by C. P. Rider
"And we seem to be doing a bang-up job of that," Samuel muttered, his gaze fixed on Cindy.
"Who is she?" Javier asked.
"My best friend," I replied. My best friend who was scaring the bejeezus out of me. "Her name is Cindy."
"Cynthia Gale?" Javier appeared fascinated. "I haven't talked to her since we were kids. She looks … different."
"She looks like she's about to be eaten by a mountain chimera." Samuel started across the street, but halted at the curb.
Cindy continued singing as she stepped in front of the chimera. She had a burlap sack in her arms, and as she sang, she reached into the sack and extracted several small, translucent-skinned worms.
"Is that limpid worm larvae?" Javier asked.
"Yeah. She appears to have an unending supply of the things," Samuel grumbled.
"Not unending," I said, as we jogged up to where Samuel was. "She told me they're attracted to the peaberries in her mother's garden. Cindy's in charge of deworming the garden at home."
"Brilliant idea." Javier stared at Cindy, interest sparking in his gaze.
Cindy's melody reached an end. She laid the larvae in front of the chimera in lines like tally marks. She then took a step back and went to her knees, hands folded neatly in her lap.
"Revered Chimera, we humbly request you to pass through our lands without bloodshed. Our deepest apologies for disturbing your hunting." Cindy's voice was calm and clear as she addressed the creature, nothing like her usual chattering self. "We have brought an offering to demonstrate our sincerity and respect."
The chimera's snake tail slithered to the grubs, flicked its tongue out as if to examine them, then slithered in front of Cindy. I would have freaked out and run like a man in a hockey mask was chasing me with a machete, but she remained still.
Samuel took a step. I don't think he meant to, but he was staring at Cindy with fear in his eyes and he just moved.
"Easy," Javier said. "She's doing great."
"She's a fool," Gilda spat. "This is no place for her kind. She'll be killed."
"Yeah, you mentioned that, but look at her over there, not getting killed." Javier gripped Samuel by the shoulder. "She's invoking the respect and apology ritual. I heard my great-grandfather talk about it once or twice, but thought the lyrics had been lost over the years. I'd totally forgotten about the worm larvae, too. It's a delicacy for many Beyond creatures."
"Then why isn't the chimera eating the worms?" My hands were clenched by my sides. I felt sick to my stomach with worry for my friend.
"She's deciding whether or not to take the offering," Samuel said. "The next few minutes will determine whether Cindy, and Dead End, lives or dies."
"I can't stand this." My teeth were clenched so tightly my jaw was throbbing. "It's been six hours."
"Six minutes," Javier said. "But I get you."
"Be quiet," Gilda said. "Don't draw the chimera's attention to you."
Funny she should mention that, because that was exactly what I intended to do. Dig a big hole with my ability, draw the attention of the chimera, grab Cindy, and make a run for it.
Samuel's gaze was locked on Cindy's back. "She's moving."
The chimera extended an index finger. The clawed tip was as big as Cindy's head, which I got to compare easily because she was reaching for Cindy's head.
"No." The word punched out of my lungs.
The claw retracted and the tip of the chimera's fleshy finger grazed the front of Cindy's face. Her head tipped to one side as she regarded the human seated in front of her.
"I think she wants her to sing," I said.
Cindy got the message and began singing the lullaby again. The melody washed over us in placid waves. As her soft voice weaved with the night sounds of the town, the chimera picked up the larvae, one by one, chewing slowly, timing her meal perfectly so that the last bite coincided with the final notes.
When the creature had finished eating, she stood, nodded at Cindy, and walked calmly out of the park. As she reached the edge of town, she let out one last scream, though this one sounded joyous rather than furious, then took off at a run toward the mountains and disappeared into the night.
We flew across the street. Samuel beat me by a few strides, but I got the first hug. I pulled Cindy close and squeezed her hard. I needed to make sure she was still here, still real, still alive.
"You scared the crap out of me." I was crying and I couldn't recall starting. "Don't ever do something that dangerous again."
"Let the girl breathe," Javier said.
"That was irresponsible and stupid." Gilda tipped up her chin and huffed. "You put yourself and the town in danger. We asked you to leave it to the Elites, didn't we? But you had to get involved, and now—"
"—the chimera is gone. Without hurting anything but a few trees and Gilda's pride," Javier finished.
Gilda pressed her lips together until they were thin and bloodless. Threw her hair back, crossed her arms.
Javier smiled down at Cindy. "That was some fast thinking. How do you know the ritual?"
"I learned it when I was little." Her voice was sweet and brittle, like sugar glass. Her face was washed out and her hands were trembling. She appeared to be in a state of shock.
"You were brave as hell out there, Cindy." Samuel cupped her face and turned her to look at him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she said, and threw up.
"I learned the ritual as a kid. No big deal. I'm sorry about your shoes."
"They'll wash," Samuel said.
We'd walked to his house since it was closest. Javier had offered to walk Gilda home, so it was just the three of us. It was half past two in the morning and I was probably on restriction for the rest of my natural life, but Cindy and Dead End were safe.
Totally worth it.
"You're going to make me barf again. Quit squeezing me so hard, Maria."
"I can't. You could have died out there tonight. I'm never letting you walk home alone again. Jeez, Cindy, what were you thinking? You should have waited for us, told us what you were doing."
"She tried." Samuel kept his eyes on Cindy as he spoke to me. "We were too stupid to listen."
"It's okay. I'm used to being ignored by Elites." Cindy had washed up in the bathroom and was now seated on the sofa beside me, across from where Samuel paced the length of the living room. "Is this really your house?"
"Of course, it is." Samuel had scowled at Cindy's used to being ignored remark. "You've seen it before."
"Not the living room. We're always in the garage or outside. I love the colors."
He shrugged. "My mom loved orange and my dad liked dark blue. After my parents died, my sister and I didn't want to change it."
"Why would you? They're happy colors." Cindy yawned, and hugged an orange and gray sofa pillow to her chest. I had a similar one in blue on my lap.
"Yeah." Samuel stopped pacing. It was almost comical, the way he watched Cindy. As if she was some sort of magic trick that, if he studied her closely enough, he'd figure out how the magician made the rabbit disappear. "Who taught you that ritual?"
"Was that Javier Rivas with you tonight?" She plucked at the corner of the pillow. I wondered why she was dodging Samuel's question.
"Yes. Why?" His frown deepened.
"Umm, because he's super hot?" I waggled my eyebrows at her. Samuel resumed his pacing, stomping a little harder than necessary in my opinion.
Cindy yawned again, then laughed. "No, it's that I haven't seen him since before I left Dead End."
That snagged my attention. "I thought you'd lived here your whole life."
"My parents have, but I went to live with my grandmother at Track's End when I was in the second grade. I didn't return to Dead End until last year, when she passed away."
"I'm sorry for your loss," I said.
"Thank you. I loved her very much. She was like me. A lesser."
I really didn't like that word.
Cindy smiled when she saw my f
rown. "It's okay. She knew what she was, too. She always said, ‘Those self-important Elites are thinking it anyway. Best just to put it out there yourself. That way they can't hurt you.'"
"If your parents lived here, why did you live with your grandmother?"
"Bullies." Samuel looked grim. "Elite bullies, right?"
She nodded. "It was hard when they only called me names, but when a couple of Elite girls dragged me to the monkey bars and kicked me until they cracked a rib, my parents said it was too dangerous for me here and sent me to Grandma. She home-schooled me so I could learn in peace."
"I'm sorry for that," Samuel said.
"Why? You never picked on me."
"I didn't stand up for you, either. I could have. I should have."
"Thanks for being sorry." She didn't let him off the hook for failing. I liked that about her. "You know, Mica helped me that day."
Samuel's head whipped around. "My sister helped you?"
Cindy nodded. "She sent one of her friends to get a teacher, then ran over and lay across my body. Mr. Wheeler said if she hadn't stopped those girls, they might have killed me. It's happened before." She glanced in my direction. "Mr. Wheeler was my second-grade teacher."
"Happened before? Killed you? What the hell is up with these Elite jackasses?"
"Umm…" Cindy wrinkled her nose. "You're an Elite, Maria."
"No, I'm not. I don't want to be lumped in with those losers. No offense, Samuel."
"None taken. I don't want that either, but I am an Elite and so are you. You can, as Javier and I have, choose not to be around the worst of them, but that choice doesn't take away what you are. Your ability dictates what you are."
"But you're not a jackass Elite." Cindy nudged me.
"Thank you," I said.
"You know, that sounds like something Mica would do. Thanks for telling me that." Samuel let slip a smile.
"You're welcome."
The way they were looking at each other made me feel like a third wheel, so I decided to change the subject before they forgot I was in the room altogether.
I tucked the pillow on my lap behind my back and stifled a yawn. I was tired, but wired, and I didn't know if I'd ever get to sleep. "Tell me about these ritual things."
She shrugged. "Rituals are the old way. Years ago, Sanctumites lived in the Beyond. We were able to coexist with the creatures there because there were understandings between us and them. Respectful boundaries, offerings, songs, blessings, prayers … things like that. But people got tired of these things and moved out of the Beyond. Within two generations, all the rituals were lost. Completely forgotten."
"If they're lost, how do you know them?"
"My grandma's side of the family passed them down through the lessers. This was before the revolution, at a time when our kind were still being rounded up and sent to work farms by the Elites. Keeping the rituals alive meant my kind would be safe in the Beyond if they saw the chance to escape the farms."
"Rounded up? They were sent there for their own good," Samuel said. "To keep them safe from harm."
"Keep us safe? It was to keep us oppressed. If a lesser showed the slightest bit of intellect, they were silenced. We lessers might not have abilities, but we aren't fools. We learned to play the game long ago."
"You almost make it sound as if the Elites back then were afraid of your kind," he said. "But what would they have to fear?"
"Our numbers," Cindy replied. "For every Elite like you, there are three lessers and four mid-caste—people with low grade abilities, Maria."
First I'd heard of the term, but it made sense.
"They knew that if the lessers ever teamed up with the mid-caste, they'd overthrow the Elites' fascist regime. And if they were able to pull some powerful Elites over to their side?"
"They'd start a revolution. Which is exactly what happened fifty years ago." Samuel appeared nonplussed. "We've always been taught that it was rebellious Elites who engineered the revolution."
"Yeah, well, revolution or not, our governing systems are still mostly run by the wealthy Elite class. There's no way they'd admit they were defeated by a bunch of no-and-low talents."
Something odd happened then. Samuel began to laugh. Not just laugh, but guffaw. I'd never had a reason to use that word before, though I'd come across it occasionally in the books I read, but there was no other way to describe it. The guy was definitely guffawing.
Cindy squeezed the pillow tight to her chest. Stared up at Samuel with hurt in her eyes. "You don't believe me."
"Oh, I believe you. It makes perfect sense," he said, between laughs. "I want to record the look on Gilda's face when we tell her. The exact moment when she runs through the probabilities and arrives at the same conclusion I did."
"What conclusion?" Cindy asked.
"Why would Elites ever surrender power? The answer is, they wouldn't unless they knew they couldn't win. And the only way to win a war is with a bigger and better army."
I wasn't sure that was entirely true, but it sounded good. Also, it was kind of fun to watch Samuel crack up like that, so I kept my rebuttal to myself.
"Hey." I grabbed the pillow behind me and chucked it at his head when he flopped onto the floor. "Quit it. You freaked her out."
He wiped his eyes. "Sorry. I really do believe you."
Cindy tossed her pillow at him, too. "You should. Your grandparents were part of the last revolution. Part of the ‘rebellious Elites.'"
"I know. I always thought that was cool."
"Okay, so it's been a fantastic history lesson, but why did your grandma teach you these rituals if you don't have to escape those awful camps anymore?"
"Partly tradition, and partly because the creatures are moving closer." Cindy yawned for the third time, and this time I did too.
Samuel stopped laughing. "Closer?"
"Grandmother noticed it years ago. There were creatures in the mountains that used to live in the desert region. The chupacabra, for instance. You remember the bones, Maria?"
How could I forget? "Did she teach you a ritual for the chupacabra?"
"She taught me how to respect them and how to be respected by them. Nothing is certain with a chupacabra, though. They're unpredictable. Grandma always said the best way to deal with one was to avoid them in the first place."
"Exactly how many of the old rituals did your grandma teach you?" Samuel asked.
Maybe it was just me, but he sounded like he was humoring Cindy. There was the slightest edge of condescension in his tone that grated on my nerves.
The smile she gave him was of the "go screw yourself" variety. It was my new favorite expression of hers—so long as it wasn't pointed at me.
"All of them."
25
Even though Cindy lived farther from Samuel than I did, I walked her home. After the events of the evening, along with her retelling of how those Elite girls had treated her, I would have worried if I hadn't made sure she was safe. Also, it was four a.m. and I was really not looking forward to facing my grandfathers. Especially Abuelo.
"You were stupidly brave tonight." I told Cindy when we were at her door.
"Aww, you say the nicest things. I wuv you, too, Maria." She giggled and went inside.
I trudged home after that, wondering how long I'd be on restriction. Maybe I was already grounded. Probably had been for hours.
Easing open the front door, I tiptoed inside. Caught sight of Grandpa Holli and Toby facing away from the door, drinking tea at the dining room table. Out of real teacups. Both of them.
I crept toward the hallway, trying not to draw attention to myself. Sadly, like most things that happened tonight, it didn't go as planned. One of the floorboards creaked with a sound like an off-key accordion when I was barely halfway across the foyer.
Toby yipped and wagged his tail. I held my finger to my lips and tried to intimidate him into obeying me from across the room. He completely ignored both the sign and my attempt at intimidation, and yipped again.
>
Grandpa Holli spun around in his seat. "Maria."
He jumped out of his chair and headed straight for me, his mouth compressed into a line. I'd never seen what he looked like when he was angry, but I was pretty sure this was it.
I held up my hands, took a small step back. "I know you're mad and I'm probably in big trouble, but I can explain. See, there was this—"
"Thank heavens you're safe." He pulled me into a hug as tight as the one I'd given Cindy after her run-in with the chimera. "I was worried sick."
The tension that had been thrumming through my muscles for hours slowly drained away, leaving exhaustion and soreness behind. "I'm okay, Grandpa. Are you and Toby having tea?"
"Oh, just a little chamomile-star-of-Bethlehem-cherry-plum mixture to keep us centered." Grandpa Holli held me at arm's length, his gaze scanning me as he looked for any sign of injury. When he found none, he exhaled with relief and put a hand over his heart. "Thank goodness you're all right."
"I'm sorry for making you worry."
Toby leaped off the dining room chair and trotted over to us. I apologized for worrying him by way of a scratch behind the ears.
"It's your abuelo to whom you should apologize. He's out there right now, looking for you." Grandpa Holli gestured toward the door. "Where were you?"
I thought about lying. Deception was never my first choice and it bothered me that it came to mind so easily now. I was not a liar.
"I went to a party."
"A party? You said you were ‘hanging out with some friends.' You said nothing about a party."
"I know. It was wrong not to tell you. I'm sorry."
"What sort of party? Were there ‘substances' there?"
I figured he meant booze and drugs. "Alcohol. But don't worry, I don't drink or do drugs. I can't."
"Can't? What do you mean?"
"With my ability … well, it's kind of dangerous. It's not good for me to lose control of myself."
"That certainly makes sense. Who was at the party?"
"A bunch of snooty Elites."
The front door slammed open behind me. I cringed.
