Chalybs (first 3 chapters)

Chalybs
By: Jordan Sawyer

Chalybs: Lat. steel, iron, sword

Chapter One
First Impressions

FATE Experiment Directory/Class_M/Chalybs/Female/S

Name: Sands, Chaly Belle
Class: M
Age: 18
Hair: Brown/Red
Eyes: Gray
Status: Uncaptured

**********

Donahue University
Dorm 105

    “Home sweet home! Yay!” Chaly Belle Sands dragged the first of three enormous suitcases from her new doorway to her new room.  Her mother followed her in the same huddled position, and her father carried in the last suitcase over his shoulder as if it were full of feathers and not pounds of clothing.  He might have had them too, but the blue veins beating out of his red skull fooled no one.
    James Sands tossed the suitcase down on Chaly’s new bed and helped his wife with hers.  Chaly was left to fend for herself.  She tried several times, but the three flights of stairs and long trip down the hallway had taken their toll.  Plus, the light pink silk gloves her mother had given her just the night before kept slipping off of the plastic handle.  She glanced at her parents to make sure they weren’t looking and then quickly slipped off the gloves, bent over the monster suitcase, and flung it up on top of the others with a giant grunt.
    Having nearly knocked her mother out, the flying object immediately grabbed her parents’ attention.  However, Chaly’s bare hands took all of their attention away from her nearly killing her mother.
    “Chaly!” Shelly Sands nearly shouted at her, “Where are your gloves?!”
    Chaly picked them up off of the wooden floor and quickly thrust her hands back inside.  Due to her near death experience at birth, Chaly had always had a very weak immune system.  Her last cold nearly sent her into a comatose; she hardly remembered any of it.  As a result her parents forced her to carry hand sanitizer in bulk wherever she went, drink down a handful of pills several times a day, and keep her hands safely tucked away inside gloves except when eating or showering.
    For the most part it didn’t bother her—it was just another part of life.  But there were times when she wanted nothing more than to throw out every bottle of sanitizer, flush every vitamin and burn every pair of gloves she ever owned.
    It wasn’t that she didn’t want to obey her mother and father, Chaly had always listened to her parents, studied hard, and stayed out of trouble.  She wanted to become a scientist just like them and figured the best way to go about that was to follow their lead—hence all of the hard work she went through to barely get accepted at their university.
    So she graciously followed their lead and did as they told her.  Chaly stayed home Friday and Saturday nights, her closest friends were the ones she studied with for two hours everyday after school--with the exception of her best best friend--and the success of her hard work made her happier than anything else.
    She just didn’t like how weird everyone thought she was for wearing gloves everywhere and carrying a two pound container of hand sanitizer in her backpack.
    Chaly held up her gloved hands, “Safe and sound!”
    Shelly hugged her daughter for the infinite time, “I don’t know how you talked us into letting you move so far away.”
    “Because I want to be brilliant like you.”
    Her mother laughed half-heartedly, “Well ok, that’s a good reason.”  She held her daughter at arms length, “Remember, we’re just a phone call and two hour flight away from your side.  If anything happens, anything at all—”
    “—I’ll make sure your mother doesn’t break down your door Chaly.”
    Chaly laughed and wrapped her arm around her mother’s waist as they headed for the front door, “I’m sure I’ll be fine.  The only thing I’m worried about is my first class tomorrow.”
    “Well,” her father answered in the doorway, “we don’t have to fly all the way out here to help you cheat.  Just give us a call.”
    “Thanks Dad.”
    Shelly stepped aside to let her husband hug their daughter, “What is your first class tomorrow Chaly?”
    “Um-um-um-um-um….”
    “I can see why you’re so worried.”
    Chaly “tss’d” at her mother and remembered her class, “It’s Bio/Tech Evolution 101 with Professor…Lock…land? Lockwood?  Lock-something.”
    Her parents knew the name very, very well.
    Shelly grabbed the doorframe and Chaly didn’t know if it was from the anemia she had passed down to Chaly herself or something else.  “Are you ok Mom?”
    Jim approached his wife but she waved him off and smiled, “Whew, I must be more tired than I thought.”
    “Or maybe it was lugging Chaly’s enormous suitcases everywhere.”  He winked at his daughter.
    “Hey!” Chaly defended, “You’re the ones who told me to be prepared!”
    “Yeah,” her father replied, “are you expecting a nuclear attack or something?”
    Chaly couldn’t help her laughter.  This would be the furthest and longest time away from her family she had ever been, so she wanted to enjoy their presence as long as she could.  “When is your flight leaving?”
    Shelly took out her cell phone to check the time, “In about…ooo, only an hour!  We should be going.  I’m sorry honey; I wish your father had planned our flights better.”
    They all laughed.
    “Goodbye sweetie, I love you.”
    “I love you too Mom.”
    “Here,” Shelly pulled the silver heirloom off of her index finger.  The band was pure and old and engraved with dark silver thorns that wrapped around it.  The thorns hugged the detailed silver roses on each side of the embedded ruby, and wrapped twice over the dark red jewel, as if holding it in place.  Shelly took her daughter’s right hand and pulled off the glove—one of the few times in Chaly’s life that Shelly ever did so—and slipped the ring onto her index finger.
    Chaly held it up to the light, sending a dark red gleam over her grey eyes.  “Are you sure you want to trust me with this Mom?  Gramma’s ring?”
    Shelly took her daughter’s hand out of the air and forced the little glove back on, “I’m sure.  It’s yours as much as it was hers Chaly.” She hugged her daughter one last time.
    Jim kissed his daughter’s forehead and messed up her hair, “Be good kiddo.  Love you.”
    “Love you too Dad.”
    Before completely leaving her daughter’s dorm, Shelly turned back to her, “Stay safe Chaly, take care of yourself.”
    “I will Mom, I promise.”  She waved at them down the hall with a light pink silk gloved hand, “Bye, love you!  Have a safe flight!”
    And the Sands would have a safe flight that evening.
    It was the landing that was the problem.

**************************

FATE Headquarters

    The light projected onto the screen before the table of men and women was the only light in the dark.  The white screen had transformed into blackness, illuminating the image of a teenage girl along with several statistics.  Above the statistics was the project’s name, and above everything else spun the FATE emblem: two crossed swords piercing the center of a Christian cross and wrapped in a brier.
    Four board members and four chiefs of operations sat on either side of the long black table.  The CEO of FATE enterprises sat at the head.
    Godfrey Oxford Donahue had founded the FATE organization in his late twenties.  Having a great amount of ideas and an even greater amount of capitalization, the Facility for Achieving Technical Evolution was borne and had prospered ever since.
    Just over twenty years later, Godfrey’s entire purpose for creating the facility had finally come to life.
    After a quick overview of their specimen—as she was well known throughout the organization—Godfrey nodded to the man at his right, and turned back to the screen.
    Project Chalybs reflected off of the wide-rimmed glasses of the head chief of operations as he stood to address the entire table, rolling each word quickly off his French tongue, “Class M: Project Chalybs has recently shown signs of stable reactivation.  Thus far she has followed her predecessors’ steps precisely: her bio/technical enhancements haven’t interfered with her daily life for over thirteen years, her anemia is becoming even greater.  She does still blank-out in moments of extreme anxiety, but that is not an entirely new occurrence for a Class—”
    “We know the signs of reactivation chief,” Board member Graceilia Sebastian began, “what kind of schedule are we looking at with Chalybs?  Do you really think this one will be captured just like the others?  Thus far Class M has been the only unresponsive class in every single case.”
    Lennox nodded, “The Sands told us they would be returning from their trip at twenty hundred hours this evening.  We’ve arranged an escort, and they will arrive at the facility at approximately twenty-one thirty.  Chalybs is a Class M and so more careful procedures will be put into effect then we would use on the more typical Exes of course, as she is one of the only one’s left.  However, should any sort of force be necessary, her handlers have been advised to practice it.  Any questions?”
    The oldest member at the table broke the dark silence, “Careful procedures?  Her assigned handlers may be advised to use aggression, but from what I have gathered, the experiments done with Class M have always been-”
    “Effectively contained whenever necessary.” Lennox interrupted, his wide glasses temporarily blinding the old man, “Any further questions?”
    “How long?”  If the room had been quiet before, the silence of death engulfed it as the CEO spoke.
    “H-How long, sir?”
    “How long until she stabilizes?”
    “Oh, of course…approximately two weeks, sir.”
    The CEO hadn’t taken his eyes off the young girl illuminated on the screen, “Assuming she follow the pattern of her predecessors?”
    “Yes,” Lennox nodded, “assuming.”

*****************

Chapter Two
Of Mice and Rats

    Chaly hadn’t slept well.
    First, her mind wouldn’t let her sleep.  Chaly had barely made it into this university, what made her believe she had what it took to accomplish what her parents had in this place?  Forget her miraculous 4.0 average; the only reason she could think of for the Donahue University of Science to believe they should accept her was the essay she had submitted on the morality of forced evolution.  Or in Chaly’s terms: “fiddling around with DNA to make people better.”  However, a well-written piece of paper about morals meant nothing when it came to identifying the difference between the blood of a human being and a genetically altered super being just by looking at them, or whatever they would be doing.  Chaly was afraid the school had made a mistake, and before the end of the next day, everyone would know.
    Her mind eventually succumbed to sleep, only to be plagued by visions of big green monsters with big yellow eyes handing her back tests with big red F’s.  She woke up with an upset stomach and hoped her dreams were only the result of the spicy Top Ramen she had eaten the night before.
    Anticipation and anxiety flustering her more than any other time in her life—including during her SAT’s—Chaly stuffed a green apple in her mouth and searched her closet for something to wear.  It was fall now; however summer was still holding it’s ground, forcing Chaly to choose between her light, knee-length, casual summer dress, or her jean shorts.  Deciding spraining her ankle on the first day of school in the only shoes she had to match the yellow dress was a bad choice; Chaly grabbed a yellow t-shirt to layer over her dark green tank top and hurried to her first class.
    Just as Chaly expected, the sun attacked the top of her auburn head the instant she left the dorms, like a man lost in the desert would an oasis.  Her already tanned skin heavily reinforced by sun block, Chaly smiled unconsciously, enjoying the sun’s raid.  She had always loved the heat.
    Chaly was born and raised in the cold part of a cold state.  However, every summer she got to visit her family in central California for a few weeks.  When it was rounding a hundred Fahrenheit and she could hardly breathe for how hot it was, she was in heaven.  A lovely dip in the pool, a tan in the sun and chapters of books to hammer through, she loved it.
    But, soon the days here would become shorter, the air crisper and the clouds denser, blocking the light of the sun and this little pleasure of hers.
    Halfway to her first class, Chaly’s leg vibrated and “Fighter” by Christina Aguilara drew the disapproving attention of the students passing her.  She whipped the cell phone out of her pocket faster than she had done anything else in her life and answered.
    “Hey Chal, how are ya?”
    The sound of her best friend’s voice made her smile widen and her anxiety temporarily disappear, “Alex!  I’m alright, thanks for calling.  I’m a bit nervous about this first class, but it’ll be alright…I think…hopefully...I think….”
    Her friend offered no sympathy, “You think you have it bad?  You have no idea.  Today is my day off Chal, can you believe that?  While you’re there taking whatever classes—easy—I have to sit around here doing nothing all day.  How messed up is that?  I’m going to be so bored!”
    “Wow, thanks for cheering me up Al.”
    “I know, I know, you’ve just got to put things into perspective.”
    Chaly laughed and it felt good.  She had always considered laughter to be the greatest activity in the world.  To Chaly, laughter was better than ice cream, better than chocolate, better than Thanksgiving dinner, better then a full stocking at Christmas, better than anything else she could think of.  Those who made her laugh, Chaly cherished, “Aw, thanks for making me feel better Alex.  I owe you one—no—I owe you two!”
    “Two!?” Alex exclaimed, “I’m keeping track of this Chal, I’ve got the chart right here.  You’d better hold to that.”
    “Pinky promise.” The two laughed one last time, “Alright buddy, I’m almost to my class now, wish me luck!”
    “Good luck lady!  I’ll talk to ya later.”
    “Alrighty, see ya.”  Turning her green phone off, Chaly entered the classroom and sat in the chair furthest from the door and closest to Professor Lockard’s desk.

    Professor Eugene Lockard had been teaching Bio/Technical Evolution for nearly sixteen years now.  Once the head of development at the US FATE headquarters, Lockard now taught students who would most likely go on to work for FATE.  The majority of his past students now made up the bulk of FATE scientists.  Lockard was one of several FATE employees who now taught at prestigious universities—as per their life-long contracts.
    One of the students caught his eye and he glanced at her from behind his newspaper. Regardless of his disbelief, Lockard knew almost instantly who she was.  She sat directly in front of his desk; it couldn’t have been anymore perfect.
    Wasn’t she supposed to be back at FATE now?  They would be very interested to hear this.  He had temporarily assisted this Sands in this project at the beginning--too compassionate he had always thought.  He should’ve see this coming.

    Chaly was already intimidated.  The professor sat calm and relaxed in that leather chair of his, as if his students meant less to him than whatever article he was reading.  From what Chaly could tell from his profile, he was a slight man—just a little taller than herself, she guessed.  His thin glasses revealed intense little eyes and his blond goatee gave him a classically sinister expression.
    Chaly looked away and tried to enjoy her seat in the sun a little while longer.  If she went on scrutinizing him, she was sure he would have ended up looking like the devil.
    At 7:59 and seconds, Professor Lockard abruptly folded his newspaper and laid it harshly down on his desk.  All chatter came to a halt in that instant and the professor rose from his desk.  Though some were much more nervous than others, every eye stayed on the imposing figure as he made his way to the door and swung it closed.  The clock finally struck 8:00 the moment the professor turned the lock on the door.
    A blond-haired boy, two seconds too late knocked on the door’s window, only to be lost behind the blinds Professor Lockard drew down in front of the desperate face.
    Professor Lockard took his time walking back to the center of the classroom.  Once there he stood silently for a moment, slowly scanning the room back and forth.
    Probably trying to find the feeble one of the bunch, Chaly mused to herself, trying to ease her nerves.
    “Ms. Sands.”
    Chaly swallowed back the bile that had jumped up her throat at the sound of his strong voice, “Yes Sir?” Never had a teacher known her name on the very first day of school, and she was from a relatively small town.  If Chaly hadn’t been so intimidated, she would have been impressed.
    “Why the hell are you here?”
    His words hurt her—not because they felt condescending, but because of the force behind them.  Had he been close enough, she was sure he would have no problem slapping her, “I’m here to learn, Sir.”
    The professor slowly approached her, growing two more feet with every step.  When he was directly in front of her desk he leaned down, basking in the fear in her gray eyes, “Is that your final answer, Ms. Sands?”
    Quickly trying to find any other way to answer the question, Chaly stuck by it, “Yes, I’m here to learn what you know…Sir.”
    Lockard stood straight and turned his back on her, returning to the center of the room.  “Ms. Sands believes the reason we are all here is to “learn what I know”.  Does anyone disagree?”
    The room remained anxiously silent.
    “Her answer then represents the opinions of everyone in this class?”
    Silence.
    “You are all WRONG!”
    The class jumped.  His voice had been even and low up until that last word.  Those who hadn’t been intimidated at first were now tense and even the atheists prayed he wouldn’t call on them next.
    Chaly on the other hand was now not only nervous, but mortified, crushed and terrified.  All she had wanted to do this first day was make a decent first impression.  Now she was beginning to think that getting kicked out of this class might not be such a bad thing after all.
    “You are here to learn what you know.”  Lockard slowly paced the classroom, his hands clasped behind his back.  “I can teach you the secret of  life.  I can show you how to kill a man.”  He stopped in front of the little project, “It’s what you do with that power that interests me.  It is the only thing you should worry about.”
    A knock suddenly came from the door and part of the class jumped again.
    Turning his back on them to face the white board, Professor Lockard uncapped his red dry erase pen and ignored the persistent knocking.  “Mr. Collins, from your textbook, page forty-one, repeat to me exactly--”
    The knocking reached its climax, drowning out the professor’s speech.  “Eugene, open up!” An older woman’s voice pierced the door, “It’s urgent!”
    Lockard calmly recapped the red pen, and glared at the boy closest to the door.  Nothing else need be said.
    With the handle unlocked, the door flew open and a thin, white-haired woman nearly tackled the young man on her way to the professor. “Sorry Eugene but there’s an emergency in one of your student’s family.  The mother wants her to-”
    “Who?”
    The elderly woman was slightly taken aback, but then remembered who she was dealing with.  She should have been used to it now.  “Ms. Chaly B. Sands.  Is she in this class?”
    Professor Lockard’s gazed fixed on Chaly and she wasn’t sure if she should be worried more about her family, or if this man was going to murder her.  Then it hit her.
    Chaly jumped out of her seat, “My family!?  What’s wrong with them!?”
    The old woman motioned her out into the hallway.  The professor and all of the students now glared at the girl who—in under two minutes—had embarrassed herself, made the class look bad and interrupted the Professor Eugene Lockard as she made her way across the entire classroom.
    The white-haired woman wasted no time, “Your mother just called completely hysterical.  She said: ‘Hello, my daughter’s name is Chaly Sands, I need her to call NOW!’ and then hung up.  Nothing else.  I knew your parents a long time ago and-”
    “Thanks.” With the door slammed behind her, Chaly activated her phone and dialed her mother’s cell number.  “I’ve got it.”  She never enjoyed being rude but it didn’t matter right now.
    The woman stayed with her, arms crossed, concern scrunching her wrinkled face.
    Chaly turned her back to her, as if that would gain her privacy.  The phone hardly rang before Chaly forgot all about the old woman.
    “Chaly,” her mother’s voice was frenzied, out of breath, “run.  Don’t come here.  Don’t stay where you are.  Just run!  Oh God—” The phone disconnected, the silence forbidding any questions.
    The phone stayed at Chaly’s ear for nearly a minute after it had disconnected.  What was wrong?  Where was her mother?  What was going on?  Why did she have to run?  Where to?  Chaly quickly redialed her mother’s phone, but all she got was a disconnected beep.  She tried calling her father and it was the same thing.
    Chaly put her phone back in her pocket.  What was she going to do?
    She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and decided she was unfortunately going to have to miss the rest of Professor Lockard’s class.  As she reached for the door, the old woman she had already forgotten grabbed her attention.
    “Chaly, how is your mother?  Is everything alright?”
    Chaly tried to force a decent smile.  She failed, “I have to go.”
    The old woman patted her shoulder, “I understand honey.  Would you like me to speak to the professor for you?  I know he can be a bit intimidating.”
    Chaly did smile then, “No thanks.  I can do it.”  Of course, she had no intention of confronting him now.
    “Alright, you go ahead and get yourself home.”
    “I will.” And with that, Chaly entered hell once again.
    Professor Lockard stopped mid-sentence to stare at Chaly as she walked all the way to the other side of the classroom and tried to quietly put all of her things back into her messenger bag.  It wouldn’t have mattered if she was quieter than a dead man, the professor still would have silently scrutinized her the entire time.
    Chaly knew she was being made an example of, but the fear for her parents overwhelmed any and all of the insane embarrassment she would have felt otherwise.
    Everything finally packed, Chaly quickly jumped up and ran to the door.  It wasn’t until she twisted the handle that the professor spoke.
    “Ms. Sands.”
    Chaly froze, “Yes Sir?”
    “Lock the door behind you.”
    She exhaled, “Yes Sir.” and flew out the door, locking herself out of the classroom.

********************

Donahue’s Office

    As if Godfrey Oxford Donahue’s pharmaceutical control over every nation wasn’t enough to establish his powerful place in this world, Donahue also made his residence at the top of FATE Tower.  Built seventeen years earlier, FATE Tower not only pretentiously basked in it’s dominance over any other building in the western United States, but also over any other building in the western hemisphere—perhaps in the world.
    The entire top floor served any and all of Donahue’s personal needs.  Larger than most homes any average family could ever hope to buy, Donahue’s residence resembled more of a miniature mansion than the penthouse it technically was.  It was built complete with six exquisite guest bedrooms, two guest bathrooms, a living room with a grand mantle and fireplace, a dining room whose main attraction was the crystal chandelier looming overhead, a full kitchen, an open bar, a master bedroom far too big for just Donahue—and hardly ever contained just Donahue—and of course, Donahue’s office.
    One of Donahue’s favorite features of the penthouse was that each of the outer walls was made of reinforced glass.  The better to see you with, he would muse to himself whenever he stared down at the world below him.
    The ceiling was flat to accommodate the helipad at the top of the building.  Despite that, Donahue still had the ceiling over just his room made of the same reinforced glass as his walls.  The better to see you with, he would think as he stared up into the space just beyond his fingertips.
    Godfrey Donahue now sat behind the grand desk that occupied the back portion of his office.  The only thing in this room more grandiose than the desk that claimed a great distance between its owner and its owner’s guests, were the chair the owner resided in and of course, the owner himself.
    Opposite Donahue sat Marion Lennox in a chair nearly half the size of the master’s.
    “What is her status?”  No sort of greeting was necessary with Godfrey Donahue.  He didn’t believe in the use of greetings unless he was meeting with someone who didn’t know he was about to be manipulated.  Matters of business, science, and anything else he dealt with, Donahue wanted only quick and precise information—no false pretense of friendship or cordiality was necessary.  In his mind, Donahue already controlled his universe.  When he asked a question, he expected it to be answered promptly—it didn’t matter by whom.  As long as the information was quick and precise, the answerer had served his purpose and could thus disappear into the furthest back of Donahue’s mind.
    Lennox cleared his throat, thankful for any space he could create between Donahue’s question and his answer, “It seems, that, the Sands have tried to hide her from us.”
    Donahue’s pulsing forehead meant he was waiting for Lennox to continue with news that made him want to go kill something.
    The sun was setting behind his ominous boss.  The orange light shooting out from behind him made him appear even larger and created a darkness that encompassed his entire front.  “It means that Chalybs is still uncaptured–however,” he quickly continued, “we have recently located her position and have men in pursuit of her this very instant.”
    “And the Sands?”
    “They haven’t said a word.  After their unsuccessful attempt to escape this morning they’ve been taken into custody and are under surveillance.  We’ll be questioning them soon.”
    Donahue nodded, “Excellent.  How long?”
    “H-How long, Sir?” Lennox asked, uneasiness visibly controlling him once again.
    “Chalybs will be in our custody before this night is over.”
      “Yes,” Lennox nodded, “if.”

****************

Chapter Three
Downhill

    Chaly nervously paced the small length between her front door and the small TV in her front room all afternoon.  She didn’t know what else to do.
    She had initially intended to follow her mother’s instructions; returning to her room only to gather the few things she thought she might need.  She was just about to leave when she remembered the biggest and most paralyzing chink in her chain.
    Chaly had no place to go.
    I’m five hundred miles from home…what am I supposed to do!?
    Even if she did know where a hotel or possibly a motel might be, she had never stayed in one, and being alone in a shady place she seemed worse than anything else.  She had no relatives nearby and she had no idea where anything was in this city.
    Chaly thought.
    Outside the sun was setting.  It seemed too early for such long shadows to be darkening her room.  Then again, she always had that thought around this time of year.
    Chaly looked out her window at the courtyard below—this view was the only thing she liked about her small dorm.  Her room was on the corner of the building which meant the other grand window in her front room revealed a detailed view of the next brick dormitory building.  Neither view offered a balcony and Chaly ground her teeth at that as well.
    The university was built like a fortress pretending to be a mansion.  The landscape was delicately tendered and kept under tight surveillance.  Thanks to an experiment by the botany department, Mendel Miescher Greens maintained their lovely green color year round.  Windows were cleaned bi-weekly, the cobblestone pathways were swept, and even the rustic brick buildings that populated the school had an air of rigid discipline lurking beneath their charming surface.  To top it off, the school grounds were bordered completely by a thick looming wall that accomplished its goal of intimidation.
    Chaly sat on the window’s ledge and leaned against the glass.  From where she was, she could hear at least three different songs bursting from various stereos.  She could hear cheers and chants and laughter all around her, but they felt so far away.
    Maybe someone here can help me?
    Yeah, there were hundreds of people at this school; she could at least get directions to…someplace helpful…hopefully.
    Chaly took a deep breath and headed for the first door.  Generally she was never too shy when meeting new people—in fact, it would be a hobby of hers if that were possible.  She liked meeting people, but she only really hung out with her best friends.  This of course was because her best friends were industrious studiers like herself; anything less Chaly knew would be too much of a distraction and she couldn’t risk that.
    At the moment, the only thing she really worried about was bumping into someone that had been in her class earlier.  She was sure she wouldn’t recognize anyone because her back was to the class most of the time, but there was no doubt in her mind that anyone from that class would remember her.  Just one question about why she ran away from Lockard and Chaly would be locking her front door behind her in a second.
    The music coming from the door directly across from hers had been the noisiest out of all.  That was most likely because the room was so close to Chaly, but that didn’t excuse anything in her mind.  She knocked three times to the beat of whatever indie rock they were playing and waited.  Irritated that they were taking so long, she knocked again.  It hadn’t occurred to her until her second round of knocks that their music might be drowning out her pounding.  Or perhaps people pounded on their door often to yell at them to shut up and the occupants just didn’t hear it anymore.
    In any case, they were of no use to her.
    She was about to try another door when the music suddenly dropped and the flimsy wooden door flew open.  A small cloud of smoke temporarily engulfed Chaly’s head and she tried to wave the exotic smell away.
    The boy looked her up and down, “The music too loud for you.” he sounded intimidating, not questioning so much as mocking her.
    Chaly stared at the boy for a moment, she just couldn’t help herself.  He wore more make-up that she did.  His once black hair stood crazily up in the back and looked as though someone had electrically shocked just that part of his brain.  However, the neon red/orange/pink that covered most of it distracted her from anything else.  The boy looked like he could have been taller than her, but he slouched so much that she wasn’t really sure.  His shirt spelt some band’s name in blood-dripping letters but Chaly didn’t try to sound it out; she probably wouldn’t have known it either way.  Perhaps the most shocking thing about this boy was that his pants were so tight that Chaly wouldn’t be surprised if he told her he had been arrested for indecent exposure.  Yes, the pants disturbed her even more than the tongue piercing, the two lip piercings, the nose piercings, the five eyebrow piercings, the who-knew-how-many ear piercings, and whatever-else-he-might-have-pierced piercings.
    Looking at his holey face now, Chaly smiled, “No, I’m actually looking for a hotel or something—”
    “Oh-oh!” He smiled at her and Chaly wasn’t sure he was thinking exactly what she was thinking, “Come on in!” He moved aside to reveal a foggy room that harbored a girl and a boy sprawled out on a small couch and another girl grinning back at Chaly.
    “Uh no, thanks.  I just live across the hall and—”
    “Reeeally?”  He looked at the girl sitting alone in a chair, “Germaine, it’s your neighbor!”
    The girl’s smile grew wider and she swung her arm in a flamboyant wide arc, “Well come on—Miss Sands!?” The girl laughed, “I can’t believe it, what a coincidence! You have to come in now, you need this more than we do!” Another hysterical laugh, this time accompanied by the other girl whom Chaly assumed was also in her class, “Come on in neighbor, join us!  We got anything you might need!”
    Chaly held her hands up in protest, “No, I can’t, sorry.  I’m in a hurry.”
    The boy looked down at her.  He was taller when he stood up, “Aw, really?  Where’re you goin’?”
    “I-” she paused to think, “I’m just trying to find a little hotel somewhere around here.  My…my family is coming to visit and—”
    “Ah-” he interrupted again, “got it, got it.”
    “Yes, so do you—”
    “You could just hide out here to smoke your whatever-you’ve-got, neighbor.  Hotels and motels are expensive as fuck.  Just gotta contribute some munchies and we’re good.”
    Chaly was at a loss.  This was going nowhere.  No, she thought, this is going bad.  “Never mind, thanks anyways.”  Chaly turned around and tried to stop herself from running back to her own dorm.  Locking the door behind her, she slid down to her backside when she heard the other door finally close and the music begin to rage once again.
    The wooden floor was hard and cold and squeaked so much in the morning that she had decided that despite her already slight figure she would start jogging and doing sit-ups each night before she went to sleep.  She stayed there on that floor long after she had decided going door to door looking for help was out of the question.
    The sun was set now but the sky was still very blue and the remains of light still cast long black shadows across her dorm.  Her room was quiet and empty.  Despite the camaraderie she could hear just feet away, Chaly felt like the only person left in a world trying to devour her.
    She didn’t know what was going on; she didn’t know anything about where she was; she couldn’t ask for help and she couldn’t get a hold of her parents.
    The latter was what worried her the most.  Were her parents home?  Were they safe? Where was her mother?  Why did she sound so frantic?  What was she warning Chaly against?  Why couldn’t she get a hold of either of them?
    Chaly reached into her front pocket and checked her phone.  One missed text.
    Since her parents didn’t understand texting—ground-breaking scientists that couldn’t work a cell, it was pitiful—Chaly ignored the message and pressed 4 to speed dial their home phone.  Four rings passed before the answering machine did its job.  Chaly’s father’s voice came over the phone in an accent that alone could prove Jim’s pure New Yorker heritage: “Hey, answering machine’s broken.  This is the refrigerator.  Leave your name, number, and a message and I’ll pass it along for ya.  Thanks, later.”
    Chaly hung up as soon as the message ended.  Had anything else at all come through her phone she would have hung up right away.  However, her father’s voice in that message could always brighten her worst days—and this one was a doozy.
    Temporarily giving up on reaching her parents, Chaly checked the text: “Howd it go Chal?  Hope u’r stil alive!  L8r! —Al”
    Chaly thumbed in 5 to speed dial Alex.
    Alexandra Fields lived next door to Chaly back home.  They were the sister neither one had.  A better friend and a worse study partner, Chaly never had.  In the last two years she had forbidden Alex to be anywhere near her when she needed to study.
    “You’re ‘forbidding me?’” She had asked, appalled, “That’s rude.  Why?”
    Chaly had smiled, “Do you think you could handle an all-nighter with no naps or ‘Wii breaks’?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    “That’s why, bum.”
    One thing Alex could help her with was her kicking form.  Alex was the captain of the Montague High School soccer team.  Chaly had been nominated for co-captain, but declined due the amount of time it would have taken out of her homework schedule.  It didn’t keep her from being one of the top players on her team.  She thanked her genes for that.
    The phone made half a ring before telling her to enjoy some music while her party was reached.  She almost made it through the chorus of It’s Raining Men a second time when the familiar voice sounded on the other end.
    “Hey Chal, what’s up?  How’d your classes go?”
    “Hey Al.  God it feels like forever since I talked to you.”
    “That bad huh?”
    Chaly laughed lightly with her friend, “No, you don’t understand.” She told her friend all about her bio/tech professor--how intimidating, mean, condescending and downright scary the guy was.  In retrospect maybe there was some good to come out of all of her recent turmoil.  In the two minutes she had been in Lockard’s class, she had not only humiliated herself, but humiliated herself beyond any sort of repair.  She could see it now, everyone everyday watching her.  Whenever they were having a bad day or felt particularly picked on by Professor Lockard, they’d need only remember their first day, how Ms. Sands had crashed and burned so hard.  If that had all happened in two minutes, who knew what would’ve happened had she stayed the entire two hours.
    She told Alex all but the last part and her friend’s rude laughter at her expense made her feel better.
    “I wish you could be here with me.  At least then I could have a shoulder to cry on.”
    “From the sound of it I’m sorry, but I don’t think I could handle it.  I think I’d shoot myself.”
    “Wow, you’re such a great friend.”
    “Hey, are your parents moving?”
    Chaly was caught off guard, “W-what?”
    “Oh, well, I was just wondering cause there were a bunch of black cars in front of your house today, I thought it was weird.”
    Cold sweat, “No.” she said slowly, “Not that I know of.”
    “Really?  Could be a surprise for you!  I bet they’re gonna move right across the street from you or something and visit their little Chaly waly everyday.  God, I feel bad for you.  But yeah, a bunch of people were just walking around and in and out of your house.  I thought it was just like one of those open house things or like an auction or whatever.  You’re sure they’re not moving?”
    Chill down the spine, “I don’t know, maybe you’re right.  I’ll ask later.”
    “Good good.  Hey, are you really ok Chal?  I know you just had the worst day of your life--”
    Understatement.
    “--but…I don’t know…you’re ok?”
    Anxiety, “Yeah, I’m ok.  Just a bit tired, ya know.”
    “Ok.  Welp, I know you’re just dying to dive into all that nasty homework of yours so I’ll leave you to it.  I’ll see ya later!”
    “Later punk.”  She hung up and dropped her phone on the hard floor.
    Panic.
    God, they’ve got my parents.  That’s why my mom was so frantic.  No, maybe they’re ok.  Yeah, hiding.  That’s why she couldn’t really talk cause they’re hiding from them.  Yeah.  Wait….
    WHO THE HELL ARE “THEY”!?  Who am I running from?
    Terror.
    It was just two more questions to add to her growing list.  At this rate Chaly was going to loose her mind before her dorm became completely black.
    She wasn’t able to contemplate her sanity for too long.  A hard knock hit the door she was leaning against and shook her out of her panicked thoughts.  While Chaly grabbed her phone and slipped it into her pocket, the door beat again and she wondered what this guy’s problem was.  I’m not the one blaring my music, jerk.
    It should’ve been obvious that she didn’t have any music on--her walls were the only ones on this floor not pulsating.
    Chaly opened the dark brown door as far as the chain lock would allow.
    “Hello.” She took in the figures of the black-clad chubby man and his pony-tailed, shapely blond comrade.  Odd.  “Can I help you?”
    The Fabio-esque man then lifted his right leg and, like a bullet, whipped his leg out at Chaly’s door and both went flying back.
    In a blink Chaly had gone from standing behind her door to landing on her hardwood floor beneath it.  Having hit the back of her head so hard she wasn’t sure who she was for a moment, Chaly had no idea what had just happened, or where she was.  Why am I in my closet?
    Suddenly she was out of her closet and on the floor in the front room of her dorm, staring at two strange men.  Like a flood, her memory hit her and she was terrified.
    “W--who are you?”  Her voice was small.  Her fear made it hard for her to breathe.
    The men reached for her, “We’re taking you home.”
    “Home?” They picked her up by her shoulders.  No, this wasn’t right.  “No,” she said and tried to plant her feet, “No!”
    The men stopped and the fat one spoke, “Don’t you wanna see your mommy and daddy?”
    Jesus.
    It was them.
    Going against her nature and all her past, Chaly fought against them.  She twisted and yanked and kicked and screamed, “NO!  Let me go!  Where are my parents!?  Leave me alone!”
    Chaly was too weak compared to the men and her screams were too little to draw anyone’s attention away from their speakers.
    “Come on Chalybs.” The fat one nodded to the Fabio one and they headed for the door.
    Chaly fought.  She knew it was pointless, but her mother had warned her.  She had to escape.  “Stop!”  She tried to yank herself out of their grip, “STOP!”  Finally Chaly got a good kick in at the fat one’s knee, “Let me go!”
    They stopped once more to backhand Project Chalybs and she finally stopped.
    For the first time since she was a child, Chaly’s world went black.