Concealed in the Shadows

by Gabrielle Arrowsmith

  “Hey. Can we chat?” Cy asks me as he pushes himself off the brick wall outside of the shower commune. His serious demeanor causes me déjà vu to when Crewe made a similar request yesterday during target practice at the safe house.

  “Yeah. Sure,” I answer, concern growing in me. “We need towels,” I tell Crewe, who still leans against the wall where he was waiting with his brother for Evvie and me to finish up.

  My sister and I had secured new clothing that suffices, and were able to rinse our gear some before the timer on the shower ran out, but we didn’t have anything to dry ourselves off with, or wrap our wet clothes in. We took turns using a pair of jeans to towel off.

  The brothers must have fashioned something similar, or perhaps they always have a towel and a fresh set of clothes set aside in the showering station. I didn’t see either of them grab clothing for themselves from the storehouse where we got our necessities, but now they each wear blue jeans and clean, crisp tees.

  “Oh, sorry,” Crewe says. “Evvie, will you join me to pick out a couple of towels?” Crewe doesn’t ask my permission to leave with my sister, and I try to mask my unease about separating from her. This is the first time I have to trust a Sheridan with Evvie’s care without the immediacy of my presence. Distrust still lingers in me, much because I can never be confident that anyone can take better care of my sister than I can. But Crewe is not just anyone among the Sheridans, or seeksman even. He’s the one who dove to protect me as the bullets whizzed by. I need to trust him. I need to believe that he would protect Evvie with his life if it came to that.

  He is already walking back toward the parking area and storehouse by the time I decide it’s okay with me for her to go. Evvie doesn’t ask my permission either, or put any kind of weight to the moment, as she skips away at Crewe’s side, asking him questions.

  “What’s going on?” I ask Cy as I wring cold water from my wet, wavy hair. Cy watches as I squeeze and comb my hair with my fingers. He’s been watching me for years, but I suppose he’s never seen me fresh and clean or wearing jeans with my hair down. I usually only let it down at bedtime. Another few minutes to air dry and I’ll be out of patience with it and putting it up.

  “Crewe and I were talking,” Cy starts, finding my eyes. “We were thinking a different plan might be safer for tonight.”

  “Like what?” I ask Cy. Maybe I’m too preoccupied with untangling my hair, because I’m lost in the conversation already. Had we already discussed and determined a plan for tonight? There have been so many pressing plans made in such a short time span, that it’s becoming hard to keep track of what we have talked about.

  “It’s not smart for us to be on the outskirts of town tonight. Crewe realized that’ll be a red flag that we are the ones they’re hunting. We don’t think the BOTs know any one residence from another here, but just to be safe, we want to avoid our place too.”

  “That makes sense.” I have no objection so far, but I have a premonition that there are more stipulations to come that I may be unhappy with. Why else would he have asked to talk, not before removing Evvie from the scene, rather than just doing so?

  “So where will we go?” I ask him. He scratches at his damp locks, beginning to resemble the light, shiny color the sun has bleached his hair to be.

  “That’s the other thing. Crewe thinks we should split up.” There’s the key. The sweeter, younger brother was sent to convey Crewe’s intention. I suppose Crewe hopes that I would be more trusting and open to the idea coming from his friendly and widely loved brother. “We don’t have to split up entirely, but we don’t want the two of you or the two of us to be together. The four of us can’t stay together. You see the reason in that, right?”

  “Yeah,” I admit. At this point, I don’t believe that Miles has been keeping a close eye on my sister and me, or the seeksmen that wade their woods now and then. Something would have happened if they were. It’s better to error on the side of assuming they have been watching. “How do you suggest we split?” I ask Cy, really asking him to reveal what Crewe has already decided.

  “You’ll be with Crewe and I’ll be with Evvie. It makes the most sense because my brother outranks me, so he should be protecting the one who had the more advanced and puzzling chip.”

  “Both of our chips had microphones. What makes mine more puzzling?” I argue. Again, I’d rather assume that Evvie is the important one. I’d rather my sister be protected by the best seeksmen, not the one who accidentally almost killed me.

  “Yours was switched out a few years back. Hers wasn’t. They made sure you had the most powerful microphone, technology that’s still not instituted today.”

  “Maybe it was simply circumstantial. I was hurt. They had an opportunity with me that they didn’t have with Evvie,” I reason.

  “If they wanted Evvie’s chip updated, they would have found a way to do it.”

  Clearly denying his evaluation isn’t going to be enough. “Look Cy, your brother’s decision is only logical if you’re looking at the situation from his viewpoint, which I’ll bet is the only one he took into consideration. Whoever is most qualified should be the one protecting my little sister. That’s the way I see it, no offense to you. I can handle myself.”

  “I see your point, but you should know that my brother considers a lot more than himself when making decisions. Splitting the way he’s decided is the best plan for the sake of the whole town, which he always considers foremost.”

  I fear Crewe Davids and I will always be in a stalemate then. To him, protecting me safeguards the town. If they’re after me, whether to kill or capture, he needs to be there to prevent or control the backlash on Sheridan’s inhabitants. I guess I’ll have to try to respect that.

  “We want you and Evvie to be a bit lost in the crowd today. Crewe is going to make a call to the school. Soon, all the students and faculty in the upper school will disperse around the inside and outside of the building for about fifteen minutes. Individuals will be told to wander home or to the hospital a block away.”

  “The area around the school and hospital are where most homes in Sheridan are located. It’s about a mile west of here. You and Evvie will have a good little tour of that half of Sheridan while you’re wandering. Before the fifteen minutes are up, all four of us should be settled somewhere. I’m not sure what Crewe has planned for him and Evvie, but you and I will meet in the hospital.”

  Cy has just fired a lot of information at me. My head is spinning. “I’m confused. I thought you said I will be with Crewe and you will be with Evvie.” Maybe Cy has already decided that he’s going to talk his brother into the best arrangement from my viewpoint.

  “Oh, sorry. I will be with her tonight. We decided we should have the opposite companions for the day, to add extra mystery to our whereabouts,” he shrugs. “Plus, I need you for some data hunting.”

  I’m quite ready for these precautions to end so I can get settled with my sister, and each of us can begin to see what Sheridan is like.

  “We’ve got to figure out why you both had the chips that you did,” Crewe says from behind me. I hadn’t seen him and my sister round the corner to rejoin us. “That’s the top priority before school, jobs, and whatever else we need to do to get you both acclimated—”

  “And assimilated,” Cy finishes their coined phrase. A data hunt. I can already tell the hunt will be fruitless. I have no idea why my sister and I were miked.

  “Does the plan sound okay to you?” Crewe asks me. Nothing seems amiss with the plan, other than my difficulty with protecting the entire town over my sister, but I understand that I have to let that go.

  “Yeah. Fine.”

  “Alright. There are five places to eat in town,” Crewe says. “The school mess hall, the hospital cafeteria, two restaurants here on Main Street, or your own home, which you girls don’t have yet. I think we should meet back up for lunch around noon, to put all of our minds at ease. We probably shouldn’t sit together, but we can find a w
ay to communicate a little if we need to.”

  “Evvie, will you be okay hanging out with Crewe for a while?” I ask her. “It’s only a few hours until lunchtime.”

  “Yeah, the plan is fine with me,” she shrugs, aggravated by my protectiveness. She doesn’t want me treating her like a little kid, especially in front of these independent men. Her indifference and automatic trust don’t make it easier for me to give her away, but I know that I can. My sister has learned to adapt and take each new situation in stride. She’ll be fine without me today.

  “Let’s meet at the hospital cafeteria for lunch,” Crewe tells his brother. “Evvie doesn’t want to officially meet the school kids yet and it’s probably not a bad idea to have Della check out her wrist sometime today.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” says Cy.

  “I don’t want you to leave his side, Evvie,” I have to say, although I know it will further irritate my sister. “And the same goes for you,” I tell Crewe. As I anticipated, I get an eye roll from her. Crewe responds with a sarcastically chivalrous ‘yes ma’am’. Beyond Evvie’s notice, he and I exchange another serious understanding like we did yesterday. You can trust me. We’re in this together, his eyes say.

  Yet I don’t think it’s of happenstance that Crewe and Evvie get a start toward the school before Cy and me. They’re never more than a block ahead, and I can see them the whole walk to the school. I see my sister looking up at Crewe, nodding when he’s answering her questions seriously, and giggling when he adds a flavorful twist or teases her for being too weak to lug along one of the stuffed bags to his two. Crewe has a comedic side just like his brother. He has just been under more pressure, preventing it from shining through.

  “Sydney?” Cy awakens me from my trance fixed on the two ahead. “Would it be okay if I ask you a little about your history?” I don’t look forward to divulging my life’s struggle to Cy, but I understand that we are heading toward some corner of the hospital where Cy and his mentor retrieve data from inside the counties. I am aware that they will have to know my past to have direction in their research.

  “Sure, Cy,” I answer him. “Under one condition—don’t smother me with sympathy.”

  I expect him to laugh or joke, but instead he answers matter-of-factly, “I can handle that.” I realize that I know nothing about Cy’s story. I don’t know how he and his brother came to be orphans in Miles. I hope it’s not the case, but maybe the Davids suffered as painful of a childhood as I did.

  “I can’t remember what my life was like before my dad died, but I think it was pretty normal. Afterward my mom went—”

  “Wait. Hold on!” Cy interrupts, chuckling a little. “Listen, Sydney. I’ve gathered that it’s not going to be a picturesque story, and I understand that it might be difficult to tell, but if you want it to be helpful to us you’re going to have to plug in at least some details for me,” he teases.

  Every detail of Evvie’s recollection of her day was important after we got her out and, likewise, every detail is going to be important when trying to figure out what we mean to the county. I nod to acknowledge that I will be more specific. I’ve rehearsed this for the court case to win my sister back. Now I’ll relay it to Cy to keep the both of us safe.

  “How about we start with what your dad did for a living, how he died, and how old you were at the time.”

  I know how old I was when my dad died. I know that quite precisely. I was three and two-thirds. The other questions I have vague answers to largely due to how young I was when I lost him. When I was older, I asked my grandma about him and his death. My sweet grandmother spent her time telling me about my daddy’s soul and how he looks down on me and watches out for me. She chose not to elaborate on things that I wouldn’t have been able to understand.

  After Grandma was gone, I tried several times to ask my mother about my father when she seemed well. That’s all it took to start her hushing me and telling me never to speak about him. Her eyes would grow wide and she’d start looking over her shoulders frantically as if someone was in the room and could attack us at any moment. I tried to research my father on the Internet, but never discovered much. I’ll have to answer Cy with the little bit that I know.

  “My dad was in politics. He worked in the very center of Miles. He wasn’t a politician himself. Obviously, he was a bit young for that. I think that he headed a campaign team or worked within one. He died of a brain aneurism one day while riding the HSR home from work.”

  “What’s the HSR?”

  “The high-speed rail,” I answer. We really are from two different cultures. An everyday encounter for me is foreign to him and vice-versa, like the badger.

  “Oh, right.”

  “I was a little over three and a half.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cy offers lightly. “So how did things change afterward? You were saying something about somewhere your mom went before I cut you off.”

  “No,” I correct him. “Crazy. My mom went crazy. She wanted to escape from Miles. She talked about it all the time.” Could it be that simple? Could the county going out of their way to spy on us have to do with my mother’s determination to escape?

  “Do you and Evvie share the same father?” Cy asks cautiously, trying to avoid offending me by questioning my mother’s fidelity. There isn’t much that can offend me in terms of my mother.

  “Yes. It was literally seconds after my mother ended the call she got about my father that her tablet had a red alert saying she’d become pregnant.”

  “And implanted in the baby was a microphone,” Cy says through the hand that blocks his mouth as he nibbles on his nail. “Until last night, we didn’t believe that technology existed at the time the second models of chips were being used. We’ve never seen it before. There must have been something that was unsettling to the county before your sister was born. It had to be more than just threats to leave Miles, unless you think your mom knew about us,” Cy speculates.

  Suddenly I’m questioning the opinion of my mother that I’ve held for so many years. The depiction where my mother was dangerously insane isn’t quite so fitting if she knew that a colony outside of any county existed. Maybe she wanted us to escape to that place before Evvie was born because she knew the evils that would soon come. Maybe she knew about the Sheridans, about a better life, and desperately wanted that for us. I talked her out of it. I talked my mother out of trying to escape while she was still pregnant with Evvie.

  “What did your mother do?” Cy asks me to try to see if she had the kind of profession, like my father’s, that could possibly lead to knowledge about an outside world.

  “She was a food analyst for a produce company, but she didn’t work after my father died. We lived off his inheritance and my grandmother’s help. I don’t see how she could have known about Sheridan. If she did, I certainly never knew it. She kept on for years, her conspiracies growing and her ability to function plummeting. In all that time she never mentioned anything that would have led me to believe that she knew about this place.”

  Cy contemplates my account for a while, mumbling out loud every now and again. “We’ll have to think more on it,” he tells me at last. “I know you stayed in the orphanage and Crewe told me about the foster. Is there anything else that you think is important to add?”

  “No,” I decide. Now would be the perfect time to tell him our real last name, but I don’t see how it will make any difference as far as our importance goes.

  The difference lying does make is that these people wouldn’t be able to trace me back inside Miles, or another county for that matter, if I find out that this town is something other than what I’ve been led to believe. By keeping our last name a secret, I’ll have left one viable option for Evvie and me to regain our identities if we have to get away from here and return to a Petri dish. I’ve already outlined a story, much of which is true, to tell the county officials. I’ll present us as unfortunate victims of a kidnapping who had our chips forcibly removed. I
can throw in elements of amnesia and brainwashing if I need to strengthen our case. I think they would take us back with this, if the mysterious importance and information we possess is not enough to do the trick. I’m not willing to give up an option for escape yet.

  “Hurry up! We’re late!” Crewe calls from ahead. He and Evvie abandon their bags on the sidewalk and make a left hand turn to run up a few stairs to the main doors of a multilevel school.

  “It’s passing time for the junior high and high school kids on the top level,” Cy says hurriedly as we quicken our pace. “Hopefully the administration has passed the word to extend the passing time and let the kids wander inside and out of the building. Our job is to get lost in the multilevel, thermal traffic,” he tells me. Cy lightly grabs my arm just before the steps to make sure I’m attentive to his directions. “Listen, the hospital is two blocks north of the school. When you go to the front desk, tell them you’re with Cy,” he says as he puffs up his chest and smiles mischievously. I shake my head and wait for him to continue. “Wait in the waiting room until you see me come in. And don’t worry,” he adds, “Crewe isn’t going to split from her.”

  Cy runs ahead and I accelerate my walk to an uncertain jog. Two boys who are exiting the doorway lift their hands in hopes for a high-five from the admirable Cy Davids. He doesn’t concede it, and shakes his head disapprovingly at the guilt-stricken boys. Again, an agent extracting thermal signals from inside the building could identify Cy as the hero giving and receiving high-fives from all of his faithful fans.

  I enter the building as a stranger and an intruder, but I immediately realize I won’t stay one for long. In brief passing, these teenagers discreetly nod, say hello, and welcome me. Not one of them is tied to a tablet, zoned into a game, film, or music video. None of them are in the middle of a video chat, TabFile update, or online auction. They’re simply with each other, happily talking. I have the utmost respect for them for understanding that being human is about being truly present with one another.