Gah, this chapter took waaaaaay too long to write. Sorry about the content of the last chapter. It just refused to be written any other way. You should be glad however, that Lash refused to let me write his POV. All you'd get most likely is a long sentance full of profanities. ;-)
Chapter 19/Deadlock
The next week started the recruitment plan. We had decided to each take one of the two we knew would help us. Violet took Diane and I chose Karl. The pairing was rather obvious. I found Karl in our room and checked every nook and cranny for Gabe before approaching him. He had been watching me warily but I wanted to be thorough. That kid was unnatural the way he could contort and twist his body. It was rather disturbing to watch as well.
He twitched when I walked over and knelt beside his bunk. The twitching bothered me now more than ever as I realized that he must have gone through the Penalty Room numerous times to be so jumpy. Karl was neither the fastest nor the brightest kid in the Academy, and he was dully punished for his ineptitude. Anger burned through my blood at this unfair treatment and it made me all the more eager to get out of the place.
"Hey" was all I said at first. He regarded me solemnly, his fingers twitching on the bed sheets. I opened my mouth to speak again, but then stopped, suddenly thinking that the room could be bugged. Violet's room hadn't been, but then they weren't watching her like they were apparently watching me. I could not be certain so instead of talking to Karl right then and there, I instead stood and beckoned him toward the bathroom. He looked puzzled but followed me, twitching rather violently as he did (I knew now that the convulsing grew worse when he was nervous).
Once inside the bathroom, I closed the door behind us and, ignoring Karl's curious gaze, turned on the shower nice and loud.
"I didn't want anyone to hear," I explained finally. Karl nodded slightly, but still looked confused. (Then again, that might have been a twitch.)
He simply stared at me, waiting for me to continue. I fidgeted uneasily, not used to being the one stared at. Huffing in annoyance at this change, I continued with my reason for pulling him in here.
"Violet told me about the attack on Sky High," I said slowly, watching for any reaction. I got none. Growling softly under my breath, I kept going. I rarely spoke this much, but Karl wasn't giving me anything.
"I don't want to be a villain," I said simply, "and I don't think you do either. We're looking for recruits to turn against the Academy when the time is right. She's talking to Diane right now. I wanted to know if you wanted to join us."
Karl blinked slowly, his cowlick twitching as his fingers drummed restlessly on the sink. I leaned against the door, folding my arms and waiting. He avoided my gaze, his blue eyes dancing everywhere. Thankfully my hard life had taught me patience. I waited, my black-lined eyes fixed on his face as he tried desperately to find a way out of replying. I could see him weakening though and finally he dropped his head, staring at the ground, his fingers still making their random, nervous pattern.
"I never wanted to be a villain," Karl said softly. "But if we turn against the Academy . . . they will kill us." He looked up at me with frightened eyes. I frowned.
"No they won't," I said firmly. "I have friends at Sky High. Powerful friends. They'll help us. Besides, me and Violet won't let anything happen to you. I promise." But inside I was beginning to feel wary. The truth was that I had no idea what happened to traitors. There could very well be a method to kill us. Then I remembered the restraining bolts. My hand went unconsciously to the spot on my waist where the scar lay just underneath my black shirt.
Karl noticed the movement. He smiled grimly. "You've got it. That's what happened to the last person who tried to escape. They pushed this little red button and up he went in a pillar of fire."
I grimaced at his rather blunt way of putting it. My hand clutched at my shirt for a moment before I let it drop to my side.
"We'll have to do it quickly then, so they won't suspect it. You know about the coup on Sky High, right?"
Karl twitched his head downwards. I took that as a yes. "We'll do it then. In the middle of the fighting so they'll be no time to go find a stupid button."
"Radio contact," Karl pointed out. I gritted my teeth. Did he have to make this so difficult?
"We'll find someone to take them out!" I finally said, throwing my hands up for a moment before stuffing them in my pockets. "Please Karl, at least think about it."
I watched him carefully as he twitched and convulsed nervously for awhile. Finally his head twitched again in a nod. I breathed out slowly and nodded as well.
"I guess that's all I can for," I muttered, pretty sure now that I was a failure at inspirational speeches. Turning the shower off, I turned and opened the door to exit the bathroom. Stepping out I ran into Gabe who had just come in the door. He stepped back, a look of started bewilderment on his pieced face as he glanced between me and Karl and back again.
"You two taking a shower together?" he asked, his face screwed up in a way that made it seem like he wasn't sure if he should be amused or disgusted.
Blood rushed to my face and my voice rose up into a squeak as I gave a forceful "NO!" Gabe looked more amused now.
Karl pushed me further out of the bathroom. "Please Gabe, does he look wet to you?" he asked in such a scornful tone that I looked over at him, surprised by this sudden show of courage. Gabe looked even more baffled then me. "He was just leaving." Giving me a pointed look, he slammed the door shut, with him on the other side.
Gabe gave me a funny look. "What was that all about?" he asked and all I could give him was a vague shrug. It was getting late now so I decided to just go to bed. Walking over to the dresser I opened a drawer and drew out the sweatpants and t-shirt I wore when I slept. Gabe sat down on one of the bunks and watched me as I undressed. Modesty was not something we worried about much in the Academy. Anyone could deck someone else if they tried anything funny.
Still it was uncomfortable having his gaze on me the entire time. I knew I was giving him a chilly shoulder, and I could tell he knew I was too. And he was confused about it. But I really did not know what to tell him. "Sorry Gabe, I know we were mates but now you're a murderer so bye-bye"? That was lame. Besides, wasn't I a murderer now too? However I could not shake the dirty feeling I felt whenever I was around him now. He had killed someone in cold blood and even at a distance I could tell he enjoyed it.
Tugging the shirt down, I tossed my former clothes into a pile in the corner where we kept the laundry. Turning, I accidentally locked gazes with Gabe. For a moment I was tempted to tell about Violet's plan and offer him a place in our little "resistance group." But then I realized that after his little display in the Training Dome, I couldn't trust him. It hurt to push him away like this, but I knew I had to. The kid he killed had been sent by the Bureau. For all I knew they were watching me too.
Shifting my gaze away, I walked over to the bunk I shared with Gabe, taking my place in the lower bed. I stared up at the dark drawings I had made on the wooden planks above me, trying to ignore the enormous white elephant in the room that was breathing heavily down my neck. Turning my back to him, I faced the wall, closing my darkly lined eyes and doing my best to relax.
That proved impossible however when I heard the other bed squeak, indicating that Gabe and risen from his position across the room. Moving with cat-like tread, he was at my side before I had taken another breath. That kid must have been raised by tigers or something. His reflexes and stealth were somewhat of a legend among the students of the Academy.
"Alex." His voice was soft and his breath brushed my ear which startled me. I did not know he was so close. Stiffening, I did my best to ignore his presence; it was hard.
"Alex, talk to me," he begged and I chewed on my lip ring nervously, not turning and not answering. I had always been famous for my silence back at Sky High. Ana Lucia had not even noticed me until after she ran into me at the hospital. All the teachers had learned not to expect an answer to any question put to me. I squeezed my eyes tighter and willed Gabe to go away.
"Please, Alex." I did not move. After a few more tense seconds, I felt his sigh and he stood and moved away, climbing up to the top bunk without getting changed. Karl came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and got into his bed. Someone turned out the lights. A sort of disquieting atmosphere settled over everything, making it very uncomfortable to sleep. I tossed and turned for a while before giving up, lying on my back as I stared up at the bottom of Gabe's bunk.
It was only when the soft snoring of Gabe could be heard that I finally started to relax. My eyes closed. I drifted off to sleep.
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I awoke with a jolt, sitting up so fast I knocked my head against the wooden planks. Grimacing, I settled back down and ran my hand over my face. I thought I had heard something in the room. I had been in the middle of a dream, in which everyone in Sky High except me was a monkey and I was trying to get them to make an ice-ray gun but all they wanted to do was throw bananas at me. Suddenly they all began chanting something. At first it was only in monkey speak and I couldn't understand them. Then suddenly the words morphed into English and I could hear the beating mantra of "Murderer. Murderer. Murderer."
I had tried to run away but the floors were covered with banana peels and I kept slipping. It was only when I was covered with the now screaming monkeys that I thought I heard a rustling noise and woke up. The dream was weird enough without me jumping all over the place at a small noise. I lay back down and tried to go back to sleep. But that uncomfortable feeling you get when you're being watched would not go away. Shutting my eyes tightly I tried to tell myself it was just my imagination.
Then suddenly I heard a thump and a loud, indignant "HEY!" Some scuffling was heard and then suddenly a light was switched on and I sat up to see Gabe holding a squirming Megan up against the wall. I blinked rapidly, glancing over at Karl who looked at me with an expression I could not read.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gabe asked the girl, not releasing her even though we were all awake now. I slowly swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, running my hand through my unruly hair as I stared bemusedly at Megan.
"I needed to speak with Alex," she said calmly, having stopped her squirming now that she had an audience. Gabe lessened his grip on her but only slightly.
"Couldn't it have waited until morning?" he seethed. "What are you, nocturnal? You know we're not supposed to have girls in here after lights out anyway."
She pushed him away roughly and adjusted her tank top, which I noticed she wore with extremely short shorts. I blushed slightly for noticing her slender long legs and forced my eyes back up to her face. She was watching me with something that looked like satisfaction. I narrowed my eyes but she only looked away causally, not intimidated in the least.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you," she said in a smooth voice. She tapped Gabe on the nose with a patronizing smile. "I'll let you boys get back to bed now." Turning to me she gave me a look that sent chills down my spine.
"I'll talk with you in the morning," she told me in a way that seemed almost ominous. I could do nothing but nod my head dumbly. Giving us all a sweet, deceitful smile, she flounced out of the room. Gabe glanced at me but I was already getting back into bed, not wanting the others to see how much her appearance had shaken me.
As I nodded off for the second time, I could not get rid of the feeling that Megan's arrival had something to do with my ridiculous dream. It seemed unlikely, yet the feeling was still there even as I fell into the void of darkness called sleep.
This chapter is a bit ambiguous, I know. But it is essential to the plot. Review and tell me what you think! :-D