The Executioner at the Institute for Contaminated Children (13 page)

“Yeah, I’m not participating either,” Eva said the day of the event. “It’s a bit much. Maybe next time.”

I nodded. We were to go get breakfast, but when I opened the door to the hall, I nearly tripped over a large white package. Eva glanced over my shoulder.

“What’s that?”

I shrugged and picked it up. Heavy, that’s for sure.

We walked back inside the dorm room and I set the package on the bed. When I opened it, the first thing to stick out was the small note.

Sorry.

I swallowed. Sorry for what? What was he talking about? I was the one who should apologize. 

“Um…who’s it from?” said Eva.

Oh. Right. She couldn’t tell. “It’s…it’s from Dan,” I said.

Her eyebrows shot up. “You sure? There’s no name on it.”

I nodded. “Positive.”

My hands unfolded the suit within and both our eyes widened. The silver jumpsuit was the most expensive accessory in the items required for the event. It cost 3,500 points.

“No way…,” said Eva. “How could he afford this?”

My mouth opened and closed again. I hadn’t told Eva about what I’d seen on Dan’s watch. She had enough to deal with. But maybe I really should…

“I don’t know,” I said, folded it back up, and frowned. “But I will find out.”

“Are you gonna wear it?”

My head turned to her. “Absolutely. I don’t care why he gave this to me; I’m taking advantage. It’s not like I can lose points, right?”

Eva nodded seriously. “Agreed.”

After breakfast, I purchased the extra accessories, one of which was actually rental gear of some kind of glass helmet that looked like an upside-down fishbowl, zipped up and we both went to the hall where everyone, observers, participants and teachers alike gathered for the event. Dan had to be somewhere in the crowd, but I couldn’t see him yet. He wasn’t likely to participate, considering he was “exempt” and all, whatever that meant.

“Didn’t think we’d see you again, Mr. Vaughn,” Eva said next to me and I turned. He stood behind us.

“I trust you didn’t miss me,” he said with a grin. His Joker-like face still gave me the creeps.

“You can’t miss someone you don’t really know,” said Eva.

“Shush, that’s not very nice,” I hissed beside her with pretence, loud enough for Von to hear. Who knew, maybe he was a judge in the event.  Moreover, would he know what happened to my mother? 

“So? He owes us an explanation of what it is he actually does for the institutes. Or have you been running around for the government,
sir
?” She added the honorific for sarcasm’s sake, and it definitely came out as cold as intended.

Von forced a laugh. “Indeed, Ms. Surrontez. But I always come for the events. They’re so fun to watch.” He completely dodged the question.

“Yeah, I bet.” Her frown didn’t fade. She probably thought along the same lines as me. I definitely took her side. The nerve of him.

His attention turned to me. “I see you’ve earned enough points to participate, Ms. Wright. Good for you.” A glint appeared in his eye.

“Thanks,” I said. I didn’t mean it.

“Attention, please,” Lenora’s voice came from the center of the hall, and we all turned to face her. She stood on a pedestal that rose in steps to the center. She wore a suit herself, likely to be a referee, and glittered in the chandelier light, more stunning than ever.

“Ooh, she said ‘please’,” Eva snickered beside me.

I pinched my cheek. “Yeah, not sure she meant it.”

“With regret, I must inform you of a deep tragedy,” she said and a murmur carried through the crowd.

Eva and I exchanged a wary look. What tragedy?

“Another one of the Institutes for Extraordinary Children suffered a bombing today.”

I paled, as did almost every student in the room. Suddenly, Von’s presence behind me felt like a nuisance.

Why…? Did people really hate us that much…because we were different? 

“There were no survivors.”

Now the gravity in the room slammed us to the ground. No one moved or spoke.

Someone yelled out, “H…How do we know you’re not lying?”

“Y-Yeah,” another voice shouted. “We don’t have access to the news. How do we know it’s the truth?”

The murmur rose to a loud buzz. Von tensed behind me and I swallowed. Not good. This could form into a mob.

“Silence!” Lenora’s voice echoed like a whip, and everything immediately died down. Damn. Had she been in the army or something?

“Very well. Here, have a look.” She tossed a newspaper into the crowd and everyone in its proximity immediately scrambled for it.
Like dogs to a bone
, I thought. I’d never stoop so low.

“No way!” one of the students cried. “She’s telling the truth…”

I don’t know if that didn’t hit me because of my abilities, because I already knew it was the truth, but everyone else screamed out, the noise loud enough to deafen my ears. Eva covered her own beside me and winced.

“I’m getting out of here!” someone yelled.

“I don’t want to die!”

“Move! Get out of my way!”

The doors slammed shut before anyone could run out and everyone stilled.

“NOBODY GOES ANYWHERE!” Lenora screeched. “Do you run out of school just because another school gets bombed? You cannot stop your life because of terrorism. That is exactly what they want. Ms. Donalie Wright, tell us, what is the probability of LeJeune getting bombed?”

My heart fell into my gut as every face turned to look at me. Suddenly, I could see Dan in the crowd, and he looked straight at me. This was bad. I couldn’t do this. Sweat streamed down my forehead into my eyes. I thought I might pass out.

“Your answer, please,” she said. Once again, she didn’t mean it.

Eva clasped my wrist in encouragement, and I blurted out, “O-One in twenty-four.”

“You see? Not terrible at all. Mr. Verity, she tells the truth, doesn’t she?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am,” said another student. He probably had the ability to confirm the truth.

“There, now,” said Lenora and clasped her hands. “All is well. We can proceed with the event.”

It didn’t feel well. Still, students moved to prepare, but the topic did not recede. Everyone still talked about the bombing, and nothing would stop us.

“Donna, where are you going?” Eva called behind me.

“I’ll be back,” I said to her worried face.

I moved my way through the crowd towards Dan. I wanted to thank him for the suit. He deserved that much if not my apology, right?

Yet the closer I got to him, the further he drifted from me, until I could no longer track him in the crowd, and by the time everyone dissipated, I stood alone at the center of the hall.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX—Volunteer

“A
ll participants report to the basement. The event will begin in fifteen minutes,” came Lenora’s voice.

LeJeune had a basement? I guess if it had floors above our dorms, it likewise had floors beneath. I blinked and let the crowd carry me, now separated from both Dan and Eva. Maybe they had already gone downstairs. No, Eva waved at me from the side. Observers weren’t allowed to go downstairs. Just then, I noted the large monitors installed in the walls. So that’s how they’d get to see the event. Glass helmet under my arm, I walked through the pack down several flights of stairs. Geez, how many did this school have in total, thirty-two? I hated to think what it’d be like getting all the way back to my dorm. Maybe I’d just collapse at the foot of the stairwell.

It wound down this time instead of zig-zagged. The entire passageway was made of stone, no windows in sight, and the temperature dropped significantly. At this rate, we’d go below the lake. Wait a minute…it hit me like a shard of glass. Don’t tell me…this event was under water?! In this cold? We just had the first snow a week ago! No way…

Was it too late to back out? I swallowed and looked back at the pack that shoved me forward. This better be worth the stinking points.

We descended into a literal underwater cave. A large window chamber showed us the water below the frozen lake. My eyes widened. The cracks formed puzzle pieces illuminated with rays of sunlight. It was like being inside a snow globe, or a Christmas ornament. I’m pretty sure I played in a world like this once. Man, I hoped Eva could
see
this…

My eyes focused below the ice and I realized there were some kind of machines in the water. Sort of like motorbikes from Atlantis. My face fell and I heard Todd exclaim, “Woo-hoo, yes! Show time, baby. Watch me.” He cracked his knuckles and stretched.

I rolled my eyes and my head slumped to the side. He’d win this for sure. But we didn’t know the event in its entirety just yet. Maybe I stood a chance. I had, after all, mastered a handful of racing games. In the air, on land, underwater. Sure, simulations weren’t quite the real thing, but my reflexes were still pretty good. Plus, I wasn’t a half-bad swimmer, though a bit rusty.

All right! Let’s do this.

My gaze scanned the crowd until it came across a concession table, filled with snacks and a punch bowl. Hopefully they wouldn’t charge points for those too, would they? My eyes widened at the person who stood there and poured himself a drink. Daniel. What was he doing down here? Was he allowed to participate? Or had he decided to crash the competition?

I swallowed and approached the table. He seemed to be in some sort of argument with the girl with white hair and piercings, the one from the quiz bowl.

“You spiked this, didn’t you?”

“Oh, come on, Dan. Loosen up. It’s just alcohol. Not gonna kill anyone.” She swung the ladle around carelessly, likely already woozy.

Where
had
she gotten alcohol? They couldn’t possibly sell it at the store. Of course, I did hear some students got packages from home time to time. Maybe her friends sent it. My lip twitched. She should’ve gotten caught.

Dan shot her a nasty look over his cup. “Wanna bet?”

“Hey, Dan—” I began and froze at the hostile expression that stared back at me over his cup. He emptied it in one swoop. Hadn’t he just been upset it was spiked?

“Well, lookie here. Nice suit.”

“Um…thanks. I mean, thanks for giving it to me. I wouldn’t have been—”

His laugh was scornful. “Aren’t you something? I don’t even have to write my name on the note and you already know it was from me. You know, if I used my abilities the way you flaunted yours, the world would be a better place.”

I scowled. “What’s your problem?”

“
My
problem?” He tossed the cup in the trash over my head and breathed in my face. I whiffed the alcohol and scrunched my nose. “Trust me…you don’t wanna know.”

The way he stared at me, you’d think he tried to send me some kind of message. I didn’t flinch, just stared him dead on until he pulled away and leaned against the table, arms folded and head averted. My eyes shot in another direction only to catch sight of Hailie. She gave me a spiteful look and I bit my lip. I did
not
need another enemy right now.

“It’s a scavenger hunt,” said Dan, and my head turned back to him, startled. “You’ll do well.” He didn’t look at me. His eyes swam in the distance instead, cast down. My mouth hung slightly loose. Hadn’t he tried to push me away just like everyone else? No way. He really did want me to rise to the challenge.

“Why?” He turned to me now. “Why didn’t you stay away?”

Something clenched my throat and I taut my fists. “My instincts told me to investigate.” I couldn’t read his expression, whether it was relieved or disappointed. I scoffed. “What, did you think I snuck into your room because I liked you? Because I wanted to be friends or felt sorry for you? Gimme a break. Better people than you deserve my time, Daniel.”

He smirked. Didn’t expect that. “Oh? If you say so.”

My lip quirked in a revolted expression and I looked away.

“I only hope your instincts tell you when you’re lying to yourself. As for me, personally, I’d prefer if you were telling the truth.”

My jaw dropped in disgust and he walked away with a satisfied grin.

What a cocky bastard! I ground my teeth. If he was participating in the event, he was
so
going down.

But…he wasn’t mistaken. My eyes fell to the floor. The sad thing was I
had
felt sorry for him. And some part of me did want to know what was wrong so I could help. As much as he scared me, I could understand what it meant to not have anyone who could relate. How Lisa must have felt when she wasn’t allowed to express her abilities at home… How Eva felt when her family shunned her because of her contamination. The worst.

Now, though, Dan had gone too far. He clearly didn’t want me to care. So I wouldn’t anymore. I let go of all my concern, and it dissipated into the floor, to the depths of the lake, irretrievable.

“Participants L through T, step up to your platforms,” Dan announced.

I looked around in frenzy as students moved forward. Wait a minute, Dan wasn’t participating, he was volunteering. I couldn’t understand it. He didn’t need the points, from what his watch said. But neither could he participate. I scratched my head. There was only one reason left. He needed to be here. Why?  

I blushed a bit. He had given me the suit. Could it be…he was here to see how I’d do? I shook my head. No, that wasn’t possible. Besides, my gut almost scolded me for my foolish thoughts. That wasn’t it at all. But then, what was it?

Curiously, they placed on their helmets, which attached to long black tubes for oxygen. Hmm…interesting. They were sort of like space suits. This would be way more awesome if it were virtual.

“The instructions are as follows,” Dan’s voice rang. “You are to propel yourself underwater using the water scooters. You may leave your scooter for up to five minutes to retrieve an item. Most items will be shiny and fairly sizeable, so you’ll be able to spot them, but I cannot tell you what they are. If you don’t make it back to your scooter in time, it will pull back and you’ll have to swim back to the starting line. You’ll follow the trail around the institute and will be able to go out to a hundred foot radius. After the first group is done with their collection, the remaining items will be gathered and new items will be scattered during intermission. The smaller the item, the more points it is worth. The most expensive item is worth 5,000 points. You have one hour. You may begin…now.”