The Academy: Book 2

by Leito, Chad

  She was twisting and jerking, trying to get herself loose from the rope trap. Unlike the monkeys Asa had seen, this girl was only held up by her right ankle. A soft trickle of blood was beginning to run up her calf muscle from the point of restriction on the rope. The girl swung her body upward, clutched onto her ankle, and began trying to pull. Even with her best efforts, she was not able to get herself free.

  She’s athletic, but not super-human.

  Upset and frustrated, the girl relaxed and let her body fall to a hanging position. The rope constricted harder with the added weight, and the girl screamed. Quickly, regretting her decision, the girl covered her mouth with her hands and fell silent. She looked around the forest, as to make sure that she hadn’t been heard.

  Asa froze. Having lived in the Academy for a little over half a year now, he knew the dangers of attracting attention in the woods. He had a strong urge to run out into the clearing and tell the stranger to “hush,” but wasn’t yet sure that he intended to help.

  I don’t know what she is: I thought that the person who killed the monkeys was harmless, too.

  Asa stayed in his position, wondering if he should get up and start running. His heart was pounding fast. The girl’s cries could have carried all the way to the Multipliers: if this was the case, they were probably already rushing through the forest after the source.

  The girl spun around in a circle once more, and this time she was facing Asa. Her teeth were chattering, and her arms were crossed tightly against herself. On the ground, directly below her was a black parka. Stitched on the back was a large, yellow goldfish.

  Oh, she’s a Fishie! How could I have forgotten? They were supposed to be arriving today, so that they could participate in classes tomorrow.

  “Don’t scream,” Asa said. He stepped out from hiding and revealed himself. “Be still so that I can get you down.”

  Asa stepped toward her, and she pointed her finger at him; her eyes were red and angry. “Get back!”

  Asa was relieved to see that her tongue and gums were pink. He put up his hands to show that he had no ill intentions: “I’m here to help.”

  She ran a hand over her forehead, streaking dirt on her skin and said: “I don’t need help. I just need a knife or something.” Again, she pulled her body up so that her torso was upright, and she was able to hold onto the rope. She turned to Asa: “Well?”

  “Well what?”

  “Do you have a knife?” she asked.

  “Uhh, no.”

  She turned, looking at Asa as she was suspended in the air, holding onto the rope. Asa thought of how scared he would be if he were a normal human and encountered a mutated person in a stark white suit on a mountainside.

  “I can get you down, just be still.” Asa’s wings shot out onto either side of him, and he leapt above the girl and grasped the rope with his right hand. He brought his left wrist up to his mouth and using his teeth to pull the fabric over his thumb, he was able to activate the drill function of his wristband. He momentarily squeezed the drill to life, cut the rope, caught it, and used his wings to help the two of them glide softly to the floor.

  The girl lowered herself to the earth using her hands, and then rolled over onto her back where she sat up, examining the rope on her ankle. She blew some hair out of her face. “I didn’t need your help,” she said. She worked on her ankle for a moment, and when Asa didn’t answer she added: “But thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Asa was keenly aware that if the Multipliers had heard the initial scream that they would arrive behind them in a few moments. He got down on his hands and knees and examined the rope on the girl’s ankle.

  “No wonder it’s bleeding,” she said, looking at it.

  “No kidding.” The rope was wrapped with sharp, thorny vines all the way around.

  “I’m Jen,” the girl said. Her face was closer to Asa’s than was necessary.

  Asa let out an echolocation cry to check their surroundings. The Multipliers weren’t in the vicinity. Not yet, at least.

  “Hello?” Jen asked. “I said my name. This is the part where you say yours.”

  Asa looked at her. At times it was still hard to believe that others couldn’t hear the high-pitched noises that he was able to produce. “Asa Palmer.”

  “I’ve got something for you, Asa Palmer,” she said, and reached into the pocket of her parka. She pulled out gold-rimmed, thick goggles. These were much nicer than the ones that the Fishies had been given last year to climb King Mountain with. Asa had seen a pair like this before, but couldn’t remember where. “They’re a gift.”

  Distracted, thinking about the Multipliers in the woods, Asa put the pair of gold goggles onto the ground. He had not carefully examined the goggles he before placed them down.

  “We need to move,” Asa said.

  “You look worried, Palmer.” Jen was smiling.

  “I am worried. We need to run. Can I pick you up?”

  “I can run by myself, I’m not that hurt,” Jen said. “Do you think we can just pull this off my ankle? Some of the thorns are in pretty deep.”

  Asa let out another cry of echolocation, and saw Joney and Edna moving toward them in the brush. They were talking amongst each other, taking their time. Have we already been spotted?

  “Why do you keep on opening your mouth like…” Jen started.

  Asa put a stern finger on Jen’s lips to quiet her. She must have read something alarming on his face because her expression went from playful to concerned. “Be completely silent,” Asa whispered hoarsely to her. With his wings still out, he wrapped his arms around Jen’s torso and began to softly flap so that they floated straight up into the canopy. They landed on a pliable, thin branch high above the forest floor. The wood bounced with their weight, moving the shadows beneath. Asa didn’t dare breath as the Multipliers approached beneath them.

  “Ehhh! Something musta’ set this un off, eh, Edna?”

  “Seems as such. But—Ah! Lookey here!” Edna said, picking up the end of rope that had just trapped Jen. “A bit o’ blood on it. An’ look at that end! Somethin’ strong had to ‘ave ripped right through it, don’t you suspect?”

  Asa was holding his breath as he watched. Jen didn’t appear as frightened as Asa, but was still following his lead of being silent. She seemed surprisingly comfortable with being fifty feet above the earth on an unstable branch.

  The wind stirred the branches above, moving the shadows below. The outline of the two in the tree seemed painfully obvious from above, but the Multipliers still didn’t seem suspicious. They were so concentrated on what was on the ground that they weren’t looking above them.

  “Wha’s tha’?” Joney asked.

  Asa’s stomach went cold. Joney was pointing at a gold object in the dirt.

  The goggles, how could I have forgotten?

  Asa and Jen shared a look of uncertainty.

  Edna picked up the goggles and looked at them. “Ye Gods, Joney! Does this say what I think it does?”

  Joney looked at the inscription that Edna was pointing at. He sounded the words out very slowly. “J…Uh…Jul. Jul Conway. Jul Conway?”

  “Oh my! Joney! If this trapped up Jul Conway, I think that we are in very, very big trouble!” She began to pace, the goggles still in her hands. “Do you think it was him? What do we do?”

  “Calm down, Edna!”

  “Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down when we could’ve just trapped Jul Conway? Our cover is blown! He’s already suspicious, ya know?”

  Joney tried to reassure Edna, though he looked worried himself. “It’ll be okay! We don’t know that these were his.”

  “Don’t know they were his? Why, they’ve gots ‘is name right there! How’s that Joney?”

  Joney thought for a second. “Well, we ain’t doin’ good just standing ‘ere.”

  “What should we do, Joney? What should we do?”

  Joney spat black sludge onto the ground. “We’ll go ‘round to the other ropes
, and take ‘em down. Nothin’ else to do.”

  “Are we gonna tell Michael?” Edna asked, her voice rising.

  “No way are we gonna tell Michael.”

  “And Joney?” Edna started. “Wh-what if we run into Conway?”

  “We’ll kill ‘im.”

  All was silent for a moment. Asa was still holding his breath, praying that the two of them wouldn’t look up.

  “C’mon. Let’s go.” Joney said. They walked out of the clearing.

  Asa and Jen stayed where they were for minutes after the Multipliers left. “What are those things?” she whispered.

  “Multipliers,” Asa said. “You’ll be familiar with them before long. We need to get out of here. Give me your hands.”

  They locked wrists, and with Asa’s wings outstretched, they drifted to the ground. “Let’s move,” Asa said.

  With so much to think about, Asa wasn’t in a mood for chatting, but as they walked, Jen wanted to talk; she didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation. “How long have you had your wings?” she asked.

  “Five months.”

  “Will I get them, too?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do they hurt?” She was looking at Asa’s shoulder blades to see if there were protrusions in his suit.

  “Yes.”

  “Wow! You’re fun to talk to!” Jen said to him, and rolled her eyes.

  Asa felt his teeth grind together. I don’t care what she thinks about me. Soon, she’ll hear all the rumors and be terrified of me. They’ll tell her how I killed Shelby last year in the cafeteria, and I bet they’ll probably leave out the part where she attacked me first.

  “So are Multipliers just more advanced graduates?” Jen asked.

  Asa almost said, ‘No,’ and explained what he knew. He opened his mouth, stopped himself from speaking, and then thought: The only reason that I know how Multipliers actually come to be is because Conway gave me information he wasn’t supposed to. He trusts that I won’t let anything slip. Finally, Asa answered: “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask someone else. What were you doing back here anyways?”

  Jen shrugged and smirked. “Exploring. They wanted us to go to our dorms, but I figured I’d have plenty of time to see those. I was itching to see the terrain.”

  Unbelievable! Does she realize what danger she has put herself in? All to explore? “Well don’t do it again!” Asa said.

  Jen laughed: “You can’t tell me what to do, you know? I’ve been on my own the past few years after my parents got sick. Wolf Flu.” She hung her head for a moment before adding: “And I’m not going to let people start pushing me around just because I’m here. I’m not scared of you, you know?”

  “I didn’t say you were,” Asa said.

  “Just don’t tell me what to do, okay? I’m a big girl.” Jen patted her pocket, as though making sure that she hadn’t lost something.

  “I don’t think that you realize how dangerous this place is, that’s all. I wasn’t trying to be mean.”

  “Don’t worry, Palmer, I think that I can handle myself.”

  They passed Harold Kensing’s grave in the woods and Asa thought: Why don’t you listen to me? You have no idea what kind of danger you just put yourself in. This is the reason it would be unfair to have Fishies and fourth semesters fighting in the same arena. If the rumor is true, and the Task is going to be some sort of school-wide fight to the death, I think that Jen’s cockiness is going to end her.

  Jen turned to the left, headed into the arctic jungle that separated Fishie Mountain and the second semester mountain. “Where are you going?” Asa asked.

  “I’ve got to go back to my dorm. See ya, Palmer.”

  Asa thought about warning her of the dangerous animals that inhabited the wild, but then stopped himself. She doesn’t want to hear it.

  “See you,” Asa said, a little disturbed at the odds of her getting ripped apart before the end of her first day in the Academy. “Hey, wait! Where did you get those goggles?”

  “Found ‘em,” she called back, not wasting her energy to turn around.

  Asa shook his head and watched her move in between the brush. “Are you sure you don’t want me to fly you home?”

  “Get a life, Palmer,” she called back.

  Seeing no other option, Asa climbed the mountainside up to his dwelling. The rock was icy, and he held his wings out beside him so that his fall would be less severe if he slipped. “So stupid,” he muttered to himself. The sun was still high in the sky, which surprised Asa, considering all that had already happened that day.

  His mind was drawn to the mystery of the Multipliers in the woods. Why are they here? And who made them, if the Academy isn’t aware of them? And…

  Asa thoughts were cut short as he saw the door to Charlotte’s dwelling open. Asa held his breath, and felt a deep pang in his chest. Despite all the time he had been thinking about Charlotte lately, he still didn’t know how he would explain the letter he left her if confronted face to face…

  Shashowt appeared out the wooden door closed it behind him. He came onto the entryway, and his eyes found Asa’s. Asa glared back the other student; they had developed a strong dislike for one another towards the end of last semester.

  Shashowt spat on the ground and began to clamber down to his own dwelling. Asa cursed Shashowt in a quiet breath and climbed up to his dwelling.

  The circle entryway was icy, and the wooden door handle had frost standing out on it. Asa reached out his hand, turned, and pushed the door open.

  3

  The News Program

  Asa stepped inside his dwelling, and tapped his foot against the doorjamb, knocking loose the chunks of ice lodged in the sole of his shoe. Because of Teddy, the dwelling was much more inhabitable than Asa thought it might be last semester, when he started carving it out of stone. Like computers and architecture, Teddy had a knack for aesthetics, and the small room was a prime example of this.

  The walls were periodically carpeted with wide, thick animal furs of assorted colors (brown, black, yellow, white), cut into various geometric shapes. Asa’s favorite flanked the vented kitchen stove—a sheep’s skin cut into a fluffy, white heart. Pure of heart was the phrase that always came to Asa’s mind when he saw it. In the past two weeks, Teddy had traded and rearranged furniture in between Asa’s dwelling, his own, and the secret compartment above Asa’s dwelling. Now, a wooden wicker chair, a stone coffee table, and a wooden stool with a small back were arranged in the middle of the room: Because Teddy had not been sleeping lately, he had more time to experiment with things like wood carving. As Asa walked in, there was a roaring fire in a cutout in the wall on his right side. The flames gave off so much warmth that Asa found himself turning down the heat on his suit as he grew accustomed to the temperature. Next to this cutout was a bathtub (above which was the secret compartment that Asa and Teddy carved out last semester, in case Asa ever needed a place to hide), and a small bathroom with a stone toilet installed.

  Asa found that living in the dwelling wasn’t as hard as he had thought. The Academy had gone against its word and supplied the dwellings with stoves, plumbing, and a common room a short fly away to another portion of the mountainside; in this common room, the second semester students could watch television (on Academy approved channels—this included soundless recordings of sports games without commercials, and old movies), play-ping pong, exercise, and get food from a 24 hour cafeteria.

  The common room was a source of anxiety for Asa. Shortly after the last end of semester ceremony, one of the televisions was broken by a student that had slammed into it after she tripped while playing a rigorous ping-pong game. The raccoons came and replaced the television promptly, and set the old one aside to be thrown away later. Teddy stole this broken TV, and Asa was constantly worried that he was going to be killed for the crime.

  Though Teddy had been working hard at decorating Asa’s main dwelling, he seldom spent time there. He would briefly stop by to drop off or pick up furnit
ure, or pass through so that he could crawl within the watery tunnel over the bathtub that led to Asa’s secret compartment, where Teddy now slept. He hadn’t stayed more than a few minutes in the main dwelling since the day that he and Asa buried Harold Kensing’s body.

  Now, for the first time in weeks, he was there. He stood next to the stove; meat was sizzling over a large, iron skillet. His back was turned to the door, and he hadn’t heard Asa enter. Teddy was chopping up vegetables on a cutting board with an enormous knife.

  For a fleeting moment, Asa thought of how Teddy had made the joke about drilling his and Charlotte’s heads off.

  But it was only a joke! No reason to be frightened.

  An awfully morbid joke, though, don’t you think?

  I’m not scared of him, Asa said to himself, but still, he was tempted to slip out quietly; Asa was just starting to realize that something was not right with his friend.

  “Teddy?”

  “WHAA!” Teddy jumped: the cutting board he had been working on flew into the air, sending onions, red and green peppers, and jalapeños scattering all over the ground. Teddy was crouched in front of the stove, knife held out in front of him in a defensive position.

  Teddy’s reaction made Asa jump too: he was leaning up against the wall, hand pressed up over his chest in surprise.

  Teddy straightened up, and held the knife down. “Jesus, Asa, you scared me! Why’d you do that?”

  “I wasn’t trying to,” Asa said back.

  A cold smile broke onto Teddy’s lips, and then he burst into a high-pitched cackle: the transition seemed odd and unnatural. “Well come help me pick this up, then. No harm done.”

  Asa smiled for a split second, and then began to walk towards the stove to help: he felt very aware of his legs while walking: it was as though the motion that was typically unconscious was requiring all of his mental efforts.

  There’s nothing to be scared of. I mean, this is Teddy: He’s my friend, I trust him.

  As they cleaned the mess on the floor, Teddy said, “I made us dinner. I know how you said that you missed the Mexican food in Texas, so I thought that I’d make you fajitas. I found a recipe in the library.”