River: A Novel (23 page)

 “And how did you learn to use code and
sign so quickly?” Asher seemed determined to undermine my story, yet I was
equally determined to prove not only my innocence, but willingness to help with
the rebellion.

 “I’d taught myself how to use Morse code,
which is similar to the code used here, when I was in school for a project. At
home, in New York, I was sort of obsessed with this spy-show, and I used it
when I went to concerts with Danny, before, when it was too loud to talk. Here,
Dan taught me to sign immediately, and I practice constantly. I still have a
lot of problems and make mistakes.” I wondered why I couldn’t stop rambling.

 “What do you mean by spy-show?” Gwen asked,
though it was clearly more out of curiosity than suspicion that I was an actual
spy.

 Asher and Gwen looked at each other while
I fumbled for words. “It’s a performance that’s recorded and replayed on screens.
You can watch anything you choose. Hundreds of shows play at once, and you can
flip channels to find something you like.” Gwen seemed captivated by the idea.
I shrugged; not wanting to make her feel as though she’d missed out on anything
spectacular. “Some people say it kills brain cells, and there are moronic
shows, but some tell really good stories. My favorites were spy-related.” I
cleared my throat, wincing. This revelation
probably
hadn’t helped my cause. I noticed Asher nod
surreptitiously, as if to concur.

 Gwen smiled before a strange, solemn look
crossed her face. “We only have cameras here for the Speakers to use, and
posters for performances. Of course, in the census, our photos are taken every
week.”

 “We used to be able to take pictures, but
that ended when the eldest Speaker and his wife died last year. Now, only those
in power have photo-recording devices for
entertainment
,” Asher piped in, a sardonic edge to his voice.

 I remembered the picture of River Elodie
and her parents, wondering when it had been taken.

 “Your… world before you came to River sounds
so much better. When I tranced you, you talked of parks and millions of people
and being able to do anything, go anywhere. I can’t imagine a world like that,”
Gwen whispered with a wistful expression.

 “Well, we have our problems, too. But yeah,
the freedom is incredible. Some people take advantage of it and hurt others, though
I would take my old world back in a heartbeat.” Now it was my turn to sound
sad. Gwen took my hand in both of hers slowly, trying not to startle me.

 “Maybe we’ll find it when we leave River,”
she said, her auburn eyes glistening.

 I smiled at her hopeful expression; it was
nice to have a friend again. She didn’t remind me of Petra, but the feeling of harmony
was similar. My loneliness that had carried over from the old to this new world
abated somewhat, and I guessed I should have been surprised. Having a new
friend in less than a day was definitely unusual for me, and made me once again
worry for Dan.

 Asher kept quiet during this exchange. Unable
to ignore him, though I tried, I watched him stand out of the corner of my eye.

 “Time for you to go, Gwen.”

 She nodded at him and patted my hand
before standing. “Don’t worry, Elodie. I’ll see you soon.”

 The terror I was trying to conceal must
have been evident, because Gwen turned to Asher and jabbed him in the chest. “Be
nice unless you want to answer to
me.
” He made no acknowledgment of her threat, and I supposed
she was able to entrance him or something if he didn’t obey her. He didn’t seem
the least bit worried.

 I wanted to run out the door with her, but
imagined Asher stopping me with his pinky finger and decidedly continued to cower
in my chair. The room quickly became ominous without Gwen.

 My hands gripped the armrests when Asher
addressed me quietly. “You’ve succeeded in fooling Gwendolyn, but I know you
are
the Elodie VonCambridge who has been here all along. You
will tell me which Speaker you work for, or you will never leave this room.”

 A sigh escaped as I stared at a wavering
candle flame. It was going to be a long night.

..................

“I know my story sounds crazy and made-up,
but it’s the truth. I don’t think I’m even capable of making something like
this up.” I felt the need to defend myself after being given the death-stare from
a gloomy corner for the last five minutes.      

 “Asher.” His name sounded breathless and
broken leaving my terrified lips. “I will answer any questions you have. I just
want to get it out there that I am telling the truth and am on your side. My
past shouldn’t mean anything, anyway. I’m nobody.”
Just a
girl in an impossible situation, trying to survive
, I amended in my head. Suddenly, I became much braver. We
were all in this fight together. If he wanted to bicker with me about the truth
of my existence, I would tell him the same story until my face turned blue, and
hopefully not as a side effect of strangulation. “We need to get to work
though, don’t we?  The rebellion is tomorrow night… I’m sure I can help—” My
words stopped as he surfaced from the depths, heading straight for me.

 Steel eyes were boring down into mine as I
had an unanticipated moment of clarity. He had been the man in the hallway at
Danny’s building; the man in a black jacket with dark hair touching his white collar.
He was the man who had rescued me from the mirror maze. Asher had seen all of
those moments. When I’d thought that I was seeing things in the night—it had
been him the entire time. I groaned internally as I thought of my helplessness
in that cosmic joke of a Hell Maze. How could he doubt my word after watching
that fiasco? The hard, cold look on his face was the same that he’d worn when
Danny and I had kissed in front of the voyeurs outside the theater. Groaning
again to myself, I had almost forgotten about that.

 I ground my body into the back of the
chair when he suddenly hissed at me, “If you don’t remember life before the
last few days as anything but a fable—in a place called New York instead of River,
then you haven’t a clue. And you are not in this with us. We have sacrificed
more than you could bear with lives and voices stolen. By your father, if
you’ve
forgotten
.” His mocking tone
made me cringe and push the frame of the chair to its limit. “The doctor evidently
broke the rules with you. He couldn’t take his own child’s voice away, but
could take hundreds of others, just as his father had.” Asher held himself two feet
above me, glaring with barely concealed hatred. “I can’t figure out what your endgame
is, but the Speakers’ reign
will
be destroyed
. If you have anything to do with sabotaging this, you will
be living in these concrete walls for the rest of your life.”

 He was not bluffing in any way. I was
sure. Why I said these next words—I cannot fathom.

 “Then why don’t you just get rid of me and
kill me?”

 Asher blinked and stood straight, rocking back
on his heels. To my surprise, he chuckled and stepped back a few feet, giving
me some breathing room. “Our families are pacifists. We are big believers in…
how shall I say this… everything you do comes back to you. Or comes back to
haunt you.” He huffed again without humor and stepped farther away.

 “Sounds like karma,” I blurted out. Apparently,
Danny’s previous delving into the cosmic ways of the universe had rubbed off on
me. Asher was staring at me again, so of course I continued to babble my
explanation. “If you do something bad, something even worse happens to you.” Succinct,
but I was feeling that time was of the essence. “So listen, could you decide my
destiny pretty soon? Danny is meeting me at River Elodie’s apartment just after
dawn, and he will go ballistic if I’m not there.”

 “’River Elodie’s apartment’?” He repeated
with intrigue, and not as angrily, to my relief.

 “It’s what I call where I’m staying. It’s
not my place. Way too fluffy.” I shuddered.

 He attempted to conceal a laugh while
considering me. “You believe that you are not her.” Skepticism colored his
statement.

 “Pretty damned sure, actually.” Not
entirely—ninety-six percent, maybe. I digressed, pushing the thought aside. No time
for a crisis of identity. My dread evaporated and turned into purpose. I needed
to get out of here and make sure Dan was safe. Though, admittedly, I was torn
with a need to help Gwendolyn and everyone else not currently in this room.

 “It’s not as late as you think. It’s not
even half past nine.”

 “Really?” How could that be? It felt as if
I had gotten at least a few hours of sleep. Before being knocked out in the
elevator, I’d had a hard time walking from exhaustion.

 “Being in a trance is very… restful. You
were only down fifteen minutes.” Noting my confusion, he seemed compelled to
explain. “When people are hypnotized, their frequency is heightened. It’s like
fast forwarding a recording. You talk or sign at lightning speed. That’s why I
had a hard time catching all the speaking and signing you were doing. And why
I’m having difficulty believing you’ve not been signing your entire life.”

 I pursed my lips together, forcing my
mouth to keep closed.

 Asher ignored me and continued. “Gwen is
truly gifted and able to accelerate her timeline as well. She understood almost
all of it. That’s why she is so sure of you, or the person you claim to be.”

 For some reason, I wanted him to believe
me, too. Grateful for Gwen, I sensed she was on my side, though if I could
convince Asher… maybe he would release me. Desperation was not improving my
analytical skills, but I tried anyway.

 “Is there some kind of test you can give
me?” A painful mistake or my way out, I had no idea. Still coming to grips with
what was happening to me on a daily basis; this latest excerpt was minimally
shocking, and I was already used to my surroundings. Only Asher’s intimidating
presence was making me uneasy. He was also acting as though he knew the other
Elodie, or at least who her father was, but that could’ve been common knowledge.
With this in mind, I spoke again before he could answer my first question.

 “How did you and Gwen keep your voices?”

 He looked at me sidelong, and then turned
his frame to face me. Again, I shrank back into my chair. His being was so
commanding that I assumed any Speaker he met would step away to let him pass. Asher
was also reading me, and I was pretty sure all he would absorb was fear and
unease. I wished again I’d just kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t getting out of
here any faster by blurting out my every thought. Besides, his unjust
accusations were useless. I was only curious, nothing more.

 He drew a deep breath, breaking the
tension. Ultimately deciding to answer, he spoke quietly, as if he’d loosened
up a bit on his hard-ass routine. “Gwendolyn is not the only hypnotist. She
comes from a long line, her grandmother being one of them. Just after a birth,
before a baby is muted, everyone in the room is tranced except the mother. The
baby is tranced not to cry, but to sleep soundly. It is extremely tricky and
doesn’t always work. We’ve never been caught, exactly. Occasionally there is a
complication, and we cannot stop the procedure.” 

 “What about after? I know two year olds
can be temperamental.”

 Asher looked as if he would crack open if
he were to blink, examining me like a hunter’s mark. I fidgeted timidly until,
after huffing out an impatient breath, he answered. “The children are tranced each
time they wake up not to use any sounds. It is incredibly nerve-wracking to
keep them silent and safe, but we have very talented people. We also keep them
underneath the city as much as possible.” Without giving me the opportunity to
speak when I opened my mouth to do so, he inclined his head and coldly accused,
“You must have also forgotten it was your entire lineage that invented this…
muting…
procedure. Smart. Turning the conversation
away from you to me and my people is very clever.”

 
We’re
having a conversation?
I thought sarcastically,
anger permeating my frustration.

 Asher stood from his chair and dragged it
closer to me. He sat, folded his hands in front of him, and slouched a bit into
the seat, resting an ankle on his knee. He regarded me through eyes narrowed to
slits. “Tell me, Elodie,” he asked with a voice low and rough, “how is it that
you
kept
your
voice?”