Cloak (YA Fantasy) (8 page)

“You can see why we are careful about sharing this information. Can you imagine how Neps would feel to suddenly discover that an entire society of enchants was living right under their noses?”

Will raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yes. Perhaps you can imagine.” The owl-man’s face pushed closer. “Then you can see the importance of secrecy. Which is why we have ISPA, the International Secrecy and Preservation Agency, dedicated to protect enchant society from being exposed to the Nep public. Kaya, or Agent Das, is ISPA, part of a special branch responsible for identification and protection of Immunes—also a secret.”

“Doctor. Please!” Kaya threw up her hands.

“You’re right, Agent Das,” the doctor said. “Kaya makes sure I don’t give away any more secrets than I need to.”

“Are there any secrets left?” the agent muttered.

Dr. Noctua’s eyes twinkled. “I assist Agent Das’ team from time to time, whenever there is a case like yours.”

“My case? You mean my allergies and hallucinations and stuff?”

“Certainly. Every one of your symptoms fits perfectly.”

“Fits what?” Will went pale. “Am I an enchant?”

“Of course not.” Dr. Noctua shook his head. “We’ll need to run some tests, but all the signs are there. Wilhelm, you are the first Immune the world has seen in over a decade.”

“How can I be an… an Immune?”

“We’re not sure. It’s been a while since the world has seen one. Immune genetic makeup is very sophisticated. There is much we don’t understand.”

“I thought you said there were a lot of Immunes?”

“There were never a lot, but now they are much more… ah… rare,” said Dr. Noctua as he and Kaya exchanged uncomfortable looks.

Will narrowed his eyes. “What happened to the Immunes?”

Dr. Noctua adjusted his glasses. “That is not something that you need to be concerned about presently.”

“Wait a minute,” Will protested. “You can’t tell me I’m the only Immune in the world and then leave me hanging. Why would you tell me this anyway, if it is such a big secret?”

Dr. Noctua spoke with a quiet intensity. “Since you can see us, it is only fair that you understand what you are seeing. You are an Immune. Our history is your history, and our futures are intertwined. I would never break the enchant code of secrecy and confide in a Nep. However, being an Immune must be a terrible burden, and we want to help you. There is much you will learn about yourself as you learn about us. In time I hope all your questions will be answered. But for now, please try to digest what I’ve told you, and get some rest.”

The bent owl-man patted Will’s hand and stood, stretching his neck to the side at a strange angle. He picked up the book, paused and handed it to Will. “This might provide some answers.”

The owlish doctor retrieved his cane and padded toward the door. Kaya had risen from her chair and was zipping up her protective suit.

Dr. Noctua turned his head around and peered at Will over the top of his glasses. “We don’t share this information lightly. I felt you needed to know.” He took the suit that Agent Das handed him and jammed his large foot into a plastic leg. “Speaking of ‘need to know.’ I must ask you to keep this information in the greatest confidence. The world is not ready for it.”

Will took a deep breath, lay back in his bed and tried to sort out his churning emotions. He ran his fingers over the rough, leather cover of the history book and sifted through the barrage of questions buzzing in his head.
Could enchants be real? Could he actually be an Immune?

“Wait,” said Will. Both Dr. Noctua and Kaya turned to face him. Will couldn’t think of a way to phrase his question.

The ancient owl-man seemed to read his thoughts. “You’re wondering if this fantastic story could be the truth? If talking animals are more than the stuff of fairytales and legends? If these incredible visions actually exist outside of your imagination?” Dr. Noctua gazed at Will, his huge eyes full of sincerity and wisdom. “What do your instincts tell you?”

Will felt a warm sensation start in his core and fill him from head to toe. A door inside his brain unlocked. Things became clear. For the first time his hallucinations had an explanation and, however bizarre, it made sense. Will looked up at the doctor. “It’s all true, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Wilhelm Tuttle, it is.”

Agent Das opened the airlock and the owl-man and the cat-woman donned their hoods, leaving Will alone with his swirling thoughts.

9

Surprise Visit

“I
’m cured?” Will stood on the bed.

“Not completely,” said Dr. Noctua. “You will still need medication. But you will not need the bubble anymore, or the suits. You can eat anything and wear normal clothes. Yes, Wilhelm, for all intents and purposes, you are cured.”

Will whooped and jumped in a circle. Cured! “How did you do it?”

“Anti-Cloak medication.” The owl-man tapped the IV bag with his cane.

“Cloak? The stuff that hides enchants?”

Dr. Noctua nodded. “All Immunes have profound reactions to Cloak. The Enchant Freedom Act of 1961 gave enchants permission to add Cloak into most Nep mass-produced products. They called it general inoculation, like putting iodine in salt to prevent scurvy. That is why you could only use products that predated 1961.”

“There’s Cloak in everything?” Will sat down.

Noctua readjusted his glasses. “It’s perfectly safe. Except if you are an Immune. Even then, your reactions were the strongest we’ve ever seen.”

“Is that bad?”

“No. It is unique. Like you.”

“So if I take my meds, I’ll be able to travel?”

“Yes.”

“To go to a real school?”

“Yes.”

“Play sports? Go to restaurants? See movies?”

“Certainly,” hooted Dr. Noctua. “Though I advise pacing yourself. We will need to monitor your medications. Your parents agreed to have you transferred somewhere where we can observe your progress.”

“Really? Where? What’s it called?”

A sound came from a box of dental floss in Kaya’s pocket. “Das here,” she said into the waxed strings.

“The route to X-ray is clear,” replied a muffled voice.

“Got it. We’re moving him now. Stand by,” answered Kaya. She and Dr. Noctua slipped back into their plastic suits.

“Miracle cures are hard to explain.” The doctor held up the plastic hood. “Best to keep your cure under wraps for now.”

Will nodded. “But why an X-ray?”

“We just want to make sure there are no enchant traits in there that we missed.”

“Seriously?”

Noctua just clicked his beak and helped Will into the zip-up bubble-boy wheelchair.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” assured the owl-man, patting Will’s shoulder. The doctor motioned to Kaya, and the cat-woman rolled Will through the airlock and down the hallway.

Will hated backless hospital gowns. He tugged at the edges riding up on his thighs, crinkling the paper on the X-ray table. Kaya sat ten feet away near the door of the sterile X-ray room. She pretended to read a fashion magazine, but her ears were perked, her eyes alert. Her tail flicked under her seat. Inside the plastic suit, her breath created little bursts of fog on the facemask. She glanced in Will’s direction, then back to the magazine.

Although beautiful and exotic, the cat-woman was still a claw-wielding predator. Kaya hadn’t spoken to him since Noctua’s history lesson, and now they were alone, without the doctor to referee.

Uncomfortable wrinkles under his left thigh made Will shift. A twinge of pain zipped through his shoulder. It had been a full day since Kaya’s attack. Deep, purple bruises and five small puncture wounds throbbed above his collarbone. Will rubbed his shoulder.

“Ah. I’m sorry about that.” Kaya closed her magazine and laid it in her lap. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I forget that Neps are fragile.”

“I’m not fragile. I was in anaphylactic shock,” Will muttered.

“No. I didn’t mean you were fragile; I just meant I’m stronger. No, that’s not what I meant either.” Kaya ground her teeth. A pink hue crept into her cheeks. She breathed deeply, then started again. “I’m not used to being ID’d by Neps, so when I saw that you could see my… my tail, I overreacted… a little.”

“A little? You mauled me!”

“Oh, please. I did not,” she shot back. “Besides, how was I supposed to know you were an Immune?”

“Isn’t that your job?”

“Yes, but there hasn’t been an Immune in years. I thought you were a spy.” A growl crept into the cat-woman’s voice. Her pupils contracted. Kaya wrenched her eyes away from Will and focused on a poster explaining the dangers of overexposure to X-ray radiation. “It was a stupid mistake.” She took calm breaths until her pupils returned to normal.

“Um, if it makes you feel better, I didn’t know I was an Immune either.”

Kaya’s expression softened. “Thanks.”

There was a lull in the conversation while a clock ticked on the wall.

Will spoke first. “So, are you my guard?”

“Something like that. More of a bodyguard—we’re like the Secret Service.”

“We? Like you and Dr. Noctua?”

“I have a whole team assigned to you.”

“Including the guy that you talked to on your dental floss? Are you the leader?”

“Something like that,” she said with a note of pride, then deflated. “But after I… attacked you, I’ll probably be demoted, or sent back to the Everglades on RRD.”

“RRD?”

“Reptile Rehabilitation Detail.”

“What’s that?”

Kaya hesitated. “Well, since the doctor’s broken every law of secrecy…” She shrugged. “I used to be stationed at a maximum security ISPA penitentiary in the Everglades that houses enchants that are too dangerous to run free. I worked in the corrections and parole department for two years with the reptilian inmates. Reptilechant prisoners don’t care for mammals unless they’re on the menu. So staying in one piece wasn’t easy. One day I had trouble with a viper inmate who thought I looked like dinner. He ended up in the infirmary. I ended up—well, it’s a long story.” Kaya opened her magazine, putting an end to the conversation. The awkward quiet settled back into the room.

Will studied Kaya. Under the facemask, her eyes were sad, glistening at the corners. He opened his mouth to apologize, but no words came. The clock continued to tick.

The air pressure changed as a large X-ray technician walked through the airlock carrying a lead-lined vest. Will noticed thick forearms and biceps bulging beneath his plastic suit. His hands barely fit in his latex gloves. A surgeon’s mask hid most of his face.

“Lay down,” he said in a low voice that made the table vibrate. The technician lifted his head and flashed two hideous, milky white eyes, each surrounded by reddish black fur.

Will recoiled and slid backward across the table.

Kaya’s chair squeaked.

The technician’s eyes narrowed.

In a blur of motion he spun and swung the lead vest like a baseball bat, knocking the pouncing cat-woman out of the air and across the room. Kaya slammed into the X-ray machine with a sickening crunch, then crumpled to the ground, motionless.

Will searched for some way to defend himself.

The monster stepped closer, a growl like a diesel engine rumbling through his massive chest.

Will lost his balance, teetering backward off the table.

The beast caught him by the leg and threw him over his shoulder with one hand. His strength was unbelievable.

Will flailed and kicked, looking for a weakness. He punched the monster in the kidneys and booted him in the head. It was useless, like pounding against stone.

The kidnapper burst through the airlock with Will bouncing against his back. Every stride slammed the air out of Will’s lungs, making it impossible to yell for help. They careened down an empty corridor and around a corner.

In a moment of terror, Will saw they were heading for the exit—stairs next to a set of elevators. If they left the building, he was a goner, a picture on a milk carton.

The elevator dinged and the kidnapper hesitated.

Will saw his chance. He used the attacker’s next lunge to swing himself up and twist back, grabbing the assailant’s facemask from behind. He clawed and scratched, trying to find anything vulnerable. Ripping the hood and surgeon’s mask away, Will felt the fur and a muzzle like a dog. Panic turned to desperation. His fingers found something soft and he gouged with all his strength. The kidnapper howled and stumbled, prying Will’s fingers off his face.