The Madness Project (The Madness Method)

by Bralick, J. Leigh

  “You know how Pont is,” he said, then flashed me a glance, scrutinizing me. I must have had my ignorance written all over my face, because he twitched one shoulder and said, “He’s a closed book. He seems to be all right, though.”

  We sat a few minutes in silence, listening to the rumble of the fire mingling with the pulse of thunder. My thoughts drifted, slipping from truth to nonsense, again and again, but I couldn’t make myself stand up and go to bed.

  “Suppose I’ll have to do some more…research,” I murmured after a while. “Though they might get suspicious if I go back a second time.”

  “Don’t try it. I’m surprised they let you in the first time. They don’t let any outsiders in. None. Doesn’t matter if you’re the King himself.”

  “My father doesn’t even know what they’re doing?” I asked, biting through the word father.

  “He doesn’t care,” Zagger said, without malice. “They show him what he’ll be interested in—studies about diseases and cures, that sort of thing. As long as they keep feeding him that information, he leaves the rest to them. And as far as anyone knows, they run completely unfettered down there.”

  “It’s dangerous,” I said. “I don’t like thinking what they could be doing.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m going to try,” I said. “One more time. I’ve got the—”

  I froze, the words dying on my tongue. Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I’d seen a shadow move. Zagger studied me, brows draw in a silent question. I jerked my gaze toward my shoulder and he followed it, lips pursed, muscles tense. After a moment he turned back to me.

  “I don’t—”

  I tapped my knuckle under my chin and he fell silent. My blood churned, numbing as ice, and my heart hammered emptily in my chest. All I could think, over and over again, was the sound of a rifle shot and my mother’s scream.

  “Your Highness,” Zagger said, getting to his feet. “I think I’m going to turn in.”

  I slouched back, forcing myself to look indifferent, to sound indifferent. “Do as you like,” I said.

  He moved out of my view, and I resisted the urge to turn around and watch. I listened to him prowling around the room for a few moments, then he sighed and came back to his chair.

  “Nothing?” I asked, feeling stupid.

  He met my gaze and shook his head. “Not nothing,” he said, and held out his hand.

  I reached out mine, and he dropped a button into my open palm. It was a plain thing, just a wooden disk with three holes for the thread. Not the sort of thing I or any of my servants would wear on their clothes. I frowned and twisted it around in my fingers.

  “Where was it?”

  “By the wall,” he said, nodding toward the corner where I’d seen the shadow.

  “In here?” I murmured. “How…”

  No one could get in through the windows (or out—I’d tried the first night I moved into these chambers from the nursery). The bottom row of panes opened, but they were barely a hand’s length across. That left only my own door, and Zagger’s door in his apartment that led into the servants’ stairwell.

  He must have known what I was thinking, because he said, “Mine’s locked. It always is.”

  “I know.”

  “That means…the Ghost?”

  I shuddered and bent over my knees. “Must be.”

  If it was the same Jixy who had shot my father, he could move in and out of spaces at will. Including my bed chamber. Suddenly I was wide awake. There was no way I could sleep now. He could still be here, too, hiding somewhere else in the room, watching, waiting…

  But he wasn’t a Cloak. He would be visible as soon as he finished moving, and I would surely see him. I hoped.

  Maybe I shouldn’t care, a nasty little voice whispered from the dark spaces of my mind.

  I flinched and drove it away. “I have to get out of here,” I whispered. “I can’t stay.”

  Zagger didn’t protest—not that I’d expected him to. Any other day he would have left at once to get the motorcar ready, but he didn’t tonight. He went to the door and peered out, then stood there waiting for me to join him. I got up after a moment and followed him into the hall. Shadow shifted behind me, but when I turned to see, I found only emptiness.

  “Who are you?” I asked suddenly, stopping and planting my feet. “Don’t hide like a coward.”

  Zagger swore and came back to my side. “Your Highness,” he hissed. “Are you insane?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Not today,” a voice said in the shadows.

  I jumped. The silhouette of a man flashed in the corridor. Just for a moment. Just long enough that I knew he was staring straight at me. And then he was gone.

  A breeze stirred behind me.

  “One day…”

  I spun around. Zagger was white as a sheet, revolver drawn and hammer cocked, his other hand stretched out toward me. The silhouette vanished behind him.

  “You won’t be there to protect him.”

  My blood turned cold, because all of a sudden, everything made sense.

  “Why don’t you just kill me?” I shouted, clenching my fists at the shadows. “You’ve got the chance now! Just do it!”

  But the hall was empty, and silent. We stood breathless for endless moments, waiting, but nothing else happened.

  “What the hell was that?” Zagger growled, still staring around, still holding his arm toward me, ready to drive me behind him in an instant.

  “Don’t you see?” I said. My voice sounded thin and pale in the shadows. “It was always me. I was the one he meant to shoot, not Trabin. I should have died that day.”

  Chapter 2 — Hayli

  The day after I escaped the Science Ministry, rumors were flying about the Hole like mad that some of the skitters had seen Shade prowling about, but none of them could tell me where he was or where he might have gone. No one but Shade’s little crew knew the truth of the bad business he’d fallen into, but that didn’t stop Vim and Link from making nasty comments about how Shade couldn’t handle the streets. And that just made me furious because I was afraid they were right.

  Shade had always seemed so strong. I couldn’t conjure a reason why life with us would wear him down so bad that he’d want to forget it all. I wanted to believe it wasn’t his choice, that he’d been snared by Branigan and that was the end, but deep inside I knew I was wrong. I only wished I knew how to help, because it broke my heart to see Shade floundering and fighting so hard to hide it from the rest of us.

  Bugs found me out in the enclosure after dinner, in that spectral hour between the sun setting and the gas lamp coming on. He didn’t say a word, just sat down beside me against the wall and pulled up his knees.

  “What’s bothering, Bugs?” I asked, giving him a little hug.

  He gave a shuddering sigh. “Why does Shade keep lamming off? Is it he dan’ like us anymore?”

  “Not a bit,” I said, trying to sound cheerier than I felt. “He’s just got lots of important business to take care of.”

  “He looks awful,” he said. “Every time I see him. Like he’s sick. But he won’t let no one help him.”

  I tightened my grip on his shoulder, leaning my cheek on the spiky tufts of his hair. “Dan’ you worry about Shade, Bugs. Just watch, he’s ganna save us all.”

  Bugs laughed and peeked up at me. “Sorry Hayli, I was supposed to tell you that Kantian wants to see you.”

  I swallowed, hard. I hadn’t talked to Kantian all by myself since before I’d seen him at Kalethelia. Every time I’d seen him since, I’d got a prickly sort of uncomfortableness. He was Kantian, and he was the Boss, and he’d made sure I stayed alive all these years, so why did I suddenly feel afraid of him? I’d always felt a bit fitsy around him, but that wasn’t the same as fear. Not this kind of fear. This kind of fear clammed me up inside, made me want to fly away. Made me doubt him.

  But I couldn’t let Bugs know that, so I tousled his hair and scrambled to
my feet. “Thanks Bugs. I’ll gan and find him. And keep an eye out for Shade, but dan’ you worry about him. He knows what he’s about.”

  “Yeah,” Bugs said, wide-eyed. “He’s gotta come back soon, because I need to show him the new punch I learned!”

  He scampered off into the shadows, and I sighed and made my way into the Hole. Kantian was waiting for me in one of the big offices that had probably belonged to the factory foreman. The place had never really been cleaned up after the fire. It was still a jumble of broken furniture and scattered papers, so faded now you couldn’t even read them. I wondered why Kantian had picked this office to meet me in, except that it was tucked far away from the living areas of the Hole, far out of earshot of the other skitters.

  “Hayli,” he said, waving me in.

  He used his whole hand—at least that was a good sign. I slipped into the room and he gestured at the door, so I closed it quietly behind me, leaving us with just the light of an oil lamp to fight the shadows.

  “Yes, Boss?” I asked, standing next to the door like I needed an escape.

  “You helped Shade with the Macallum riot, didn’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “Good, that’s good.” He sat on the desk, clasping his hands and studying me thoughtfully. “I was impressed by you lot’s work there. But I’m a bit worried that Shade won’t do anything with the ground he gained. People are starting to forget what they got so angry about. Give it too much more time and things will just slip back to normal.”

  “He had to squirrel,” I said. “Lay low a few days.”

  “Yes, I know,” he said. “I sent him to the palace to do some investigations.”

  I frowned. He’d sent Shade to the palace? He should have sent us both together. But Shade could’ve come back and asked me to go with him, and he didn’t. I sighed. Of course he didn’t.

  For just a moment I thought about how I’d met Prince Tarik in the Science Ministry. Could Shade have disguised himself to look like the Prince? Could that have been…? No, that was impossible. Shade didn’t know aught about the Prince. He didn’t even know what Tarik looked like—he never paid any attention to the papers. And he sure wouldn’t have known aught about microscopes and Psych. Labs. I thought it might have been funny, if Shade had been with me. I wondered what they would have thought of each other.

  “What’d you need to see me for, Boss?” I asked, sticking my hands in my pockets.

  “I hear you did a bit of infiltration yourself,” he said. “Did you find out anything?”

  I swallowed. Was that really a scientist you were talking to at Kalethelia? Was that really Dr. Kippler?

  “I went to the Science Ministry,” I said. “Div’n find much, though. Except they’re doing things to mages. I dan’ na what. But I think whatever they’re doing is about to get worse.” I froze when I realized I’d been rubbing the back of my neck. I shoved my hand back in my pocket and said, “I better tell Rivano about that.”

  “You think they’ll go after all the mages?” he asked, eyes glinting at me. “They’ll have a serious challenge if they try it.”

  I bit my lip. “Can I gan now, Boss, or have you got a job for me?”

  Kantian nodded, slapping his hands on his thighs. “Scram. If you can get on the palace grounds again, see what else you can find out. Might be we have a battle to get ready for.”

  I nodded and laid my hand on the door latch.

  “Oh,” he said. “You’ll want to report to Rivano as soon as you can. I’ve told him I think you’re ready to start doing more work for him, and I believe he’s got some already lined up for you. And send Shade my way soon as you see him. I want to know what he’s found out. He’d better have something for me or he might find himself on his own. I have no patience for kids who can’t put the good of the Hole over their own private wants.”

  I nodded and made my escape.

  The other skitters were in the lounge, causing a royal ruckus, but I barely had to scan the room to see that Shade still wasn’t there. I gritted my teeth and stalked up to the nearest group of them.

  “You seen Shade?” I asked. They stared at me, round-eyed, like I’d sprung out of the cement, so I added, “Kantian’s looking for him.”

  Bobs shrugged, his round face paler than ever. “I dan’ na, Hayli. Haven’t seen him for ages.”

  “I saw him earlier,” Whip said, barely whispering. “But then he left again.”

  “Again?”

  I clapped my hands on my cap, grinding my teeth with frustration and worry. None of the other skitters had a jot to add to that, so finally I sighed and turned to leave. A hand caught my arm just as I reached the door. Anuk. He didn’t try to draw me back, though. Instead he pushed me forward, out into the hallway.

  “You got a ken where Shade is?” I asked, scowling up at him.

  “Saw him about an hour back,” Anuk said, eyes shadowed. “He didn’t look so good, Hayli. I mean, worse than usual. I’m worried.”

  I hesitated. “I know. Me too.”

  “Something’s got him…he’s going through something and I don’t know how to help.”

  I patted his arm. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said, but my lie didn’t convince anyone. “Which way’d he gan?”

  He let out all his breath and jerked his head. “Back out the west door. By the park.”

  “Thanks. Say,” I said, spotting his torch on the crate behind him. “Can I borrow that a bit?”

  “Sure.” He swiped it off the crate and dropped it in my hands. “Careful, Hayli. Let me know if you need me.”

  I nodded, my voice skitting out on me, and slipped away to the west porch. But if Shade had been out at the wall, he’d already left by the time I got there. I frowned, peeking into all the shadows, finding nothing.

  “Shade?” I whispered into the darkness.

  Still nothing.

  I picked my way over to the wall and leaned on the dry stones. The darkness seemed thicker out in the park, with its hissing pipes and sulphur stench. Shade wouldn’t have gone out there. No one in their right mind would go out there.

  Then again, that didn’t exactly define Shade’s current condition, so I flicked the torch on and swung the beam over the ground, over the brambles and the overgrown weeds and the misshapen boughs of the trees. Over the dark silhouette of a boy, slumped against a tree trunk.

  I swallowed. Then I hollered, “Shade!”

  He didn’t move.

  I’d never crossed the wall. Never never never. Few things terrified me, but that park did. But Shade was out there…not moving. I gulped back my fear and clambered onto the wall. Straddled it for the longest time, then dropped to the ground beyond. The mossy soil squished under my feet, softer than I expected. It masked my footsteps as I stalked forward, swinging the light back and forth to make sure no rabby squirrels were sneaking up on me.

  I stopped beside Shade and shone the light full in his face.

  He was deathly pale, pale as ice. He should have looked sickly, only he didn’t. Somehow I even caught my heart beating faster than ever when his dark lashes fluttered against his cheeks. He wore only his white shirtsleeves and trousers, and I glimpsed a few splotches of dried blood flecked over his side. I couldn’t tell if it was his blood or, worse, someone else’s. A minute and he didn’t move, and the light just gleamed off his white tattoo, then all at once he flinched and threw up an arm to block the brightness.

  “What’re you doing out here, Shade?” I asked, dropping to a crouch beside him. “You must be frozen.”

  He shuddered away from me. Some mumbled words fell from his lips, but I couldn’t pick them out. He curled his knees up to his chest and hid his face from me.

  “Leave.”

  I caught that word.

  “No,” I said. “What’s wrong with you? You sick?”

  He laughed, a cold, hollow laugh. “No.”

  “Shade, you’re scaring me.”

  I reached out to touch his shoulder. Even with his face
hid, he must’ve had some kind of extra sense warning him, because his hand shot out and knocked the torch from my hand. It spun off into the darkness. Hit a tree, and flickered out. I scrambled after it, groping through the darkness until I found it next to a reeking metal pipe. Shuddering, I slammed the torch against my hand once, then twice. Nothing. I couldn’t see Shade at all now. I couldn’t see anything.

  The wind picked up, scurrying through branches and tossing my hair into my face. A little sliver of moonlight crept through the leaves, but it was skittish and winked out behind the clouds before it showed me anything.

  I scowled and turned about.

  “You pulling that disappearing trick on me again?”

  “Just go,” his voice rasped, harsh in the darkness.

  The torch sputtered into feeble life. Shade hadn’t disappeared. He still slouched against the tree, one arm pressed against his forehead, the other clutching his stomach, his eyes gleaming in the light. My heart thudded, painfully loud, turning my stomach.

  “What’ve you done?” I asked, barely breathing the words. “What’ve you got yourself into again?”

  “Not your problem.”

  His cheeks warmed, red splotches standing out stark against the whiteness of his skin, like a fever. I crept toward him, blinking back the burn of tears.

  “You gotta come back inside,” I said. “You need help. Please let me help you.”

  “Stay away,” he growled, shooting upright, an electric bolt in human form. “Not saying it again.”

  “Why?”

  The energy fizzled. “Because I said—”

  “No!” I almost shouted it at him. “That’s not what I mean! Why’re you doing this?”

  This close, I could smell the liquor on him. Could see it in the shiftless way he leaned back. Could hear it in the shattered words that drifted from his lips. And my heart was breaking, and I couldn’t do a thing about it.

  “Dan’ do this to yourself,” I whispered. “Please.”

  “Why do you care? We’re all just lies…” He laughed, leaning his head back against the tree. “I should have died a long time ago. Been better if I did. The world’s breaking and it’s all broken. I break everything I touch…”