The Madness Project (The Madness Method) (64 page)

I expected him to contradict me, or maybe even laugh, but he
just nodded and said, “I know.”

We left it at that.  When we’d come full up to the high
streets surrounding the Oval Wall, I stopped and turned to Derrin.

“Look, I’m ganna gan to the Science Ministry.”

He frowned.  “Thought Rivano wanted you to take Shade with
you.”

“Suppose so, but do you see Shade anywhere?  Besides I can
only do so much as the crow.  Call it a bit of forward scouting.  I’ll come
back with Shade later and really get the dirt on that place.”

“All right,” he said.  “Be careful though, Hayli.  Those
folks aren’t to be trifled with.”

“Believe me, I know.”

He nodded and backed away, then swung around and headed back
down south, toward the Hole.  I propped my hands on my hips, staring up at the
high Oval Wall, remembering how hard it had been to get up there the last time,
when I didn’t know the crow at all.  We were like a team, now, me and the
crow.  Never mind that it was all a bit cracked to call yourself your own
teammate.

It isn’t difficult to find my way back to the Science
Ministry.  I skirt raindrops and skim treetops, following the lines of my
memory to the massive building.  Even more guards stand on post today than
before, but none of them watch the sky.  I circle the roof once, searching for
an entry.  But this isn’t the Macallum Mill.  Here the windows all stand intact
with thick, expensive glass.  Any broken window would be replaced immediately,
because this is a Ministry building.

I circle closer.  There must be a window open, somewhere,
though I can’t imagine why.  Humans will think the day is cold and wet, and
they fear such things.

We don’t fear them
, Hayli says, sounding cross. 
We
just don’t like them.

It amounts to the same thing,
I tell her.  I know she’s
scowling, so I add,
Either way, it means we can’t get in.

Keep looking
, she says.

Three stories worth of windows, east, north and south,
are all sealed shut.  I find no breaks, no cracks, not even a single one left
ajar.  Most of them are shuttered, hiding whatever is happening inside.  I
shout, angry at the injustice, and climb back toward the roof.  It is no use,
though.  The building is sealed, and I cannot get in.

Wait!
Hayli cries. 
I have an idea.  There’s an
access hatch over there.  I might be able to pick the lock on it.

I sigh, and let her take control.

I landed on my knees in a heap right in the middle of the
roof, while the crow retreated, muttering, into the corners of my thoughts. 
The wind blew harder up there, dusting rain and bits of sleet into my eyes, but
I wasn’t going to let the crow mock me for complaining.  I found the access
hatch and dropped to my knees beside it, running my fingers over the wet,
corroded chain and lock.  The rough metal scraped my skin, streaking it with
bloody red rust, and I ground my teeth in frustration.  I knew without even
starting that my pick would never work on a lock that mucked up.

I gave it a good kick or two, just because I could, and then
sat on my heels and stared at the roof.  This seemed to be the only hatch, but
just across from me stood an old chimney stack.  I frowned at it.

I can get through that,
the crow said, poking her
head out of her corner.

I frowned at it a tick, thinking,
But there’s a cowl on
top.

That’s why you have hands
, she said.

I grinned a bit and made my way over to it.  The air inside
the chimney felt cool and dry, so I figured there couldn’t be a fire going at
the bottom of it.  With all the new steam radiators, I imagined a place as fine
as the Ministry wouldn’t be relying too much on wood fires any more. 

I pried at the chimney cowl.  The bolts felt a bit loose, so
I kept working at it, shaking the thing until I thought my hands would fall off
first.  Finally I gave up and gave it a kick hard as I could.  I almost whooped
out loud when the cowl flew off and clattered across the roof.

Can you fit down that?
I asked the crow, feeling
inside the chimney. 

The space wasn’t terribly big, and I couldn’t even imagine
how far down it went.  Maybe it only went down to the third floor, or maybe it
went all the way underground. 

Of course I can
, she said, sour. 
The question is,
will I be able to get out again?

What if the flue is blocked at the bottom?
  I asked. 
I won’t be able to help you.

I didn’t tell her what I thought then,
You could die.

Yes.  I could,
she said, and I slapped my forehead
for thinking she wouldn’t hear me. 
But what choice is there?

I sighed, crouching down against the chimney, heart racing. 
If she died, I would too.  There’d be no way I could get out of a chimney. 
Everything sane in me told me to turn around and fly away, but…I’d given up on
sanity a long time ago.  Boring stuff, that. 

So I gritted my teeth and nodded, and said,
Well then. 
Do your thing.

I perch on the roof, a bit dizzy from switching places
with Hayli so many times, so fast.  She has retreated somewhere deep inside of
me; I think she is a bit seasick from it all, too.  And I know she is afraid of
what I am about to do.  I will not be afraid.  I will not die today.

I hop up onto the lip of the chimney, fluttering my wings
a bit for balance as I grip the thin metal edge.  Below me, the flue drops away
in pitch darkness.  Even I have difficulty seeing anything inside.  Darkness is
a little frightening to me, but not frightening enough.  I tip my head back and
tell the world that I am brave, and then I let myself slip over the edge.

I fall, fast.  The space is too narrow.  I try once to
catch myself on the air, but the edges of the flue close around me, battering
my wings.  I catapult through the darkness, falling…falling…

Almost too late I slam into something—a ledge, from the
feel of it.  I try to make no noise, but my body screams in pain.  The world
doesn’t stop spinning.  When I think I can move without falling over, I take a
cautious step, then another.  My claws slip over the edge of the platform, and
I try to steady myself, but my right wing will not move.  Stabbing pain shivers
through me.  For a moment I rest, laying my belly on the cool metal of the
ledge.  It is so dark…so quiet…

Wake up!
Hayli shouts, startling me from my sleep.

I can’t go on,
I say, twitching my wing. 
I’m in too
much pain.

I don’t grobbing care!
she snaps. 
We need to get
inside or we’ll both die in here!

I know she is right, but for moments more I still can’t
bring myself to move.  Every instinct tells me to rest, to be still, to
wait…but Hayli’s voice keeps cutting into my thoughts, prodding me to go
forward.  Finally I pick myself up and move to the edge.  I must only be
halfway down the flue.  The thought of falling again, of falling so far… My
heart patters like rain.  But I cannot fly up the flue, so if I want to escape
and live, I have only one choice.

I fall.

As the darkness chases past, I try to twist around, to
lead with my left shoulder, because if I land on my right side, I know I will
never fly again.

*  *  *  *

I’ve stopped moving.  I don’t recall when the fall ended,
but I open my eyes to a sliver of light, and realize that I have been lying
still for some time.  My claws scrabble at the slick surface beneath me, trying
to push me upright.  Panic urges me to flap, to fly, to scream, to beat myself
against the walls until I am free, but Hayli is whispering to me, trying to
calm me down.  Finally I let her voice steady the racing of my heart. 

Once the fear stops blinding me, I realize that I have
made it to the bottom of the chimney.  The line of pale light divides the flue
from the fireplace of a cold, dim room.  I’m sitting on the damper, and I only
hope that I will be able to squeeze through into the hearth below.  I try,
once, twice, but the gap is too narrow.  I try to jump and land on the thing,
but my weight is not enough.  I cannot open it.

Shift back
, Hayli whispers. 
This space is big enough
for me.  I think I can manage.

Are you sure?
I ask her.

Sure
, she says. 
Anyway, if I get stuck, I’ll just
Shift back and we’ll…think of something else.

She isn’t convinced, but I accept her argument, and Shift.

I opened my eyes to find myself pressed into the tiniest
space I’d ever been in, my feet shoved against the damper and my back against
the bricks, my head neatly tucked up inside the flue before it angled away to
the hearth. 

Swell
, I thought. 
I’m all for brilliant plans
today
.

Still, it only took one hard kick of my boot heel on the
damper to pop it open, and another to break it completely off.  That opened up
about an eight inch gap, which would have to be big enough for me to squeeze
through.

If you can’t make it, I can get the rest of the way, now,
the crow whispers.

I wriggled forward, dangling my legs into the hearth, and
just barely slithered through the gap.  The scariest part was trying to get my
head through, but I managed it without doing worse than scraping up my cheek. 
I landed in a heap on the immaculately swept hearthstones—the fireplace
couldn’t have been used for years.

I picked my way out onto the floor and stood up carefully. 
Every bone in me stung with pain, and I’d realized on my climb out of the flue
that moving my right arm too much made me a bit woozy.

I’d made it into some kind of gloomy old office.  A dusty
desk stood abandoned against the far wall under a shuttered window.  Besides
the dust, the place was pristine, nothing like the forgotten buildings down
southside.  I crept to the door and peered out the narrow window, but the hall
outside was just as dark and empty, so I switched the lock and slipped out.

I passed endless locked doors just like the one I’d left. 
None of them seemed to be used anymore, but they gave me the creeps anyway.  It
felt like the whole place was empty, with nothing but dust and the faint memory
of a chemical stink hiding in the corners.  I found a narrow stairwell and
decided to go down, because if this floor was empty, I could imagine why folks
would use rooms on the floors above. 

At the first landing I found a placard that read, FLOOR ONE:
OFFICES.  That sounded fantastically boring, so I kept going down.  No windows
here meant the only light came from the little white bulbs hanging from the
ceiling.  The sight of them chased a prickle through me.

White lights…white walls…white coat…

I shuddered and forged ahead.  This was it.  This was what
I’d wanted to do.  I wanted to know the truth.

At the bottom of the steps the sign read, SUBLEVEL ONE:
PSYCH. LAB.

I had no notion what a
psych. lab
. might be, but it
sounded more interesting than “offices.”  But the staircase went down one level
further, so I bit my lip and crept down the rest of the steps to read the
placard there.  SUBLEVEL TWO: GEN. LAB.

That didn’t help.  I pressed my eye to the tiny window in
the door, but saw only another corridor lit by the glaring white bulbs.  Maybe
I’d have better luck in the psych. lab.  I crept back up the steps and cracked
the door open.  Voices drifted around me, muttering, laughing, but I couldn’t
tell what direction they were coming from.  I poked my head into the hall.

Someone screamed.

I jumped back into the stairwell, the door slamming shut in
front of me.  All the wee hairs on my arms and neck prickled, standing straight
on end.  I’d never in my life heard a scream as awful as that scream. 
Terrible, terrified…
animal
fear.

Chapter 19 — Tarik

Two days after I left the streets, I went to visit the Science
Ministry.  My stomach knotted with apprehension.  I could learn so much,
without even having to fake and hide and spy to do it…but part of me was
terrified of what I’d learn.  Terrified that my mother would be right, and I
would unearth some horrible secret.

I took my chances with the western wing of the Ministry
first.  Security on the eastern wing was thick enough to make even me
hesitate.  Zagger had warned me from the cab of the motorcar that being the
Crown Prince wouldn’t be clearance enough if the laboratory was under
lockdown.  From the row of black-uniformed guards with their black-barreled
rifles posted in rigid formation outside the door, I guessed that was the
case.  What Zagger didn’t know was that I had the passcode that should get me
inside.  I just wasn’t sure I wanted to risk their interrogations if they
decided I didn’t have a right to know that code.