by Matt Ryan
Jackie ran to the left, making a beeline to the first Red door. I kept watching the Blue side, expecting Leo or some other person to yell out for us. I wondered if the Blues had even noticed we were gone. Most likely, they’d been thrilled to get rid of two top stone makers, especially since they had Bridget on their side. They’d probably been winning while we were gone, and spending all their time mocking the Reds.
I felt for the red scarf I’d once worn on my wrist.
Jackie opened the door gently and entered the house. She took her time in the dark, walking around a couch and coffee table before getting to the door at the back of the room. I hadn’t even known about the hall between the houses, but I guessed there were a thousand things about this place I didn’t know.
Jackie took the same care with opening the next door. I followed her into a long hall with a few dim lights near the floor. It must have run behind the entire Red house complex.
“Seeing a Red might be as bad as a Blue,” Jackie said. “They’ll ask questions we can’t answer.”
“Like, where have we been?”
“Or where we’re going. Or worse yet, the dreaded why?”
With no Reds in the hall, we ran down it. I couldn’t tell one door from the next, but Jackie found one she liked and cracked it open. It creaked under the strain, but she kept pushing at a steady pace.
We entered the dark room and I scanned it, looking for signs of activity. The absence of life sent more warning signals to me. What if no one was here? What if they’d moved the entire Academy, or turned the students all into stones?
I nudged Jackie ahead and she grunted back.
“Her room’s over here.”
I felt kind of ashamed that I had never visited Jackie’s or Carly’s room once. I had, however, visited Ira and her ferret. I hoped Carly had been able to take care of it.
We moved to a red door marked with a C and a pair of sunflowers painted on it. Jackie touched the sunflowers and cleared her throat. “Get a stone ready, just in case.”
I had it sitting in my hand, hoping my aim would improve if necessary.
Jackie pushed the door open. The dark room didn’t allow anything to be seen beyond the silhouettes of furniture, a bed, a dresser and a nightstand. I noticed some things on the walls, maybe posters or paintings.
On the bed there was something lumpy, maybe a person, or maybe something else. My mind began running wild, and thoughts of this whole thing being a trap started to overtake me. If not for Jackie at my side, I wasn’t sure I could make it deeper into the dark room.
“Psst, Carly,” Jackie said as she approached the bed.
More of the room came into view as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. It held an assortment of small, handmade objects, maybe figurines of some sort. They resembled tiny people. The wall posters were hand-drawn in pencil. Most of them were of men, some of them shirtless, while others looked like skater punks or bad boys. I hadn’t even known Carly was such an artist. They were amazing.
“Carly?” Jackie stood at the side of the bed.
The lumpy thing resembling a person under the covers moved. I saw her hair poking out, and then her face emerged. Carly grunted, shaking her hand.
“Get up,” Jackie said, and gave Carly a shove.
“Hey,” Carly said, and bolted upright in her bed. She opened her mouth, ready to unload on whoever had dared interrupt her sleep, then she realized it was us. “Oh my God, you’re back,” she said. She slid to the edge of the bed, hopped off, and jumped into Jackie’s arms. “You too, Allie.” She reached for me, and I joined in the hug. “How did you guys get in here? They’re guarding this place like crazy.”
“Portal stone,” Jackie said. “And we brought her mom and Mark with us to help get everyone out of here.”
“So that was her who dropped in on us? She’s alive? That’s insane. You must be so happy.”
“Yeah, I’m sort of getting used to the idea myself. How have you guys been holding up?”
Carly’s mouth quivered. “You have no idea what it’s been like since you left. This place used to be bearable, fun at times, but after you guys left, they pushed us into tight schedules of stone-making. If you don’t produce, you go to the globe. They retire several kids a day, every day. The Malkis are having mental breakdowns. They work us so long that by the time we get to bed, we don’t have the energy for anything else.” Her eyes welled up and she glanced from Jackie to me. “I knew you’d come back for us. Bridget said no way, but I can’t wait to make her eat those words.”
“Bridget? Where is she?” I looked out her small window to the Blue houses across the street. I didn’t know which house Bridget lived in, but I thought she could help us by informing the Blues about what was happening.
“She’s over there,” Carly said, and pointed out the window. “She’s sort of turned into a queen bee. They have her making all kinds of impossible stones, from what I hear. She and Verity were together for a while, and now Verity’s gone or something because Deegan took over.”
“Oh, a new girl, named Iggy. Is she here?” I asked.
“Iggy? No. There hasn’t been a new girl here since you left.”
Where the hell are they keeping Iggy, then?
“We need to know what defenses the teachers have, how many are left, and where they’re at,” Jackie said.
Carly looked out the window again. “They don’t have any extra guards, just the same group of lifers in black. The only difference is that Verity seems to be gone.”
“My mom captured her.” Although Axiom was probably freeing her right at this moment, but I kept that to myself.
Carly’s mouth hung open. “You have to be kidding me. That’s the best damned news I’ve ever heard. I hope they whipped that bitch. Made her swim in her own mess and get raped by the homeless.”
“Dang,” Jackie said, sounding impressed. “Believe me, Cathy, her mom, doesn’t mess around. Verity is in a terrible place.” She glanced at me and I saw the worry in her eyes. She knew just as well as I did that Verity would be freed soon. And it wasn’t a big leap to imagine where she would portal.
“We need to tell my mom and Mark that this place is theirs for the taking. We should hit one of the stone rooms before we go back to make some nasties for the people foolish enough to still be here.”
“Um…they destroyed our stone rooms, and confiscated all of our personal stones.”
Jackie’s eyes went wide and she moved toward Carly. “All of them?”
Carly lowered her head from the aggression. “I don’t know if they got your stone.” She glanced at me, obviously trying to be vague.
Jackie turned and rushed out of the room. Carly and I chased after her. She bounded up the stairs two at a time and took a left at the top. I lost sight of her but heard the door open and hit the wall. I had the same room, but in another Red house.
Jackie knelt next to her dresser and pulled out a drawer. Under the drawer, she pulled open a thin hatch made of wood. I peered over her shoulder to see what she was hiding and why I had never heard a peep about it.
“It’s here,” she said, releasing a long breath.
Carly said, “Oh, good. I’ve been too terrified to even look.”
I squinted in the darkness, but I knew the color of the stone and what it meant. It was the same color as Ira’s stone. That stone held someone’s essence in it.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” I asked. I didn’t remember his name, but Carly had mentioned Jackie’s first love in this place. He’d been retired.
“Yes. This is Ned’s stone. I stole it from Verity. She must have so many, one being gone went unnoticed.” She rolled the stone on her palm, staring at it before closing her hand and slipping the stone into her pocket.
“Wait. Is that the one stone Leo wanted in exchange for Ira’s freedom?”
“Yeah. He found it in my pants one day and wouldn’t let up until I told him what it was. I think he was kind of jealous about it.”
Carly fidg
eted with her hands and looked at the door. “I’m glad you still have your stone,” she started, “but we should really be quiet. A Blue would love nothing more than to rat us out for violating curfew.”
“Curfew? Ugh, we got out of here just in time,” Jackie said, and peered out her window. “I don’t see anyone.”
“We’d better get back to my mom and tell her this place is hollow,” I said.
Jackie laughed. “Yep, this place is all set up for the taking.”
“We should attack the teachers’ hall directly,” Mom said after receiving our report. “I can take out half a dozen softies like them. Deegan is the only one who might give us trouble.”
“We should take him out in his sleep. I really don’t think they’re anticipating an attack. They must have all their guards above.” I looked at the ceiling of the warehouse. A few lights dangled low, giving us enough light to see each other’s faces. I glanced over to Jason. He looked peaceful in his new position. I knew he heard every word we said. I was sure he was rooting us on with each sentence.
“The main hall leads right to the teachers’ area, correct?” My mom continued when I nodded. “Then this will be our next stop. They’re probably sleeping right now. Maybe one of them is on guard.”
Jackie paced near Jason. “Fine, but it won’t amount to squat if we don’t have the stones. You guys find anything?”
Mark laughed. “Yeah, we found them, all right.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“You know those growth stones they had us make in bulk?”
I thought of that room and the victory, the celebration. I wanted to forget it.
“Yeah,” Jackie prompted.
Mom walked over and plucked one from a nearby box. “These are essentially highly packed nutrient stones. Put one in soil and you’ll have one hell of a crop. Put a thousand of these in a steel barrel full of fuel and you have a bomb big enough to destroy a city block.” She held it up. “These stones are all but banned. Only Foster has the right to make them, and in very limited quantities.”
I took a full turn around, staring at the dozens of pallets around the room. There had to be thousands of those growth stones there. Another lie from the Dark Academy. It didn’t surprise me, though. All we were really doing was creating weapons of destruction.
“We’ve made so many stones for these people. There have to be others in here, something useful.” Jackie walked to a pallet and pulled the tops off the boxes. She huffed and went to the next pallet.
“I noticed some blank spots here and there around the warehouse. I think they took the rest out recently,” Mark said.
“We don’t need that many stones,” Mom said. “We just need to make it to the teachers’ hall without anyone noticing, and then get into Deegan’s room.” My mom laid out the rest of the plan. To me it seemed a bit reckless, much like the way I’d escaped this place the first time.
Then it hit me. “How are we going to get out of here? We don’t have a portal stone and even if we did, there’s a hundred of us.”
“I have plans for that as well, but one step at a time. First, we need to neutralize the teachers.”
Just one look from Mark and I knew he didn’t like it, but my mom was right. We needed to eliminate the threat and afterward we could find a way out. There had to be a portal stone supply somewhere. Maybe there were more storage rooms around the Academy.
We left the warehouse and Jason behind. The endless hall curved slightly so I couldn’t see to the end but I knew eventually we’d end up at the teachers’ door. This hall had nearly sent me into a panic at one point in my life, but with my mom and the others at my side, I didn’t have any fear of it. It was just another hall.
The teachers’ door appeared. We slowed our pace and walked up to the door. The blue paint looked fresh, and I wondered if they had locked any more students in this hall since I’d left.
“It’s locked,” Jackie said.
“Let me take a look,” Mom said, kneeling at the handle. She fished out a small bag from her pocket and pulled out what looked like metal toothpicks and stuck them into the lock. I was about to ask what the heck she was doing when the door sprang open. I reached for my two stones, but no one was there.
Mom smiled and got to her feet. “I’ve learned a few things over the years,” she whispered, then walked into the teachers’ hall.
I rushed after her, thinking it was careless to jump into such a hall, but it was empty. I knew sleeping behind each of those fancy wood doors was a teacher who would hurt us if we were caught, or would at least try. I gazed at my mom. She smiled, but she looked wild in the eyes. She grasped a stone in one hand and glared at the doors, waiting for one to pop open. She wasn’t the prey here; she was the predator. I’d never seen my mom look this way. If I hadn’t known her, she would have scared the crap out of me.
The teachers’ doors were spread about fifteen feet apart going down the hall. Verity’s double doors stood at the end and one of them looked partially open. I considered telling my mom about the safe in Verity’s office. There were all kinds of stones in that safe. My mom would know what the stones were for. Although, who would be in her room in Verity’s absence?
I heard a creak of wood and spun around. Carly winced as she pushed the blue door farther open. She mouthed sorry.
I breathed out and turned back to my mom. She tiptoed next to a door and put her ear against it. She looked at Jackie and whispered, “Deegan?”
Jackie nodded.
My mom waved me over and whispered, “I’m going to pick the lock, but if there’s any kind of trap attached to it, I want you to run back down that hall, regroup in the warehouse, and find a way out.”
Mark brushed up against me as I opened my mouth to ask what the hell she was talking about. But she already had her lock picks out and was working on the door.
Wood creaked again and I thought my mom had been successful with Deegan’s door.
“Guys!” Carly yelled.
I spun quick enough to see Carly slump to the floor next to Jackie. Motion at the end of the hall drew my gaze. Deegan hunched forward, snarling. He was standing just outside of Verity’s door. A stone flew my way, on a collision course with my face.
My mom jumped up and knocked it down with her sleeve. The stone tumbled and bounced down the hall. Mom shoved me and Mark toward the door and into the endless hall. She stood behind the door, using it as a shield.
I glanced down at Jackie and Carly lying on the floor. Their stiff appearance made me think they’d gotten hit with freeze stones. I hoped it had been just freeze stones.
I pulled out a stone and turned to use it on Deegan.
“Get out of here,” my mom said, pushing me back into the doorway.
“I’m not leaving you,” I said.
Another teacher’s door opened and the bald professor stepped out, cinching his robe tight. He spotted the people on the floor first and nearly fell himself when he spotted my mom. Fumbling backward, he called out, “Help! Intruders!” Then he ducked into his room and started slamming his door over and over. The sound of other doors opening could be heard between door slams.
“What’s going on?” a woman called out, but I couldn’t see her.
My mom turned back to me and I saw more teachers’ doors opening behind her. “Go, and Allie, I’m sorry.” She gave me another shove and slammed the blue door shut, sealing me and Mark in the endless hall.
“No,” I yelled, jumping for the door handle. Screaming, I tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t move. Mark kicked at it, but the steel didn’t flex. Screams from the other side of the door made their way into the hall.
“We need to help her.” She was all alone in there, facing who knew how many teachers.
“We can’t get in,” Mark said.
“The spoke—we can get help.” I turned and ran down the hall. Mark called after me, but I kept running.
I ran through the portal room and down the passage leading to the spoke
with Mark close behind me. I reached the street between the two dormitories and grabbed the top of the fence dividing the two sides.
“What are you doing?” Mark whispered.
I didn’t answer as I climbed on top of the fence. It was wide enough for me to get a foothold on the top rail. Then I screamed.
It shocked Mark. I don’t think he’d ever heard me screech before. I ran out of breath and sucked in another and blew out, screaming, turning my head and directing the sound to both sides.
Mark looked around and started yelling, “Get up. Get out of your houses!”
My throat began to hurt, but I saw lights turning on in windows and faces appearing behind the glass. Someone from the Blue side was the first to exit their house. I didn’t recognize the girl, but she squinted at me, the crazy person screaming on top of the fence.
I didn’t care and kept it up.
More lights lit and the dormant houses finally began to stir with life. More doors opened on both sides and everyone who exited into the spoke moved toward me. Good, gather. We didn’t have time to waste.
“Allie, what the hell is wrong with you?”
I knew that Blue voice and turned to Leo. He was clutching something in his palm. Leave it to Leo and Jackie to find a way to keep stones hidden from the teachers.
I caught my breath and turned to the Reds and then back to the Blues. Not everyone, but enough to do the job. I glanced down toward the teachers’ doors and closed my eyes for a split second, begging for more time. Please, let my mom be okay.
All the faces looked up to me. The Blues weren’t tearing me apart, but they looked tired—like they hadn’t rested in weeks. They looked beaten down. I’d caught some of that in Carly, but seeing a sea of faces with the same expression made me want to rage.
My name spread through the crowd. Some of the Reds cheered my return while the Blues talked in low tones and scoffed at me. I didn’t have long.
“I know some of you know me and some don’t.” My voice sounded raspy, and I cleared my throat.
“Allie?” Bridget pushed past Leo and rushed to the fence.
