Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy Books) (18 page)

“I guess you could say that,” Tami said dryly, knowing the other girl was referring to Melissa Gray.

Jessica shook her head. “Yeah, we knew she wouldn’t like you.”

Sarah and Tami glanced at each other, not sure how to take that.

“I’m Bebitta Mettullus,” a new girl said, walking over to stand next to Jessica and waving. “Ethiopian by way of London.”

Sarah gazed up at the tall, agile beauty with huge, dark eyes rimmed in the thickest, most luxurious lashes she’d ever seen. Bebitta wore a long fall of braids that spilled over her Upper Sphere sweater.

“That’s Andrea Goodwin,” Jessica said, pointing out another girl. “And that’s Ernest Scheeler.” She indicated the tall, lanky flag bearer for the Blends.

Jessica put her hands on her hips and smiled. “Well, everyone ready for the grand tour?”

Sarah wasn’t sure if she’d ever be ready, but what was the point in saying so?

T
here were so many names, faces and feelings to sort through that Sarah’s head was spinning. But it was good to be walking. She needed to move. Donnie and the other boys had gone off with Ernie Schneeler. The girls were left in a tight, nervous huddle to stand with Jessica and company.

Student groups were splitting off from one another, each taking a different exit to avoid overlapping narratives as their student guides showed them the ropes.

“Okay, look, we’re going to do this tour a little differently,” Jessica said, leading them down a hallway. She stopped and faced them. “We all know some crazy stuff has been happening, and we think there are some things you should know in order to protect yourselves. The other kids are getting some of this on their tours, but we’re going to show you some things that they aren’t being shown.”

“But we’re at school,” Sarah said nervously. “Nothing should be able to happen to us here, right? Did the missing students wander off campus or something…? I mean, the actual school is safe, right?”

“That’s what Arthur and Casey thought, too, I’m sure,” Jessica replied, looking grim. “So did the two faculty members and the couple of Upper Sphere fliers from the Spec division who went out to try to save them.”

Tami and Sarah glanced at each other, horrified, but hanging on Jessica’s every word.

“How well did you know them?” Sarah finally asked.

“We all know each other pretty well,” Jessica said, rubbing a hand over the back of her neck. “As you saw, there aren’t that many Blends in the school. With you three we’re twenty-one total. So we tend to stick together. But we were especially close to Casey.”

“What happened?” Tami asked.

“Come on,” Jessica said, turning around. “Let’s walk and talk. I’ll tell you what I can along the way.”

“Hey, guys, wait up,” Ayana called out, running to join the group. She gave Jessica, Bebitta and Andrea a quick hug. “Okay, if I take the newbs for a private family tour?”

“Oh, so now you’re poaching our new Blends?” Jessica said with a big grin.

The older girls laughed and gave each other affectionate shoves.

“They’re all right with me,” Ayana said to Sarah and her friends with a smile. “They made life here bearable while those who shall remain nameless gave me the blues.” Ayana and Jessica exchanged a meaningful glance.

“We’ll go keep an eye on your other two younger sisters from the Net-pound,” Bebitta said.

“Yeah, especially the one all by herself with the Clavs. She seems sweet and we’ll do what we can,” Andrea said, hustling off with Jessica and Bebitta.

“Okay, the rest of you Blends, follow me,” Jessica announced.

Jessica then turned to Sarah and Tami. “You’ll be in good hands with Ayana. For a Clav, she’s a good egg.”

“Thanks,” Ayana said as the other Blends waved and left, and then she turned back to Sarah and Tami. “C’mon, guys, I have so much to fill you in on that it’s ridiculous.”

Sarah couldn’t force her mind away from the questions tumbling around in her head as they walked. She barely noticed where Ayana was taking them.

“See, here’s the thing,” Ayana said, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “The two kids who’ve gone missing, Arthur and Casey, weren’t rule breakers. Those two were straight arrows and would have rather given their eye-teeth than get in trouble for sneaking into town or anything like that. They were the last people I would have thought would go out after curfew, for cryin’ out loud.”

Ayana stopped walking and pulled the girls into an alcove, drawing them in closer and dropping her voice. “Art was a science whiz—one of the best in the school—with an ace nose and second sight that allowed him to replicate any formula or spell batch if he’d sniffed it once. That guy was studying for advanced class placement tests when he went missing, so why would he sneak out after curfew and blow a chance at moving up? Same with Casey,” Ayana added, leaning in closer. “She was a solid intuitive with a photographic memory, and word had it that she was being considered for Shadows division, so none of this makes any sense. They wouldn’t risk doing something stupid. It just wasn’t in their nature.”

“Do you think someone forced them to leave the school?” Sarah asked with raised eyebrows, worry lacing every word. “Or lured them out somehow?”

Ayana stared at Sarah and Tami with a puzzled gaze. “That’s the problem, nobody really knows. But around here, anything is possible.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tami whispered nervously.

“Listen, there’s a lot of stuff that happens here that even the instructors don’t know about.”

Silence momentarily strangled their conversation.

“You’re gonna hear all sorts of speculation, okay,” Ayana warned. “Stuff like, what if somebody drugged them and kidnapped them from campus…or planted a hypnotic suggestion that made them leave school on their own—something they normally wouldn’t have done.” She glanced around to make sure no one else was around to overhear them. “Everybody is so paranoid now, it isn’t even funny. But the rumor mill is right, anything could have happened.”

Sarah’s eyes widened as Tami’s mouth dropped open.

Ayana put her arms around them in a quick three-way hug. “But, look…seriously, if someone was actually coming into the school to snatch kids, this place would have been shut down faster than you could say your own name. Don’t worry, guys. But also don’t be stupid, all right? If some guy asks you to sneak out of school and take a trip to town or to go make out somewhere, just say no, okay?”

Make out? Sarah just stared at her cousin. It was the first time Yaya had even broached the subject of sex beyond saying there were cute guys at school. Now that they were at the Academy, it seemed as though her relationship with Yaya, and the kind of information her cousin was willing to divulge was about to reach a new level. But right now Yaya just gave her a look that said, not now, wait until it’s just me and you.

Tami frowned, missing the silent exchange completely. “But why them? Why Arthur and Casey?”

Ayana shook her head and gave them a sad shrug. “We don’t know. That’s just one of the things driving us crazy about this whole thing.” Frustration had crept into her voice. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

Sarah slid a supportive arm around Ayana’s shoulders. Ayana smiled at her and then seemed to pull herself together. The threesome began walking again, this time a little more slowly.

“Okay, first thing.” Ayana pointed to the symbols carved into the granite above a doorway and echoed on the floor. “Every passage has a series of protective symbols surrounding it, in case our school is breeched by the dark side. Watch.” She walked over the threshold into an inner chamber.

“Cool,” Tami murmured, clearly impressed when white light filled the lettering.

“If something is chasing you, cross a threshold,” Ayana said. “Whatever’s on your heels will fry. Just like the barriers Nana set up at home, with added prayer power.”

“These thresholds won’t react if you’re under hypnotic suggestion,” Ayana said, “but they’ll definitely get anything else.”

“But nothing’s ever actually come in here, right?” Sarah asked nervously, looking around.

“They had a breech once, in the old days, I heard.” Ayana glanced around as another group of girls passed them, brand-new students following their tour guide like little ducklings, waiting until they were out of earshot to speak again. “First day is hard enough, but the Neteru compound crew needs to know.”

“Yeah,” Tami said, looking at Ayana. “If something’s up, we definitely wanna know, Yaya. Seriously.”

“What happened?” Sarah said, rounding on Ayana and putting a hand on her arm. “If something got in here once, maybe it got in here again and abducted Art and Casey. It’s possible.”

“Okay, I’m going to tell you, but if Nana asks, you didn’t hear it from me, all right?” Ayana said on a weary sigh.

“We’ll probably hear it all in the lunchroom anyway,” Tami pointed out.

“And we’d rather get the straight story from you,” Sarah said in a pleading tone.

Ayana glanced around again, making sure no one was eavesdropping. “Well, when they first set this place up, a couple of walkers made it past the blackened forest… their noses led them. They could smell human flesh, human blood, even though they couldn’t see it. The school founders—our parents—hadn’t counted on that part. They had only put in safeguards for stuff that could fly and the more common entities, like werewolves, vamps and your basic demons, whatever. Word has it that they didn’t have the dragons up then, or even the telepathic tapestries—the place was still under construction. But there were already students in the lower chambers. A couple of faculty got torn to pieces, and a few even turned into the undead right in the Great Hall. They led the other walkers down into the student quarters, and the place was nearly overrun. Baba Shabazz put himself between the fleeing students and told Nana Marlene to stay with them until backup came. He didn’t want her to get the walker virus, and he couldn’t get it on account of being a shape-shifter.”

“Oh, my God! So what happened?” Sarah asked, her gaze ricocheting from Ayana to and Tami.

“There are a lot of different theories,” Ayana said. “Nana won’t talk about it—she says it just keeps negative energy swirling, and we should focus on our studies—but some say the Neterus—your mom and dad, Sarah—drove them back into the beyond the edge of the light. I couldn’t even pry it out of my mom. So all I can tell you is that because some of the faculty turned, there’s always the chance they could come back, and since they know the ins and outs of this place, if something is on your ass, cross a threshold.”

All Sarah could do was stare at her cousin. She’d had no idea….

“C’mon,” Ayana said after a moment. “So far, no student’s gotten eaten. Let’s go down to the bunker.”

Sarah and Tami didn’t move.

“It’s safe, I promise,” Ayana added, glancing over her shoulder and waiting until they began to follow her along the hall and then down what seemed like an unending spiral of stairs. “You remember how Aunt Marjorie taught conspiracy theories and American history at home?”

“Yeah,” Sarah said, glad to be off the subject of walker invasions.

“Well, this is the Project Greek Island she used to quiz us on, created long, long ago under American President Eisenhower. Remember how she told us that he’d built a bunker to withstand a potential nuclear war?”

“It’s hard to believe regular humans actually built this,” Tami said with amazement in her tone. She trailed her fingers along the walls as they walked, eyes wide.

“Yep, Regulars built this,” Ayana said with an authoritative nod, and then pressed on. “This bunker was supposed to be a safe haven for the legislative branch of the American government.” Ayana shook her head with a smile. “All that stuff they taught you at home wasn’t just theory, guys. They taught it for a reason.”

“I remember,” Sarah said softly. “This place was only five hours from Washington, DC, where the Armageddon began. This place was kept a secret for decades. Regulars dug out eighteen thousand feet of tunnels a hundred feet underground, then hid them behind twenty-eight-ton steel doors.”

“Right,” Ayana said with a clearly pleased smile. “We’re going down beneath what used to be the Greenbrier Hotel—our compound. We’re just on the other side of it here, and the Great Hall is on the opposite side of the mountain from it.” Ayana frowned and placed a finger to her lips. “The other kids think the old hotel is all boarded up and demolished, that it got overrun by the dark powers years ago. Nobody is ever supposed to know where the Neteru compound headquarters is located, so you keep that under serious lock, got it?”

Both girls nodded, stunned mute.

“Good. Keep it that way.” Ayana let out a breath of relief and then pressed on. “This place is so cool. The Regulars were preparing for what they considered the worst possible event, a nuclear holocaust, not realizing what was
really
coming when they put eighteen dorms in here that slept sixty people each. They were trying to save the government and wound up saving the worldwide Guardian teams’ kids. And we lucked out because the whole place was built on white sulfur springs for healing, something that the dark side really hates. You’ll see when you get downstairs.” Ayana continued with enthusiasm. “This place even has a five hundred seat auditorium, fully stocked library, broadcast-ready television and radio stations, medical and dental labs, a catacomb of offices on the second level, riot gear and weapons, along with decontamination showers and an incinerator for anyone who died.”

“Okay, you really are scaring me now,” Sarah warned.

“Nobody that we know of has been incinerated, all right?” Ayana glanced at both girls and urged them forward.

“What about the bodies they found?” Sarah asked, leaning on the wall for a moment to let everything she’d just heard sink in.

“They did find those two flier kids who went down in the forbidden zone…which is why I’m telling you to act like you know. We clear?”

Sarah shuddered, and she Tami exchanged a worried look as Ayana began walking again. None of the kids in the compound had ever heard a thing about what existed just below the Greenbrier Hotel. Until today, Sarah had always thought Ayana was being unnecessarily vague about where the Academy was located. But it had just become crystal clear why they were never allowed to leave their side of the mountain. If they had, they could have tipped off the whole school about where the Neteru headquarters were.