Animal

by G S Banks

  ‘How do you know about Terence?’

  He gives a bitter laugh.

  ‘Typical. They didn’t tell you, did they?’

  He shakes his head, still laughing.

  ‘Typical, typical, typical.’

  ‘What?’ I say, my heart bursting.

  ‘Whatever it is, don’t listen,’ says Alisdair.

  ‘Terence Bonfant had begun to manifest, but he didn’t know what was happening to him. His parents, in their infinite wisdom and desire to put the Anitar way first, never told him what they really were. When he started to hear the voices in his head, is it any wonder he did what he did?’

  My mouth hangs open.

  ‘How do you–? Terence wasn’t–’ I say, my mind in a whirl.

  ‘Oh yes he was,’ Max says. ‘Another victim of Horse manifestation. Driven mad by the voices.’

  I want to scream that it isn’t true, that it can’t be true. But the Horse we saw back there. He used the exact same words Terence did that night on the roof.

  ‘The boy’s parents are Anitars – they chose not to tell their own son.’

  Terence’s parents are Anitars?

  ‘You didn’t know. What a surprise.’

  He gives a smug smile.

  ‘They’re your parents best friends. Do you think it was a coincidence that you lived so close to them?’

  His voice is mocking.

  I’m dizzy with confusion.

  ‘Anitars claim they rid the world of evil,’ says Max, turning to Alisdair. ‘But who decides who is evil and who is not? Anitars take memories from others. Why? Whenever it isn’t convenient for them? Who gave you the right to strip a person’s mind?’

  I think of Lady Muldoon’s threat to remove me from the program, and my memories.

  ‘Why all the secrecy? Why operate in the shadows? Why not out in the open for all to see? Our own mothers wouldn’t tell us the truth of their lives.’

  ‘You can stop now,’ spits Alisdair.

  ‘Fortunately,’ he goes on, ‘I am now in a position to do something about it.’

  The bewilderment has me reeling. Focus, Nina. Try to focus. Remember, we are here to find Kelci.

  ‘What do you want with us?’ I say.

  I try to remove the desperation from my voice but it’s there, I can hear it. He looks me up and down.

  ‘There’s not a great deal we can do with you,’ he says, turning to Alisdair. ‘But our friend Mr MacDowell here, there’s an awful lot we can do with him. More than you could imagine. In fact, you showing up here like this saves us a lot of time and resources.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ says Alisdair.

  Max looks up at the woman and lets out a low chuckle. She looks towards me with flashing eyes.

  ‘You’re crazy,’ I say.

  They both shrug.

  ‘Crazy is a relative term,’ says Max. ‘Especially when you’re dealing with what we’re dealing with. Sometimes a little destruction is necessary … in order to create something wonderful.’

  ‘Wonderful?’ I say, scanning the room.

  ‘You couldn’t begin to understand, sweetie.’

  ‘She got into your compound, didn’t she?’ growls Alisdair.

  The man sits back in his white chair and rolls his eyes.

  ‘And here she stands with the barrel of a GH77 Electron poking into her back. A weapon I designed myself.’

  I feel the ‘Electron’ dig deeper into my spine. I smell the breath of the guards mingling together and it’s disgusting. The woman presses her long fingers into Max’s shoulder even harder as he folds his arms across his chest.

  ‘I have a strange feeling of regret each time we deal with one of your kind. But knowing that your gifts will contribute to something greater gives me comfort. Don’t you agree, honey?’ he says.

  ‘I do,’ replies Valerie.

  ‘You’re so concerned with your own kind you don’t look out into the world,’ says Max. ‘Can you not see what is wrong with it all?’

  What is he talking about?

  ‘Enough now. It’s time to take them into holding. Get them prepped.’

  ‘Prepped for what?’ I say.

  ‘Don’t concern yourself,’ says Valerie. ‘You two will love it down there.’

  She winks at Alisdair, her lashes swooping. It’s glaringly obvious we will not ‘love it’ down there. I spin around to face him again, with a pleading look in my eyes. He gives me a nod … then catapults himself forward with a roar that resounds around the room. I let out a cry from deep in my throat and I do the only thing I can think of – kick the guard in front of me as hard as I possibly can. He lets out a surprised yelp, then the arms of the other guards tighten around me.

  Alisdair has knocked two of his guards to their knees. Another one of the men shoots bright, fierce beams at him, while he throws another guard against the wall – so hard a huge dent is revealed as he slides down to the floor. Max and Valerie are motionless, fascinated. After a few moments the great glass doors of the room swing open and another group of guards enter the room. The last thing I see is Alisdair continuing to fight, just before I feel a jolt. A split-second … and everything turns black.

  24. No Windows

  Twelve days since Kelci was taken, Lotus Corporation

  My eyes feel like they have been sealed shut. I have to rub them to get them open. I look down and see that I am laid on my side as though I’ve been dropped here. My left leg is twisted at a disconcerting angle, which I use my hands to straighten, and as my eyes dart around all I see is white – blinding, stomach churning white. I see another leg which, alarmingly, isn’t mine and I recoil from it but then I see that the leg is attached to a body, a body that I recognise – Alisdair. He lies on the pure white floor like a fallen giant, eyes closed, head resting on his arm. His thick eyelashes rest on the tops of his cheeks and lying there, unmoving, he looks angelic. I lean my face next to his and feel his warm breath on my cheek. He’s alive. I gaze at him. But then I get a strange sensation that I should stop, that it’s somehow not right to watch him like that.

  I didn’t know my body could hurt this much all at once. My back, my legs, my neck and it feels like someone has stamped on my bum. What did those creeps do to us? The room spins but I can see that it is small, way too small and white. Always with the white. The décor in this place is just terrible. There’s nothing in this room, not a single object apart from two white cubes in the middle which I suppose are for sitting on. The whole set up looks like a trendy art gallery in Manhattan except there’s no art and no windows. My mind is a swirling whirlpool of turmoil. Is it true what Max said about Terence? That he was manifesting? His parents are Anitars? My parents never told me that! How does he know all that stuff about me? Has he been spying on me? I shudder, creeped out to my very core.

  How long have we been holed up in this room? I don’t know how to find out. And what about the others? Heather and Ben, Lucy and James – has Max got his hands on them yet? I scan the room, frantic. There’s the indent of what looks like a door at the opposite side of the room, so I stagger towards it, searching with my hands. There’s no handle just lines where the door is and no possible way of opening it. We need to get out of here! The walls sway in on me and I hit the door despite the futility of the gesture. Alisdair makes a grumbly noise behind me. The room keeps on closing in, my heart flip-flops and my throat is getting smaller. Can I still breathe? I can’t breathe. I keep hitting the door. I see him leap up and move towards me until his hand is on the small of my back. The feeling of his hand halts me. He stands there, still. His eyes rest on me. I stop hitting the door.

  ‘Nina, it’s ok,’ he says. ‘It’s ok.’

  His other hand takes hold of my wrist. There’s dried blood on his face.

  ‘I hate being in rooms with no windows.’

  I swallow down the urge to cry. There’s compassion in his eyes, for once.

  ‘Me too,’ he says.

  My throat op
ens up a little, letting the air pass through again.

  ‘Thank you,’ I say, grateful he didn’t tell me to stop being so stupid.

  My heart slows and I take a few deep breaths.

  ‘Are you hurt?’ he says.

  ‘I mean, I hurt all over but I can function.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘And you?’ I say, looking at the blood. ‘Are you ok?’

  ‘Yes,’ he says. ‘I’m all right.’

  He moves his hand from my back, then turns away as if searching for a way out.

  ‘These people are mad,’ I say.

  He frowns.

  ‘We can’t trust anything they say,’ he replies.

  We pace the room, running our hands along the walls and ceiling. We find nothing and after some time there’s nothing left to do but sit down on the floor.

  ‘What do we do?’ I say, desperate.

  ‘For now, we rest and conserve our energy.’

  What he means is there’s nothing we can do.

  ‘And the others….’

  He looks as agonised as I feel when I say this. His jaw sets.

  ‘If they so much as touch Lucy… If they do anything to her, they’ll die.’

  I shake my head, regretful.

  ‘I should never have let her come here,’ I say. ‘I just wanted to find Kelci so badly… But I didn’t have a clue what this place would be like, these people…’

  ‘Listen,’ he says, his voice softer. ‘I know I’ve been blaming you for her involvement, but I know my sister. She fights hard to get what she wants. Besides, she’s right. There’s no point having these gifts if we can’t help anyone with them. And the Anitars in here, they need help…’

  ‘They do,’ I say, thinking of the ones we saw.

  ‘All I’ve been concentrating on is manifesting,’ he goes on. ‘And getting our places secured at an Academy. My father was a Fox and this is what he wanted for us, my mother wanted it too… I swore to her I would keep Lucy safe. But my sister was born ready for adventure. Only really, she’s not ready. She’s not trained. She’s still naïve.’

  ‘Maybe she’s tougher than she seems,’ I say. ‘She got us in here didn’t she? No one else could do that. And she’s a Chameleon now, she can disappear, surely that has to count for something in a place like this?’

  He nods slowly, thoughtfully.

  ‘Sometimes I feel like little sisters can be seriously underestimated,’ I say. ‘I know I underestimated Kelci. I was so wrapped up in what clothes she was wearing and how she looked and if she cut her own hair, I stopped seeing her. You know, seeing her as she is now. Not just as she was as a little girl.’

  He looks at me for a second, and I’m pretty sure there is a glimmer of recognition in his eyes.

  ‘That man, Max,’ he says. ‘He talked about someone called Terence. What did he mean?’

  I sigh.

  ‘Terence Bonfant. He was my best friend. He killed himself, and I couldn’t save him.’

  He raises his eyebrows.

  ‘He killed himself?’

  ‘Yes. From his rooftop. He jumped five storeys, and I was there, trying to talk him down, but he didn’t listen. If he was manifesting – it’s news to me. I didn’t even know his parents were Anitars and I don’t think he did either. If I’d known… I could’ve helped him, at least let him know he wasn’t going mad.’

  ‘But you didn’t know. You still don’t for sure, these people could be lying.’

  I nod.

  ‘Before that, I tried to manifest every day. But after that… It’s when I gave up. I just wanted to avoid it all. I didn’t want to go through anything like that again. So I guess I opted for a normal life.’

  Alisdair smiles.

  ‘You’re still holding out for that?’ he says, looking up at where we are.

  I let out a dry laugh. Then I shake my head in disbelief. He laughs too. And I realise this is the first time I’ve ever heard him laugh. I also can’t help noticing the way his hair curls around his ears. Then the door opens and six people in tunics bowl in. Without a word they split down the middle and three reach for Alisdair, clamping restraints onto his arms while the other three come for me. I scream. They pull at my arms and drag me along. Alisdair and I are locked in a desperate gaze.

  ‘Alisdair!’

  I reach out for him, but within seconds he is gone.

  _______

  One of the threesome is a woman who grabs my elbows and begins to drag me out of the room. A burning sensation starts up inside me. I try to punch her but then she raises her Electron to my side and zaps me, releasing a bolt of electricity right into me. I feel the energy spreading its wicked fingers all through my body followed by a horrible feeling of weakness. I try to break free, but I can’t. I want to cry out, but I can’t. They hook my arms under theirs and drag me along. I’m barely conscious as we travel some distance through the building. We eventually stop at another room. The temperature is lower in here and there’s an empty table and two chairs either side. I fight for speech.

  ‘What do you want with me?’

  The woman throws me into the chair furthest from the door and I sit there seeped in exhaustion. All three of them file out without looking back and lock the door on their way out. I lay my arms on the table and let my head fall on to them. What kind of a sick weirdo works in a place like this? My head rolls onto its side and I sink past disgust, into a deep kind of sleep.

  I wake up with a knot in my stomach. The door bursts open and the three of them are back - accompanied by two others. One is a guard – the uniformed and weaponed variety, with a look of outrage on his face. His nose is bulbous with a red tip that looks set to burst.

  Alongside him is someone more surprising: a guy who looks a bit younger than me – perhaps Kelci’s age. Despite the highly unflattering gown he is wearing, which makes him look like a hospital patient, I see that he is darkly good-looking. His face is bruised, framed by thick brown hair; his arms behind his back. The guard shoves the door shut and grabs the boy and plonks him down in the chair opposite me.

  ‘What the hell is going on?’

  The guard takes a few steps back and holds an Electron by his side.

  ‘Quiet, little girl,’ he says.

  I turn from the guard back to the boy and see the left corner of his mouth curl up ever so slightly. The guard barks like a sick dog.

  ‘Find out what she knows.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I say.

  ‘What is she thinking?’

  Silence.

  ‘Answer me.’

  The guard moves towards the boy and lifts the Electron to the side of his head.

  ‘I don’t know,’ says the boy. ‘I can’t see that yet, it doesn’t work that way.’

  I frown. The boy is definitely not one of them.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ I say to him.

  ‘Quiet!’ shrieks the guard.

  The boy’s eyes flicker from me to the point where the end of the weapon digs sharply into his temple. I watch a trickle of sweat run down his forehead, over his cheeks and onto his neck. His eyes are locked onto mine, brown and wide, so earnest it feels as though he is trying to communicate something.

  ‘How did she get here?’

  I stare at the boy, ignoring the pang of the bindings holding my wrists. He’s a Horse. He must be. I see the same shades of empathy in his face that Artemiz has and the same luscious quality to his hair. His voice has an accent, Italian I think. A Horse, just like Terence, or so Max said. He nods, vigorously.

  ‘I need to talk to her first,’ he says. ‘Create a bond before I can help you. My name is Matias…’

  ‘Shut up!’

  I glower at the guard.

  ‘You’re not capable of finding out anything yourself so you send in one of your captives to do it for you. How courageous.’

  ‘I will use this if I have to,’ he says, waving his weapon around.

  ‘Yes but if my mind is frazzled
how will you find out what you seem so desperate to know?’

  ‘Enough!’

  ‘Manners clearly are not a priority in this place but if you wouldn’t mind butting out for a minute…’

  I turn back to Matias, whose lips give away the slightest hint of a smile. The guard gives a low growl.

  ‘Cheeky brat. Now, you boy – tell me what she knows. Now.’

  With that he lifts the weapon and swipes Matias across the face with it.

  ‘No!’

  I shake at my restraints as I watch the blood run from a gash below his right eye.

  ‘I suppose you think you’re doing this for the good of mankind or some such rubbish?’ I scream.

  My eyes rest on Matias who is ever so slightly shaking his head at me from side to side.

  ‘I just sense her fear,’ he says.

  ‘I could have told you that. Find out who she’s working with.’

  Matias keeps on gazing at me and I shift in my seat as fingers of dread creep up my spine. The others. I try to erase the thought of them like chalk on a blackboard. And Kelci… Why I’m here… His eyes flicker.

  ‘Who else is here? Who’s with you?’ asks Matias.

  I meet his eyes.

  Matias, tell him the Snow Leopard and I are working alone.

  ‘Nobody else,’ he says, turning his head to the guard. ‘She and the Snow Leopard are alone.’

  ‘That’s not true. Ask her again.’

  ‘That’s all I’m getting.’

  ‘Impossible.’

  He snaps his head to look at me.

  ‘We need to know who you came with. We need to know now.’

  He hits me in the ribs. Matias frowns, jaw clenched. I feel the stabbing sensation travelling all the way down my body.

  ‘You don’t need to hurt her, I’m telling you her thoughts.’

  ‘Who are you with?’ says the guard.

  I keep my mouth closed and I try not to show the pain. This man will get nothing from me, I know that much.

  ‘Who are you with?’

  Matias looks up at the guard, a defiant look on his face, saying nothing, though he knows, my thoughts racing with images of our team - of Kelci.

  ‘Tell me!’ roars the guard, lifting his Electron high in the air and landing it across Matias’ neck with a crack.