Poisoned Garden

by Tracy Korn

  He sighed. "Vetting. I was vetting that Eden's Bluff thing," he answered with a weak smile, then pushed a hand through his shaggy blond hair when I raised an eyebrow at him. "OK, Halls, look, I figured if you knew what happened, you'd tell me, and if you didn't, then me asking a bunch of questions about it wasn't going to help anything."

  I collapsed on my bed. "It had to be whatever Jen gave me, right? The hiccup enzyme or whatever she called it?" I asked the ceiling.

  "I looked it up—jicambi is only supposed to do what she said, give your immune system a boost. It didn't say anything about making you sound like a velociraptor," Max said, and I could hear the laugh in his voice.

  I debated telling him about what I'd seen happen to my hands—how my fingers looked like feathers for a second—but decided not to. It had to be some kind of stress-induced illusion because nothing had happened since. I didn't feel any different besides, and I didn't need him thinking I was seeing things now, too, because he'd just worry.

  "Maybe it's a side effect, like it strengthens your voice or something along with everything else." I smiled, feeling much better about the rationalization the more I talked about it.

  "Those guys Jen sent after you…" Max said, his voice full of warning. "I heard her yelling at them as they drove away. They'll be back, Halls."

  "I don't think it's a coincidence that the officer who arrested her was just at my house either," I added. Max shook his head and flopped down next to me on my bed, both of us staring at the ceiling now.

  He handed me the chip from Eden's Bluff. "At least this place puts The Citadel to shame. I mean, it's on its own island in The Caribbean. Its own island."

  I didn't know what to say, although my throat was still tight and my muscles tensed like I wanted to throttle someone. I sat up quickly and got to my feet, then moved to peek through my blinds.

  "It seems too good to be true," I said, mostly to myself.

  "Hey..." Max crossed to me and turned my shoulders toward him, lowering his eyes to mine. "You want to know what I think?"

  "Do I have a choice?"

  "No." Max chuckled. "I think you're trying to find something wrong because it's not The Citadel. That's been the only legitimate place in your opinion for so long, anything else seems, well, either not good enough or too good to be true. But Halls, this is what you've always wanted."

  Again, he was right, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't really happening.

  "Something just doesn't seem right, Max. It's all too fast. How can they want an answer by tomorrow?"

  "It's not exactly down the street, you know? And you heard that Uri guy. They want everyone to get there while the weather is nice so they can get acclimated. Though I think that was actually code for please arrive before the hurricanes knock your plane out of the sky."

  I laughed a little at that. He made sense, as always, and for a few minutes at least, I felt better.

  "I guess I just don't like feeling forced down a path," I said, somewhat to myself. "I think you're right about Jen. She's not going to stop. And if she has some corrupt officer on her side now too…"

  Max glanced up and nodded. "I didn't want to say it because I didn't want you to worry if you decided to stay here and take one of the internships, but…" he trailed off. We both knew there was only one option that made sense, as abrupt as it all seemed.

  "Then this is it I guess." I blew out a breath as tears filled my eyes. "You're going to The Citadel, and I'm going to The Caribbean."

  Chapter 11

  It was 11:45, and the car was supposed to come at noon to take me to the airport. From there, it was only supposed to be a two-hour flight to Eden's Bluff, which seemed a little short to me for flying all the way to The Caribbean from Portland, Maine.

  My aunt and uncle said their goodbyes before they went to work earlier this morning, and to their credit, they were sorry they couldn't wait with me for the car to arrive. Neither of them could afford to take a day off at this time of year with so many internship applicants just waiting to take their place. Anyone who didn't find a job would just become another scavenger south of The Valley where the Sweeper droids tended to be less prominent. I rolled my eyes at the thought since that was the very place they should have been the most prominent, but there was really no way to control that part of the city. The Citadel had forgotten about us for the most part, but especially them, and after so many years in the failed system, they were just as happy to be forgotten.

  I shook loose from the tangled thoughts and glanced at Max, who was waiting for the car on the front porch with me. Neither one of us had said a word since he arrived, but I knew it wasn't because we didn't have anything to say. It was because we both had too much.

  "We can always queue," Max finally said in a voice so quiet, I wasn't sure I'd heard him. "I don't start classes for a month, so I'll be around. I mean, I'd be around anyway, but I'm just saying..."

  My throat felt tight, so I swallowed hard, refusing to turn into a teary mess right before I had to leave.

  "For sure. You'll be the first one I queue," I said. Max pressed his lips into a closed smile and leaned forward in his chair, nodding at the ground. "I probably won't even be able to make it to the airport without pinging you." I tried to laugh.

  He got to his feet and leaned over the railing. I crossed to him and leaned on my forearms st his side. The front yard was wild forest, save the dirt path that wound over the hill toward us. Any minute, a car would roll up, and that would be the end of everything so far. It would be the beginning of something new. Somewhere I've never been. And for the first time in as long as I could remember, Max wouldn't be there with me.

  Tears came so fast they almost choked me. I sniffed reflexively, but it was too late to push them down.

  "Hey..." Max said, his hand moving over my back. "Come here." I straightened, and he pulled me into a hug. His arms closed around me as I let the tears fall, though, it wasn't as if I had much of a choice. He took a deep breath and held it as his heart pounded against my cheek, and this broke the dam. He cleared his throat. "It's not forever. OK? Oh, and I have something for you."

  I nodded against his chest, then pulled back to see the mess I'd made of his shirt with all my crying.

  I gasped. "Sorry...geez." I swallowed hard and wiped my face, but he just laughed it off.

  "I'll be right back." He trotted down my porch steps and around to the side of my house, returning with my walking stick a few minutes later. "I got Marvin to let me back in the school over the weekend. Not sure you can take this with you or anything, but I figured you'd want it..." he added, then pushed a smile to the side of his mouth.

  "Yeah, I doubt they'll let me on the plane with that," I smiled. "Keep it for me? And thank you, Max." I crossed to him and fit myself under his arm in a side hug, and before either of us could say anything else, a long, black car with tinted windows rolled over the hill.

  "Whoa," Max said as the car came to a stop and the driver got out to greet us. He was about our age and tall, even taller than Max by what seemed at least a few inches. His dark hair was pulled into a short ponytail, and his black t-shirt and jeans were form fitting. I caught myself staring at his form, in fact, and blinked a few times to snap myself out of the momentary trance.

  "You must be Halsey?" he said in a semi-deep voice as he extended a hand to me. He flashed a shockingly white smile, the contrast all the more apparent against his tanned skin. His dark eyes twinkled as he approached. "And you're the boyfriend?" he asked with the same brilliant smile and a nod to Max.

  "Um…" Max said around an abrupt chuckle. "No, just good friends," he added with a squeeze to my shoulder.

  "All right, well, a friend of Halsey's is a friend of mine. I'm Leo Red-Cloud. It's my third year at Eden's Bluff," he said as he shook Max's hand, then turned to me. "Sorry if you were expecting Uri. He thought it would be more comfortable for you to have someone close to your age pick you up. Did you have a chance to watch the welcome
message? Sorry, I know I just dropped it off yesterday."

  "I did," I said, trying not to stare at him." It doesn't seem like that place could be real."

  He flashed another wide, perfect smile. "Wait until you see it in person. Anyway, Sylvie is getting everything ready with the flight, so we can take you to her if you're ready." Leo gave me a nod, then reached for my bag. "Let me just put this in the trunk."

  "We?" Max said, looking over at the car.

  "Oh, Tia. She's driving," Leo said. "Tia, come out and say hi."

  A few seconds later, a strangely familiar woman, tan, like Leo, stepped out of the driver's side of the car and gave me a silent nod.

  "Hello," I said, but Tia only smiled.

  Leo gave me a wink and grinned. "She's a little shy. I'll just put your bag in the trunk, and we'll be off," he added, reaching again for my bag.

  I thanked him, then turned to Max. His eyes were narrowed and his brows drawn together.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, which seemed to break the consternation spell he was under.

  His expression relaxed as he met my eyes. "Nothing," he shook his head and smiled. "You sure you got everything?"

  "I think so. I found a welcome guide in the files that said not to pack too much since they had most things there already," I said, still feeling a little wary. It must have shown on my face because Max raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.

  "You sure you're all right? You can always change your mind, you know? It's not too late."

  I shook my head. "I'm OK. I think it just won't seem real until I'm there."

  "All set?" Leo called, opening the back door for me.

  "All right, then. Queue me when you get there. Or before. Just…whenever," Max said with a slow smile.

  "I will. Same goes for you. I want to know everything about your Citadel orientation." He gave me one last bear hug, picking me up off my feet and squeezing me tightly before setting me back down.

  "OK, go," he added, and I made my way to the car. Leo gave me another quick smile as I ducked in, and he closed the door behind me. I rolled down the window to wave at Max, his arms crossed over his chest as he gave me a wide, closed-lip smile. With a final nod, we pulled away from my house, down the dirt road, and finally, out of The Grind.

  ***

  "Have you ever been to the islands, Halsey?" Leo asked as we boarded the plane. It was a private jet, so Tia just drove right up to the stairs of it, then gave the car keys to an attendant who got in and drove it back in the direction we'd just come from.

  "No," I said, watching the car over my shoulder until it disappeared back into the shadows of the airport roads. "I've never been out of The Grind—er, Portland. Whoa…" I whispered as I reached the top of the last boarding step. Inside the plane, white recliners lined either side of the wide, open seating area, separated by an aisle down the center. Windows that were easily the size of the one in my bedroom back home ran the length of each wall.

  "Choose any seat you like, Halsey," Leo said, holding a hand out for me to walk ahead of him. I got about three steps when a woman in a colorful floral dress stepped into the seating area. She seemed about ten years older than Leo and I were, maybe more, and I wondered if she were a teacher from Eden's Bluff. Her dark hair fell over her bronzed shoulders in several braids with beads at the ends, which made a chorus of pleasant clicking sounds as she walked toward me.

  "It's lovely to meet ya, girl," the woman said, her accent thick and melodic. "My name is Sylvie, and back on da beach, dey gettin' yer room fixed as we speak." She smiled, the brightness every bit the wattage of Leo's. "De trip will take about tree hours. Tell me what questions ya have."

  I'd had so many questions, but in that moment, I drew a blank on all but one. "Are we the only ones on the plane?" I asked, glancing out the window for what would surely be several other cars approaching.

  "Jes' us, Tia, and her co-pilot." Sylvie beamed another broad smile at me, and I felt my expression shift to surprise that Tia wasn't just our driver, but the pilot too. "Yer de only one Eden's Bluff selected from dis area," Sylvie added.

  "Wow…" I said, genuinely surprised. "I mean, why? I didn't get into The Citadel, and everything I saw said you're on the same level as they are."

  Sylvie exchanged glances with Leo and laughed, a heavy, full sound.

  "De Citadel is a fine institution, but der a little less so wit-out ya now, Miss Halsey Rhodes," she said, sobering. "We look for a little extra in prospective students. A little some-ting showin' yer wantin' to be more dan what everybody's tellin' ya is possible." Sylvie's dark eyes seemed to flash gold for a fraction of a second as we started to taxi. Sun shone through the large windows and streaked down her face and shoulders as she gave me a knowing smile.

  "So you just looked at my records? My activities?" I asked, still not quite sure how, out of everyone in the Portland area, I was the only one they'd selected.

  "A little of all those things," Leo said, typing something into a tablet he must have taken out of the bag in the seat next to him. "Eden's Bluff is a fairly new school, just four years old this fall, but they've developed an algorithm that identifies the traits they're looking for in prospective students." He turned the tablet to face the front of the plane, and a 3-D projection of the world map appeared. On it, white dots lit up in several countries, too many to quickly count, but I couldn't help but notice there was only one in Maine.

  "Are all those students?" I hesitated to ask.

  Leo nodded. "The ones they've selected so far, yes. The school is small, just about three thousand students so far, but it's growing," he added with a quick, knowing glance at Sylvie.

  "Plenty of room to grow wit no dirty streets and shops clutterin' up da place," she said, which sent a chill through me.

  "Wait, there's no town?" I asked. "It's just the school?" I tried to remember if they'd said anything about this in the virtual tour, but if they had, I know I would've remembered.

  "I wasn't sure about that prospect at first either," Leo said with a laugh. "But honestly, at Eden's Bluff, there's no need for a town, Halsey," he said with another slow, brilliant smile. "It's paradise."

  Chapter 12

  We took a helicopter to the island, which wasn't even in sight of the mainland airport where we'd just landed. I'd never been in a helicopter, or a plane for that matter, so I was glued to the window this entire trip.

  After about an hour more of blue sea and fog, which finally dissipated, the island appeared in the distance. As we flew closer, white beaches stretched out from dense, green forests and clearings until in the center of it all stood the multitiered structure from the virtual tour. It was even bigger than I imagined, with flocks of brilliantly colored birds soaring in the skies above it. I could actually smell all the flowers in the air before we even got out of the helicopter.

  "Welcome to Eden's Bluff," Leo said, his voice loud and clear through the headset I was wearing. The ground grew closer as the helicopter set down in a clearing, and three men who looked like natives rushed to the perimeter. "When they recruited me a few years ago, I spent the whole time looking out the window too," he added. "I came from Reno, The Ridge—kind of like what you call The Grind—in Nevada. I couldn't believe the mountains could look so small." He chuckled.

  "You have a Citadel wall there too?" I asked, a little embarrassed about the one we had in Portland until he all but choked on a laugh.

  Leo raised his dark eyebrows. "I was surprised to see you only had Hover droids guarding it."

  "Hover? We call them Sweeper droids," I said, which provoked another chuckle from him.

  "What do they sweep?"

  "Nothing," I answered, now chuckling too. "I mean, I guess because they scan everything. A person, a building, anything they're trying to read for information. They sweep for it, you know?" It was the first time I'd ever had to explain anything about a Sweeper droid to another person, so I didn't know when to stop talking.

  "Makes sense," Leo finally said with a neutra
l smile. As soon as he turned back around, I rolled my eyes at myself, feeling the heat rush into my cheeks. Fortunately, the pilot turned off the engine a few seconds later, and I removed my headset after watching Sylvie and Leo do the same.

  "Let's get ya settled," Sylvie said, extending a long arm full of bracelets as we made our way down the steps. One of the men darted in and came back out with my bag while the other two escorted us up to the enormous house, which looked a lot like an old southern plantation. In the distance, several more houses were scattered near the water, though they were smaller and simpler.

  On the other side of an enormous, swirling iron gate, I counted at least eight columns supporting the roof of the wrap-around porch, raised several feet off the ground. Once through the gate, we followed the men escorting us up the driveway, then the steps. They opened the huge doors to reveal an elaborate staircase in the center of the room, and directly in front of it was a table with the biggest, most exotic collection of flowers I'd ever seen.

  "Take her bag to Griffin Hall, room seven," a man said as he came into the room. His nearly white blond hair was startling until I recognized him as Uri from the virtual tour. He wasn't wearing the fancy suit he had on before, not even one like it. Instead, he wore a pastel blue polo shirt, which made his eyes of the same color seem to glow, and flowing white pants over sandals. The whole ensemble made him look more like someone from a vacation advertisement than the director of a prestigious school. But he turned to me and smiled, folding his hands in front of him. "Halsey, we are so happy to have you here," he said, beaming. "You must be hungry after your trip. Please, follow me."

  We walked further into the foyer, winding around the back of the enormous white staircase to the dining room, which was full of even more exotic flowers and trays of colorful fruit, various greens, cheeses, and soups. A handful of attendants stood at the back of the room, all of them wearing the same light gray and white uniform shirts and shorts—all of them with the same tanned, but hollow-eyed expressions as Tia and the men who greeted us at the helicopter.