Fear Me Not (The EVE Chronicles) (14 page)

Shadus says something to his group of friends, who all looked worried, and walks over to my table. He sits, expression cold.  

 “Bad things happened because he was friends with me,” He says finally.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I say softly. “There was going to be an interracial fight. It was only a matter of time.”

“But because he was friends with me, he was the one it happened to first.” Shadus looks over at the rest of his friends. “And it’s only a matter of time before something happens to them, too.”

“Aiden’s just an idiot, Shadus. Shadus!” I snap. “Look at me!”

His eyes rivet on me, startled.

“Listen carefully,” I lean in. “Aiden’s kind of a moron. He’s hot-tempered. The fight just now had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with Aiden’s temper.”

“He doesn’t know about the
yali
,” Shadus says. “I should have told him, and then he wouldn’t have –”

“You think he’d understand
yali
? You think any of your friends would understand? They’re humans. They like you. None of them would just stand by while you were being bullied. Especially not Aiden.”

“You did.” Shadus’ voice is almost accusatory.

“Because I’m trying to cultivate a goddamn respect for your culture,” I hiss. My anger at him and the stress of worrying about Alisa all compound on each other, making my voice acidic. “Because you told me you wanted it. Because – because I thought that’s what you wanted!”

“I
wanted
you to be my friend,” He says sharply.

“But you said we shouldn’t be!”

“I said that out of concern for your safety. I wanted to see if you’d value your morals over my culture. But what I wanted –”

 “People don’t become your friends when you decide you want them to, or not want them to! There has to be trust, and mutual attraction, and – shit – the other person has to want to be friends too! It’s not just what you want that fucking matters! I’m not going to drop everything and become your friend suddenly just because you say so, because the next day you’ll say you don’t want to be friends again, and it’s just a shitty roller coaster ride, and I’m done with it!”

I slam my tray down. Shadus’ eyes are two hard, frigid rubies staring up at me. I barely hear the high-pitched whine through my fury, but it grows so loud in a split second I can’t ignore it. Shadus looks around cautiously. The entire crowd searches for its source, and someone shouts.

“The oven!”

Everyone’s head rivets to the kitchen behind the food counter, where smoke billows from one of the stovetops. One oven is glowing with an unholy greenish light, like it’s on fire from the inside. The lunch ladies shriek and wave towels at it, one of them running for a fire hydrant. There’s a split second of panic, students shrieking and Gutters yelling ‘fire’, and then the high-pitched whine reaches its zenith.

Shadus’ eyes widen as he lunges across the table and pulls me under it in one smooth movement.

“Get down!”

The explosion rocks the cafeteria, drowning out the screams. A blaze of white light blinds me, a heatwave rolling through the air like a bursting star. The force of it steals the breath from my lungs and the temperature makes me flash-sweat. The noise clears before the smoke. People are crying, screaming, the sound of sneakers squeaking on linoleum as they run away. Security is shouting, and as my vision clears from the flash, I see them running in and out of the cafeteria, dozens of them steering students and lunch ladies safely around the twisted metal debris of the lunch counter. Food falls as charred ash in the air. The explosion stopped short of the tables, but the kitchen is a massive, blackened hole in the cement. Mr. Targe and Ms. Gianca run in with fire extinguishers, but there’s no fire to extinguish. All that’s left is ash and smoke.

Shadus slowly helps me out from the table. He clenches his fists, eyes riveted to the kitchen as people scream and run in front of him like a panicked herd.

“Wh-What,” I catch my voice. “What was that?”

Shadus turns to me, expression quietly terrified.

“
Zol
.”  

 ***

“That’s impossible!” Ms. Gianca says, pacing the principal’s office. “
Zol
is
impossible
.”

“It was
zol
,” Shadus insists, head held high. Principal Freeson quirks a brow at him. Ms. Gianca snarls.

“Yulan, tell them
zol
is impossible.”

Yulan, hands behind his back, patiently evens out his voice.

“Shadus, you know as well as I
zol
hasn’t been seen for over seven thousand years. Not since Asara and Umala.”

“Ask anyone in that cafeteria. Ask the humans, even,” Shadus insists. “They’ll tell you the oven was glowing green and smoking before it exploded.”

“It could’ve been a leaky gas main,” Principal Freeson offers.

“Nonsense,” The head security, a beefy man with a nametag that reads BROWN shakes his head. “CIA sent in maintenance to check and recheck all the mains before school started. We’re the safest-built building next to the Pentagon.”

“He’s right. This had nothing to do with human technology flaws. You saw it yourself, Gianca – there was no fire to put out afterwards. It was not combustion,” Shadus says. Gianca throws him the nastiest look I’ve seen from her yet.

“
Zol
is impossible –”

 “I am aware this is a legendary ability your goddesses had, am I correct?” Freeson asks. Yulan and Gianca nod in sync. “And that’s all very well and good, but we can’t go basing things blindly on your religious figures. If you’ll pardon my brashness in saying so.”

“Exactly,” Gianca points to Shadus. “And it’s childish to assume otherwise.”

“I assume inspectors will be called to determine the cause of the accident?” Yulan asks the principal. He nods.

“Of course. Until then, I’d appreciate it if we’d keep these discussions private. The President has briefed me on my course of action – I’m to hold a press conference outside the gates and tell the world the cause is being determined. In the meantime, we as faculty must strive to keep students and parents calm. A leaky gas main is a very viable conclusion.”

Yulan smiles, obviously agreeing. Shadus’ frown is deep and carved in shadow, but he doesn’t say anything more. Principal Freeson looks to me, and grins.

“Thank you, Victoria and Shadus, for coming in. We appreciate every student’s account of the event, as it helps us determine the truth. You’re free to go.”

My nervous legs take me outside, following Shadus’ clipped gait. When the door is closed and at least three halls behind us, Shadus scoffs.

“Unbelievable. I can’t believe your government approved these idiots to run this school.”

“I’m just glad…
shit
, I’m glad no one died.”

“There are burns,” he says. “The lunch ladies are burned quite badly. As is Raine.”

My heart sinks. “She jumped over the counter just before it, didn’t she? I saw her blue skirt, but I didn’t know if that was really her.”

“She’s brave,” Shadus snorts. “Brave and stupid. She saved that lunch lady’s life.”

“That wasn’t really
zol
,” I say. “Right?”

Shadus lifts his head higher. Students crowd in the halls, rumors flying about the explosion – a terrorist attack? Accident? Or was it the Gutters? The Gutters murmur that it was the humans. Everyone is suspicious of everyone else.

“It was
zol
,” Shadus says. “There are scent-tapes we found in Latori’s library that describe the smell of
zol
. I’ve smelled it during my studies. And that – the smell of it just before – that matched perfectly.”

“And the green light?”

“A side effect of
zol
as well. Creatures and objects being manipulated glow pale green.
Zol
was primarily used on electromagnetic fields of living things, but it seems it has an effect on the electricity of your human technology as well.”   

“So one of the Gutters in the cafeteria –” I swallow. “One of the Gutters has
zol
.”

“And Gianca is denying it,” Shadus says. “Your human police will no doubt be called out, and investigations conducted. They won’t find evidence of arson, or even accidental combustion. There is no mechanical error to find. So they’ll lie, and blame it on a burst gas line.”

“The
sotho
aren’t going to like this either,” I add.  Shadus smiles bitterly at me.

“Oh, no. You misunderstand how they think. The
sotho
will be
overjoyed
. They’ll send
mharata
to sniff the
zol
user out. And then they’ll start fighting over who gets to control the
zol
. This will turn the tides of everything – the faction power balance, our society, the
Ki’eth
faith.”

Shadus puts a hand on my shoulder, his touch feather light and hesitant. He smells like wood ash and the sharp scent of boy - sweat and soap. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for our argument. I was being an ass. And I was wrong.”

“I was wrong too. I lied. You and I can definitely be friends. I
want
to be friends,” I insist, my words harder and truer.

Shadus smiles, now much more practiced. It’s soft, and he aims it at me with a certain gentle sorrow in his ruby eyes.

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

His smile renders me quiet. It suits him much more than his usual glare. His cheekbones and profile aren't quite so savage, his expression isn't twisted. He almost looks happy, for once. Sunlight filters like gold bars through the windows as we stand in the hall, watching each other. I’m watching an alien who’s proven to me he’s so much more than that, and he’s watching a human girl who is covered in scars, and risking another scar by being honest.   

“It’s not going to be easy,” he says finally. I grin crookedly.

“Welcome to Earth. Nothing is ever easy.”

The investigators come in a black van later that day, flanked by police. White letters on their jackets read CIA, and BOMB SQUAD. They quarantine the entire west wing of the main building, thick yellow DO NOT CROSS tape cutting us off, and gruff policemen guarding the borders. Security patrols tighten up, and Shadus tells me the
patra
fights in the forest have been called off for now. The faculty is edgy – the principal doing daily rounds of the campus and ordering Taj to give out even more detentions for tardiness or skipping class.

The thick air of suspicion doesn’t lift, even with Owakess approaching. The Gutters should be happy, filled with holiday spirit, but instead Ms. Gianca is snappish, Yulan always looks tired, and none of the Gutters will look at a human without at least slightly glaring. There are exceptions, of course. Some Gutters and EVEs stay good friends, like Dakota and her Adjudicator. But everyone else is too torn by fear to try to fake friendly anymore.

“Everyone will calm down when they release a statement,” Dakota insists around a mouthful of fish sticks. Principal Freeson set up a surrogate cafeteria in A building, but it’s crowded and noisy, so most of us like to sit on the lawn for meals instead. It means being glared at by patrolling police and hearing the faint screams of frenzying reporters and protestors, but at least there’s fresh air and space.

“I’m not sure about that.” Ulsi, Dakota’s culture partner and a Gutter with the longest hair I’ve ever seen, grimaces. Her pale gray eyes stand out beautifully against her velvety, dark skin. “Gutters aren’t so quick to forget, and even slower to forgive. And we’re very suspicious. Even if the investigators tell us the real reason, I doubt any Gutter will be put at ease by it.”

She downs a vial of emotion, and I sigh and lay back on the grass.

“My Dad’s been calling non-stop. He wants me to come home.”

“M-Mine too!” Dakota’s eyes widen.

“And mine as well,” Ulsi agrees.

“But I can’t go home,” I continue, staring up at a single puffy cloud as it scoots across the sky. “We need the money.”

Dakota shoots a look to Ulsi, and then tries to perk up the conversation.

“Aiden’s got d-detention, but he gets to stay. I bet if t-the explosion didn’t happen right after, they would’ve expelled him.”

“Melune is leaving, back to the reservation,” Ulsi adds. “And Trok, and Saqiri. A lot of Illuminators are leaving.”

“Why?” I knit my brows. Ulsi shrugs, smiling.

“They are cowardly. They always run at the first sign of hardship, or danger.”

“Not all of them. Raine saved that lunch lady.”

Ulsi is quiet for a moment, as if thinking about it. She downs the rest of her emotions and nods.

“Yes. But she is
sotho
. She is different.”

“What about your holiday? Kisakiss? They can’t just c-cancel Kisakiss.” Dakota frowns.

“They won’t,” Ulsi says. “It is important now more than ever.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because, it’s the dance-story of the Grand War.
Zol
was used in that explosion, and the dance-story warns of the dangers of
zol
. It is perfect.”

“So it really
was
zol
?” I tilt my head. Ulsi nods hers furiously.

“Oh, without a doubt. Every Gutter in the cafeteria smelled it.”

“What the heck is s-soul?” Dakota asks. Ulsi starts explaining it to her, and I take it as my cue to say goodbye, chuck my dinner trash away, and go for a walk. The sunset is weak, barely dusting the naked treeline with pink and indigo. Security patrols, but they ignore me, mostly focusing on the building, and the protestors on the fence. The explosion only fueled their madness, and the media frenzy. Sometimes it’s hard to sleep when they chant all through the night.  

A Gutter in the cafeteria used
zol
. Purposefully? Accidentally? I don’t know. The fact I don’t know who it is makes me wary of nearly every Gutter that passes me on the path around the school grounds. I can’t even look them in the eye, anymore. I’m not helping the problem of suspicion between the races, I’m just adding to it, but I can’t bring myself to do anything else. I’m scared. Fear courses through me like lava. If the Gutter did that to an oven, I know exactly what they’d do to my brain.