Barcode: Cavern of Youth (21 page)

I listen as the group clamors.

“Yeah right.”

“Was that his real time?”

“I couldn’t make that time
without
obstacles.”

“Fifteen minutes? I never saw him cross it.”

“Did you guys notice the black flames on the top of the course? I hear made them somehow.”

Selena corrects everyone near the front of the line, “You guys don’t know what you’re talking about. Malik would’ve beaten that time if Kay hadn’t disrupted the course and illegally punched him.”

Those students grumble over why I’m not being punished for intentionally stopping Malik from crossing the finish line. Dennis tries to calm them down, but Hayley announces, “You shouldn’t listen to students that don’t know what they’re talking about. Professor Jules punished Kay by adding an additional minute to his overall time. Imagine if I added a minute for all of you. Where would you be?”

How did Hayley hear that? She’s too far away from them.

Her red hair whips in the wind and she turns to me. With a radiating smile she thinks, “I figured out how to intentionally activate the codes on my head. At least it’s fair this way. I can hear your thoughts too.”

Though her lips didn’t move, it still feels as though the sound came directly from where she’s standing.

“You’re tapping into more than just my thoughts. Can you also hear what I can?”

“Like what?”

I search for someone’s conversation to pry in on. Eventually, I notice Addison mumbling under his breath, “Good. I’m glad Hayley set that bitch straight. She’s all over my man but sleeping with Malik behind his back. Little does she know where Patrick was last night.”

Hayley covers her mouth and thinks, “Juicy! What else can we listen too?”

The group quiets down until a student on the lower ranking side uses her hearing to tell nearby students about how Selena’s defending Malik. “Why do they think they can run the school?”

Various other students respond to her question, many supporting my decision to punch Malik. Some even spread rumors around how I created the black flames on top of the course. I focus on five conversations simultaneously for Hayley to hear.

For some reason, her eyes turn bloodshot red. Hayley deactivates her tattoos and her heart beats frantically. She drags her feet over to me and whispers in my ear, “How can you process all of that? I feel like someone hit me in the head with a hammer.”

“Really?” Though we’re telepathically linked, it seems she can only process the conversations I intensively focus on. She’d die if she could hear what the two female maids are doing in the room Nevaeh sleeps in.

Hayley nods while holding the bridge of her nose. “It was really bad when you started thinking about Angie. You sent over a lot of data about her.” She runs her hand down the back of my head. “You two need to talk.”

Angie’s in the unconscious group that is discussing me and she doesn’t seem pleased. I wonder what happened last night when Dennis found me. Why did she leave without killing me?

Abby catches a bit of both group’s discussions and sides with my supporters. She speaks loudly enough for both ends of the line to hear, “I hate this damn school. Last year, the gods thought they were better than us. Now that we’ve proven ourselves, they formed groups against us. They’re just upset that an Ape with no barcodes won the race.”

Several students question whether I’m an Ape or if I have barcodes hidden under my bandages. Yukio interrupts their clamoring, “I’m not angry at mortals or gods. We’re being treated like crap too.”

Wesley observes the group from the corner of his eyes, but remains silent.

An Ape with orange hair that only has one god-level class shouts, “It’s Malik’s crew. Patrick and Selena. Addison too.”

Addison and Selena step forward with their barcodes blazing.

George raises his hand and nearly everyone falls to their knees. Monte and Patrick close their eyes. From our perspective, it looks like that really hurt.

“Maybe I went a little overboard with that one.” Weston softly apologizes, “Sorry.”

Dennis takes a step forward. “Kay will be allowed to walk through and choose his team accordingly. Each team may have up to five members. The matches are two-on-two with a ten minute time limit. It should be obvious that the more members you have, the more breaks you’ll receive. However, larger teams are graded more harshly and you have more matches. You may also choose to fight solo, but it’s frowned upon. Choose wisely, Kay.”

“Carmen, Richard, and Seth,” I declare without moving an inch. “But wasn’t that obvious already?”

Dennis closes his eyes and massages the back of his neck. I think he wanted me to humor him.

My classmates laugh at my team. I chose the weakest group of individuals possible.

Through all the chattering, one voice catches my attention the most. Dryly, Jamie mumbles, “Oh no. Are you done? Please pick me, Kode. Please. Wait. Why would he do that? I never even entered the race. So stupid. I could have at least participated. I would have been up there with Selena. Ugh. I’m really strong Kode. I promise.”

Three students are watching the small and adorable lady in amazement. She’s not speaking loudly, but the faint sounds are even noticeable for normal ears.

Dennis finishes, “Okay...Monte. The rules have been explained to you as well. Please choose your team.”

As Monte motions to move his lips I interrupt, “But I wasn’t finished. How rude of you.”

Dennis slaps his leg. “I asked you twice!”

“About that...I was busy thinking; you’ll have to forgive me.” Dramatically, I throw my hand on my head and drone, “It could be all the damages I suffered from the race. Gosh. It hurts.”

“Speed this up Kay.”

“Though I’m not exactly sure why, I’d like to add Jamie Latu. Wait. Latu? You don’t look Polynesian.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes sir, captain sir.”

Dennis sighs at my sarcasm.

Jamie looks as though she couldn’t care less, but mutters, “I’m so excited.”

Without waiting to be acknowledged again, Monte announces, “I choose Angie Colt.”

Funny. That will definitely hurt Vincent’s heart. He won’t be able to send Monte on any journeys with his daughter’s grade on the line. Not to mention, Monte’s smart enough to avoid adding anyone else for his team. Their grades would suffer horribly if he weren’t to show up on the day of exams. Well played.

As Patrick calls the names of his chosen teammates, his voice booms as though he were announcing a fight in the stadium, “I would be honored if I were joined by Selena Kennedy, Wesley Gates, and
Malik Jules
.” The last name had a bite to it and Patrick was bold enough to look in my direction. I doubt he knows I don’t care.

Addison leans forward and points to himself, but Patrick ignores him. They look as though they’re having a silent lover’s quarrel.

Dennis ends the school yard lineup. “Alright. Because your leaders are god-level students, regardless of your current schedule, you will be moved into all their classes. The rest of you will have your teams by the end of today.”

Holding up her tablet, Hayley announces, “Okay. For the rest of you, remain in your lines and I will separate you into your new groups. Some of your classes will change, but that’s because we want you working together as a team. Don’t think of it as being in god-level or demigod-level classes, you’re now working at beating the next group. May the wars begin.”

A burning question strikes me as the students walk to their new groups. I navigate through the crowd and stop Dennis before he reaches George.

Pulling against his arm, I say, “I thought she hated gladiators.”

“Please. She married one. ” His body jerks as though he just noticed what he said. Dennis constantly chooses to avoid John as a topic, and possibly didn’t mean to give me that bit of information. “What I meant was, she loves this sport. She knows all of the gladiators’ stats better than anyone on this campus. Let me make this clear: she hates that
you
are a gladiator.”

“Did she hate that John was one?”

“Kind of, but she gave him all the advice he needed.” His scrunched face tells me this information was difficult to share. “She’ll be fine as long as you never get hurt.”

“So she won’t be fine.”

Seventeen

I’ve finally returned to my unofficial home, and I couldn’t be happier.

The second I make it to the bottom of the dungeon, I roll on the ground and lie in the fog, breathing in large heaps of the hovering mist. My body feels amazing as my chest rises and falls.

My bones expand and retract inside of my tiny little frame.

I hear a swift movement in the shadows and realize that I’m now able to hear Blue-Skin and other deliverymen. For the past hour, I haven’t been able to see further than thirty feet around me. As I rest in the cave, I can nearly hear into the secret passageways that lead to the Cavern of Youth.

Blue-Skin appears over me with a beaming smile.

I warmly declare, “You saved my life.”

“The bottle was Hades’ idea. He said you must come to see him today.”

“Cool, but you have to hide for now. We have company.”

Blue-Skin runs into a corner and disappears. Normally, I’d worry about my health, but after lying here for a few minutes, I feel a burst of energy in my bones and muscles that makes me feel like my old self.

The group turns down my pathway and continues walking at a snail’s pace.

A terrible sound falls on my ears that forces my body to sit up straight. I open both of my eyes to clearly see the men.

What’s this feeling? I want to kill them so badly.

Something etches across their armor that makes me hate everything about them. I despise their existence and urgently want them removed from this world. I know the sound of that evil and they’ve bathed in it. This detestable noise stays with people for an eternity. It’s the only perfume I can hear.

“Call her now,” one of the very powerful men demands. He’s a Hindu god; the other, Egyptian.

The Hindu is a Middle Eastern man a few inches short of six feet tall. He’s scrawny and quick. His hair is dark and bangs cover his forehead. His nose has been broken so many times, it cannot be repaired.

“My reception is garbage down here, and I’m not asking her any questions,” replies the Egyptian god that’s shorter than the Hindu, but I wouldn’t judge his power on size. His muscles are tense; he couldn’t flex them if he wanted. The sound reminds me of Helios’ flesh. His body most likely feels like Colt Stone.

The Hindu doesn’t smile or seem friendly, but the Egyptian grins from ear-to-ear with pearly whites. They’re wearing very futuristic technology that reminds me of something Helios’ company would create. The spacey tech completely covers their bodies in a shiny gray metal. They’re protected by the bulky material from their necks to their toes with the exact same color and style of armor. Yet, they couldn’t look more different. The Hindu seems smooth and elegant. The Egyptian resembles a nerdy and arrogant school teacher.

“Fine. I’ll call, but if we don’t find him, you have to tell her.” The Egyptian nods, but obviously doesn’t plan on doing that either. “Eve.”

On the other line she barks, “Don’t you ever say my name over the phone!”

“I apologize,” he replies nonchalantly. He was the proper person to call because he doesn’t scare easily. I imagine that Eve chose this guy directly. The other seems more like Helios’ type. “We’re under the school. Are you sure he stands guard in the dungeon? We’ve looked nearly everywhere.”

“Then look
everywhere
. What did the other gladiators say?”

“The four we killed?”

“Of course, you idiot.”

“They wouldn’t say a word, no matter how much Geb tortured them.”

“I sense one in this area,” Geb says, suddenly alert. “And we should turn around Mel.”

Mel shakes his head and they both stop in their tracks. They haven’t looked down yet, and I’m only five feet in front of them.

My blood boils at the sound of Eve’s voice. Just listening to her makes me want to kill something. Fortunately for me, I have two test subjects.

“It seems we may have one more to question,” Mel tells Eve. “I’ll call you once he’s captured. Maybe you could yell at him over the phone. You’re much more frightening than us.”

“Do I sound like I’m in the mood for joking? Get that damn arm.”

As Mel hangs up the phone, Geb turns to him. “Let’s go back. This guy’s on a different level than the others. Not to mention, he reeks with darkness—the kind you find in hell.”

“And? The others were still easy kills. Maybe we’ll fight him together this time.”

Geb tries for a bit more convincing when he removes his cell phone. He opens up an ammunition recognition program that can determine the strength of data. Turning it towards Mel he reemphasizes, “We need to prepare. That’s showing the power of a small militia and he probably doesn’t have his codes activated.”

Mel removes the phone from his hand and points the scanner in their direction. “Now it’s showing the power of a very large militia. Where do you sense him?”

As Geb meditates, I notice the two barcodes over his eyelids. They appear to be two green plants. “I don’t see him, but I could see a dark presence right in front of us. He’s close.”

“K. Your name starts with a K,” Mel declares with what resembles smoke tattooed across his neck. “Come out so we can talk to you.”

Standing up I reply, “About what?”

Both men jump back. Geb stammers, “How long were you there?”

“Talk about what?”

“Mel. He just came out of a shadow.”

Mel swiftly punches Geb, which manages to shut him up. “We’re searching for Dennis Colt. We’ll allow you to live if you can tell me how often he comes to this cave.”

“And I’m looking for Eve Payne. Where is she?”

“That is none of your concern.” Mel regains his composure and takes a more aggressive stance.

“I’m not interested in you. You’re not the type to talk,” I say coldly to Mel. I slowly turn my head to Geb. “But I have high hopes for you.”

Shiva converts into a mechanical glove that covers my entire arm. I haven’t perfected her yet, but this weapon places small vents on my elbows that converts my energy and substances from my surroundings. Then, the forces merge and expel destructively from my fists.