Enigma Black (27 page)

Towards the end of the day, with only a few flyers remaining after posting them in store windows, on light poles and in telephone booths, she ran into a man who took particular interest in her and her mission.

“Can I ask what it is you’re doing? he asked, stopping her on the street.

“I’m looking for my friend. She disappeared a month ago with the story that she was moving out West to start a new job. The problem is that, upon doing a few background checks, I was told that she basically doesn’t exist and has actually never existed, which leads me to believe she’s here somewhere.”

“Hmm…interesting concept. Are you implying that it was a governmental job of sorts and that stripping her of her identity is a form of cover-up?”

“I know it sounds far-fetched, but I believe the only way she could have disappeared off the face of this planet is with a little governmental assistance.”

“May I take a look at one of those flyers?”

Lucy handed the man a flyer and couldn’t help but notice the marked change in his expression as he gazed at the photograph on it. It was an eerie expression she couldn’t quite decipher; a cross between anger, worry and shock.

“May I keep this?” he asked, recovering quickly.

“Sure, that’s what I made them for.” She eyed him suspiciously.

“Very well.” He neatly folded the flyer, tucking it into the pocket of his rain coat and, just as soon as he turned to walk back down the street, he paused to turn back around. “I’m sorry to hear about your friend but, if I were you, I would disregard the conspiracy theory you’ve concocted and consider the possibility that your friend disappeared because she wanted to. Whoever fed you the information you have was misinformed.”

“I appreciate your thoughts, but in my heart I know what the truth is.”

“So be it.” The man nodded as he headed back down the street, traveling a couple of store windows down the block before Lucy called out to him.

“Hey.”

“Yes.” He turned around to face her again.

“May I ask what your name is?”

“Certainly. My name is Victor.”

“Nice meeting you, Victor. Thank you for taking a flyer.”

“Nice meeting you as well…Lucy, right? The name on the flyer?”

“Yes. Lucy.”

“Well, Lucy, thank you for the riveting conversation.”

She nodded, and he turned to walk back down the street. After rounding a corner, he saw another flyer taped to a lamppost in front of a small family-owned diner. Promptly ripping it down, he balled it up and tossed it into a trashcan on the sidewalk. Reaching into the pocket of his khakis, he pulled out his cell phone.

“Yeah,” the voice on the other end answered.

“We have a problem; a potential security breach.”

“You know how to handle those, so handle it,” the irritated voice replied.

“Very well. Consider it handled.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Day Away

In one swift move The Man in Black crumbled beneath my feet, all signs of life leaving his digitized shell. I looked down at his body in disbelief that quickly gave way to a sense of accomplishment as the simulation room flickered back into less foreboding territory. Blake took off his helmet, beaming with pride as a teacher would at a student who’d finally gotten it. He held out his hand for a high five.

“And that’s how it’s done,” he looked at me proudly.

“Did you ever have any doubts?” I asked, feigning disbelief.

“Umm…”

“Don’t answer that.”

“Do you want to get out of here for the day?” he asked in a hesitant tone.

“Of course I do. How are we going to make a break for it?”

“We just go.” he laughed. “We put our time in today. Let’s go.”

I looked at Blake in disbelief at the level of defiance he was exhibiting and, together, we exited the simulator. Cameron, as always, was there to greet us.

“I’ll set everything back up for you guys to have another run-through. I made it easy on you this time. Next time, you’d better watch your backs and…”

“We’re done for the day,” Blake announced.

“But…but…Victor says you need to keep practicing. She’s not ready yet,” he gestured toward me.

“Is Victor here right now? Blake asked.

“Well…no.”

“Then we’ll be back by curfew.”

Cameron proceeded to follow us until we left the training room, blubbering the entire time. We ignored his pleas and, instead, walked to our rooms to change for our day of indiscretion.

I rummaged through my closet, pulling out the one outfit I’d managed to bring with me and placed it on the bed. Peeling the suit away from my body, I stuffed it into my backpack in the off chance that it became imperative for me to change back into it. As I slipped into my blue jeans, I noticed they’d become noticeably more loose than they’d been before. Running my fingers down my stomach, I felt my abs. I’d never had abs before, and feeling them now was like discovering a hidden treasure.

While kneeling down to pick my shirt up from off the bed I heard Blake’s name announced through the speakers in my room as he pressed the thumb plate to gain entry. “Just a second,” I called. It was too late. The door slid open revealing Blake in the doorway. Scrambling, I grabbed the shirt, pulling it over my head. “You know, just because you’re cavalier about your nudity doesn’t mean I am about mine.”

I’d expected some smart aleck comment from him, but instead witnessed an uncharacteristically speechless Blake, who stood staring at the floor. “So…sorry. I should have waited for you out in the top…hall…the hall,” he stammered.

“Are you all right?”

“Wha…yeah…I am now.”

“Where are we going?”

“I thought I’d drive the cycle to the ocean for a day.” He held up his backpack. “I snuck some sandwiches out of the kitchen.”

“Well, Mr. Cohen, who would have thought you’d turn out to be such a deviant. A picnic on the beach, eh? You must have been really popular with the ladies.”

“I can’t complain.”

****

The wind whipped past us as Blake weaved the motorcycle in and out of traffic down the highway. Even since my transformation into the super human world, Blake’s suicidal break-neck speeds still made my stomach turn. Cars honked their horns at us in our wake, their occupants flashing us looks of pure annoyance which I was sure only made Blake drive with that much more reckless abandon.

In less than an hour, we pulled up to the parking lot facing the Atlantic Ocean. I’d always loved the ocean, a fact of which had made me go stir-crazy when I lived in Iowa. There was something enchanting about staring out at a large body of water. It always had a way of making me feel free, as though it could whisk me away to destinations only attainable in my dreams if only I were to close my eyes and hold out my arms.

Taking off our helmets, Blake and I carried them with us onto the sand, where he took two small rolled-up blankets out of his backpack and tossed one to me. I spread my blanket out on the sand where I sat down and took my shoes off to let my bare toes explore the sand uninhibited. Blake sat down next to me, closing his eyes too, allowing the salty, sweet ocean air to overcome him.

“Thank you,” I said to him.

“For what?”

“This.” I made a gesture towards the ocean and my surroundings.

“Don’t mention it,” he laughed. “I needed the break, myself. They seem to forget that we’re human beings, not robotic slaves.”

“What exactly are they, Blake?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, the cause, the Epicenter. What are they? Do
they
even know?”

“Unfortunately, we’re not privy to that information,” he smiled as though he’d contemplated the same unanswerable question before. “From what I do know of it, the Epicenter was instituted shortly after President Brooks took office; shortly after the attacks began. The public demanded action. So, in order to save his hide and his approval ratings, Brooks sought solutions from a collective group of individuals. One of those individuals was Victor, who touted himself as a human engineer.” Blake picked up a handful of sand. Spreading his fingers apart slightly, he allowed each grain to sift through them like a human hourglass. “In reality, Victor’s more of a doctor with dreams of becoming a scientist who uses humans as test subjects. He had this grand idea of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary and possessed the research to back it up. Along with Drs. Harris and Martin, he plugged his idea to Brooks. Long story short, they were given the equipment and a time frame to make their idea for their new race of super humans come to fruition.”

“It was like a ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ kind of thing?

“Sort of. Brooks retained the faith of the nation, and Victor received the funding he needed to play God. He was able to hire the best of the best for his staff and thus, both the Epicenter and we were born.”

“I’m not too sure about the whole best of the best part. I’m nothing special. Why I was chosen, I’ll never understand.”

“I don’t know. I think you’re pretty amazing.”

“I have to say, you’ve surprised me, Mr. Cohen,” I replied, trying my best to mask my embarrassment. “You’re not nearly the hard ass you make yourself out to be.”

“Yeah, well, that’s our little secret.”

“How about we break out those sandwiches you acquired from the kitchen.”

We sat on the beach enjoying our impromptu picnic and each other’s company. There wasn’t much to say, which spoke volumes for our newfound friendship. Being with each other and enjoying the company that only another person of our kind provided was enough conversation for the both of us. We were true partners. Blake and I were the only two people in the world who could possibly understand what the other was going through.

“Come on.” I stood up, grabbing Blake’s hand.

“What?”

“Are we just going to sit here all day? We’re at the beach, let’s take advantage of it.”

“I thought we were.”

“Oh, geez, Blake. Live a little.”

I tugged at his arms harder, pulling him swiftly to his feet much to the amazement of the other beachgoers around us.

“You need to be a little more discreet, you know,” he muttered.

“Wow, who says white guys can’t jump,” I replied with a wink.

He rolled his eyes. “Great cover.”

“I thought so, too.”

We walked to the shoreline where I ran up to my calves in the ocean; the waves splashed droplets of water that quickly soaked my jeans. I looked up at Blake to see that he was watching me with an amused grin. Taking my foot, I splashed him with more water than I meant to, soaking the front of his pants.

“Oh, really,” he replied playfully. “You’ve just started something here that I don’t think you’re going to be able to finish.”

“Bring it.”

Accepting my challenge, he kicked his shoes off and raised his leg as though he was readying himself to splash me, but instead of kicking water, he barreled at me, knocking me off my feet and into the waves. Before I could fall completely over, I grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him into the depths of the ocean with me. When I surfaced, I sat up in the water. Blake was sprawled on my lap, laughing.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” he stuttered, removing himself from my lap.

“Why? Do you think I’ve never had a man in my lap before?” I splashed him once more before standing back up to head to our spot in the sand. “I needed this,” I told him when we were seated back on our blankets. “I just wish I had extra clothes to change into.”

“You’ll air dry just fine,” he said with a laugh.

Looking around the beach, I noticed a group of people staring in our direction intently as if they were studying us for signs of recognition. “Do you know those people?” I asked.

“What people?”

I nodded in the direction of the gawkers. “The ones over there that keep looking over here as though they’re getting ready to walk over here at any minute to introduce themselves.”

Blake glanced at the group out of the corner of his eye. “No, I can’t say that I do.”

“It’s strange how they keep looking over here and talking amongst themselves.”

“They probably just think they recognize one of us. I wouldn’t worry about it unless they actually do come over here.” He ran his fingers through his hair, which caused water droplets to free themselves and run down his back. “I’m thirsty. Do you want anything?”

“An iced tea would be great right now. If you don’t mind.”

“Not a problem.” He stood up to venture to the concession stand a short distance from where we sat.

I knew that I shouldn’t concern myself with the people who still kept looking over in my direction even after Blake had left, but there was just something about the way they were looking at me that made me wonder. It wasn’t a look of curiosity anymore, but a look of fear.

****

It had been a while since he’d had as much fun as he’d had today. It had been a while since he felt so alive, or that he actually wanted to be alive for that matter.

“One iced tea and one water, please,” he placed his order at the concession stand, still sopping wet from the ocean. His t-shirt, skin tight from the water, clung onto his biceps, which generated stares of admiration from the women who passed by him while he waited for their drinks. Strangely, he didn’t notice any of them. There was only one woman he’d noticed this day and only one woman he cared notice him.

“That will be $2.75.”

Blake handed the concessionaire the money and took the drinks. On his way back, something posted on a light pole caught his eye, causing him to do a double take.

“Oh, crap!” he exclaimed.

On the light pole was the same beautiful, vibrant woman he’d spent the last few weeks training as his partner. Dropping the drinks on the sand encrusted pavement, he ripped the flyer down from the pole, balled it up, and threw it onto the ground.

Looking back in Celaine’s direction, he noticed that one of the members of the group of people who were staring intently at her was cautiously making his way over to her. Hurriedly, he sped towards her, making it just in time.

“We’ve got to go, now!” he demanded.