by T. Wyse
“What? You aren’t helping,” she grumbled at them, and tossed her creation beside the exemplar.
“It’s easier than husking corn.” She shook her head. “The skins slip right off. Is this a different breed of corn than usual?”
Lyssa glanced back, but offered no response. Secrets, perhaps.
Craig and Wendy went to work, and the sack emptied with little time. Lyssa chopped the cobs furiously into bits as they came and added them into the cauldrons.
"Not much, but I think everyone will feel the difference." Lyssa declared. “Right, I think it’s time.”
The three lights met the other two at their table.
"You too huh?" Wendy grinned across at Melissan.
"Pure luxury." Melissan grinned.
The presence of the corn proved to be both noticeable and disappointing. The stew did carry extra flavor from the cobs, a small burst of sweetness and an interesting crunch. She spent the mealtime distracted, however, her hunger guiding her oblivious hands.
The glow, that awful, intrusive glow. The tables nearest the hidden stage seemed to radiate, tiny orbed fireflies sparked dancingly into the darkness.
"I think...something's wrong." Amelie said, looking concernedly towards their tables.
Craig winced. "Yeah...it's getting bad, whatever it is." He sighed. Melissan shot him a pointed look, but her face went to a guilty acceptance.
"I just hope it's nothing serious." Wendy added. The tables the glow was emanating from seemed to be playing host to a rather ruckus argument or debate. Whatever its outcome, the occupants lumbered off, out of the room in chaos. The way they moved reminded Amelie of a pack of hyenas, they stepped in juttering and excited bursts, the way their arms moved felt somehow inhuman, somehow different.
"Well, back to it." Craig declared. He and Wendy had stood up, and were leaving back to their waiting crops.
"Us too." Melissan declared, ushering Amelie out. The older girl's voice betrayed worry, hinted at some further knowledge she was hiding.
The beginning of the afternoon was spent in the games room. The room was an overall simpler task than the cleaning earlier and it went by with relative ease. The fire room was a similarly simple task. They polished the windows, swept the floor, and wiped the surfaces.
They moved on to the floor of the landing, and the path to the cafeteria. E stayed with them this time and the task at least seemed to go faster than in days previous, the extra set of hands scraping the dirt caked upon the floor.
Amelie snuck a peek at the clock that had been born into her mind earlier that day. It declared that it was slightly after three in the afternoon. Amelie wasn't sure when the 'shift' ended for the others there, but figured it would be four perhaps, something around that.
They made a cursory wipe down of the cafeteria, and Amelie had begun to think that Melissan had forgot about her little declaration the previous day. She was uninterested in pressing the issue, the thought of intruding upon Eilis' space, and the potential to cross any of the green tainted youths not high on her desires.
"Okay, we're done in here for today." Melissan shouted, echoing in the resounding darkness of the cafeteria. She made the whistling sound, beckoning E towards her, and Amelie followed them out to the hallway. They returned the cart to its nook, and Melissan motioned to the tower door with her head.
"Go get the textbook Eilis lent you." She declared, Amelie thought of disagreeing, of declaring disinterest. She didn't have the heart to argue with Melissan in the end, and went to fetch the book from the tower. Melissan and E waited behind, not crossing the threshold of the two doors below.
Kokopelli had disappeared from the bed, an indentation free of any shed fur sat in his place. She thought of calling out to him, but guessed that there wouldn't be enough time for any conversation, if he had decided to strike up a topic. She retrieved the book, and slipped down the stairs as quick as she could with care.
"There we go." Melissan grinned widely, and lead them to the library.
The place was mercifully empty, with no signs of possible intruders down the hall. Eilis' face popped out from between stacks, her bored visage immediately burst into a beaming warmth at the sight of Melissan.
"So...what are you here for?' Eilis collected herself, hiding her excitement from her face, but her heart throbbed in her chest, her breathing betrayed joy.
"Oh come on, don't be such a dummy." Melissan gave Eilis a wide hug.
Eilis reciprocated as best she could with her limp arm, closing her eyes. "You know how it is now." She whispered. Amelie felt like a voyeur, intruding on a moment of friendship denied.
"Well then." Melissan backed away, the embrace broken. "We are returning this." She pointed at the book Amelie held.
"Ah, well." Eilis took it with her visible, moving, hand. "Did you find it interesting?" She looked down at the girl, sincerely interested.
"Oh I...I couldn't get into it very much." Amelie replied, trying to find the proper lie. "It was a bit dry." Cover up the specifics with general disinterest, she resolved.
"Oh, the text may be." Eilis looked at her, saddened. "But you should hear it when it's taught." She sighed, hugging the book with her good arm. "To hear James speak the words, his passion for the subject, and the truth behind it..." She sighed, longing for something passed.
"James huh?" Melissan cut in, viciously coy.
"When professor Roberts and professor Barret teach these things, they come alive." Eilis smiled. "Not just James, but Lyssa too. Professor Clough isn’t too bad herself." Melissan only laughed.
"Are there still the promo packages on file here?" Melissan asked finally, glancing at a corner of the library towards the front.
"Oh, yes." Eilis said, suddenly turning to business. She disappeared quickly behind the stacks, and returned in short order with a thick pamphlet in place of the returned book. "Why on Earth do you want this?" She asked, placing it on one of the rectangular tables.
"I just wanted her to see what the campus was like, well, before." Melissan sighed.
It was a lie. Amelie thought, feeling her arm throb sorely. It was an excuse to break whatever strange morays had developed, whatever unsaid barriers lay between the two. Melissan and Eilis began to chatter, silly and reminiscing things that were not part of Amelie's purview to hear.
Amelie opened the pamphlet, happy to play through the lie if it would bring the two of them a respite from separation. She felt a small presence beside her, and saw E was there, gazing towards the pamphlet. E had a subtle smile on her face, apparently happy to partake of the farce as well.
"Oh God, I saw him yesterday, and he smelled like dirt and..."
Amelie dismissed the words by focusing on the pamphlet. For its part the campus was, indeed, rather striking. It was much fancier than Paola. The gardens in the middle rose in an ornate stepped pyramid with ivy spilling over the sides. Exotic flowering beds poured carefully groomed patterns on each of the levels, and even four fountained rivers flowed through meticulously carved channels resembling the shapes of the hulking machine.
"Then he told me..."
It boasted of an onsite staff, of modern facilities, laying them out in colorful splash pages. An athletic facility with an indoor track, a pool, and of course a cathedral of a gymnasium.
"How is your arm?" Melissan’s voice became somber, mournful.
Amelie focused harder onto the information before her. The smiling faces of a senior boy and girl waving, demonstrating the uniforms. A pair of smaller students modeled the green versions.
"...that's terrible."
Scholarships were available, the pamphlet explained, the pictures were now replaced with drab informative numbers. If Amelie's gaze could manifest it would surely have burned a hole through the pamphlet and her concentration through the table itself.
"I...I miss you."
Amelie's gaze increased a thousand fold, burning deeper. It burned through the strange, invincible concrete, into the earth.
"What are you doing here!?" A young man's voice shouted, behind her. She jumped, nearly spilling out of the chair.
Looking up she saw him, it was the same boy who had come early the first day, but now the aura was undeniable. The green fireflies crackled, seeming to emerge from his eyes where some kind of emerald-fueled inferno raged.
"It's okay...she's here for..." Eilis cut in, attempting to quell his anger.
"And what is SHE doing here!?" He bellowed. His voice had an unearthly echo. He stormed over to the two girls, who had moved away from Amelie's table. E stood up quickly, and she followed suit, moving behind him.
"You know you aren't welcome here." He snarled. "This isn't for...maids."
"It's fine. I was just going." Melissan sneered. She moved to leave, but he caught her wrist.
"You lazy, traitorous swine." He snarled. His tongue flitted out, a sharpened dagger of flesh. "You left us, betrayed us, you're worse than the pathetic farmers."
"Let go of her, damnit." Eilis said, her one good arm on his hand.
"Look at this, this is your fault!" he screamed. He grabbed Eilis' sleeve, and revealed her mangled arm. Reddened flesh hung loose like a blistered coating, transparent down to the bone in parts. Her heartbeat forced itself through thickened veins, and her hand flexed with every struggling pulse.
Eilis squirmed out of his reach, and quickly covered it again, snapping the cuff shut. "Bastard. That's not true, and you know it," she hissed, trembling with subdued rage.
"I'm sorry." Melissan was in tears. "He's right, it was my fault. If I'd been down there, maybe things would have been different..."
“That’s right, star pupil.” He growled. “Maybe you could’ve stopped all of it, all of this!” His voice escalated in an infuriated rage as he began to sputter, the green glow seemed to radiate outwards with each of his breaths.
“You couldn’t.” Melissan looked at him in misery. “And you were always better at these things.”
Amelie was about to reach for him, perhaps to try and trip him, or something. Anything so that they could get away from this.
"You...you've changed." Eilis snarled, moving between Melissan and the boy. "You understood what she was doing, you understood and said she could come back when she wanted!"
He began to cough. Sputtering clouds of green light seemed to emit from him. It reminded Amelie even more of the line magic Kokopelli had demonstrated.
"We keep the lights on, keep you warm, keep you clean." He coughed, "you stand by, BOTH of you, while we sacrifice ourselves for your comfort!" The coughing overtook him, and he collapsed on the floor.
Melissan met him there. "I'm sorry, I was afraid, maybe it really was a lie, an excuse. At least at first, but..." She trailed off.
"No, I'm sorry." He coughed again. The rage seemed to be wash away. "Something's wrong, something's bad. It's hard to be clear-minded.” His words became less lucid, confusing. “It’s like the white stuff, the screaming. It clings to you, saturates inside of you. It’s not so bad at first, but…” He stopped, his eyes glancing at Amelie and E. “I'm sorry for saying those things to you..." He trailed off.
"Then stop!" Melissan shouted, rage overtaking her dismay. His head moved up, meeting her eyes.
"We can't stop.” A few clouds of dimming green sputtered out. “We’re the only ones left. We need to work out the bugs. Then…then we can share it, let it spread. If we stop, if the water stops running, if the lights go out, then it's gone...it's all gone then..." He collapsed on the floor.
The two girls held him, raising his head up. "Get Professor Roberts, she'll be in the clinic, or the kitchen!" Melissan ordered.
Amelie ran, her clumsiness sliced away by desperate purpose. The clinic echoed bare, an atmosphere of dust the only occupant, but the kitchen paid off. Lyssa froze in the preparation of the stacks, the glow in her lungs fading into stunned black as Amelie tore open the door. She hadn’t even turned her lantern on through the darkness.
"There's a boy. He collapsed, in the library," Amelie said breathlessly. "I think he's really sick!" she said finally.
"Stay here. Just do the usual work as best you can when the others arrive. You can figure out the stacks, but do not touch the oven.” The woman ordered, tossing her apron aside and vanishing from the kitchen. Amelie sank to the floor of the room. Her heart smashed against her burning lungs, her head swam dizzy with worry.
By the time Craig and Wendy arrived, Amelie had collected her breath at least, though her head still swam. Lyssa hadn’t returned. Couldn’t that touted salve help them, help them all?
“Is something wrong?” Wendy arrived, giving a glance around the empty kitchen, and seeing only Amelie’s brooding scowl.
"No, no." Amelie started, then reneged. "Well yes, someone got hurt, or something like that." She said, unsure of what she was supposed to say. "Mrs. Roberts said we should go on as usual.”
"Who was it?" Craig asked, moving to his usual spot on the table. "I mean, if it was someone you knew." He added.
"It was one of the people with the gear lapels." Amelie said, "I don't know his name, but we were in the library and..."
"The library AGAIN" Wendy shouted. "I'd tie you down if I could! How many times do we have to say to stay away from..."
"Melissan dragged me there." Not entirely true. "She and Eilis were talking, very chummy, and then this boy who seems to come to the library early, he burst in and started shouting at both of them, Melissan mostly..."
"They were best friends...before." Wendy said, sighing. "They had a huge fight, the first night when the wave came. They knew each other since grade school, it's good that they were talking again."
"Anyways, the boy comes in and he starts coughing, and then he col—" Amelie was cut off.
"No gossip please children." Lyssa returned to the pots just in time to receive a tray from Craig. "One of the seniors is a little ill, pushing himself too hard." She declared sternly.
"Who was it?" Craig asked.
"Never mind, keep cleaning." Lyssa ordered with a chastising bite.
The cleaning duties went on in silence from then on, and the three of them finished quickly. They had added a pile of the tiny cobs double the size of the one earlier in the day. Amelie felt some pride in the increase, however much a pittance it was.
The two lights waited at their table, though Melissan looked less earthly than even the pale blue torchlight allowed. She stared down and her breath heaved slowly in and out in a tired exertion.
"What happened?" Amelie asked, and cursed her bluntness internally.
"That was..." Melissan paused, her mouth opening, struggling to find words. "That was Isaac." She looked down, despondent.
That name caught Craig and Wendy’s breath in unison.
"What?" Amelie asked, annoyed that they still had trouble remembering she wasn't quite up on everything about the school.
"They were...well he was her boyfriend. They had plans together after graduation, they were such a great couple." Melissan's face seemed to age before her.
"They were funny." Wendy said, "so blunt, they were fearless. Didn't care what anyone thought about the two of them together. It's against the rules, to have any sort of relationship like that here, you see." Wendy looked at Amelie. "Considered improper, or whatever. We only have a few couples, and they're always more subtle, much sneakier, but not them. The faculty turned a blind eye for the most part." Wendy shrugged. "They were both top grades, honor roll and all that. He was always nice, friendly, funny. She was, well, a little vain, little conceited, but okay I guess."
"They were wonderful. They were my friends, both of them." Melissan's face quivered, on the verge of losing her controlled visage. "Now...now they're like completely different people. She's colder, withdrawn. He's crazy, and sick, nothing like he was before. And her arm, the accident..." Melissan trailed off, holding her head with her palms.
There was a server, standing within earshot of the conversation. Amelie's heart sunk. The five bowls w
ere set in front of them, and the server went into the light of the kitchen once more.
"I don't care." Melissan said, looking after the server. "It's all...it's all falling apart anyways." She still tried to eat.
"There aren't many of them at their table." Craig noted, looking at the greasejock's claimed territory. "Is something wrong, with all of them?" He asked.
Melissan ate her stew, silently. She gave no answer to his question, and the meal turned into a silent pause, the emptiness of a question answered only by the absence of one.
With the meal completed and the dishes taken away, Melissan broke her silence.
"I...I'm going to need some time away from E." She declared, speaking to Amelie. "Can you watch her, please?"
"Oh...sure." Amelie said, not entirely sure of her answer. "Will she come with me? She seems pretty attached to you."
"She'll be fine. She understands things at least. ‘Get down off of that wall’, ‘Stay inside’, ‘don’t lean over the balcony’, stuff like that." Melissan smiled. "Sometimes you have to get her attention though."
Amelie nodded. "Do you two mind if I, er, hang out with you two tonight?" She smiled, feeling silly for the request.
"Sure thing, we probably aren't as exciting as you think though." Wendy grinned. "We usually just play chess or card games until one of us gets too tired."
"Been having more time of late though, since we've been getting real sleep again." Craig gave a thankful nod at Amelie.
Melissan got up, and floated away. Amazingly enough E seemed to understand her new anchor and gazed blankly at Amelie from across the table.
"I hope they're alright." Wendy said, following Melissan’s departure with her gaze.
"I don't think it's just the worry," Amelie said, though her chest was wracked with worry. "There's something else to it, she's really crushed, she seems hopeless." She pleaded with the tablemates to understand.
"There's always something else to it." Craig said, darkly. "Just hope for the strength to carry on to the next day, and may we wake tomorrow to find that today was merely a dream." He looked down, sadly.
