Haeven (9 page)

I tried to apologize to Penny but she held
her hand up to show how averse she was to hearing anything I had to
say. "You should get ready for bed."

"But..." I started to protest then quickly
realized the futility of it and trudged down the hallway towards my
bedroom.

The next morning I woke quite late. I felt
much better and tried to be optimistic as I encouraged myself to
believe that things wouldn't turn out as badly as I imagined they
would. I immediately went to the kitchen hoping to find Penny there
but only found a note from her instead.

There is fruit in the refrigerator and some
cereal in the pantry. Eat some breakfast and get ready to start
your day. I will be here soon.

Love,

Penny

I pushed the note aside and found the fruit
and cereal like she suggested. After eating and carefully cleaning
up I went to my room and got dressed. I fixed my hair as best I
could and went back to the kitchen to wait for Penny.

The minutes passed and soon an hour had
ticked by. Just as I considered going to the living room and
watching TV while I waited my buzzer rang. I went to the door fully
expecting Penny but Carah was the one standing there instead.

"They're ready for you," she said without
ceremony. "Is there anything you need to do first?"

I nervously looked over my shoulder and shook
my head.

"Good," she stepped toward the elevator and I
reluctantly followed her after closing my door.

Carah didn't look at me or say a single word
the entire ride down. When we reached Herrik's floor we walked down
the hallway towards his apartment. I couldn't help noticing that
there were no people along the way. All the offices and other rooms
we passed were completely empty. Herrik's door was wide open when
we got to it and Carah led us straight in.

I followed her beyond the living room and
down the hallway past the garden and along another hallway. At the
end was another set of doors and these were wide open as well. I
could hear the hum of dozens and dozens of voices as we neared and
fearfully slowed my pace then stopped.

"What are you waiting for?" Carah glanced
back expectantly.

"What's happening?" I asked.

Carah came towards me and tried taking my
elbow but I shook it away. She moved around behind me and I thought
she was about to shove me towards the doorway. Avery was standing
just beyond and to the left of it though and when he saw us I
immediately felt his strange grip again forcing me forward. I hated
giving in but it was useless trying to fight them both. I stepped
across the threshold then quickly scanned the crowded room.

It was oval shaped and paneled in a dark,
grainy wood that was shining beneath a heavy polish. There were
seats circling and spiraling inwards towards a table set-up in the
middle of the room. At the table, which was also oval in shape,
were seated about 15 or so different people.

One side seemed to be Herrik's kind and the
other Penny's. He was seated at the head and there was an empty
seat to his right and directly after that sat Artur. All the other
chairs were taken and as I made my way towards the table I glanced
at a number of the faces seated around it. On Penny's side I
recognized Jesse and one or two other's from his band. Across from
them sat Carah and someone I remembered seeing in the hallway the
day Herrik had brought me to my apartment.

Avery pulled the chair beside Herrik and had
me sit down. Then much to my unease he stood directly behind me
with his hands clasped in front just below his waist. I could feel
everyone's eyes on me as I took my seat and the muffled
conversations from around the table slowly died down.

Once I was settled Herrik stood up. He raised
his hands and gestured everyone else to take their seats. 
Those who were standing quieted and took the outer chairs before
turning their eyes toward the table.

"Thank you all for coming. We have an
unfortunate occurrence to judge and the fate of two of our
residents to decide. As you all know our society is one of truth
and discretion. We live apart from the world beyond these walls not
only to protect ourselves from it but to protect it from us. It is
a life lived in a delicate balance and it must be regarded as such
for if any incident, however minute, were to expose what we have
created here it would mean the doom of us all."

There were nods of understanding and assent
all around.

"Richard," a gentleman on Penny's side of the
table stood up. "One of your people has violated our trust and
risked our exposure by taking an unpledged, under-aged guest of
ours to an unguarded, highly public event. Emily," Herrik turned to
me, "is in a very precarious situation. One of our kind," here he
sighed and bowed his head, "one of our people nearly took her life
then in a reckless act of contrition used his blood to coerce her
from death. Neither Artur nor I yet know the full extent or
consequences of his actions but she may very well be altered beyond
our ability to help."

"What?!" my mind cried out. I fretfully
looked up at him wondering what he meant by his statement but
Herrik was scanning the crowd. It didn't seem to make any sense for
what I thought was taking place.

"I am deeply against...was deeply against
having someone so young among us but as you all recall this is not
the first time we have felt this type of obligation to protect and
nurture a blameless bystander to our...our predispositions,"
Herrik's gaze fell on Penny. "Though it fills me with regret I have
decided that for her protection and ours Emily must stay with us.
Emily must stay until we can fully guarantee her safety."

As soon as I understood what he was saying I
tried to stand up and protest but there was Avery's strange
presence again holding me in place and controlling my actions.

Looking around I saw that even though there
were several who shook their heads in disagreement most were
nodding and accepting Herrik's missive. It seemed apparent that I
would have no voice in the matter.

"With her fate decided we must turn to
Jesse's."

My eyes shot across the table to where he sat
near Penny and my heart and head filled with dread. Jesse stood up.
Herrik took my hand as well as the person's on his left. Like a
signal everyone reached to their lefts and rights and grasped the
hands of the people beside them. Artur nudged me and offered me his
hand which I fearfully took.

My stomach leapt when I felt the conjoined
thoughts of everyone around the table. Herrik's were the strongest
and most prominent at first but it was too chaotic to make any
sense of whatever it was he was thinking or feeling. Then I felt
Herrik brushing anything irrelevant and unimportant to the moment
aside. He seemed to sort through all our thoughts and ideas and
when he came to my mind focused on the information he wanted and
brought it to the forefront of everyone else's.

There they were; the events exactly as they
happened. I was in the hallway ringing Jesse's buzzer. He was
introducing me to his friends then inviting me to the show. They
heard our conversations and saw our actions from the time I showed
up at his apartment until the time Avery delivered me home. The
images were crystal clear; a precise record of everything that had
taken place.

When it was over I felt the others drawing
away from us one by one until finally it was just Herrik and me. He
carefully extracted himself from my thoughts then let go of my
hand. "He took a deep breath, "You've seen. Now you must
decide."

Artur stood up and looked at each of the
people that were sitting around the table. Richard nodded then
someone I didn't recognize from Jesse's side stood up and
reluctantly seconded his acquiescence to Artur.

"Jesse, however inadvertently and
unknowingly, has forfeited his right to live among us." Artur
flatly stated.

My eyes flooded with tears as I watched
Jesse's face fall in shock and disappointment. Avery seized him a
moment later and led him away.

"Penny," Herrik called her to everyone's
attention. She nervously stood up for a brief moment and
acknowledged him then sat back down.

We linked hands again but this time Herrik
sifted through Penny's memories and shared them with everyone
seated around the table. When it was over no one seemed to know
what to do. Penny hadn't really done anything wrong other than
leaving me in my apartment alone. Herrik had never specifically
said that she was supposed to stay with me or given any explicit
instructions for her to follow. At least that seemed to be how she
remembered it.

I turned to Herrik but he wouldn't look at
me. I felt my hand still firmly grasped in his and briefly fought
to get away but he squeezed it tighter sending a shiver of pain
through my palm. I wanted to cry, I could feel the tears
threatening to spill down my cheeks. I could still feel him like a
ghost in my thoughts. It was agonizing and I realized that it
wasn't just my own distress that I was feeling but his as well.

After several minutes of indecision Artur
stood up and he met the eyes of each of the people seated around
the table. One by one they either nodded or shook their heads. They
seemed to be having a vote of sorts and once I realized what was
happening I tried counting the yesses and no's to see if I could
figure out if the same fate would be decided for Penny as it was
for Jesse.

I missed the first few responses but by the
time they were done it appeared to be a split decision. Herrik was
the only one who hadn't offered an answer.

Artur turned to him, "Herrik?"

Herrik shook his head no then, "No," he
mumbled.

It was over. Everyone stood up and began
filing from the room. There were whispered conversations all around
but between the noise of the crowd exiting and the murmur of all
their collective voices I couldn't make any sense of what they had
decided and whether they were satisfied with the ruling Herrik had
so obviously made.

"I don't understand," I leaned towards Herrik
and whispered. "What's happening? What's going to happen to
Penny?"

Artur was the last to stand up and when he
did he tossed a look of disapproval to Herrik said goodbye to me
then turned and walked away.

"What is it Herrik? What's wrong? Why is
Artur so angry?"

I didn't understand; wanted desperately to
know what was wrong but he wouldn't answer. "Come, I'll take you
home."

I was so frustrated by then that I lost my
temper and screamed at Herrik, "This will never be my home!"

He looked down at me, "I'm sure if you knew
the alternative you'd be thankful to call it that."

I was already imagining the worst for Penny
and there was something in his expression and the way he said it
that made me reel with fear, shame and anger. He didn't bother to
stop me when I ran off. No one did. I made it to the elevator and
punched the button for my floor over and over again until the doors
finally closed and it lurched upwards.

When I got to my floor and hopped off the
elevator I was surprised to find that the door to my apartment was
wide-open. I slowly walked in and uneasily called out once or
twice, "Who's there? Is that you Penny?"

I waited for a response but none came. I
cautiously walked in and crept along the hallway until I reached
the kitchen. Nothing at all seemed amiss but I was still leery and
continued walking, carefully picking my way towards my bedroom. As
I drew near I noticed that the light was on and there were
shuffling noises coming from within.

When I was close enough I peeked through the
doorway and much to my surprise saw Artur and Avery walking out of
my closet. They each had a bundle of clothes slung over their arms
and they were bringing them to my bed where a good deal of them
were already laid out.

"What are you doing?" I demanded when I
realized who they were.

Avery answered with, "What does it look
like?"

I knew very well what it looked like, it was
the 
why
 that I didn't understand.

"Hmm, you're not very intuitive are you? No
sense of deduction in you whatsoever." He turned back to his
task.

"No, I guess I'm not," I eyed him expectantly
but he just ignored me while he worked.

I looked at Artur imploringly but he refused
to acknowledge me and simply began folding and packing the things
from the bed into the boxes they had originally come in. I tried to
figure out what they both seemed to think I should have already
known. I guessed that I was being moved but other than that I was
at a loss.

"Am I being sent to the dorms?" I asked
remembering Carah had mentioned them once before. I tried picturing
what they would be like in my mind and under the circumstances
imagined them to be more like a prison than anything else. It
seemed as likely a place as any for Herrik to want to send me after
what I had said and done.

Avery dumped the last of the closet's
contents on the bed and began helping Artur tuck them away. "You
could help," his voice was full of disapproval.

"I could and you could answer my questions."
I turned intending to walk away.

Artur cocked his head at me and before I
could get out of the room pulled me back. I thought it was Avery
and was about to turn my wrath on him but the next thing I knew I
was standing directly in front of Artur and he was the one glaring
down at me, "You are a selfish little beast of a girl aren't you?
Do you have any idea what you have done? What you have forced
Herrik to do?"

"I...I..."

My mind flooded with images and I was
ruthlessly made to understand.

"Oh," I cried when I realized what was
happening. "He lied...he lied to...to everyone..." I whispered.
"He...he changed Penny's memories and...oh...no...no...they...they
would kill him if they knew wouldn't they?"