Into the Shadows (20 page)

It was dusk when they pulled up in front of Paivi’s
house. She was happy to be home, taking in the wide, welcoming
front porch. Her mother had left the lights on, which shone warmly
against the red brick exterior. Paivi spotted something bright on
the lawn, but it was blocked from her view by a large maple tree.
She could see it was glowing, but from the angle, she couldn’t tell
what it was. When they pulled into the driveway, she could see it
clearly. A large sign, containing three glowing letters spelling
out ‘EOS,’ and four sets of numbers, including a number she
recognized from her own EOS badge, stood next to the front walk.
She could feel her cheeks burning.

“I better go. Sorry about today.” Her voice was
barely louder than a whisper. She grabbed the door handle to let
herself out of the car.

“They really have gone too far,” scolded Mrs.
Santos. “They should be ashamed of what they’re doing to good
citizens.” She gestured to the sign. “Paivi, you take care of
yourself,” she added.

“Okay,” Paivi’s voice squeaked as she jumped out of
the car and headed for the front door. She pushed the door open and
headed for the kitchen. Mr. Anderson was sitting in front of the
television. Paivi added her EOS badge to the charging device on the
counter, where three badges already sat, glowing in unison. The
device beeped, and a small light next to the badge switched from
red to green. Paivi figured Torsten and her mother must be
upstairs.

She plopped down on the couch next to Mr. Anderson,
hoping he wouldn’t ask her how her day was or why she was home so
close to curfew.

“So, how was your day?” he asked.

“It was fine.”

It was much better to say that than to go through
the horrid details.

“I happened to get a phone call from your principal
today,” Mr. Anderson added nonchalantly, giving her a sideways
glance.

Paivi groaned, hiding her face in her hands.

“He told me everything. How’s your friends face?” he
inquired.

She lifted her head.

“Nothing was broken, at least.”

“Well, that’s good. What they did today, your friend
and your teacher, was very courageous. Some might say stupid,
considering the current attitude of the government. Those ATC
agents run everything. And they’re everywhere — I see them trolling
the neighborhoods and your mother said they are on patrol all over
town. I hope that they go easy on your teacher. I wish there was
something we could do to help her. Someday, when this all passes, I
would like to shake her hand. She’s a good person, that Dr.
Hasenpfeffer. Your friend Jason too.”

Paivi shook her head in agreement, not sure what to
say.

“Now, Paivi, I haven’t said anything so far, but I
just want to remind you to please be on your best behavior at
school. Follow every rule in that policy book. I had the same talk
with your brother, too. Those ATC agents seem to be looking for any
excuse to harass people, and I don’t want them to have any reason
to hurt you like they did to those nice people today.”

“Okay Dad.” Paivi was too drained from the day’s
events to argue that she had done everything possible to avoid
trouble.

Mr. Anderson stood up from the couch suddenly.

“Come with me, I want to show you something.”

Paivi got up and followed her father upstairs to the
loft. The room used to be a playroom for Paivi and Torsten when
they were younger and had since been transformed into a den with
some overstuffed chairs and a wall of bookcases.

“I already showed your mother and brother,” said Mr.
Anderson. “You know I’ve had a little time on my hands, being fired
and all,” he added bitterly, “and with everything going on, I
didn’t trust the ATC not to freeze our bank accounts. So I took all
of the money out and I hid it here.” He gestured toward the wall of
bookcases. “I want you to know where it is in case anything happens
to us and you need it.”

“Oh, Daddy, come on, nothing is going to happen to
you.” Paivi tried to hide her fears and forced herself to sound
reassuring.

“I took a few books from the bookcase and hollowed
them out. I hid the money inside.”

He pulled four hardcover books from the hundreds of
books on the shelves.
Heart of Darkness.
The Scarlet
Letter
.
Utopia
.
1984
. He opened the covers.
Each book had a rectangle carved into the center. In the rectangle
was a pouch, which he opened and showed her the bundle of cash it
held. “I didn’t glue the pages together because I still wanted it
to look like a normal book all the way around. Anyways, memorize
the titles in case you need them, okay?”

He returned the books to their spots.

Paivi was impressed by her Dad’s workmanship but she
hoped its purpose would never be necessary.

Paivi Anderson

Current Events p.6

Mr. Finch

I read an article in the
St. Andrew
Herald
by Mimi Snodgrass titled ‘St
Andrew Herald reporter Jerome Knowles arrested by ATC.’ Mr. Knowles
was arrested Saturday for using the newspaper to turn citizens
against the ATC. They also found that he commonly associated with
people in St. Andrew known to be Enemies of the State and felt that
he could be using his access at the newspaper to aid terrorists.
Fellow reporters stated that Knowles was known to be a troublemaker
and that they were not surprised. I was surprised too, because I
always thought he was a good reporter who always stuck to the
facts. I guess I didn’t really know what he was like at work, but
it’s really too bad he was arrested.

President-elect Wendell Stevens sat in his sunny
breakfast room, a cup of coffee in one hand and the Washington Post
in the other. A plate of half-eaten fried eggs and bacon sat in
front of him. He set the cup down and placed a forkful of eggs into
his mouth.

Nancy, his maid, interrupted his quiet meal.

“Sir,” she said quietly, “General Kobayashi is here
to see you.”

Stevens swallowed his eggs.

“Please show him into the study, Nancy. I will be
there shortly.”

She nodded and exited the room. Stevens quickly
emptied his plate and grabbed his cup of coffee. He adjusted his
robe, which he wore over a pair of flannel pajamas, and made his
way to the study. He took a seat in a large leather armchair at a
mahogany desk across from his visitor.

“Good morning, Michael. Coffee?” he greeted the
general, who sat before him in civilian clothing.

“Yes sir. Thank you.”

Nancy was hovering in the doorway and scurried to
the kitchen, having overheard the request.

“This is an early visit,” he commented.

“Yes, sir, well I have some excellent news to share
with you and I felt it was best to come right away.” The general
sounded delighted.

“Fantastic. I can’t argue with good news in the
morning. Please, carry on,” he encouraged.

Nancy reentered the room and placed a tray with a
white coffee mug, sugar dish, and a pitcher of cream onto the desk.
She left the room as silently as she came, closing the doors
noiselessly behind her. General Kobayashi spooned some sugar into
his cup — two spoonfuls — and a dash of cream. He took a sip.

“Perfect. So, I am happy to report, I just flew back
form the Phase Two project. Celine showed me around. The facility
is complete, a full month ahead of schedule. It can start receiving
shipments as soon as Foster and Haley are ready to process them.”
He took another long sip of coffee.

“Excellent. And the press releases?” he
questioned.

“They’re set to go out next week. We’ll have small
blurbs in the national press, mentioning the need to detain Enemies
of the State for questioning — for the security of the nation, of
course. Locally we’ll throw in some extra warnings about extremely
dangerous criminals being kept at the Phase Two facility, so the
civilians will keep their distance,” reported General
Kobayashi.

Stevens rose, clapping the general on the back as he
walked toward the window.

“Good man. It’s a great thing you are doing for your
country. Your contributions to this great land will live long after
us! Say, it’s warm enough out there today, what do you say, why
don’t we hit the driving range?”

Paivi returned to school the next day after the
incident in Dr. Hasenpfeffer’s class. She tried her best to do as
her father had asked. She flipped through the EOS policy book,
making sure she was following all of the rules correctly. She moved
quickly and quietly through the halls, dragging Jason or Michaela
by the arm. She didn’t want to be late for classes, especially not
for lunch. She tried to keep to herself in class, and didn’t raise
her hand or ask any questions. She would respond politely, if ever
a teacher asked her a question, which was very seldom. She wished
she wasn’t there, that no one could see her. Oh, to be
invisible!

As for Dr. Hasenpfeffer’s class, Paivi dreaded going
there the most. Instead of open and friendly, the class had taken
on a dreary atmosphere, as if someone had died. They were not told
where Dr. Hasenpfeffer was or when she would return. Instead, they
had the ultimate pleasure of being taught by Mr. Finch, a squidgy
looking substitute teacher in his twenties who bored them to death
with his endless lectures. Paivi sat with Tyler at her assigned EOS
table and attempted to avoid everyone’s eyes for the long fifty
minutes of class. She could feel them anyways.

There was a buzz in the hallways as students noticed
the signs advertising the Youth Anti-Terrorism Coalition. Paivi
heard students talking about the possibility of joining the group
and shuddered. Kids with power did not sound like another
ingredient she wanted to add to the already bitter soup of her
life.

At least she did have the dance to look forward to,
although she wasn’t quite sure she even wanted to be out in public
anymore. It had been nearly impossible to even get the dress.

Paivi had gone with Michaela the previous Sunday to
the dress shops in downtown St. Andrew to look for the perfect
gown. She had a strict budget from her father, but her mother had
slipped her a few extra bills when she hugged Paivi goodbye. They
made every effort to avoid the ATC agents that wandered in packs
through the streets of downtown St. Andrew.

They first headed to Nora’s Boutique. The weather
had been cold and snowy all week, making the days a constant shade
of gray. The warmth hit their frosty cheeks as they pulled open the
door. The rows of colorful dresses brightened the dull day. Before
they could get very far, a plump lady with a head of curly, gray
hair held back in clips approached them.

“I’m sorry girls,” she said quietly, trying not to
be overheard by the other customers. “But you’ll have to
leave.”

“Excuse me?” responded Michaela loudly, causing the
other patrons to turn and look at them.

Paivi burned with embarrassment, her cheeks turning
a deep red.

“Why?” demanded an angry Michaela.

“Well, it’s not my rule, but people with those,” she
pointed at Paivi’s glowing EOS badge, “are not allowed in
here.”

Paivi could fee the customers staring at her. She
looked at the floor.

“That’s fine. I wouldn’t shop in this dump anyways!”
shouted Michaela as heads turned towards them. She grabbed Paivi’s
arm and pulled her out the door, making sure to slam it on the way
out.

Despite the streets of downtown St. Andrew being
decorated for Christmas, Paivi couldn’t quite feel the same holiday
cheer as she had in the past. The lampposts were dressed with
evergreen garland and bright white twinkle lights. Shop windows
sported wreaths and bright red ribbons, along with Santa Claus and
his many reindeer. Paivi walked quietly down the street, glancing
at the shops as they passed. She failed to notice the elaborate
decorations — all she could see were the white signs with red
lettering posted in every door and window that carried no holiday
goodwill.

NO EOS ALLOWED

“Paivi, don’t let it bother you,” Michaela pleaded,
trying to salvage the fun they were supposed to be having. “Come
on, forget this — let’s go have a shake at Al’s.”

“Alright,” Paivi brightened slightly.

They turned the corner and walked down to the
entrance of Al’s Café. Affixed to the door was the same sign posted
in all the other shops.

NO EOS ALLOWED

Paivi’s face fell. This was insane. All of her
favorite places didn’t want her there. And for what? She had done
nothing to deserve being treated like a second-class citizen. Shame
and self-pity was now gone, replaced by anger that she could feel
welling up deep inside.