Exceptional (9 page)

Luke stayed in his room that night, which put some confusion in Ally’s mind about the morning talk they shared.  Rather than over thinking it, she decided to spend the next day getting to know the other Ordinarys in the house.

Sabine taught her how to do the laundry.  In the City they had machines that washed clothes for them, so all she needed to do was load and unload the clothes, and then fold them.  Back in the settlement they washed their clothes by hand, in bins outside their homes.  The process took a while and in the end, their clothes never seemed very clean.

Flint taught her how to change the filter on the furnace in the basement.  Ally hadn’t even known the basement existed.  It was mainly just for storage, seeming unnaturally damp and cool despite the warm temperatures outside.  Flint was a quiet guy, but she was able to gather that he did the handy work around the house.

    Asher was able to acquire permission from Mrs. Mathias to take Ally on an errand outside of the house that afternoon.  They went to a local food store and picked up ingredients Mazzi needed for cooking the meals.  Back in the settlement their food was simple, and plain.  Meat from the cattle, chickens, and pigs.  Fruits, grains, and vegetables from the gardens and crops.  Sometimes they would buy sugar and other refined items from the City, but not often.  Here the Exceptionals could pick from any variety of foods, many of them packaged.  Asher explained that the first Exceptionals found and trained people who could run the factories that made the food, trying to keep the City running as normally as possible.  Many of them were Ordinarys, and they were required to train their children to follow in their path.  Asher’s parents had been electricians for the City, and since he was their second son, he was sent to work as a housekeeper.
   
       
Luke didn’t come home that night, but he did send her a message saying that he was sorry he had been busy lately, and that he would be home the next afternoon to spend time with her.  Apparently he had a big test he needed to study for and he chose to stay at Maver’s.  He decided that being home with her would be too much of a distraction.
   
       
Since she couldn’t read, she had to have Sabine read it to her.
   
       
“This is kind of sweet.” Sabine giggled as she read it a second time.  “I’ve never seen Mr. Lukin speak to another girl this way.  He must really like you.”
   
       
“He barely knows me.” Ally pointed out, folding up the letter and placing it in her nightstand.
   
       
“Who says there has to be a time limit on love?” Sabine’s face took on a dreamy expression.  “You’ve watched some of Luke’s movies, right?  Sometimes the people in them know from the first second they lay eyes on each other.”
   
       
Ally shook her head. “You’re crazy.  Those are just stories.”
   
       
Sabine giggled again.  “If believing in love like that is crazy, than I am okay not being sane.”

Ally shut off the light and rolled over, closing her eyes.  Luke had told her that those movies were made-up and that the people in them were called
actors
, or people paid to play those parts.  Still, the ideas for them had to come from somewhere.  Didn’t they?

IT WAS AROUND LUNCHTIME the following day that she received a piece of paper from Mazzi.  She recognized it immediately since Sabine, Asher, and Flint received a similar one every morning.  It was a work list.  She stared at it for a moment and turned to Sabine for help.

    Sabine took the paper and read it over.  “You’re supposed to be at Institute in an hour.  You are to wait in the lobby.”
   
       
“Did Luke send this?” Ally took the paper from her hands.
   
       
“It doesn’t say.” Sabine shrugged.
   
       
Ally laid the paper on the table and took another bite of her sandwich.    “Someone will have to take her.  She’ll never find the Institute on her own.” Asher pointed out, looking particularly solemn today.
   
        
“Maybe that is part of the task,” Sabine said.  “She needs to find the Institute on her own and prove her resourcefulness.  It doesn’t say anything about someone leading her there, and it isn’t on any of our work schedules.”
   
       
Asher rolled his eyes.  “You read way too far into those things Sab, but whatever you say.”
   
       
Ally doubted it was meant to be a test on whether or not she could navigate her way to the Institute.  She wanted to head out of the house on her own this time, since her previous excursions had been in the company of another.
   
       
“I’ll go on my own,” she finally said.
   
       
After numerous warnings from Sabine that she would need to leave promptly in case she got lost, Ally washed her face in the downstairs bathroom and ran her fingers through her hair to pull out the knots.  It was all she had time for.  Since it seemed obvious that the Institute would be in the City Center, she stepped into the flow of pedestrian traffic headed in that direction.  Several Ordinarys passed by with their gazes locked on the street.  She could see work lists sticking out of their pockets as they carted around bags of food and piles of paper.  Most of the Exceptionals seemed to ignore her completely, but a few gave her stern looks when they caught her looking anywhere but the ground.  Sabine had never mentioned this as being something that Ordinarys did, but maybe it was more expected than required.
   
       
The crowd thinned out immensely as she walked deeper into the City.  The streets become wider, and there were more directions for people to move.  She thought about asking someone where the Institute was located but that broke the rule of speaking to an Exceptional first.  An Ordinary would have been a better choice, but they all looked caught up in their errands.
   
       
Instead she decided to listen to those around her, trying to pick up pieces of conversation.  She might not have super hearing, but she could still eavesdrop.  
   
       
“More and more Ordinarys on the street.  What a waste,” a male Exceptional said to himself.
   
       
Two women Exceptionals walked side by side.
   
        
“Did you see Maren’s hair-do this morning?  So over the top,” one of them said.
   
       
Another voice popped up to her right.
   
        
“On my way to the Institute, we’ll catch up later.”
   
       
Ally’s head snapped around, searching for the source of the voice.  A male Exceptional finished waving to someone off to his right, and then marched toward a street to the left.  She followed him at a safe distance, finding herself in another traffic pattern.  Several other Exceptionals were walking a similar path, hopefully heading toward the Institute as well.
   
       
Twenty minutes later, and with a few minutes to spare, Ally stepped into the lobby of the Institute.  The whole outside of the building had been made with some sort reflective material she had never seen before.  The large buildings across from the Institute were reflected so clearly Ally almost believed that she was seeing replicas that had risen across from them.  But once inside, the front of the Institute took on a whole new look.  Rather than seeing her own reflection in the windows of the Institute, she could now see the people and buildings outside.  She turned and peered around the lobby, first noticing that it was several stories high.  Directly across from where she stood, she could make out the higher floors, each ending in a balcony that over looked the lobby floor.  She was sure there were even more floors past that, but after the fifth floor, the ceiling jutted out over head, made of glass just like the rest of the inner windows.
   
       
The lobby of the Institute seemed crowded and Ally wasn’t sure how she would ever find Luke.  Just to appear productive, she began to weave through the crowd, looking for any Exceptional that might have some resemblance to him.  She hoped that since he had asked her to come here, that he was searching for her as well.
   
        
“You. Ordinary!” A voice barked.
   
       
Ally froze in place, recognizing the grinding voice that could only belong to an Exceptional Guard.  She turned around to face the fearsome man and tried to appear calm.
   
       
“I’ll need to see your work papers in order to allow you access to the building.”  He held his hand out and she slapped hers to her forehead.
   
       
“I left it at home,” she said.  She thought Sabine might have mentioned bringing her work list along, but Ally had left it sitting on the kitchen table.
   
       
“Then I’ll need to see you out.” He grabbed her arm roughly, cutting off her circulation with his strong grip.
   
       
“Wait, I’m meeting someone here.” She struggled against him but it was useless.
   
       
“Corporal Nicks,” a voice boomed. “You can release her.”
   
       
Ally should have been relieved that she suddenly regained feeling in her arm, but she recognized that voice all too well.  She turned and found herself face to face with Aden.  He towered over her, crossing his arms over his body.   
   
       
“I’m glad you got my message”.
   
       
So the message had been from Aden, not Luke.  She hadn’t thought about the possibility that he might be at the Institute, but here he stood.  Somehow, she didn’t think that his reason for bringing her here was backed by good intentions.  Ally had pretty good instincts, and right now a lump was starting to form in her throat.
   
       
“This way.” He put his hand on her back and started to move forward.  The gesture might have seemed protective coming from anyone else, but Ally found it threatening.  They walked across the lobby and stopped in front of a clear shaft that led from the bottom floor to the top.  Ally wasn’t sure what its purpose was until something large within the shaft glided down toward them and stopped level with the lobby floor.  Exceptionals stood inside the box, and when it opened they poured out into the lobby.
   
       
When the box was empty, Aden led Ally inside and pushed a button on the wall.  Two Exceptional Guards stepped in beside them and stood on either side of Ally.  She startled a little when they started to move upward.  She peered through the front of the glass, watching the lobby grow smaller as they rose.   They finally stopped on the fifth floor, and stepped out into an open hallway.  She was then led over to the high railing, which overlooked the lobby.  She could see the Exceptionals moving below and they were just big enough to make out some definitive features.
   
       
Aden peered over the edge as well and focused on something that brought a smile to his lips.  He turned to look at her, clasping his hands behind his back in the same moment.  “I’m sure you are wondering why I called you here today.”
   
       
Ally didn’t respond.  She avoided making eye contact by continuing to watch the Exceptionals below.  She watched as a new group poured out of two large sets of doors.  Then, just as she was about to look away, she caught sight of Luke, Pax, and Maver.  They were standing in the center of the room, looking over some papers in their hands.  Is that who Aden had been pleased to see below? She wondered if Luke knew she was here.  He didn’t look around or appear in a hurry.        

Aden’s hand slammed the rail in front of her and she jumped, turning to face him.

“Why did you bring me here today?” she finally asked.

He shot her a half smile.  “My son is hiding something from me, something I need to know.  I believe you may know what that thing is.”
   
       
Ally felt relieved that she could sincerely say,  “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
   
       
Aden’s brows furrowed.  “You are sure?”
   
       
She nodded, wondering why he brought her all the way to the Institute just to ask her this question, and why they were up on the fifth floor to discuss it.  Perhaps he was afraid that Luke would spot them in the lobby.  Maybe Asher was right, Aden may have been testing her usefulness in getting to the Institute.  His first impression hadn’t been great.
   
       
“Are you a good listener, Ordinary?”  He rested a hand on the railing.
   
       
“I can be”, she said as she held his gaze.
   
       
“I think today you’ll be a good listener.  I’m going to set you up on this railing, and I would ask that you not make noise… just yet.”
   
       
She didn’t have time to respond.  He grabbed either side of her waist and lifted her as though she weighed no more than a feather.  He set her up on the rail and turned her around, forcing her to put her feet over the edge.  He kept a hand on her arm, anchoring her to the railing.
   
       
The glass windows in the lobby swayed as Ally found herself in a state of vertigo.  She had climbed trees with ease, but looking down from five stories up was entirely different.  The floor below was hard concrete, and she would smash into pieces once she hit it.  For a brief moment she realized this would be a way to end a life of being indentured to Luke and his family, but she wasn’t so sure that that she wanted it to end just yet.
   
       
“Wh...why am I up here?” Ally’s voice quivered.
   
        
“Enjoying the view?” Aden sounded amused and Ally wish she had the courage to spin around and punch him in the face right then and there.
   
       
“Not particularly.  I could see just fine from where I was standing a moment ago.”
   
       
“For your own sake, now would be a time to make noise.” Aden spoke in her ear, his head so close she could feel his warm breath on her neck.  He placed his hand on her back and shoved her off the railing.  She screamed out at first and then fell silent, plummeting to the floor below.