by G S Banks
‘No. Hear who? Who can’t I hear?’
I run to him, there on that ledge, try to grab him… but he’s gone. I hear the crack, again. Then Mason is standing in front of me, stroking my hair, so gently. He smiles at me and lowers his head towards my lips. I tell him I miss him, that no one understands me like he does… He tells me that it will be all right, that we belong together. Then I feel something against my chest. His hand? No … I wake up, startled, heart racing. Sunlight is peeking through the trees. Wait, what? Dread sinks in. Within seconds, the members of Team One are sitting up and turning their eyes towards me. I gulp. I’m sure I can’t have been asleep for long. Heather is the first to point at my chest.
‘She’s been hit.’
Alisdair is releasing himself from his sleeping bag, his face a stony grimace.
‘I was, I mean… I don’t know what happened,’ I say.
He strides over and looks at my chest too. I look down and see that I am covered in bright red paint. I groan.
‘We’ve all lost now,’ says Heather, standing over me. ‘Thanks.’
‘All you had to do was stay awake,’ growls Alisdair.
I feel the heat of his anger.
‘I know!’ I say. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I can’t have dozed off for more than a second.’
‘Whatever, it’s enough to lose the entire challenge,’ says Heather. ‘Little Miss Nina, too much of a princess to stay awake.’
‘It was only a second!’ I cry.
‘What are we supposed to say?’ she says, creeping towards me. ‘That’s ok, sweetheart. You fell asleep, could happen to anyone? But you’re not in New York now, are you? There’s no Mummy and Daddy to bail you out, no walk-in closets, no posh friends or schools or whatever it is you did all day before you came here. It’s just you. And us. And the program.’
I stare at her, my eyes filling with tears.
‘You might not care if you win this challenge, or manifest, or get a place at Muldoon,’ she continues. ‘But some of us do. Some of us care more than you could ever imagine. For reasons that you could never understand because you’re too busy thinking of yourself. All the time.’
She turns her back on me, prowling away, leaving Alisdair and the rest of the group looking at me in grim disappointment. One guy throws his flask to the ground and it smashes into a rock then bounces into the river.
‘Why are you here?’ says Alisdair.
I try to hold back the tears but they burst onto my cheeks.
‘I want to find my sister,’ I reply. ‘That’s all I want to do.’
He turns from me as I wipe the wetness from my face. He can’t stand me. Heather can’t stand me. They think I shouldn’t be here …
And maybe they’re right.
_______
The next day all we hear about is how utterly delighted everyone at Muldoon Academy is to have a newly manifested Snow Leopard. There hasn’t been one for seven years, apparently. There are around hundred times more Rabbits than Snow Leopards, we are eagerly informed – so that just shows how few there are. I spend the day trying hard not to visibly roll my eyes. The next night the dreams continue. I awake to the sound of my own cries, with every inch of me plastered in sweat, tangled in bed sheets. I turn my head, unsure of where I am and I see the sleeping humps of the other girls in my dorm. Mason was there again, strumming on his guitar, his sweet lips smiling at me. But then I heard screaming – Kelci. She was in the arms of those men, struggling and writhing. My heart pounds. The room is dark. I’m breathing hard, clinging to the sides of my plank-like bed. I hear a little whisper.
‘Hey. It’s your bunk buddy here. Are you ok?’
Lucy.
‘Just a bad dream,’ I reply.
Her head pops up at the side of my bed and I can just about see her dark eyes and unkempt hair.
‘Was it a nightmare? I get them all the time, I always wake up just before I’m about to die.’
She grins widely. I nod, then sigh, then let my head fall back on the pillow.
‘Can I join you?’ she says.
Before I have a chance to answer, she’s gripping the side of my bed.
‘There’s not much room,’ I say, actually wishing I could lie here alone, in silence.
I pull my knees up and she’s already clambering in. She slips on her way up, landing in a heap on the floor. I lean out of bed and she grabs onto my arms and I help to haul her up. She scrabbles about noisily until finally she is crossing her skinny legs and settling in. She wears a t-shirt with a cartoon hedgehog on it, pyjama bottoms and thick bed socks gathered at the ankles. There’s something about this girl, the way she talks and acts, which makes me feel like something strange might be about to happen. She whispers again.
‘I’ve got a confession to make. It’s really bad.’
‘Oh yeah?’
She stares at me.
‘I shot you. With the paintball gun.’
‘That was you?’
‘What can I say? I’m a great shot. I told them that, I said, anyone I aim at is going to get it. And you were so close, the first one I saw. I felt bad it was you but I did it. I’m sorry.’
She doesn’t look like the kind of girl who’d be a dead shot. The slim shoulders and heart-shaped lips… I can barely imagine her holding a gun, but I shrug anyway.
‘If it wasn’t you, it would’ve been someone else.’
‘So you forgive me?’
‘Sure.’
Her eyes light up and she presses her hands together.
‘Thank you! I only found out later that you were the one on watch, which obviously makes you look really bad.’
‘Thanks, yeah.’
She winces.
‘You’re the last person I want to get into trouble.’
‘Remember not to shoot me in the chest in future then!’
She bites her lip, but I can’t help smiling.
‘I won’t,’ she says. ‘I promise. I actually do promise. Because I want to be on your side. I decided that when I saw you splattered in red paint. I like you.’
I stare at her, a little shocked. Why? I want to say, but I don’t.
‘Are you ok?’ she says. ‘I mean, really ok?’
‘You don’t want to ask me that…’
‘Yes I do, I’m very inquisitive. My brother says too inquisitive but I don’t care. I heard you up here, crying out. You can tell me. I’m not as crazy as I look. Well, not quite!’
She giggles. Should I open up to this girl? Trust her? She seems to be the only friendly face on the horizon at the moment, especially after what happened today. Even just one day away from Ben and James is too long around here… I suppose they’ve become my companions… Which is funny because at home, I would never even meet a pair of guys like that.
‘I need to find my sister,’ I say. ‘She’s been kidnapped but I’m here, and she isn’t. I need to manifest, but I can’t. Oh and everyone hates me.’
She wriggles under the end of my covers.
‘I don’t hate you.’
I frown.
‘If you don’t hate me,’ I say. ‘Then plenty of other people do. Alisdair hates me.’
‘Alisdair? No!’
‘Oh yes. I lost us the challenge. He can’t stand me. You guys are friends, I know, but I hope for your sake you don’t do anything wrong because he’s not forgiving. Not one bit.’
‘I know. He can be like that… He’s not always the best, you know… with people. But believe me, he doesn’t hate you, he doesn’t hate anyone. He doesn’t even know you. Alisdair… What can I say? He’s not much of a team player…’
‘He thinks he knows me. He’s the most arrogant…’
‘Hey, hey,’ she says, leaning forward and holding on to her socks. ‘He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.’
‘What?’
‘He’s my brother. You didn’t know?’
My eyes widen.
‘No. Your brother? Literally?’
She smiles.
> ‘Yes. Literally. Related by blood. Same parents. Bona fide family and all that.’
She grins.
‘Oh.’
I look at her through the darkness and realise that there is a shade of resemblance between the two of them, especially in the eyes. And that would explain the fact that he talks to her because he hardly talks to anyone else; except Heather of course, but she makes it impossible for him to avoid her. But I would never in a million years have guessed they were brother and sister. They are just so different. Like chalk and cheese. But then that’s exactly what Mum and Dad always say about Kelci and me. Chalk and cheese.
‘He probably can’t understand why anyone would not be desperate to become an Anitar. This life is everything to him. It’s all he wants. And you can hardly blame him.’
I sit forward.
‘Oh?’
‘We’re alone, he and I, you see. Dad died before I was born, and when Mum passed away too, it was just the two of us from then on. I was four and Alisdair was seven. We’ve had so many foster families I can’t even remember them all. Daddy was the Anitar, a Fox. The best around. We know because Mum told us stories about him every single day when she was alive. She met him when she came over from China and she stayed because of him. She always wondered if we would manifest too, like him. Just before she died she made Alisdair promise that he would look after me and that’s what he’s done, and still does, to this day.’
I fold the pillow under my arms and bring it in to my chest.
‘Alisdair will never be able to think of anything else that could be more important. He remembers Daddy, and he loves him, so much. It makes him kind of focused, he doesn’t need friends like the rest of us but then he’s always been like that. I wasn’t surprised at all that he’s a Snow Leopard. I just knew he would be.’
‘And you agree? That there’s nothing more important than this?’
She nods.
‘I don’t know what an ordinary life is. In here I can be anything… I can belong to something. I just know I have an animal in me fighting to get out!’
She bounces up and down a little. She believes, without question, that it’s going to happen. Just like I did. I can’t help but hope it comes true for her.
‘I was thinking,’ she goes on. ‘About your sister. Maybe I could help you. Wouldn’t that be fun?’
Fun? I’m not sure what to say to that. I could use a hand but it sounds like this girl has enough to deal with.
‘We should find out what’s behind those doors marked ‘Operations’. There’s got to be something interesting in there, right?’
I murmur agreement but I won’t commit to anything. I should go up there but I can not risk getting caught because from what Professor Dunedin said, I would not get the chance ever again if I did, not to mention the fact that I would lose the trust of Lady Muldoon, the person who knows the most, and I would probably lose my place on the program too. I lie my head back and stare at the ceiling for a while, then I prop myself up on my elbow and for the next hour at least Lucy stays exactly where she is, on my bed, whispering about her hopes and dreams and her life with her brother. I don’t even know when she finally gets into her own bed, because I drift off to sleep without seeing her go.
15. A Glimpse
Six days since Kelci was taken, Trainee Canteen
Today something different is going to happen. Artemiz just strode into the canteen and announced that we are going on an ‘Apprentice Tour’; this sparks a buzz of excitement that spreads through the whole team. We wolf down our breakfasts and soon enough are heading out of the main building towards the enormous circular enclosure surrounded by the 12 Houses. The sun is bright, the air is clear and I walk directly behind Artemiz, with Ben and James to my right. I keep my eyes on a set of thin, delicate arrows sitting in a quiver that is strapped to Artemiz’s back. Their tips sprout brown and dark red feathers. A wooden bow with two deep curves either side sits on a diagonal slant and I stare at the intricate, carved design – the head of a horse with hair sweeping down along the arms of the bow.
As we reach the enclosure, she turns to us, wearing a full body suit, which is made from faded, chestnut brown leather with a low-slung belt at her hips. The symbol of the Horse’s head curled into a small circle sits on the right side of her chest and her hair is pulled back, flowing like a mane down her neck. We all stare at her. She looks utterly beautiful, with the buildings rising up behind her, and the mountains behind them. We, on the other hand, look like a bunch of escaped prisoners. All we were given to wear was a pair of navy blue combats, a t-shirt, a monstrous pair of boots and a small, extremely functional looking rucksack. I valiantly try to make the best of a bad job and take a moment to style my bun up neater and pull a few strands out at the sides of my face. I try to stand up tall like Artemiz does. How does she get her back so straight? Her huge, almond-shaped eyes – framed with thick black curves of eyeliner – meet mine.
‘Chest, out. Chin, up,’ she says. ‘Proud like a horse. Now. Today, you will see Muldoon Academy for the first, and possibly last, time. This is an opportunity most people will never have. Just remember, you could be a Muldoon Apprentice too.’
I feel apprehensive and excited and sad all at the same time. I spent half my life wondering what this place was like. And now I’m about to have the glimpse… but Kelci should be here, she should be seeing this. Evidently James is nervous as well, he’s jumpy and his eyes are shooting off in all directions, plus he keeps biting on his bottom lip and he’s barely stopped talking since breakfast. Ben looks positively serene in comparison, arms folded across his mountainous chest, jaw set, his blonde locks shining under the sun. As Artemiz leads us over to the first House I feel a hand on my back.
‘Hey, can I hang out with you guys?’ says Lucy.
‘Sure,’ I answer.
I can’t help glancing to see if Alisdair, her brother, is with her, but he isn’t. He’s right at the back, his eyes so bright I can see them glowing from here – but he is watching us, that’s for sure. Lucy slips in between Ben and me, sticking out her hand towards him.
‘We haven’t met, not properly, I’m Lucy, Nina’s bunk buddy.’
‘It’s great to meet you,’ says Ben, enveloping her hand in his.
She looks up at him, like a chick in a nest. James darts behind Ben’s back and nudges in beside Lucy, so that she is sandwiched between the two of them. He introduces himself and shakes her hand, a little too hard and a little too long, like he did with me but Lucy doesn’t seem to mind, in fact she’s beaming, and she doesn’t even bother to take her hand away. They fall into step with each other and move ahead a little, leaving Ben and me behind. James starts telling her about his Grandma and that he’s sure he’s a Tiger and she giggles when he does his growl, teeth gnashing. The two of them are almost exactly the same height.
‘Remember Trainees,’ says Artemiz. ‘This is just a glimpse. There will be far more to come if you manifest.’
I nod solemnly and clench my fists, looking at the towering structure in front of us. It is the same sandy colour as the rest of the buildings, a collection of tall spires sprouting from the ground, covered in archways and rounded windows and spiralling stonework. There’s a bridge, which looks like it grows out of the side, linking this House to the next. Like all the doors of the Houses, it is enormous and there is a huge chameleon, carved out of wood, crawling up it, with protruding eyes at the side of its head and scaly skin – painted hot pink with sunset orange and yellow marks all over it. Artemiz places her hand on the door, then says:
‘Welcome to The House of Chameleons.’
We soon find ourselves in a grand room with hanging lights and elaborate sculptures all along the sides of the room. Weirdly, there are blue-violet laser beams running from the left side of the room to the right that are moving continuously, forming a shifting grid across the room. When James expresses his surprise Artemiz gives him a look which is enough to silence him and after that we stand ther
e quietly, until five figures appear out of the walls, all wearing playful grins. They acknowledge our presence with nods but Artemiz guides us further away from them. Clearly, we are not supposed to talk to each other. They wear head to toe black, with gloves, but each one has bright hair: rose-pink, raspberry-red, grass-green. As they gather together where the laser field begins, Artemiz leans in and tells us in hushed tones that Chameleon’s can disappear against any surface, so long as they are stood against it, touching it with their body.
My eyes travel – beyond the lasers – to a golden orb sat on a plinth. One boy, with hair that is navy-blue but slowly changing to green, moves forward and places himself at the start. He faces the lasers, closes his eyes and says:
‘Nowhere is beyond our reach.’
The motto of the Chameleons, Artemiz tells us. The lasers look too thick, too close together and too fast moving for anyone to ever have a hope of getting that orb. He begins by lightly stepping in and over the first beam then bending his back gracefully underneath the next one, somersaulting over a third.
‘Chameleons would be the world’s greatest thieves if they didn’t have such honorable intentions,’ says Artemiz.
I keep my eyes on the boy as he controls every inch of his body, gliding past the lasers as they almost graze his face. The boy sprints along, deftly climbs on to a statue and jumps down without a sound, then lies down, allows a few of the beams to cross inches from his chest then jumps back up onto his feet. He gives one small falter right at the end and for a moment I think he may touch the last laser but he steadies himself, makes it through to the end, turns to face us, gives a wave then runs towards the orb. The Chameleons start cheering, and as we are swept us out of the room, so do we.
Next, Artemiz leads us through the Houses of Snakes, much to Dominic’s satisfaction, who spends the whole time wearing a smug expression, acting like he already knows everything there is to know about his fellow Snake. It is he that announces loudly their motto:
Forever ready.
