Once inside, to his dismay, the ventilation duct had not been interesting in the least. In fact, it had been rather terrifying. The channel had been narrow and dark and littered with spider webs and insects, both living and dead. The space had been so tight that it had greatly restricted his movement and had caused him to feel an overwhelming sense of confinement. He had been forced to slither forward as there had been no room for him to twist and return to his room. The farther he had moved from the meager light provided by the opening to his room, the darker and scarier the ventilation duct had become. He’d had to close his eyes tightly, had to resist the urge to stop moving and succumb to fear.
He had slid through the dusty darkness for less than fifty feet, eyes still shut, before he had happened upon another grate. He had felt it with his face and immediately opened his eyes. Dim light had pushed back the dark slightly, and he had wanted nothing more than to be in the light. He had pushed against the grate with his large, webbed fingers and the screws had yielded under their pressure. The grate had fallen off easily and he had dropped to the room below.
Grateful to be standing once again, he had squinted and allowed his vision to adjust to the light of the room; the light had been dim but far brighter than the gloom of the duct. Once his eyes had adjusted, he had realized where he was, that he stood in Terzini’s laboratory, a laboratory that led to the outside.
The prospect of freedom had been an unexpected and irresistible temptation. He had been outside on rare occasions and had found the outdoors fascinating. The lure of independence, of choice, had been too great to ignore. He had decided that returning to his room was not as appealing as liberation.
So he ran. He ran as fast as he could away from the life that enslaved him. He had felt it vital to get away from the horrible little man who wanted to kill him. He had fled the laboratory and the grounds of Dr. Franklin Terzini’s property without a formal plan, had known only that he would actively pursue friendships.
Sadly though, as time passed, the faceless man had begun to recognize an unfortunate pattern: everyone he had come in contact with seemed to share in his maker’s estimation of him. The people he had encountered were rarely able to suppress a scream much less forge a friendship with him. They had reacted negatively, hostilely in some cases, toward him, had screamed at him, and had attacked him; he quickly realized that acceptance would be a challenge.
The faceless man began to linger in locales that were less inhabited, favoring darkened alleys and abandoned buildings. When in these locations, he unearthed many people like him, people who were displaced, people who had been relegated to darkness. They were vagabonds, unwanted and unloved, who pushed their meager possessions about in carts and carriages and ate out of trash cans. He thought them kindred spirits. He was wrong, of course. His vagrant peers excluded and rejected him vehemently, violently. They proved mean, and scary.
Without food, shelter, or companionship, he roamed alone, forced to urinate and defecate in the wilderness and feed on small creatures indigenous to the area. He survived primarily on rabbits, raccoons and squirrels and the occasional rat. He drank and washed in streams and ponds.
Most days, he was afraid and lonely. But living a lonely and rootless life was still preferable to the life he previously led. His maker had used him to hurt people, kept him locked in a tiny room then wanted to kill him.
Though the faceless man had fled from the captivity of his maker’s laboratory after being informed of his impending destruction months earlier he re-experienced it regularly and in vivid detail. Just recalling the fact that Terzini had wanted to exterminate him as if he were a loathsome pest of some sort caused him to feel each emotion as if it were occurring in the present.
He shivered again and clutched his body closer as if physically trying to hold himself together, fighting a phantom force that sought to dismantle him. He knew his maker’s call for his death had been unfair, unjustified; he knew that much was true. He could not object to it, could not articulate his desire to live. He was incapable of speech, and therefore unable to argue on his own behalf, or plead with Terzini to pardon his impending death sentence. He valued his life, even if Terzini did not. The faceless man knew that Dr. Franklin Terzini was nothing more than a mean little man filled with harsh words and malicious ideas, and very unrealistic expectations.
His maker was not unlike other humans he had met. Everyone he had come across had been unkind. They shrieked at the sight of him, shrunk away in his presence. He could not imagine why they could not see past his differences.
As he sat with his knees tucked against his chest and his arms wrapped around them, he wondered if Terzini had been right, if no one would ever accept him as he was. As he contemplated such an idea, an overwhelming sentiment swelled within him. He felt a profound sense of sadness for himself.
Fortunately, the sadness was fleeting. His resolve countermanded it. He was determined to seek out a compassionate person, one who saw past his miscreation. He had heard talk of one who’d managed to see past another of Dr. Terzini’s creations and cared about him deeply. That is what he wanted, what he was determined to find, a person who would not condemn him for his origins but would celebrate him, instead. He refused to accept that his experiences represented the whole of humanity. Gabriel James had found a person who cared about him, and so would he.
A warm breeze gusted, stirring the plants and blossoms around him. In the distance, the bronzed and bowed statue did not waver. His gaze remained fixed on the earth beneath him, cast down in perpetual despair. The faceless man breathed in the sweet spring air and realized he did not wish to be like the gilded soldier after all. He wished, instead, to be like Gabriel.
Chapter 5
The days had been passing by mercifully fast. Three had elapsed in what felt like the blink of an eye. For months, Melissa submerged herself in the details of her days, allowed them to carry her like a mighty tide guiding an ocean. Most days she felt as though she were bobbing in a vast body of water, being pulled along by forces beyond her control. Schoolwork, family obligations, and her friends united and acted as a current towing her through each day, week, month, through life. But the last three days had been different. Melissa felt more like herself than she had in five months. She felt energized, enlivened; almost happy.
Melissa felt as if she’d awoken from a hideous dream. And though she felt slightly battered, she was beginning to feel again.
Situated in the back seat of Daniella’s car on her way to school, Melissa felt at ease for the first time in a long time. She missed Gabriel; that fact remained unchanged. But something had changed within her, something inexplicable and profound. She felt more at peace with her circumstances, wondered if she were letting go of Gabriel. Such a notion had been unfathomable earlier, seemed improbable still.
Melissa could not quite pinpoint exactly what has transformed and did not feel like exhausting herself trying to figure it out. She was grateful for the reprieve and that was enough to sustain her.
“This has been the longest week ever. We are so going out tonight!” Daniella affirmed exuberantly.
“I know! I can’t wait! I have the hottest outfit,” Alexandra agreed.
“What should I wear?” Daniella asked.
“Something slutty!” Alexandra joked. “I’m just kidding. Just wear that green top with your skinnies. Your ass looks smokin’ hot in that.”
Melissa listened to Alexandra and Daniella chatter on about their weekend plans, had done so absentmindedly for several months. Earlier on, just after Gabriel had left, they had regularly asked her to join them and she had continually refused. As time passed, however, her friends had begun asking less and less frequently before they stopped asking altogether. Her two best friends no longer bothered to try and include her in their plans as their invites had always been declined. She had not been offended by their exclusion before, had thought it a relief even to no longer go through the motions of getting an invite, turning it down then listenin
g to angry or pity-filled appeals. Now, however, she felt differently. She wanted to be included.
“Hey, what should I wear?” Melissa heard herself ask.
“Oh my God Daniella, pull over! I think I’m going to have a heart attack!” Alexandra chided.
“Melissa, are you really going to come out with us?” Daniella asked incredulously.
“I’m thinking about it,” Melissa answered.
“Don’t think!” Alexandra urged. “Just come!”
“Yeah, it’s been, like, forever since you came out with us,” Daniella added. “You have to come! Greg is having a huge party at his house. His parents are away so it’s going to be epic. He has an indoor pool, Melissa!”
“It’s going to be off the hook! That guy is loaded. I’m excited to just see his house, everything else is a bonus,” Alexandra said.
Melissa was suddenly panicked by what she was feeling. Excitement, an emotion she’d been virtually devoid of over the last several months, swelled within her.
“You have to come, Missy! We miss you,” Daniella begged.
She felt dizzied. Her heart raced. Her hands felt frozen. She felt nauseated and elated simultaneously. In her belly, a swarm of butterflies had emerged from their chrysalides and flitted about, beating their wings.
“Count me in!” she blurted out. “I’m coming to Greg’s party!”
“Yay!” Daniella cheered.
“Wait a sec,” Alexandra interrupted. “You’re not going to come with us and get drunk and start crying about you-know-who are you?”
Although she could not be completely sure that that would not happen, Melissa felt confident she would be okay and that the night would pass tear-free.
“No,” she said. “I’m not going to cry this time.”
“Are you sure?” Alexandra asked skeptically.
“Of course,” Melissa lied.
“So you’re over him?” Daniella asked softly.
Melissa considered her question briefly before answering.
“I don’t know that I’m necessarily over Gabriel. I’m just not going to sit home all the time waiting for him to call or text or e-mail. I mean, I’m sick of being sad all the time, of being, like, pathetic, you know?”
“Yeah, you have been pretty pathetic,” Alexandra stated plainly.
Daniella elbowed Alexandra.
“What the fuck was that for?” Alexandra asked.
Melissa watched as Daniella shot Alexandra a warning glance.
“Sorry,” Alexandra mouthed.
“Guys, stop it! This is what I’m talking about,” Melissa began. “You think I don’t see what you guys are doing?”
“We’re not doing anything,” Daniella answered.
“Yes you are. You treat me like a mental patient!”
“We’re sorry, sweetie,” Daniella said. “We don’t want to upset you.”
“No! Stop apologizing. I’m the one who should be apologizing. Because I’ve been, like, a zombie for the last few months, you guys have had to tiptoe around my feelings. I mean, it’s unfair that you have to be like that around me and watch what you say or don’t say and what you do or don’t do. It’s ridiculous. I’m ridiculous!”
“You’re not ridiculous. You’re hurting. We just want to make things easier for you,” Daniella replied.
“Yeah, we’re sick of seeing you upset all the time. We want to help any way we can,” Alexandra added.
“Well it stops today,” Melissa asserted. “Starting today, things are back to normal. No more moping and crying and waiting. You don’t have to hold back anymore and coddle me.”
“Great! You mean we don’t have to pretend to understand why you’d want to waste your time boo-hooing over a guy–a very hot guy–but a guy nevertheless?” Alexandra asked.
“Alex!” Daniella exclaimed.
“What?” Alexandra replied.
“You don’t have to be rude about it!”
“No Daniella, Alex is right. I shouldn’t sit around crying over him. I mean, he’s probably off somewhere having a great time which is why he hardly ever even calls anymore so why should I be upset?”
Her question was rhetorical and her friends dared not offer so much as a hypothetical or lighthearted retort. But Melissa was certain the same questions that ran rampantly in her mind crossed theirs as well. She had wondered if his infrequent contact with her was a result of waning interest more than risk factors. Recently, she began to doubt his feelings for her.
As soon as she felt the familiar doubt, which invariably precipitated hurt, begin to encroach, she forced it to the back of her mind, refused to let it ruin her newfound sense of calm.
“So, I’ll ask again, what should I wear tonight?” Melissa asked and redirected the conversation back to a lighter topic.
“Something slutty, like I told Daniella,” Alexandra joked.
Melissa laughed. And it felt good. She giggled with her friends as Daniella parked in the front lot of Harbingers High School before they gathered their books and entered the building.
As Melissa walked down the hallway toward her locker, she couldn’t help but feel an energy swirl about her. There was excitement in the air; she felt it the moment she walked in. It was electric. Some students passed, gesturing to one another animatedly. Others whispered eagerly. Something significant had happened, Melissa just wasn’t sure what.
“I gotta go,” Alexandra said unaware of the buzz around her. “I can’t be late, like, ever again or I’ll get detention. Later!”
“Bye Alex,” Melissa said distractedly.
“See ya, Alex,” Daniella replied. “Melissa, I have to go too. I have a test first period.”
“Go, go. I’ll see you later.”
Melissa watched as Daniella disappeared around the corner into the stairwell then refocused her attention to the odd flurry in the hallway. More of her classmates had gathered and stared down the long corridor pointing and gesturing. She strained her vision to see what was causing the commotion. She could not quite make out who or what she was seeing.
She began pushing her way through the crowd that had amassed.
As Melissa got closer, she discerned a tall figure that appeared to be the center of all the attention. She kept moving, pressing passed onlookers. She saw that there were two slightly shorter figures flanking the person at the end of the hall and kept moving toward them.
When she was finally close enough to see who was responsible for the ruckus, she felt her breath catch in her chest. Her knees weakened. Her mind spun like tires in mud, spinning and struggling to gain traction when all the while the only progress that was made was deeper submergence in mire. What she witnessed seemed impossible, unbelievable. Thoughts swirled and eddied about. None of them made sense. She felt faint. Surely it couldn’t be him. She hadn’t seen him in five months and was certain she’d never see him again. But he had returned.
Her heart began to race and, though she felt cold, perspiration dampened her forehead and palms. Her pulse raced dangerously. Her knees threatened to give way beneath her. She felt lightheaded and unsteady. He seemed to float toward her, an apparition materializing.
A hush seemed to have befallen the hallway, save for the rapid thumping that resonated in her ears. Everyone around her appeared to be moving with infinitesimal slowness, as if they were actors in a film reel moving in slow-motion.
Standing at the end of the long, student-filled hallway a familiar face smiled at her showcasing his blindingly white smile and single dimple in the center of his right cheek.
Melissa felt the color drain from her cheeks as Kevin Anderson winked at her then waved coyly. Terror, unlike any she had ever experienced, prickled along her spine. Her insides shivered. He grinned broadly as if sensing her horror at the sight of him, confident, arrogant; antagonizing. She wanted to run from him, keep running, and never be forced to lay eyes on his menacing expression again.
Kevin Anderson was dead. His presence implied that he had returned from the gr
ave; and he was not alone. Beside him, Chris Mace and John DeNardi stood, as they always did in the past, very much alive.
The situation was nightmarish; they were all dead. She had heard their tortured screams, knew that they suffered at the hands of Eugene. She had seen their mangled corpses. The scene had been gruesome, their deaths violent. Their return was impossible. They could not be at Harbingers High School.
Her mind continued to roll and turn incapable of gripping a solid thought. Each idea seemed to flow past her like a phantom, ephemeral, evanescent. She worried she was hallucinating or suffering an emotional episode of some sort. Kevin, Chris and John appeared to have returned, impossibly, from the dead and she felt her world upend.
Chapter 6
Dr. Franklin Terzini’s footsteps echoed along the corridor of his new laboratory in Santa Ynez, California. The layout was similar to his two previous research facilities, save for the fact that this one existed above the ground as opposed to buried deep within it.
The heels of his leather dress shoes clacked rhythmically on the pristine tiled flooring. He moved swiftly down a path in the center of his lab. On either side, stainless-steel tables loaded with magnification apparatus, centrifugal equipment and computers lined the walls. Beakers of every imaginable size, along with innumerable test tubes in holders, sat atop shelving units and occupied the far wall. His new space, though organized, immaculately clean and nearly identical to the others, still unnerved him. The work area was far too bright. Despite room darkening shades installed at each window prior to his arrival, abundant sunshine still permeated minuscule gaps in the treatments and managed to light the room.
Terzini despised sunlight and daytime in general. He hadn’t relocated for the lightness or beaches. He had selected Santa Ynez for its obscurity and although it was just a car ride away from the densely populated city of Los Angeles, it offered rustic anonymity without sacrificing modern convenience. An additional element also added to the allure of his proximity to a major city as well: defiance.
Planet Urth Boxed Set Page 102
