Extraordinary Lies

by Jennifer Alsever

“Jules…”

  Her mother’s scratchy voice interrupted Victoria. I couldn’t make out the words, just that irritating and familiar Cavanaugh sound. Victoria covered the mouthpiece and I could hear another muffled never mind.

  “Hey, I gotta go. Um. Let me know how it goes?”

  I felt so far away from her. As if our thick rope of friendship and kinship had unraveled, and now we each hung onto a few threads. Me in California on this wild psychic hunt, and her at our Lake Forest compound, sunbathing on the roof.

  I hung up. I’d go to the library and learn as much as possible about this town in North Dakota. Then I’d head over to the Dungeon, ready to grovel before Dr. Carrillo and hopefully get another invite to go try the cage.

  In the hallway, Minnie stood outside Henry’s door. Her hands on hips, she looked like she was trying to burn a hole in the wooden door with her eyes. I debated saying anything. The old me, the shy recluse, would walk past her with my gaze cast to the floor.

  But the new me, who felt euphoric from my remote viewing session and the campus sleepout with her and the others, made me do the opposite of what was normal.

  “What’re you doing?”

  She looked at me with a start. “Henry. That boy did something to Sammy. I know it.”

  “It’s possible he just went home?”

  I wanted to believe that. That was the easiest thing. He saw those orbs and strange blades, just like Dr. Monson. They’d scared her so badly she wanted to quit. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he left too.

  Minnie was a bull kicking up dirt. She squinted at the door. “Dr. Monson says that Sammy left all his things behind. Clothes. Toothbrush. Books,” she said, not taking her focus off his door. “Now I’m hearin’ his parents be questionin’ where he went. Last person to see him? That boy.” She thrust her finger at the door.

  I paused for just a moment before admitting that I had seen Samuel outside with Henry and a lady with red hair. My revelation turned up the volume of her intensity.

  “See? I just knew it!” She nodded.

  I turned to gaze at the door, as if that held answers.

  “Henry done got the nerve to start scootin’ close to me up in the hallway before our little break-in. He’s telling me the program here is one hell of a mess and that we should take a train ride to a new place to keep on gettin’ paid.”

  “Really?”

  “Uh-huh.” She nodded but didn’t take that fierce stare off the door, as if pure intent could draw out Henry. She banged again, and the wood shuddered. “He is barkin’ up the wrong tree. He won’t never get me on a train to this new lab with him. That Henry’s doin’ something real shady. And I’m gonna find out what it is.”

  27

  Charley

  Water dripped from my hair, and I wrapped a towel around my torso. I picked up the ringing phone, shivering.

  “Hello, Charley,” Katerina said on the line. This time her staccato voice didn’t have that familiar lilt. It was dry and cracked, and she sounded in a rush.

  “Hey, what’s up—”

  “Listen very carefully. I will be leaving, but do not worry for me. Whatever you do, do not call the police. It will only make things worse. About Julia’s aunt—”

  She stopped abruptly and the line sounded muffled. I couldn’t tell for sure, but I could’ve sworn I heard her say the words in danger. I didn’t even know she knew about Julia’s aunt.

  “Katerina, what’re you doing?” I asked, slightly irritated by the fact that I was standing there sopping wet while she decided to talk to someone else.

  I called for her again, and with each yell of her name, my ribcage shrank a couple centimeters. I hung up the phone hard and called her back. She was probably brushing her teeth and must’ve dropped the phone. Something simple like that, right?

  The line was busy. Over and over I called, but no Katerina.

  Water trickled from my hair onto my shoulder and down my arm before dribbling onto the floor. This, I decided, was serious. Something had happened to her. Something bad. I gazed at the rotary dial for a couple seconds, debating what to do next. She said don’t call the police. Why? That was what I should have done, of course.

  Quickly, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a peasant top, and held the door open while slipping on my clogs and grabbing my purse.

  Two doors down, I banged frantically on Julia’s door. No answer. Where was she? Irritated, I moved on to Cord’s door, beating furiously with my two fists, as if that could get him outside faster. I was about to turn away and run for the stairs when Cord flung open the door, wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt.

  “What’re you doing, Charley?” he asked.

  I stared at him for half a second, surprised to see his bare golden skin. “Katerina! Something has happened to her!”

  “Katerina?”

  “We have to go find her.”

  He looked at me warily. “I don’t get it.”

  “I’ll tell you on the bus. Put on a shirt and shoes. We’ve got to go.”

  Breathless, we ran to catch the 10:15 a.m. bus and a couple minutes later, the gurgling white bus with orange and yellow stripes pulled up. I only hoped we were on the right route. Standing in line to board behind a man in a black beret, I told Cord about Katerina’s phone call, and fireworks launched inside my stomach.

  “I don’t follow. Calling the cops makes it bad, how?” Cord asked, swiveling to look at me. Slowly, we climbed the stairs of the vehicle. Inside, I inhaled the faint scent of dust and stepped over a pair of polished shoes in the aisle until we settled on a seat in the back.

  “She didn’t say. But then she brought up Sabrina,” I said. “She just cut off, mid-sentence.”

  Cord grew stiff.

  My own chest heaved. “I couldn’t hear her very well. She sounded in a hurry and muffled. Like she was dropping the phone. I could’ve sworn I heard the words, in danger.”

  “Who’s in danger?”

  I ran my fingers over my mouth. “I’m assuming Sabrina. Julia said she had bruises on her face, right? I mean, that’s assuming she’s telling the truth and she did do remote viewing, and she really did see her aunt, not a ghost.”

  “You call her back? Katerina?”

  I nodded furiously. “Busy. That’s when I came to get you.”

  The bus swung around a corner, and I slid across the seat. As we turned the corner, Cord held tight to the window and wrapped his other arm around my shoulder. He smelled like fresh laundry.

  “You tell Julia?”

  “I couldn’t find her.”

  I flopped back onto the seat. “Katerina’s apartment is forty minutes or more from here. Anything could be happening to her.”

  “We should call the cops.”

  I shook my head, emphatic. “She specifically said that would make matters worse.” I sat up straight. “Maybe we should’ve gone to tell Henry?”

  Cord’s face soured. “That guy don’t care about nobody.”

  “He cares!” I said.

  He turned away and looked out the window. Jealous? I wondered.

  We got off at the bus stop and walked the rest of the way to Katerina’s lime-green apartment building. There, a man stood with his back to us in the shadows of the narrow stairway. We slowed our pace and exchanged a wary glance. Maybe it was our footsteps, or perhaps the sound of a passing car, but the man turned around.

  “Oh, hey kids.” The stranger was Dr. Strong, wearing a broad grin. The sight of him unwound the nerves that had coiled around me. “What’re you two doing here?”

  “Looking for Katerina,” Cord said. “Something weird … happened to her.”

  “Weird, huh?” Dr. Strong said. “Well, I’m sure she’s fine.” I craned my neck to peer into the row house’s windows, which jutted above the garage. The blinds were drawn.

  Dr. Strong opened the door wide and waved us inside. I wanted to ask why he had a key, but he answered before I could ask. “I own the apartment,” he explained. “Just leasing
it to her for her stay.”

  We nodded and followed him inside. The apartment looked like it had the last time I was there. Nothing was upended. Nothing looked out of place. I called for Katerina, searching the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen. “Nobody’s here.”

  Again, everything looked normal—except for one thing. In the corner of the room on a small table, the telephone receiver dangled off the hook, as if it had been dropped. Dr. Strong strode over, picked it up, and placed it on the base. A brown leather suitcase leaned against the leg of the wooden table.

  “Look,” I said, pointing. “She said she left in a hurry. Something made her run. Her suitcase is still here.”

  Dr. Strong frowned, placing a fist on his plump mouth. “What’d she say exactly?”

  As I relayed our conversation, my chest tightened again. Katerina was in trouble. I knew this. I felt it.

  “I see,” Dr. Strong said, turning to take in the room again. Then his pebble eyes fell on me, and a stern expression crossed his lumberjack face. “You do know, Charley dear, that Katerina is a girl who is full of lies.”

  It felt like he’d punched me in the gut. I glanced at Cord. His pursed lips told me he felt the same.

  “No-o-o,” I said in a quiet sing-song voice.

  Dr. Strong nodded, gazing over his long nose at the two of us. “Yes, yes, I know.”

  He took a couple steps to the door. “But practically everything out of her mouth is a lie. Her real name is Bisera. She lied about her abilities to get into the country. She’s not even Bulgarian.”

  “But she knew so much about Bulgaria,” I said, recalling the red-and-white bracelets and the stories that she told me. No way was she lying. “But she talked like someone from Bulgaria.” As soon as this argument passed my lips, I knew it was lame. Anyone could strike an accent, and I didn’t really know what Bulgarians actually sounded like. Still, I put my hands on my hips.

  Dr. Strong’s top lip curled under like a shriveled leaf. I suddenly hated him.

  “I told Charley we should call the cops,” Cord said.

  Dr. Strong clapped his hands together. “Nothing to go on here. Just a phone off the hook. No sign of struggle. She probably tried to avoid being deported. You do know we dismissed her from the program, right?”

  My nod was minuscule, but Cord looked confused. He didn’t know she was leaving. I felt closer to her because of this knowledge.

  “I’m sure you kids need to get back to campus for some experiments,” Dr. Strong said. “Have you been to the cage for remote viewing yet?”

  We shook our heads, simultaneously innocent. But he knew.

  He flipped a key in the air toward Cord, who caught it with two clapped hands.

  Dr. Strong turned around and examined the apartment. “I never agreed with Dr. Carrillo in limiting the use of that contraption, anyway.”

  Cord and I exchanged a look of confusion. He examined the small silver key, turning the jagged teeth in his fingers.

  “Let’s get a move on, kids,” Dr. Strong said, striding toward the door.

  I shook my head. “We’ll stay here and see if she comes back.” I felt roots extending from my feet.

  “Oh no, I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate me letting someone into her apartment while she was away,” Dr. Strong said, holding the door open for us to follow him out. “Besides, she may never come back.”

  The thick roots of my feet wrapped themselves around the floorboards. “I’m not a stranger. I’m a friend.”

  He jabbed a thumb at the exit. “Sorry, Charley. Time to leave.”

  I crossed my arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  He took a couple loud, thunking steps toward me and gripped my arm, a move that both surprised and hurt me. I wiggled out of his grip. “Get your hands off me!”

  “Hey!” Cord stepped forward, placing a hand on Dr. Strong’s arm. “Mister, please.”

  I glared at Dr. Strong, wriggling, until he finally let go. His grip was for sure going to leave marks. I rubbed the sore spot on my arm.

  Dr. Strong leaned into me, and his breath smelled like onions. His top lip curled up on one side, and his voice sounded cutting. A knife being sharpened in the back kitchen of the diner. “If you kids stay here longer, I fear you may never leave this property.”

  My face flushed, and after a long pause I glanced at Cord, who looked equally unbalanced. He gave me a quick nod, and cautiously, I gave in. With a quick scan of the room and guilt flooding me, I left the apartment. The front door slammed with a thud. The lock clicked, and I felt so incredibly desperate. The sound was so final.

  I moved fast to the sidewalk, desperate to escape Strong’s threatening vibe. In the sunlight outside, he rubbed his mustache before marching away.

  Cord studied the key before looking up at the apartment and then me. “What now?”

  28

  Julia

  Cord and Charley caught me in the hallway outside my room. Winded, they poured out the story of Katerina, each of them interrupting the other.

  “So Dr. Strong tells us that he owns the place and after a quick look, he told us we better get out. We said no, but he told us that if we didn’t, we might never leave.” Charley popped her gum between her teeth. She pulled up the sleeve of her blouse and showed me a red mark. “Look what that asshole did to my arm.”

  “That guy, he’s bad news,” Cord added. My brain felt like an overpacked suitcase. I couldn’t handle any more information.

  “I think he got fired from the program,” I said. “I heard Dr. Carrillo talking in the cafeteria. Apparently, the whole program is falling apart. Dr. Monson was talking about paranormal things happening in her room, too, and she’s taking a leave of absence.”

  “Jesus!” Charley said, leaning against the wall. “This is nuts. Everyone is vanishing. Have you seen Katerina?”

  “No,” I admitted, “not for a while.”

  A tickling sensation sprouted inside me. What if the same thing that happened to Aunt Sabrina had now happened to Katerina? They tested us, moved us elsewhere. Maybe they somehow extracted what made us special and left us to waste away. This was the start of the end of each of us.

  Charley must have seen the look on my face, because she put two hands on my cheeks and peered into my eyes.

  “Hey, you,” she said. For a half a second, I thought she was going to kiss me—she was so close. The sweet scents of baby powder and Juicy Fruit gum mingled together. “I’ll find Katerina. You handle your aunt—she’s in trouble. So you need to get to that cage. Stat.”

  She let go of my face with a jerk, spun to my side, slung an arm over my shoulder, and began walking us down the hall. “We got a key.”

  “A key? To what?” I asked, not sure where she was headed.

  “The cage. And you’re going tonight.”

  “What? Seriously? How?”

  “Dr. Strong,” Cord said. “He just gave it to us.”

  “Why?”

  “I think,” she said, “he’s trying to get back at Dr. Carrillo. He thinks all of us should be able to try it.”

  We walked down the metal stairwell and into the lobby.

  “Uh, where are we going?” I asked. Charley’s arm was now uncomfortable on my shoulder, and I wriggled free as casually as possible.

  “We’re gonna eat something and then sneak into the cage so you can meet your aunt like you want.”

  Relief trickled through me. Maybe we would untangle this mess. Maybe we wouldn’t all be banished after all. Maybe our psychic abilities were going to save us all. I exhaled through rounded lips.

  Outside, the sound of crickets filled the air as the three of us walked together across the lawn to the cafeteria.

  Three strangers who lived thousands of miles apart now bound together. We can do this. No doubt.

  As we got closer to the cafeteria, that optimism evaporated. Red and blue lights flashed in the parking lot, and men in white carried a stretcher with a young woman on it to an ambulance. She wor
e black cat-eye glasses and looked familiar.

  “That’s one of the grad students!” Charley said.

  We took a few steps closer, but a police officer stepped in front of us. “Nothing to see here.”

  “What happened to her?” Charley asked.

  “Heart attack.” The turtle-faced officer turned his back to us, and a baton hung from his right hand. “You can still eat in the cafeteria, but we need you to step out of the way.”

  Slowly, we walked in a wide arc around the scene and up the steps to the cafeteria. “Heart attack?” Charley whispered. “What the heck?”

  Cord’s gaze followed the paramedics as they slammed the ambulance doors shut with a thud. “She didn’t do no out-of-body testing, though.”

  “Where’s Minnie?” I asked, looking around. I felt frantic, the feeling of swarming bees beneath my ribcage.

  “Haven’t seen her,” Charley said. “You?”

  “She told me she thought Henry was suspicious,” I said.

  She swatted her hand. “Henry? He’s harmless.” She didn’t sound like she believed herself.

  Cord responded with a miniscule headshake and grimace.

  “Speaking of which, I haven’t seen him either,” I said.

  We strode into the cafeteria hesitantly, as if we could be the next people to just poof, disappear.

  Late that night in the Dungeon, the air was even cooler than normal, and I rubbed goosebumps off my bare arms. Charley, Cord, and I gazed at the metal contraption in the corner of the room.

  “I don’t know…,” I said. “We shouldn’t be here.”

  “We got permission.” Charley patted me on the back before nudging me forward.

  “Permission from a guy who had an ax to grind and was fired,” I said.

  Charley turned to me. “It was meant to be. Your aunt needs you.” Her voice grew quiet. “And you need her.”

  She was right. Thank goodness I had these two. Inhaling, I just jumped inside. The metal squeaked and the door clanged. The sound felt even louder than normal, and it made me freeze, as if someone might stop me at any minute.