by Dawn Dagger
I was surrounded by ghosts.
Was I a ghost too? I turned to look at Dierdre. Was she a ghost? Were we all ghosts?
I suddenly felt very small and very sick. I wanted to curl into a ball and purge my mind.
“Let’s wait it out,” Dierdre said decidedly.
“What?” I asked, turning to her.
Dierdre gestured to the crowd of gho... people. “As you can see, we can’t risk stealing the artifact. That would screw up absolutely everything.” Does it matter though? If they die anyway, what does it matter what we do?
If I die anyway…
I clutched my head in my hands. “Yeah, and we’ve killed one person anyway.”
“They’re fixing that now,” She reassured me, her tone not as sharp as I’d expected. “Here’s what I figure, okay; we can borrow a few outfits, feel it out. We can walk around, make sure none of the idiots that are after it are here too. If we wait until the zoo closes, we can take it. No harm done. Everyone gets their look at it, everyone stays safe. Heck, the zoo may even get more publicity. Who knows? How does that plan sound to you?”
It doesn’t matter. The zoo ceases to exist either way. I swallowed bile, nodding. “Yeah. That makes sense, I think.”
“In that case,” she gave me a grin, turning away from the enclosure, “let’s go get some Dippin’ Dots.”
They were so weird. The Dippin’ Dots she kept talking about were really, really weird. They were frozen dots of flavored ice cream that got stuck to the insides of my cheeks and my tongue and the roof of my mouth. And, when I chewed them, they more ground up than melted.
Dierdre laughed at me as I struggled with the dessert, trying to show me how to eat them ‘properly’. It was worse than using chopsticks. After I finished ‘improperly’ eating the cup of dots, Dierdre and I agreed to wander, looking for any sort of ‘employee only’ place that might exist.
We wandered through an Asian exhibit full of pandas (some of the cutest things on the planet), and weird looking boars, then twisted up toward the ‘arctic exhibit’. Each new animal I came across thrilled me, then quickly left me feeling sicker and more existential.
“Oh, my!” I gasped as we entered a tunnel, stepping down a flight of stairs toward the ‘icy animals’. I hugged myself lightly, goosebumps rising across my flesh. I shuddered and Dierdre gave me a funny look. It was freezing!
“Dude, it’s--”
“I don’t care, it’s super cold, okay?” I gasped. “I don’t care how not cold it is. I want a coat.”
Dierdre shook her head at me, then continued down the skylight-illuminated tunnel. Great, white bears lay on ice on one side of the tunnel, while strange, sleek-looking, grey animals swam beside us. Farther down, birds in tuxedos chatted pleasantly. They made me giggle, and I clapped my hands over my mouth.
“You’ve never seen a penguin before, either?” Dierdre asked in disbelief.
“They’re called penguins? That’s amazing! Look at them.” I placed my hands on my hips as they wandered back and forth. “Tuxedo birds. I love ‘em.”
“Yes, yes, we can gawk at the penguins later, goofball. I found an employee room.” She grabbed my arm and tugged me towards a brown door labeled ‘employees only’ in vaguely threatening letters. Dierdre tried the knob, and made a happy noise in the base of her throat, swinging the door open.
The room was dimly lit, holding only a few boilers, a circle table with two folding chairs, and a misshapen pile of cleaning equipment. A bag of chips was spilled onto the table, and an open can of soda sat beside it. Why had they just left the trash all over the place?
“Jackpot!” Dierdre whooped.
I walked over to her, as she lifted two sets of tan uniforms we had seen other zookeepers wearing. She handed me one set of clothes, a much bigger set than hers, and twirled her finger. “Okay, turn around real quick. I have to get out of the jumpsuit to fit in these.”
I felt my face burn and I obliged, sitting backwards on one of the folding chairs. Her shadow danced on the wall that I stared at as she dressed, and the silhouette seemed to dance as she donned the clothes, but I opted to close my eyes. She didn’t need me watching her in any way, shape, or form.
She tapped my shoulder, pulling the dark brown hat onto her head. “Okay, I’m done. I’ll stand outside, get dressed.”
She left, and once the door clicked shut, I quickly changed out of my pants and shirt and into the zookeeper’s uniform. It was a little big on me, but that was better than it being too small. I stepped out of the room, lifting the pants and shirt I held in one hand. “What do we do with these?”
Dierdre nodded, “I was wondering that too. I figured we can hide them behind the cleaning supplies. If we really need them, we’ll know where they are.”
We hid the clothes, then left the room, closing it. Dierdre found a ring of keys in her pocket, and used it to lock the door, so no other troublemaking teenagers could get into it.
“I wonder whose clothes these are,” I said, waving good-bye to the tuxedo birds, and followed Dierdre up out of the cold cave.
She shrugged. “No idea, but we struck lucky, for certain.”
I sighed with relief as the warm sun washed over our skin again, chasing away the clinging chill of the ice cave. We wandered through milling workers and people, none of whom even gave us a glance, despite my constant worries they would. It was so strange to me, their levels of indifference.
I knew I looked young, even if my broad shoulders filled the shirt. Dierdre definitely did not look like anyone else, with her silver hair and mercury blue eyes. Maybe people in 2015 weren’t as observant as those who lived in my time. Maybe they just truly didn’t care.
Maybe that’s why they all died.
I swallowed thickly and pushed the lingering thought from my mind.
We reached the jaguar exhibit, where it seemed even more people were crowded, and we waited. I didn’t know what we were waiting for, so I just watched the cub play with random blades of grass and beetles.
Dierdre nudged me as a man stepped out in front of the crowd, on a small, raised platform I had not seen before. He raised a megaphone to his lips and spoke,
“I can see you are all enjoying the lovely jaguars!” The crowd cheered with such energy it pounded inside my skull, and I grimaced. “I am so, so glad. Yes, Nindiri had her cub Valerio a few months ago, and until now, he wasn’t grown enough for the public, but now, after a health fight, he is as healthy and playful as ever!”
The crowd cheered again.
“Now, for the other part of this grand event day. It would be my pleasure to show you all something extremely special. Donated by someone who wishes to remain anonymous, we were graciously given something that even museums want! It is one out of a collection of four figurines dating back to the Mayans!”
“Five?” I whispered to Dierdre, getting caught on the last part of his sentence. “I thought there were only four?”
“There are only four. They must have gotten something wrong in their research.” She leaned forward, hand clenched so tightly around my arm my hand started to go numb. How excited was she to see this jaguar?
“I present to you all... The obsidian jaguar!” The zookeeper pulled away a red cloth that sat atop the pillar beside him, revealing something that neither Dierdre nor I could see. Before I could mention that fact, Dierdre had started barreling forward, as if a magnet were pulling her towards the jaguar.
The crowd cheered, snapping pictures and parting as we passed through. I bit apologies that danced on my tongue. We were workers. They had to let us through.
We reached the front of the platform and stared up at it. Atop the pillar that sat on the platform crouched a black, sparkling figurine. The sunlight shone fiercely off it, and its yellow eyes looked as if they could peer into my soul. It was crouched, ready to pounce, its mouth open in a roaring snarl.
Power, anger, and hate seemed to reverberate off it in waves. I felt dread pool in my stomach. It looked as if
it were going to leap off of the pillar and rip off the face of the nearest person. This was not at all like the baby jaguar chomping on his mother’s ears.
“That’s it, that’s it!” Dierdre whispered excitedly, gripping my arm again. Golly, her hold was strong.
“That sure is,” I muttered back.
I didn’t like this figurine. The owl didn’t feel like this. The owl had felt cold and insignificant. Like it was saying ‘hide me, don’t notice me’. Like it knew what it was and didn’t anyone else to know. I had not gotten a feel for the rattlesnake before it had been stolen, so I didn’t know what it felt like. But the jaguar… The jaguar wanted to be seen. It wanted to be known. It was angrily, deviously powerful. It made my skin crawl.
Many people came and went and wandered through after the speaker had left. We milled every once in a while, to avoid the gaze of another worker or to stretch our limbs, but did not step too far away from the platform.
At one point we purchased subs better than I had ever eaten and soda with ice. Dierdre, with a begrudging laugh, agreed to buy me the penguin cup for my drink.
The lights began to go out, and we heard the zoo announcements for closing. One hour until closing. Ten minutes. Five minutes. Dierdre and I crept behind the stage and hid beneath it, chilling in a small crawl space it allowed. I chewed on my straw nervously, running my thumb across the penguin’s plastic head.
Finally, all but the essential lights went out.
Everything was quiet, and dark, except for the chirping of crickets and the singing of some of the birds. The sun was gone, and stars twinkled brightly in the night sky. It had cooled enough that I had to hug myself to keep warm. Dierdre gave me an odd look, but did not make fun of me again.
She climbed out from beneath the stage and mounted the stairs, her eyes on the jaguar. I joined her, my skin crawling when I looked at it again. It still glittered. In the dark, it looked almost like an apparition. Dierdre suddenly stepped aside, gesturing.
“Go on, grab it.”
“What?” I said, startled, nearly dropping out of my mouth the ice cube I was sucking. “Why?”
“I have the owl. Go ahead and grab the jaguar. If only one person can touch these things, I don’t know what having two would do. Just in case.”
I swallowed the ice cube, then broke into a fit of coughing as it froze my throat the whole way down. Dierdre gripped my shoulder, looking frightened. “Hush, will you? Hurry up and grab it!”
I tensed. Just grab it. Nothing bad is going to happen. Why, it’s a rock! Just grab it!
I snatched the figurine up, my heart pounding hard. Nothing happened. No alarms went off, no one came running for us. I breathed a small sigh of relief and pocketed the jaguar. Then the world swirled.
I lurched forward and stumbled, my hold tightening back around the jaguar, so it didn’t fall out of my khaki pocket. Dierdre launched forward and gripped my arm tightly, so I didn’t careen off the platform.
“Are you okay?” I think she said. Her voice sounded as if it were coming down a very, very long tunnel. My whole body twitched, my muscles spasming up and down in waves, and I thought I was going to vomit up my sub. The penguin cup fell from my other hand. Ice spilled across the wooden platform with a deafening clatter.
I choked back acid reflux, leaning over and wheezing. Dierdre’s mouth moved frantically, but none of her words reached my ears. I stumbled, and the sound of my bootsteps hitting the platform made me think my head was going to explode.
Colors were too bright, noises were too loud. I felt like I was dying.
But then, like a switch had been flicked, everything cleared to a startling perfect image. I could breathe properly. I could breathe well. Better than I had ever been able to. I let a slow sigh slide between my clenched teeth, then I straightened. I felt as if I had been electrocuted.
I felt… alive.
“You good, man?” Dierdre asked.
“I… think so. I’m pretty sure anyway. I feel pretty… okay.” Great. I feel great. I feel fantastic. I could conquer the world. I rolled my shoulders, and winced as they crunched in protest. I moved to place the jaguar in the small pocket on my chest, patting it to make sure it stayed secure. It was there. Everything was fine. “Let’s get out of here.”
Dierdre nodded and she tapped the bracelet she wore on her wrist. She moved to grip my wrist, murmuring, “3… 2… 1…”
The world blinked out.
7
When I opened my eyes, I discovered we were once again on the platform in the MMEA. Safe. I checked my pocket, and to my great relief, the figurine was still there. “Yes!” I cried, with a leap of excitement. “Yes, Dierdre! We did it! We did it!”
She grinned at me excitedly. “We did!”
I produced the jaguar from my pocket and displayed it proudly, examining it as Biyu-Chen popped into my line of sight. “Wonderful. You actually did your job,” she said coldly. “Glad you can do something right.”
Biyu-Chen reached to grab the jaguar from me, but I jerked my hand back with a growl. “Absolutely not!” I hadn’t even realized it was me who was talking, until Dierdre turned toward me, her blue eyes wide. “You’re not taking it from me!” My heart sent off racing in my chest.
Biyu-Chen looked appropriately startled, then her face quickly resumed its resting bitch position. I sneered at her as she ran her hands along her shirt. “Whatever. Keep it. I don’t care. We have it, that’s what matters. Come on now.”
Dierdre stepped out of the tube, following her, but I hesitated. I didn’t want to be told what to do. I fought back the indignance crawling up my throat and scrambled after them. The displays on the walls still shone with a hundred angry lights. They hadn’t fixed whatever went wrong before we left.
Dierdre stopped short and I bumped into her. She was staring at the empty conference table. “Where… where’s the owl?”
“We put it away safely,” Biyu-Chen said with an air of annoyance, like it was none of Dierdre’s business asking where her owl was.
“Where is it?” Dierdre demanded again, turning her full attention to Biyu-Chen, who had her arms crossed.
“It doesn’t matter.” Biyu-Chen turned on her heel and exited the room, expecting us to follow. Dierdre was trembling, her hands balled into fists. I put a gentle hand on her arm. “We’ll ask Thomas. He’ll tell us. C’mon…”
She had a desperate shine in her eyes, but I ignored it as I opened the door, gesturing for her to go first. She exited the room and I subconsciously made sure the door was unlocked. I wanted to know I had at least one room to hide in, if anything went wrong.
We caught up to Biyu-Chen, who threw us a disgusted glance, then tapped the metal stud in the upper part of her ear. “They’ve retrieved the jaguar, Thomas.” She nodded to herself, then gestured to us. “Come, we will go to the testing room.”
Neither of us responded. Dierdre was nervous. She picked at her long strands of hair, and at her hands, and she continually twitched. I wasn’t sure quite what was worrying her so. Was it just not knowing where the owl was?
Her nervousness made me feel on edge. I didn’t like feeling on edge.
Biyu-Chen swung open a huge, metal double door, not bothering to hold it open for either of us. I darted forward and swung open the door, holding it for Dierdre, who gave me a half smile. The room was large and full of lights. In it was nothing but a metal table and Thomas. On the table sat a glittering, blue figurine.
The owl. I felt Dierdre tense beside me.
Dierdre stepped toward it, but Thomas held up a halting hand.
“Do you have the jaguar?” he asked.
My hand instinctively went to my pocket. For a moment, I was suddenly inclined to lie to him. If I told him ‘no’, he would still try to take it from me. I didn’t want him to take it from me. No one but me could take care of the jaguar. I clenched and unclenched my fists nervously.
He was still waiting for me to respond, his brow raised. He already knew.
&
nbsp; My mother told me not to lie. I didn’t want to destroy any trust that may have formed between us. I didn’t want to destroy the opportunity for trust. “U-uh… Yeah. Yeah.”
“May I see it?”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the figurine, noticing how badly my hands shook. He was annoyed. It was veiled, well even, but I could see it in the tenseness of his jaw. I presented the figurine to him. He reached for it, but I jerked my hand back.
“Clayton,” he said, a caution in his tone. He stepped forward, looking at me as if I were some rabid dog. Again, with everyone’s hardly concealed fear. “Give me the artifact.”
I hated it. Hated him. Why did he want my jaguar? We had worked so hard for it. I wasn’t going to give it up. I had already given up my penguin cup for it. What an idiot.
He could reach out and touch me now. I began to pace backwards, my muscles tensing. My head spun. What did he want from me? Why did he want the jaguar so, so badly?
“Clayton, we know where your mother is. If you give it to us, we can help you save her.”
I stopped short, my lungs and heart following suit. My mother? They know where she is? Dierdre was creeping towards the owl. Biyu-Chen was nowhere in sight. A chill swept up my spine.
“Liar!” I snarled. “Liar, you just want me to give up the jaguar! You don’t know where my mother is!”
“We do!” Thomas pleaded. “She is being kept in the Bermuda Triangle. There is a time rift there, that’s why there are so many stories surrounding it. That is where the bad guys are staying. They have your mother there, and if we can gather both these artifacts, and then the turtle, we can raid their base easily. We can save your mother and the world.”
Dierdre had one hand on the table, leaning toward the owl. She was ready to dart at a moment’s notice. I could tell from the slight tremble in her leg. Seeing I was distracted, Thomas launched himself forward, trying to grab my hand.