The Princes of Tangleforest (10 page)

Johnny picked up their cards and put them away while Sean went over to the bar and brought back a tray with five different-colored shot glasses, setting them on the table.

“This game is really simple,” Zachary said and handed Tanner a silver flask. All you have to do is pour the contents of this into one of the cups, and I’ll guess which one.”

“Whatever,” Tanner said. Lame. Wanting to get on with it, he started unscrewing the lid.

“One minute, before you do that…” Zachary said. He turned to Sean. “The tie, and let Tanner see it first.” Sean showed Tanner a dark tie and put it up to his eyes. “Can you see anything?”  Zachary asked.

“No,” Tanner replied.

Sean took the tie back and tied it around Zachary’s eyes. Zachary turned around, no longer facing Tanner. “Now pour the contents into one of the glasses.”

Tanner glanced inside the glasses at what appeared to be water. He smelt the top of the flask—no odor—and decided to pour its contents into the red cup.

“Did you pour it?”

“Done.”

“This is very important,” Zachary said, still facing the opposite direction. “So please pay attention. Saying nothing else, and slowly, one by one, from
your
left to right, tell me the colors of the glasses.”

Tanner shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the twins and noticed that they were suddenly fidgeting. “Blue… pink… red… purple… yellow.

“Here are the rules,” Zachary said as he turned around. “The first rule is the most important one. Do
not
tell me, under any circumstances, where you poured it… or I will make Jules drink it.”

Tanner felt his heart quicken by a tad. Something was wrong.

“Is that understood?”

“I don’t know.”

“You agreed to play,” Zachary said firmly.  He snapped his fingers in the twin’s direction. Sean, with napkin in hand, snatched the flask from Tanner’s hands. “You got it?”

“Yep,” Sean said.

“There is no turning back now,” Zachary said. “So you had better listen up.”

“Look,” Tanner said, not liking the new smart tone Zachary fed him. “I don’t do threats.”

“You poured concentrated liquefied arsenic into one of the five glasses. It is odorless, tasteless and deadly toxic. I will guess which one you poured it in by drinking one at a time until only the glass with the arsenic is left.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I understand your skepticism. Nevertheless, let’s not forget rule number one; if you in any way indicate or try to give away the true identity of the cup, I will make Jules drink it. Are you willing to take the chance that this is a joke?”

“That would be murder! Games are one thing, but that’s stupid.”

“Yes, you would have murdered her, by being ignorant. Your fingerprints are all over
your
flask that you purchased online.”

Tanner looked at the flask that Sean held with the napkin. Sean pointed at its corner. “You even splurged for initials.”

Tanner stood up abruptly, his heart already believing what his head didn’t want to admit.  “I don’t want any part of this.”

“It’s only a game,” Zachary mocked. “Do as I say, and we’ll get through this. Now I don’t plan on anyone dying here tonight, so follow the rules. This isn’t my first time. Let yourself enjoy the adrenalin rush. Sit.”

If pure adrenalin made you feel like you were going to puke, Tanner wanted no more of it. He thought about all of Julia’s warnings, about everything she had said about them getting more and more dangerous. No wonder she chose to leave the freaks. “Let’s get this over with.” He sat back down.

Zachary said, “Johnny is going to hand me one glass at a time. From left to right, the first one is blue.” 

Tanner watched as Johnny handed Zachary the blue cup. Zachary’s hands shook, which intensified Tanner’s fears. Zachary licked his lips but said nothing. In one quick burst, he drank the contents and slammed the cup on the table. “Now, if I already picked wrong, the arsenic will affect me in one to five minutes. We’ll wait.”

They waited. Even though Tanner knew Zachary had picked up a safe drink, his hands shook, and each minute that went by he felt more and more sweat accumulate on his forehead.

“Time,” Johnny said peering at his watch.

Zachary said, “Johnny, hand me the pink cup.”

When Johnny handed the cup to him, Zachary didn’t say anything or hesitate; he quickly poured it in his mouth and waited until time was called again.

Tanner thought his heart would burst out of his chest… the red cup was next in line. He fought the urge to jump the table and spill the glass because he would rather something happen to Zachary than to Julia. He sat still with his mouth shut. His eyes began to burn as he held back tears of anger. He was horrified that they would go to such extremes to fake him out—at that moment he had nothing else to hold onto.

“The red cup,” Zachary said. Johnny handed it to him. Zachary held it in his shaky hand and brought it closer to his mouth. He stopped and cocked his head. “This cup holds the poison.”

Tanner released his breath and sat back in his chair.

Zachary yelled, “Psych! You thought you had me, huh? I know it’s the purple one.” He tipped the cup up and drank it down, smiling victoriously.

Tanner felt his stomach hit the floor. “Oh shit!” he screamed. “I put it in the red cup!” He stood up and pointed at Zachary. “The poison was in that cup!”

Zachary pulled the blindfold off and stared wild-eyed at Tanner. He glanced at the twins and then back to Tanner. “No, you didn’t. It was the purple…” He coughed and grabbed his throat. He stood up and started spitting on the floor and holding his stomach. Hunched over, he began to gag and convulse.

“Do something!” Tanner yelled at the twins. “Go get help!” He raced over to Zachary, grabbing his shoulders as Zachary stood up and turned to face him. It took Tanner a second to recognize the expression: amusement.

Zachary smiled, followed by his silly giggle. He pointed at Tanner and burst into loud hysterical laughter. “You should have seen your face, Dude.”

Tanner turned when he heard the twins laughing behind him. Johnny fell to his knees, laughing in long shrieking cries. Sean held his stomach as tears rolled down his face.  Zachary laughed all the way over and opened the movie room door. Julia about fell down, she had been leaning against the door. This made the boys laugh even louder.

Since Tanner’s wobbly legs refused to hold him up any longer, he sat down. The geeksters had gotten him good. If that’s what needed to be done in order to be included in their circle, it had been worth it.

Chapter 16

“What’s going on?” Julia hadn’t succeeded in getting any information because the Princes had not stopped laughing. She studied Tanner, who sat at the table, his hand over his chest like it kept his heart in place. His eyes glistened with confusion. She
had
warned him. “What happened? Zachary, what did you do?”

When Tanner spoke it cut the boys’ laugher short. “That was great! I’m impressed. You knew exactly which one I picked. How did you do that?”

Zachary looked at him with all seriousness. “I can read minds.”

The boys busted out laughing again.

Julia shook her head. “Tanner?”

“They played a little game with me,” Tanner said all smiles. “It’s fine…”

“They obviously scared you to death. You’re as pale as I am. This isn’t funny.”

“Chill out, Julia,” Tanner said meekly. “It’s cool.” He turned away from her to look at Zachary whose laughter finally started to fade.  “So? Am I in?”

“In? Now that is really funny. Do you seriously think I would fall for your dumb charade?”

“What?” Tanner stood straight up. “I don’t understand.”

Zachary adjusted his tie. “Who do you think you are dealing with? Some moron? I knew what you guys were up to.” He looked at Julia. “But I haven’t figured out why. Why would you pretend to want to be our friends? What is it you want? Why the big show?”

Tanner’s mouth had dropped open, words seemingly caught in his throat. His attention slowly turned from Zachary to Julia. She didn’t like the way he glared at her.   

“Come on Sean,” Johnny said. “All that laughing made me hungry.”

“I think I smell cake,” Sean said.

They ran down the stairs.

“Did you two honestly think you could fool me?” Zachary said as he stepped toward Julia. “Did you forget I can read people? I changed the minds of an entire school. If I keep this up, I can change the world. I will make it a better place.”

“You’re delusional,” Julia said. “You’re not making anything better by controlling what people think. This is all about you and your hunger for power.”

His brows came together and his mouth tightened. For a second she thought the vulnerable Zachary she had known for most of her life would reveal himself. Instead he vigorously shook his head like he was getting rid of any negativity. Squeezing his eyes together for a second, he stared at her in all seriousness. “This is about being kicked, punched, thrown around, humiliated, called names… I’m doing something positive about it. You don’t get it. You fit in, both of you do—even though you guys have jets, you aren’t wired the same way we are.”

“I don’t think Julia fits anywhere,” Darla said.

“Besides,” Zachary continued, “you know I don’t control these kids. I simply gave them a different perception of what they have been told since they were born. I let them see that nerds, as everyone liked to call us, are not weird or different. That’s what’s been programmed into their minds.”

“What about the games, like the one you played on Tanner?”

“No one was ever in real danger. I just wanted to make my point.”

“Maybe not this time, but I’ve watched you do some pretty stupid stuff.”

“My choice,” Zachary said. “But I don’t have to defend myself to you. You’re not my mom or my girlfriend. Why don’t you kids make like the creepy arachnids you are and web away?”

“Sucks to be you,” Darla chimed.

Julia didn’t see him leave but heard Tanner practically running down the stairs. The front door slammed shut.

“I don’t think you’re a nerd, Zachary,” Julia said at the top of the stairs. “I think you’re a jerk.”

“All you had to do was ask if you needed something.” She heard Zachary say as she walked down the stairs. “All you had to do was ask.”

Once outside, Julia and Tanner walked down the sidewalk in silence. Even though the night felt warm, the October air had begun to take on the scent of autumn. Julia hated cold weather, but she didn’t mind the months that led up to it. Yet she couldn’t enjoy it at that moment because Tanner gave off an air of his own: gloom. 

She didn’t know why she had tried to help him in the first place. She didn’t know why she didn’t tell him good luck and pretend she had never met him. Every time she stood near him, looked at him, talked to him, it made her feel close to miserable.

It made her crazy knowing the reason she didn’t stay away: she had this tiny bit of hope that he would start liking her back, if he could only feel a smidgen of the love-sting she felt. Maybe if she changed her hair, or clothes, or dangled dangerously from a tall building screaming his name
…

“How did he do that?” Tanner finally broke his silence.

“I don’t know. No one told me what he did.”

“He knew what glass I picked even though he was blindfolded and turned the other way. Could he tell by the sound of my voice? The twins didn’t say anything.”

“What color was his shirt?”

“What?”

“Zachary’s shirt… what color was it?”

“Red.”

“What color cup did you pick?”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” he said, even though he stopped walking like he wanted her to explain.

“What color was the tablecloth?  Oh yeah, and when I first got there, he asked me those weird questions like, ‘Have you
read
any good books lately.’ There’s no telling how many red things he had planted in that house. He’s probably been setting you up all day.”

Tanner held his breath in his mouth, the dim streetlights balancing on his puffed cheeks and his disappointment.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have known that he couldn’t be fooled so easily.”

He let the air out loudly as he started walking again. “Maybe if you—oh never-mind.”

“What? Say it! You’re saying this is my fault, aren’t you? You think it is, don’t you?” She tried to hold back the weakness in her voice.

“You haven’t wanted to help me from the beginning. For all I know, you sabotaged this on purpose. ”

“That is so not true.” She put her hands on her hips. “And so unfair! I was really trying to help you and everyone else at that stupid school.” 

“I’m sorry. You’re right. It doesn’t matter now anyway.  I don’t know what to do. My only chance to learn that stuff is blown to hell.”

“What were you planning on doing with the information anyway?”