Liquid Death (The Edinön Trilogy Book 1) (7 page)

              I ponder these questions while I vacuum the music room.

              Eliza and I are assigned as partners for a class project in Spanish. To complete the project, we need access to computers, so our teacher leads us to the computer lab. I am unable to look anyone in the eye during the procession.

              We find an empty computer and two chairs. Eliza logs into her school account and pulls up a new PowerPoint presentation. She leans over in her chair, and a lump lodges in the base of my throat. I attempt to clear it by coughing into my fist and turning slightly. Eliza smiles and glances up at me. “So the rumors are true,” she remarks quietly. “Your gift is super strength.”

              I cough hard enough to lacerate my lungs. “What?”

              “The way you knocked out Tim and Mac like it was nothing the other day? Yeah. Everyone has been talking about it. A video even leaked online until someone removed it.”

              “Wha…”
*cough*
“What are people saying?”

              “Well, most of our gifts aren’t as flashy as yours. In fact, most of us have no gifts at all. Those of us who do… keep it a secret so Doctor Hendricks doesn’t send us back.”

              “Back where?”

              “Blue Skys, you dolt.” She breathes a laugh and shakes her head. “If she suspects any developing anomaly, she locks it up before it is discovered. You’re lucky you were let go with a warning, Juan.”

              “What about you? Are you ‘gifted’?” I emphasize ‘gifted’ with air quotes.

              She narrows her dark eyes and smiles. “Like I’m telling
you
.”

              I grin and scoot closer, secretly inhaling her concentrated perfume. “Fine. Can you tell me anything about Kandi?”

              Eliza’s face darkens. “Why would you want to know about her?”

              “Juan, stop talking and get to work,” the teacher admonishes from the desk in the corner.

              I pretend to write something in my notebook and whisper, “Just tell me what you know.”

              She glances back at Mr. Brown and purses her purple-stained lips. “I’ll tell you at lunch. Do
not
ask anyone else.”

              “Why not?”

              Genuine fear flashes in her eyes. “Promise me.”

              I zip my lips and nod. “I promise.”

              Tim and Mac direct me to the table furthest from Kandi’s at lunch. I fish today’s paper bag from my backpack and eat while I wait for Eliza to find me. No one else dares approach me, but I do hear hushed voices mentioning my name and people staring at me from across the room. I do not blame them for their curiosity.

              Five minutes into the break, Eliza meets me at my table and sits so close that our thighs make contact. My breaths become quick and shallow.

              “What do you want to know?” she inquires while eyeing the large men in front of her.

              “Anything you can tell me.”

              “Why do you need to know anything?”

              “I’m just… curious,” I say casually.

              Eliza rolls her eyes. “All right. The truth is, I don’t know much. Kandi is a mystery even the Doctors can’t crack. All I know is that she is the reason
any
of us have gifts. Your super strength came from her.”

              I squint in confusion. “What are you saying?”

              “I am saying that whatever she can do – and no one knows for sure – it came naturally to her. But with us… our gifts were created in a lab.”

              “That’s impossible.”

              “So is this.” She touches my face, and her arm disappears. My jaw drops as I reach up to remove her invisible arm from my cheek. Her eyes glint flirtatiously.

              “How did you do that?”

              “I know. Impossible, right?” Her arm reappears, solid and visible as before. “How else would you explain that?”

              My brain is fried. “I have no idea. That is
so
cool.” I have always wanted the ability to turn invisible. I relinquish her arm after realizing I’d been holding it too long and return my hand to my lap. “How long have you had that gift?”

              “Since my release a year ago. I have shown no one but you, so you must keep it a secret.”

              “I will. I wouldn’t have anyone to tell anyway.”

              She smiles empathetically. “I know.”

              “So what’s your story, Eliza? Where are you from?”

              “Eliza! There you are!” I turn, wide-eyed, to discover a group of girls strutting our direction. A leggy brunette leads the girls, expensively dressed and beaming with confidence. Her eyes seek my own, and she giggles. “You’re Juan?” she asks.

              I look at her queerly. “Yeah. Who are you?”

              Eliza slaps her forehead. “This is Nina. Nina, what are you doing?”

              Nina peers back at her friends. “We were just looking for you. Mrs. Bowen needs your help with the final touches on the dance floor.”

              Oh, right. The Winter Ball was canceled due to inclement weather. It was moved to this Saturday last minute.

              “Have you asked anyone, Juan?” a perky auburn-haired
chica
queries.

              “Uh, no. I don’t know anyone.” I exchange glances with Eliza, hoping she can direct them away from me.

              “Oh.” The girl seems disappointed.

              Eliza finally takes the hint and stands up. “I’m coming, guys.” Before departing, she bends over to peck me on the cheek. “Sorry about that.”

              My body temperature rises ten degrees. I had not expected that.

              My fourth class is Health, and I don’t know I share a class with Kandi until I see her in the desk closest to the door, guarded protectively by her aide, upon entering.

              I smile and move to sit next to her, until Tim grabs the scruff of my shirt and hauls me to the back of the room. I brush him off and sit begrudgingly in the furthest corner from the door.

              Wow. I am sitting in the same classroom as Patient 1. Brock would freak out if he knew. And by ‘freak out,’ I mean burn something nearby in excitement.

              I feign scrawling notes while staring creepily at Kandi, hoping to spot some indication she is as unique as everyone seems to think she is. My heart wrenches as she wipes circles around her eyes and breathes into her hands. Her lips are no longer blue, and the scars on her face have vanished, but she appears to be harboring a deeper suffering beyond the physical. She looks haunted, like she’s reliving a horrific event from her past. I have seen this expression on my mother many times before.

              Why was Eliza afraid to talk about her? Why did she make me promise not to ask anyone else about her?

              And why would Kandi save me from the tranquilizing darts? Why would she risk revealing her powers over such a trivial matter? According to Eliza, even the Doctors do not know what she can do. And, based on the conversation with Doctor Hendricks I overheard, they have been trying to make her speak for seven years.

              I wonder if… no, that wouldn’t be a good idea. There is no way they would let me anywhere near her. Asking her to the Winter Ball would be a one-way ticket to Blue Skys. Besides, she probably wouldn’t accept my invitation. She does seem a little… disconnected.

              After the first bell, as I pack up in preparation to leave Health, I catch Kandi looking at me from across the room, almost like she...
knows
me. She holds a crinkled piece of paper in her right hand. Her aide walks around her, ready to escort her out of the classroom, but her feet remain planted on the floor by her desk until we make eye contact. Her eyes flash electric green so quickly I’m convinced I imagined it. Then she tosses the piece of paper in the garbage can and gives me another glance as she follows Kyle out the door. Interesting...

              I pick the paper up on my way out after the second bell and inform Tim and Mac that I need to use the restroom. As soon as I am locked within a stall, I sit on the toilet and smooth out the paper.

              In flawless print, it reads:
Counselor’s Office, drawer 3 file Patient 108
.

             
I
am Patient 108 (I won’t bother questioning how she knows
that
). There must be something in Doctor Hendricks’ office that Kandi wants me to see.

***

              I wait for my grandparents to fall asleep before I slip out of the house. I know I am currently under surveillance, so I wear all white to blend with the snow, including a white skullcap to conceal my black hair. The school is only ten miles away. I can make it there on foot in less than two hours

              The wind is chilly. The snow crunches under my feet as I warm my hands in my armpits and exhale discernable air. I walk behind, around, in front of, and through houses for several miles before I reach the long stretch of road leading up to the school. It crosses my mind that I may have misinterpreted Kandi’s message, but I ignore my doubts and press on. I have been wanting to snoop around in Hendricks’ office for a while anyway.

              Cruisers patrol Sunny Days at night, but I easily avoid them as I proceed through the east parking lot. When I approach the barred front doors, I locate the cameras and render myself as unseen as possible by staying close to the wall. It is at times like these when I truly need the gift of invisibility. Fortunately, I have plenty of experience with high security.

              I chuck a snowball at the camera facing me, obliterating the lenses. With that out of the way, I sidestep toward the bars and push two apart wide enough for me to fit between them, then sprint through the metal detector and down a dark, vacant hallway.

              I jog to the counselor’s office and jiggle the doorknob until it dislodges, then enter. I strain my ears for any sign of life within the room. When I hear nothing, I duck inside and engage Grandpa’s flashlight, dimly illuminating Doctor Hendricks’ polished mahogany and leather furniture. I quickly locate the file cabinet behind her desk and attempt to pull out the third drawer. Finding it locked, I muster more strength and force it open, raising the flashlight over the files and scanning them for the label ‘Patient 108.’

              My heart accelerates as I examine my file’s contents. The counselor has baby photos of me with my mother… pictures of my father in a brown suit with a briefcase I suspect is full of cash… a copy of my birth certificate… photographs of me chatting with Brock in Blue Skys’ cafeteria… my arrest record… news articles printed about my father’s death… This file has everything. Doctor Hendricks has my entire life on
file
.

              I realize I am breathing irregularly and stop to hold my breath. I excogitate hiding the file in my jacket, but finally decide I’d rather not be caught. If my file turned up missing, I would never see the light of day again.

              So this is what Kandi wanted me to see. But why? And how did she know I would be interested? Why would she even care?

              Discovering this information has only served to fill me with more questions. I do not know much about law, but keeping a file like this about me
must
be illegal. If I called the police, would they have enough to arrest the counselor/doctor? Would they even listen to me?

              I replace my file and flip through more in search of Kandi’s. I am positive Doctor Hendricks is keeping one on her as well.

              At last, I encounter the file labeled ‘Patient 1’ in a hidden compartment within the top drawer of the file cabinet. My hands involuntarily shake as I flip it open.

              “Over here!”

              My heart bursts out of my chest. The security guards must have discovered the bent metal bars at the entrance.
Crap
. I close the file and stuff it into my jacket, my vision flicking to the window. Time to escape.

              An hour later, I am still winding through the streets to evade the cops, energy completely depleted. I pant for breath behind a hedge, blood pulsing in my ears. What is Kandi hiding that the Doctors so ruthlessly hunt?

              I extract the file from my jacket and leaf through it, hoping for straight answers. My lungs shrivel when I find just the opposite: more questions.

              My eyes become wet as they scrutinize every photograph and document. I wipe a rogue tear from my face and shut the file before my stomach rejects what I’ve seen. I gaze up at the clear, starry sky, then close my eyes and release the dam on my emotions. Nothing could have prepared me for this.
Nothing
.