The Academy: Book 2 (86 page)

             
She was standing on a chair, and surrounded by a large, glass, cylindrical enclosure. There were shackles on her ankles with chains that ran down and were bolted to the floor. Horrified, Asa saw that the glass enclosure was quickly filling with water, and soon, she would be chained to the bottom and submerged.
But there’s more
.
Something is moving in the water,
Asa thought
.
He looked closer and saw that there were hundreds of fish in the tank with his mother; they were small, each no longer than three inches. Asa’s mom continue to wail and cry.

             
“
Plea-eee-eese! Help me! Do something!”
she begged. The water rose up to her ankles, and Asa realized what was causing her cries to be so urgent—not only would she drowned without assistance, but she would be eaten alive; the water around her feet quickly turned red.
Those are piranhas,
Asa thought.
Or at least some type of flesh eating fish.

             
Asa looked at the wall beside his crying mother and saw that a sledgehammer was mounted there, as though someone had planned this. Asa watched as his mother yelped and jerked one of her feet out of the water. Momentarily, she forgot about the shackles. She tripped over her chains and fell face first into the water, where the flesh-eating fish began to attack her whole body.

             
I must do something,
Asa thought, watching his mother flail. He had never thought he would see her again, and now that she was here, he felt the need to save her, despite Allen’s warning to stay on the carpet. He dashed off the rug and out onto the stone, running towards his screaming mother.

             
But the screaming stopped the instant Asa stepped on the stone.

             
His mother was gone. She had vanished, along with the glass enclosure, the water, and the fish.

             
“YOU FOOL!” Allen screamed. He drew his gun. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO OFF THE CARPET!”

             
“But my mother…”

             
“THAT WAS AN ILLUSION!”

             
Asa felt sick and dumb.

             
“GET YOUR GUNS OUT!” Allen screamed. “SOMETHING IS COMING!”

             
Asa could hear it too. There was a heavy clicking sound coming out of each hallway. Whatever was making the noise was coming closer, and fast. Joney, Michael and Allen pointed their guns from doorway to doorway, not knowing where to aim.

             
Asa felt scared, but also somewhat relieved. If they all died, the Multipliers wouldn’t be able to acquire his father’s vaccine.

             
Allen was cursing under his breath, spinning around so fast that his hair was flipping through the air. This was the most frantic Asa had ever seen Allen; his usually calm, blue eyes seemed to burn with intensity as he tried to figure out what was coming. The sounds from the corridors grew heavier, faster, and closer.

             
BANG!

             
Asa turned in time to see smoke issuing from Ned’s pistol and a monster collapsing to the ground. Asa thought that Boom Boom might know a more accurate term for the creature, but to Asa it looked like a velociraptor. The dinosaur was seven feet tall, and lean, with long, scaly legs that ended in black talons as sharp as razors. Its open, bleeding mouth was full of sharp, pointed teeth, similar to shark teeth. The animal had a long, muscular tail that it used to catch air and change direction as it ran.

T
hey were fast. To Asa, they appeared to be running at least fifty miles per hour. A dozen dinosaurs descended upon them from all directions, leaping, with open mouths hungry for flesh.

             
Flashes and smoke filled the air, with the deafening boom of gunshots. Michael, Ned, and Allen were turning and firing with superhuman speed. Their awareness of what surrounded them was hard for Asa to believe. As Multipliers, not only were they faster, stronger, and more agile than humans, but also their brains were able to process information much more efficiently than Asa’s.

             
In seconds, the gunshots had ceased, as all of their firearms had run out of bullets. Asa looked around to see dark blood and collapsed dinosaurs littering the ground. One final raptor was approaching. Michael withdrew a knife, ducked to miss the animal’s chomping jaws, and then drove the knife into the dinosaur’s neck, and abdomen until it was on the floor and not twitching anymore. Asa watched in horror. No more velociraptors came out of the surrounding corridors. Asa was frozen in fear from the attacking dinosaurs, and from seeing how fast the Multipliers could move and respond to situations.

             
“WHAT WAS THAT?” Allen screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. Asa turned and did not have time to duck before he was backhanded in the face. The world swam away from him for a moment, and he stepped back, suddenly dizzy. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO STEP OFF THE CARPET!” Allen hit Asa again. Asa felt blood run from his lips. He put his hands up, even though they were useless against Allen’s physicality.

             
Allen stepped back, observing Asa’s stance. His chest was expanding and contracting with enraged breaths.
“Why did you do it?”
he growled.
“Why did you step off?”

             
“I thought it was my mother,” Asa said. “I’m sorry.”

             
Allen’s fists went to his side; he tensed, and screamed, “DO I HAVE TO KILL YOU? WILL YOU OBEY ME FROM NOW ON!?”

             
“YES!” Asa yelled back, hoping that Allen wouldn’t hit him anymore. “YES!”

             
“I think that he did it on purpose,” Ned said quietly; he was sneering at Asa.

             
Allen turned and punched Ned in the stomach, taking all his rage out in the blow. Asa thought that if he absorbed such a blow himself that he might suffer internal bleeding. Ned bent over, and fell to his knees on the bloody carpet.

             
“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU,” Allen screamed.
“I said he’s a Multiplier, so he is! GET OVER YOURSELF! I’m the authority here, what I say goes, and I’m the expert, and I KNOW WHAT’S BEST!”
Allen kicked Ned in the stomach, and Ned sprawled out on the ground, wheezing.

             
Allen turned to Asa; his expression changed insanely fast from rage to indifference. “Do I have to kill you?” Allen asked; his eyes returned to the still blue of clear-skies ocean.

             
“No, sir.”

             
“Because I will. If you’re going to screw this up for me, I’ll take your life here. So, tell me, can you control yourself? Because I don’t know what’s in the next room. There may be another illusion, or they may send thousands of bees down to sting us. No matter what, can you walk in a straight line?”

             
“Yes, sir.”

             
Allen smiled, showing that his teeth were coated with Salvaserum. “Excellent. Let us continue.”

             
He turned on his heels and began to march towards the back door. He did not look back to see if everyone followed, but they did. Ned had some trouble standing, and had to jog some to catch up with Allen.

             
Allen did not pause to give them another pep talk, or say a word as he reached the door. He simply reached his hand out, turned the knob, and began to walk through.

             
The next room was hot. Steam was in the air, along with another smell.

             
Sweat.

             
“It’s an illusion!” Allen called behind him. Though Asa was scared of the secrets this room held, he was curious to see what they would find. They walked further in. This room was set up similarly to the last, with red carpet in the center and stone walls on either side.

             
Another similarity that the two rooms had was the sounds. Both were full of screaming. While the last room had only one person screaming, this room had hundreds. Asa thought,
if hell is real, this is what it sounds like.
Looking left and right, Asa saw a sea of chairs, each seating one person. All of the chairs had sick contraptions and shackles on them, holding the screaming people in place. They were all sweating, hot, and red; most weren’t wearing more than underwear, and their mouths were open in screams like they were being burned alive. Their arms, and legs were secured, and so were their heads, which were chained over to one side to expose the vulnerable parts of their necks.

             
“Oh my Lord,” Rose said, moaning. She covered her mouth with both hands, and Salvaserum leaked through her fingertips.

             
Ned was looking left to right, tugging at his hair in frustration. The Multiplier’s desire to bite these vulnerable looking humans was voracious.

             
“IT’S AN ILLUSION!” Allen screamed again, trying to be heard over the cries of the shackled humans. Asa thought that Allen was trying to convince himself as much as the others.

             
Asa felt no desire whatsoever to stray from the carpet, but saw that the surrounding Multipliers had to engage every bit of self-control they possessed in order to walk in a straight line. Asa remembered that none of the Multipliers ran out in the other room, only he had. Asa understood that his father had been smart in setting up the two illusions. This room was to get Multipliers to veer off the path, and the other was to tempt humans to step away from the carpet.

Trying to act like a Multiplier, Asa copied Ned’s mannerisms, and tugged at his hair, staring at the human necks as he walked.

              Despite the temptation, none of the Multipliers stepped off of the carpet. By the time they reached the far door, the rug was covered in dripping Salvaserum, and so was everyone’s chin but Asa’s.

             
That’s another thing,
Asa reminded himself.
It’s fine for now that I can’t produce Salvaserum; it takes about a month after they change for Multipliers to regularly produce the stuff. But if I’m in the Hive for two weeks and I still can’t, people will become suspicious.

             
With a shaking hand, Allen reached for the door handle, turned it, and pushed the door open.

             
As soon as the door was cracked, the screaming stopped. Asa looked around. The people and the chairs had disappeared. The Multipliers around him were panting, exhausted by the restraint that they had just demonstrated. Asa copied their body language.

             
“Good job, everyone,” Allen said. “We’re almost there. We’re almost at the vaccine.” He turned and began to walk down a hallway.

             
Asa passed through the threshold, wishing that he could do something to stop them. He was willing to give his life to keep the Multipliers from obtaining the serum, and he hoped that he would be presented with the opportunity to do so. 

43

The Original Clock Room

             
They walked down a winding, narrow hallway, lit with torches. Their feet stuck to the ground; the soles of their shoes were covered in Salvaserum. All of the Multipliers were still breathing hard from the effort they exerted in the last room.