G S Banks

  Kelci stamps her foot, sending shock waves through the ground, then she moves forward to shove the guard in the chest, hard. I run up the steps to the highest balcony and I stand there, looking down on the mayhem. I climb up onto the edge, my feet balancing precariously. I hear James call my name. Then Lucy. Then Heather, Ben, Alisdair, everyone. I place my arms at my sides. I look down and my stomach lurches. Is this real? Can I do this? I look down at my toes and hold my breath. There’s nothing else for it. I use my feet to push off. My whole body drops down and for a moment I feel out of control. I think of the Eagles I saw at Muldoon, how they let their bodies soar and I let my body relax a little, just a little and it is enough to allow me to swoop across the space. For one short moment, it seems as though everyone in the room stops what they are doing and turns to look at me.

  ‘Man, that girl is flying,’ says James.

  I home in on a guard firing at Ben, flying right over, snatching his Electron, then swooping back to knock him to the ground with it.

  ‘Nina!’ hollers Ben, gaping at me as I swoop past.

  I smile at him for half a second then Kelci begins stamping her feet, harder and harder and it starts to feel like the floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything is shaking.

  ‘It’s time to get out of here,’ shouts Artemiz.

  There’s a crumbling sound and I look up to see that the ceiling is beginning to crack, great slabs of concrete are beginning to fall…

  ‘Quick,’ Artemiz again, ‘Follow me.’

  I land, then grab Kelci and follow her. Alisdair fights his way through and joins us, rubble falling all around. James grabs Lucy, as Ben pounds his way through with Professor Dunedin and Kenny Collins. Artemiz leads, and we all follow, running as fast as we can. Finally, we reach an exit and are catapulted out into the fresh air. The whole scene, dazzlingly bright, looks completely unreal but nobody stops to look around. We run and run and run, then run some more.

  We are hungry, exhausted and injured, especially James who struggles to keep up because of a huge gash on his leg. My stomach churns and groans, my skin is tight; my feet light up with pain at every step but still, we scramble through forests, over branches and boulders. There’s just one point where we stop, at a stream to drink thirstily from it, relieving the sandy dryness of our throats. Eventually, the tiny image of the plane that brought us here flickers in the distance. I almost cry when I see it. We pick up the pace, knowing that there is an end, pulling ourselves along until we finally reach it.

  28. Guys Like Us

  Three days later, Infirmary, Muldoon Academy

  My eyes fly open and I see the infirmary ceiling above my bed with its ornate swirls. My whole body is covered in sweat, as it seems to be every time I wake up since returning – enough to soak the sheets and make me feel like I’ve been hosed down in my sleep. I just had another dream, which hangs around in my mind as I lie here, so real I still feel trapped in it. I found myself in ‘Specimens’, running from room to room, from Anitar to Anitar, frozen like ice statues on their slabs.

  When I tried to move them there was nothing. The last one I saw in there wasn’t an Anitar at all – it was Mason with his hair swept over his face and all the colour drained from his skin. There’s never anything I can do for any of them. I lie in my bed still staring at the ceiling, trying to forget the dream. I roll onto my side and see the sun streaming through the windows. I see the glorious mountains with their patches of purple, all the way down to the lake which shimmers, as though nothing ever happened.

  I’ve been recovering here for a few days now. There’s only one thing I remember about arriving here. Lady Muldoon’s face, as we piled up outside the Academy, a bedraggled mess of bodies. She looked so furious I thought, for one moment, that she might refuse us entry. She didn’t, thankfully. But since then I haven’t seen her, I can only presume she is letting me recover, and I’m not totally sure I want to see her at all. We were all in here to begin with, all six of us, and Kelci, passing in and out of consciousness. Now there are three of us left – me, James and Kelci. Every time I wake I check to see if she’s still there. Right now she’s tucked up in the bed closest to mine, wisps of hair lying across the pillow with the cover right up to her face. Every time I look at her I continue to get bursts of relief in my heart.

  There’s colour in her face now, replacing the pastiness, the pinkness of her cheeks blossoming again. She sleeps for hours at a time and with every sleep she recovers a little more strength. I continue to stare at the ceiling tracing the outlines of the patterns. I turn my head as the door swoops open and Heather, Lucy, Ben and Alisdair enter the room. I pull myself up in my bed.

  ‘Hello, you guys,’ says Lucy, turning to me. ‘Hello Eagle girl.’

  Her hair is pink and her eyes are green. She dances towards my bed and gives me a kiss on the cheek before darting off to James who sits there propped up on a mountain of cushions, his leg all bandaged up. Kelci sits up too, clearing her throat. Heather perches herself on a wooden chair, her hair rolled up onto her head. She wears a red jumper with a furry collar that runs right up to her chin, with a pair of citrine earrings, orange-yellow and sparkling – the gemstone of the Fox. Alisdair stands next to her, close, his hands in his pockets, dressings on his face and arms. I can’t stop wondering exactly how close until Kelci begins to speak.

  ‘I’m glad you’re all here,’ she says before turning to me. ‘I asked them to come. Well, Ben did on my behalf.’

  Even though days have passed, it still feels weird to see Kelci with everyone. I vaguely remember introductions taking place, whilst we were on the plane. And a stern telling off from Artemiz and Professor Dunedin, who it seems came over at Kenny Collins’ request – when Heather was no longer around and her charms had worn off.

  ‘I wanted to say something to you all,’ says Kelci, looking awkward.

  She inhales and exhales deeply.

  ‘Thank you. For enduring my sister for as long as you have.’

  She keeps her face straight.

  ‘Kidding. No really. I just wanted to say thank you, for getting me out of that hellhole.’

  She tucks her hair behind her ears.

  ‘If it were me, I wouldn’t have been so keen to get in.’

  ‘A place like that is no problem for guys like us,’ says James, picking out a grape from the bunch at the side of his bed and popping it into his mouth. ‘I tell you, you got to watch out for guys like us, we’re fearsome, formidable … fun-loving too.’

  Everyone smiles.

  ‘So,’ I say, ‘How much trouble are we in?’

  I toss the covers away and sit up cross-legged on the bed.

  ‘Lady Muldoon is coming to see you, after us,’ says Lucy.

  My heart drops. I can’t even imagine what kind of trouble we are in.

  ‘What did she say to you guys?’ I say, looking at Lucy who shifts uncomfortably at the side of James’ bed.

  ‘You’d better speak to her yourself,’ she replies.

  I glance around and see that, clearly, no one wants to talk about this.

  ‘The whole place is on high alert,’ says Heather. ‘Extra security measures are in place. The Eagles are on twenty-four hour watch, circling the skies.’

  The Eagles.

  ‘The Tigers, Snow Leopards and Rabbits are on the ground. The Foxes are planning. Lessons have been suspended for now and no more Trainees are allowed in – no more Manifestation Program.’

  I raise my eyebrows at that.

  ‘There’s been no sign that the Lotus Corporation traced us back here. That was the first worry, that they somehow followed our plane and found our location.’

  ‘And you guys? What are you doing?’

  ‘We told them all we could about what we saw at the compound and now we’re training with the rest of them, helping our Houses.’

  She breaks out into a grin.

  ‘I spend all day with my fellow Foxes.’

  My heart leaps at that. They are in their
Houses… Training. Amongst it all, everything we saw on the tour.

  ‘And the other trainees?’

  ‘They are too.’

  I feel a stab in my chest as I realise that it can’t last. That this is one of the final times we will be in the same room together, for a very long time, if ever. We’ve blown any chance we had of staying at Muldoon, that’s for sure. Will we even be permitted to be Apprentices at any Anitar Academy now?

  ‘Everyone is talking about you,’ says Lucy, pointing at me.

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Yes. You. Silly. You’ve become a legend, the Trainee Eagle who got her sister back, against all odds. Mythical proportions, apparently.’

  I raise my eyebrows.

  ‘I’ve always dreamt of mythical proportions.’

  ‘You should see Dominic though. He’s fuming. He doesn’t actually believe you’re an Eagle. He thinks it’s all a lie, that none of it actually happened.’

  Alisdair puts his hands in his pockets.

  ‘Don’t eagles eat snakes?’ he says.

  I raise my eyebrows at that and as we share a look, smiling wicked smiles, a moment passes between us.

  ‘Kelci and I need to leave soon, to see our parents,’ I say.

  Alisdair clears his throat.

  ‘I’ll be coming with you, for a few days,’ he says.

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Your parents and Lady Muldoon – they asked me to chaperone you guys home.’

  Wait. Woah. My eyes nearly fall out of their sockets.

  ‘You’re coming back to New York with us?’

  He nods. My city, my home, my parents. But wait… Alisdair and Mason cannot be in the same place at the same time… They just can’t! I feel my cheeks getting hot.

  ‘Me too,’ says Ben.

  ‘Oh right, ok. Yes. That will be great,’ I say, desperately fiddling with the bedcovers.

  Stay cool Nina, stay cool. Lucy looks at her watch.

  ‘We’d better be off. Next duty starts in five minutes.’

  They nod at her and she reaches down to embrace me, quickly tucking the hair behind my ear and whispering into it.

  ‘Lady Muldoon asked all of us who would like to chaperone. It was Ben – and Alisdair – that insisted the hardest. I wanted to come! But he insisted.’

  She gives me a wink as I look at her, open mouthed. Before I get a chance to say another word they dart out the door, leaving the room quiet once again.

  Not long after, Lady Muldoon shows up by my bedside with Shadow trotting alongside. She looks particularly dramatic today, in a sweeping purple gown with silver trim. She frowns down at me, pursing her shiny lips. I reach to pat Shadow’s head as he looks up at me with moonlight eyes.

  ‘Hello Lady Muldoon,’ I say nervously, pushing myself up in the bed again.

  ‘Hello Nina.’

  There’s an awkward silence, then:

  ‘My Deer tell me you are recovering well?’

  I nod, touching the cut on my head that is beginning to settle.

  ‘Of course,’ she goes on. ‘You wouldn’t need to be recovering from anything, had you stuck to the rules and not gone gallivanting across Europe on an unsanctioned mission.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have my sister back if I hadn’t gone,’ I say, trying my best not to sound too surly.

  She won’t like it if I’m proud or sulky, I know that, but it’s true, isn’t it? She nods slowly.

  ‘I do wish Nina, that you had come to me. This mission has accelerated the process of rescuing the captives to a rate I’m not sure we can handle.’

  But we have to handle it.

  ‘We saw Anitars in that place, dying and abused,’ I say. ‘It was unbelievable.’

  She nods again.

  ‘I have been informed of those things. And believe me when I tell you that nothing is of greater importance than those who have been captured. Our future depends on it. I believe you met Max Wilder whilst you were there?’

  ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘He knows who I am, he knows my parents, he knows everything about my life.’

  ‘He has eyes and ears all over the world. He is building his empire at a formidable rate.’

  ‘I know. I saw.’

  ‘Max was a Trainee of mine, once.’

  ‘He was?’

  ‘Yes, and he had lots of promise too. I’ve rarely seen anyone as utterly determined to excel as Max Wilder. Extremely ambitious. He wanted to manifest, wanted a place at Muldoon; that young man wanted it all. But he was so very intent to prove himself, so competitive, so eager… He was always the one at the front, pushing himself, but as others began to manifest around him, he found it harder to compete. I tried to coach him through it, but it wasn’t to be. I was sad for him - I knew how very much he wanted it.’

  I can’t help thinking that I almost ended up down the same route, the ‘never happened’ route. How many others have found themselves at the end of the same path? I wonder if Max ever found out that I manifested, under his roof, in his compound. I’m certain he hated it, if he ever did find out. The thought almost makes me smile.

  ‘He was on the same Manifestation Program as your mother and father,’ says Lady Muldoon. ‘They were all on the program together. Your parents, the Bonfants and Max. He had his Memory Erased but somehow… it appears there are residual memories.’

  ‘So that explains how he knows them. And it’s true that Terence Bonfant’s parents are Anitars too?’

  ‘Yes,’ she says, with a regretful look.

  ‘Did you know about Terence? That he was manifesting as a Horse?’

  It’s bad enough that my parents knew and never told me… Lady Muldoon looks thoughtful for a moment.

  ‘You ought to have been informed.’

  She’s not apologising. I ought to have been informed. I trace the edge of my pillow with the tip of my finger.

  ‘Why didn’t the Bonfants tell Terence they’re Anitars?’

  ‘Some parents simply choose not to …’

  I shake my head, slowly, thinking of Terence. I could never tell him the whole truth of my family, and he never knew the whole truth of his. But he’s still with me, he’s always with me.

  ‘Max said a lot of things,’ I go on. ‘About the way Anitars operate, all the secrecy. He thinks we should be open about what goes on.’

  Lady Muldoon’s face hardens.

  ‘You have seen that Max Wilder is not a man to be trusted. Being open is not an option. Not at this time. There may come a point in the future where those of us who have gifts can come forward but right now, it is a lengthy road to reach that point.’

  I sigh. Before I came here, I probably would have agreed with Max. That telling everyone, putting it all out in the open, was the best option. Make it so I don’t have to hide the truth from my own boyfriend anymore. But something about the memory of the captured Anitars in that compound makes me think that the world is not ready for the truth. Lady Muldoon leans forward, and sits down on the edge of my bed.

  ‘Nina,’ she says. ‘Quite frankly, what you did was stupid.’

  Here it comes.

  ‘Extremely stupid. Leaving the Academy, taking other Trainees with you. Risking their futures, their lives… Risking your own life. Deliberately manipulating Kenny Collins, and in such an unseemly manner. I gather that was Miss Jackson’s idea which is no surprise but you were just as much a part of it all the same. Not to mention the fact that Max Wilder and his ‘friends’ had an opportunity to escape.’

  My heart sinks into my stomach. What if more Anitars die because of me? Matias wouldn’t have died…

  ‘What happens to us now?’ I say, my voice small.

  I watch as she strokes Shadow’s head as he nuzzles his big nose next to her leg. She turns to me, catching my gaze in hers.

  ‘Now, Nina,’ she says. ‘You take your sister home. And you see your family once again.’

  There’s enough finality in her voice to make me feel gloomy. I can’t help wondering if this is the last conversat
ion I will ever have with Lady Muldoon.

  29. Food Stalls & Hot Dogs

  The next day, Muldoon Academy

  It doesn’t take me long to pack. Just that one small bag I was allowed. A little while later, alongside Ben and Alisdair, we say our goodbyes to Lucy, James and Heather, all of us promising that we will be together again soon. But honestly, I don’t know how that will happen. It feels like this is the last time I will ever see Muldoon Island. I’m on the outside now, I’ve done something Lady Muldoon can never forgive. And I can’t even blame her. I knew what I was doing, we all did. But to leave Lucy, James and Heather behind makes me want to sob, after everything we’ve been through.

  I think of Lucy, the first time we met, huddled together at the induction talk, how even then she was saving me from myself when she didn’t let me say something stupid in front of everyone. I think of James who has been my friend, unquestioning, since that first day too. I’m so glad that he doesn’t have to go back to his uncle Steve’s, that he will find a place as an Apprentice, somewhere, even if it is thousands of miles away from me. And then there’s Heather. The girl I never dreamed would risk her life to help me. But in the end, that’s exactly what she did. There’s still Ben, and Alisdair, for the next few days, and I am grateful for that.

  It doesn’t seem to take long to fly back over the ocean, much less than it took to get here and soon enough I am standing on American soil, looking at the exact same car that brought me to the plane just a few short weeks ago. Ben, Alisdair and Kelci bundle out and Kenny Collins pokes his head out of the cabin window.