Volume 5: Instar

Issue 6: A Real Investigation

Florian Reyes Honeywell

By Roach

The bell chimed over my head. As I surveyed Aesop’s, I spotted Amber at one of the booths. She didn’t seem to immediately notice me; instead, she listened to her AirPods and stared out the window. A steaming cup of matcha warmed her hands. I sat down across from her.

“Hey loser,” she greeted me, but a smile played with her lips. She removed the AirPods from her ears, instead placing them in a charging case with tiny heart stickers on it.

“Hey,” I replied. “Anything from Camilo?” She had messaged the group chat about meeting after school—however, Camilo still hadn’t said anything, as far as I knew. Not that Amber had left much room for answering, as her message had been more of an order than a question.

“Not yet, but if he knows what’s best for him he better show.”

“Is… Is that a threat?” I raised an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. “Figure of speech.”

I sighed, not really in the mood for her tone. Trying to get to the point, I prompted, “Okay, so… Anything new?” A day had passed since she found me in the library, when she told me about the potential connection between the drugs and an outside supplier.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to explain everything twice. So we’re waiting for Camilo,” Amber said.

I hadn’t seen Camilo around today either, so I hoped nothing serious was going on. I had a feeling though, that—whatever it was—his absence had something to do with Jay’s birthday party. I understood why he’d want to lay low; Jay hadn’t exactly been pleasant to him. At the same time, I could sympathize with Jay and Gabriel. They didn’t have any way of knowing why Camilo had become so out of touch lately.

I sunk back in my seat, and looked around the shop. Aesop hummed a quiet tune over the coffee brewer, while a guest browsed the selection of Icons booster packs. For a moment, I thought she looked familiar. As she stood half-turned away from me, it was difficult to pinpoint—but her dark hair, her prominent jawline… She reminded me of… Holly?

Before I could process anything else, the doorbell let out a chime, drawing my attention to the entrance. Camilo entered, saving me from having to come up with something to talk with Amber about. He went to order his usual coffee.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Amber said dryly.

When Camilo sat down next to me, I expected him to counter Amber’s remark in some way. But he didn’t. He looked exhausted, with messy hair and heavy bags forming under his eyes. Smoke wafted up from his coffee cup.

I wanted to ask him how he was doing, but he spoke first. “So, what’s all this about?” Camilo looked expectantly to Amber.

Amber cleared her throat. “We have some business to discuss.”

Camilo turned to me, raising one eyebrow. I shrugged—I figured Amber wanted to talk about what we had discussed yesterday, but as to where she was going with all of this, I wasn’t exactly sure. Amber proceeded to break down our conversation from the library, albeit a summarized version of events—essentially, that Jay and a couple of other students had formed a recent bond to this Ryan person, and that she suspected him of being involved with the drug dealings.

“Huh…” After taking a sip from his coffee, he added, “Anything else?”

Amber continued, “So, I checked out Ryan, and I’ve been hearing through the grapevine that he’s been selling weed for a while. But maybe he is more than a one-trick pony. He has connections to a whole other group of people at Chapel, and they all share strong bonds with each other.”

“A group?” Camilo echoed. “What do you mean, like Los Reales or something?”’

“I don’t think so.” Amber narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

He hesitated. “I don’t know, just a guess.” He glanced down at his coffee, where milk foamed on the surface like a pale inkblot. “Who else do you think it would be?”

“I’m not saying I’m ruling out any gangs…” Amber drummed her nails against the table. “But it could also be someone new.”

“Like the First Way?” I suggested. I had seen the stuff about powerchems on the news, and figured that dealing in regular drugs wouldn’t be beneath them either. Then again, what would they be doing at a high school, of all places?

Amber seemed to share a similar train of thought, as she said, “Why, though?”

“It would take some balls to start a new drug trade this deep into Los Reales turf.” Camilo gazed out the window with an indecipherable expression. “Then again, the First Way seems just crazy enough to do that.”

“This is Los Reales… turf?” I said. Obviously, I was aware of the city’s major gangs—and it made sense that they would be territorial toward one another. I just hadn’t thought so consciously about their whereabouts or operations before, other than when another crazy powerfight broke out between heroes and villains.

“I mean… Don’t you guys watch the news?” Camilo said.

Amber and I both gave him a blank stare.

He sighed. “Just putting it out there.”

“Whoever they are, we need to figure it out,” Amber said. She removed a pink leather folder from her backpack, and took out a sheet of paper. She placed it on the table, then shoved it toward me.

I investigated the paper, where names had been written out in neat cursive. Amber explained, “This is a list of some of the people who share connections. It looks like they’re all recent transfer students. But, as far as social media goes, they’re nonexistent. After school tomorrow, I want you to track them with some of your bees. Check out what extracurriculars they might be up to.”

I scanned through the names. The only transfer student I knew about was Hannah—but she wasn’t on the list. There were three all in all, none of which I recognized: Ray, Mona, and Kai. Next to each name, Amber had listed some of their classes, so I at least had an idea of where to look for them.

“Are… Are we sure we should be doing this?” I said. The threats we had stopped so far had been more immediate. This all seemed different from the monster or Max’s plant—maybe even outside our capabilities.

“Look, all I’m saying is that we check them out. It doesn’t mean we’re committed to anything,” Amber said.

I looked at Camilo, who stared out the window again. “What do you think?” I asked.

A couple of moments passed by before he said anything. His gaze had fixated on a couple of seagulls fighting over a bagel scrap outside. “I think…” He took a long sip from his coffee. Then, his eyes glimmered—a newfound sense of determination crossing his face. “Well, what are we waiting for?” He grinned. “Let’s do it.”

I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but his sudden enthusiasm still took me by surprise. “Are you… sure?” I shifted in my seat. “I just mean… Well, we don’t have a whole lot to go on right now. And I’m not sure that…” I stumbled over my words. “I’m not sure that it’s our place to spy on other students. I mean, isn’t that crossing some kind of ethical line?”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Amber intercepted. “Well, that’s just part of doing a real investigation. It’s not crossing any ethical lines when it’s for the greater good.” She studied my conflicted expression for a moment, and continued, “Besides, we’ve just been fighting monsters so far. Solving actual crime could be fun for a change. Good for our resumé, too.” A satisfied smile crossed her rose-colored lips. “Like we did at the mall,” she added for good measure.

“The mall?” Camilo echoed.

“Long story…” I muttered.

“And your bees worked great, then,” Amber said. “They can be useful now, too.”

I stared down at the table, studying the tree rings rippling across the wood. The rings formed clusters, which reminded me of eyes. I felt Amber and Camilo’s expectant looks lingering on me.

Then I sighed. “Fine,” I said, reluctantly. Maybe they were right, and my doubts were just me overthinking it all. Although I still thought this was a bit over my head, I supposed I had nothing to lose by sending some of my scouts.

“Then it’s settled.” Amber’s smile widened into a grin.

“Cheers,” Camilo said, and sipped from his coffee.

“Before you get too excited, remember that these are insects—not exactly FBI material,” I said. “So I can’t promise anything.” I recalled back to when I first sent the bees to search for the monster, and how many riddles I had to go through before I understood what the swarm was trying to tell me about the theater.

“That’s the spirit.” A fake sweetness coated Amber’s voice. “In the meantime, I’ll keep looking into people and see if I can’t dig up any dirt.”

“Sure,” I mumbled. A light buzz ran through my body.

What had I gotten myself into?

***

I watched the clock above the classroom door tick slowly, as Mx. Lockwood dragged the lecture on and on. We were already three minutes overtime, the clock hand closing in on four…

“…and remember to read chapter 11 for next class,” Mx. Lockwood concluded.

I immediately scooped my books into my arms, and slung my unzipped backpack over my shoulder. I half-jogged outside, beating my classmates to the door. As I rushed down the hallway, I packed my books and notes into the backpack, zipping it to a close. It probably would have been more efficient to stop running as I finished packing up, but I didn’t have time to stop moving.

I had a mission. And I was already late.

Meandering my way through the body of students crowding the hallways, I rushed to the exit. Outside, Camilo already waited for me by the gingko tree. He sat in the shade of the branches, leaning up against the trunk. I jogged over to him.

“Hey, did I miss anything?” I asked.

“Clark and Jenna just broke up very publicly by the front entrance. Other than that, you haven’t missed a whole lot.”

He had offered to help me track the names on Amber’s list, as four eyes were arguably more effective than two. As far as I knew, Amber herself had gone off to volleyball practice. I slumped down next to him. “Sorry I’m late. Mx. Lockwood won’t shut up once they get started on Sartre.”

He checked the time on his phone. “Well, classes ended five minutes ago. And I haven’t seen any signs of them yet.”

I nodded. If Camilo hadn’t seen them, I wasn’t too concerned yet. A steady flow of students continued to leave the building.

I vaguely knew who to look for. During history, Mr. Whetter had called out one of the guys on Amber’s list—Kai—so I could attach a face to his name. His flamboyant flair also helped with my recognition; his overly styled dark hair, a lingering smell of cigarettes, and a leather jacket to top it off. I wasn’t so sure about the other two, but with Camilo’s help, we could hopefully track down all of them.

“Can you cover me with your illusions?” I asked. “I’m going to summon a few scouts.”

Camilo snapped his fingers. “Consider it done.”

I opened my mouth, and with a sigh, I summoned six bees. I figured with three people, I could put two bees on each of them. I wanted a backup for flyswat insurance; if something happened to one scout while undercover, there would still be another one that could report back to me. Once I released the scouts, I let them hover among the gingko leaves.

I kept my eyes to the main entrance, searching the stream of faces for Kai. As time passed, the students became fewer and farther in between. Finally, I saw someone I recognized… but not who I was looking for.

Gabriel and Jay left Chapel together. As the two crossed the school grounds, Jay shot a quick side-glance our way. Then they continued forward, staring straight ahead.

“So… How have you been?” I said, turning to Camilo. I assumed he must have seen them as well, but he remained focused on the front door. “I didn’t see you in class yesterday.”

“Just tired. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I just… Well, the party was kind of a lot,” I said.

“It’s nothing.” His expression remained indecipherable as he pulled his knees up to his chest. Changing the topic, he added, “I was wondering though, what was Amber talking about? About the mall?”

“Oh, that… Well, we were looking for a birthday gift. Long story short, we saw this girl shoplifting, so I used my swarm to stop her.”

“You attacked someone?” His eyes widened.

“Oh, no. No. I didn’t attack her. Just spooked her. Had a few bees crawl over her, and that was all it took.”

“Ah. Well… She probably won’t forget about that anytime soon.”

“Probably not.” A careful smile passed over my lips. I looked to the entrance, where students still trickled out. Still no sign of Kai or the others. It seemed as good a time as any to ask the question that had been lingering in the back of my mind. “Anyway, how do you feel about Amber so far? I didn’t think you would be so onboard with her… plan.”

“Really?” Camilo paused. “I mean, I don’t agree with her. About improving our resumé and what not. Especially since she’s still being a dick about, well, everything. But if these people really are supplying drugs… We should try to stop them, before things get out of hand. Even if that means we’re stuck with Amber.”

“Maybe… But, I don’t know, we could reach ou—”

Before I could finish, Camilo interrupted me with a hiss, “They’re here.”

I focused my attention on the exit. Leaving the front door, I saw Kai. He was accompanied by three others—two of them I assumed to be the remaining people on the list; Mona and Ray. The third I recognized as Ryan, carrying some textbooks under his arm.

Ryan and Kai walked slightly ahead of the other two. They took their time, walking slowly but visibly engaged in whatever conversation they were having. Both laughed at something I couldn’t hear.

I glanced up into the treetop, where my bees hummed among the thin branches and vibrant leaves. Then I directed them toward the group. I sent two scouts crawling under the collar of Kai’s leather jacket. The rest I pinned onto their backpacks—on the undersides or inside little pockets and crevices where they wouldn’t be easily noticed. The only one I left untouched was Ryan, since he hadn’t really been part of the equation to begin with.

Follow your assigned targets for the rest of the day. Report back by sunrise, I instructed my scouts.

Ryan and Kai halted by the uncanny statue of the hands reaching for the sky. From the school building’s point of view, the monument partially sheltered them. However, from the gingko tree, Camilo and I had a clear view. They didn’t seem to be aware of us—or, if they were, they just didn’t care. The two talked for a little bit, giving my bees more time to get into position. Then Ryan drew out a notebook from the stack of books he had been carrying. At the same time, Kai reached into his backpack. He took out a brightly colored lunchbox, and gave it to Ryan. Ryan handed over the notebook.

“Wait, did they just…?” Camilo said.

Following the exchange, they continued down the path, still conversing. Once they reached the sidewalk, they split into different directions. The group which had been lagging behind caught up to Kai, while Ryan went off on his own.

Camilo and I remained quiet until they had departed the school grounds.

He spoke first. “You saw that too, right? Are they really being that blatant about this?”

I nodded. With the notebook and lunchbox, they easily could have concealed a drug supply, or maybe a payment or bookkeeping—something to that effect. But if I hadn’t known to look for it, I wasn’t sure I would have given the exchange a second thought. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the bees think…” I said, crossing my fingers that they could come up with something coherent.

“So, were you gonna say something? Just before they showed up?” Camilo said.

“Oh, well…” I sighed. It didn’t really seem to matter anymore, now that I had already sent my bees. “I don’t remember,” I said.

He picked up a leaf which had been sitting on the ground. “When do you think the bees will get back to you?”

“Sometime in the morning,” I said. “I’ll let you guys know.”

“What’s it like?”

“What’s what like?”

“Talking with bees.” He twirled the leaf between his thumb and index finger. “Sorry, I’m realizing that it’s a stupid question,” he added sheepishly.

“No, it’s… It is what it is.” I felt the swarm shift throughout my insides, restlessness moving through them after a long day of classes. “I guess… To begin with, they seemed more… alien. Less so now. But they have a completely different way of seeing the world. I’m not sure I’ll ever get completely used to it.”

“I see.” Camilo tilted his head back, leaning against the tree again. He closed his eyes.

We were both quiet. I stared down the path where our group of suspects had disappeared. A couple more students left the building, but for the most part, Chapel High fell into its eerie afterschool silence.