At Night's End

by Benham, Tara

  "Thank you Henry. I'm sure these sandwiches will be delicious."

  "Yes, Henry. Thank you so much for the sandwiches. I'm sure they were made with kindness and thought...." She had dragged out the “so” in a very teasing manner. I dragged her away so quickly that she almost dropped our sandwiches. There was a deep crimson creeping up Henry’s neck to his cheeks, and from the heat I felt on my face I'm sure that mine was matching. I wanted to strangle Ever and kiss her at the same time. His embarrassment let me know that he did care some for me, but at the same time, the next time we were together I would probably not be able to speak to him or even look him in the eyes. Ever normally didn't do anything like that so I was ready to kick her butt when we got to the lab. Just as I opened my mouth to say something to her, she busted out laughing. She was laughing so hard, I ended up laughing with her.

  "Why would you do that? I was so mad at you, but now all I can do it laugh!" I tried to sound upset through the giggles, but it wasn't working. Ever wasn't even able to talk yet because she was still laughing so hard. We were leaning against the walls just outside the lab doors. The tears in my eyes were blurring my vision so much I couldn't see which buttons were which, in order to type in the entrance code. "Please, stop laughing or we will never get finished." I tried again, and was able to successfully input the numbers. Ever stumbled in after me, still breaking into occasional fits of laughter. I had already explained to Ever Dad's instructions. We found his research computer and turned it on. While waiting for it to boot, I asked Ever again, why she had said that to Henry.

  Grinning, "I'm sorry, it's just that Micah has been telling me that you're all that Henry talks about to him about lately. When he brought out the sandwiches with that goofy lovey-dovey smile, something just snapped and I had to say it. I am sorry. Honestly." While she did look contrite, I knew she enjoyed the awkwardness that followed her comments. "Forgiven?" Ever honestly was my only friend other than Darcy, and I guess technically Denver. She’d been around for so long and we never really fight that forgiving her was really easy.

  I sighed, and then offered a half smile, "Forgiven." I don't know what I'd do without Ever. She was my best friend and my other sister. Without her and Darcy I would probably become insane, and some kind of hermit. Bringing up the program Dad had told me to, I began searching for the codes he wanted me to type in.

  "Dad had said it'll probably take a minimum of an hour to upload everything on to the computer. However, he said that it didn't matter how long it took, one of us at least had to be down here at all times. Do you think it's the research he's doing up there?" Dad had never had me do this before, but he's never had to go away to do this kind of work before either, so maybe he just wanted to make sure he kept the correct records. I typed in the codes in the correct file areas, and it started downloading.

  "I think that it's probably just the information. You know how Dad likes to keep all of his research saved so that he has files for protection reasons." Just as she finished there was a beep on the computer, we turned to see a noticed had popped up "TO CONTINUE TO DOWNLOAD THIS FILE YOU MUST OPEN AND SAVE". Ever clicked open then save, and a video started to download. On the video was my Dad speaking to his computer.

  "Subject 243 has not been receptive to any of the treatments given, I'm not sure how many of these reactions have been seen amongst the other test subjects, but if it is a common reaction, this needs to be revealed to the public. Even now with knowing the biological make up and effects that the pill has had on 243 we still continue to wear the protection suits. There is no longer conscious cognitive activity, but the subject still has all signs of life. I have created a mixture of medications that are on file that should help reverse these affects. Updates will be done in 3 hours after the subject has had time to let the new medication circulate through his system" The screen faded black and the downloading of the remaining files continued.

  "I wonder why no other videos are popping up."

  "Ever, what do you think that video meant?" There were new knots in my stomach now. I wasn’t sure what the video meant but I did know it didn’t sound good.

  "I don't know. If we could find the other videos, maybe we could figure it out. I just don't understand why this video needed to be opened, but none of the others did."

  "I don't know. We could call Dad?"

  "NO! He would not be happy at all Caid, I'm sure he thought these files would upload without us ever having seen the information. We can't let him know that we saw his videos. Plus, we can call Baxlie and ask him a few generalized questions about computers right?" Baxlie Carter was the principles son. He was the same age as me and Ever. When we were younger, Baxlie was always at my house because of how close his parents and my parents use to be. He was still friendly to Ever and I now but we weren't on the best of terms. Baxlie was smart, very smart but he was popular too. He had decided to do two years at the local college as well. No one understood why though. There were rumors he had full ride scholarships, but I’m sure he had his reasons. He was in one of my classes this semester but we only spoke on occasion.

  "Yeah, I don't see why not. We can call from the lab phone. Do you know his number?" I asked.

  Ever pulled out her cell phone to retrieve his number.

  I raised my eye brows "Why do you have his number in your phone?"

  Ever gave me a sheepish grin. "Baxlie is hot, and you know it. Since we aren't allowed to date, I got his number so I can text him sometime. He's fun to talk to on occasion, and he makes me laugh."

  "What about Micah?"

  "I like Micah. Baxlie is just a friend, besides he likes some other girl." The sincerity in her tone made me stop teasing. Ever was not one to jump from guy to guy like a new fashion, she was pretty hooked on Micah, so if she said Baxlie was just a friend, then just a friend he was. He is hot though, I agree. Baxlie looks a lot like his mom, he's got dark hair, light brown eyes that had an almond shape that were always dancing with laughter, and nice chiseled features. He was tall, and thin, but he was toned. Most people were laughing when they were around Baxlie, he was full of good natured pranks and jokes. Once he hacked the school computer network so that when all the screens popped up after being turned on, they read "BAXLIE IS THE MASTER!" instead of "HOME OF THE HARDIN WOLVES". Being that his dad is the principal of the school, he got in school detention, but that was about it. We all teased him for being the principal's pet, but he just laughed, because Baxlie was like that.

  "Hello?" Man his voice was really deep on the phone, it kind of stunned me for a minute. "Hello?"

  "Oh, um... Hello, Baxlie? This is McCaid, Dobbins." I was seriously sounding like a total dork right now. Which Ever must have agreed to because I heard a snort beside me as I was finishing my helloes.

  "Hey, McCaid. Dobbins" He chuckled. I'm pretty sure not only was I the only McCaid in the school, but probably in the world. "What's up? Where were you the past two days, is everything okay?" We had English 101 together, but I was surprised he had even noticed I was missing. I wondered why he would be concerned for us.

  "Yeah, everything is good, we had to stay and help Dad around the house. Sorry, I was calling because I have a computer question. I'm a bit of a spaz when it comes to computers." The last part was a lie, we had to be proficient with computer use too, under Dad's expectations, but sometimes there were things that I didn't know, like why only some of the files needed to be opened and not others.

  "Okay, shoot."

  "We, meaning Ever and I, are downloading some files, and some of the videos needed to be opened and saved, and others didn't. Does that mean the other videos aren't downloading?"

  "No, they should be downloading just fine. Some have to be opened because of length, or the code used to make the video. There could be a number of different reasons. All videos end with the same three identifiers, like .jpeg or .GIF. Open the one you had to open again and see if there are any others on the files with the same identifier. McCaid, I could come help you with something
if you need me to." Baxlie was asking to come to my house to help us. I wonder if she thinks Ever likes him since they text. Everyone knows that Ever lives with us, so that's probably why he wanted to come over. I made up my mind that I would have to tell Ever to tell him they are just friends.

  "Not right now, no. Thank you Baxlie. If I do need help though, I'll give you a call okay?"

  "Sounds good."

  "Bye, Baxlie."

  "Bye, McCaid."

  As soon as I hung up, I explained everything he had just told me to Ever. Then I told her about him offering his assistance. "Are you sure that he knows you only like him as a friend? He was asking about why I wasn’t in classes, and if we were okay. Ever's smirk was growing into a full blown smile as I continued to talk. "Seriously, what are you smiling about?"

  "You! You're funny. Do you really have no idea the crush that Baxlie has on you?" She seemed amused and awed that it was possible I was that clueless. I was trying to think about the times when I was around him; he didn't seem to put more attention on me than on others. When we did speak it wasn’t anything extraordinary or even awkward. It was normal conversation. I honestly couldn’t think why anyone would think his communications with me could be construed as flirting let alone enough to have built a crush.

  "He does not have a crush on me." Ever cocked her eye brow and gave me a 'are you kidding me' look. She doesn't lie to me, so I knew that she must be telling the truth. I just couldn't understand how I could have missed signs that he was interested. Fortunately we didn't have time to dwell on this right now; we needed to finish downloading Dad's files. "Come on, let's finish these downloads, so we can search for other videos, and make it to the meeting at one." I rolled my eyes when I said meeting.

  The guy who was the head of the team for the fence installation was a real tool. He had some superiority complex where he thought he was someone special because Dad hired him. I had to bite my tongue a few times to keep myself from reminding him that my Dad invented the design, and that Ever was in on the design as well. To keep the peace and to get the fence done as quickly as possible I didn't say anything, but made several faces to Ever behind his back. She would keep her poker face, but her eyes twinkled with delight. I had told Dad about his behavior, and that I wasn't sure we could trust him to get rid of the design plans when he was finished. Dad said it was okay, he had thought of that, and he would send me an email on Sunday with further instructions. Between the two of us, Dad and I agreed that he probably would sell the ideas, so I wondered what safety net Dad had installed into the blueprints so that would make it so that they couldn't be sold. My dad was clever, and if he was suspicious of the honesty of those he hired, he always found loop holes to outsmart them. The computer beeped again signaling that the downloads were complete. We followed the rest of Dad's instructions, but instead of immediately shutting down the computer, we searched for other videos. We found 3 others that had the same identifiers as the first one we watched.

  "Do you think we should watch them? I mean maybe Dad videos all of his research information, and we haven't ever watched the others."

  "Caid, that video set off red flags. I'm not sure why, but I definitely think that we should look into each of the videos."

  "Okay, I just feel like I'm breaking a rule, or doing something illegal you know?" I wasn't against breaking rules, anyone could tell you that. Ever and I were both accustomed to being grounded, Darcy rarely got punished. I'm not sure if it was because she didn't break the rules, or if she was cleverer and never got caught. Ever's thoughts were that she never didn't anything against the rules, that she was a good follower and followers listened to the rules. It sounds mean the way we discuss Darcy, but gosh she really did listen to and instructions to the tee. She was the type of person that would cook a meal by the recipe without ever delineating from the measurements. As for me, I added more of things or less of things according to the way it tasted. We were night and day, but we complimented each other well. Dad said that he and Mom were blessed with two opposites that way each of them had an ally. He enjoyed talking about Mom, as long as it was during the times before she got sick. Dad would answer questions about when she was sick, but he didn't freely speak of that time. He tried so hard to come up with a cure for cancer before it was too late, but by the time it was available on the market Mom was no longer a candidate. She had told him many times that she was okay with it, but he never could accept that.

  BEEP... BEEP... The call button for the monitor on the wall started to beep before we could start the first video on the list. Ever got up to push the answer button because she was closest to the wall.

  "This is Ever."

  "Ever , you and McCaid are going to be late if you don't get up here. It's almost one, what have you all been doing?" Darcy sounded more curious than mad. She didn't mind that Dad hardly asked her to do stuff for him especially in his lab. She was frightened of this place. She said it was dark and creepy. Darcy was more likely to help in the kitchen or be the social butterfly entertaining guest than to do stuff in the lab. She was good at those things so it worked out well.

  "We're on our way; we were downloading information for Dad. Just let us shut down the computer and we'll be there. Make sure to get drinks for the guys please. Thank you" I was across the room by the computer, but you didn't have to talk very loud for your voice to transmit. I was already starting the shut down when she answered that she would. "We'll come back down later tonight or sometime tomorrow before Dad gets home to watch them."

  Upstairs everyone was already sitting around the table waiting for us. Darcy had kept her word and had set out drinks for each of the guys, and for me and Ever. She also had Denver setting out cookies and cupcakes. I was impressed with how much both girls had been helping while Dad was gone these past few days. At the head of the table with Mr. Sallen, the head of the team, it took all the control I had in order to keep from rolling my eyes. He was heavy set and reminded me of a kid who was proud of himself for starting trouble with others. He was puffed up and smug sitting at the head table waiting for the meeting to start. To the right of him sat his son, who was his assistance. Milo Sallen looked like his dad in the face, but was a lot friendlier; most of our correspondence was with him, which I thought was a smart business plan for them, because if we had first met Mr. Sallen, Dad probably wouldn't have hired their company. Milo smiled at us as we sat, but Mr. Sallen gave us a look of contempt like we were wasting his precious time.

  "Nice of you to join us Miss Dobbins, Miss Clemont." He sneered the words at us which made Milo shake his head. The rest of the guys at the table pretended not to make any acknowledgement at all to the admonishment. Besides Henry, Master Sergeant Long and Micah the rest all worked for Mr. Sallen and probably was either used to the treatment, or were afraid of losing their jobs. I'm sure Henry would have spoken up, but Master Sergeant Long sent him a weary look, which shut him down before he started. Darcy and Denver stopped halfway between the kitchen and the table to look to see how we, especially.

  Ever would react. Neither of us did well with that sort of attitude, and since we were technically in charge, he was pushing his chances with us.

  "Why thank you, Mr. Sallen. I'm glad you are happy to see us. As I'm sure you know we were very busy making out the check that Mr. Dobbins left for you and your workers. He put us in charge of making sure you all get paid for a job well done." There was a sickly sweet undercurrent to Ever's reply that made me smirk, and Master Sergeant Long to wink at us. Darcy and Denver giggled some, but immediately straightened back up when I shot them a warning look. I was not too keen of Mr. Sallen, but I didn't want to start any unnecessary drama with him either.

  "Yes, thank you kindly.” He did not look amused but did have the intelligence to not say anything further on the matter. “Now, if you are ready we have the training manuals to go through, and the access bracelets to set up." Mr. Sallen stood up and passed around the packets that had the instructions and details of the fence. "Ea
ch of you need to review the book, and will get a crash course on how to use the bracelets to allow the fence to identify you at any point in time. These bracelets are water proof, and should never be taken off so that you always have the ability to not only activate the fence, but also so that you can be sure that you are identified and allowed in if someone else has activated the fence. Any questions so far?" Mr. Sallen shot a weary look at me, but so far I was good. I was flipping through the pages and examining the steps while waiting for him to continue. "The plan is for each of you to read this packet for the next hour, and we will meet back here, review any questions you may have, and then head out to the fence area to start the hands on training. I would like to have the packet reviewed and the bracelet set up before dark."

  We all nodded and went our separate ways. Ever and I went to my bedroom, Darcy and Denver to the living room, and Henry, Micah and Master Sergeant Long went to the guest room they were sharing. The packet was 100 pages, but it had a lot of illustrations, so it wouldn't take an hour to make our way through it. I plopped down on my bed, and Ever stretched out on the floor. This morning she had braided her hair down the middle of her back. She was wearing very plain white shorts, and a blue tank top. She had put on sneakers that were not very Ever like, but that would function well walking around the property. Ever was stressed, and it was noticeable, when she wore "boring" clothes it was a sign. I shouldn't have been surprised when she let out her "ask me what's wrong” sigh as she was taking off her shoes and getting comfortable on the floor.

  "What’s up? I know your sighs." That sigh was the one she made when she wanted to make a comment, but she wanted someone to ask her what was wrong first. She wasn't much of a complainer, but when asked she felt that she could open up a little more. I normally caught on quicker than most, but I hadn't had time to until now.