The Formation of Team 55

by Neo Nidhi Baghel

  ‘Might I suggest something?’ William broke the silence.

  Even though he was the Prime Descendant of the Phrontistery, his simple nature made him look like one of them. He looked around to make sure that nobody was around. ‘Why don’t we all go inside my cottage and get you all enrolled? I hope everyone wants that.’ he smiled generously at Vanya.

  ‘Oh, I would love that.’ Justin stood up and rubbed his hands together. ‘But, I would prefer something strong to drink, you know,’ he looked around at everyone. ‘considering this situation.’

  The air was filled with tension, uncomfortable silence and awkwardness. Dawn stood up and so did Vanya and Kathy. He didn’t want to, but he had to take away his arm around her shoulders. He couldn’t just wrap his arms around her anytime, right? His eyes met Ace’s and they nodded.

  Ace still wasn’t comfortable with Vanya getting close to him. He shifted back, letting her pass. She wasn’t looking at Ace at all. Dawn wondered if she was angry at Ace for treating her like that.

  Everyone followed William towards his cottage except for Dawn and Ace. They stood there, staring at each other. Dawn was slightly shorter than Ace, which made him tilt his head up a little.

  ‘I am just doing what I believe is right.’ began Ace. ‘Please! Just try to maintain a little distance from her for now. At least, until we figure out what happened.’

  Dawn sighed. ‘I know that you mean well for the team, Ace. But, she is a part of Team fifty-five too. She completes us.’

  As soon as Dawn saw William walking further ahead, he clutched his hair in his fists and grunted. Now, they could think about whatever they wanted. William wasn’t there to read their thoughts.

  ‘My head hurts.’ he could feel eyes getting watery. ‘By the way, you were awfully rude to Vanya if you haven’t noticed that.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I threw you around like that.’ Ace apologized making sure William was really far away now. ‘And, I had no choice. William wanted to see what I was thinking about. I had to give him something to read off my mind. I will apologize to her later, I promise.’

  ‘Why did you give the signal?’ Dawn kept his eyes shut tightly, trying to calm his mind down. ‘Are Vic and Brent under the switch?’

  ‘Yes, they are. I have a feeling that he is hiding something more than what we think he is.’ Ace nodded positively. ‘Right when we reached the cottage to see William, I pushed Brent so hard he fell into the bushes in the garden. His head began to bleed even more. That’s why William put a bandage there.’

  ‘You could have simply asked them to switch, Ace.’ Dawn gritted his teeth.

  ‘I don’t want to risk him hearing or understanding our code in any way.’ said Ace. ‘And, if I don’t give them a signal, those fools don’t switch at all.’

  ‘Alright!’ Dawn wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘So I can stay normal now?’

  ‘Don’t stop it, Dawn.’ Ace grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him. ‘He will read our minds.’

  ‘I know that!!’ snapped Dawn, getting away from Ace. His head was bursting with and pain and he felt dizzy.

  He looked at everyone walking away as William lead them towards his cottage.

  ‘What is he hiding and why the hell is he doing it?’ Dawn flexed his muscles. His body was burning with heat now, slightly sweating. ‘That son of a-’

  ‘Hey!’ Ace pushed Dawn so hard, he fell on the grass and felt something get crushed under his elbow as his body hit the ground. ‘Don’t think too strongly or he will hear you.’

  Dawn rolled on the grass to see what had died, but it turned out to be a half-rotten piece of branch.

  ‘You know,’ Dawn managed to sit on the ground, dusting his shirt off. ‘We could just say switch every time we want to activate the code and he is not around. He won’t hear ‘switch’ if he’s not around, right? You are hurting your own teammates in this little game of “hide the secret”.’ he finger-quoted the last three words.

  ‘Switch!’ Ace glared at him.

  ‘Sure, I will if you promise you won’t even think about pushing Vanya like that ever.’ Dawn stood up and glared back at him. ‘She just might die if you even touch her.’

  Dawn exhaled feeling really annoyed with their little code. ‘Switching now.’ He mumbled.

  Ace looked at the rest of the team, trotting behind William. Victoria and Kathy walked after him, followed by Vanya, who was literally trailing after them. Her eyes were fixed on the ground as she tried to step on Kathy’s boot prints of dirt on the concrete path, walking on them. Brent and Justin followed Vanya, jogging up to her. They began to walk on her either side and mimicked her walk to match her footsteps.

  ‘That’s her?’ Ace asked Dawn as he stared at Vanya walking away with the douche and the drunk douche of Team 55. ‘She seemed to appear slightly bigger than that on the screen of your room’s door. Don’t you think she is a bit tiny for our team?’

  ‘She’s cute!’ Dawn blabbered instantly. He started to walk as soon as he realized what he had just said.

  ‘About that,’ Ace began to walk with Dawn. ‘Don’t do it. Not because she is or might be cursed, but because she is our teammate. I won’t be able to deal with it if something goes wrong between the two of you.’

  Dawn knew what was coming. He had a little secret about which Ace knew. When he had arrived at Bridging, Dawn was a guy who loved playing video games and reading books. While he was on Earth, he was one of those teenagers who believed in playing online video games and role-playing games, never to play a game that included going outside the house.

  After he had spent six months in Bridging, Ace had shown up and the two became friends. Dawn used to be really frustrated with the fact that the new descendants were not allowed to enter the central library and that only enrolled novices were.

  He missed reading and learning so much and couldn’t wait to become a novice at the Phrontistery. Apart from that, his geeky nature had pushed away every female descendant he had tried to approach. Ace had tried to tell him a million times that when he talks to a girl, he shouldn’t be telling her about the video games he loved on Earth or that, he shouldn’t be explaining to a girl why several social structures are only imaginary in some countries. Some girls don’t prefer such discussions. At least, not the girls of their age who are specifically not into what he loves to talk about.

  Dawn had never attempted to talk to girls back on Earth as he was one of those shy guys who prefer watching someone from a distance rather than initiating a conversation. He thought, maybe at Bridging they might find him interesting. For a really smart and intelligent guy, he couldn’t understand the fact that, just like him, the female descendants were also from Earth only. They were the same girls Ace had described.

  Back at the guest house, every time he would try to impress a girl, she would walk away from Dawn while he tried to make her see how amazing being knowledgeable was. Ace had started taking him to the morning workout sessions with him, where Dawn would sweat out all his anger of not being able to study at the Phrontistery and the central library as he wasn’t enrolled.

  His pain had made him look so good. But, he didn’t care about that at all. Ace had been like a brother to him. He treated him like he was his family. And, he knew that whatever Ace had told him or advised him about was right almost every time.

  ‘I am not doing anything.’ Dawn kept staring at Vanya as they all followed William.

  ‘I saw you talking to her.’ Ace informed him, walking boldly next to Dawn. ‘You seemed really impressed by the twig haired girl.’

  ‘That wasn’t what it looked like. It was… it was just…’ He licked his lips as his mind searched for something to say. ‘She was scared, alright? She’s been here for only a few hours and nothing of what has happened so far is the way it should have been.’

  Ace remained quiet for a moment and they walked in silence.

  ‘I agree with you.’ He mumbled.

  Dawn looked at him. ‘What makes you
agree with me saying that?’

  ‘I saw a saber-toothed cat.’ Ace said dismissively. ‘But then, it could have been my imagination because nobody else was able to see what I saw there.’ he added. ‘Victoria had run away. Brent was being a drunk douche-’

  ‘Sabers are extinct, right?’ interrupted Dawn. ‘Only enrolled novices can see them. And, as far as I know, the novices mostly spot some extinct birds here who do the job of keeping an eye at everyone, making sure that no unauthorized person enters the campus.’ he shook his head, not ready to believe what he was hearing. ‘A saber is pretty unusual. I haven’t heard any novice seeing one of those so far.’

  ‘Actually,’ exhaled Ace. ‘we saw two extinct beings. First, it was the Euhalopus while we were on our way here. We saw it from the train. It was… just chilling around, bathing in the sunlight, waltzing around the grasslands. And, then I saw the saber in the forests, in between the station and the ancient gates of the Phrontistery.’

  Dawn stopped walking. ‘Ace,’ he asked him politely, ‘Are you sure you saw what you saw? You do know that these creatures are inside the campus as well, don’t you?’

  ‘That is what has been bugging me!’ nodded Ace, still walking. ‘You’re a geek, you should know where to find which extinct being.’ He stopped and turned to look at Dawn.

  ‘Have we been enrolled already?’ All of this was so puzzling and it raised so many questions in Dawn’s mind.

  They looked around and found that they had reached William’s cottage, which was cottage-1. The rest of the team was already inside.

  ‘We didn’t receive any invitation to go there.’ he nodded towards cottage-2. ‘But we can see the extinct beings. So, I guess, we have been enrolled, just like the others. But there are some complications, because of which we haven’t attended the process yet. Plus, William called us for a meeting because he wanted to enroll us separately, just to make sure nothing goes wrong with Vanya while we all are with the rest of the teams.’

  This was so satisfying to hear. Yet, the term complications gave him shivers. Dawn wondered what was about to happen next. He was just hoping that Vanya wasn’t cursed or something. Apart from that, he was ready to deal with anything.

  ‘Why don’t we just… keep walking?’ He encouraged Ace. ‘We’ll see through it together. Whatever happens, at least we have our full team now.’

  Ace shook his head slightly as if he was trying to get something out of his mind.

  ‘What?’ Dawn kept his hand on his shoulder. ‘You alright, buddy?’

  ‘I just felt like… I have heard that before.’ he bit his lip. ‘Keep walking.’

  ‘Man! Stop being creepy.’ Dawn walked on the thin raw path, that passed through the garden in front of William’s cottage. ‘I just said it. Keep Walking!’ he inhaled the fresh air which was bursting with some floral scent.

  Ace looked exhausted. He stood there for a moment and looked at Dawn.

  ‘Come on? What is it?’ Dawn asked him, pushing the door open and waiting for him.

  ‘Nothing.’ Ace mumbled and followed him inside.

  ∞∞∞

  As soon as they entered the hall, William asked them to make themselves comfortable and went to the kitchen to get something strong to drink for Justin and for the rest of them.

  The hall wasn’t too big or small but seemed cozy. A tea-table was settled on one side of the room, along with a couple of chairs. The window next to it gave a lovely view of the garden. There were two full-sized sofas on either side of a wooden table in the center of the hall. A little away from one of them was the main door. Dawn sat on the sofa that gave him the view of the main door, next to Kathy and Brent. Ace sat on the sofa that faced the other side of the room. Dawn noticed that Ace’s eyes kept scanning the walls. He looked sideways and saw some paintings and a diagram hanging on the walls.

  ‘What do you think that is?’ Ace asked him, nodding at the diagram.

  Dawn looked at it carefully, still sitting in his spot. He tilted his head to get a better look. The diagram had a circular frame. It simply hung there, just like any other painting.

  ‘Guys, if you look at it with dizzy eyes, you can see a cube.’ said Vanya.

  She was sitting on the other end of the same sofa on which Ace was sitting. Dawn had an urge to sit between the two, but even Justin and Victoria didn’t dare to fill that space. They sat on two beautiful royal looking chairs, away from all of them near the fireplace, which was keeping the entire hall warm.

  ‘I’m telling you, Vic. He has a girlfriend.’ Justin whispered to Victoria. ‘I found out about this myself.’ It was loud enough so the rest of them could hear it.

  They were talking about William. It was so quiet, that even their muttering could be heard clearly.

  ‘Oh, for god’s sake!’ Ace looked at them. ‘You don’t need to whisper. We all can hear you clearly.’

  They were sitting in the hall inside the Prime Descendant’s cottage and talking crap about him only. Dawn kept glaring at the two of them whispering, but his mind was somewhere else. The diagram looked unfamiliar. He had never seen anything like that before.

  SWITCH! SWITCH! SWITCH! He kept commanding his mind to keep having normal thoughts. William could step out of the kitchen at any moment.

  ‘It could be anything, but a painting.’ Dawn heard Kathy’s voice, who was sitting next to him.

  It definitely wasn’t a painting. The colors, the shapes and the fact that William had hung it in the hall, along with other paintings, signaled Dawn that it was really important and useful.

  Brent had fallen asleep, resting his head on Kathy’s shoulder. His nose was whistling and the silence in the hall wasn’t helping either. He needed rest and Kathy didn’t mind lending a shoulder to him. Dawn looked away from the diagram and turned to see Vanya. She could surely help him think about something that William would find absolutely normal.

  ‘You want to eat something?’ Dawn asked Vanya, attempting to start a conversation. He wanted Ace and Vanya to talk, which wasn’t going to happen if the team didn’t help.

  Vanya shook her head as a no. Then she kept fiddling with her fingers. He could tell that she was feeling uncomfortable.

  ‘Are you sure? You haven’t eaten anything since you arrived.’ Dawn asked her again. ‘You must be really hungry.’

  ‘She hasn’t eaten anything?’ Ace looked at Dawn.

  ‘Ask her.’ Dawn simply closed his eyes and rested his head on Kathy’s shoulder. He knew what was going to happen next. He knew Ace better than anyone else in Bridging.

  ‘Yup, that’s what I came here to become.’ mumbled Kathy. ‘A mother of two.’ she nuzzled her cheeks on Brent’s and Dawn’s hair.

  Dawn opened his eyes just a little and looked at Ace. His buddy was looking eager and guilty now. He had yelled at a tiny girl who was hungry, alone, separated from her family, and unknown to what was happening. He had called her cursed in front of everyone, even without thinking about it once. The look of his face had told Dawn that now, nobody needed to make any move. Ace would do it himself.

  ‘I’m sorry to keep you all waiting.’ William came out of the kitchen.

  He had a big tray in his hands as he walked up to them carefully and kept it on the table. Hot chocolate? Dawn chuckled at the tray. He sat straight, opening his eyes properly. ‘Get up, you douche.’ He hit Brent on the head from behind Kathy and tried to wake him up.

  ‘I thought, this might make you all feel warm and better.’ The Prime Descendant glanced at Victoria and Justin, gesturing the two to join them.

  William casually made his way and sat between Ace and Vanya, smiling at the newly arrived girl. He picked up one of the big black mugs of hot chocolate and handed it over to Vanya. Picking up a mug of hot chocolate for himself, Dawn kept his eyes at Ace, wanting to see his reaction towards William’s behavior.

  Ace looked sideways at them and then picked up a mug for himself. He took a small sip and then glanced at Vanya. ‘It’s really good.’
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  Vanya glanced at his direction and gave Ace a cold look. Dawn couldn’t help but smile at Ace. At least, he made an effort.

  ‘Oh is that for me?’ The drunk douche, Brent was up finally. He gazed at the single wine glass resting on the tray.

  ‘Keep your hands away from that lovely lady!’ Justin told Brent as he strolled ahead and picked up the glass. ‘She’s mine.’ he brought the glass close his mouth and then inhaled sharply. ‘Lily Frost!’ The douche slumped down on the carpeted floor, sitting there, near Vanya’s feet.

  Dawn wondered what he meant by that. ‘Is that one of your lovers?’

  ‘No!’ William chuckled hearing that. ‘The drink he’s holding is called Lily Frost. That too, a very strong and famous one.’

  Victoria had finally gotten up from the royal looking chair and joined them, sitting on the floor next to Justin.

  Nobody spoke for almost a minute. Everyone kept sipping on to the hot chocolate. William’s eyes were fixed at Vanya. Dawn wondered if he was trying to read her mind. Was he trying to see if she remembered where she was? What was so interesting going on in her head? He wished he could read her mind, at least. Then, he simply looked away and tried to think about how they could have been enrolled by now, but weren’t.

  Buurrppp!!!

  Pathetic! Dawn looked at Justin. He might have been sitting on the floor, but he was so close to Vanya, Dawn had seen her body twitch at his sudden burp.

  Victoria, who was sitting right next to him on the floor, made a disgusted face and looked at Justin. ‘Seriously?’ she snapped at him. ‘You will rot in hell!’

  ‘There is no hell in Bridging.’ Justin giggled taking a sip of Lily Frost. ‘You might wanna try this.’ he offered Brent.

  ‘No way, that’s not happening!’ Dawn stopped him. ‘Chocolate and then that drink? What are you trying to do? Kill him? He needs to rest. No more drinks for you today.’ Dawn eyed Brent.