Chapter 24
River watched Simon out of the corner of her eye. He had been sitting in the same position for the past hour and twenty-nine minutes, just staring at Tiri.
River knew that Simon didn't trust her, but that was silly. Tiri wouldn't hurt them now that she wasn't activated. She had tried to tell Simon that, but he had just nodded and continued his scrutiny.
River stretched out her arm and let her fingers brush slowly down the walls, reading the words and the pain.
Very faintly she could feel the happiness and laughter that had filled the room for the first couple of days that she and Tiri had lived there. She could feel the sadness, the despair and fear, and finally the madness that had filled the room. And, most recently, she could Tiri try to chronicle her history on the walls, to try and organize the information that was bottled into her head and threatened to make her explode.
For once, River was glad that she couldn't hear the other children in here, except for a faint echo now and then. She used to hate it, to rave to Tiri that this world wasn't real, that it didn't exist. Sometimes, she still believed that.
Tiri shifted slightly in her sleep and Simon flinched, then resumed his normal position when she didn't jump out at him with a knife.
River slowly moved her finger across the wall, then froze when she heard Tiri's breathing alter slightly, becoming more rapid. It was a slight change, but she could pick out the pattern. Tiri was awake.
Tiri sat up suddenly, her eyes snapping open. Simon let out a rather high-pitched scream and toppled backwards off of the bed. Tiri stared at them, completely confused.
River didn't pry in her mind, it was rude. And with Tiri, she didn't have to hear the voices. She knew her friend's mind even better than Simon's, even though it was much, much more complicated. She could tune it out, make it background noise.
Simon, blushing furiously, stood back up. Tiri tilted her head.
"Simon," she stated. Simon blinked, then nodded slowly. Tiri continued looking at him, then turned her attention to River.
"Babbling brook flew back to the birdcage," she said softly. River smiled at her friend and nodded happily.
"Looked for you," Tiri continued softly, her gaze unwavering as she stared at River.
"But the river went underground and under sight, vanished and gone. Dam was punctured by the blue and I was falling, filled with holes and smashed to pieces."
River felt a tear slip down her cheek. "Sorry," she whispered. "River was to strong, took the girl and tried to drown her."
Tiri shrugged and stood up fluidly, balancing on the bed, which creaked alarmingly under her. Simon stared at her, eyes wide with horror. Tiri ignored him and looked at the ceiling, slowly tracing the words with her finger, much like River.
"Wrote it down," she said calmly. "Splashed the walls with blood, told my secrets. They liked that, made me safer, tamer, more receptive when there's no static to block the signal. It doesn't matter, can't stop the signal, it always gets through, riding on the blue and bringing the red." She stopped abruptly and pulled something out from a pocket, twirling it between her fingers. It was a red ink pen.
Tiri tossed it to River, who looked at it, then threw it as she could across the room. She watched it explode into a puddle of red, and felt happy. The blood was free, redeemed, and could make it's own life now. She looked up to see Tiri smiling back at her.
"You said she could help us escape, right?" asked Simon suddenly. River looked up at him and nodded.
"Run away," Tiri said, stepping down and off the bed and going over to Simon, who baked away uneasily.
"Want to go home," supplied River from the bed. Tiri smiled sadly, still staring at Simon.
"No home left, no paradise for me. You want to go back to Eden, don't care about the snake in the garden, waiting to tempt you." Simon blinked, then looked at River.
"What snake?" he asked worriedly, seriously hoping that there wasn't a giant python thing slithering around trying to kill people. He didn't think his nerves could handle much more.
"Ape-man," chirped River. She looked at Tiri and got up, going over to her friend to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"He's reformed, evolved." Tiri looked at her with a snort of disbelief.
"Jayne's a girl name," she snapped. "That's not evolution, it's all backwards, doesn't make sense. Ship's wings will fall off if you're not careful, boat to heavy with contradictions. Then where will you be? Symbol can't save you, tear it apart and it's only paper held together with ink and glue."
River smiled at her. "Jayne isn't a girl name when applied to an ape," she pointed out cheerfully. Tiri nodded, conceding the fact.
"At least fix the symbol," she said.
"Already tried," River said darkly. "Shepherd wasn't happy, released the hair on me."
"Excuse me?" chimed in Simon, dizzy from all of the psychobabble. "Are we escaping or not?" River looked at Tiri and sighed, rolling her eyes.
"He takes so much looking after," she muttered, moving towards the door. Tiri nodded in agreement and gave Simon a disparaging look before joining her.
Simon gave their backs a what-are-you-talking-about gesture then asked a question that had been weighing on his mind.
"Are they even here yet?" River nodded.
"Space. We'll steal a shuttle." The door opened with a click and the girls stepped back, satisfied.
"Wait, could you do that all along?" asked Simon. "Because if so, why didn't you escape?" Tiri shot him an annoyed glance.
"Two by two," she said by way of explanation, stepping into the hallway. River and Simon followed.
Once in the hall, River and Tiri looked from side-to-side, then started off down the corridor to the right, running softly. Simon followed, not quite as quietly, but at least not that loud.
When they reached the main hall, Simon reached out to stop them.
"Wait, it shouldn't be this easy," he warned, looking around to make sure that no blue-handed guards weren't sneaking up on them.
"Bear was supposed to hibernate longer," said River, pointing at Tiri, who didn't really seem to be paying attention.
"No guards yet, but we can kill them. Bam bam, no more. Blue ones aren't here, away. Student broke free, got scared. Wasn't fixed, stole a knife and now the red is trying to break free. Couldn't let that happen, had to make an example. Others won't play follow the leader simon says anymore. Got to follow the norm, go with the flow, blend in."
Simon blinked, trying to process all of her words.
"That's good, I think," he said slowly. River and Tiri rolled their eyes simultaneously and started running across the hall and out the front door, onto the lawn.
Muttering dire predictions under his breath, Simon followed them. River groaned softly at his muttering, and started moving towards the shuttles. She paused when she heard a guard. He was tired and wanted to go back inside.
She motioned to Tiri and crept forward, dodging Simon's hand. He was always trying to hold her back, he had to learn that the river had to flow free.
She slipped behind him and used one hand to hit his back, paralyzing him, and another to snap around and break his neck. He fell without a sound and she bent down, taking the two pistols he had.
River tossed one to Tiri and kept the other. Simon, of course, didn't get one; he would be worse than useless. The guns were only a precaution though. The sound they made was to loud and noticeable.
They only had to kill three more guards before they made it to the shuttles.
River started moving towards the shuttles then froze, the familiar voices echoing in her head.
"Blue," she gasped, freezing in her path, halfway between the shuttles and the safety of the foliage. Simon came out at once and started shoving her forwards, abandoning Tiri, who just stood there.
Simon dragged her onto the shuttle and was about to go to the control room when a voice stopped him.
"That's enough Mr. Tam," said the short man softly. The pair stepped out of the shadows where they had been standing. Tiri whimpered slightly and stumbled backwards, closer to the shuttle.
"It was a mistake to put our tow best students in the same room," continued the man, still quiet. Simon felt a flicker of fear, this man was very, very angry.
"I thought you would be sufficient leverage," he said, staring at Simon. "I was mistaken. Ms. Massri can deal with you once she had quieted your sister." River shrieked, shaking violently.
"I had hoped that Ms. Tam herself would have the pleasure of that particular piece of business herself, but our best doctors have assured me that the damage that would wreak on her would be catastrophic. As you put it, Mr. Tam, 'What use do we have for a psychic if she's insane?'" Simon winced.
The taller man spoke for the first time that night. Turning to Tiri, he said something in a low undertone. Tiri stiffened then relaxed, turning to face the Tams. River whimpered as she felt her friend's mind becoming colder, harder.
Tiri pulled out the gun that River had given her earlier and pointed it towards Simon. River jumped in front of him, vainly trying to make herself taller so that she couldn't hit him. Simon weakly tried to push her out of the way.
Tiri stared at River then transferred the gun towards Simon's foot.
"Move," she said tonelessly. River froze, trying to think. If she attacked Tiri she might win, but she was tired and Tiri would shoot Simon the instant she moved. Same if she reached for her gun. And if she didn't move, Tiri would shoot Simon in his exposed foot then in the head or chest when he doubled over.
She scrabbled for the holes in Tiri's mind but she couldn't find them.
"Tiri," she pleaded. Her friend stared back at her, unwavering. "Paradise?" she tried.
The gun wavered for a second. "Paradise is lost," said Tiri calmly. "The voices won't shut up." Simon snorted loudly and the gun snapped back up towards his head, which was hidden by River. The two men started moving towards her, realizing that all was not going well.
"Down the rabbit hole!" shrieked River as a last-ditch attempt. Tiri frowned, her eyes narrowing, then suddenly spun, bringing her gun up to point at the shorter man.
"Reinforcements are already coming," said the shorter man dismissively. "And that might not kill us." River shuddered at the reminder that they weren't exactly human. Tiri seemed to think about that, then brought the gun up to her head.
"The voices will go away," she said dreamily. Now the men looked scared. River knew that Tiri was a success, matching River perfectly. She was like a copy of River, and the fact that she was also her best friend was a bonus. She was the only student they had who they could use to infiltrate Serenity. If she killed herself, they would have to track River themselves, which would take longer.
River moved away from Simon and shoved him towards the control room, hurrying him along. Simon dove into the seat then froze, not sure what to do. River groaned and pressed several buttons, starting it up before turning back to Tiri.
"Come on!" she yelled. Tiri didn't move.
"I have to find paradise," she called back. The shorter man suddenly reached for her, his hand snapping out in a knock-out blow. Tiri pulled the trigger.
River froze as she watched her friend fall, lifeless, to the ground.
"Tiri," she breathed. A single, small red dot was left by the bullet. Tiri knew the spot that would leave that, she had been trained. It was her message to River.
"Pretty red dot," River whispered brokenly. The taller man bent down, checking on Tiri, but the shorter man was looking at her.
"We'll find you," he said, not bothering to raise his voice. He knew she heard. River turned away and shoved Simon out of the control seat, taking the shuttle up and out, towards the stars where Serenity waited.
"How's Tiri?" asked Simon softly. River smiled sadly, ignoring the tears that were sliding down her face. She would mourn Tiri later, like she mourned all of the nameless, faceless people she had killed during her stay at the Academy. She would see her in her nightmares every night, and sometimes in her dreams to.
"She's gone home," River said instead. She turned to look at Simon. "She's found her paradise," she whispered. She turned to scan the stars, looking for a familiar shape.
It came out of nowhere, peeling away from the stars. She looked back at Simon, who was looking, well, happy wasn't that right word. More like relieved.
"We've found ours."