River: A Novel (22 page)

 He needed
more information? I was completely in the dark of everything that was going on
here. How did they hypnotize me into telling them my secrets? I needed to make
a move. Try to get something out of him before my escape, and then make sure
Dan was okay. I forced my hands to relax when signing into the darkness.

 
So
do I.

 I still
wasn’t planning to talk, though my teeth ground with every little gesture. I’d
never wanted to talk so badly in my life.

 “I assumed
as much. I figure I can trust Dan. My thought right now is—can I trust
you?”
 

 Watching
the outline cock his head to the side inquisitively, I became confounded and
extremely nervous to check on Dan. This Speaker kept saying that he and Dan
were friends, and according to him, they trusted each other somewhat. Was he
some sort of rogue agent posing as a Mute? Even more confusing: why would a
Speaker need to trust me? He could incinerate me in an instant. Anxious to be
free, I chose to be blunt.

 
Where am I?
He could answer me that, at the very least. 

 I thought I
saw him change his posture a bit at the inquiry and regard me with a small
amount of respect, though it was very dim in the room, especially where he
sat. 

 “We are
under the tram system, with several feet of concrete on all sides. It was a
challenge moving you here without being noticed. I had to be creative, but I promise
I was a perfect gentleman.”

 I didn’t
want to think about what that meant, so I concentrated on the several feet of
concrete. There had to be a way out. I just had to think and
focus.

 Who
are you?
Though I was certain he wouldn’t
answer, it was worth a shot. I needed to distract him. Thankfully, I was in luck.
The thick door opened, bringing in no more light, but a woman and the light smell
of musky lavender.

 “Asher, I
told you this isn’t necessary,” she said in a mildly aggravated tone. He took
his eyes off me for an instant while she walked toward us. If she would just keep
talking to him, I could make a run for the exit.

 “And I told
you that I need more convincing,” he murmured in her direction. She didn’t
comment.

 Turning to
me, the woman’s smile was soft and warm as her voice. “Hello, Elodie. My name is
Gwendolyn, and I performed the trance on you. I hope you are feeling all right.”
She gave the impression of being genuinely concerned; almost as if she were a
professional psychiatrist or something. Still, I didn’t want to say the wrong thing
or anything at all, and end up in the real torture room.

 Nodding, I
felt pretty good, all things considered. I was tense; especially since the man,
Asher, was blatantly staring black daggers at me. My heart beat a little faster,
and I weighed my options: Was this an insubordinate faction of Speakers—kidnapping
individuals for their cause? Could they be Mutes in hiding who had escaped the
procedure? The mind reading machine kicked in again when the woman began to
speak.

 “I imagine you want some answers,” she
said in a very kind voice while casually sitting on the ottoman at my feet. It
didn’t seem as though she was going to hurt me. She, Gwendolyn, was very
unassuming, but I still didn’t want to be vocal. It was more my being
self-conscience than imagining this woman could be nefarious in any way. 

 Pursing my lips, I nodded before my gaze
gravitated toward the man. Asher. He was a sentinel on guard, watching my every
move.

 “We are centuries old families, keeping
the secret of voices within our kin. Unfortunately, we have been trapped by the
reign of the Speakers just like everyone else, yet Dan has provided us with
valuable information. He is helping us overthrow the Speakers and end this… ownership
of the people here.” Though she was still smiling, I could tell Gwendolyn was
anticipating my reaction.

 “Door number three,” I said to myself. Asher
tilted his head. Unable to stand it, I had to say something. It was my move. “Are
you the people Dan refers to as ‘Caravs’?  Why did you bring me here?” These were
the good guys, not Speakers—unless Dan had been wrong about them. They could
talk
after all. But…Gwendolyn seemed kind. I began to relax minutely
and watched as my captors peered at each other for a solid minute.

 “Asher noticed that you acted strangely
outside the theater last week. He… well, he followed you around to make sure
you are who you appear to be. Because you are so close to Dan, we needed to
have proof that you’re not working for the Speakers.”

 I blinked and then looked from Gwendolyn
to Asher and back again. “So you
are
the Caravs?”

 Gwendolyn nodded. Asher vibrated anger. “It’s
nothing personal, not now anyway. When Asher was sure you had a voice, he confronted
you in the elevator… ” She trailed off. I knew what had happened next.

 Asher was still sitting in the darkest
part of the room. His hands were folded under his chin. Even though I couldn’t
distinguish his lines fully, he seemed calculating.

 “I knew someone would find me out
eventually,” I whispered. My reply sounded ridiculous, and I blushed while unable
to stop myself from continuing. “I thought I was just being paranoid.” 

 “You are right to be, Elodie. We are
imprisoned, being watched almost always.” Gwendolyn looked serious and sad. Just
like Dan. “Your secrets were only discovered by someone not
quite
as forbidding as a Speaker. Be glad for it.” Her head
tilted upward to Asher as she continued, “Speakers who find an anomaly such as
yourself would surely not treat you with any sort of dignity.”

 “They would rip you apart.” Asher finally
spoke in disarming evenness that belied his violent words. Still with his hands
folded. 

 I felt my face turn white and realized he
was right—my abductors had become my saviors. While I shivered with gooseflesh,
vague thoughts circulated my mind of what the Speakers would have done in this
situation. A wave of gratitude toward these strangers swept over me. I needed
to return the favor.

 “So, your group is planning on a hostile takeover?”
I addressed Gwendolyn. Asher was too distant and cold for me to approach. Besides
that, I felt as though he studied every move I made meticulously, waiting for me
to fess up that I really worked for the dark side.

 “Not hostile exactly, but we need to make
a stand. The anti-Lull serum is a gift to our cause, and we are forever
indebted to Dan.” Gwen spoke after a glance at Asher; she was so pleasant that
I couldn’t have asked for a better warden. Asher, on the other hand, could’ve
used some people skills—as in lessons to stop terrifying them.

 “How do you know Danny?” With questions in
my mind spilling over, the one that tied with Dan was the natural place to
start. I was surely in a little bit in shock over the situation, but Gwendolyn’s
presence quickly nullified any anxiety… until I thought of Asher’s eyes on me.

 “He is the best musician in River, and we
all love music down here. It’s a very small community, you see, and we began to
run in the same circles to some extent. Ash really introduced Dan to our
society, and I dare say they have become good friends.” She looked at him with
affection, but more in a motherly way than anything. Although maybe only two or
three years older than me, she had something about her that was very fostering,
empathetic, and made her seem… wise.

 As I took everything in; the way she’d
addressed the situation made me pause. She acted as though I really didn’t know
River—like I was new. Could she possibly believe my story of waking up and
wandering into this place, unaware? There was only one way to find out.

 “Do you believe me? I mean, when you… tranced
me… I guess I told you about New York, and my real life. I’m just curious what
I said about it.” My words were an eager mess, in my head and out loud. Looking
down again, I wished I’d kept my lunatic mouth shut.

 “Well, I believe that you believe it. The
fact that you were signing a completely separate dialogue than what you were
speaking while entranced was truly incredible. I’ve never seen anything like
it.” Her eyes were round and excited; as if I’d told her an unbelievable story.
Or, she wanted to put me in another trance to see what other tricks I would do.
Dismissing the thought immediately, I actually didn’t believe that of Gwendolyn.
She didn’t seem capable of even the slightest malice.

 “Wake up, Gwen!” Asher’s deep, smoky voice
broke through the new camaraderie that was happening between us girls, and I
felt my pulse race at his command. “She could have practiced this and been
programmed by them to believe her own lies. Have you learned
nothing?”
He stood suddenly, knocking over his chair, and I jumped. Tall
and foreboding, he soaked up most of the space in the room, along with all the
darkness.

 “Calm down, Ash. You’re scaring her… and frustrating
me. You know I did a reading to validate. If you need more proof—everything is
still out in the other room,” responded Gwen, waving her hand at the door. She
spoke in a very composed manner, as if used to doing this occasionally, cooling
him down. They reminded me of relatives. Maybe they were brother and sister?

 “I’ll get proof my own way, thanks.” He
folded his arms and stared at me again. 

 “And just how will you do that?” Gwen’s
tone was playful, but her eyes were shining and sharp. I wasn’t about to chime
in and give him any torture ideas. 

 Still blending with the inky shades that
gravitated toward his heavy voice, Asher was apparently the bad cop in this
scenario. “By not taking my eyes off her.”

 Gwen looked back at me then, apologies
written all over her face.

..................

After a little while, I was fairly
comfortable around Gwen. I only hoped that it wasn’t a ruse. While telling me
more about my interlude of being entranced, she’d even untied my legs from the
chair. She must have trusted me a little bit. I also realized what a pleasure
it was to hear another human voice. It was impossible to forget Asher’s
presence, however. He exuded wariness and tightly bottled hostility, waiting to
explode. I just wanted to make sure I was nowhere around when that happened.

 “I’m sorry, again, if we frightened you. This
is just a very sensitive time, and we had to be sure you weren’t under the
Speakers’ control. I assume Dan explained how they work?”

 “He did,” I replied, still grateful that
she seemed to believe my story. “Everybody does what they are expected to do in
their suites—such as entertain the masses,” I couldn’t keep the disdain out of
my voice as I went on, “follow the rules, mute their offspring, and stay within
the boundary of River… or else.”

 She cleared her throat. “I just want you
to know we will get you and everyone else who wants to leave out of here. Even
if you don’t remember anything about your existence in River, no one belongs
here.” She acted as though she had something to add to her statement when Asher
interrupted her.

 “There is something I want to know… about
your arrival,” said Asher in a hard voice. Gwen apologized to me with her eyes,
but I couldn’t keep mine away from him. “How did you get through the boundary
without going down? We’ve all tried at least once in our lives. How is it that
you just stroll through, and everyone else is lulled and captured?” He waited,
already presuming my fabricated answers with his haughty tone.

 My eyes turned to Gwen as I began to
speak. If I’d answered to Asher, I would have lost my nerve. “All I remember
from the time I woke up to the first time I glimpsed River is confusion and fear.”
Heat rose to my cheeks. The last thing I wanted to do was admit I was afraid,
yet I had a feeling Asher could tell if I left anything out. “I thought there
was some kind of attack, and I was the last person left on Earth. When I saw
lights and people, I was relieved to the point of being ecstatic, but then,
everything was… wrong.” I took a minute to collect my thoughts. Gwen was nodding
her head sympathetically.

 “Danny thought that it was the combination
of endorphins from the relief of seeing people, and then adrenaline from the
following panic that got me through the Lulling. And I didn’t just ‘stroll
through’—I nearly passed out, but then forced myself to snap out of it.” Looking
away to the floor, I was sure Asher was neither convinced of my story nor
sanity.

 “You have to understand… I didn’t even
know that people couldn’t talk here until I bumped into Dan. He took me back to
his place and explained everything.” I thought of that night, and how crazy
everything had been. “I was shocked at the treatment of people here, especially
cutting out the voice boxes.” I cringed as I said it.