Endeca (The Escapism Series) (10 page)

“You left! You disappeared right before Orion…
sacrificed
me,” I said contemptuously.

His stark impassive expression spoke volumes. “Could we talk another time? I have to go now.”

He was a despicable, spineless shell of a man…
oh no
.
That was just it! A shell of a man.
The light flickered off his cornea, and his grey eye color swirled on cue ever so faintly.

“The offer still stands,” he reiterated. “Are you going to the Carnival later?”

“Where are you, Nicholas?” I asked, taking hold of his arm.

“Guess I’ll see you there,” he said, robotically staring down where my hand grasped his arm.

I let him go and played along. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

“There you are,” she barked, hysterically. “You’re Xenia, right? I’m your lab partner and boy are you ever hard to track down. Listen here, my grades are very important. Now maybe you plan on failing miserably, potentially dropping out of college, but I’m pre-med and my GPA means something.”

“I’m sorry, but have we met?” I snapped examining her. This small, yet energetic force field of a person surrounded us.

“Not formally. I’m on the basketball team. I’ve seen you once before, flirting with the coach,” she rolled her eyes.

“Wait a minute, there was no flirting. Zero flirtage,” I scolded glancing at Nicholas from the corner of my eye.

“
Right
. And you’re never in class.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“And you’re going to get busier—here,” she said, handing over a heavy stack of files. “This is your end of the project.”

I envisioned Nyxta beaming from her throne right about then. Nicholas pressed his lips into a hard line and patted my shoulder sympathetically. “My cue to go.”

The neurotic girl stirred on the verge of another panic attack. This was all a part of college, something I signed up for, yet I somehow felt short changed. I’d hoped for some grand gift of appreciation for all my non-academic hard work—
farfetched and delusional, I was well aware.

“No problem. We have the whole semester, right?”

“Try one week. And if for some reason, you pull another disappearing act then consider yourself a goner. I’ve discussed this with our TA. He was very kind to even grant us an extension as these papers are way past due!”

“One week…easy peasy! You can count on me.” I was very dependable—too dependable if you asked me.

“My life depends on it,” she stressed.

“No kidding, trippy.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know your name, so I’ve named you trippy…you know, because you’re totally tripping. College life is supposed to be fun—you should lighten up. For starters, try breathing; I hear it’s good for you.”

“I don’t have time to
breathe
, thank you. I’m Tree,” she bounced, extending her hand.

My initial laugher dwindled down once I realized it wasn’t a joke. “I’m sorry,
Tree
?”

“It’s actually Acacia, after the Tree. My parents are botanists, plants are their thing. My friends call me Tree. It’s a strange nickname I suppose.”

“It could be worse.”

“I highly doubt it.”

“You could be named after fruit…or colors even,” I said amicably.

“You’re funny,” she denoted, candidly.

I had managed to crack Tree’s distorted impression of me. “I try.”

“You look smart…
I think
. I feel less panicky now. This is good…yeah,” she nodded, in scrutiny. “Just try to get your share of work done a day early—I need to review it.”

“Hey, where’s the faith?”

“I can’t measure faith, but I can measure my level of reassurance once I physically see your work.  I suggest you hit the books.”

“No probs. I intend to right after the carnival tonight.”

“Wait, carnival? No carnival for you. There’s no time! By my calculation, you’ll have to read a hundred pages per day and write a case report, do a statistical analysis and—”

“Attend the carnival,” I exclaimed, continuing, “Trust me. I’m super smart, it’s not even funny,” I whispered. Maybe Calliope would lend a hand…who was I kidding. With this amount of work, she’d need a retainer.

“
No Carnival!
” she shrieked on the verge of another panic attack.

“Okay, fine. You win! No carnival. Strip away my college activities and what do you have left?” I humored her.

“A med school approved candidate,” she said, snootily.

“If I’m destined for anything, it’s the law,” I said, although my rightful calling equaled zero earnings. My next familial calling was the law, whether I liked it or not. I had an in and those were hard to come by in life.

“Ah, it’s in your blood I take it.”

“It’s not the only thing…” I squirmed.

“Huh?” Tree pulled out a beat up looking note pad and quickly scribbled something down.

“Nothing. What d’you got there?” I pried.

“It’s my future professional network. You’re on the list for lawyers.”

“Aw, that’s nice.”

“You’re fifth in ranking,” she dryly remarked.

“I see. Okay, well I should hit the books.  Later, Tree.”

“But we have a tutorial…
right now
,” she said, snippily.

“Right, I knew that. I was going to grab a quick snack beforehand.”

“There’s no time, we’re going to be late!”

I smiled, slowly backing away. She was a ticking time bomb but it only seemed fair to take her up on the extension that she so industriously attained. I could see how this whole “group work” deal was going to be a problem. I had to buckle down and get this work done in time or Tree would jump in the bandwagon to kill me—
quite literally
. The look in her eyes was that of desperation and determination, a deadly mix.

This was the first time I actually attended the tutorial, mentally and maybe even physically. Once we arrived to the lecture room, Tree sat in the front row and gaped at me as I continued to the back.

“You should really sit up front. Dr. K will appreciate your zeal.”

“I don’t know if I’d exude any
zeal
, per se,” I muttered, awkwardly. She stared vehemently. “Are you exuding some now?”

She wrinkled her face unimpressed.

The tutorial quickly commenced as everyone settled. Acacia huffed, turning away. I diligently took notes although I craved to travel elsewhere. The middle world was euphoric, addictive and only a blink away.  I executed great self-restraint and by the end of the lab, I was exhausted.

While Tree conversed with another student, I squeezed by to the back exit and headed out. I had mentally factored in a study schedule that I planned to stick to, making up for lost time—the lost time including the carnival of course.

My Cyclopod buzzed pulling me right out of a trance.

“My lecture ended early so I decided to head home for a quick bite. Cal is somewhere on campus, hunting as usual. Hit her up for a ride, if you can, and come over for some drinks before the Carnival tonight,” Marla said. She loved planning events. I could hear the excitement resonate through the receiver.

“I actually have some readings I need to catch up on before the carnival tonight so I think I’ll fly solo.”

“I hear ya. I have a midterm tomorrow and I’m not even half way through the material,” she sighed.

“Try a semester’s worth of material, then we’re on a leveled playing field,” I snorted.

“What have you been doing the whole semester?” She asked in wonderment.

Reuniting lost fragments, saving my boyfriend from an eternity of turmoil or worse, expiration. Reuniting myself in a parallel world, summoning Endeca and resurrecting one of its members.

“You know…
stuff
,” I uttered, evasively.

“Sounds like Nicholas is consuming your brain,” she said, giggling.

That would suffice as an explanation although it was, in part, one of the reasons for my absenteeism.

“It’s not his fault. He always suggests
innovative
ways to pick up the slack. I’m the biggest procrastinator and usually it’s okay because I always pull through. But now, I have this assigned partner and she literally hunted me down and held a gun to my head—she threatened my life if I didn’t complete these assignments,” I exaggerated.

“Xenia, we’re in college now. We’re expected to be responsible adults and that means fulfilling your end of the work.”

I conceded, “You’re right. And maybe Tree was right about skipping the carnival.”

“What? She’s crazy! You have to go to the carnival. Since when have you ever taken orders from anyone, especially from someone named
Tree
?” she screeched.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s for the best.”

“Maybe it’s time you listen to me. Get your ass home, read a chapter or two, and come support your friend who’s throwing the carnival? Okay?”

“How’s seven?” I stifled. Hell hath no fury like Marla scorn. She generally was a shy complacent girl whom you’d seldom get a rouse out of, but when you did, you’d run for the hills. On that note, I deliberated upon my options. Going to the carnival meant making tradesies with my offline self, which worked out as she was on the down low with the E-SOM lurking about.

I hopped on the bus, getting a head start with my readings on the bumpy road. I smeared highlighter all over the page and decided to save the highlighting for a stationary setting. In deep thought, I focused on the page and before I knew it, my off-source was becoming quite familiar with the workload. I breathed at ease the rest of the way home—two heads were definitely better than one,
figuratively speaking.

Smoke in mirrors

As I neared the front door, I heard music emanating from within. The music grew louder and louder as I reached the kitchen. There, I found Edric oscillating to hard-core rock music while cooking.

“Edric, Edric!” I shouted through the music. He swiveled around, donning my mother’s floral apron.

“Xenia, you nearly startled me,” he smirked, lowering the volume. “Look! I’m cooking.”

“I see that. Where are my parents?”

“They left on another business trip. Isn’t that great? We get the house to ourselves. Why don’t we throw a party?” he beamed. I’d never seen Edric act so
normal
. Maybe he was experiencing some type of resurrection-crisis.

“I don’t like the idea of a bunch of random people crashing my home and doing God knows what in it,” I let slip, surprising us both. My superego reclaimed the rains in my parents’ absence.

“But isn’t that what college kids do given the circumstance?”

“There’s no
circumstance
.”

“Empty house big enough for an epic party,” he grinned ear to ear. Evidently, his vocabulary was no longer an issue. “If that’s not a circumstance, I don’t know what is.”

“No parties in my house!”

“Chill,” he whispered, continuing, “That means relax—stop being so controlling.”

“I know what it means,” I scowled, annoyed, “Besides, there are many parties already in store. Word on campus is your bro is throwing one.”

“His parties aren’t the ordinary kind,” he winked, implying the obvious. “I thought you wanted to experience college life to the fullest, that is, if my memory of the summoning isn’t marred—where’s your wild side?”

“There’s nothing wrong with my
wild side
, thank you very much. I’ve done a few crazy things lately. I just don’t broadcast them.”

“Oh really, like what?” he tested, rolling his eyes.

“Well, for starters, it’s personal. But rest assured it was monumental.”

“Let’s see. You’ve been awakened, accosted by most of the elite, faced a near death sentence with Nyxta, and you’re involved with Nicholas. Hmm, a personal life-altering event for a woman…you and Nicholas consummated the relationship. Sealed the deal, eh?” he winked, suggestively.

My jaw dropped and my face turned beat red.

“Anywhere interesting?” he probed.

“Err, I guess the usual…I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s not exactly wild if you ask me, not unless it was by the river…now things can get pretty wild in Styx. This one time, I summoned the deity herself and we—”

“I-I don’t want to hear about your hookups, thanks.” Styx scratched at my insides, thrilled by the acknowledgement.

“You see, this is what I mean. You’re too frigid. You’ve got inhibitions coming out of your ears.  Let loose and live. After all, that’s what you wanted.”

“We broke the chandelier mid travel while…you know.”

“Rookies,” Edric sighed, shaking his head. He quickly chopped a red pepper. “How convenient though.”

“What do you mean?”

“In order for Orion to pledge, he needed an impure vessel. Otherwise, anything pure would’ve been absolved in her wrath,” he explained, halting like a statue.

It couldn’t have been
him
. Could he do something so despicable? So irreparable?

Edric nodded, eerily.

“I’m gonna go now.” My eyes burned with both rage and devastation. Styx empathized with a woman scorn—she urged me to seek vengeance and a part of me embraced the idea of beheading Orion right before a hand grabbed a hold of my arm.

“Xenia, get her in check or else.”