The Academy: Book 2 (50 page)

Teddy leaned forward and Asa felt the monster
who used to be his friend glide sharp incisors along his neck. Hot Salvaserum tears fell on Asa’s skin.

Asa thought he might go insane with fright. He recalled how in the Tropics he had been so scared to die.
But maybe death would be a good trade for what’s about to happen to me! Maybe I would rather die than be turned into a Multiplier! What will happen after he bites me? Will we join Edna and Joney and go to the Hive? Will we be instructed to go bite Charlotte?

Teddy was still pulling Asa’s hair back, threatening to snap his neck. When Asa spoke, his voice was harsh and quiet. “You cried, Teddy. The day we met. We were on the boat, going from Town to Fishie Mountain, and you were crying…”

“SHUT UP!”
Teddy warned, lightly nibbling on Asa’s neck and moaning.

“I never said anything about you crying. You were scared, but you tried to hide it. You wanted to look tough, so I gave you that, and pretended I didn’t notice.”

“SHUT UP!”

“And then when you told me about your dad, and how he used to beat you
... It broke my heart, Teddy.”

Teddy’s sobs sounded like
a broken trumpet. Mucus, Salvaserum tears and blood were smeared across Asa’s neck.

“You were the first one I told about the crows. I trusted you. You are my best friend. I love you, Teddy.”

“I’m going to rip your throat out. Why did you come?”
Teddy growled.

Asa was crying now
too. “Because I was worried.”

Teddy bit down on Asa’s neck with more pressure than before, and Asa closed his eyes. But before Teddy broke the skin, he stood up, and crouched before Asa. Asa could see Teddy’s molars clenched through the hole in his mouth. They stared at each other, and Teddy went back to nervously ripping at his cheeks with his fingernails.
He looked miserable, as though a great battle was happening inside of him. Still trembling, Teddy jerked his head to the shoulder of his camouflage suit.

“NO!” Asa screamed.

It was too late; Teddy had dislodged the suicide pill from the pack beside his neck. He stood, chewed it up, and then swallowed. He pulled at his hair, crying. “I don’t want to die, Asa.” In that instance, he was the old Teddy again. His expression was sweet and innocent. His voice was scared. Asa watched in horror, thinking about all the time Teddy had spent making statues of demons and angels lately. It was an irrational thing to think as he held eye contact with Teddy, but Asa thought,
what does he think of the afterlife?

Like most Academy technologies, their suicide pills were superb. Teddy wobbled on his feet and then sat down roughly on his rear. He retained consciousness and remained looking at Asa for one last second. Then the massive pupils rolled into the back of his head, showing the whites of his eyes a
nd he collapsed onto the stone.

23

The Stone Jungle

Asa cried for his friend, colored orange by the firelight, seizing on the stone. He felt an emotional pull to go to Teddy’s side and try to comfort him in some way, but there was an equal force asking him to run away, so he stayed where he was. He moved his fingertips over his own neck, feeling for warm blood or indentions, making sure that Teddy’s nibbling hadn’t punctured any skin.

I had been so sure that I was going to be turned into a Multiplier.

Teddy’s convulsing became less and less violent until he was merely trembling. When he stilled, his body let out a groan and then the room was eerily quiet.

Asa looked over his friend’s body and couldn’t believe what had happened. He looked dead. He was mostly still; his fingertips still twitched over the chipped stone floor. Teddy’s eyes were closed. Clear saliva dripped down his face from the hole in the left side of his
cheek.

Asa chewed on his fingers, thinking,
This is bad, this is so bad.

There was a sound. He listened.

Teddy’s breath stuttered into his nose and his chest rose and then gently fell. This process repeated three more times and Asa thought with horror,
Oh God, he’s alive! He’s alive! But how could that be? I saw him swallow the suicide pill.

Asa pushed the question aside—
that issue wasn’t urgent. What mattered now was deciding what to do next.
Yes, Teddy was alive, if barely, but was he dangerous?
Asa glanced over at the shattered rocking chair on the floor and was reminded of Teddy’s strength. Asa rubbed his wrists, where Teddy had squeezed hard enough to break blood vessels, making purple-red bruises.

Slowly, Asa approached his somnolent friend on unsure legs and then knelt down beside him. Up close, the Multiplier bite looked painful. The torn skin was chapped with black uneven boils growing along it. His gums were dotted with tiny, almost unnoticeable dots of black.

Through the hardened, lean face Asa could see the old Teddy—the Teddy that had arrived at the Academy—scared, sweet, smart.
And that Teddy still exists somewhere down below. It was the good version of himself that bit down on the suicide pill, saving me from becoming a Multiplier like him. He sacrificed himself for me.

             
Asa looked again at the broken rocking chair and thought about driving one of the wooden pieces into Teddy’s throat and finishing him. It was a cruel thought, but the Academy would kill Teddy anyways, if they found him.

             
And if I don’t get his armband off of him, the Academy Multipliers are going to come back and discover this place! I can’t just leave him here.

             
Asa became suddenly and painfully aware of the vastness in which he knelt. Dark doorways going to unknown places punctured through the stone like black wounds. It was impossible for Asa to know if he was alone. Sitting in front of the firelight, he was entirely visible, and the dark hallways were little niches for things to be hiding. A disturbing thought came to Asa and made him shiver:
What if the Multiplier that bit Teddy is still here? It must be somewhere, wouldn’t this be a great place for it to hide? Teddy hid here.

             
“Being scared isn’t helpful right now,” Asa told himself. He forced his shaking hands to pinch the ends of Teddy’s armband and then he rolled it off Teddy’s forearm before tossing it into the fire. The fire rose up and consumed the armband—the material cracked and curled and turned to ash.

             
Asa stayed where he was, looking down at Teddy, frozen with indecision. Teddy continued to breathe. Blood and Salvaserum ran down his cheeks. His thin, blond hair was damp with sweat and plastered to his forehead. Asa looked at a vein on the side of Teddy’s face, and knew that blood was still whooshing through the biological channel. Asa knew this was unacceptable. There was no other option, Teddy would have to die. Asa couldn’t leave him here—what if he woke up?
He’d come down and kill me—that’s what he implied, at least.

             
Or, maybe he wouldn’t,
Asa thought.
Maybe, if he survives whatever is happening to his body right now (although the odds are unlikely), he’ll just leave. He said that he was planning on leaving during my next Winggame match, right? What makes me think that he won’t stick to his word?

             
HE CAN’T CONTROL HIMSELF! HE’S A MULTIPLIER NOW! I CANNOT TRUST HIM.

             
Asa was breathing hard. It was hard to come to grips with the fact that his friend was now a Multiplier.
He’ll have to die.

             
Asa felt a combination of fatigue and anxiety run through him. It was like he had not slept for three days and then drank a pot of coffee.
What are my options?
Standing, Asa thought,
I wish there was some way that I could cure him; I wish that he could be the old Teddy. I wish there was somewhere that I could hide him, at least. I don’t want him to go.

             
Asa looked at the wrecked chair through teary, blurry vision. One of the legs had broken off, leaving a sharp jagged end that led up to a thick stake.
It’ll be easy. It’ll be fast.
He didn’t feel so sure, though.

             
Asa leaned down to pick up the stake. In his half delusional state, he was thinking about vampires in movies. Something caught the corner of his eye and he paused as quickly as though a bolt of electricity had run through him. The back of the broken rocking chair was leaned up against the wall. The portion of chair consisted of a top wooden bar with one dozen perpendicular wooden rods that ran down to make a backrest. To Asa, it looked like a jail cell.

             
“That’s it,” he whispered. He thought of the last jail cell he had seen, in the basement of Mama and Conway’s house. In his mind, he saw the thick, metal bars, the keyholes, and the strong concrete walls and floor.

             
Behind him Teddy groaned again and Asa shot back against the wall. Teddy flinched and then grew still once more.
He won’t wake up,
Asa told himself. He wasn’t sure if he believed it.

             
Taking Teddy to Conway’s cabin seemed like the best option. There, Teddy could be locked away in the large jail cell in the basement. He could stay alive and not hurt anyone. It would be possible for him to remain unseen by Academy officials, and avoid being shot down by an Academy graduate.

             
But how can I transport him?

             
Asa considered dragging Teddy through the water tunnel he had entered through, but he wasn’t sure he could swim the required length while towing Teddy.
And what if he wakes up while we’re under water?
Asa’s stomach churned with cold fear. Taking Teddy back down through his dwelling wasn’t an option.

             
I’ll have to find another way out.

             
Asa grabbed the fractured wooden stake and moved past Teddy, towards the hallways that lined the back wall. He felt disoriented, manic. He didn’t know what he expected to find, but walked on anyway. The floor near the massive fire was hot under his feet. He walked over a bearskin rug and took another glance at the insanely painted wall before ducking into the first hallway.

He trotted along as quietly and quickly as he could.
Teddy could wake up at any second.
The shadows in the hallway seemed to grow and distort as Asa ran, making his ears prick up for any noise and his eyes dance wildly over the walls in anticipation of being attacked.
I wonder who bit him,
Asa thought.
I’d bet it was Joney. Edna said that he had been ‘peekin in at the kiddos on the mount.’ Has Joney been responsible for all six students who have been bitten this semester? Is the Hive ordering him to bite them? What is there plan? If they are going to attack, why don’t they just attack now? Is Mama right? Are they waiting for the human population to be lower before trying to take over the Academy?

As Asa continued along the hallway, he wondered what Conway would think if he showed up with Teddy in tow.
Or what if Conway’s not home, and it’s just Mama? What if I’m able to bring Teddy down to the cabin and he wakes up and bites her?

Asa let out a sound that was between a sob and a laugh.
And where am I walking?
He thought.
What makes me think that I’ll run into another exit? I need to get out of here! Teddy is going to wake up at any second.