Kingdom Keepers: The Syndrome

by Ridley Pearson

  JESS

  I’d never taken kindly to surprises. I didn’t enjoy them as a little girl; I didn’t enjoy them at Barracks 14; and I certainly didn’t enjoy these appearances of evildoers now.

  When Luowski walked through the door of the apartment, I reacted with the instincts of a dog under attack. Perhaps my protectiveness of Mattie and Amanda and the desire to get the jump on Luowski fueled me. I’d heard of blind rage before, but now I was living it.

  Standing before me was an agent of Maleficent, the woman who had taken away the first freedom I’d ever known. At least in the barracks, I’d had my thoughts for myself. The 14ers could keep me locked in a room and run tests on me all day, but they couldn’t take away my imagination. Maleficent could. She put ideas, her voice, in my head. She’d nearly ruined me. If it hadn’t been for the Keepers, she would have.

  Luowski had gone willingly to her side. Perhaps a spell had kept him there, but he made the initial decision to follow her. Mercifully, his mistress was finally dead. But he was still here, still a symbol of everything she’d put me through. Put us all through.

  All this ran through my head in a matter of seconds, and I snapped. Not knowing what I was doing, I rushed him. The shock was evident on his face—I had never been much of an action figure; I’d even played the damsel in distress, captured by the Overtakers until the Keepers came to save me.

  Not today. As I balled my fists and threw blows at his head, I found an internal power I’d never known I possessed. At first, the oaf deflected my attempts. He saw my punches coming before they could land, blocking them with bizarre and supernatural speed.

  But I had powers of my own—six years of pent-up anger toward the Overtakers and all they stood for, along with a brown belt in defense. For every blow he deflected, I returned more. It was as though all the anger I’d bottled up had finally burst, giving me power and speed. My arms and legs blurred. Luowski couldn’t keep up—and in my adrenaline-fueled rage, I was just getting started.

  My blows began to land. I wasn’t practicing any longer, I was doing what I’d been trained to do. I drove Luowski back as he threw two roundhouse swings my way, but I’d been coached on how to avoid such blows, how to use my opponent’s shift in balance again him or her. I jabbed him in the ribs. Luowski buckled.

  Before he could process what was happening, I kicked under his knees, knocking him off balance, and delivered an uppercut to his jaw, smiling as his head snapped. He stumbled backward, in full retreat now. Terrified, he was at the door and fumbled for the handle.

  As I watched, I realized he was terrified of me. He’d abandoned his mission; his only objective was to make it out of the apartment in one piece.

  But I had different plans for him. I stood at the end of the short hallway, not backing down, just waiting. I felt dangerous. Looking at Luowski’s wide eyes, a thrill went through me. I was dangerous. Finally.

  He got the door open and backed out onto the small landing, unwittingly positioning himself for my grand finale. I took a running start and cartwheeled into him, copying a move I’d once seen Charlene do. My foot connected with his chest and sent him tumbling over the guardrail. Luowski landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs.

  AMANDA

  Unexpected as it may have been, I knew Jess had it in her. I’d witnessed her thrashing in her dreams, her dedication to working out, but it was her watching all those YouTube martial arts videos while we lived at Mrs. Nash’s that should have tipped me off.

  Jess had been through more than any of the Keepers, more even than me or Mattie. Being kidnapped and under the spell of Maleficent had affected her psychologically and physically. Once freed by Finn and the Keepers, she had quietly dedicated herself to never allowing that to happen again.

  I considered myself her closest friend, but she didn’t talk about her time with the Green Queen, even with me. I discovered the YouTube videos by accident and kept it to myself; I watched her get herself fit, strong, and capable of endurance, felt her sift through the destructive elements of her captivity and resurrect herself, sensed the anger and rage building, just waiting for the right outlet to unleash it upon.

  Greg Luowski walked into that storm.

  At first, his apparently enchanted body deflected her attempts. It was like a force field surrounded him, stopping her blows. But that force lost power as this newly wild Jess continued to aim blows from her legs and arms at him in a dizzying display. He took a pair of roundhouse swings at her—blows that should have knocked her unconscious—but Jess ducked them like she was seeing everything in slow motion.

  With Luowski’s arm raised to punch her, she jabbed him in the ribs, caught his chin, kicked his legs. The beast of a boy, green eyes and all, was drained of the power of whatever spell controlled him; he staggered back toward the open door, stunned and powerless.

  It was as if Jess had four arms, four legs, and no intention of stopping. Greg Luowski was just a boy in retreat now. And he might have made it had Jess not executed what looked like a cartwheel, turning herself into a human wrecking ball that spun toward Luowski like a pinwheel, connected, and sent him plummeting down the stairs, head over heels.

  As he on the pavement at the bottom, he saw the six shiny black shoes aimed at him.

  JESS

  I waited for a pang of guilt as he landed two stories down, but it never came. On the contrary, I felt great. Suddenly, I understood the appeal of sports: this must be what it felt like after a victorious soccer game winning a swimming meet. After a lifetime of playing defense, I had stood my ground and won. I had single-handedly beaten the unbeatable. I was no longer a damsel in distress, but a fighter.

  Standing at the top of the stairs, I was ready to take on the world. Including the three pairs of shiny shoes that I now saw standing at the base of the stairs.

  MATTIE

  Seeing Luowski beaten at his own game felt good, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins stopped cold when I spotted the black shoes. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I told myself to wait, that I needed to know for sure whether or not they were Barracks 14ers.

  My gaze connected with the same men who had held me captive in that abandoned spa. His eyes were not amused.

  I wanted to cry out, but I inhaled sharply and willed myself to keep it together. I scanned the area, but couldn’t see any way to escape.

  This was it. The three of us were headed back to Baltimore.

  AMANDA

  My head spun. It didn’t make sense that Luowski had somehow followed us, but he had dark magic on his side. That was obviously enough. We knew that we’d tricked the Barracks 14ers with our DHIs back at the Polynesian, so their presence here made absolutely no sense.

  Until I saw Joe standing to the side. He was smiling.

  My heart sank, all hope of finding out what had happened to the Keepers lost. The Head Imagineer had betrayed us.

  I dropped to my knees. Jess looked over at me, her elation dissolving into despair. Her eyes darted to the open door, and I knew she was considering escape. But how far would we make it in the park if the Imagineers were against us?

  I shook my head, lowered my chin, and fought off tears. My sorrow wasn’t mine alone. It was for Finn, Philby, Maybeck, Charlene, and Willa. It was for Wayne and Wanda and all they had striven for. It was for the Kingdom itself, because clearly something bad was under way—and without the Keepers to defend it, I saw little hope of good prevailing.

  My gut turned. I envisioned the Keepers in the Syndrome. What if it hadn’t been their plan? What if the Overtakers had put them there? If that was true, then the Keepers were in the hands of the very power we thought had been defeated.

  The burning bones. Prehistoric DNA.

  I nearly fell down the stairs myself.

  My heart began beating again as I saw the three Barracks 14ers drag the fallen Luowski to his feet. Either the pain of the fall, the disgrace his defeat by a girl, or the frustration of restraint turned Luowski wild an
d vicious. No longer himself, what he his eyes blazed that hideous green. He growled and struggled.

  But the 14ers had him. This time, he wasn’t going anywhere.

  I didn’t know what Mattie and Jess were thinking, but I’d resigned myself to defeat. It went against everything Finn and I had talked about over the years, everything Jess and I lived for. But just the sight of the suited men proved too much for me.

  Still, Jess, Mattie, and I didn’t move.

  The 14ers engaged Joe in brief conversation. Then the men shook hands all around, and I thought I might vomit, seeing Joe acquiesce to them. I couldn’t imagine what had driven him to quit on us. I briefly entertained the idea that he was the DHI, that Joe had been replaced with a virtual puppet.

  He waved us down the stairs. No one moved.

  “Come down!” he hollered. “It’s done.”

  With the 14ers looking up, with Luowski slumped between his two captors like he’d passed out, first Mattie, then Jess and I descended the stairs. We all held our heads high. Not like brides, but like condemned prisoners on their way to the gallows.

  Before Mattie reached the pavement, the 14ers started off, dragging Luowski along behind them. My spirits brightened slightly; I imagined the 14ers were giving us time to say good-bye to Joe, and in my case, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  Jess reached ground level before me. I joined her, Mattie, and Joe.

  “How could you?” I said.

  Joe smiled, which made me nearly as mad as I’d ever been.

  “Greg Luowski asked questions about our flight after we’d taken off. Thankfully, I was notified.”

  “You just allowed him to come after us?” Jess sounded incensed, as if she might try her martial arts out on Joe.

  “There is a cost to nearly everything,” Joe said, “business, friendship, loyalty. Even love. We’re all practitioners in the art of negotiation, Jess. We win, we lose, we compromise. Most of all, we compromise.”

  “You compromised our lives!” I protested. “We love the School of Imagineering. We’ve dreamed about finding a home in the company, of belonging to something.”

  My voice broke. I hated myself for it.

  “Which is exactly why I had to negotiate,” Joe said.

  Mattie said, “What kind of negotiation is it if you put us back into that place? It’s like a prison?”

  “I didn’t,” Joe said. “I convinced the…gentlemen to observe Luowski’s powers more closely over our security surveillance system. One of them had encountered the boy at the church, and could not believe his strength. I reminded them that they had observed you three for several years. There wasn’t much more to get out of you. Luowski’s enchantment was new to us, new to them. A worthy candidate for study. I traded him for you.”

  “You what?” I felt like an idiot. “You traded?”

  “We encouraged Luowski to be here during your visit—the right place, the right time for the gentlemen to observe him. The way he deflected Jess’s early blows looked like a special effect. It fed their curiosity. It was a gamble, I admit; I might have lost you three. But we needed to end this.”

  “Thank you,” Jess said.

  I thanked him as well. Mattie remained indignant. “You think that will stop them from coming after us? They lied to you. They lie to everyone.”

  “I’m not naive,” Joe said soberly. “But I think I’ve bought us some time. Come on; you heard me. Compromise. Negotiations are always two-sided. No one wins. You just try to get what’s workable for your side in the short term. For the time being, the immediate future, you have your lives back. And we at Imagineering hope that will include us.”

  I was the first to throw myself forward and hug him. Jess followed close behind. Mattie stayed where she was, and Joe spoke directly to her.

  “If you’ll give us a chance, Ms. Weaver, we would be happy to find a place for you on our intern team.”

  “I’ll take it under consideration,” Mattie said.

  Recalling the horrible prospect of the Keepers being put into SBS by the Overtakers, I concentrated on making my request sound like a demand.

  “With that figured out, Joe, we need another look at all the videos. I think there’s a possibility we haven’t considered.”

  JESS

  Joe relocated us to a Cast Member break room behind Main Street, USA. Some Cast Members came and went, but mostly we were left alone in the somewhat funky smelling cafeteria, with its worn tables and plastic chairs.

  While in the midst of an animated argument with Joe about her theory, Amanda’s phone rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she glanced at the screen and let out an annoyed sigh. “Same stupid number! Keeps calling me.”

  Joe continued, “I’m telling you, we can trace the manual crossover to Philby’s laptop.”

  “But Luowski got hold of that,” Amanda said.

  “We’re aware. We also know Philby’s machine is encrypted, which lessens but does not eliminate our concern. Obviously, Philby should not have had that software. Water under the bridge, I guess. We’re working to disable access from his laptop. My point being: the Overtakers did not cross over the kids. Philby did. This is of their choosing.”

  “The Overtakers,” I whispered, “You said, ‘the Overtakers.’”

  Joe froze. Considered and turned to me. “So I did.” He sounded crestfallen.

  “The Overtakers,” I repeated. “Who are supposed to be dead.”

  “The bones,” Amanda muttered.

  “The fire,” said Mattie. “I saw the bones in a fire.”

  “Oh dear.” Like me, Joe was struggling for air.

  MATTIE

  The room was spinning so fast I could hardly breathe. Everything was finally making sense. The images I had seen, of bones in fire, flashed through my mind. Bright, blinding flames and blackened bones—but there was something else too, something that hadn’t been there before.

  I didn’t believe it at first, because my readings weren’t usually accompanied by audio. But the more I focused, the more I heard it. A voice, soft at first, but definitely feminine. I struggled to discern what she was saying, but her thick accent made it difficult. I narrowed my focus, but just as quickly as the voice had come, it ebbed out of my consciousness.

  JESS

  At the mention of the Overtakers and the fire, the room faded away, and a vision took hold of me. The tune from the music box rang in my ears, accompanied by an image of a gold-toothed horse. I watched as its head raised and lowered. Galloping? Nodding? I wasn’t sure. Its stiff mane stayed still, somehow, not moving even as the horse’s head bobbed.

  The conference room snapped back into place as the vision ended. Immediately, I clicked open a pen and sketched what I’d seen on the napkin in front of me.

  MATTIE

  The image of the burning bones sparked a marathon of memories, all the ominous readings I’d collected while in Orlando flooding back in a rush. Among them, most clearly, was my reading of the tall, gray-haired Imagineer at Hollywood Studios. Compared to the security footage shot in Walt’s apartment, what he’d seen was different.

  “Wait!” I held up my hand. “The videos the Imagineer saw and these are slightly different. Is that possible?”

  My focus was solely on Joe’s reaction. He looked worn out, like the rest of us. More than that, with our words about the Overtakers, he seemed to have lost the certainty we took for granted. When he spoke, he did so reluctantly.

  “Look, anything’s possible. Right?”

  Something fluttered in my chest; a new energy filled me. A sudden hope.

  “I’d be up for reading him again,” I said. “But he’s there, and we’re here.” I made sure to lock eyes with Joe. “What if I read you?”

  Joe laughed and dismissively waved my suggestion away. “I can’t possibly allow that. Sorry! I know far too many company secrets.”

  “I can target my read to something specific. I promise I won’t invade your privacy. Maybe you saw something you didn’t p
ick up on right away. But the other Imagineer did.”

  I didn’t mention that my powers were growing. I could now recall bits and pieces of my readings, even days later. That was new. I picked up more, faster—it was like I had a faster processor. I noticed things I hadn’t before, like the eerie voice that accompanied the burning bones.

  “I’m not sure we have much choice,” Joe said. He extended his hand.

  I slipped off my sticky glove.

  AMANDA

  Joe moved us all by Pargo to an office building behind Toontown. He offered us power drinks and protein bars. I ate and drank eagerly. Then I washed my hands and face in the restroom, and felt half human again. I needed sleep, but didn’t have any time.

  Joe being Joe, he organized the video viewing quickly. Together, we watched them again. We watched Wayne, the Keepers, and Finn.

  And all the time, Joe watched Mattie with an eagle eye. Since allowing her to read him, he’d acted deeply troubled.

  MATTIE

  As Joe worked with the security footage, I could feel his eyes occasionally burning into me. He’d reacted poorly to my reading. Most people didn’t realize it was happening, so it had to have been creepy to know a nineteen-year-old girl was prowling around in your thoughts and memories.

  I’d targeted the read for anything to do with the videos. As often happened, I got more than I expected.

  For one thing, Joe’s mind operated on a whole different level from most people. His was a mind where I could have lingered for hours, a treasure trove of Disney lore, history, park attractions, and insider information concerning the Imagineers. Films and music occupied him, as did details about the Disney cruise ships, a new Disney Channel TV show, and more. I could hardly tear myself away. At a time like this, I loved my power to read.

  As the video started to roll, I paid attention to every detail. We had a puzzle to solve.

  JESS

  Joe didn’t seem worried to me—he seemed sad. Everyone had private thoughts. Letting Mattie roam the library of his mind had bothered him. I totally got that. I certainly had my share of secrets, and I wanted to keep them to myself. They were mine and mine alone. I wasn’t letting Mattie anywhere near me.