Animal

by G S Banks

  ‘Have we called the police? The FBI? We should have them out searching.’

  My head buzzes.

  ‘You know we can’t do that,’ says Mum, clenching the tissue in her hand.

  ‘Of course we can do that! She’s a fifteen year old girl. We need everyone in New York to know about it, so we can find her.’

  Dad reaches for my arms again.

  ‘Come on Nina, calm down.’

  ‘But Dad you can see how we need to call the FBI, right?’

  I give him an appealing look.

  ‘I love you sweetheart, but in this case calling them wouldn’t be the right thing to do. We have the resources we need to find her.’

  And we all know that the British Ambassador cannot go public with something like this. Especially not one who is secretly a Fish, and an amazing one at that.

  ‘Dad, you still haven’t found her and it’s been a day. What resources?’

  ‘We have people we trust in the FBI, and the police.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Very few, but yes.’

  ‘I thought no one knew about Anitars?’

  ‘There aren’t many. Whenever there are more than a trusted handful, all Anitars are in danger.’

  I raise my eyebrows.

  ‘Which ones know in the FBI?’

  ‘You know we can’t tell you that Nina, darling,’ he says.

  Holding it all back from me, keeping me out.

  ‘Because I’m not an Anitar. Right?’

  He sighs, and so does Mum.

  ‘We have to find her. Now,’ I say.

  Unless I manifest, unless I train, I can’t know anything. I’ve hated this fact for a long time. It got to the point where I just didn’t want to know any more, but right now I need to know. Who could have taken her? What is actually going on?

  ‘I’m calling the police.’

  They exchange a look of alarm.

  ‘Nina,’ Mum says. ‘You know that would put all Anitars in danger.’

  ‘I don’t give a damn about all Anitars! It’s my sister I care about – and you should too.’

  The old exasperation flashes across her face, like I am some fool who just doesn’t get it. But actually, she doesn’t get it. I may not be an Anitar, but Kelci is out there, and she needs me, whether I have powers or not.

  ‘Nina, you would be putting your sister in more danger that way,’ she says.

  I let out a long breath from between gritted teeth. Become an Anitar, they said. Manifest, they said. Get some awesome powers, they said.

  ‘And you honestly wonder why I don’t want anything to do with all this?’

  Neither of them answer. Babs jumps from Mum’s lap, landing with her tail upright, onto the fluffy carpet. Mum rises from the bed and starts backing towards the door.

  ‘I love you,’ she says, sadly. ‘But I have to go. I must get back and help with the search.’

  I strain to sit up, but it hurts too much to move.

  ‘Wait, I want to help with the search, she’s my sister.’

  ‘I’ll keep you updated. I’m sorry. I have to go.’

  She darts out the door and I turn to Dad.

  ‘Just know that we are doing everything we can,’ he says, squeezing my arm. ‘Believe me.’

  I give a deep sigh.

  ‘What’s the use of all these powers, if we can’t protect our family?’ I say.

  He sits back from me.

  ‘Be patient, Nina. Be patient.’

  I fold my arms across my chest as I realise that there’s no use arguing. All I know is that I can’t let Kelci be out there, alone. Not when it’s my fault. There’s just no way I can ‘be patient’, knowing she’s in the hands of those brutes. Not for one minute.

  7. Empty Hole In My Heart

  One day since Kelci was taken, Gregory Residence

  The man Mum had mentioned, Sol, turned up after she left. He was short and handsome with round, fawny eyes and soft tanned hands. I know how soft they were because he used them to completely heal my back. And my head. Being around him drenched my whole body in a feeling of calm that I knew wasn’t coming from me. I felt more energised than ever, which is incredible considering all the pain I was in. Under any other circumstances I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself being excited to meet a Deer for the first time. And to actually be healed by one, a fully trained one as well. But right now everything has lost its colour. There’s no excitement to be had, not with this empty hole in my heart.

  Dad went out to join the search, giving me a cool kiss on the head before he left and I was in the house alone. I went straight to Kelci’s bedroom. I don’t really know why. It’s jam-packed full of her stuff but it felt eerily empty, her bed still unmade. Weird t-shirts of hers with their ridiculous captions lay across the floor, her absurd Batman slippers strewn behind the door, the sparkly pink eyeshadow she wore to the party left open on her desk. Posters of her favourite superheroes lined the walls. Shelves full of comics and books and little toys of her favourite characters, all her obsessions. I stared at the piles of comic strips we had made together. I gave up drawing them after Terence died, it seemed stupid to dream about my future superhero self after that, but I don’t think Kelci ever understood why I stopped, and she resented me for it. I clutched her glasses in my hand and found the case for them and slipped them inside. At the party she knew something was wrong. Why couldn’t I listen?

  After that I came out here. To the roof of our house, where the wide, outdoor pool is and Mum’s collection of bonsai trees. This is where Kelci and I tried to manifest, hundreds and hundreds of times. It’s also where Terence and I used to hang out, gazing out over our city. The first thing I did was jump into the glistening pool with my clothes on and try to breathe underwater, just like Dad does. Then I came over here, to the heavy iron bench that sits in the middle of the rooftop and tried with all my might to lift it. I let out a cry of despair as it refused to budge. So now I’m freezing cold with strands of hair sticking to my face, but it doesn’t matter because I must manifest. What other choice do I have? They won’t call the police. This won’t be done any way, other than the Anitar way. I reach for the bench again and try to lift it until my muscles are on fire and I can bear it no longer.

  My whole body hurts, I squeeze my eyes shut, I see the men in grey… Who the hell were they? I see Kelci’s terrified face. Where is she? All alone? Rabbits aren’t built to be alone too long. Droplets of rain begin to fall and I’m shivering so hard my teeth chatter. I crumple up into a ball, pulling my knees up to my chest as the rain continues. I hear the door of the roof garden open and lift my sodden head to see who it is. The long limbs gliding along are unmistakable. Frowning and beautiful, her eyes are searching.

  ‘Miss Gregory.’

  ‘Artemiz.’

  She strides over and looks down at me. Without a word she lifts me from where I sit and guides me from the rooftop. I’m too cold, too weak to resist and I don’t even bother to ask why she is here. She guides me all the way back to my bedroom, finds a towel in my closet, hands it to me and tells me to get dry and changed, then leaves the room. As soon as I’m done she enters my room again and I sit on the edge of my bed like the first time she was here and I try to control my breathing, try to steady the thoughts in my head. She’ll be listening. She takes the towel and stands next to me, drying my hair and dabbing my face. It surprises me how gentle her movements are.

  ‘Why are you here?’ I say.

  ‘I know what happened to your sister.’

  ‘Do you know where she is?’

  ‘No. I don’t.’

  ‘Why come here then?’

  ‘I am here to invite you – for the final time – to join the Muldoon Academy Manifestation Program.’

  I look at her with disbelieving eyes.

  ‘You’ve got to be joking Artemiz. I’m not going to go all that way now. I have to be here in New York with my parents, trying to find her. Don’t you understand?’

 
; ‘I do. I understand perfectly.’

  ‘Well then.’

  ‘You want to find your sister. Muldoon Academy is the centre of the Anitar world and anything that is worth knowing is right there. I make no promises but I do know that you want to manifest now.’

  I don’t want to. I have to.

  ‘Very well,’ she nods.

  ‘This doesn’t make me like the idea of being an Anitar any more than before. In fact I hate it more now. Look what’s happened to Kelci…’

  The chestnut of her eyes turns to a glowing red-brown.

  ‘Don’t wait around here in New York for something to happen. This program will speed things up considerably.’

  ‘How much?’

  ‘You only have 21 days, whether you manifest or not.’

  ‘21 days! Anything could have happened to her by then.’

  It’s a stab in the chest as I say the words.

  ‘It’s something. What will you do here instead?’

  I could do my own investigation.

  ‘You could.’

  She stands up then moves towards the door.

  ‘If that’s what you want to do, I can’t stop you.’

  She reaches for the handle.

  ‘Wait, where are you going?’

  ‘I don’t beg Nina. I give opportunity. That is all.’

  I sigh. My options are terrible. I think of Kelci. I think of the men who took her. I think of Mason, my parents, all of it. What am I supposed to do? If I stay here, they will leave me out in the cold and I’ll know nothing. Perhaps, at Muldoon there will be answers.

  ‘All right,’ I say.

  Artemiz turns around.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘You already know what I’m thinking.’

  ‘I like to hear Trainees say it out loud.’

  I roll my eyes.

  ‘I will go on the Manifestation Program.’

  Her eyes flicker.

  ‘I am very pleased to hear that.’

  _____

  Everything is packed and sits neatly in my matching set of floral suitcases which comprise two enormous ones, three average ones and four smaller ones for the bits and pieces that would not fit into the larger bags. I cling on to Kelci’s glasses case. Dad carries the bags to the front door where Artemiz stands waiting beside a black jaguar with blacked out windows. She raises the shades she wears when she sees my bags. I turn to my parents who stand on the doorstep, with Babs prowling at Mum’s feet. They hug me tight but there’s no triumph, no excitement. How could there be? When things are like this? Mum grabs my shoulders and levels her eyes at me, the mustard-yellow of her irises blazing. She makes me promise that I will send their love to someone called ‘Lady Muldoon’. Dad wraps his arms around me and I nestle my cheek into his chest, as he whispers into my hair to please, stay safe. I peel myself away and we all agree that one way or another, we will find our Kelci.

  As I walk down the steps, sadness chokes my throat. Am I losing them too? Artemiz guides me and I climb into the plush seats and I notice that there’s a black screen between us and the driver. The car rolls along and I take a look back as we turn the corner, seeing my parents stood there watching the car. Just like that, only the two of them left. With one turn of a corner, they’re gone and I feel completely alone. I stare out the window and think of Mason, of how I gave him a lame story about visiting my old aunt in London; how I wouldn’t be able to contact him because she would need me every minute of the day, because she’s ill, with some terrible disease. I told him Kelci was already with this sick old aunt of ours. I hated lying to him.

  I sink into my seat, missing him already, missing Mum and Dad, missing Kelci, missing Terence. Is this how it is now? We zip along for ages until finally, we reach a long stretch of flat ground somewhere outside the city. The car comes to a stop and Artemiz nods to me to get out. When I do, I see an airplane in front of us which is small, but with long wings. We’re going to fly across the Atlantic in this thing? The driver steps out and reveals himself as an enormous dark haired man who nods and looks at me with tiny brown eyes. He shakes my hand and introduces himself in an Irish accent, saying his name is Kenny Collins. Then he proceeds to lift all my bags from the car and tuck them into the plane’s storage. As I watch him moving the bags all in one go, which even my Dad had struggled with, I realise that this man must be a Bear. I try not to stare at him. A real life Bear. He could lift that bench on my rooftop. He could fling it across Manhattan if he wanted to.

  The interior of the plane is all soft beige leather, with a glamorous retro feel to it. There are six small cabin windows on either side and above each window there is a round gold symbol. I recognise two of them, the Fish and the Tiger, they are the same symbols that are tattooed on my parent’s upper backs, just below their necks. Each of the gold symbols has a different animal curled inside the circle, twelve altogether. This would have been the stuff of dreams to Kelci and me back in the day, but now…

  Minutes later we’re airborne. I watch the city disappear below and wonder when I will see it again. Do I have to say goodbye to everything I love? Artemiz sits opposite me with her shades on, making it impossible to tell where those Persian eyes are directed. There really is no privacy with this lady around. One of her eyebrows rises above the glasses. Shut up mind, shut up! It looks like she may possibly be smiling, but it’s hard to be sure. I look around the plane again and can’t help wondering how many times she’s taken this trip and with how many people?

  ‘This is the life of the Horse,’ she says, turning to me. ‘I travel the world and find those who may one day be the most powerful Anitars on Earth.’

  ‘Right,’ I say. ‘Cool.’

  A while later I drift off into a fretful sleep and some hours pass before I open my eyes again and see Artemiz pointing to the window. I rub my eyes then look out. There, surrounded by the rolling blue sea, is an island. It is a jagged oval in shape, with two great mountain ranges that curve along the sides, rising up like a pair of enormous sleeping dragons, encasing a wide valley in the middle. Nestled within the valley I see a series of old looking buildings, all the same light beige. The largest buildings form a circle – I count them, 12 in total. Then there is one more building, even larger, that sits in front of the circle with a long driveway, surrounded by trees leading up to it.

  Along one side of the complex there’s a forest, which spreads out for at least a few miles. To the other side there’s a great lake, which shimmers in the sunlight. The island is a world of greens, browns, greys, purples, and white where snow lies at the top of the mountains. It seems to me like I’ve never seen these shades of colours before, so muted, so natural. All of a sudden I feel a long, long way from home. My heart pounds as the plane dips its little nose and we glide over to the right, away from the buildings. I look at Artemiz, questioning.

  ‘We need to land.’

  She points to a long expanse of ground to the side of the lake and the plane noses down towards it. Once we are at a standstill I descend the steps with Artemiz close behind me, followed by Kenny Collins. I stand there shielding my eyes from the sun. I see the ancient looking buildings across the lake. Artemiz turns to me and now it is unmistakable. A smile is forming on her face.

  ‘Miss Gregory,’ she says, ‘welcome to Muldoon Academy.’

  8. Hello, Everybody

  Two days since Kelci was taken, Muldoon Academy, Muldoon Island

  After I have stood and gaped at Muldoon Academy for some time, Artemiz takes me by the elbow. Kenny Collins appears behind us, loaded up with my selection of floral bags dangling from his hulking frame. We begin to walk around the lake towards the buildings and immediately I realise that the peach high heels Mason bought for me were a bad choice of footwear. I cry out as mud sticks to them, actual mud. Meanwhile, Artemiz ignores me and pushes us forward at an uncomfortable speed.

  As we move along the side of the lake, I cannot help but be amazed at the beauty and grandeur of the place. I’m used to lookin
g up at skyscrapers in Manhattan but even that hasn’t prepared me for the sheer height of the mountains here. After a good trek which basically ruins my shoes, we end up on the driveway, heading towards the main entrance, a gigantic door surrounded by ornate stonework, but Artemiz steers me away from that door, towards the right side of the building. My stomach churns with apprehension and I fiddle with the lacy collar of my dress then adjust the bow at the back. I pull out my lipstick from my handbag and apply a dab to my lips. It is the exact same colour as the peach shoes, which unfortunately are now brown.

  I’m really quite nervous by the time I’m tottering down some steps that lead to a small door at the side of the building. I almost have to duck my head to get through and I feel surprised by the pokiness, and the dinginess, of the place. Kenny has to enter sideways and wiggle his way through with the bags. We walk down a corridor lined with sandy stones that look like they have been here for thousands of years until we reach a windowless room set up with a wooden table manned by a small, disheveled woman dressed head to toe in dark green who sits there, staring directly at me.

  ‘Nina Gregory?’ she screeches. ‘You’re late.’

  I chuckle politely.

  ‘Oh,’ I say, trying my best to be good-natured. ‘Well I don’t think so – you see we just arrived on the plane from New York, we were –’

  ‘Audrey, please,’ says Artemiz placing her hands on the table and looking down at the woman. ‘We are not going to go through this again. She’s not late, she wasn’t even aware of what time she was supposed to be here.’

  The woman gives a raspy sigh, flits her eyes to Artemiz and points a long, bony finger towards the bags in Kenny’s hands.

  ‘Only one bag allowed for Trainees,’ she says. ‘One bag. It says right here in the Trainee Introduction Notes. And one small bag at that.’

  I gasp.

  ‘You’ve got to be joking. I was never told about that.’

  She gives me an irritated look and we proceed to have a whole conversation about how I need everything in those bags and her insisting that all but one of my smaller bags is put away until the end of the program. Stop, I tell myself. Think of Kelci. Only the thought of her prevents me from taking the bags from Kenny and dragging them out the building. It is only the thought of her that drives me to choose one of the bags – the one with the make-up and toiletries in it – and to allow Kenny to stalk off down the corridor with the rest of them to god knows where.