The Sky Drifter (15 page)

“You’re jeopardizing everything and putting yourself and
me
in danger.
Stop
asking questions about me—understand?” Letting go abruptly, the mysterious girl took a step back, and shutting her eyes, said, “This was a mistake. I never should have come. What was I
thinking
?” She opened her eyes again, shooting me a piercing glare, and stated with commanding force, “
You
—never mention me to anyone again. G
ot it
? Doing so would be the fastest way to your death, not to mention
mine.
”  The mysterious girl took a single step forward, and leaning toward me, pointed her index finger in my face. “And if I catch you so much as mumbling to yourself about me, I
will
kill you without hesitation. Don’t think I
won’t
.” With that, the mysterious girl turned and started down the narrow alley.

I remember how time seemed to stand still then, as I was faced with a decision that something somewhere inside told me would be the most crucial I’d ever made. If I simply watched her leave, most likely forever, my life would simply go back to being what it had been before she’d entered it. Iris, Pi, Ava, Sphere, Shabli’s, the academy—they’d all be there, waiting for me to return to the normal flow of things. Something, however, told me that if I could somehow stop the mysterious girl from leaving, if I could get her to reveal her secrets to me, everything I knew would not only change but would forever-more be altered. I believe now that should I have had the time to think rationally, instead of acting on impulse and instinct, I would probably have chosen for my life to have remained unchanged.

I loved my friends. I loved my life. I neither craved nor yearned for anything outside the existence I knew and enjoyed. Even my perpetual rivalry with One wasn’t something I would have changed. It brought a certain amount of danger and competition into my life beyond Sphere. No, I don’t believe I would have wanted anything to have changed.

But.

“WAIT!” I EXCLAIMED
with a slight tone of desperation. The mysterious girl, ignoring my plea, kept on walking. “Please!” I persisted, and hurrying to catch up to her, I grabbed her arm. She at once shook herself free of my grasp and turned, burning rage radiating from her.

“
Don’t
touch me,” she spat. “Disappear of your own will or be knocked unconscious. Your decision.”

Despite her air of belligerence, the mysterious girl’s words didn’t match the serenity of the delicate features of her face. The image I’d built up in my mind when I’d first seen her had been completely wrong. That aside, I had to get her to stop, if only briefly, so I could think. Then I’d know what to do—then the answer would reveal itself.

“Please, just stop. Please tell me who you are. Why am I in danger?”

“You must be simpler than you…Ugh, just—never mind! Go!” The mysterious girl turned away and ran down the alley.

What I said next I’m not especially proud of, but I want you to understand I
needed
her to stop. I had to think quickly. “I’ll keep asking questions until we’re both killed then.”

So abruptly did the mysterious girl halt a thin cloud of yellow dust rose like a small sandstorm around her ankles. She quietly spoke under her breath. Words I couldn’t hear.

Words were still formulating in my mind when the mysterious girl turned abruptly in one fluid motion and rushed toward me. So swift were her movements I was powerless to avoid her as she pinned me hard against the wall, holding tightly on to my throat.

“You think this is a
game
?” she asked in a composed, eerily calm tone.

Maybe it was the blood rushing out of my head, but what logic would have dictated as a safe course of action, my impulsive nature, likely propelled by an unerring desire to understand, completely ignored it.

Through strained, gurgled words I managed to say,” I—don’t—know…You—won’t—tell. . ugh—me.”

The driven anger in the mysterious girl’s eyes faltered as she blinked and looked away for a brief moment. Gradually, she loosened her grip on my throat and let go as she frowned. “It’s none of your concern,” she said resolutely. “Just do as I say and let that be the end of it.”

I raised my hand to my throat, rubbing it where the mysterious girl’s grip had been. I was undeterred and still very much sought answers. In an assertive, yet soft tone, I replied, “It
is
my business. If my life is in danger, it’s my business.”

The mysterious girl shot me an icy stare that involuntarily made me gulp. We briefly stared silently at each other before her eyes softened slightly and she sighed resignedly. “Look, you’ll only be in danger if you don’t cease to ask questions about me. I must now be brief,” she continued, increasing the speed in which she spoke, “for they’re certain to notice soon. So listen intently. That explosion was a distracter, but we have mere moments until their interest wanes and they search for you. You’ve already aroused suspicion, so what you must do now is continue as you’ve always done. Lead your habitual life. Don’t believe there is anyone here in whom you can confide—they’re all the same eyes and ears. Confide in no one. You are alone here.”

The mysterious girl paused as her gaze remained fixed on me as though to ensure her words had been branded on my mind and that I understood. When it seemed she was satisfied that I had, she abruptly turned and went to dash down the alley, but stopped.

Without turning to face me, she muttered, “Your life—everything you know—is by design. I’m glad you survived.” With that, she ran down to the end of the alley and then turned the corner out of sight.

I leaned back against the wall and exhaled loudly as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. I was still no closer to knowing who the mysterious girl was, but the gravity of her words steadily impacted me the more they sank in. What could she have meant when she’d said my life was by design? Whose design? My own? And why did she say she was glad I’d survived? Survived what? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as my head hurt the longer I tried to decipher the mysterious girl’s cryptic words.

Suddenly, as if from a dream, awed and excited sounds of a nearby crowd drifted into my ears, and the explosion came rushing back into the foreground of my mind. I hurried back to the path, and looking up I saw the stream of dark gray smoke beginning to thin and spread as it reached the dome above.

The mysterious girl had told me the explosion had been a distracter used so she could speak with me. Now I couldn’t help but wonder whether she’d caused it or whether she’d had the help of others. The image my mind built of her was far from positive. I wasn’t even sure I could believe anything she’d told me. I thought of One and considered whether he could be behind all this—the mysterious girl, the explosion, everything. There was a time when I wouldn’t have thought him capable, but now I wasn’t so sure.

Without another moment to waste, I ran back up the path to where I suspected the billowing smoke stemmed from—the academy.

Once I reached the square, in the middle of which stood the academy, the entire area was filled with shocked and panicked onlookers. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say every being aboard was there. Ahead and to the right of me, an enormous dark hole replaced the two long windows that had once been there. Off-yellow repair units, which looked a little like MOOs, only with a multitude of arms and slightly bigger, clung to the side of the  building around the hole and had already begun repairs as the smoke steadily died down.

“Hey, buddy.” Pi’s aloof voice came from my left and was almost immediately followed by Iris’ urgent voice. “Seven,
are you okay
? Can you
believe
this?”

“Hey,” I replied, initially glad to see them, only to suddenly become inwardly guarded when I remembered the mysterious girl’s words. “What happened?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“I asked around,” began Iris, “and best I can tell, there was an accident up on the teacher’s floor. Something about a failed research experiment one of the chemistry teachers was working on. Apparently, everyone is okay, though! Can you
believe
it?” Iris repeated, excitedly.

Doing my best to appear shocked at the news, I said, “Wow, no! That’s crazy! I’m glad no one was hurt, though.”

“So, did you have any luck finding out who that girl is?” asked Pi, yawning and stretching.

“No, none.” I sighed.” How about you two?”

I suddenly felt nervous, almost nauseous, about hearing Iris’ and Pi’s replies. On the one hand, I feared they may have received information on the mysterious girl, which could potentially endanger their lives—assuming the mysterious girl was being truthful. I also instinctively worried their own lives could be in danger through me.

However, another part of me wanted desperately to find out who the mysterious girl was. Despite her warnings, I couldn’t help but remain curious.

“Sorry, Seven, I asked everywhere and no one had seen her. I wish I could give you better news.”

Half-disappointed, half-relieved, I looked at Pi who simply replied, “Nah. Sorry, bro.”

I couldn’t deny the overwhelming frustration I felt then. As much as my logical mind told me it was most likely for the best, my heart—or my sense of curiosity, anyway—had taken a blow and any hope I’d had at finding the mysterious girl vanished. It was also in that moment I realized I didn’t completely trust her. While her warning had felt ominous, how could I be expected to place unquestioning trust in a complete stranger? In that same way, however, I couldn’t utterly dismiss her, either. It was maddening.

The crowd of onlookers around us dwindled as the repair units rapidly continued fixing the hole caused by the explosion. Some teachers still stood consolingly around those colleagues whom I guessed had been inside the academy when the event had occurred.

“Hey,” said Iris enthusiastically, “why don’t we go to Shabli’s and talk about what we can do next to find this strange girl?”

“We’d better hurry if we do,” suggested Pi, looking around him. “Pretty sure most people will be heading there right now.”

I wanted nothing more than to go with them. I craved a milkshake so much I could taste it on my salivating tongue, but I needed to think. I was so confused as to what was what that I didn’t know who was friend and who was foe. The terrible thought that I may not be able to trust my best friends, that I was as alone as the mysterious girl had told me I was, hurt immeasurably. I was in no way ready to accept her words, but I also couldn’t be sure they were untrue. I had to get away, I needed space and time to think.

“Sorry, guys.” I sighed. “I think I’m going to go to my quarters.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” asked Iris worriedly.

“No, it’s nothing,” I replied reassuringly. “I just didn’t sleep well last night, so I think I’ll try to nap for a while.” I’d started turning back toward the town when I added, “You guys go on ahead, though. We’ll catch up later.” Leaving them standing with perplexed expressions on their faces, I turned fully around and started into the town, toward my quarters, before they could say anything.

“Okay, then,” Iris called out in a forced, gleeful way. “See you later. Get some rest!”

“Yeah, see ya later, bro,” added Pi.

I walked hurriedly to my quarters, feeling a wave of relief when the door swooshed closed behind me. For a moment, I stood in silence in the relative darkness of the short corridor that led to the main living space and closed my eyes. I tried to empty my mind of any thoughts. I realized then how tired I really was. I rubbed my face with my hands and walked inside.

“Hello, Seven,” came Ava’s deep, sultry voice. “Are you ready to play?”

“Hi, Ava,” I mumbled grumpily, shaking my boots off my feet and then kicking them away. “Play what?”

Instead of verbally replying to my question, the display screen turned on and loud game music at once filled the room, jogging my memory. I’d promised to play with Ava when I got back.

“Sorry, Ava,” I winced, “but I’m really tired.” The silent treatment was a tactic Ava subjected me to from time to time, usually with great results, and was far more effective than any words she could have spoken.

I walked into the kitchen, trying to find nothing in particular, as the game music tauntingly continued playing in the background. Slowly but surely, the guilt ate away at me as I mindlessly stared inside the near-empty chill cube until finally I conceded defeat and walked back into the living area. I sat cross-legged on the bed and picked up a game controller.

“Very gracious of you to play, Seven,” stated Ava as I joined the game.

Even though her tone remained unchanged, the sarcasm of her every word had not eluded me. As we played, I remembered how Ava had lifted my spirits the night before. Agreeing to play the game with her was the least I could do to thank her. In a way, she was still helping me disconnect even now.

“How are you, Seven? You seem pensive.”

The relief I’d been feeling while playing the game shattered with Ava’s question. I’d felt myself about to tell her all that had happened that morning, and only barely restrained myself from doing so. The words the mysterious girl had told me echoed in my mind as loudly as if she stood next to me. I felt angry, wishing I’d never met or spoken with her. And what was worse, I couldn’t shake the idea that she might just have been telling the truth. If that was the case, I couldn’t even trust in Ava any more.

I suppressed a lump in my throat, and replied, “I’m okay, Ava. Just a little tired.”

BANG. BANG.
“
SEVEN
!”

I’d been unable to sleep that night either, and was dressed by the time Iris banged on my door. This time, however, I waited a while before answering, so I could avoid more interrogations.