Authors: Stephanie Thomas
The arena lights come on.
My world fades to black.
Chapter Four
While I am out cold, I think of Gabe. We are around seven years old, and we are sitting in a classroom—a dim little room with long tables, each with four chairs, and two holoboards at the
front, behi
nd a small, metal desk for the instructor. Gabe and I always sit together. It’s as if we naturally gravitate to one another, inseparable. I haven’t ever thought of my life without him in it, because I’ve never had a moment when Gabe wasn’t a part of what I was doing.
It is history day in our class, and the boards flicker on, words appearing across the length. The instructor taps one board with her hand, her eyes on us. “Today we are going to learn about the roles of Seers and Citizens. Please start copying notes.” The first thing we ever did for this particular teacher was to copy a ton of notes that I never read again. Even today, this woman still insists on making us take copious amounts of notes, and one-by-one we all pull out our holopads and begin keying in the novella of background about Seers and Citizens.
Sometime later, when it looks like most of us are done, the instructor stands from behind her desk and approaches her podium. Fingers curl around the edges as she regards us with her unforgiving stare. “We are, of course, superior to Citizens. They are normal people who depend on our gift to make sure the Dreamcatchers do not come back and take them. Without us, they would always live in fear, never feeling safe, always looking behind them and at one another in suspicion. Who could be the Dreamcatcher?” She speaks as if she is setting up the plot line to a story, and Gabe giggles at the ominous tone she uses.
“Seer Gabriel, do you think something is funny?” The teacher asks, pausing her lesson to address the squeaky laughter that erupts from Gabe.
But he explains himself, nonetheless, as if he’s not remiss for laughing during the middle of a lesson. “It’s just that…you make it sound like a story, Instructor. Like it isn’t something that is real. How do we know how they’d live without us anyway? Haven’t they always lived with us?”
“This is not a laughing matter, Seer Gabriel, and I am assigning you a demerit for your behavior.” She taps the screen of her holopad and Gabe’s responds, the display brightening as the little number in the corner goes from a stellar 216 down to 215. Gabe has been saving up those credits for a treat from the snack room. Two hundred and fifty of them would maybe earn him some chocolate, which is a big treat in the Institution. “But you do present a good question. Have the Citizens always lived with the Seers? The answer is yes, they have, but we’ve not always been in charge.”
With another finger-push to her holopad, the image on the holoboard flips to a picture of the City. This picture was taken in the daytime, though the sky was still dim and foggy, like overcast weather that never quite went away. “The Citizens did not believe in our gifts at first. They would condemn those with the violet eyes for claiming they could See into the future. Some said we were paid by others to forecast one’s life, especially when those Visions included something a person did not want to hear.
“The Citizens always knew that there was a threat of the Dreamcatchers’ return, though, and one day, a great Seer, Seer Alene, had a Vision so clear and vivid that she could not bring herself to leave her own bunk.”
I lean forward on my seat and wave my hand into the air. “What was the Vision about?” My Vision hasn’t peaked yet. I am still just an ordinary Seer like the next seven-year-old, nothing special to add to the mix.
“It was about a Dreamcatcher army that came and stole hundreds of Citizens by ship, taking them from the City and disappearing forever.” The Instructor pauses, letting the horrifying truth of this sink in. We all know that Seer Alene’s Vision eventually came true. We already learned this last year, about the invasion that took hundreds of lives. “If the Citizens would have listened to the Seers instead of condemning them, then something could have been done. It was decided on that day, that in order to protect the City, all those who were born with the gift should be raised and trained to be the best Seers they can be. They must learn how to use their Vision to keep the City and its Citizens safe. So the Institution was created, Seer Alene was made the first Keeper, and here we are today.”
My dream flickers, threatening to fade away. The last thing I remember is Gabe pouting at the red 215 that blinks in the corner of his holopad, reminding him of his terrible mistake of giggling during a lesson. I pat him on his arm and smile, “Did you hear that? We are going to save the City.”
But Gabe doesn’t care. He worked hard for those credits, and losing even one of them is a terrible blow. The instructor turns the holoboard off and dismisses the class, but Gabe doesn’t move. I stay with him until the lunch tone sounds, and the only thing that gets him off his behind is the fact that it’s ham day in the cafeteria.
…
Gabe is standing over me when I come to. I’m no longer in the arena, but outside of it, hunkered in the corner of a busy hallway. There’s little time between each Training Game, so they probably dumped me in the first place they could in order to clear the floor for the next pair of teams.
“That was dirty of her.” Gabe kneels beside me, offering a hand to help me sit. I curl my fingers around his and pull myself up. “The trainer said that it goes to show us that you can’t trust anyone, not even your own teammates. They wanted her to do it.”
“That’s because she’s a jealous brat.” Anger boils inside my veins. “Rachelle is worthless. She always has been. And then she has the nerve to cheat?”
“It wasn’t exactly cheating if she was doing what she was told, Bea.”
Gabe sounds a little too much like he’s defending her, so I frown. “It’s cheating. We’re on teams for a damned reason.”
“But the Dreamcatchers can always infiltrate a Seer and then what? They’d be on our team too, and we’d never know it.”
“I don’t know, Gabriel.” By using his whole name, I let him know that I am pissed. “And you don’t know what happens when a Dreamcatcher catches a Seer. No one’s ever told us past the fact that it’s not a good thing.”
He backs off and rises to his feet. “Well, it’s over now, and they won. There’s other stuff to be done, and we still have our debriefing to go to.”
“Whatever.” I pull myself up and stand.
Beatrice.
Closing my eyes, I try to hide from Gabe that the Vision is coming back. It isn’t normal for me to get two of them in one day, and it immediately makes me feel weak and exhausted. I can’t hide it from him, though. He already knows by the way my eyes begin to glow.
“Bea?”
“I don’t know…it’s coming back.”
“Now?” Gabe moves behind me and puts a hand on my elbow. “Let’s get you seated. Are you Seeing anything yet?”
“No, I just hear him. He’s calling my name again.” A whirlwind begins to spin inside of my head. I feel as if the ground is slanting, and I can’t stay steady. Gabe sits me down just in time, because I’m certain that my feet are no longer on the floor.
Beatrice.
When the Vision should come, it doesn’t. My sight narrows into a tunnel of black with a pinprick of light. The light slowly becomes brighter and wider, eventually erasing the darkness, and my sight returns.
“What’s happening?” Gabe stands in front of me, hands on his knees, peering into my eyes. His face is ruddy, slightly swollen from the jolt of electricity shot through his head. Somehow, though, he still looks attractive, like a war-torn soldier fresh from the battlegrounds.
“It went away.” I rub at my eyes until everything is clear again.
“Should we report it?”
“No, there’s nothing to report. I didn’t have a Vision. Nothing ever came.”
Gabe is just as confused as I am. His eyebrows tilt downward, furrowing curiously. “That’s strange. You didn’t See anything, but you heard something?”
“Just my name.”
Gabe glances around us, watching combat-booted Seers gear up and get ready for their time in the Training Games. They aren’t paying any mind to what we are doing. I don’t think anyone saw. Or at least, I hope not.
“This is probably something we should keep to ourselves,” Gabe suggests.
“Okay.” I try to stand again, but my balance is still shaky. Gabe is right there to help me. Again. “Let’s go get cleaned up. The debriefing is in a half hour.”
Gabe links his arm through mine and we start down the hallway back to our bunks. Gabe’s is on a different floor, but he takes care to see me all the way to my door. We pass by Seers dressed in jumpsuits and some in their traditional black robes.
I feel like time isn’t quite as it should be, and sometimes I swear I hear the voice still calling my name. The edges of my sight are blurry, like the foggy condensation spreading over the windows lining the hall. Each one offers a view out toward the City, its buildings tall and covered with soot from the exhaust of all the traffic.
I barely make it to my room before collapsing inside the door. The sudden shift of weight nearly drags Gabe down with me. He reaches out and catches the closet handle to pull himself back up.
“Whoa, there.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong. Something doesn’t feel right.” I’m still on the floor where I want to be. I know if I get back up, I’ll just fall right down again. In fact, I don’t even bother to open my eyes because the world is spinning, and I’m somehow grounded in its center, surrounded by thoughts and voices.
“Maybe I should call for someone.”
“No! No. Don’t. Just…get me to my bed. I’ll say I’m sick. Go to the debriefing without me.”
“Obviously something is wrong. We should get someone in here to check on you.” Gabe half carries me to the bed, where I flop down and prop my head up on a pillow. “Or take you to the infirmary. That’s what the Keeper is going to order when she finds out you are missing.”
“Clearly something is wrong, yes, but I don’t want to be checked up on. They will quarantine me and keep me under observation. I won’t get out for days, and then I’ll fall behind in my training. It’s just not worth it.” I dare to open my eyes. After squinting, Gabe becomes less fuzzy. He doesn’t look happy with my suggestion, his lips turned downwards and pressed together into a line.
After a pause, Gabe responds, “Fine. I’ll leave you here, but if something else happens, I’m going to report it, and you can’t do anything to stop me.”
“That’s a lame threat.”
Gabe grins. “Not as lame as you look right now.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha.” I don’t find this amusing, especially since I am, in all sense of the word, lame at the moment. “Get out of here before you are late for the debriefing. Tell me what they say, especially about that little cheater, Rachelle.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Gabe mock salutes me with two fingers to his forehead before he leaves. As soon as he is gone, I want him to come back.
But I have to figure out what is going on. I close my eyes to try and start the Vision again, but I know as well as anyone else that there’s no way to bring on Visions. No Seer possesses the power to bring on the Sight; the Visions come whenever they want, wherever you are.
I feign sickness for the rest of the day. No one comes and bothers me, not even Gabe, since he knows it will draw attention. As time passes, my head begins to feel better, but the strangeness inside of me doesn’t change. I feel like a cat stuck in a pouncing motion, except I never come back down, and my heart remains in my throat.
I want to know who is calling me. And most importantly,
why
? I need to find out from someone who knows the ins and outs of the Institution. Someone who is not the Keeper, and someone who won’t report back to her.
I know the perfect person, though I’ve never even met her.
Chapter Five
It’s past curfew, and they will kill me if I am caught. Gabe makes the rounds tonight, checking each bunk to make sure everybody is in bed, and according to plan, though he has no idea where I am heading, he lets me slip out of my room and leave the Institution.
Wearing my black robes, I slink through the shadows of the streets, staying close to the damp, brick walls of the buildings. It’s easy to slip into the emptiness of the City. Even easier when the curfew wasn’t in place. It’s always so dark and dismal that my black shape is easily swallowed up by the baleful, urban surroundings. Most of the buildings are tall and loom over me by hundreds of floors that must take minutes to reach, even by elevator. Their windows are made to reflect their surroundings; each building mirrors another, which mirrors another and so on and so forth. Even if the sun shone very brightly in the City, the buildings would blot it out. But mostly, the sun never penetrates the fog of a million cars and cycles, or the search helicopters that are constantly keeping surveillance over our precious town. Or the force field that arches over the towering buildings.
There are still puddles on the ground from the previous rainstorm, some of which reflect the light, which winks in the ripples. I must be careful because even in these shadows any little noise can give me away.
When I get to the end of a row of stores or houses, I press myself against the cool stone facade of the building and peek around the corner. Down the street, a huddle of soldiers gathers, machine guns slung over their backs. These are the Watch, a team of militiamen who are assigned to uphold curfew and maintain order on the streets. Their commands: shoot to kill. They are unforgiving, especially now with the City’s heightened security against the Dreamcatcher invasion.
I have to be careful or I will end up on the ground, bleeding out onto the moist concrete. They do not know who I am. They don’t know I am the Seer who saved the City—or rather, alerted them to an impending attack. They won’t care when they shoot me either. I am just another person who should be inside her home, nestled in a bed, tucked away against the threats of the Watch and Dreamcatchers alike.
But I need to find the Widow, and she’s somewhere across the street.
When I’m mostly certain that the Watch is no longer looking, I sprint across the pavement, avoiding the puddles as I run. My shadow flickers against the street lamps, and just before I melt back into the safety of an alley’s darkness, the Watch turns and heads in my direction. Their boots fall heavily on the ground, slowly at first, but then quicker as they close in. “Hey! Who’s there?”
Now I must keep running.
I only vaguely know where I am going. The Widow is rumored to live in the basement of an abandoned bar called Lucky’s. Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue where Lucky’s is. All I know is it is on the east side of the City by the park, and so that is where I start to sprint with the sound of at least a half dozen sets of footsteps behind me.
I’m drawing too much attention to myself. No one should be running at this time of night. Especially not a girl with about six men behind her. It doesn’t take long for other Watchmen to realize that something isn’t right. As I fly by another corner, their beady little eyes follow the blur of my form, running eastward. Soon, the half dozen men behind me turns into a full dozen, and probably even more than that. I have to lose them, but where?
I hardly even know where I am. Seers very rarely set out into the City. The City is meant for the Citizens, and the Seers are meant to stay in the Institution. It’s just how things are expected to be, with the exception of the Widow. I don’t know how she got to live outside of the Institution, or why, but if I manage to live through this, I’ll have to remember to ask her.
I pass a stairwell that descends into the depths of the subway, and I duck inside. The trains have no passengers at this hour, so the tunnels beneath the City are quiet, the silence interrupted only by the occasional sound of water dripping from the ceilings. Some of the dim lights flicker on and off, and the sound of electricity shorting in and out mixes with the hollow quiet of a vast space. I swear I can feel the floor tremble, as if one of the trains were coming into the station, but maybe it’s just expectation or even hopeful eagerness that makes me think so. I’ve never seen a subway in person before, but I don’t have any time to waste standing here thinking about it.
Behind me, feet begin to stomp down the stairs. There is little time to breathe before I find myself jumping down onto the tracks and sprinting through the eastbound lane. The shock from the impact of my shoes hitting the ground surges up my ankles and into my legs. I attempt to stay close to the wall, trying to blend into the deep shadows that swallow up the light as I disappear into the tunnel. One of the rails is bigger than the other two, and the white bolt of lightning printed on it warns me to stay away.
Eventually, I think I lose the Watch. I don’t hear their feet anymore, and I’m coming up on another station. It’s the stop I need: City Park. I pray as I climb up the platform that the stairwell exit gates are not pulled shut. Luckily, they aren’t, and I slip back into the cool, night air and take care not to draw any more attention to myself. The Watch is probably still searching for me, and if I am not careful, I’ll end up caught. This time, though, I decide not to run. No matter what, I am not going to take flight again and draw more attention to myself. I can make it to my goal if I use some patience, which reminds me of a lesson taught to us in combat class. Sometimes, the best way to defeat your enemy is to just be patient.
I look to my left and to my right. The left leads to the park, and to the right is a small neighborhood. I seriously doubt that Lucky’s bar is in City Park, so I turn to the right and start in the direction of the houses. I’m so close to where I need to be, I can feel it.
After sneaking through the streets, I get to a corner where I can see an old wooden sign protruding from the face of a house. The sign reads “Lucky’s”—and I am sure in luck. I reach the door just as a group of Watchmen turns the corner. Without knocking, I turn the handle and slip across the threshold. The door clicks shut behind me and I am alone.
I press my back against the wall and stand clear of the windows. Outside, I can hear the Watch marching by, and some of them are whispering about where I could be. Their shadows hesitate against the dirty windowpanes. Their hands move, pointing in many different directions before they turn and all head the same way—away from here.
“You’re a brave little one.” A gruff voice breaks the daunting silence the Watch leaves behind.
I squint in an effort to see through the blackness. It is the first time I’ve taken a moment to actually look around the room, which is cloaked in black, lightless. Chairs have been turned upside down and hung on the edges of the tables. The floor is dull and wooden, with darker knots the size of fists. A splintery bar top stretches the length of the far wall, and abandoned, unused stools still stand in front of it, like people waiting to be served. Behind the bar, tucked in a corner, is the Widow. Even in the darkness, her violet eyes are bright. She must have recently had a Vision.
“I have questions.”
“I know. I’ve Seen.”
This surprises me. I’ve never been in anyone else’s Visions before, at least, not that I know of. “You Saw me?”
“I did.” The Widow leans forward so I can see her face. It’s wrinkled and wizened, like the trunk of a tree. Her skin is a dark tan, as if she’s spent her whole life out in the sun. “Those Watchmen were close, weren’t they? In my Vision, I couldn’t see if you broke free or not. Looks like you have.”
“Thankfully.” I wrap the robes around my form. The hem is dirtied and soaked through with grime and rain that is creeping up and into the thread. “And barely. At one point, I didn’t think I’d make it here.”
“Well, you are here, young one. Tell me what you need.” She pats the bar top in an invitation for me to join her.
I peel myself off the wall. After pulling one of the bar stools out, I climb up and sit, crossing my legs in front of me. “It’s about one of my Visions. It’s not normal, and I don’t know what to think about it. If I tell the Keeper, she’ll quarantine me.”
“She will.” The Widow laughs and uncomfortably stares into my eyes. “What is strange about it?”
“When it is over, I can still hear it. Someone calls my name over and over again. The boy from the Vision.”
The Widow flinches. It no longer seems as if she is looking at me, but rather looking through me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“This is troubling news indeed.”
“It is?”
The Widow nods and glances away. “Many years ago, when I was still a student at the Institution, something happened. A Dreamcatcher scare. And it happened to me.”
“What does this have to do with my Vision?” I ask, though I try not to be rude about it.
“Everything, my dear. Everything. You see, after my Visions, I had a very peculiar symptom. I could hear the people in them, though the Vision was over. Eventually, the Dreams became so similar to the Visions, I couldn’t tell the difference. I reported what was happening to our Keeper at the time, and immediately I was quarantined. For months, they kept me locked away in a padded cell, and as long as I was there, the Vision never returned.
“But the second they let me out, something happened. I crumpled to the ground as another Vision came to me. I felt like I was being attacked from the inside out. It was violating.”
“What was the Vision about?”
The Widow looks at me then looks back at the window. “It was the same one I’d had before. I saw a black bird, a raven, and it flew over the City. Then the bird disappeared. But I could hear it speaking, and it called my name before telling me to ‘Beware what you cannot See. Trust what you cannot trust.’”
I hook strands of my black hair behind my ear. “So, what happened?”
“The Keeper put me back in the cell. Eventually, I was dismissed from the Institution. They told me that it had to be that way and wouldn’t say anything more. I found out later that what I was hearing was the voice of a Dreamcatcher, channeling into my Vision. The enemy had figured out a way of infiltrating the Institution, but it only worked with me. To rid themselves of any pending invasion, the Seers let me go.” The Widow lowered her violet gaze, looking away from the door and everything around us.
I could sense her sorrow, because for a Seer, the Institution is our only home. We do not have families, for once we are born and display the traits of those who can See, they take us away and raise us together. I never knew my parents, never will, and I don’t really care. The only semblance of family that I do have is Gabe and a few others whom I call friends: Constance, Brandon, and Mae. If I got put out of the Institution as well, I can only imagine myself missing them.
“You cannot let them know, young one. Keep this to yourself. Find out what it is the Dreamcatcher wants, and maybe you can help to prevent these sorts of attacks—”
“Attacks?” I put a hand to my head, imagining something burrowing into my brain, taking control. I remember Paradigm and how she looked at me—right at me—and no one else.
“That is what it is, my dear. This is an attack. We have been preparing for an ambush, and they have started with you,” the Widow says. I imagine Paradigm again, this time in the interrogation room, so sure of herself and unafraid. I can hear her words:
Do you hear me, girl? He might come for you, but he doesn’t know any better…
“
And if you can figure out what they want, you might even be able to help us all.” The Widow lays a hand over mine, and her touch is cold. I want to pull my hand away, but I know it will be rude, so I keep still. “But you have to find out.”
The thought of this already weighs heavily on me. I do not want to be any more involved in this war than I am. I want to blend in with the other Seers and prepare to fight alongside everyone else. I want to stay with Gabe.
I can’t let the Keeper find out.
“You have not told me…what is your name?” The Widow finally takes her hand off of mine.
“Beatrice.”
The Widow smiles, stepping into the shadows. “Well, Beatrice, you better get back to your bunk now. They will probably make their rounds soon.”
She’s right. Gabe’s shift will end, and someone else will take over. Someone who won’t let me get away with not being where I’m supposed to be.
“Thank you for your help…um…I don’t know your name either, come to think of it. I’ve only ever heard you called ‘The Widow.’ Why is that?”
She laughs bitterly and that whimsical look returns to her eyes. “Ah, my Beatrice, I’ll tell you. As it was then and is now, you cannot marry Citizens when you live in the Institution. This is an infraction, but one I was willing to break to be with my love, Cameron. They found out soon after, and he was taken to the gallows for breaking a high law. I was so heartbroken then, that everyone came to know me as the Widow. That is all I wish to be called, to forever remind our government and the Institution of what they stole away from me.”
“I am sorry.” It’s all I can think of to say.
“Don’t be sorry, just be smart. Don’t let my mistakes become your own.” She moves her hand, gesturing for me to go. “Now hurry before you get caught.”
I don’t have anything else to say to her. But when I leave, I take a new wealth of information with me. One, beware the Dreamcatchers. Two, do not tell the Keeper about the strange Visions. Three, do not let the Institution take away what I love.
It’s the last one that haunts me the most.