The Executioner at the Institute for Contaminated Children (8 page)

“Not bad,” I said, though it still wasn’t crystal clear to me. “What was your last tournament?”

“We went skiing. Raced down the mountain through obstacle courses,” said Todd. “It was sah-weet.”

Impressive. I’d totally be down for that. Well, more like standing on the sidelines and rooting for the athletes. My competition was limited to a chair and a video game controller. Physical tasks were way too exhausting. 

Hailie’s eyes drooped. “Only because you showed off your skills on the snowmobile. So not fair.”

“Hey, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. Does it look like I have much of a chance to drive anything around here?” Todd looked at me. “My name’s Parks, by the way.”

“Yeah, he drives stuff.” Hailie rolled her eyes.

“He doesn’t just drive it, he rocks it!” Dan laced an arm around Todd’s neck. “My man here can get behind the wheel of any machine and do insane things with it. I don’t know how he does it, but he doesn’t even have to learn.”

Todd brushed off his shoulder. “It’s in the genes, D.”

“So worth it.” They clapped hands and I finished the rest of my muffin.

“You said I’d have to train, though. Exactly what kind of training would we do?”

I really shouldn’t have asked that question, because an evil grin surface on Dan’s mouth and soon spread through the rest of them like a virus. For a second, they reminded me of Eva back on the train. I swallowed.

“Oh, you’ll see. We’re gonna have fun with you, Donna.”

“Wait!” I almost heard a disc scratch in my head, my palms shot out to stop them and their grins waned. My face set, I wiped a crumb from my mouth with the back of my hand. I must have looked like a wannabe hard-boiled detective, although I’d rather be a lawyer. “First, I have to talk to Lenora. Where can I find her?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN—Escape

M
y brow twitched over the zero bars on my phone until I shut it off and breathed out. My breath collided against the door to the pool area. Dan said Lenora came here all the time after she taught classes. Her way of relieving stress, apparently. If she got stressed over that brief meeting, I hated to think what would happen in a full lecture.

Sure enough, Lenora swam laps in the pool. She looked pretty cool out there. Never thought I’d think that about a teacher. It reminded me of the time I tried swimming for a sport. But as with all physical activities, it drained my willpower. I walked over slowly and with caution, not wanting to “stress” her out any. Still, my odds were better asking her than the Vonster.  

“Um…Lenora?” It felt awkward not to address her formally, yet I had no choice. Couldn’t upset her.

She just finished a lap and surfaced. Water dripped from her toned body as she ascended from the pool. Her bronze hair clung to her face and neck. I bet anything guys snuck in the pool to watch her. Then again, I flinched at the thought of what she might do to them if they got caught.

My eyes fell on her black rubber gloves. Not suspicious at all. Now I was certain they had to do with her ability.

“Either you have guts or no one’s warned you to never interrupt my swimming. Why are you here?”

I gulped. Suddenly, it felt like I had walked into a lion’s den without a clue.

“That is… Pardon my forwardness, but…” I straightened and cleared my throat. Her expression was nonplussed, like she stared at a struggling slug. That wouldn’t do. Think confidence. Easier said than done. I’d never spoken to a teacher as an equal. I swallowed and my palms turned sweaty. “Somehow I find it difficult to believe a school that can afford an indoor pool can’t afford cable.”

She laughed through her lips. Was that a good sign? “Right you are. Things like television, cell phones, internet, they slow you down. They’re distractions. Here, we’re all about focus. And advancement.” Lenora walked over to grab her towel and dabbed herself.

My brow folded. I really couldn’t see it that way. Video games improved your perception and visual attention. I read that in a magazine once. Whatever, not my argument at the moment.

“Yeah, but I want to talk to my brother.”

“Oh? You have a brother? How splendid. Don’t worry, your family has been informed of your arrival.”

“That’s not fair! They should at least be able to speak with me. If you flaunt justice, why do you take away our basic rights?”

She smirked. “What is your name, Miss…?”

“Donalie Wright.” It amazed me how quickly I adapted to a different surname. I still missed my family like crazy, but I didn’t quite feel like the person I used to be when I didn’t know about my abilities. Like I’d changed in some way, or slowly molted into a different person.

Lenora laughed through taut lips. Thrice. “
Right
… Aren’t you the clever little sphinx?” Her tone rubbed me the wrong way. “I usually call my students by their last names, but...I think I’ll call you Donalie.”

Warm breath steamed through my nose; she was testing me. “I don’t want to cause trouble, ma’am.”

“Oh, but you will… You
will
.”

She walked off and left wet footprints across the tile.

The side of my mouth twitched. “Is that a challenge?” If so, I’d take it.

Lenora paused to look at me and then laughed. The sound echoed through the pool, until she walked through the exit, and took the laughter with her. 

Hot anger churned inside of me and pushed tears to the corners of my eyes. Damn, I really hated people like her. Judges on tall podiums looking down on everyone. It’s like they forgot their past, what it was like to be a student. Why couldn’t they come down from their thrones and remember they’d never want to go back?

Moreover…I wouldn’t be able to speak to Torrey in who knows how long…I wouldn’t know if Dad was out of jail…how he was coping…if Lisa was okay in school…how was Mom?

Damn it all.

My fists trembled by my side and I clenched them so tightly the skin of my knuckles almost tore open. My head down as I left the pool area, I turned sharply to see Eva walk my way with her squad. I bit my lip. This wasn’t just at all. It felt like they kept us in a prison despite our innocence. I ran towards her at top speed, head kept down.

She just about noticed me and said, “Hey Don—
na?!”
when I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her after me.

“Donna, s…slow down! What’s the matter? Where are we going?”

I didn’t stop even for a breath, I just wanted out.

We ran through doors and corridors, down walkways descending to the beach and countless stairs. I released her only when my feet hit the sand, and panted over my knees, the lake breeze soothing me like a gigantic fan.

Eva breathed heavily behind me, but didn’t say a word. I kept my head bowed. Once she caught her breath, she walked around me and lifted a hand to shade her face.

“How stunning,” she said to the sunset. I looked up. The sight clogged my throat. In a good way; in the way that I didn’t need to breathe.

The lake resembled a giant flat mirror laid on the floor, reflecting the sun and grunge clouds of orange mixed with blue.

“Yeah,” I said. We exchanged no other words as we walked along the beach. We removed our shoes; I loved the feel of cool sand on my toes. The temperature dropped fast with the sun, but it would still be a few hours before it got dark. I almost wanted to cry again. How did Eva know to not say anything? How could she be so mature?

Then it hit me and my lip trembled. What Eva had been through…what she went through still…could not have been easy. And I was too obsessed with getting points and showing off to my new…friends? No, Dan and those other people weren’t my friends. They hadn’t shared their darkest secrets or laughed at my jokes. Eva was more of a friend than any of them. And I? I was tactless. Hadn’t even asked her how she was doing, how she felt.

“Uh…so…how are you feeling?” I winced immediately. Too direct.

Eva smiled, looking ahead. “I’m…okay. For now.”

“I see. Did you eat already?”

“Haha, are you kidding? Twice.”

“Wow. Got a lot of points, huh?”

“Not enough for food. My squad members shared their portions. You might not be able to give away points, but whatever you buy with them is yours to donate. What about you?”

“Yeah…” My stomach growled. I just remembered I had killed all my points at breakfast. Oh man. I couldn’t picture Dan ever donating anything. Now really wasn’t the time to slack, but I felt so trapped within LeJeune. I didn’t want to go back yet. “Then…what squad were you placed in?”

“I’m with two other girls. One has a pretty freaky stomach.” She laughed. “Said she once swallowed a nail when she was a kid, but when they took her to the hospital, her stomach was empty. Like the acid dissolved the metal. When she grew up, she did some pretty dangerous experiments with what she could swallow. Turns out, she can eat metal.”

My jaw loosened. I wanted to hurl. “Unreal,” I croaked.

“Right? The other one…has the ability to stop and start her heart at will.”

My eyes rounded. “You’re lying.” I heard of people able to do that, but more like ancient monks, not scrawny teens who couldn’t so much as control their angst. 

“Nope. Said her record was five minutes. She’s been training to increase it.”

Wow. Did that mean if you trained your ability to the max it really could turn into a super power?

“But…those abilities won’t help them gain many points, will they?”

Eva smiled. I immediately felt like a jerk. “You’d be surprised. They tell me people get pretty creative. Plus, the rarer your ability, the more points you get for using it.”

“Hmm.” My hands intertwined behind my back and I stared up at the sky until we reached the waterfall I had spotted from the institute’s window.

“Race you to the fall! Last one there’s gotta eat sand!” I shouted.

“Are you kidding, I’d die!” she laughed and we both ran for it. In the back of my mind, a part of me wondered about the probability of swallowing a nail and actually having the right contamination to digest it. 

Even you could probably guess…not very high.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN—Phone Service

T
he rush of the waterfall hushed our breaths. Eva and I panted as we leaned over our knees and squinted from the sweat which streamed into our eyes.

“So who’s eating sand?” said Eva.

“Nu-uh. I was kidding.”

“Oh, come on. You lose so you change the rules? That’s hardly fair.”

I looked up at her. The sun beamed in one of my eyes and I squinted more.

“You’d really watch me eat sand?”

“Only because I know you wouldn’t pass it up.” She grinned and I rolled my eyes. She was right.

I looked around. “Huh. Would you look at that? I don’t see any sand around here. Only rocks and shrub.”

Eva pressed her lips together. “Lucky you. Maybe we should head back.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny.”

“No, I’m serious. I think it’s getting late—”  She lifted her phone to eye level and her mouth dropped. “No way! I have bars!”

“What?” I scrambled to her side, but stopped mid way and pulled out my own phone. “Oho, you’re right! Yes! I’m calling Torrey!”

“Who’s Torrey?”

“My little bro, hold on,” I said, lost for breath, this time for a different reason.

I nearly passed out at the sound of his voice on the other end. “Sis?”

“Torrey!” My voice broke. “Torrey, it’s me!”

“Yeah, no kidding. Don’t shout. You know I’ve been texting you since yesterday. What gives?”

“I have no service here, duh. Didn’t you get a call from the institute?”

“Oh, yeah. Some Von guy called. Said you arrived safely and phones weren’t permitted at school, so you couldn’t call. I thought that was bogus. You’d have definitely found a way to sneak it in.”

Torrey had a point. Too bad that wasn’t the case.

“Did Dad make it out okay? What about Mom? How’s Lisa?”

“Keep your spotted panties on—”

My palm met my forehead. I had him on speaker. Eva gasped in disapproval and shook her head, though she chuckled under her breath.

“That’s inappropriate, Torr,” I murmured. Great, now Eva would think I came from some vulgar family.

“Tell that to my coach. Dad came home a few hours after you left. He was furious that we couldn’t speak to you. Tried contacting the school and what not, going on about basic civil rights, but he still couldn’t get through. So he decided to drive up there himself.”

“Dad’s coming?” My face lit up and fell at the same time. Would they let him see me, or arrest him again?

“Actually, he wanted to come. Mom wouldn’t let him. Thought he’d get arrested again.” Mom was a step ahead of me. “So she went instead.” My eyes widened. “We’ll see how far she gets. If she’s not there by tomorrow, they probably sent her back or something. Dad’s okay. He’s kinda…mopy, but still himself. I think he had a drink before bed last night. Hadn’t done that in a while.”

I swallowed. Hopefully, one glass is as far as he’d go. Dad had a tendency to drink in rough times, like when his father passed away. This couldn’t be that bad, could it? The text message Eva showed me floated through my mind and I shook it off. It could have been a prank.

Probability? Low. 

“Lisa’s school registered her as contaminated. Looks like I’m the only one who hasn’t shown any signs yet. And you said I was the weird one.”

That eased my mind a bit. At least Torrey was still his old self.

“Being contaminated is not all that bad. It has its perks. Mainly, honing your abilities,” Eva said beside me.

“Woah, who said that?” gasped Torrey and I sniggered.

“Her name’s Eva, she’s rooming with me.”

“Nice! Is she hot? Does she like younger men?”

We both snorted and laughed aloud. Torrey was in that phase where he just started to notice girls. He went on and on. I smiled. He missed me and I wanted to see him so badly. But it would be a while before that happened, even if Mom did manage to make it to the institute to see me. A really long while.

“Listen, lil bro, I gotta go. I’ll come back here where there’s service and call you again if Mom doesn’t show, okay?”