The Last Fairy Tale (4 page)

The article, though difficult to make out, was titled “Revolutionary Breakthrough: Man Controls DNA.” It had been the first major clue in helping Olivia in her search for the truth. The hand-drawn picture had disturbed Olivia from the first time she saw it. Even at the moment, as she stared down at the goat-like man, she couldn’t make any sense of it. The only thing she knew was that her father obviously scribbled the picture, because it was the only handwritten thing in the journal. Printed under the picture was one word, which didn’t aid in uncovering what was meant by the picture:
Ink
. The rest of the diary was empty. She had noticed, though, that a small section of pages was missing. Olivia had deduced that someone had hastily ripped the pages from the book before she had received it.

She had studied the picture her father had drawn over the years. One observation that she had made was that it had been drawn with a pen.
Could that be why he wrote ‘Ink’? But that makes no sense
. She ran her finger over the drawing, feeling the small ridges the tip of the pen had left. She imagined her father drawing it. Although in her mind her father was only a foggy shape resembling a man, she took comfort in the thought and held on to it for a while.

 The bell suddenly rang, followed by Mr. Gloome’s morning greeting.

 “Hello children...and staff,” he said in his low, raspy growl. Olivia was immediately torn from her thoughts. “Today will be a little different. Ms. Canterbry has become...ill. I will be forced to handle general studies today. So, it’s time for you all to...” He paused, and Olivia could hear as he tried to stifle an obvious giggle before he bellowed, “WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CRUD!”

 Olivia stood up. She couldn’t think of anything worse than having an entire class session taught by Mr. Gloome. She groaned, lifted the edge of her mattress, and tucked her journal safely away. She then walked to her door and waited for the signal.

 “Children!” said a soft female voice.

 “Get out of my way, Yuki! I’ll handle this,” Mr. Gloome’s voice exclaimed, “Open! Out! And attention!” The girls quickly opened the doors, stepped out, and formed a line in front of him. Olivia could hear Mr. Schafer gathering the boys on the other hall. She wondered how Nachton was doing.

 “Follow!” Mr. Gloome shouted with far too much enthusiasm. He turned and strode triumphantly down the stairs to the main hall. Once there, he led the girls to the dining hall for breakfast. Mr. Schafer and the boys weren’t far behind. As soon as everyone was seated, Mr. Dewberry wheeled the cart of Crud out of the kitchen.

 Mr. Dewberry walked more slowly than usual, and his eyes were dulled as if he hadn’t slept all night. He pushed the cart between the tables, turned slowly, and walked back to the kitchen door. Just before entering, he turned, looked at Nachton, and nodded. Olivia saw this and wondered if he was confirming what she and Nachton feared or if he was just saying hello.

 Mr. Gloome and Mr. Schafer passed out the trays. Everyone seemed even more on edge than the previous day. Some of the children ate only half of their meal. Olivia and Nachton barely ate at all.

* * * * *

 After breakfast, Mr. Gloome and Mr. Schafer ordered the children to form a line to exit the dining hall. Mr. Gloome kept glancing over at Mr. Schafer and shouting his orders louder, as if to show that he was better at this job. Mr. Gloome and Mr. Schafer lead the children from the dining hall and into the main hall. On their way across the main hall they heard a faint voice coming from the stairs. Everyone turned in the direction of the voice to see Ms. Canterbry.

 “Form a line, please, children,” she said quietly. She held the rail of the staircase, her clouded eyes staring straight ahead. The children gasped when they saw her. Her skin had become paper-thin and her veins were clearly visible all over her body. Her complexion had become tinged with blue and her breathing came in short bursts. She somehow had brought herself to the bottom stair before the children left the dining hall, but she seemed unable to go any farther.

“What are you
doing
out here, you hag?” hissed Mr. Gloome. “I thought I locked you up in your room! Back to the dining hall children! Now!” He shouted at them, but the children didn’t budge. He turned to Mr. Schafer, whose mouth was open in shock. “Markus. Go get Anne and Yuki.
Now
!”

 Mr. Schafer stood motionless for a few moments, before replying, “Yes, sir. Right away.” He ran from the hall, not taking his eyes off Ms. Canterbry.

 The other nannies obviously had heard the commotion, because they were already on their way to the scene. Ms. Cooper, a short, chubby woman who helped the children with personal hygiene and other such matters, was panting heavily as she hurried to the stairs. When she caught sight of Ms. Canterbry, she stopped and screamed, placing her hand over her mouth. Ms. Kobayashi followed close behind her. She was very thin and had long, shining black hair and dark eyes. She threw her arms around Ms. Cooper when she realized what was happening.

“This is no time for hugging, you idiots!” Mr. Gloome shouted. “Get this miserable filth
out of my orphanage
!”

 Ms. Cooper eyed Mr. Gloome with such hatred that he seemed a bit frightened. Then she turned to Ms. Canterbry and slowly walked up to her.

 “Come now, children. We mustn’t be late for class. Much learning to do.” Ms. Canterbry’s voice was soft and distant. She hadn’t budged since the children had arrived. She continued to stare absently ahead.

 “Okay, now, Dr. Canterbry,” said Ms. Cooper tenderly, “we’re going to take you back to your room. If you’ll just give me your h–” She reached up to take Ms. Canterbry’s hand, but upon the slightest touch, Ms. Canterbry’s skin broke and began to bleed. Ms. Cooper gasped and pulled her hand back, looking over to Mr. Gloome for advice.

“This is an
outrage
!” he screamed. “She will be the biggest stain that we’ve ever had to clean from this miserable place! Yuki, get these kids up to their rooms immediately!”

 Ms. Kobayashi halfheartedly tried to corral the stunned children into one line as she began to sob. The children seemed confused about what to do. Some of them gasped for breath while others covered their faces, trying not to show the forbidden emotions. However, Olivia and Nachton both cried freely as they watched Ms. Canterbry slowly die in front of them. They weren’t ashamed to show their grief. Olivia held Nachton’s hand. Although she didn’t exactly know why, she knew that it provided a very miniscule amount of comfort for both of them.

 Ms. Kobayashi ordered the children to move as quickly as possible up the stairs to their rooms. They did as they were ordered, each having to pass by Ms. Canterbry. When Olivia and Nachton had to pass, Olivia took a moment to quietly whisper, “I’m sorry, Ms. Canterbry,” before bursting into tears again.

 The children were almost to their rooms when the entire orphanage rang with a scream. They all hurried back to the balcony and looked down to see what had happened.

 Ms. Canterbry’s leg finally had given up its struggle to support her old body. She had fallen, and as she did, her skin had torn. Blood seeped from the cracks and formed a dark pool beneath her crumpled body. Everyone stood in horrified silence. Olivia turned her head away quickly and threw her arms around Nachton, a feeling of nausea forming rapidly in her stomach as the image of Ms. Canterbry’s body burned itself onto her mind.

“Anne. Yuki. Get over there and clean that mess up
immediately
!” Mr. Gloome yelled, his face red with anger. “I can’t
believe
this fool would come down here and die all over
my
 floor!” He started to turn and walk toward his office, when Ms. Cooper’s voice caught his attention.

“
Gloome
! You sick, heartless imbecile,” Ms. Cooper hissed. She paused for a moment, her rage causing her to shake. She took a few deep breaths as she stared at Mr. Gloome with unforgiving eyes. “I have slaved under you for too long. How a despicable worm such as yourself was rewarded with your position is beyond my understanding.” Her voice quavered. Despite his attempts to maintain his composure, Mr. Gloome  looked like a child being scolded.

 “Anne–”

“
Shut up
! You will hear me this time!” She took a threatening step toward him. “We are
all
doomed here... including you. Dr. Canterbry spent nearly her entire life trying to bring a little peace back to this cursed world. And in her final moments you treat her like she is the scum beneath your feet.” Her voice broke, and tears ran down her reddened cheeks. “I will clean this up. Alone if I must. But you will come
nowhere near
 her. You can just crawl back into your little hole, your little safehouse, and protect your precious vaccines—the ones you’ve been keeping from us!” She stopped, still glaring at Mr. Gloome, her breathing heavy and labored.

“Get...out,” Mr. Gloome said, trying his best to maintain eye contact and not look down at the floor.   “Leave...my orphanage...
now
!”

 Ms. Cooper began to laugh, despite her tears. Her face was sopping wet, and her nose had started to run, but she didn’t seem to care. She laughed harder and harder, almost maniacally, until after a few moments, she stopped.

 “With pleasure, you fool,” she said darkly. She walked down the hallway to the entrance and deactivated the lock system to open the doors. Everyone watched in disbelief. Mr. Gloome’s mouth hung open. The doors hissed as they slid open, and a small crack appeared between them, just big enough for Ms. Cooper to slip through. She turned back toward Mr. Gloome, curtsied, and stepped out of the orphanage.

 After the doors had shut tight once again, Mr. Gloome managed to pull his gaze from the entrance and stared at the floor, stunned.

 “Mr. Gloome,”  Ms. Kobayashi said, trembling, “the Hackers…She will die out th–”

 “That is not my problem,” Mr. Gloome replied, pointing a finger at Ms. Kobayashi as he slowly looked up at her.

 “But–” Ms. Kobayashi protested in shock.

 “Shut up!” Mr. Gloome shouted. “Children. Rooms. Now.”

 Ms. Kobayashi took one last look at the orphanage’s entrance as if hoping to see Ms. Cooper slip back through the doors. A long moment passed and the orphanage was silent. No one knew quite how he or she should react to what had taken place that morning. Ms. Kobayashi turned to Ms. Canterbry’s broken body lying in a puddle of blood. She then looked up at the children and motioned for them to go to their rooms before bending down to start cleaning the mess.

 The children slowly moved toward their rooms in a stupor. Olivia walked Nachton, who was now so weak that he could barely stand on his own, to his door. After she helped him inside, she went to her own room and collapsed onto her bed, sobbing.

Chapter Three

A Curious Creature

 Olivia was standing in a forest. The ground beneath her was green and covered with beautiful flowers and tall grass. Ivy climbed the enormous, ancient trees that surrounded her. She tried to peer further into the distance, but couldn’t make out anything. Everything was dark.

As she gazed around, more of the forest came into view, but she could only focus on that which she was looking directly at; everything else was blurry.
Am I dreaming
? she thought to herself. She picked a direction and started walking, but she couldn’t lift her leg. She felt her muscles working as though she was walking, but her legs remained motionless.

 Suddenly a deep, hoarse voice startled her from behind.  “Hello, little human.”

 Olivia spun around to see what appeared to be a man’s face smiling at her and hanging upside down from a tree. She gasped and tried to take a step back, but her legs wouldn’t budge. It took her a moment to understand what it was that had just spoken to her. The face was that of a man, but the creature wasn’t human; it appeared to be a goat. Where its eyes should have been were black sockets. Olivia opened her mouth to scream; she strained and felt the sound form in her throat, but it wouldn’t leave her mouth.

 “Calm down,” the creature said calmly in the same raspy voice. It sounded as if it was speaking through ancient and dusty pipes rather than vocal cords. “Is my human impersonation off again? I am truly sorry, young one. It seems that I have been trying for ages to get that one right.” It shook its head as if it had done something wrong before suddenly dropping from the tree limb. Instead of hitting the ground, however, it vanished into a cloud of black fog.

 Olivia looked around, frightened. The creature suddenly reappeared next to her. She noticed that its head and face matched its goat body. Its tail and beard consisted of the same black fog that it had just transformed into, but the rest of the goat’s body was covered in what looked like pitch-black fur. It paced slowly around Olivia, who was shaking in fear by this point. She tried once more to speak.

 “P–please…don’t hurt me,” she said.

 The goat stopped and turned its head sideways, as if confused. When it opened its mouth to speak, Olivia noticed that it still slightly resembled a human’s mouth.