Creatures of Snow (5 page)

Sky lost the ability to breathe voluntarily.
Had he heard him right? Al’s elbow was instantly in his ribs with a
look of exasperation that rivaled his own.

“
You heard that too,
right?” Al finally choked out.

“Freaking amazing.” Ruth
had clenched her fists and nodded her head with an intense stare as
she leaned forward in her seat. “This is what we’ve been working
towards,” She turned a glowing face towards them.

Al‘s face still hadn‘t
found a way to express his emotion, so Ruth looked passed him to
find Sky’s eyes. “Wouldn’t that be something? To be chosen as a
traveler?” She shook her head and pushed her oversized glasses back
up her nose, “They’ll be heroes! Breaking boundaries, exploring the
uncharted...” She gave a little laugh and raised her eyebrows in a
moony, whimsical fashion, “Oh, that would be a dream.”

“I’ve put together a brief
presentation of what this project will entail and some of the new
duties that will be assigned, amongst our more developed research
teams. But first, Professor Blanks here will be going over Axis, a
wonderful new program we are introducing into our Academies.” Manix
called out over the din. The quiet conversations quickly died out
and the room was silent again as Dr. Manix switched the image to a
proud display of the projects name, “I will now turn the podium
over to Professor Blanks for this part of the lecture.”

Professor Blanks got up
from his chair slowly with his unchanged expression of mild boredom
and proceeded to center stage. He looked to be a man in his mid
forties, his full head of dull, sandy hair was neatly trimmed in a
common style and his suit was a boring, dusty brown. His whole
demeanor seemed somewhat bland, as he began to speak in a regulated
monotone voice that was completely lost to Sky’s reeling
mind.

Although he had found his
breath, his heart had yet to find a steady rhythm.
A project seven years in the making!
It was simply amazing to think that Zeph was able
to keep it secret that long. But, it didn’t really matter now did
it. He wouldn’t be a part of it. He was being shipped off to Arche
in the morning.

“
It’s getting late.” Al
whispered into his thoughts.

“
Yeah,” Sky nodded,
feeling the retching pain of remorse begin to crawl its way into
his belly, “Let’s go.”

The two boys slipped out
of their seats, unnoticed by Ruth whose attention was too invested
in Professor Blank’s words. Sky gave her one last look, knowing he
would never see her again.

A shuffling off stage left
caught his eye just before he was able to make it out the door. The
tall kid from before silently made his way out from behind the side
curtain with his shoulders hunched, as if trying to become smaller
than he was and stopped at Zeph. He leaned over cautiously and
whispered a message that made Zeph’s inattentive eyes suddenly snap
wide open.

Sky reached to stop Al,
but he had already noticed. They stood there, lost in the shadows
as Zeph stood quickly and swiftly exited the stage. Although he
couldn’t make out his face, the way Zeph moved told Sky that
something was most definitely wrong.

Al pulled on his arm and dragged him through
the open door into the glaring lights and reflective white walls of
the hallway.

“Ahhh, I wish we didn’t
have to go, it was just getting good.” Al pouted and blinked hard,
trying to let his eyes adjust.

“Yeah, but you’re right.
They might start to worry, and you got curfew.” And Sky would feel
terrible if he made Al late again.

They started off down the hallway, but
neither took the lead.

“
I have no idea how to get
out of this place. Did we come from the left or right?” Al stopped
at the junction and looked quizzically up and down the
corridor.

“
I was hoping you knew…“
Sky shrugged, Al was usually the one with a more reliable
memory.

Al closed his eyes and
thought for a moment. “I think we came in one level up. Remember?
We walked
down
to
our seats.” He opened his eyes, “But really, I don’t think that
matters since every stupid hallway looks exactly the
same.”

“
Ruth wasn’t kidding when
she said it was like a maze, eh?” He tried to chuckle and lighten
the mood, but it died in his throat and ended up as a
snarl.

With everyone at the lecture the hallways
were deserted. “We’re going to die here aren’t we? No food, no
water…no windows.”

Sky hadn‘t really heard him, his mind still
back at the lecture. “What do you think made Zeph rush off like
that? You don’t think something happened, do you?”

As they rounded another corner; the hallway
predictably looked identical to the last. “Not sure. That Isaac kid
that came to relay the message looked pretty freaked out
though.”

Sky put his hand out and
stopped Al in his tracks, “Shhh…” He tilted his head to the side
and listened. “Did you hear that?”

“
What?” Al whispered back
with a tone that verged on irritation.

“
I heard something.” Sky
kept his hand up.

“
It could be my
stomach.”

Sky took off running; he
knew he heard something, if it was people, then that meant someone
who could point the way out.

“
What’s up, eh?” Al
shouted as he chased after Sky.

“This way, I hear—” Sky
ran around a corner and collided straight into a solid body. He
flew backwards, but a hand grabbed him before he could hit the
ground and he found himself faced with Zeph. His moment of relief
was cut short when he was spun around and slammed into the wall,
Zeph’s hand closing around his throat so tight the air that had
already been knocked out of him had no chance to return.

Sky’s utter shock at
Zeph’s actions was soon outweighed by the look of total fear in his
eyes. He had never seen Zeph, or anyone for that matter, look the
way he did in that instant.

“
Master Zeph, sir?” Al’s
voice cut through the moment.

In a literal blink of an
eye Zeph’s demeanor morphed back into a relaxed and humored state.
“Holy moldy, you scared the juice out of me.” Zeph laughed lightly
and released Sky. “Sorry there, kiddo.” He continued to laugh to
himself as he walked away from the two stunned boys.

Sky rubbed at his throat and yelled hoarsely
at Zeph’s back, “Hey,”

“
Sorry, sorry, I have to
get back to the snooze fest.” He called back without even
turning.

“
Zeph!” Sky shouted as
best he could.

“
Lifts are at the end of
the hall to the right.” Zeph sang back merrily before turning a
corner out of sight.

Al turned to Sky with a look of concern,
“Wow. What was that? Are you okay, man?”

He didn’t have an answer
to that question. He looked back briefly in the direction Zeph had
left. What was with that look? What was with that reaction? But
those were questions he just didn’t have time to find an answer to.
“Come on, we’ve got to get going.”

They rushed down the hall.
They were running against time at this point, and he was quite
certain they were about to lose. Even though they found their way
out, it was still a bit of a jaunt to the closest station. The only
bit of luck they had was having the transport, ready and waiting
for them at the stop.

“
Thought you boys might be
coming.” Driver Calhoun laughed as they dragged their wheezing
butts up the stairs onto the transport.

Sky fell into the closest open seat near the
back with Al dropping noisily down beside him. A few seats up some
kid with flame red hair gave them a brief glance back. Normally he
wouldn’t have paid this any mind, but there was something about
that guy that caught his eye. Was it his hulking size? Or the way
he was overdressed for the desert in a turtleneck and long sleeves?
But, no, that wasn’t it. There was definitely something different
about him that Sky couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“
Aw, man. I didn’t think
we were going to make it.” Al leaned back in his seat and closed
his eyes briefly.

“We still haven’t made it,
Al. You’re still going to be late.” Sky felt his stomach churn as
he looked over at his friend, “I don’t want you getting in trouble
again with your dad. Maybe I can have my dad explain things, or
maybe your uncle Zero could.”

“Explain what – that I
wasn’t where I said I was going to be since you decided to bail on
your own going away party and then proceeded to drag me all the way
down to Capital City? Yeah, I’ll pass. It’s fine anyway. I haven’t
been disobedient in a while so the old man should cut me some
slack.”

Sky didn’t know if he believed him. Al’s
father had a hard time distinguishing between home and work and
treated everyone like they were under strict military order. “I
hope so.” He muttered as he looked out the window while the
transport lurched forward.

The ride home was a quiet one. There was
plenty to say, but somehow neither knew how to start.

When they arrived at their
stop, Sky could visibly see Al’s anxiety grow and they began the
race down the Mainway, towards where the paths would split. The
sparse spattering of plant life that had begun accumulating by the
sides of the dusty road, soon became a thick layer of green
foliage, by the time they reached the Crossroad.

Al was going to be late -
there was no doubt about that now. It was Sky’s fault. He should
have just gone to the party, pretended like it was all okay and had
a proper send off like any other normal kid. But no, he blew it,
and now his last moments with Al were rushed and
meaningless.

Al had time to throw up a
wave as they split - Al going left towards his life, and Sky
staying straight until the road came to an end.

“
Wait!” He shouted,
stopping dead in the middle of the road.

“
It’s not forever, Sky,”
Al shouted back. “It’s just school. I’ll see you in a few months!”
He reassured him as he continued on his way.

It’s not forever…funny, that’s the same
thing Soul had said.

Chapter
Five

Sky stood there until Al
was well out of sight
. He kicked at the
dirt under his feet as he began to amble down the street. A screech
cut through the still air of twilight, causing his head to snap to
attention. There was a funny feeling in the air – but it was most
likely his own dread of facing his dad. Or it might have just been
the humidity.

The screech sounded again,
but farther away this time. The sound registered fully in his mind
this time – it was a strix, probably hot on the trail of its
dinner.

Sky unclenched his fists
and willed his feet to move forward at a faster pace; down the
path
he had tread a thousand times. He
tipped his head up to the receding light. The air was cool, but not
uncomfortably so. His regret and guilt had receded behind a growing
wall of hunger
. He just didn’t want to
think anymore and
let gravity pull him
down the steep driveway, towards the quaint little cabin, nestled
neatly in the valley, amongst gnarled and twisted trees.

He paused only briefly
before pushing open the thick wooden door, ready to face whatever
punishment lay beyond, but it was darkness that greeted him behind
its creaking protest, and nothing more.

He shut the door as quietly as he could and
looked around the empty room. His father and Zero’s taste in
furniture consisted mainly of wooden crates and curb side novelties
that clashed amazingly with Ixanna’s garish taste in décor. It was
probably enough to make anyone with any sort of sense of style (or
just eyes in general) weep at first sight.

In memorized movements, he made his way
around the living room’s randomly placed furniture to the only room
in the house that, aside from his own, was somewhat normal.

The kitchen, out of lack
of use, had avoided a direct assault and remained pleasantly plain
and functional. Sky’s stomach grumbled as he stepped onto the
dulled wooden floor and shuffled his way on the well worn path
between the doorway and the fridge. Signs of what should have been
were still scattered around the room: An uneaten cake on the
counter, brightly colored plates still set at the table, the
lingering smell of roasted meat hanging in the air.

His guilt outweighed his
hunger for a second, and then he opened the fridge and grabbed the
first thing he saw that resembled edible food. The one downside of
living with a race of beings that didn’t necessarily need food to
survive - they generally ate the equivalent of what a five year old
would eat, if given the power to choose.

“
So you’re
back.”

Sky’s heart leapt to his throat. He hadn’t
heard him come in. “Captain!” He hated the desperation and surprise
that filled his wavering voice as he spun around to face his
father.

He didn’t look angry, or disapproving, he
simply looked as he always did – calm, relaxed and moderately
bored. His drooping eyes and lazy smile were emphasized by his
slouching shoulders and casual stance. “Don’t call me that, you
little punk.” He laughed and came further into the room.

Sky didn’t know what to say, how to start.
Should he apologize? Or should he just brush it off? He could never
read his dad’s expressions since he always looked empathetic no
matter what the situation.