The Similars

by Rebecca Hanover

  “We have to go back to the hologram room,” I say under my breath as I catch up to her in the line to bus our trays.

  “We can’t—the security guard,” Maude reminds me.

  “We can get around him.”

  “How?” she asks as we walk outside. It may be spring, but it’s still freezing at Darkwood. I stuff my hands into my coat pockets.

  “The guard has seen Madison go into that building dozens of times…”

  “We still don’t know why,” Maude interjects.

  “No. But if you can convince him that you’re her, and that you’ve forgotten your key…then you could let me in a back door.” I shrug. “It could work.”

  Maude sighs. “And when do you want to do this?”

  “You’re staying here for break, right? You and your friends? How about Wednesday?”

  Maude nods. “But why Wednesday?”

  “Everyone should be gone—or bored. Maybe the guard won’t even be on duty.”

  “I doubt that,” Maude says wryly.

  “Meet me behind Cypress. Wednesday. Midnight.” I make Maude promise she won’t bail on me and then head back to my dorm room.

  The Darkwood campus is eerily quiet this holiday. At meals, only a smattering of students trickle through the dining hall. That Wednesday night, a few hours after dinner, I can’t sleep, but I’m so used to my own brand of insomnia that I hardly even notice it anymore. I stare at Pru’s side of the room, missing her so much, it hurts. I haven’t pulled the sheets off her bed or moved any of her things—that would feel like sacrilege. I still wonder why she hasn’t buzzed me. It feels wrong that all I have to go on is Jaeger’s word. And yet, I want, and need, to believe that she’s okay.

  Pru and Ollie aren’t the only ones I miss. If I’m honest with myself, I miss Levi’s company too. It’s strange to miss someone who isn’t dead or gone, but is simply across the room. It’s a new sensation, one I categorically dislike. Like there’s a hole inside me, an empty space I can’t fill.

  I glance at the clock. It’s 11:45. Time to meet Maude.

  I slip on boots and a coat and head out to the patio behind Cypress. Tonight, I gaze out at the grounds. It is a beautiful campus.

  “I don’t know what you’re expecting to find,” says a voice. I turn to see Maude, her eyes bright even in the darkness.

  “I want to call up my father’s hologram. Jaeger Stanwick’s. All of them—”

  “It’ll be useless data. No hologram. You heard what Oliver said in his message. Underwood’s hologram wasn’t a hologram at all, simply random stats about his life. Is knowing someone’s resting blood pressure really going to help you?”

  “No, but—”

  “But what?”

  “I don’t know what it is I’m looking for. I just need to see if we’ve missed anything. I’ve got to study all the parents’ holograms. Then, once I’ve looked at every Ten member’s stats from my father’s year, I want to look at Underwood’s.”

  “What for?” Maude asks, frustration rising in her voice. “We already know he’s my guardian. We already know he faked his death and took on a new identity and played a role in cloning us from our originals…”

  “But why?” I know I sound desperate, and desperately sad. That’s because I am. “Why would Underwood—I mean, Gravelle—do that? Why would he clone Oliver and the others? And what did he do to Ollie that drove him to suicide?”

  “You won’t find that out from the holograms.”

  “How do you know that? I might. I certainly have to try. Maude, I need your help. I did what you asked. I haven’t told Levi what we found out.” I let out a sigh that leaves me empty. “Please?”

  “All right,” she relents. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Walk to the research building. Explain to the guard that you’re there per Fleischer’s instructions, but accidentally left your key in your room.”

  “So play Madison Huxley to the best of my ability?” Maude supplies.

  “Yes. The real Madison Huxley left for Texas three days ago. It would never work if she were on campus. She could have real plans to visit the building. But this will work. It has to.” Something occurs to me. A new wrinkle. “You can do it, can’t you? Act like her? What about your accent?”

  “What accent?” Maude replies, all traces of her British inflection gone as she impersonates Madison. I’m momentarily taken aback. She’s good.

  “I’ll follow in five minutes. If I’m there with you from the get-go, we’ll look suspicious. I think if you’re alone, you’ll have a better chance of getting in.”

  “What if security lets me in and you’re not there yet? You should be right behind me. Otherwise, I won’t be able to wait.”

  “I’ll be there,” I say resolutely. “But if I’m not, pull the holograms. Read the data. Take notes. Memorize it. Whatever you have to do. You ready?”

  “Ready to pretend to be her? I suppose so.” She sighs.

  “See you there. And Maude…”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you.”

  She nods before slipping off into the dark. I wait for only a few seconds before following her. I will watch from the trees while she talks to the security guard. Then I’ll join her. I take in a sharp breath. I hope this will work.

  Suddenly my plum rings. I go to silence it, but then I see who is buzzing me. It’s Jaeger Stanwick. I accept and his face appears on the plum’s small screen.

  Pru’s dad’s gray hair is long and unkempt. His eyes look glassy and exhausted.

  I stop in my tracks. “Jaeger,” I whisper. “Is Pru okay? What’s happening? What’s wrong?”

  “I lied before,” he says quietly. “When I told you Pru was recuperating at home. She was—that wasn’t entirely untrue. But now… I couldn’t risk you asking questions before. That’s why I wrote you that note, to try to make you understand. We couldn’t share our plans with you, not yet—”

  “What plans?” I ask, feeling so frustrated I could scream. “Is Pru okay? What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Pru’s mother and I, we’re part of an underground organization called the Quarry,” Jaeger says. “It’s a pro-clone group started nearly a decade ago to fight for clones’ rights. Mr. Park is also a member, as are a handful of other politicians and activists. The Quarry’s membership has grown in numbers exponentially recently.”

  I take that in, trying to comprehend. Pru’s parents are in an underground organization? I had no idea. “What does this have to do with Pru’s attack?”

  Jaeger sighs. “I’m afraid whoever attacked her may have had a bone to pick with me and what the Quarry stands for.”

  My mind is racing with this new information, but all I can think about is Pru. “So, her attack didn’t have anything to do with the Similars? Where is she? Can I speak to—”

  “Augustus Gravelle harbors an agenda that isn’t entirely dissimilar to the Quarry’s. It runs parallel to what we believe—that clones should be treated equally and fairly. His agenda is more about domination than clones’ rights. But that’s not important right now. When Prudence recovered from her attack, she was insistent on joining the Quarry. It was premature, in my opinion. I had always planned on her finishing her education first. But I have been preoccupied. Her mother, you see—” Jaeger’s voice cracks at this. “Prudence made contact with Gravelle and traveled to his island a week ago to try to form an alliance with him. She and I lost communication a few days ago, and I’m afraid… I’m afraid she may be in danger.”

  I feel my throat constricting. Pru is on Castor Island? Meeting with the Similars’ guardian?

  “What are we supposed to do?” I ask, all too aware that Pru is in danger and I’m supposed to be meeting Maude right this minute at the research building.

  “I would go after her, only Prudence’s mother… She’s dying,
Emmaline. I’m afraid she doesn’t have much time left. Days, possibly weeks. I need your help.”

  “Oh, God. I can’t right—I have to run,” I stammer, looking one last time at Jaeger’s grief-stricken face before clicking off my plum and running at a sprint down the path. I’m overwhelmed with a million questions, but I have to focus. It’s the middle of the night. I’m not going to be able to help Pru at this very moment—but the information in the hologram room might be a step in that direction.

  When I reach the research building, I’m out of breath. I slink as close as I can to the door, where I spot two figures. One is a large, bulky man—the security guard. The other is petite. It’s Maude, I can tell from the outline of her coat. She’s talking to him. I let out a breath of relief. I haven’t missed them—or my window of opportunity. I move closer.

  “I know it’s asking a lot,” Maude says a little too loudly, but likely for my benefit. Her voice is smooth as silk, with a slight Southern twang, her British accent completely gone. “But it’s late. Principal Fleischer wanted me to check in right at midnight. If I go back to get my key…”

  I can’t hear what the security guard says, but the next thing I know, the door is opening. He’s letting her in. Heart thumping, I run toward them.

  “Wait!” I say breathlessly, but Maude doesn’t turn around. The door closes with a thud behind her as I reach the guard. “Sorry!” I choke out. “I’m supposed to be with her.”

  The guard stands in front of the door with his arms crossed.

  “Who are you?”

  “Emmaline Chance,” I say quickly. “I’m helping Madison with…” I lower my voice, thinking fast. “Well, it’s confidential, of course. We’ve both been ordered by Principal Fleischer not to leak any details. But it’s important. Surely you know what I’m talking about?”

  “Of course I do,” the guard says, though I get the distinct sense that he knows nothing and doesn’t want to let on.

  “Madison forget her key,” I say, an idea forming. “I grabbed it before I left our dorm. Here. Look.” I pull my key out from under my T-shirt along with Oliver’s. “See? I put hers on before I left. Didn’t want to lose it in the dark. I’m a scatterbrain like that.” Will it work? Will he let me in? “I’d open the door myself, but Maddie’s the one with privileges, and you know I can’t use her key. Wrong DNA.” I flash a smile.

  The guard doesn’t move.

  “Please,” I plead. “My dad’ll kill me if I get in trouble with Principal Fleischer. You know how scary she is.”

  He looks at me for a moment, then shrugs. “Go ahead.” He uses his own key to open the door for me.

  “Thanks so much,” I say as I hurry inside. “I owe you one!”

  I hustle to the bank of elevators when I hear a door at the end of the hallway close. It happens so fast, I don’t see who did it. My heart pounds. Is someone else here in this building, at midnight? Someone besides me and Maude? Or was that Maude? And if so, what’s she doing on the first floor?

  I quickly walk down the hall. I need to know if it was Maude. If it was someone else—Fleischer, for instance—I want to know so that we aren’t ambushed.

  This door is solid—there’s no window to see who, or what, is inside. I steel myself, listening at the door for a few minutes. Nothing. I try the door handle. It opens easily. Blood pulsing through my veins, I push it open gingerly, aware that I’m breaking a million rules.

  The room is large, not unlike the hologram room, and the lighting is low. The space is virtually bare—except for medical equipment and five chairs all in a row.

  Each chair is hefty like an armchair, though these chairs don’t look comfortable. There is a figure in each chair, and each person is hooked up to a bank of wires and IV tubes. I’m immediately reminded of when Pru and I visited her mother during one of her chemotherapy sessions. Is that what this is? A treatment center?

  I step inside to get a better look. My eyes focus. And my heart stops.

  The people in the chairs are students. And not just any students. The Similars.

  I’m stunned. What are they doing here? What is Maude doing here? Why is she here and not in the hologram room as we planned?

  My gaze leaps from face to face. Levi is not here.

  The more I stare, I realize it’s not a matter of what they’re doing. No, the question is what’s being done to them.

  Each Similar is perfectly still and has his or her eyes closed. When I look more carefully, I see that blood runs from them through tubes to the bank of machines and monitors. A light reddish substance runs to them through another series of tubes.

  “Maude?” I ask hesitantly as I approach her chair. “Are you awake? Can you hear me? What’s going on?”

  She doesn’t respond. Fear courses through my body. “Maude!” I shout this time. “Theodora. Pippa?!” I say, facing the Similars. No answer. They can’t hear me.

  Panicked, I back toward the door. My instinct is to free them. To start pulling out those IVs and needles and tubes. But what if I hurt them? What if yanking out a tube is dangerous, even deadly?

  “How nice of you to join us.” I whirl, my heart beating in my ears like a metal drum. It’s Fleischer in a white lab coat. She stands in the doorway, not two feet from me.

  “Principal Fleischer,” I say. “You have to help! What’s happening? Why are the Similars—? What is—what is this?”

  “Nothing of your concern.”

  “Is this safe? Are they hurt? What are the tubes for? What is this treatment for? Are they unconscious?”

  She replies calmly, “As a matter of fact, they are. One of the tubes is delivering a sleeping injective. You have nothing to worry about, Emmaline. They can’t feel a thing.”

  “But you know about this,” I say.

  “Of course I do.” She smiles. The look on her face sends shivers up and down my spine. “Run along, and I won’t have to inform Headmaster Ransom about you breaking curfew again.”

  “I don’t care about curfew. What are you doing to them?”

  “I won’t repeat myself, Emmaline. Go.” I don’t know what it is about her voice, but I worry she is going to hurt me.

  That’s when it dawns on me. Maude had minutes to get to this room before I entered the building. And from the look of things, she knew exactly where she was going, what she was doing. She told me she would let me into the building, but she didn’t. She let the door shut before I got in. She played me.

  But why? To come here to be hooked up to machines? It doesn’t make any sense. Unless she wanted me to see what was happening here. To see the truth.

  “This is what Madison and Jake and Tessa were talking about,” I say, as a thought occurs to me. “The blood work. The appointments they had with you…” My thoughts spill out before I can stop them. “The Similars’ special properties. You know about them, don’t you? The Similars’ unique vital signs and what they mean. You’ve been tracking them. From the keys.”

  “This is my third warning, Emmaline. I’ve reached the end of my patience.”

  I barely hear her. I walk around the chairs, studying the motionless faces of the Similars. Are they in on this? Or are they unwilling participants? Did Maude play me so that I’d find out?

  “You’re doing research,” I say, my voice breathless as I grab a bag of what appears to be Theodora’s blood. I’m not usually squeamish, but I have to fight the urge to gag. “Research that the Huxleys funded. Research to find out how their bodies work. Is that why Headmaster Ransom invited them to Darkwood in the first place?” It’s an epiphany. “Did Ransom admit the Similars so he could turn them into his own personal science experiment?”

  “You are a very imaginative girl,” Fleischer says, her voice frighteningly even. “One who should go back to her room, and go to bed, and forget she ever saw any of this.”

  Fear courses through me as
I begin to comprehend what I’ve discovered and what Fleischer might do to keep me from telling anyone what I’ve seen.

  My mind churns. I have to protect myself. “Don’t you want to hear what I think about it? The Similars are dangerous. Levi Gravelle attacked my best friend. If you can find out what makes them so…inhuman, I support your efforts one hundred percent.”

  Fleischer studies me for a second. I can tell she’s trying to decide whether or not to believe me. “Bed, Emmaline. Now.”

  I nod, not risking another word as I sprint out the door, down the hallway, past the elevator bank, and outside into the cool night.

  The security guard watches me run out, offering a weak good night that I don’t return as I race back up the dirt path.

  Fleischer is researching the Similars. Fleischer knows about their properties.

  I’m sure of something else too: this was all Ransom’s doing. He’s been planning this research, whatever it is, since the Similars arrived. Before. This was all part of a greater plan. I am sure of it.

  The next thing I know, I’m standing at the top of the fire escape outside Levi’s room as the wind needles me. I rap on his window, just like I did that night we searched Oliver’s room. And just like last time, he opens it for me, then holds out a hand. I take it, his warmth rippling through me as I notice he’s shirtless again too.

  We’re alone. After all, Jago isn’t here. He’s back in that room in the research building with the others.

  “Emma?” Levi asks. I squeeze his hands. He doesn’t let go. I don’t want him to.

  I tell him everything.

  Confessions

  I tell him what I saw: his friends held hostage by Fleischer. I tell him about Oliver’s hologram, leaving out the part about Underwood and Gravelle being one and the same person. When the time is right, I will tell him that too. I also tell Levi about Pru, how she’s gone to Castor Island and is possibly being held there by Gravelle. She’s my roommate and one of the only people in the world I’d do anything for—and I need to help her.