Out There (6 page)

Slipping through the front door, I switched on the lights and called out, “Mother?”

No answer. So much for spending time with my mother. I threw my coat in the closet and went to check the intercom.
One message
it read.

“Ava sweetheart, I'm going to be out late again tonight. Help yourself to dinner, and please try and eat some of the vegetables still in the fridge from four nights ago. By the way, it's Georgina's daughter's birthday today in case you forgot. Love you.”

I sighed and wiped the intercom message bank clear.

No messages
.

The vegetables were sitting on the fridge shelf right across from the milk and it only took a minute to vote cereal over bland greens. I poured myself a bowl and wandered around the kitchen for several minutes.

It was so strange not to have my mother around. She was always busy, but it was usually her sitting at the kitchen table, poring over her tablets and electronic documents with me giving appropriate feedback to her occasional questions.
Ava, would you rather give input to the Council if there were tablets outside the city hall or at school? Ava, does it make more sense to give speeches about progress weekly or monthly?

But those were the days of her job as Leader of Interrelations. Things were different when she was the Leader of the entire Council. I hoped it wouldn't be like that forever.

Giving up on finding any source of entertainment in the lonely kitchen, I strolled into the yard and stared at the dark Bubble ceiling. Then the tiny sliver of blue came back into my memory. The leaflet. So perfectly placed in the shelf, as if I was meant to find it. The beautiful mystery of the missing registration label. It must have been on the inside cover.

But, what if it wasn't?

Then I remembered that I had completely forgotten about the information pack the lady at the archives was going to get for me about that new profession. My curiosity spiked and I knew I would have to go back to get it.

They send people Outside
.

I was contemplating what that would entail when I saw something plastic contrasting against the grass. I bent over and picked it up then inspected the thin object. It looked like one of Katelyn's guitar picks so I pocketed it and made a mental note to return it to her later. Then I gazed back up at the sky.

There was something constricting about the Bubble, and even though at school they told us that we would experience needs to go against what we're told to do and not do, it was claustrophobic. My soul ached to know the answers of the other side.

Then there was a flash of light. Bright light zoomed across the Bubble ceiling. It was only there for a second but it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I waited for what seemed like forever, but there was only darkness.

It felt like I had been handed an answer and then it was snatched away before I had time to read what it said.

I gave up and returned inside. It was probably nothing…

Chapter Three

Ava, The Next Morning

A loud bang woke me. I jumped with a start and stared around my room, clutching the blankets tightly. My head felt fuzzy and my throat was dry. I crawled out of bed slowly and peered around for anything that might make loud noises. The few items of furniture looked innocent enough and I wandered down to the kitchen in search of water.

“Morning Ava,” Mother said as she shoved all her tablets into her workbag.

“Morning,” I croaked as I took a glass out of the cupboard.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Meh,” I opened the tap over my glass.

“There is this wonderful thing we use nowadays, it's called words.”

The water seemed to take forever to fill up my empty glass. “My slumber was uneventful.”

“Did you get my message about Brianna?”

“Yeah, but luckily Katelyn remembered anyway so we went over in the morning,” I said while slurping down my much-needed drink.

“Oh, did you have fun?” she asked, zipping her bag shut.

“Yeah, we went to the show.” I filled the cup again.

“That's nice, well I have to run, but I'll be back later.”

“Already?”

“I'm sorry sweetie, I'm just so busy.”

“Where were you last night? And the night before?”

“The Council has me working round the clock.”

“But you just got the job.”

“I know and remember what I said about things changing?” I knew things would change, I really did. But some things could never be fully understood until they happened. And suddenly, change had waltzed through my door without even knocking. I missed coming home and recalling my day to Mother as she asked my opinion on whatever she was working on.

“Yeah, I understand,” I sighed.

“Well, have a nice day, sweetheart. Enjoy your week off, it only comes once every two months,” she said as she walked over and kissed my forehead.

“Thanks, I will.”

“Oh, and you have some messages on the intercom by the way.”

“I'll check them later.”

“OK. Bye darling.” She waved as she hurried out of the door. “Bye,” I sighed and gulped down the rest of my water, put the glass in the sink and strolled over to the intercom.
Three messages
. I scrolled through the names: Naumann, Rose, O'Connell. I decided to listen to Katelyn's first:

“Hey Ava. So, what's the plan for today? Should we get breakfast? Mother can bake us cake… I know you like nutritional sugar-filled breakfasts…”

I laughed and remembered my request for red velvet the night before. Then Lexi's voice came on:

“Ava girl, what are we doing today? I'm starving, feel like breakfast? Message me asap before I die of starvation.”

I suddenly realised how hungry I was too. My stomach emitted a perfectly timed growl. “Be quiet, you,” I said to it.

“Hi, Ava.” It was Bri. “So I wanted to say thanks again for last night and are there any plans for today? Maybe we could all get something to eat. I wanted to say thanks again to Roxanne for the cake. Let me know, bye.”

Well, it seemed unanimous. I found Katelyn under bookmarked intercoms and dialled.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey, it's me.”

“Hey, did you get my message?”

“Yeah, so everyone else wants breakfast too.”

“Perfect. Want to come over for cake? I was talking to Jade at the archives yesterday and she mentioned that she loves red velvet too.”

The archives
. I remembered in a flash: Me and Lexi laughing at magazines, the lady talking about the new profession, the unregistered leaflet.

“Hello? Ava?”

“Oh sorry,” I said, coming back to the present, “what was I saying?”

“You weren't saying
anything
, that's exactly why I asked if you were still there.”

“Oh right, I'm here.”

“Are you OK?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about something.”

I heard the call of the mystery. The label must have been there, they didn't make mistakes. But, then again, if it was a mistake maybe it was my job to tell them. Either way, it would probably have been a good idea to go check just to make sure.

“So breakfast then?” Katelyn asked.

“Actually, I have to do something this morning. Could we meet for lunch?”

“Sure, but my mother has work later, so no cake.”

It was a tough decision. Delicious velvety goodness or a gripping question to answer. Satisfy my appetite or my curiosity?

“Well, maybe some other time. Let's meet at the restaurant by school at say one?”

“OK sure, I'll just eat this cake all by myself…”

My stomach twisted in itself. “You are too cruel, Kay.”

She laughed and said, “Yum yum.”

I switched off the call and ran into the kitchen. Sorting through the fridge contents at rapid speed, I wasn't making much progress in the food department. Then I saw the vegetables from several days ago sitting on the shelf.

I groaned, “Why me?”

Sighing, I pulled them out of the fridge and put them in the microwave. My stomach was being very difficult that morning. The microwave beeped and I yanked the veggies out and began eating. It took a moment to realise I was eating with my hands.

After I had emptied the remains of the bowl and my stomach had settled down, I walked back to the intercom and called Lexi, Bri and Jade. They all agreed on lunch, but did complain about how their hunger might eat them alive first. Pun intended.

As soon as the messages were sent, I quickly changed and ran out of the door, propelled by the intrigue. Before I knew it, I was walking into the sea of perfect white shelves of mystery.

I made my way briskly to the magazines and books section and immediately started flipping through the artefacts. There seemed to be many more of them than from my memory and I couldn't for the life of me remember where I had put it. There were all sorts of books, old and new, but none that resembled the tiny blue leaflet.

I moved over to a different set of shelves, trying to recall where I had been standing when I found it. As I rushed through the collection and shoved the books from one side to another, I was about to give up when it happened.

The tiny sliver of blue caught my eye as it gently drifted to the ground and rested there, perfectly still. My old friend silence overwhelmed the room.

The blue mystery just sat there waiting. So still.

I quietly tiptoed over to it, afraid to disturb the peace, and picked it up carefully. It was just as fragile as I remembered. I held it in my hands and gently stroked the thin cover.

I didn't really know what it was exactly that I was looking for, or more importantly hoping for, but I had always felt the need for answers. Learning new information about something, anything, was what quenched my thirst. Every time I had the chance to experience something outside my world, I dived in headfirst. For a time I thought it was because I didn't belong in Emiscyra and I wanted to find out where I did belong. Later I thought maybe it was because my world was so small and I wanted to be part of something bigger, something out of my world.

Was the leaflet, which rested in my hand so perfectly, the turning point? Maybe. It
could
have been the moment everything changed, but then again, things would have changed anyway. I liked to think it was my desire for greater knowledge that was the thing that really altered everything. Maybe if I had been fine with everything as it was then life would not have taken such a dramatic turn. But, in that moment, with the leaflet in my hands, I had no idea what was to come.

Quickly, I checked over my shoulder to make sure I was not being watched. I steadied my hand and was about to lift open the cover, about to discover what made that leaflet unregistered, whether it was an accident or on purpose, about to know…

“Can I help you?”

The voice made me jump and I whipped round to find the woman from the day before standing there in her white archive uniform.

She smiled. “Oh, I know you don't I?”

“Uhhh…” I held the leaflet firmly behind my back, out of sight.

“Of course, you're Donna Hart's daughter. We were talking about professions yesterday. Am I right?”

“Yeah, that's me.”

“What was your name again?”

“Ava.”

“Oh right, now I remember you. Do you remember me? Otherwise this would be awkward,” she said, laughing.

“Yeah, you were telling me about that new profession.” I prayed she wouldn't notice the leaflet.

“Yes, the archaeology profession! I recall I was going to get you an information pack, but I completely forgot. I'm sorry. That must be why you're back here.”

“Yeah, that's it,” I said quickly before realising that wasn't exactly true.

“Well, I'll go and get it for you right now then. One second,” she said as she walked back to the reception.

I let out a deep sigh and backed up against the wall. Taking in a deep breath, I held the leaflet out in front of me and was about to open it when…

“Here it is.”

Once again I was caught off guard and shoved the leaflet behind my back.

The lady walked up to me. “I'm Hannah by the way, in case you forgot.”

“No, I remember.” Another exaggeration.

“So here is the information pack.” She handed me an electronic document and I took it from her with my free hand.

She leant over and slid her finger across the screen to open it. I struggled to keep the leaflet out of sight.

“So, it basically tells you what the programme is about, and how to apply. They haven't sent anyone yet, they're still in training, but I think you'd really enjoy it if you like adventure and discovering new things.”

My eyes lit up. “Yeah, I'll give it a look. Thank you.”

“No problem. Do you want me to walk you through it?”

I was about to say yes when I realised that my priority was the tiny piece of paper that had my hand twisted in a knot and pressed against a wall to hide it. So instead I just said, “No thanks, I'll just look at it at home.”

“OK. Can I help you with anything else?”

“No, I'm all right.”

“Well, let me know.” She turned to walk away.

“Wait,” I said and she turned around. “All the artefacts here are registered, right?”

“Yes, that's how we sort them and help people find what they're looking for.”

“So, what would an unregistered artefact mean?”

“There are no unregistered artefacts.”

“But, just say there was.”

She paused. “Well, it wouldn't be part of the exhibit, that's for sure. Maybe something someone left here by accident. We find lost bags and coats in the fashion section all the time and people mistake them for artefacts.”

“Got it,” I sighed.