WHAT LIES BEYOND
Chapter 13- Deeper
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Watch your step
Take a look inside your shadow
That you've never noticed
Could your dreams be a map?
But before you decide to start to go
There is nowhere to go (It's a trap)
...
Watch your step
Do not fall in shadows
Cause they're hollow and follow your fear
So just keep it clear
"Shadows" by Massface
Take a look inside your shadow
That you've never noticed
Could your dreams be a map?
But before you decide to start to go
There is nowhere to go (It's a trap)
...
Watch your step
Do not fall in shadows
Cause they're hollow and follow your fear
So just keep it clear
"Shadows" by Massface
Day 43
Darkness. Deafness. Deep water.
Adam floated in the middle of a mighty abyss. His only sensation, the warm embrace of the water all around as he slowly sank to the bottom... if there even was a bottom. He could have been suspended in the deep for a few minutes or a few days--- it was all the same. He hovered somewhere in the silent dark of the ocean, eyes shut and ears deafened.
He couldn't move to the left or to the right, up or down, on his own. He was at the mercy of the currents. All he could do was wait for one of them to scoop him up--- to move him somewhere else, or to bring him to the surface. Nobody was coming to save him. He was lost. There was nothing he could do. Dread seized him by the throat.
No... no, that wasn't just dread. That was a hand--- a physical hand--- and it weighed Adam down, dragging him further down into the darkness. Panicked, he began to flail. Then the hand gripped his neck tighter, and with a forceful downward yank---
Adam gasped, eyes snapping open. He sat up and coughed away the phantom sensation of lingering seawater in his lungs. He grabbed his neck, taking deep breaths. Then he wheezed a relieved chuckle. Of course it was a dream. He rubbed his burning eyes. A really weird one.
Sighing, Adam collapsed back onto his pillow and shut his eyes again. It was still dark; if he was lucky, he could squeeze in at least another three hours of sleep. He was certainly tired enough. But sleep wouldn't come back, no matter how he tried. Each time he closed his eyes, the sound of water rushed into his ears. Fear--- genuine fear--- shocked him back to full consciousness each time he began to drift. After so long, he opened his eyes and held them so, refusing to let the dark tide take him under again.
"Like the restless sea... There is no peace for the wicked," he murmured. Adam prayed to God he wasn't the wicked.
Adam floated in the middle of a mighty abyss. His only sensation, the warm embrace of the water all around as he slowly sank to the bottom... if there even was a bottom. He could have been suspended in the deep for a few minutes or a few days--- it was all the same. He hovered somewhere in the silent dark of the ocean, eyes shut and ears deafened.
He couldn't move to the left or to the right, up or down, on his own. He was at the mercy of the currents. All he could do was wait for one of them to scoop him up--- to move him somewhere else, or to bring him to the surface. Nobody was coming to save him. He was lost. There was nothing he could do. Dread seized him by the throat.
No... no, that wasn't just dread. That was a hand--- a physical hand--- and it weighed Adam down, dragging him further down into the darkness. Panicked, he began to flail. Then the hand gripped his neck tighter, and with a forceful downward yank---
Adam gasped, eyes snapping open. He sat up and coughed away the phantom sensation of lingering seawater in his lungs. He grabbed his neck, taking deep breaths. Then he wheezed a relieved chuckle. Of course it was a dream. He rubbed his burning eyes. A really weird one.
Sighing, Adam collapsed back onto his pillow and shut his eyes again. It was still dark; if he was lucky, he could squeeze in at least another three hours of sleep. He was certainly tired enough. But sleep wouldn't come back, no matter how he tried. Each time he closed his eyes, the sound of water rushed into his ears. Fear--- genuine fear--- shocked him back to full consciousness each time he began to drift. After so long, he opened his eyes and held them so, refusing to let the dark tide take him under again.
"Like the restless sea... There is no peace for the wicked," he murmured. Adam prayed to God he wasn't the wicked.
Day 44
By the time Kai stirred, he was the only one left in bed. The lights outside were on and the door had been left open--- probably to make sure he didn't sleep all day. A classic Mira move. He groaned and hauled himself into a sitting position. He'd gotten up late again, much to his own chagrin--- though he wasn't about to complain about the extra sleep. He had to pee really bad, but someone was in the shower. If Kai had to guess, that someone was Adam.
It was in Kai's best interest to avoid him this morning; the last thing Kai needed was a bombardment of demands and questions so soon after waking. Nothing like a hot, steaming cup of stress in the morning, after all! That was Adam's current specialty--- and he drank quite a bit of the stuff himself.
Sadness jolted through his stomach. Kai may have been giving Adam a hard time lately, but in truth, he was concerned for the guy. Adam hardly seemed to take care of himself anymore, which was bad enough on its own. Whether that was the cause or effect of Adam's mental state, Kai didn't know. What Kai did know was this place might be capable of driving anyone crazy given enough time; the AARC was a total mindwarp and a half, and it was only a matter of time before someone snapped. He just hadn't expected Adam, of the whole trio, to be the first to go.
The guy was always so straightforward and logical, only losing his cool once in a while. He loved to be the leader. Although he was admittedly good at it, his natural assertiveness often drove Kai up a wall. While Adam was still straightforward and very much acting as the leader (albeit a far less capable one), his logic seemed to have short-circuited.
His theory about the other kids, for example, had been unfounded from the start. His latest theory stood heads above as the most absurd of all; even Kai could see it was illogical. And unless Adam's memory of the tipping point moment was vastly different from Kai's own, there was no way the circumstances should have given him such a bonkers idea.
Adam had been thoroughly agitated about it, that was for sure. Kai remembered that moment in a way similar to Adam's order of events, but for the life of him, he didn't know where his friend had gotten half his details.
Kai remembered standing beside Adam, all three of them still shaken from what they had seen outside that window. Kai had calmed himself down enough at that point to begin paying attention to his surroundings again. He'd just finished explaining his knowledge of the SmartShield technology. Everything had been calm and quiet--- composed. Even Adam, who had been cold--- if tetchy--- with the other kids until that point.
And then Reeve had cut in with his own two cents.
"Why does this even matter?"
Adam had exploded, his face knotted with absolute fury. "THAT WAS OUR LAST CHANCE TO GET HOME!" he'd roared. Kai had backed away, startled--- Adam's volume had been deafening. Reeve's words had flipped some sort of switch inside of Adam, changing him from frozen to ablaze. And for that brief but heated moment, Adam's mask of composure had snapped in half and revealed something ugly. He'd always had a temper, but that had to have been his worst outburst yet.
Kai had tried to calm his friend back down in the moment, keeping his distance. "There might still be a way. You never know." Adam's only response had been a shadowy frown, which had only served to scare Kai all the more. He'd turned his gaze back onto Reeve and Skeet at that point. Now came that part Adam had blown out of proportion.
"Yeah!" Skeet had interjected. "If---" Reeve had coughed into his arm. Skeet, then interrupted, had paused to make sure Reeve wouldn't cough again before he'd continued. "If... you guys can find another lead an' all. You got anything, Kai?"
Of course, Kai had nothing--- and he'd told Skeet as much. He'd noticed a brief smile on Vanessa's face, which he now confessed had been a little out of place. But how Adam had interpreted Reeve's cough as some sort of cover-up for an elaborate escape plan Vanessa supposedly didn't want anyone to know about... it was beyond Kai. Smirk or no smirk, the context for that conclusion was simply not there.
If there was such a thing as thinking too much, Adam was beyond guilty. He'd started to big-brain himself into stupidity.
Speaking of thinking, another night had passed--- and Kai still had not thought of any new solution to their problem. And with each new day that came, Kai lost more and more of his motivation to try. Yeah, he still wanted to get home; that was true of all his friends. But to trudge up the stairs every day, with no hope of escape to push him forward... it sucked.
Kai sighed and dropped from his pod, tugging up the waistband of his pants. He needed to get some work done today; sitting in bed moping about the situation wasn't going to get them home any faster. He was a man now, and men dealt with their problems... like men. Whatever that entailed.
Wide-eyed and shivering, Adam stood with his back to the freezing cascade. Above water. He didn't know how long he was going to stand here for, but the cold water kept him awake, forcing his head above the surface. So long as he could breathe, he could stand the icy temperature.
It even felt kind of good after a while.
Something like dark lightning sparked out the corner of his eye. When he turned his head, a shadow flitted away--- too quick to focus. Adam peeked around the shower door in search of a nightmarish shadow or a physical intruder... but found neither. He shuddered. By now, he wasn't sure if these flashes of movement were for real, or simply his imagination--- the delusional figment of tired eyes. Some distant part of his mind made its voice louder, reminding Adam that a lack of sleep could cause hallucenations just like this. He sighed.
Not awake enough yet...
He needed to be as awake as possible for the days to come. He'd tried to sleep. He honestly had. But ever since that one afternoon, his thoughts had been stuck with those other guys, and when he did sleep, his dreams were full of shadows and fears.
He'd had variants of that underwater dream since he was four. On an evening so long ago, he'd heard a report about two kids who had drowned in an icy lake. They'd fallen in, and they'd been trapped beneath the surface by the ice, limbs frozen, unable to escape in time. And he had been terrified for the rest of his childhood. Adam had often had nightmares about being trapped within the deep, dark waters for years afterwards... but the hand which pulled him deeper? That was new. Not to mention he hadn't had that nightmare in several years--- at least not since junior high.
His recent state of mind may have held the answer. He drowned in his own thoughts, dragged down deeper and deeper by circumstances beyond his control. Here they were, trapped in space on some busted-up, inescapable prison. Seven floors below them lived Vanessa and her cohorts, Reeve and Skeet. Their secretive behavior was enough to drive Adam nuts. Despite what Kai might argue, Adam knew what he'd seen. And he knew those three were up to no good.
For the last few days he'd been asking himself the same question on loop. Does the end truly justify the means? Home was the end goal--- all he and his friends longed for. The means? Breaking one of his own rules. Despite longing for that goal, he hesitated. But he knew he'd need to make a decision soon; time was running out. Who knew how close the others were to an escape by now? How was he supposed to keep an eye on them when he himself had decided the two groups should stay apart?
Maybe that hadn't been such a great idea after all. But he couldn't back out of it now; the lines had been drawn. Vanessa would need to agree to break the contract as well, and if she had a big secret, the last thing she'd want was Adam's team marching around on her floors again.
Would it matter if he watched them in secret? That way none of Vanessa's team would ever know. Mira and Kai didn't have to know either; keeping it from them would spare him another frustrating argument. He'd grown tired of explaining it over and over again, and he was sure his firends were tired of hearing it.
Perhaps if Adam spent a few minutes poking around each of their floors--- if he eavesdropped on them for a few minutes--- he could get away with it. No interaction required; no hard explanations needed. A voice deep inside warned him again not to go forward with it. He should let this situation play out, and the truth would reveal itself by the end of it. He shouldn't risk further angering his enemies, and he absolutely should not risk further alienating his friends.
It was a gamble... but was it a gamble he was willing to make?
Why so indecisive? You've made this choice before. That thought, paired with the icy water, brought Adam right back to the Hollow, to the ice giant's castle. He and Kai had stood face to face, tempers flaring. "They can't be trusted," he'd said. Kai hadn't gotten it then, either. While the kid's heart was in the right place, his desire to thaw out the other team had been foolish. Adam had decided to take matters into his own hands--- break the ice around the Ishibo to secure the goal.
But Mira had jumped in and blocked him from doing so, glaring into his soul as if he'd just made the most cold-hearted suggestion imaginable. "You could hurt him," she'd said.
But what about the end goal? What about going home? So what if he did break Reeve's arm in the process? Getting home--- winning the game--- was all that mattered at the time, and they'd needed the Ishibo to do that. It was in the hands of the other team, and if Adam needed to break an arm to secure victory, he wouldn't have hesitated.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Adam had thought back to that moment before--- how ruthless he must have seemed to Mira. It certainly hadn't been his most heroic moment, but...
Your decision would have been the right one, his shadowed thoughts insisted. Perhaps it wouldn't have been the heroic choice, but it would have saved all of them so much pain. Adam had paid the immediate price for his failure to make a move--- and Kai and Mira had borne the weight of the consequence. Regret shot through his heart. Make the right decision this time... they don't have to suffer like that again.
Adam turned off the shower. He'd have to do it. He'd have to go for it. He couldn't afford to stand around worrying about what those kids were doing, dragged around by every current of circumstance. He couldn't wait on Kai to come up with an alternative; he needed to act now. If he needed to break a rule to get home, he shouldn't hesitate to do so. If he ever needed to break his own rules, he would do it for his friends.
Today, he was going to break that ice.
Out of obligation (and sort of guilt for rarely helping with the menial chores), Kai had spent the entirety of his morning in the laundry room, first washing the load, then watching the clothes spiral over and over again in the dryer. He'd imagined the noises it made as the beat to his own new hit rock song, crafting lyrics on the spot. Sure, he wasn't the greatest singer, but nobody was around to hear him, so it didn't matter much. The fantasy cheered him up... a little. But when the dryer ended its cycle, Kai plunged right back into the world where even Kai was down on Kai.
Why am I doing this when I could be figuring a way out? Cause I'm too stupid to think outside the box. Stupid, stupid Kai... Can't think my way out of nothing. Adam and Mira don't deserve a friend like me. Why'd they get stuck with such a dummy?
Kai's hopes had begun to slide over the past few days. He hadn't shown it, but his self-esteem was at an all-time low. What kind of "genius" couldn't think outside the box for a solution? And here he'd thought he could finally make himself worth something.
He tried not to dwell on the self-bashing thoughts, choosing to focus his attention on folding all the clothes as neatly as possible. He tried to sing again, trying to remember the words to his made-up song--- just to have some fun while he worked. He ended up making new words, but without the beat, it just wasn't the same.
About halfway through folding, Mira turned up in the doorway. "Kai! I thought I heard you."
Kai smiled, glad to see her--- though embarrassed she'd heard his horrible singing. "Hey, Mira. Sorry about the noise..." He laid another shirt onto his pile.
"What, your singing?" Mira chuckled. "Don't worry. You're not that bad." She leaned against the doorframe. "Well, I was about to get lunch. You're welcome to join me."
Kai shook his head. "Uh... in a few minutes. I've gotta finish folding these clothes." He picked up a pair of pants and halved it.
"Looks like you're almost done," Mira observed. "I'll wait for you to finish. If that's OK."
Kai sighed. "Yeah... I guess so." He tossed the pants onto the pile and continued to work. He didn't feel like having company, but he wasn't about to turn Mira away if she wanted to spend her time with him.
"By the way, have you seen Adam anywhere?"
"He was in the shower when I left the room." Kai raised an eyebrow. "Is he gone?"
"Well, he's not back in the room, and I couldn't find him on the lookout deck." Mira shrugged with a sigh and came closer, carrying herself with uncertainty. "Calling out to him gets no response."
Kai picked up another pair of pants--- the last pair, he realized with relief--- and began to fold. "He'll show up eventually." Although Kai himself worried for Adam, spending time alone wasn't exactly an uncommon thing for the guy to do, especially when he was stressed.
Mira responded as if she'd been reading his thoughts. "Eventually, yeah. He likes to be by himself, but I usually know where to find him."
"Guess he really wants to be left alone today," said Kai, grim.
Mira frowned, seeming to pick up on Kai's dark mood. She changed the subject after a minute of thought. "So, what have you been up to? Any theories for a new way out?"
Kai hesitated, clutching the final shirt's fabric. He sighed, lowering his gaze. "Nope. Nothing."
Mira's breathing froze. She stood silent for a moment, then scoffed a disbelieving laugh. "What? No crazy ideas? No unassuming workarounds? Loopholes?"
Kai shook his head.
Mira's voice softened; Kai sensed she was putting the pieces together. "Not even a bad pun?"
"I've got nothing, Mira," Kai sighed. He dropped the laundry pile into the basket, eyes still glued to the floor. "Nothing means nothing."
"Am I really hearing this from you right now?" Mira sighed. "You know... between Adam acting the way he is, and now you acting so hopeless, I'm starting to think maybe I should give up too," she stated, voice low. She sat down cross-legged, frowning.
"I'm not giving up," Kai insisted. "Well... not all the way. I just... maybe..." He swallowed a pang of guilt. "Maybe I'm not the right guy for this. Nothing I've done so far has helped us get any closer to home." He drooped even lower, eyelids slipping shut. "I've only made things worse."
"That's not true, Kai," said Mira. Kai raised his head slightly--- just enough to catch Mira's frown.
"But it IS true," Kai retorted, throwing his hands in frustration. "I let Adam know the other kids were here, and he's been a grouch ever since. The data I found only got him mad at me. We both know my theory about fixing this place was wrong. If it weren't for me, we could've figured out the engines were gone a lot faster. I might've come up with a solution by now!"
Mira sat uncomfortably for a long moment; it could have been seconds or minutes, but for that short time, the tension hung in the air. She finally spoke, carefully measuring her words. "Hey... it doesn't matter if you think you're right for this or not, Kai," said Mira. "The rest of us do. We're relying on you to come through. I believe in you. Adam might be... distant right now, but I know he believes in you too."
Kai wasn't quite so sure. "Sorry to disappoint you guys," he mumbled.
"We still believe in you," Mira emphasized, holding out her hands. "A few failures and missteps hasn't changed that. Besides, you were right about the engines; it's not your fault neither of us went down to check any earlier." She stared straight into his eyes, commanding his full attention. "We're so close to getting home. You can't give up now."
Yeah... so his engine theory was correct! She was right! But were they really so close to a solution...?
"You really think so?"
Mira nodded affirmation. "Sure. There's only a limited number of things to try. The more wrong ways we weed out, the closer we'll be to finding the right way."
Kai lifted an eyebrow. "And if we've already tried everything? What then?"
Mira shook her head. "There's no way we've tried everything. You're the one who told Adam there might still be a way out. What happened to that Kai?"
"He's a few days older and a lot less sure of himself." Kai sighed. "I wish I shared your confidence, Mira. Really." He shrugged. "But... you've already heard the rundown. Contacting earth for rescue, moving this thing ourselves... it's all out of the question. I don't even think an escape pod would help, and I can't find those on the system anyway." He scoffed. "And so far, sorry. I haven't figured out how digging up new files and playing with holograms will get us back home."
"Have we tried fixing the helpline?"
"Yeah," said Kai. "I found the unit and ran a diagnostic. Our end is working fine, so there's nothing I can do. Calling the helpline just makes it beep a lot, and it plays some message about the 'secondary transmitter' needing repair. So it's on them. And so far, nobody's fixed the thing. And why would they need to? If they think that... explosion or whatever destroyed this place, why waste the power transmitting a signal?"
Mira sighed. "Good point. But... that doesn't mean we've exhausted every option. And it doesn't mean you should blame yourself for us still being stuck here."
Kai bowed his head, staring at his hands in his lap. "I know... I know."
The friends sat in silence for a few minutes. "Kai... I might have an idea," said Mira. Kai looked up, intrigued. "Why don't you take some time off? Take your mind off of it. Then when you come back to it, you might have some new ideas to work with."
Kai tilted his head, brow scrunched. "You really think that'll work?"
"It's worked for me," said Mira with a smile. "My dad taught me it was a great way to relieve stress, beat writer's block... and it's a good bet it'll help you with your problem too."
Kai managed a smile, and a little bark of laughter. "Wow. I thought you might tell me to double down. But you're saying I should avoid even thinking about it?"
"Not for too long. Maybe a week or two. It depends on when you feel better."
"I'll tell ya what'll make me start to feel better." Kai stood to his feet and stretched his back, then sighed and loosened his shoulders. "Finally fixing that peanut butter recipe. I've been meaning to get to it for weeks."
"Well, now's your chance," said Mira, standing. The two friends headed out of the room, side by side.
"Think Adam'll stop skipping meals for a peanut butter sandwich?"
Mira chuckled, despite the mention of Adam's latest worst habit. "We'll have to see."
Adam didn't show up again until the evening, after Mira and Kai had already eaten dinner. Sweaty and blank-faced, he appeared in the kitchen doorway and leaned his shoulder against the frame, breathing heavily. His gaze flitted over the clean-up job going on, then onto Kai, then Mira. She could read the shame in his eyes, despite his neutral expression.
"Adam! You're back!" Kai exclaimed, cheerful; his mood had truly brightened since the afternoon. He tapped his peant butter compartment. "Want a peanut butter sandwich? The stuff's a little too sticky still, but..."
Adam abruptly held up one hand. "No thanks." Kai slumped, eyes dimming. Adam walked, each step drowsy and stiff, toward the food compartments. He seemed to struggle to keep himself upright--- no doubt some combination of too little sleep and overworked legs.
Mira approached slowly. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you all day."
Adam froze for a moment, an apple in hand. He slammed the compartment shut, then winced. "Around," he answered. "It's not like I can go anywhere else."
Mira frowned. "You know what I meant."
Adam sighed sharply. "Can't a guy have some privacy?" He bit into the apple.
"This isn't about privacy. This is about you, acting all... weird. That little disappearing act today really had us worried."
"Worrying... all you guys do is worry about me," Adam muttered.
"Uh, maybe 'cause you keep doing stuff that makes us worry?" Kai remarked, his tone once again bitter. So much for a better mood.
"How many times do I have to tell you guys? Don't worry about it." Adam sighed and stared down at the apple. "I'll be fine."
"Not if you keep doing what you've been doing." Mira struggled to contain her blended concern and frustration, which wanted to pour out on her stressed friend all at once--- a mixture which would no doubt make him more upset. She scoffed. "You aren't sleeping right, you're barely eating... Is that apple the only thing you've had today?"
Adam ducked his gaze in shame. "No... I had a banana when I got up," he mumbled.
Mira continued her rant, keeping her voice low. "And you've been treating every concern like a challenge. Now you won't even tell us what you've been up to. What's going on with you?"
"I'm just... I'm just trying to look out for you guys!" Adam burst, bloodshot eyes wide.
Mira raised her voice. "Then why are you treating us like we're threatening you every time someone asks you a question?"
Adam had no response, stunned to silence. Or... maybe forced to his own voluntary silence. He bit down on his lip. Something had entered his mind--- something he refused to say out loud. His lips moved noiselessly, save an indistinguishable whisper.
"You keep telling me you're fine, but..." Mira sighed shakily. "Everything you're doing just tells me you're not."
"I'm sorting things out," Adam said. He raised his head and met her eye-to-eye, his once-kindly dark eyes hard as flintrock, jaw set. "I'm getting us out of here soon, I promise. I haven't forgotten about you guys. But I need some space once in a while, OK?"
"You're getting us out of here?" Kai entered the conversation, brow pinched. "I thought I was the one looking for a way out."
"I am too," said Adam. "Just to make sure all our bases are covered."
Looking for a way out? Is that what he's been doing? "Wait." Mira held up one hand, glaring. "Were you on the lower floors?"
Adam froze, with a deer-in-headlights stare that revealed his guilt. He swallowed hard.
Mira raised an eyebrow. "Did you find anything?"
Adam shook his head. "Not yet."
"Hold up." Kai marched toward Adam, brow furrowed deep. "So you're telling me you blocked us from going down there, for what? So you could... waltz around down there by yourself whenever you want?"
"That's not what I did!" Adam exclaimed.
"That's exactly what you did!" Kai thrust a finger into Adam's face.
Adam shoved Kai's hand away, frowning deeply. "I had a reason, Kai. There might still be some way out, just... hidden. Do you wanna get home or not?"
Kai's blue eyes burned hotter. "Oh, so you're admitting I was right now, huh? Who was it that said banning us was a bad idea?" Kai jammed his thumb into his chest. "That's right. Me. And what did you say to me?" He scoffed. Deepening his voice and flapping one hand like a mouth, he continued, "My logic is fine! Drop the subject, Kai! Stop arguing about it, Kai! I'm smarter than you, Kai! Just run along and go back to your computer stuff, where you belong!"
Kai's vehemence about this was bad enough, according to Mira--- she already wanted to plug her ears. But Adam's response was enough to drive her to leave the room. He growled and struck the island with his fist--- hard, yet he didn't seem to notice any pain. "Would you stop rubbing it in and actually LISTEN TO ME?" he snarled.
"You didn't listen to me! Why should I listen to you?" Kai growled back.
"Because I know what I'm doing!"
"No you don't!"
"YES, I do! If you'd listened when I explained it the first time, I---"
"SHUT UP!" Mira yelled. She breathed heavily, her heart pounding even more than it had the other night, during that other argument. "Both of you, just... shut up." She pointed out the door. "I'm leaving for fifteen minutes. If you two haven't stopped arguing by the time I come back, I'm going to kill both of you!" With that, she spun on her heel and stormed off, leaving the boys to fight it out on their own.
Hopefully, it wouldn't come to blows.
Mira made her way down the hall, then into the stairwell, hoping to walk off some steam, and untangle the ever-tightening tendrils of anxiety from her mind. She registered something not quite right a few flights down, at first too wrapped inside her own thoughts to care. But after marching down one set, she took a closer look. It was a person. Someone with pale, thick arms and wavy blonde hair, dark at the roots. A bent metal pole lay by his side.
She jogged down the next flight of stairs, bewildered. "Skeet?"
"Oh... that's Mira, I guess," Skeet answered. "That's your name, right? Mira?"
"Yes." Mira stopped at the top of the staircase on which he sat, right in the center.
Skeet turned himself sideways, folding one long leg into his lap. "I heard someone comin'. Just didn't know who." His blank hazel eyes grew wide. "Oh... I'm not in you guys' space, am I?"
"It's... fine. You're good," Mira assured him. She held the rail with both hands, studying his posture for any further indication of discomfort. He seemed relaxed, albeit uncharacteristically thoughtful. Mira tilted her head. "So... What are you doing on the stairs?"
Skeet shrugged loosely. "Sometimes, when Vanessa and Reeve get to yellin' at each other, I just gotta get away, y'know?"
Mira sighed, clutching the rail tighter. What a coincidence. "I know how you feel."
"I figured you would," Skeet replied. He turned so she could see his face, even if he couldn't see her. His lip twitched upward. "You're like me. You're a lover, not a fighter. Ya just want your friends to get along."
Mira blinked, taken aback. "You... how'd you figure that out?" They'd barely interacted, and Skeet... well, he wasn't exactly sharp. Nor did he seem like the intuitive type.
Skeet shrugged, folding his hands in his lap. "I just notice stuff sometimes," he answered simply. "Psh. My Dad always says it's cause I don't think." He tapped his skull. "And he's prob'ly right."
"OK." Mira sat down a few steps above Skeet. "Still. I barely know you. This might actually be our first conversation!"
"I noticed it the other day, when you jumped in to stop that argument between Vanessa and Adam." He chuckled bitterly. "I'm always doin' that. Vanessa's still actin' like the leader and Reeve doesn't know how to chill out. So guess who's stuck in between?" He smacked his broad chest. "Me. But I don't wanna deal with their crap."
Mira laughed despite herself. "You really do get it," she remarked. "Kai and Adam are both sooo stubborn. And they both think they're always right." She sighed sadly. "And Adam's been such a mess lately, he's been five times more stubborn than usual. And he barely eats or sleeps anymore. I don't know what to do about him." A stop sign materialized in her mind, warning her not to say anything else about Adam. She looked down, barking a chuckle. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."
"You're good, Mira. It's all cool," said Skeet with a wave of his hand. "I'm happy to listen."
But why? Was this some covert way for Vanessa to gather intel? No... this meeting was too unexpected. It had to be a coincidence. Great... Adam's paranoia is rubbing off on me. Maybe it was because she didn't know Skeet, but he'd never seemed to be a listener. Mira was not one to be suspicious, but she may as well lean on the side of caution and share as little with this guy as possible.
"Look... I don't know you well enough to talk about this stuff. We're pretty much strangers to one another," she stated.
"We don't have to be," Skeet piped. "You seem pretty chill. I'm willin' to be friends if you are."
Mira stayed silent, becoming increasingly wary, unsure of Skeet's intentions. The longer she didn't respond, the more his enthusiastic smile slowly faded.
"But, I mean... I get it if ya don't want to. I was pretty rude to ya in the Hollow. Sorry 'bout that, by the way."
"It's... it's OK, Skeet. I just..." Adam and Kai would be waiting. She needed to come up with a good reason to end the conversation. Come on, come on... A-ha! There was something. Mira stood up with a sigh. "Adam will come looking for me if I'm gone too long. I... I don't want him to lose his mind if he sees us talking."
Skeet sighed. "Fair enough." He smiled again, flashing a thumbs up. "Been cool talkin' to ya. I really enjoyed our chat."
Mira smiled softly. "Yeah. So did I." Remarkably. She hurried up the steps. "Bye, Skeet."
"Talk again soon?" he offered.
Mira paused at the top of the stair set, thoughtful. "Maybe." She continued her way up the stairs, ready to lie down and get some sleep. By now, she hoped, Adam and Kai should have solved their personal problems.
If not, they'd have to sleep on it.
Before he'd even opened his eyes, Adam heard the nearby waves lapping against the shore. The warm sand cushioned him, comfortable--- but the angry sun beat down on him from above. Far less comfortable. He opened up to the sight of a clear blue sky overhead. He'd been here before.
Oh no. Not here again. Not this dream.
Adam turned his line of sight to the side, expecting to see the oddly silent Kai and Mira sitting not far away. But when he did, his breath caught in his throat. He wanted to recoil in horror and anguish, for though his friends were there--- they were corpses. Decaying, mangled messes with dead black eyes. Just as he had been the last time he'd had this dream.
Heart pounding, Adam tried to get up, but this time, he was frozen in place. He couldn't move anything but his eyes and mouth. His breathing quickened as a panic set in.
What... what was this? What was happening?
Adam's heart sped up as a shadow overcast his face. He gulped and turned his gaze above. The tall, hooded figure from before--- the other him, the darker him--- loomed over his body, eyes obscured by the hood and by the blinding sun above.
"What did you do to my friends?" Adam demanded.
Shadam merely smirked in response.
Adam grunted and attempted to force himself to move, without success--- nothing so much as a finger. He gritted his teeth and glared up at his own infuriatingly pleased face. "Why can't I move?"
Finally, his shadowy alter ego made a sound. He lifted his finger to his lip and shushed Adam as one would a child, which only made the paralyzed teen angrier.
"Answer me!" Adam roared. "What happened to them?"
Shadam bent down and kneeled onto Adam's chest, then leaned down into his face. Closer than ever before, Adam could see straight into his shadow's eyes. Instead of pure evil, as Adam had expected, those deep, dark pits held something far scarier: Nothing. Nothing at all. They were vacant of all emotion. Void of sympathy. Empty of regret.
Totally hollow. The sight of them sent a shiver through Adam's entire body.
And if that wasn't chilling enough on its own, the creep factor rose further as Shadam's grin grew unsettlingly wide. He chuckled. "You did," he spoke at last. The blood rushed to Adam's head as he stared deep into his doppelganger's abysmal gaze. "You happened to them."
Adam shuddered himself awake. It was still dark in the room, and cold as ever. He sat up, relieved to be able to move again, and instinctively glanced aside to see if Mira and Kai were still there. The sight of them peacefully at rest put Adam somewhat at ease. But the vision of their frozen bodies lying on the beach still haunted him.
You happened to them.
Adam shook it off (or at least tried to) and climbed out of bed to absolve his rampant paranoia of the thought that maybe, just maybe, his friends were dead instead of asleep.
He peered inside Mira's pod first. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her torso rising and falling to the gentle rhythm of her breathing. Good. She was still alive.
He made his way over to Kai. The boy was splayed out as usual, one gangly arm wrapped over his head and one long leg draped partway over the edge of the pod. He slept firmly on his stomach with his face turned to the side, unkempt auburn hair scattered everywhere. A small trickle of drool streamed from his open mouth. His soft, undisturbed snoring told Adam that he, too, was still living.
What am I even doing?
Adam took a few deep breaths, gripping the edge of Kai's pod to calm himself. It was just another stupid dream, he told himself. One that people got from having to use the bathroom during the night. And that, he realized, was something he most certainly did have to do.
That's all this is... just a dumb bathroom dream, Adam scolded himself on his way to the toilet. He shoved open the door, clicked on the light, and shut the door behind him. It's nothing to worry about. Just a stupid dream. Gah. Why am I so paranoid?
After using the toilet, Adam washed his hands. Then his forearms. Unsatisfied, he took off his shirt and splashed a great deal of water onto his face, neck and chest to wash away the ridiculous amount of cold sweat that had built up there. He sighed, at last relieved. He shook the water from his arms and grabbed a towel to scrub the stuff from his face. He then took a long look at himself in the mirror.
Yikes. Did he really look like that? Dark shadows under his eyes and sunken caves beneath his cheekbones aged him by about five years. A permanent crease between his brows only served to age him further. His dark hair, once meticulously styled, was now a tangled mess which hung loosely over his eyes. A stubborn mask of sweat still clung to his olive skin. He was thinner than ever before--- emaciated, even--- his ribs far too prominent to be healthy. This was supposed to be the confident leader his friends looked up to?
A flashback to his dream caught him off guard. His heart began to pound. The sight of his own reflection... seeing someone in there whom he didn't even recognize... oh no, could he...? Could he even look into his own eyes? What would he find there? Swallowing his paranoia for a brief moment, Adam managed to gaze into his eyes, desperately searching for something inside them. It was almost a relief when he saw his own panic and depression reflected back to him. He could take comfort, he thought, in the presence of something.
You happened to them.
This time, the words had been nearly audible. A surge of fear spiked inside him. He stared into his reflection, terrified that he could still be dreaming. He clutched the edge of the sink, unable to tear his eyes from the mirror and the sight of his own face staring back at him. The terror. The fright. The dread--- the awful dread--- as the corners of his reflection's lips turned upward into an ugly smile.
Adam had absolutely not smiled.
He tore his eyes away at last, nauseated. He gasped for breath and squeezed his eyes shut as he backed against the wall. A sobbing noise escaped his chest. What is happening? Another sob as he sank to the bathroom floor. What is happening to me? A series of sobs shook his frame as he buried his face in his knees. What am I turning into? Am I...
"...Crazy?" Adam choked out loud. Hot, salty tears forced their way from his eyes and into the fabric of his sweatpants. The sobs grew worse--- louder. And though he mentally scolded himself--- stop it, they're going to hear you!--- he couldn't stop them from coming. Now he was crying. Crying in fear, anger, and sorrow.
What the hell had this place done to him?
It was in Kai's best interest to avoid him this morning; the last thing Kai needed was a bombardment of demands and questions so soon after waking. Nothing like a hot, steaming cup of stress in the morning, after all! That was Adam's current specialty--- and he drank quite a bit of the stuff himself.
Sadness jolted through his stomach. Kai may have been giving Adam a hard time lately, but in truth, he was concerned for the guy. Adam hardly seemed to take care of himself anymore, which was bad enough on its own. Whether that was the cause or effect of Adam's mental state, Kai didn't know. What Kai did know was this place might be capable of driving anyone crazy given enough time; the AARC was a total mindwarp and a half, and it was only a matter of time before someone snapped. He just hadn't expected Adam, of the whole trio, to be the first to go.
The guy was always so straightforward and logical, only losing his cool once in a while. He loved to be the leader. Although he was admittedly good at it, his natural assertiveness often drove Kai up a wall. While Adam was still straightforward and very much acting as the leader (albeit a far less capable one), his logic seemed to have short-circuited.
His theory about the other kids, for example, had been unfounded from the start. His latest theory stood heads above as the most absurd of all; even Kai could see it was illogical. And unless Adam's memory of the tipping point moment was vastly different from Kai's own, there was no way the circumstances should have given him such a bonkers idea.
Adam had been thoroughly agitated about it, that was for sure. Kai remembered that moment in a way similar to Adam's order of events, but for the life of him, he didn't know where his friend had gotten half his details.
Kai remembered standing beside Adam, all three of them still shaken from what they had seen outside that window. Kai had calmed himself down enough at that point to begin paying attention to his surroundings again. He'd just finished explaining his knowledge of the SmartShield technology. Everything had been calm and quiet--- composed. Even Adam, who had been cold--- if tetchy--- with the other kids until that point.
And then Reeve had cut in with his own two cents.
"Why does this even matter?"
Adam had exploded, his face knotted with absolute fury. "THAT WAS OUR LAST CHANCE TO GET HOME!" he'd roared. Kai had backed away, startled--- Adam's volume had been deafening. Reeve's words had flipped some sort of switch inside of Adam, changing him from frozen to ablaze. And for that brief but heated moment, Adam's mask of composure had snapped in half and revealed something ugly. He'd always had a temper, but that had to have been his worst outburst yet.
Kai had tried to calm his friend back down in the moment, keeping his distance. "There might still be a way. You never know." Adam's only response had been a shadowy frown, which had only served to scare Kai all the more. He'd turned his gaze back onto Reeve and Skeet at that point. Now came that part Adam had blown out of proportion.
"Yeah!" Skeet had interjected. "If---" Reeve had coughed into his arm. Skeet, then interrupted, had paused to make sure Reeve wouldn't cough again before he'd continued. "If... you guys can find another lead an' all. You got anything, Kai?"
Of course, Kai had nothing--- and he'd told Skeet as much. He'd noticed a brief smile on Vanessa's face, which he now confessed had been a little out of place. But how Adam had interpreted Reeve's cough as some sort of cover-up for an elaborate escape plan Vanessa supposedly didn't want anyone to know about... it was beyond Kai. Smirk or no smirk, the context for that conclusion was simply not there.
If there was such a thing as thinking too much, Adam was beyond guilty. He'd started to big-brain himself into stupidity.
Speaking of thinking, another night had passed--- and Kai still had not thought of any new solution to their problem. And with each new day that came, Kai lost more and more of his motivation to try. Yeah, he still wanted to get home; that was true of all his friends. But to trudge up the stairs every day, with no hope of escape to push him forward... it sucked.
Kai sighed and dropped from his pod, tugging up the waistband of his pants. He needed to get some work done today; sitting in bed moping about the situation wasn't going to get them home any faster. He was a man now, and men dealt with their problems... like men. Whatever that entailed.
Wide-eyed and shivering, Adam stood with his back to the freezing cascade. Above water. He didn't know how long he was going to stand here for, but the cold water kept him awake, forcing his head above the surface. So long as he could breathe, he could stand the icy temperature.
It even felt kind of good after a while.
Something like dark lightning sparked out the corner of his eye. When he turned his head, a shadow flitted away--- too quick to focus. Adam peeked around the shower door in search of a nightmarish shadow or a physical intruder... but found neither. He shuddered. By now, he wasn't sure if these flashes of movement were for real, or simply his imagination--- the delusional figment of tired eyes. Some distant part of his mind made its voice louder, reminding Adam that a lack of sleep could cause hallucenations just like this. He sighed.
Not awake enough yet...
He needed to be as awake as possible for the days to come. He'd tried to sleep. He honestly had. But ever since that one afternoon, his thoughts had been stuck with those other guys, and when he did sleep, his dreams were full of shadows and fears.
He'd had variants of that underwater dream since he was four. On an evening so long ago, he'd heard a report about two kids who had drowned in an icy lake. They'd fallen in, and they'd been trapped beneath the surface by the ice, limbs frozen, unable to escape in time. And he had been terrified for the rest of his childhood. Adam had often had nightmares about being trapped within the deep, dark waters for years afterwards... but the hand which pulled him deeper? That was new. Not to mention he hadn't had that nightmare in several years--- at least not since junior high.
His recent state of mind may have held the answer. He drowned in his own thoughts, dragged down deeper and deeper by circumstances beyond his control. Here they were, trapped in space on some busted-up, inescapable prison. Seven floors below them lived Vanessa and her cohorts, Reeve and Skeet. Their secretive behavior was enough to drive Adam nuts. Despite what Kai might argue, Adam knew what he'd seen. And he knew those three were up to no good.
For the last few days he'd been asking himself the same question on loop. Does the end truly justify the means? Home was the end goal--- all he and his friends longed for. The means? Breaking one of his own rules. Despite longing for that goal, he hesitated. But he knew he'd need to make a decision soon; time was running out. Who knew how close the others were to an escape by now? How was he supposed to keep an eye on them when he himself had decided the two groups should stay apart?
Maybe that hadn't been such a great idea after all. But he couldn't back out of it now; the lines had been drawn. Vanessa would need to agree to break the contract as well, and if she had a big secret, the last thing she'd want was Adam's team marching around on her floors again.
Would it matter if he watched them in secret? That way none of Vanessa's team would ever know. Mira and Kai didn't have to know either; keeping it from them would spare him another frustrating argument. He'd grown tired of explaining it over and over again, and he was sure his firends were tired of hearing it.
Perhaps if Adam spent a few minutes poking around each of their floors--- if he eavesdropped on them for a few minutes--- he could get away with it. No interaction required; no hard explanations needed. A voice deep inside warned him again not to go forward with it. He should let this situation play out, and the truth would reveal itself by the end of it. He shouldn't risk further angering his enemies, and he absolutely should not risk further alienating his friends.
It was a gamble... but was it a gamble he was willing to make?
Why so indecisive? You've made this choice before. That thought, paired with the icy water, brought Adam right back to the Hollow, to the ice giant's castle. He and Kai had stood face to face, tempers flaring. "They can't be trusted," he'd said. Kai hadn't gotten it then, either. While the kid's heart was in the right place, his desire to thaw out the other team had been foolish. Adam had decided to take matters into his own hands--- break the ice around the Ishibo to secure the goal.
But Mira had jumped in and blocked him from doing so, glaring into his soul as if he'd just made the most cold-hearted suggestion imaginable. "You could hurt him," she'd said.
But what about the end goal? What about going home? So what if he did break Reeve's arm in the process? Getting home--- winning the game--- was all that mattered at the time, and they'd needed the Ishibo to do that. It was in the hands of the other team, and if Adam needed to break an arm to secure victory, he wouldn't have hesitated.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Adam had thought back to that moment before--- how ruthless he must have seemed to Mira. It certainly hadn't been his most heroic moment, but...
Your decision would have been the right one, his shadowed thoughts insisted. Perhaps it wouldn't have been the heroic choice, but it would have saved all of them so much pain. Adam had paid the immediate price for his failure to make a move--- and Kai and Mira had borne the weight of the consequence. Regret shot through his heart. Make the right decision this time... they don't have to suffer like that again.
Adam turned off the shower. He'd have to do it. He'd have to go for it. He couldn't afford to stand around worrying about what those kids were doing, dragged around by every current of circumstance. He couldn't wait on Kai to come up with an alternative; he needed to act now. If he needed to break a rule to get home, he shouldn't hesitate to do so. If he ever needed to break his own rules, he would do it for his friends.
Today, he was going to break that ice.
Out of obligation (and sort of guilt for rarely helping with the menial chores), Kai had spent the entirety of his morning in the laundry room, first washing the load, then watching the clothes spiral over and over again in the dryer. He'd imagined the noises it made as the beat to his own new hit rock song, crafting lyrics on the spot. Sure, he wasn't the greatest singer, but nobody was around to hear him, so it didn't matter much. The fantasy cheered him up... a little. But when the dryer ended its cycle, Kai plunged right back into the world where even Kai was down on Kai.
Why am I doing this when I could be figuring a way out? Cause I'm too stupid to think outside the box. Stupid, stupid Kai... Can't think my way out of nothing. Adam and Mira don't deserve a friend like me. Why'd they get stuck with such a dummy?
Kai's hopes had begun to slide over the past few days. He hadn't shown it, but his self-esteem was at an all-time low. What kind of "genius" couldn't think outside the box for a solution? And here he'd thought he could finally make himself worth something.
He tried not to dwell on the self-bashing thoughts, choosing to focus his attention on folding all the clothes as neatly as possible. He tried to sing again, trying to remember the words to his made-up song--- just to have some fun while he worked. He ended up making new words, but without the beat, it just wasn't the same.
About halfway through folding, Mira turned up in the doorway. "Kai! I thought I heard you."
Kai smiled, glad to see her--- though embarrassed she'd heard his horrible singing. "Hey, Mira. Sorry about the noise..." He laid another shirt onto his pile.
"What, your singing?" Mira chuckled. "Don't worry. You're not that bad." She leaned against the doorframe. "Well, I was about to get lunch. You're welcome to join me."
Kai shook his head. "Uh... in a few minutes. I've gotta finish folding these clothes." He picked up a pair of pants and halved it.
"Looks like you're almost done," Mira observed. "I'll wait for you to finish. If that's OK."
Kai sighed. "Yeah... I guess so." He tossed the pants onto the pile and continued to work. He didn't feel like having company, but he wasn't about to turn Mira away if she wanted to spend her time with him.
"By the way, have you seen Adam anywhere?"
"He was in the shower when I left the room." Kai raised an eyebrow. "Is he gone?"
"Well, he's not back in the room, and I couldn't find him on the lookout deck." Mira shrugged with a sigh and came closer, carrying herself with uncertainty. "Calling out to him gets no response."
Kai picked up another pair of pants--- the last pair, he realized with relief--- and began to fold. "He'll show up eventually." Although Kai himself worried for Adam, spending time alone wasn't exactly an uncommon thing for the guy to do, especially when he was stressed.
Mira responded as if she'd been reading his thoughts. "Eventually, yeah. He likes to be by himself, but I usually know where to find him."
"Guess he really wants to be left alone today," said Kai, grim.
Mira frowned, seeming to pick up on Kai's dark mood. She changed the subject after a minute of thought. "So, what have you been up to? Any theories for a new way out?"
Kai hesitated, clutching the final shirt's fabric. He sighed, lowering his gaze. "Nope. Nothing."
Mira's breathing froze. She stood silent for a moment, then scoffed a disbelieving laugh. "What? No crazy ideas? No unassuming workarounds? Loopholes?"
Kai shook his head.
Mira's voice softened; Kai sensed she was putting the pieces together. "Not even a bad pun?"
"I've got nothing, Mira," Kai sighed. He dropped the laundry pile into the basket, eyes still glued to the floor. "Nothing means nothing."
"Am I really hearing this from you right now?" Mira sighed. "You know... between Adam acting the way he is, and now you acting so hopeless, I'm starting to think maybe I should give up too," she stated, voice low. She sat down cross-legged, frowning.
"I'm not giving up," Kai insisted. "Well... not all the way. I just... maybe..." He swallowed a pang of guilt. "Maybe I'm not the right guy for this. Nothing I've done so far has helped us get any closer to home." He drooped even lower, eyelids slipping shut. "I've only made things worse."
"That's not true, Kai," said Mira. Kai raised his head slightly--- just enough to catch Mira's frown.
"But it IS true," Kai retorted, throwing his hands in frustration. "I let Adam know the other kids were here, and he's been a grouch ever since. The data I found only got him mad at me. We both know my theory about fixing this place was wrong. If it weren't for me, we could've figured out the engines were gone a lot faster. I might've come up with a solution by now!"
Mira sat uncomfortably for a long moment; it could have been seconds or minutes, but for that short time, the tension hung in the air. She finally spoke, carefully measuring her words. "Hey... it doesn't matter if you think you're right for this or not, Kai," said Mira. "The rest of us do. We're relying on you to come through. I believe in you. Adam might be... distant right now, but I know he believes in you too."
Kai wasn't quite so sure. "Sorry to disappoint you guys," he mumbled.
"We still believe in you," Mira emphasized, holding out her hands. "A few failures and missteps hasn't changed that. Besides, you were right about the engines; it's not your fault neither of us went down to check any earlier." She stared straight into his eyes, commanding his full attention. "We're so close to getting home. You can't give up now."
Yeah... so his engine theory was correct! She was right! But were they really so close to a solution...?
"You really think so?"
Mira nodded affirmation. "Sure. There's only a limited number of things to try. The more wrong ways we weed out, the closer we'll be to finding the right way."
Kai lifted an eyebrow. "And if we've already tried everything? What then?"
Mira shook her head. "There's no way we've tried everything. You're the one who told Adam there might still be a way out. What happened to that Kai?"
"He's a few days older and a lot less sure of himself." Kai sighed. "I wish I shared your confidence, Mira. Really." He shrugged. "But... you've already heard the rundown. Contacting earth for rescue, moving this thing ourselves... it's all out of the question. I don't even think an escape pod would help, and I can't find those on the system anyway." He scoffed. "And so far, sorry. I haven't figured out how digging up new files and playing with holograms will get us back home."
"Have we tried fixing the helpline?"
"Yeah," said Kai. "I found the unit and ran a diagnostic. Our end is working fine, so there's nothing I can do. Calling the helpline just makes it beep a lot, and it plays some message about the 'secondary transmitter' needing repair. So it's on them. And so far, nobody's fixed the thing. And why would they need to? If they think that... explosion or whatever destroyed this place, why waste the power transmitting a signal?"
Mira sighed. "Good point. But... that doesn't mean we've exhausted every option. And it doesn't mean you should blame yourself for us still being stuck here."
Kai bowed his head, staring at his hands in his lap. "I know... I know."
The friends sat in silence for a few minutes. "Kai... I might have an idea," said Mira. Kai looked up, intrigued. "Why don't you take some time off? Take your mind off of it. Then when you come back to it, you might have some new ideas to work with."
Kai tilted his head, brow scrunched. "You really think that'll work?"
"It's worked for me," said Mira with a smile. "My dad taught me it was a great way to relieve stress, beat writer's block... and it's a good bet it'll help you with your problem too."
Kai managed a smile, and a little bark of laughter. "Wow. I thought you might tell me to double down. But you're saying I should avoid even thinking about it?"
"Not for too long. Maybe a week or two. It depends on when you feel better."
"I'll tell ya what'll make me start to feel better." Kai stood to his feet and stretched his back, then sighed and loosened his shoulders. "Finally fixing that peanut butter recipe. I've been meaning to get to it for weeks."
"Well, now's your chance," said Mira, standing. The two friends headed out of the room, side by side.
"Think Adam'll stop skipping meals for a peanut butter sandwich?"
Mira chuckled, despite the mention of Adam's latest worst habit. "We'll have to see."
Adam didn't show up again until the evening, after Mira and Kai had already eaten dinner. Sweaty and blank-faced, he appeared in the kitchen doorway and leaned his shoulder against the frame, breathing heavily. His gaze flitted over the clean-up job going on, then onto Kai, then Mira. She could read the shame in his eyes, despite his neutral expression.
"Adam! You're back!" Kai exclaimed, cheerful; his mood had truly brightened since the afternoon. He tapped his peant butter compartment. "Want a peanut butter sandwich? The stuff's a little too sticky still, but..."
Adam abruptly held up one hand. "No thanks." Kai slumped, eyes dimming. Adam walked, each step drowsy and stiff, toward the food compartments. He seemed to struggle to keep himself upright--- no doubt some combination of too little sleep and overworked legs.
Mira approached slowly. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you all day."
Adam froze for a moment, an apple in hand. He slammed the compartment shut, then winced. "Around," he answered. "It's not like I can go anywhere else."
Mira frowned. "You know what I meant."
Adam sighed sharply. "Can't a guy have some privacy?" He bit into the apple.
"This isn't about privacy. This is about you, acting all... weird. That little disappearing act today really had us worried."
"Worrying... all you guys do is worry about me," Adam muttered.
"Uh, maybe 'cause you keep doing stuff that makes us worry?" Kai remarked, his tone once again bitter. So much for a better mood.
"How many times do I have to tell you guys? Don't worry about it." Adam sighed and stared down at the apple. "I'll be fine."
"Not if you keep doing what you've been doing." Mira struggled to contain her blended concern and frustration, which wanted to pour out on her stressed friend all at once--- a mixture which would no doubt make him more upset. She scoffed. "You aren't sleeping right, you're barely eating... Is that apple the only thing you've had today?"
Adam ducked his gaze in shame. "No... I had a banana when I got up," he mumbled.
Mira continued her rant, keeping her voice low. "And you've been treating every concern like a challenge. Now you won't even tell us what you've been up to. What's going on with you?"
"I'm just... I'm just trying to look out for you guys!" Adam burst, bloodshot eyes wide.
Mira raised her voice. "Then why are you treating us like we're threatening you every time someone asks you a question?"
Adam had no response, stunned to silence. Or... maybe forced to his own voluntary silence. He bit down on his lip. Something had entered his mind--- something he refused to say out loud. His lips moved noiselessly, save an indistinguishable whisper.
"You keep telling me you're fine, but..." Mira sighed shakily. "Everything you're doing just tells me you're not."
"I'm sorting things out," Adam said. He raised his head and met her eye-to-eye, his once-kindly dark eyes hard as flintrock, jaw set. "I'm getting us out of here soon, I promise. I haven't forgotten about you guys. But I need some space once in a while, OK?"
"You're getting us out of here?" Kai entered the conversation, brow pinched. "I thought I was the one looking for a way out."
"I am too," said Adam. "Just to make sure all our bases are covered."
Looking for a way out? Is that what he's been doing? "Wait." Mira held up one hand, glaring. "Were you on the lower floors?"
Adam froze, with a deer-in-headlights stare that revealed his guilt. He swallowed hard.
Mira raised an eyebrow. "Did you find anything?"
Adam shook his head. "Not yet."
"Hold up." Kai marched toward Adam, brow furrowed deep. "So you're telling me you blocked us from going down there, for what? So you could... waltz around down there by yourself whenever you want?"
"That's not what I did!" Adam exclaimed.
"That's exactly what you did!" Kai thrust a finger into Adam's face.
Adam shoved Kai's hand away, frowning deeply. "I had a reason, Kai. There might still be some way out, just... hidden. Do you wanna get home or not?"
Kai's blue eyes burned hotter. "Oh, so you're admitting I was right now, huh? Who was it that said banning us was a bad idea?" Kai jammed his thumb into his chest. "That's right. Me. And what did you say to me?" He scoffed. Deepening his voice and flapping one hand like a mouth, he continued, "My logic is fine! Drop the subject, Kai! Stop arguing about it, Kai! I'm smarter than you, Kai! Just run along and go back to your computer stuff, where you belong!"
Kai's vehemence about this was bad enough, according to Mira--- she already wanted to plug her ears. But Adam's response was enough to drive her to leave the room. He growled and struck the island with his fist--- hard, yet he didn't seem to notice any pain. "Would you stop rubbing it in and actually LISTEN TO ME?" he snarled.
"You didn't listen to me! Why should I listen to you?" Kai growled back.
"Because I know what I'm doing!"
"No you don't!"
"YES, I do! If you'd listened when I explained it the first time, I---"
"SHUT UP!" Mira yelled. She breathed heavily, her heart pounding even more than it had the other night, during that other argument. "Both of you, just... shut up." She pointed out the door. "I'm leaving for fifteen minutes. If you two haven't stopped arguing by the time I come back, I'm going to kill both of you!" With that, she spun on her heel and stormed off, leaving the boys to fight it out on their own.
Hopefully, it wouldn't come to blows.
Mira made her way down the hall, then into the stairwell, hoping to walk off some steam, and untangle the ever-tightening tendrils of anxiety from her mind. She registered something not quite right a few flights down, at first too wrapped inside her own thoughts to care. But after marching down one set, she took a closer look. It was a person. Someone with pale, thick arms and wavy blonde hair, dark at the roots. A bent metal pole lay by his side.
She jogged down the next flight of stairs, bewildered. "Skeet?"
"Oh... that's Mira, I guess," Skeet answered. "That's your name, right? Mira?"
"Yes." Mira stopped at the top of the staircase on which he sat, right in the center.
Skeet turned himself sideways, folding one long leg into his lap. "I heard someone comin'. Just didn't know who." His blank hazel eyes grew wide. "Oh... I'm not in you guys' space, am I?"
"It's... fine. You're good," Mira assured him. She held the rail with both hands, studying his posture for any further indication of discomfort. He seemed relaxed, albeit uncharacteristically thoughtful. Mira tilted her head. "So... What are you doing on the stairs?"
Skeet shrugged loosely. "Sometimes, when Vanessa and Reeve get to yellin' at each other, I just gotta get away, y'know?"
Mira sighed, clutching the rail tighter. What a coincidence. "I know how you feel."
"I figured you would," Skeet replied. He turned so she could see his face, even if he couldn't see her. His lip twitched upward. "You're like me. You're a lover, not a fighter. Ya just want your friends to get along."
Mira blinked, taken aback. "You... how'd you figure that out?" They'd barely interacted, and Skeet... well, he wasn't exactly sharp. Nor did he seem like the intuitive type.
Skeet shrugged, folding his hands in his lap. "I just notice stuff sometimes," he answered simply. "Psh. My Dad always says it's cause I don't think." He tapped his skull. "And he's prob'ly right."
"OK." Mira sat down a few steps above Skeet. "Still. I barely know you. This might actually be our first conversation!"
"I noticed it the other day, when you jumped in to stop that argument between Vanessa and Adam." He chuckled bitterly. "I'm always doin' that. Vanessa's still actin' like the leader and Reeve doesn't know how to chill out. So guess who's stuck in between?" He smacked his broad chest. "Me. But I don't wanna deal with their crap."
Mira laughed despite herself. "You really do get it," she remarked. "Kai and Adam are both sooo stubborn. And they both think they're always right." She sighed sadly. "And Adam's been such a mess lately, he's been five times more stubborn than usual. And he barely eats or sleeps anymore. I don't know what to do about him." A stop sign materialized in her mind, warning her not to say anything else about Adam. She looked down, barking a chuckle. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."
"You're good, Mira. It's all cool," said Skeet with a wave of his hand. "I'm happy to listen."
But why? Was this some covert way for Vanessa to gather intel? No... this meeting was too unexpected. It had to be a coincidence. Great... Adam's paranoia is rubbing off on me. Maybe it was because she didn't know Skeet, but he'd never seemed to be a listener. Mira was not one to be suspicious, but she may as well lean on the side of caution and share as little with this guy as possible.
"Look... I don't know you well enough to talk about this stuff. We're pretty much strangers to one another," she stated.
"We don't have to be," Skeet piped. "You seem pretty chill. I'm willin' to be friends if you are."
Mira stayed silent, becoming increasingly wary, unsure of Skeet's intentions. The longer she didn't respond, the more his enthusiastic smile slowly faded.
"But, I mean... I get it if ya don't want to. I was pretty rude to ya in the Hollow. Sorry 'bout that, by the way."
"It's... it's OK, Skeet. I just..." Adam and Kai would be waiting. She needed to come up with a good reason to end the conversation. Come on, come on... A-ha! There was something. Mira stood up with a sigh. "Adam will come looking for me if I'm gone too long. I... I don't want him to lose his mind if he sees us talking."
Skeet sighed. "Fair enough." He smiled again, flashing a thumbs up. "Been cool talkin' to ya. I really enjoyed our chat."
Mira smiled softly. "Yeah. So did I." Remarkably. She hurried up the steps. "Bye, Skeet."
"Talk again soon?" he offered.
Mira paused at the top of the stair set, thoughtful. "Maybe." She continued her way up the stairs, ready to lie down and get some sleep. By now, she hoped, Adam and Kai should have solved their personal problems.
If not, they'd have to sleep on it.
Before he'd even opened his eyes, Adam heard the nearby waves lapping against the shore. The warm sand cushioned him, comfortable--- but the angry sun beat down on him from above. Far less comfortable. He opened up to the sight of a clear blue sky overhead. He'd been here before.
Oh no. Not here again. Not this dream.
Adam turned his line of sight to the side, expecting to see the oddly silent Kai and Mira sitting not far away. But when he did, his breath caught in his throat. He wanted to recoil in horror and anguish, for though his friends were there--- they were corpses. Decaying, mangled messes with dead black eyes. Just as he had been the last time he'd had this dream.
Heart pounding, Adam tried to get up, but this time, he was frozen in place. He couldn't move anything but his eyes and mouth. His breathing quickened as a panic set in.
What... what was this? What was happening?
Adam's heart sped up as a shadow overcast his face. He gulped and turned his gaze above. The tall, hooded figure from before--- the other him, the darker him--- loomed over his body, eyes obscured by the hood and by the blinding sun above.
"What did you do to my friends?" Adam demanded.
Shadam merely smirked in response.
Adam grunted and attempted to force himself to move, without success--- nothing so much as a finger. He gritted his teeth and glared up at his own infuriatingly pleased face. "Why can't I move?"
Finally, his shadowy alter ego made a sound. He lifted his finger to his lip and shushed Adam as one would a child, which only made the paralyzed teen angrier.
"Answer me!" Adam roared. "What happened to them?"
Shadam bent down and kneeled onto Adam's chest, then leaned down into his face. Closer than ever before, Adam could see straight into his shadow's eyes. Instead of pure evil, as Adam had expected, those deep, dark pits held something far scarier: Nothing. Nothing at all. They were vacant of all emotion. Void of sympathy. Empty of regret.
Totally hollow. The sight of them sent a shiver through Adam's entire body.
And if that wasn't chilling enough on its own, the creep factor rose further as Shadam's grin grew unsettlingly wide. He chuckled. "You did," he spoke at last. The blood rushed to Adam's head as he stared deep into his doppelganger's abysmal gaze. "You happened to them."
Adam shuddered himself awake. It was still dark in the room, and cold as ever. He sat up, relieved to be able to move again, and instinctively glanced aside to see if Mira and Kai were still there. The sight of them peacefully at rest put Adam somewhat at ease. But the vision of their frozen bodies lying on the beach still haunted him.
You happened to them.
Adam shook it off (or at least tried to) and climbed out of bed to absolve his rampant paranoia of the thought that maybe, just maybe, his friends were dead instead of asleep.
He peered inside Mira's pod first. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her torso rising and falling to the gentle rhythm of her breathing. Good. She was still alive.
He made his way over to Kai. The boy was splayed out as usual, one gangly arm wrapped over his head and one long leg draped partway over the edge of the pod. He slept firmly on his stomach with his face turned to the side, unkempt auburn hair scattered everywhere. A small trickle of drool streamed from his open mouth. His soft, undisturbed snoring told Adam that he, too, was still living.
What am I even doing?
Adam took a few deep breaths, gripping the edge of Kai's pod to calm himself. It was just another stupid dream, he told himself. One that people got from having to use the bathroom during the night. And that, he realized, was something he most certainly did have to do.
That's all this is... just a dumb bathroom dream, Adam scolded himself on his way to the toilet. He shoved open the door, clicked on the light, and shut the door behind him. It's nothing to worry about. Just a stupid dream. Gah. Why am I so paranoid?
After using the toilet, Adam washed his hands. Then his forearms. Unsatisfied, he took off his shirt and splashed a great deal of water onto his face, neck and chest to wash away the ridiculous amount of cold sweat that had built up there. He sighed, at last relieved. He shook the water from his arms and grabbed a towel to scrub the stuff from his face. He then took a long look at himself in the mirror.
Yikes. Did he really look like that? Dark shadows under his eyes and sunken caves beneath his cheekbones aged him by about five years. A permanent crease between his brows only served to age him further. His dark hair, once meticulously styled, was now a tangled mess which hung loosely over his eyes. A stubborn mask of sweat still clung to his olive skin. He was thinner than ever before--- emaciated, even--- his ribs far too prominent to be healthy. This was supposed to be the confident leader his friends looked up to?
A flashback to his dream caught him off guard. His heart began to pound. The sight of his own reflection... seeing someone in there whom he didn't even recognize... oh no, could he...? Could he even look into his own eyes? What would he find there? Swallowing his paranoia for a brief moment, Adam managed to gaze into his eyes, desperately searching for something inside them. It was almost a relief when he saw his own panic and depression reflected back to him. He could take comfort, he thought, in the presence of something.
You happened to them.
This time, the words had been nearly audible. A surge of fear spiked inside him. He stared into his reflection, terrified that he could still be dreaming. He clutched the edge of the sink, unable to tear his eyes from the mirror and the sight of his own face staring back at him. The terror. The fright. The dread--- the awful dread--- as the corners of his reflection's lips turned upward into an ugly smile.
Adam had absolutely not smiled.
He tore his eyes away at last, nauseated. He gasped for breath and squeezed his eyes shut as he backed against the wall. A sobbing noise escaped his chest. What is happening? Another sob as he sank to the bathroom floor. What is happening to me? A series of sobs shook his frame as he buried his face in his knees. What am I turning into? Am I...
"...Crazy?" Adam choked out loud. Hot, salty tears forced their way from his eyes and into the fabric of his sweatpants. The sobs grew worse--- louder. And though he mentally scolded himself--- stop it, they're going to hear you!--- he couldn't stop them from coming. Now he was crying. Crying in fear, anger, and sorrow.
What the hell had this place done to him?