16

The drumbeat stopped, and Evazee collapsed as if someone had sucked out her spine. The fog that had clouded her mind hovered in and around her brain, and she blinked, trying to make sense of her surroundings. The ceiling arched above her like bleached whale bones, pock-marked and holey.

Evazee ran her fingers along the floor beneath her. The same holey, crusty rock. It felt as if she was in a cave. She rolled onto her side. She wasn’t alone. Kids her age slouched along the curved walls, talking to each other. Some sat propped up with their arms looped around their legs. She wasn’t the only one on the floor either. The brunette next to her lay flat on her back, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands as if trying to wake up from a bad dream. A crimson birthmark in the shape of Africa marred the skin down the left side of her neck.

A boy on the other side lay curled in a foetal position with his eyes wide open, unblinking. His eyes flickered but didn’t shut. Evazee rolled away from him with a shudder. Why had she left the guys? Where were they?

A deep boom shuddered through the rock beneath her. Liquid heaviness ran through her muscles and her mind grew light. The next drum beat vibrated through her. Drum beats like a drug, slowing her heart, churning through her veins like thick mud. The rhythm picked up, beating in time with her heart. One with her heart. Her mind melted into fuzz. The beat sped up, and her heart soared with it. She rolled over and clambered to her feet. The brunette was on her feet, giggling. She tripped on the holey floor and grabbed onto Evazee to break her fall.

Zee caught her and started laughing, too. Until she spun around and caught sight of the boy still on the floor, still curled up, still staring. Her blood ran cold and she detangled herself from the clutches of the giggling girl.

The rhythm swept them along, deeper into the cave. Evazee no longer felt the giddy elation that the others did. She kept seeing the boy’s vacant and lifeless face in her mind. The rhythm drew her deeper in, though all she felt was numb. She bumped into the girl next to her and turned to apologize. The girl didn’t seem to have noticed her, but her eyes flickered left and right as if she were reading from an invisible screen. The whites were tinged purple.

~*~

Redhead kept up a running commentary as they walked. Her voice had a musical quality about it, and Kai had to force himself to focus on what she was saying.

“This city is ancient. It existed long before the records we have in our history books. There is order here and peace because of it. We live according to guidelines that keep us safe. Once you are a part of the city, it is best never to leave. Nobody would want to anyway. Safety is within these walls. Don’t go outside them, and you’ll be just fine. We run patrols into the surrounding areas to pick up anyone who is ready for a new way of life or those who are sick or injured. We bring them here for healing and cleansing. Ah, we are here. Follow me, gentlemen.”

Kai, Ruaan, and Zap followed the redhead up a flight of stairs that took them up to the next floor. The replenishing room was long and skinny with a table running the length of it. The way in was through a simple stone arch that stretched high over their heads in clean lines, uncluttered by embellishments. Warm air drifted toward them, carrying aromas that made their mouths water. Many city dwellers sat along the edges of the tables, talking quietly, while those serving food bustled in and out through side doors dotted at regular intervals along the walls. They carried covered plates and tall jugs of liquid.

Zap pulled Kai close. “I just don’t understand why they have to call it a replenishing room. It’s just a dining hall, right?”

Ruaan pushed them apart. “They can call it a feeding trough if they want to. If they’re giving away food, I’m in. You can stay out here and argue names. I don’t care.”

Their redheaded guide hooked her arm through his, drawing him between the others and through the arched doorway. “Just wait until you see this food. You’re going to love it here. We’re like one big, happy family.”

Kai and Zap stopped arguing and followed. The dining hall—replenishing room—was a long room that made Kai think more of a corridor. All the tables were laid out in one long row that ran the full length of the room. Floor-to-ceiling arched windows took up huge sections of the wall, letting in the soft light from the outside of the building. The room itself was built on one of the higher levels of the city. Kai crossed to the window and looked out over the city. All of it seemed crafted from the same glowing stone. Breath taking.

A sea of people filled the hall, all dressed in the same beige outfit that Kai and his friends wore. They chatted in low voices as they filtered in from the doors that led from different parts of the city. Without any direction, they lined up behind specific chairs and waited. Kai followed the redhead and Ruaan, studying each face they passed.

If Bree was here, he intended to find her.

The redhead leaned closer to Ruaan. “Normally, we don’t mix outside of our tier, but replenishing is the one great equal.”

“What do you mean by tier? Are you telling me there is some sort of hierarchy you live by?” Ruaan had forgotten about his stomach for a whole minute. It had to be a miracle.

“It’s just a formality. It doesn’t really affect our normal day-to-day life.”

“It doesn’t sound very big-happy-family-ish to me.” Zap turned his head from side to side.

The bright smile stayed glued to the girl’s face, and she waved away his concerns with a graceful hand. “Of course it is. Your branding will allow you access to areas allowed for your tier. No more, no less. There are ways of moving up, of course. But that is a hard thing to do. Few ever manage. Ah, let’s sit here. There’ve been some spare places here of late.”

Supper was at least as colourful as the picnic spread Gallagher had laid out for them. Kai stared, trying to decide whether he should eat or not. As before, he wasn’t hungry at all, but it felt weird to watch every other person in the room eat without trying some himself. He reached for a long, orange tube that glowed along the edges.

The redhead reached over and took it from him. “Rather, don’t eat this one.”

“I don’t get it. Why do they dish it up if it’s not edible?”

“Oh, trust me. It’s delicious. But we can’t eat it. It’s only for third and fourth tiers, not first tiers like us.”

“How do you know that it’s delicious then?” Zap frowned at her.

Before she could answer, Ruaan smacked his belly and hissed under his breath, “Stop being so rude.” He turned his attention back to the plate in front of him.

Kai thought he saw Zap stick out his tongue at Ruaan, but it was too quick for him to be sure.

Kai leaned back to allow a server to place a covered plate on the table before him. The girl’s hair was drawn back into a sleek, straight ponytail that hung down her back, and her eyes were downcast. One arm was hidden under her tunic, and she fumbled as she put the heavy plate down with the other hand. Kai caught and righted it before anything could tip out. The girl blushed to the roots of hair. There was something familiar about the curve of her cheek, her jawline.

“Bree?” Kai reached for her hand. Her eyes shot up at the name, and he recognized her fully. She pulled away from him as if his fingers burned, turned, and rushed through the closest serving door, disappearing into the room beyond.

Kai shot up, bumping his chair over. He left it and ran after her, not caring if he was allowed to follow her or not. The room was tiny. And empty. A large serving hatch for a dumb waiter took up most of the space. Bree was nowhere to be seen. Kai swung around, looking for another way out. Nothing. The dumb waiter bobbed slightly, enough to make up his mind. He threw himself onto the serving platform. His weight triggered the downward trip, and he picked up speed as he dropped. He braced for impact, gritted his teeth, and landed with a gentle bump.

Kai rolled off the platform, landing on his feet in an enormous kitchen full of people busy with food preparation. They were all dressed just like him but with skull caps to keep their hair out of the food. Bree, where are you? There! The kitchen lay directly beneath the eating room above—a long passage of a room. Bree disappeared through a door on the narrow end of the room, off to the right.

Kai ran, dodging the chefs and helpers as they moved about fetching supplies and prepping food for the city folk. He bumped someone as he ran. He heard loud clattering and a sharp curse behind him, but he didn’t stop to see what disaster he’d caused.

He reached the door as it swung shut, threw himself at it and forced his way into the room beyond. Cool blue light sparkled and twinkled from the walls. In the centre of the room, he found a staircase, curling downward into a deep part of the city. After the noise of the kitchen, the room was so quiet he thought he could hear footsteps descending. If it was Bree, the girl ran like a spooked rock rabbit.

Switching tactics, Kai tiptoed down the stairs silently, pausing each time he lost track of the footfall. He got to the bottom and hid behind a pillar.

Bree sat on the floor with her knees crossed, staring at a tall, rectangular booth. The side facing them was taken up by a high, arched opening mostly hidden behind a curtain of running water that tumbled off the top of the structure. Kai craned his neck enough to see that the next side was identical to the first.

No matter how hard he squinted, it was impossible to see through the water to what was inside the arches. The air seemed to shiver and bend. There was no doubt though…something about the room twisted Kai’s belly.