Barcode: Cavern of Youth (6 page)

I see both pain and joy, but my mind naturally focuses on the suffering.

I originally assumed that there was no barcode user more unfortunate than my own. But last night, I had my first dream. In it, my biological parents and my adopted ones were together. A happy family.

Monte sat at the dinner table with them, screaming my name. I couldn’t hear him, so Eve ran up the stairs to retrieve me. She tickled me until I lost the game I was playing with Spencer. Then, he and I joined the others at the table. Neither of us wore the mask of Tartarus. Both of us were laughing from the love we received.

Once that nightmare ends and my hearing returns, it occurs to me that people are unhappy because they constantly dream about joy they can never receive. I’m not cursed; the world is.

My “dreams” are a colorful reality. Theirs are wishful thinking. How pitiful.

For hours, I struggle to wake up. I want to move my body, but I can’t. Plus, I can’t hear further than a mile down the road, and sometimes even that fades away. I know that I’m in my gym. Dennis placed me on one of my training mats and fell asleep on another.

In the morning, he had breakfast brought up for the both of us. It smells good, but I can’t even move enough to tell him I want a bite. The maids take my plates away and bring another one every thirty minutes. He wants me to have a warm breakfast when I wake up.

Breakfast turns into lunch, and Hayley comes up to tell Dennis she’ll get me something once I’m conscious. The beautiful redhead walks over to me. She’s hesitant. Distraught.

Dennis shakes his head. “What’s wrong with you two? Why don’t you just kiss him on the forehead and get it over with? You know you want to.”

“I do not,” she fires back loudly. Dennis laughs.

“Then why are you looking like you want to run and stay at the same time?”

“Because...” Her lips move, but she’s not making real sounds. She’s trying to form her thoughts. “He looks so cute. I want to hold him.”

My body shivers slightly, but she doesn’t notice. Dennis smirks and his eyes drift towards me.

“I guarantee you, he wants the same thing.”

“How do you know? Spencer would’ve hated that.”

“He’s not Spencer,” Dennis snaps. “Don’t compare the two.”

The tattoo on Hayley’s thumbs shine with a green hue. I feel my eyes burning. The color from the world fades. I’m finally awake, but it’s nearly impossible to move my muscles.

She plays with her thumbs by pressing them together and magnifying the amount of data she has traveling through them. She drearily testifies, “I don’t really know how to use these, but I can sense his pain with my barcodes. When I wiped his tears and I got these—which aren’t as bad as I thought they would be—I could feel everything dark about him. But I don’t care. I still lo—”

Hayley grunts again and storms off. My heart breaks as she leaves, but she doesn’t go far. She rushes to the furthest corner of the gym, where I occasionally fall asleep, and steals a furry blanket she bought me two months ago. She throws it over me and slides underneath.

One of her arms supports my head and the other is thrown over my back. She closes her eyes and gently touches my cheeks with her radiating barcodes. I blink several times.

Why do I feel so small? I swear she’s bigger than me.

The fight in her face leaves. She’s finally decided to enjoy this time. A tear falls from her eye and she smiles.

Laughing, she says, “I’m so pathetic.”

I try telling her she’s not, but I can’t move or speak.

Hayley opens her eyes. She smiles at the sight of my data, but jerks wildly seconds later. She shifts nervously and cries, “I’m so sorry, Kode.”

The only mother figure that’s ever held me this close tries running away. I command my arms to move, and wrap them tightly around her back. She makes a gasping sound. “Oh baby,” she whispers once she notices me whimpering in her chest.

Hayley still doesn’t know about my ability. She said she doesn’t want to; she hates knowing about gladiators and all the ways they can pry into her life. I have one of the most invasive techniques, so I made sure to keep quiet.

“Is he awake?” Dennis hops up and rushes over to me.

Though I can’t control the sobs, I make sure not to release any tears. I’ve already given Hayley three tattoos, and I placed one on Dennis’ chest. Though I have to concentrate to make my blood and sweat form barcodes, my tears make them against my will.

After a few minutes, I laugh at how pathetic I am. “Wow. I feel like a little kid.”

Dennis folds his arms and smirks. “You look like one too.”

“Why? Because I’m holding on to Hayley? You’re just jealous,” I tease while inhaling her perfume.

“No. You really look like one. Can’t you see it?”

I pull my right hand away from Hayley and hold it near her face. “What the hell?” Next, I grab Hayley’s hand and compare them. Her hand is bigger than mine. I quickly jump up and realize Dennis stands a head above me. A sharp pain shoots through my legs. I stumble towards Dennis and fall flat on my face.

“Help him!” Hayley sits up. “Why aren’t you moving?”

“How can
he
move?” he stutters. “We had each student carried home yesterday. I receive regular updates from their nurses. No one could even open their mouth to eat. I was considering having Kay put on an IV, but I wanted him to wake up first.”

I try rolling over, but fail. I turn my head and jeer, “They’re not real men, especially Patrick. And that’s not a homophobic joke—I’m saving those for later. I just meant the way he screams is embarrassing. Though, within the past twenty-four hours, I punked out a few times too.” There are two straps practically glued to my cheeks. The rest of my body is completely covered in ceremonial bandages from my neck to my ankles. “Man I look like a teenager.”

“Not quite. I’d say twelve.”

Hayley corrects, “Eleven.”

“Eleven?!” I roll my head over to her, and she nods joyfully. “Kill me.” Hayley laughs and crawls to me. Moving her hair aside, she kisses me on the forehead. Gently, she lifts my head off the floor and rests it on her lap. “What now? I go to school as Kay, the eleven-year-old?”

“Pretty much. We won’t mention your age or last name.” Hayley’s finally gotten back into her role at the academy. She’ll most likely register me for classes. “This year, Dennis and I aren’t wasting time with the Colt Council. I’ll be around to make sure no one discovers your identity.”

I hold my index finger over my lips. “Hey, Carmen,” I project my voice just enough for her to hear. Though she doesn’t initially respond, she eventually cracks open the door to my apartment and timidly walks over to us. “How am I supposed to protect you wrapped like this?”

“You’ll find a way.” Really quickly, and I mean super fast, she mumbles, “I mean you’re already the strongest person I ever licked so I’m sure you’re better than the others.”

Dennis and Hayley’s mouths drop. I imagine they couldn’t make out a word she said. I’m pretty familiar with her Southern accent, though I wish she’d slow things down.

“I’m not strong anymore,” I reply. “I have enhanced speed for some reason, but I couldn’t punch through a stone, let alone hurt a gladiator.”

Dennis squats next to Hayley. “What do you mean speed? You can’t move.”

“I know, but when my body functions properly, the speed will be there. I can’t explain it, but I know by the sound in my muscles.”

Hayley pouts, “Dammit. You can hear everything, can’t you? That’s how you knew she was behind the door and hear your speed.”

“Sorry.”

“Ugh.” Noticing her audience of onlookers, she clears her throat and apologizes, “My bad. Continue.”

“I start school tomorrow. Then what?”

Waving his hand, Dennis says, “You guys get a week’s pass. Spencer could hardly walk after a month, though he was younger when he first received his bandages. My hand weighed so much, I couldn’t walk for a week. You’ll need physical therapy to help you avoid tearing your muscles.”

“I’m at least going to the dungeon tonight.”

“You don’t need to push it.”

“Says you.”

“I assume that’s supposed to mean something.”

“You think I don’t know you’re training to kill Talib?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m training to kill him, but there are things I must do.”

“Talib has eighty-seven wins and no losses. He and Jay-Jay have volunteered for every fight and set records across the board now that you allow your humans to fight demigods. Thirteen more fights, and Talib’s a free beast. What then?” Dennis glances over at Carmen. I trace his eyes as far as I can. “Don’t hold back. She’s practically family.”

“More than you know,” he tilts his head. “I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I won’t attack him. My goal is to stop Helios and Eve if they come this way.”

“Speaking of Payne, you haven’t even told my father about me.”

“No. I don’t want anyone to know you’re here. I’m sure when those bandages are removed, you’re going after them. Vincent says yours are glued on for two years. Until that time comes, I’ll do what I should have done a long time ago: protect my son.”

“You’re not protecting the academy anymore?”

“It’s Vincent’s responsibility now.” Dennis rests his hand on my head. “You have to meet with my family about receiving these bandages without permission. It’ll be best if you learn to walk as soon as possible. I’ll stay here and help you train.”

Hayley leans her face over mine and says, “I’ll help too, after I get you something to eat.”

“And I’ll heal you if you break or tear anything,” Carmen adds.

Scrunching her eyebrows, Hayley glances at Carmen and Dennis. Aggressively, she shouts, “Actually, the first thing I need to do is find out why a
girl
was in your apartment.”

Dennis looks away and uneasily utters, “We’ll talk about that later. I need to get Kay strong before our meeting.”

Chuckling, I tease, “You make me feel as though I might not survive talking to your family.”

“That’s why I’m training hard.”

Dennis’ words sound dark. They reek with a familiar sounding evil that I’ve heard from many successful businessmen. To distract myself, I sit up and prepare for training.

“Hayley, you train too.” I grab her right hand and bring it closer to me.

“How?” She asks with widened eyes. I squeeze her hand until she screams. The barcodes on her thumbs ignite with a brilliant green. Once her pain seems unbearable, I throw her fist at the floor. Pieces of the ground shatter under her knuckles. Her heart beats powerfully and her face flushes red. “What did you just do?”

“Activated your codes.”

“How? Why can’t I do it like that?”

“You can. Just squeeze your hand tightly.” She follows my instructions. “Harder.” Hayley grits her teeth and uses all of her might. “Harder.” The bright green returns, but it’s faint. “John.” A green flash covers the room. Carmen smiles and Dennis frowns.

“What the hell? Kode, explain!”

“Do you know how your muscles work? Do you know the difference between skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles? Or how the joints and muscle tissue relate?”

“Not really.”

“But you can still use your muscles. Barcodes are another muscle but they’re more advanced than the brain. They’re a part of you. You don’t need to know how they work. Most people don’t. Spencer didn’t.” Dennis looks away and Hayley lowers her eyebrows. “The more you know, the stronger you are, but you have to be taught. The first thing everyone should learn is, barcodes aren’t some spiritual energy. They’re a physical evolution of the human anatomy.”

“Then why do gladiators always say they’re activating their barcodes?”

“It’s a common phrase, but only advanced fighters know how to do it. You can supply energy to your codes the same way you can relax your body by breathing. I give my eyes energy by increasing my heart rate and the amount of air traveling through my blood vessels.”

“You can do that without drugs?”

“It requires years of meditation, but yes. Michelle Miyamoto was really good at it too. She could actually increase the blood flow in her legs. Spencer mainly flexed his back muscles and the codes would do the work for him. If he knew how to concentrate blood, he might have been unstoppable.”

“So all I have to do is tighten my fists?”

“Yes. Most codes will work on their own. Emotions help increase your focus or determination, like when I mentioned John’s name. But don’t over think it. The more you learn how to activate them, the easier it’ll be.”

“What about the one on my head?”

“Make yourself flustered or do a headstand. Get a brain freeze. Just try different things until it activates.”

“It still doesn’t make sense. Don’t weapons take your energy?”

“Yeah, but now you’re really getting into the science. Like I said, barcodes are complex muscles. Weapons convert adenosine triphosphate and the chemical energy it transports to fuel themselves. It’s even more advanced than that.” Hayley’s eyes widen and she rubs her hands together. “Let’s just say the kinetic energy in my body powers Shiva. It’s extremely difficult to transfer that energy to her. When I acquired her, she almost killed me after stealing all of my energy. But my blood reacted to her electricity and I converted her energy into my body. That’s why my blood turned black. Now, we’re permanently linked. I’m a part of her and she’s with me. But Shiva’s special. Most weapons are built to fill their chambers as needed. Only older weapons like Shiva and Kongō need the user to manually fuel them.”

Dennis pats me on the leg. These bandages are awfully amazing because that really hurt. He looks me in the eyes and forces a smile on his face. “Don’t overload her brain. Teach her over time. We need to work on you right now.”

Six

Walking isn’t as easy or natural as I assumed. Now that my muscles don’t work properly, simply bending my knee requires tons of concentration. I can remember names and faces of people I’ve never met, but I can’t remember how my calf presses against the ground or how it curls up after it kicks off.

The bandages impaired my motor skills. Twelve hours of training with Dennis got me back on my feet. I can throw a punch or two, if necessary.