by bret Wellman
When I got there Adrian was starting to tear up the old floor boards.
"Help me rip these things up." He said as he jerked on a board.
I looked around for a hammer. I didn't like the looks of the task. The entire bottom floor of the mansion except for the living room needed to be ripped up. I was pretty sure the hallways upstairs were wood too. Adrian was dripping with sweat, his shirt laid by the door were Lillie was wiring a light switch.
"How was your second day of school?" he continued. "Any progress on Spencer and Brianna?"
I thought about it for a second and decided school was getting us nowhere. It looked like we were on our own.
"No. You should have seen the looks they gave me. I keep waiting for one of them to come up and shank me from behind with a knife."
He laughed and the piece of floor board he was pulling on broke off into the air.
"They’re not going to try anything again. I could see it in their expressions."
I cringed. I knew he was taking in a lot more than just their expressions and that it was virtually impossible that he was wrong. But the look in Brianna’s eyes when she had that icicle to my throat was frightening.
"I hope you’re right." The picture in my mind shifted to gym today. "Where do you think she gets off pretending I don’t exist?"
He stopped pulling on a piece of wood to look in my direction. "Uh oh." He said. Now what did I get myself into?
"What?" I asked. "In gym today. She blew me off without a word." I wanted to get out of whatever assumption he had placed me in.
"She hates you. I could see it in her eyes." He said then turned back to the floor. “Don’t even bother.” Three rotten boards broke off under my hammer as I got into a good rhythm. We started at the corner of the room and made our way to the center. Lillie had gotten out a ladder and was working on hanging a chandelier above the front door. At first sight I was going to offer her a hand but it was soon apparent that all her years of training had made her more than capable.
"Tonight we will finally have lights." She announced.
"Brianna looked pretty good the other day." Adrian said in general conversation. When I looked over he was watching my reaction carefully.
"Or at least that’s what you thought." He said quickly before turning back to the floor.
"No." I said. "I guess she looked ok." I corrected myself.
I was trying to show off. I may not have the mind anymore but at least I have always trained my body the hardest. It should be the only advantage I need. I jammed the end of the hammer into the floor and broke a piece of wood off with all my strength. When I gained my balance I jammed the hammer into the next.
My speed was unmatched. "You’re falling behind." I said over my shoulder.
"Mind if I try to catch up?" He said as I forced another board from the ground. His speed increased to match mine and then doubled. His form had changed; he was somehow different in his approach. I had to duck as boards flew over my head.
"Guess not." He muttered, slowing his speed down again. Though he made sure he was still going faster than me. I watched as he used half the muscle but still kept separating the gap. Clearly even though I was stronger, his brain was more than enough to beat me.
We were finished with the front room in under a half hour. I could hear Lillie still in there working on wires.
The hallway was next. I struggled to keep pace with Adrian while my limbs grew heavier and heavier. Finally I decided it was no use.
"How much longer are we going to do this today?" I said.
He hesitated for a second then looked back "Until we’re done."
"Great." I mumbled sarcastically. "It’s a good workout I guess."
He shrugged and kept going.
It was great exercise actually. The first workout I had since we left. This was the longest I had ever gone without training before and I quickly realized how much I had missed the feeling. Not that I missed being forced to do something, it was the release that I missed. When I was training it was almost as if the harder I pushed myself the more my problems seemed less crucial.
With new found purpose I started tearing up the floor.
The hallway went quick and soon we were tearing up one of the bedrooms. Lillie had worked her way into the same room and was tying together a few wires in the wall.
"Don’t you guys think you should start lying some new wood down before tearing up the whole house?" She asked.
"Nope." Adrian said. "This way is more effective."
Lillie didn’t look up. She knew that if he said it was more effective, then it was.
"Do you have any homework William?" she asked.
I smiled rebelliously "Nope!"
"In what class?"
"History."
Lillie nodded. "And are you going to have enough time to do it?"
"Yea"
"Good." She finally said after a pause.
"Make sure you do it right." She said then left to go work on another room.
"You’re struggling in history?" Adrian asked. School was actually coming easy. History was just a fairytale of lies that I was choosing to ignore for as long as possible.
"Nah it’s all pretty easy." I said. I was still trying to decide if I should just make a statement and flunk.
"You don’t believe in the Kingdom’s history." It wasn't a question.
"I don’t believe in anything the Kingdom does."
"It’s a good thing we escaped." He said.
"Everything should get better now." I added.
He looked frustrated. For a second it seemed as though he wished we hadn’t escaped.
"The Kingdom needs to pay."
I agreed whole heartedly. But there was nothing we could do. We could only hide.
"Someday it will fall."
He flinched.
"Good." his voice was a whisper.
We tore up the room and then moved on to the next. My arms burned for a break but I wasn’t about to give in.
"What are you going to do when the house is finished?" I asked.
He paused on pulling up the piece of wood. "I don’t know." he shrugged.
We were both too concentrated on the work to talk very much more. I couldn’t believe how exhausted I was getting. I decided I would have to work out harder now than they had ever forced me back at the government buildings. It was the only tribute I could offer my family. After all the wood in the house had been torn up I went to my room to work on the lies of my history homework.
When I was done, I laid on the bed and thought about what Adrian had said. “Don’t bother.” Did that mean that Brianna and Spencer would never come to understand us? It sure seemed that way. Adrian would know, but then again he had been known to lie for his own amusement.
That night I could hear Adrian pounding the new floor boards into place. It was loud but after my work-out tearing the floor boards up, I passed right out.
The rest of the week wasn’t that different. A few people in my classes started talking and pairing up with me on a regular basis. They were really trying to help me out, though sometimes it seemed like they were being more cordial and not actually trying to be my friends. The kids at my lunch table started to see me as one of them. By the end of the week I had at least one person from every class that I could walk with to the next. It felt like I was starting to blend in perfectly. Everything was going well except for one thing.
Brianna never even looked in my direction. Every day I would wait for a sign that she was starting to change and every day she would ignore me.
By Friday Brianna was hardly on my mind as I walked to gym. As far as I knew she would never come around and that was something I was quickly coming to realize. Yet somewhere deep inside of me the hope wouldn’t die.
Our first weekend outside of the government building flew by. Adrian and Lillie never let me take a break from working on the house. After painting the walls it looked brand new. The new wood floor finish glistened down the
halls and through the rooms. After the paint had dried and new carpet had been put in, the musty smell disappeared and the house smelled fresh. It was Saturday and I was mowing the weeds down in the lawn with the fancy new zero turn lawn mower when a big moving truck pulled up the driveway and dumped off our shiny, titanium, kitchen appliances. Food was readily available after that. One grocery shopping trip from Lillie and we had enough food to feed an army.
The house was really starting to shape up, the floors and windows, the kitchen tiles, it all seemed to sparkle. Everything dirty was gone and I no longer worried about how unsanitary the place was. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said that the place was a freshly built, million dollar mansion.
Sunday we threw out my mattress and replaced it with a large king sized bed. It was a lot bigger than I needed but I didn’t complain. A fluffy white down comforter and expensive sheets made me feel like royalty as I fell asleep every night. It was better than anything I had ever slept on my entire life.
The days were long over the weekend and I passed out the second my head hit the pillow every night. There was plenty of work to do and Adrian made sure we spent every waking moment doing it.
I was greeted warmly on Monday. A few kids I had classes with met me at my car to see how my weekend was. I smiled and went along with it. It felt good to just be another kid, not worrying about my stupid, failure of a mission. Why not? It was strangely warm this morning, I couldn’t help but to enjoy it. The fall was fast approaching and who knows when the last day of heat would come. In first hour Neal switched seats with the kid next to me so we could work on a few math problems together. I pretended to struggle so he didn’t feel bad.
Once I thought about it, I realized how much I felt like I was just another student. It was like my past had never happened and I was just another kid coming from a normal home to learn.
When we walked out of class, I was feeling a strange high. Who knew being normal could feel so good. I might not have the full capabilities of my mind, but I was no different than the other kids. Although it was getting tiring being talked down to by Adrian and Lillie all the time.
Two people caught up to Neal and I to walk with us. I still wasn’t sure I knew their names. One was Kyle and the others name started with an "S" I was positive.
"Yo William, what do you think of the girls here in Newberry?" Kyle asked.
Right on cue as if he had done some weird magic trick, Brianna turned the corner in our direction. Her long brown hair waved down over a tight blue tee-shirt that shouldn’t be legal to wear on her body. The dimples on her cheeks showed as she smiled at someone (I didn’t look to find out who) talking to her. We both froze just five feet apart as we locked eyes.
The thrill that ran through my body, it was strange, considering that she hates me and all. Her face was emotionless, cold. Why was she just standing there? I wondered. The hate in her stare made my smile fade. I knew if I didn’t do something we might stand here in a stare down all day, so I simply winked and walked by. All too late did I notice Blake glaring at me from her side.
Neal and the others were bouncing off the walls when I caught back up to them.
"Brianna is the hottest girl in school!" Neal said with so much excitement I could barely stand it. "Do you guys have a thing?"
"No." I said.
"She didn’t look too happy with you; you must’ve done something to really piss her off ha, ha." Kyle noted.
"I don't even know her." I was trying to end the conversation. The less anybody knew the better.
"That’s too bad." Neal said before changing the subject to a test next hour.
I found it hard to concentrate for the rest of the day. The work in my classes failed to challenge my brain enough to stop my mind from thinking about her.
I didn’t know what to expect going into gym. Though I guess I should have. Just like any other day Brianna ignored the fact that I existed. A worried pain shot through me as I watched her, knowing the one thing she wanted was for me to leave.
I pretty much just spent the last hour drumming with my pencil and staring out the window.
After school I got to my car, happy that Neal wasn’t there waiting for a ride. I don’t think I had the energy to keep up a normal conversation. All I wanted was to go home and go to bed.
I looked around as I pulled out of the parking spot and started to drive toward the exit. And that’s when I saw him, Blake, the over grown jock, pointing a finger in my direction. I really didn’t want to start a fight but as long as we were pointing fingers. I returned the gesture with my own finger, the middle one.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched his face turn red in my rear view mirror. He was in a dead sprint toward me, but I was already gone.
Chapter 4
The next morning I could hear the faint sound of a British accent coming from one of the other rooms.
It was the T.V. in the kitchen, probably an instructional show judging by the tone of the man’s voice. He was cooking I would have to guess.
The strong smell of bacon wafted through the cracks of my door. I tried to go back to sleep but hunger won over and I was soon throwing on a pair of blue jeans.
Lillie was in the kitchen surrounded by pots, pans, and bowls. The T.V. was imbedded in the wall over the sink. Bacon, eggs and a bunch of other random foods were being juggled in front of her like she was a professional chef. My mouth watered and I found it hard to look away. This was going to be a good day I could feel it.
Adrian was nowhere to be found. That meant Lillie was making this breakfast just for me. I didn’t like the idea of a hand out but loved the thought of bacon.
I scarfed down three servings of Lillie’s delicious meal. As I ate my mind started to drift. A pinch of adrenaline shot through me in anticipation. Blake was going to want to fight. A guy like that was too hot headed to let me flick him off and get “away” with it. Unfortunately for him, the fact that I was a trained assassin meant I could beat him with both arms tied behind my back. Of course winning would be a bad idea.
Nobody would think twice if the over grown jock bully beat down the smaller new guy. But if the new guy put the jock flat on his back, that would draw attention. Attention I didn’t want. Unless, the thought of Brianna watching me take down the bigger opponent might make all that attention worth-while.
It took a lot more energy than I would have expected to walk and not run out to my Aston Martin. I wanted to know how today’s events would play out and I wanted to know now.
Driving to school I found a new thought to keep me entertained. If I knocked Blake out, Neal and his friends would never let it go. I would probably be their hero. On second thought maybe that wouldn’t be such a good thing. But then it might make the school days a lot more exciting to have all that extra attention. Though I tossed the idea back and forth in my head, deep down I felt bad for Blake and knew in the end I would let him win.
My car flew through the town. I was getting better and better with the stick shift every day. I didn’t pass any other cars which was odd. There was usually at least one or two. I didn’t think anything of it until I was turning into the school parking lot. There were no cars pulling in here either. It looked like everyone had come in early.
When I got out of my car I saw something that really worried me and I instantly knew that something bad was happening. One of the Kingdom's military transportation trucks, used for moving soldiers, sat at the edge of the parking lot closest to the school. My mouth went dry. I knew there could only be two outcomes. One, we had been discovered. That didn’t seem quite so likely, being as there was only one transportation truck and not many. And two, the local armory had come to claim their perks.
The Kingdom tried to hide their wrong-doing from us back at the government buildings but we were much too smart and had hacked into their computers from time to time. I remember reading-up on a document about local armories. Every town had one. A base set somewhere inside the town’s limits. Eac
h one was crawling with the Kingdom's over grown, steroid induced, soldiers. Not one of them was under seven foot tall. They had one job and that was to kill anyone that broke the law. The Kingdom offered these sick mutated men perks for their services. One of these perks was the right to rape beat or even murder the people of the town they watched over. It was preferred that the people be taken from the schools. I felt sick as I replayed the document in my head. It was another way for the Kingdom to hold fear over the people’s heads.
Barely composed, I popped open my trunk to try to find a weapon. I didn’t think it would help any to have one, the punishment for attacking a soldier would be a lot worse than what was going to happen to the victims. Yet I still felt satisfied when my eyes crossed the crowbar lying by itself in the back.
I slid the crowbar up my sleeve and turned for the school. I tried to look straight forward as I crossed the parking lot and wondered what the other students thought of the truck sitting in the parking lot. Curiosity got the best of me and I shot a glance around before I entered the school.
There were three other kids walking up to the school at the same time I was. All their faces read the same as mine, shock and despair, though they probably knew the routine from experience and not from reading a document like me. I felt sorry for them. Having to live this way their entire lives.
Once inside I was rerouted to the gym by a group of disgruntled teachers. The halls were empty leaving an eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wondered how this was all going to work out. The cold steel of the crow bar felt like a million pounds against my skin. It grew heavier with every step toward the field house. It felt like I was walking to my own funeral when the building finally came into sight.
The gym was crowded. The whole school had been rounded up and shuffled into even lines across the open floor. I flinched as a fiery hot hand grabbed my shoulder and for the first time noticed another presence in the room. Fear gripped my body.
