Chapter Eight
New Paths II
After her space was once more set right and Atlas was finally out of it she set off to where Ioro held his ‘briefings’ was a short walk from the apartments. Apparently it had been a factory and shut down long before Ciella was even born and naturally it was scavenged bit by bit by Gardeners until a dusty, empty building with broken windows was all that remained.
Ioro’s cronies who should have been lounging around the apartment stood guard outside the front door, greasy haired Jumo and shaved headed Frechs. A young boy, a few years younger than Ciella was let inside the building. When she tried to walk past the pair of them, Jumo blocked her path, “No crows allowed.”
“What are you talking about? Ioro invited me.”
Jumo shook his head, “No crows.”
Ciella feigned irritation and disbelief, “What do you think Ioro is going to say when he finds out you made me miss his very important meeting?”
Jumo’s resolve wavered and he began to move but Frechs grabbed his shoulder, stared blankly and Ciella and said, “No crows, No Ciella. She shows up, tell her to go back home. His words.”
She glowered at the pair of them, but they were unmoved. Without a word she turned heel and began walking back towards her apartment, or rather made sure she could be seen walking towards her apartment. After she was sure she was far enough away, she circled around through derelict back streets until she stood behind the meeting place.
She pulled her anklet off her ankle and bracelet off her wrists.
One grew thinner, longer, more pliable, than metal normally was, far more, and elongated from something small enough to wrap around a limb to long enough to reach the roof with length to spare, though it was only about as wide as a fingernail.
The other warped into a long hook with a hole at its base.
Ciella hooked the metal thread into the hook, tied it tightly and began trying to toss the hook onto the roof, within a few attempts she had it secured. She stared up at it; a long to the ground.
But Ioro was hiding something incredibly important. Whether or not it involved her, if it involved him than it affected her, her debt, and her parents. She needed to know.
She began scaling the building gingerly, taking great pains to focus upwards on the windows and not even think about what as below her. Her hands were quivering when she finally climbed into the window and lowered herself onto a walkway.
Her fingers were shaking, and her stomach churned within her insides, but she forced herself to ignore the surge of fear. At the sound of voices from below she kept her body completely still until she was sure no one had noticed her.
Ioro stood in the center of the floor, surrounding by his rats and roaches, the lesser experienced thieves/scavengers he employed. The sight repulsed Ciella deeply.
“Everyone here?” Ioro asked. The rats and roaches nodded. “Everything you hear stays quiet. Don’t tell the crows, don’t tell anyone not in this room, if you see me walking down the street and I ask you, don’t tell me. For your ears only. So, listen and shut up, I’m only saying this once.”
Ciella listened with bated breath.
Even from here, Ioro looked exhausted, with bloodshot and eyes dark stubble. “No more pinching,” He said. “No jewelry, no purses, no wallets, nothing. Not even a medallion if it falls into your lap. Keep your noses clean and stay out of trouble.”
That was surprising. Ioro said a good thief stole as naturally as they breathed, and if they couldn’t breathe right than he didn’t want them.
“Noses clean.” He continued, “For the next three months, not even the slightest hint of trouble. Don’t mess with any of the police, don’t mess with your neighbours. That goes triple for academy students. Bother one, speak with one, even cross their path on the sidewalk and you’re dead.”
That was not a threat Ioro used lightly.
He pulled a thick stack of paper out of his coat and waved them around. “As far as you’re concerned, these are solid gold. They’re better than gold, they’re worth more than you could make if you stole every day for the rest of your life. We didn’t come by these easy and so help me if you lost them I will bury you.”
The rats and roaches looked thoroughly cowed, some even shook as Ioro handed them multiple sheets.
“What are they?” The bravest one, a girl asked.
“Floor plans. Take them and memorize them, burn every exit, every entrance, every room into your memory.”
Floor plans? For what?
The girl began to shriek. “What are you going to do? What are you going to do?” Ioro had her by the ear, looking poised to tear it off.
“M-memorize it!” She eventually managed to squeak. “We’re going to memorize them.”
“Every exit. Every entrance. Every room.” Ioro said. “All of you. There’s more.” He handed out a few further sheets. “These two, learn their faces. You need to be able to recognize these two in a heartbeat, even if they cut their hair or put on glasses or get tattoos. These are the only pictures you’ll see of them. For now.”
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The children nodded and received two sheets of paper a piece.
“That’s all.” Ioro said, “Except for one thing: breathe a word of this to anyone else and I will kill you. Tell the crows? I’ll kill you. Tell the MSO? I’ll kill you. Tell anyone not in this room right now? I’ll kill you. Now leave.”
The small crowd left the building, some visibly shaken, others merely pale with fright. Ciella remained on the walkway, waiting for Ioro to leave so she could leave without fear of being spotted.
He began to pace the floor in circles. Several minutes passed until the warehouse door opened once again and a well-dressed man walked in, carrying a suitcase and a small bag. He gently dropped the bag next to Ioro’s feet.
“It’s about time.” Ioro said, the irritation clear in his voice.
“Forgive the lateness, it took all sorts of excuses to even make this meeting.” The man said. He had sandy brown hair. “But the details wouldn’t amuse you. Is it done?”
“It’s done. They’ll be useful enough for your purposes, anyone who escapes can be dealt with after.”
“And they won’t disobey? If even one of them goes to the Meridian Safety Officers.”
“They know better than to disobey me.” Ioro said. “They wouldn’t dare go behind my back, you’ll have your little mob in due time.”
“Excellent.” The man said. He opened the suitcase and showed it to Ioro. It was filled with stacks of reels, millions at the least, with a handful of documents on top that Ciella could not make out. The man handed one stack of reels to him. “Count it if you wish, I can wait.”
“Perish the thought,” Ioro drawled, “If we don’t have trust, we have nothing. But if you’re going to give me the whole thing anyway, why not do it now?”
“The rest will be yours after everything goes smoothly.”
“Can’t risk giving me the travel papers and the money early?” Ioro said, “Smart enough for a classroom and the streets.”
The man did not seem amused. “The rest will come at the end of our business.”
“Naturally.”
“You won’t see me again until it’s done.”
“Again, naturally.”
“We’ll contact you. Wait three minutes before leaving.” The man said and slammed the door on his way out of the abandoned factory, leaving Ciella and Ioro alone for only a few seconds before Ioro left the building as well.
Ciella waited minutes before she climbed back out the window and, still refusing to look down, slid down to the ground. Once her feet were on solid earth once again, she finally opened her eyes. She retrieved her once bracelet and once anklet and returned them to their typical forms and let out a sigh of relief.
The earth underfoot shifted. Its solidity vanished; in an instant going from solid to as granular and loose enough for her ankles to sink into it. Then it hardened again. Her heart raced. He knew. He knew. He knew.
Instantly her bracelet was a pick, stabbing into the stone trapping her in place as footsteps approached from the side of the building, accompanied by the sound of whistling. She stabbed harder and faster, launching chunks of stone around. Just a little space, she just needed a little more space.
The footsteps stopped. She felt his gaze on her.
“Oh, little sister.” He said, with the bag the man had given him slung across his shoulder. “Now why would you ever do anything as stupid as spying on me?” He softened the earth again and pulled her out of the by the hair. Her scalp seared from the pain, but she refused to show any of it. With one hand he pushed her against the wall, with the other he pressed it against the wall, forming the bricks behind her into shackles around her arms and legs.
She could not escape until he let her go.
“Now,” He said, “What did I do the last time you were this stupid?”
A flame burst to life in one of his hands, with the other he lifted her shirt just enough to expose her stomach and the massive patch of scar tissue spreading out from under her ribs to the left side of her midriff, the scar tissue that always felt a little different, no matter what she did.
She began to hyperventilate. Not again, not again, anything but fire. Her tounge was too clumsy with fear to speak, sweat poured down her face. The fire was unbearably hot, even at this distance.
“Should I even you out? Or…” He lifted the flame nearer to her face. She squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, the heat was too much, she tried to crane her neck away as far as she could.
Ioro let out a long, self-satisfied laugh and let the flame vanish. He tapped her cheek with one hand, “C’mon now. I’d never do that. Half-melted freaks are make for pretty conspicuous thieves, don’t you think? You know, you are pretty lucky though.”
He pressed his hand against the wall and destroyed the shackles holding in her place. She collapsed to her knees, feeling like her bones had turned to jelly. He placed a few sheets of paper on the ground in front of her and weighed it down with something pulled out of the bag. Ciella needed to catch her breath and get heartrate under control before grabbing what lay on the ground in front of her.
“Guess where you just enrolled.” Ioro said.
It was a silver medallion and several sheets worth of floor schematics.
She stared up at him, uncomprehending.
“What is this?” She asked.
“You heard everything I said in there?” Ioro asked, “Well you’ve got a different part to play. All the crows do.” He tapped the papers held in her hands. Two of them were drawings.
A middle-aged man with sandy brown hair, greying at the temples and a weathered face. The other was a young woman with dark skin, green eyes.
“Memorize these faces, same for the schematics. No stealing for three more months.” Ioro said. “Just like everyone else. But you’re taking it one step further. You’re going to Meridian Academy, as a first-year student.”
“A student?” Ciella whispered, “That’s impossible. I can’t-”
“You start tomorrow.” He said, “It’s all been arranged. Go home and get some sleep, I’ll bring explain the rest in the morning. And, Ciella. Don’t think what I said in there doesn’t apply to you.”
Ioro left her alone.
…
The walk home was blur, her mind racing to try and reach some conclusion.
Who was that man she had seen? He looked exactly like the one in the drawing, but in that case why was he important? What deal had he struck with Ioro? How had he gotten his hands on these schematics and what were they for?
But that was not nearly as important as what Ioro had planned for her. What would she gain from attending to Meridian Academy?
For the first time in years, Ciella considered running away. Packing what little she owned and just leaving. Whatever was supposed to happen in three months she did not want to be around for?
But if she fled, her debts would never be repaid and if they were called, more than just money would be lost, and lost for good.
She sank into her bed, thinking and thinking but reaching no new conclusions no sudden burst of wisdom, no inkling of a plan. Tomorrow, she would do the same as she always had; survive.
Today as a thief, tomorrow as a Meridian Academy student.