Allie slept like a baby. The stars had aligned themselves in her favor and she was at peace. She got ready for school and came downstairs for breakfast. Her mother must have been in a good mood as well because she had made pancakes and omelets; normally those were reserved for special occasions.
“Morning, Mom.”
“Morning, Kitten.”
“What’s going on with the breakfast today?” Allie asked after looking at all the food that was set out on the kitchen table.
“Nothing, I just felt like cooking. I guess today will be the first day of your new job? What time can I expect you back this evening?”
“I don’t know yet,” Allie said as she began fixing her breakfast, “but I will call you as soon as I know. Please don’t start worrying yet.”
“I’ll try.”
Allie ate an omelet and two pancakes before leaving for her bus. The day unfolded slowly because she couldn’t wait to start her new job baby-sitting. The babies were great to be around and going to the forest and jumping through the trees was the most awesome experience she had ever had. She wanted to do this job daily for the rest of her life if she could.
Mrs. Johnson was busy preparing their day and could not collect them, so after school, Allie and Sara rode the bus together and got off at Sara’s house.
“Good luck, lassie,” whispered Malcolm to the two girls as they left the bus.
Allie waved back to him and they walked into the house. Sara led her downstairs to the basement. It looked just like any other: there were shelves with many items on them being stored away on one wall, whilst another held shelves packed with books.
“Over here,” said Sara. She showed her a secret to the shelves. When Allie walked over she pointed to a book and pushed it inward. “What do you think, just like in the movies?” She smiled at her friend. The book, Great Expectations, was by the left bookend on the middle shelf of three short shelves. Allie watched as the wall next to the bookshelf opened slightly. They walked down two steps to a larger room.
This room was similar to the white rooms in the underground hideaway. White tiles covered the four walls, one had the crest on it. Allie looked about. A series of shelves lined with books adorned one wall, and opposite stood a couch and chair. Alongside another wall was a station. Allie looked inside. It contained an incubator and a crib.
“Hello, Allison,” said Mrs. Johnson.
Allie did not see her at first; she was too busy admiring the room and its secret entrance. Mrs. Johnson sat in a big Lazy Boy chair, holding a baby wrapped in a blanket.
“Oh, hello, Mrs. Johnson, I didn’t see you.” Allie walked over with Sara and took a look at the baby.
“That’s all right, honey. I saw you. This is Marianna and she will be your first assignment.” Mrs. Johnson got up out of the chair with the baby. “Have a seat,” she said to Allie. The girl sat in the chair and Mrs. Johnson put the baby in her arms. “Now the best way to hold a baby is to keep her wrapped up and only expose her head. Lift her head and angle her a little bit – there you go; now she is happy as a clam.” Mrs. Johnson put the baby’s bottle in her mouth and Allie held it for her while she suckled from the bottle. As the woman and Allie talked, Sara moved to the incubator station and began her work.
“Is this all she eats? This looks just like the stuff down in the cave.”
“They are very strict on what we are allowed to feed the babies. The mixture will always be made up for you. Sara will show you where it is kept and what to do to get it ready. Basically, it is a buffet of nutrients that we get from food naturally but they can’t get because their systems will not process them correctly. Minerals and vitamins like iron, calcium, B and C vitamins and so on. They are born deficient in everything and we take great care to balance their diets with their growth. You met Nadia and Lila the other day?”
“Yes, did one of them have a different diet?”
“Very smart,” said Mrs. Johnson. “If they get too much of something it will influence their growth. You are one of the few people who can actually control the growth and maturity of an infant. If you want her to have longer legs or arms you can change what she eats. Leave out something else and her hair may never grow, or she may be underdeveloped when compared to others in her age group. Awesome responsibility isn’t it?”
“Most definitely, yes,” Allie said, rocking the baby as she listened.
“The job you will do is the most important thing you have ever done in your short life, Allison. You have the task of bringing that little girl up and making her aware of whom she is so she can blend in and fit in to society. If you fail, she will fail and the result will be her death. You are now mother to that child and you will not let anyone harm your baby. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, I do, Mrs. Johnson. I will not let anything happen to her.” Allie looked down at Marianna. “I will not let anyone hurt you, I promise.”
“Feed her the whole bottle,” Mrs. Johnson instructed. “I will be back in a minute.” She turned and went out the room.
Sara came over with a clipboard. She sat on the arm of the chair and showed it to Allie. “This is her entire schedule for today. These checkmarks are everything that she has done today so you know what is left to do. Right here under ‘Feeding’ are two bottle formulas, C9 and P4. C9 is what you have; the red liquid. P4 is a blue liquid; those are things like enzymes, and those make up her last feed of the day. She is a cutie, isn’t she?” Sara pinched Marianna’s cheek and made baby noises.
“Yeah, she is.” Allie smiled down at her. And – was she smiling back? “How much of me can she see?”
“All of you.” Sara chuckled at the crazy question.
“No. You said earlier...”
“Oh! I mean she can’t tell me from you from Adam; we are all alike to her. Yeah she can pick you out of a crowd and knows she has seen your face before but she has no impulse control. It isn’t coming out right. She can tell her people from us –”
Her mother came in and interrupted her. “She can’t tell a baby-sitter from a food source because we are the same thing, the same person. When she gets older she can but for now you need your protection, your identification badge.” She walked over and pinched the baby on the cheek like her daughter. She opened her hand and showed Allie a pair of gold earrings emblazoned with the crest. “I noticed you had pierced ears. Put these on.”
Sara picked up the baby and Allie put on the earrings. They were smaller than the standard hoop earrings but large enough to capture the attention of a baby near your neck.
Mrs. Johnson reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace. This was the same necklace that Sara wore only Allie had never paid attention to it before. It was a simple small gold chain with a three-inch silver cross. In the middle was an emerald-cut red jewel with an image within it. “The cross is large enough to contain the image of the crest and at the same time keep its meaning hidden from anyone but us. Don’t be fooled by its size; it’s just as strong as the crests on our jackets and the walls. If you are ever out at night it can be seen for two and a half miles by them. Don’t lose it.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Johnson. I won’t lose it.”
“One other thing, Allison, the size of the cross is in relation to who you care for.”
“Huh?”
“For babies, a smaller cross will do, but for older children you may need a larger cross and a longer chain; something you can grasp in your hand and aim at the little devils when they are unruly.”
“Oh, I get it!”
“Good. Sara will go over a few more instructions with you and I will get you home. Tell your parents you will be working three hours a day after school and on weekends.” She smiled and left the room again.
“Come here, girl,” said Sara with a sly smile.
After placing Marianna in her crib, Sara took her cross and held it to the baby’s eyes. The baby was playing, but when the baby looked deeply into the jewel on the cross, the cross began to glow or emit a light that was refle
cted back into Marianna’s eyes. She stopped playing and her expression went blank, as if listening intently to something the cross was telling her. When Sara removed the cross, she went back to playing like before.
Sara finished the day by telling Allie a few more cautionary notes. Before long, it was time to leave.
“Write down the time and the feeding on the chart here and here, and initial here,” Sara instructed, pointing at her clipboard. After that, Mrs. Johnson took Allie home. Allie was so excited she hugged her and got out of the car and ran into the house to share the good news with her mother.
Kay greeted, “Hey, Kit-” she caught herself – “Allison.”
“It’s okay, I am over it! You’re my mom. Just don’t embarrass me around others. They need to respect me.”
“Well okay, Missy. How did it go?”
“Fabulous, I couldn’t believe it. Mom, I know what I want to do with the rest of my life. Oh, Mrs. Johnson said it would be three hours a night so I will be here by six. Look what she gave me.”
Allie showed her necklace and earrings and Kay applauded. “I like them. Are you hungry?”
“Yes, I am starving.”
“You didn’t eat there?” Kay was becoming concerned at the fitness of her daughter’s employers.
“I never thought about it, I was too excited. Did you make anything?”
“A little bit, come on.”
They went into the kitchen and had dinner together.
That Saturday, Allie spent the majority of her time in the Johnsons’ basement. She was relieved it was the weekend and she could devote all her time to learning about Marianna on a sleepover. Before she knew it, she was home in her bed and tomorrow would be Monday.
On Monday, Allie walked down the school hall wearing her necklace but not her earrings; she kept them in her pocket. She smiled as she passed by students on her way to her first class and then something amazing happened. She noticed that many of the students had some type of a cross necklace around their necks, but only two girls her age wore her special necklace. Not sure if she should confront them, she went to class, but made a note of their faces. Inside her classroom, she quickly scanned the room to check the necks of all the females in the room. None of them wore a necklace like hers: she was part of an exclusive club and only elites like herself could have necklaces.
At lunchtime the back table filled with Double E members wearing their gray jackets. Allie rose to go back toward them when an alarmed voice rang out.
“Girl, what are you thinking about?”
“I wasn’t thinking anything.”
“Girl, I know that is right,” said Sara. “Sit your behind down. Don’t ever think you can go back there because you can’t.”
“And why not?”
“You are not old enough. There are tests that you have to go through and the first of many is your age. You’re not special.”
“Whatever.”
Sara made a face at her to mock her ‘whatever’ comment. She laughed and then put her tray down. “Every group has rules and if you don’t follow them, you are out. You got two years to learn what you need to know and then you will be ready to join them. Right now you are not ready.”
Allie ate, but continued to look back at them. She would be sixteen soon and thought she was plenty old enough. Frustrated by the thought, she looked around the room and found one of the two girls she had seen earlier with necklaces, an Asian teenager. She scanned again, and spotted the other, a Hispanic girl. “Hey, Sara. Those girls who have the necklaces, are they baby-sitters like us?”
Sara looked at the girl she was referring to, “Yes.” The girl in question was just as new and raw as Allie. Her name was Elizabeth, and like Allie, she had someone mentoring her named Monica. Sara looked back at the back table and saw Monica sitting in her familiar place at the end of the table. Monica was made distinctive by her hair: shoulder length brown featuring a streak of white on the left with a thin braid of red, brown, and white on the right. She made eye contact with Sara who smiled before turning back to face her charge.
“Is it okay to talk to them?”
“Not right now. Allie, don’t mess up. You are too close, if you make waves now you will be kicked out. We operate on secrecy. Your job is to pretend you don’t know them or anything about the necklaces. Secrecy, Allie, secrecy.”
“All right, I understand.” She looked back at the Double E Club members one last time. “Are they all vampires? Every member?”
Sara burst out laughing. “No, they are not; some of them are like me and you. Don’t rush it. You will be seventeen soon enough, and before then you have a lot of learning to do.”
Allie finished her lunch and went back to her locker. She retrieved the book for her next class, closed her locker and stood. Shelby towered in front of her; Allie dropped her book. She got scared at the sudden appearance of her nemesis and stood motionless as Shelby looked her over wordlessly. Allie wanted to scream to one of the students passing by but she knew that would be the wrong thing to do, so she stayed motionless, sweating, avoiding eye contact. Staring at Shelby’s blue tie.
Shelby lifted her right arm and placed a finger to Allie’s chest near her heart. She smiled, leaned in to her, and whispered in her ear, “I like that sound.”
An idea struck Allie and she regained her composure. No matter what, she would not show fear. She reached into her pocket, careful not to move too quickly or touch Shelby. Allie withdrew her earrings and placed them on her ears as Shelby watched. Allie took out her partially hidden necklace and let it rest against her beating heart. She steeled herself. She looked up at Shelby, met her gaze, tilted her head and smiled. She smiled as big as she could, showing every tooth in her mouth. Shelby turned a bright red, then pale, and then backed up. Allie smiled even bigger as she watched her nemesis walk away in defeat. Never again could the tall teenager scare her. She bent and scooped up the book she dropped, stood, kissed the cross on her necklace, and went to class almost skipping.
Had she paid attention, Allie would have seen that her cross glowed red.
An hour later the bell sounded. Allie came out into the hallway and she immediately saw Elizabeth, the small Hispanic girl with dark black hair, the girl from the cafeteria with the necklace. Allie walked by her slowly and when she was within a few feet she took out her necklace, tapped it, and smiled as she passed by. Elizabeth gave a little smile back, but kept walking. No matter: that was all the recognition Allie wanted. She finished her school day and waited with Sara for her mother to drive up in her car and take them back to her house.
Mrs. Johnson arrived and in no time they were back at her house. Sara and Allie went downstairs and Sara had Allie open the door to test her memory. She got the book first time, and both slipped through the passageway.
They began their day by feeding Marianna and then changing her diaper. Allie wore her earrings, and her necklace was out for everyone to see. She loved the new life she had stumbled into, the friend she had found. Tomorrow she would learn how to make the formula and began making her own charts for the care of little Marianna.
After the three hours were done, Mrs. Johnson took her home and told her tomorrow they would be going back to Caveena for more instructions on infant care. She was to make sure she carried both her necklace and earrings while she was at the complex. Her testing would begin and would be conducted by the Elders.
Allie’s mother was already waiting inside. “Hey, Mom, I’m back.”
“Hey, baby, you ready to eat?”
“Yes, I’m starving. I don’t know why I am never hungry there but as soon as I walk through the door, suddenly I’m starving.”
“That is what happens to people who lose track of time. What exciting things did you do today?”
“Nothing really exciting; the baby, Marianna, is so easy to take care of. I almost feel guilty getting paid to watch her.”
“Well as soon as you get that check in your greedy little hands you will change your
tune.” Kay laughed.
Allie laughed with her. “I forgot about the pay. I am going to have to talk to them about that. Should I get a check or take cash?”
“Whichever way is easier for them. How are you and Sara getting along?”
“We are doing fine, I can’t complain about anything. I’m glad she asked me. Oh, today I changed Marianna for the first time and I thought there would be a big mess because of what she eats but there wasn’t. There was just one little lump – kind of like a cow patty. Then I gave her a bath and changed her clothes; she was wearing this cute little sailor suit and Sara put a bandanna on her head.” Allie started laughing. “She looked more like an Indian than a sailor.”
Kay laughed and was captivated by her daughter’s face; she seemed to have a special glow about her that she liked. Her little girl was growing up. “Come on, eat up.”
Allie ate her dinner quickly, mind on her tests tomorrow. What would they be? She was good at tests – when she had time to study.
Suddenly, Allie realized – “Dad isn’t here?”
“He is up at the South Ridge again. The test results came back and he went to get them.”
“It’s funny how they call it the South Ridge when it’s not even south. Oh well, I guess I will see him tomorrow.”
Allie finished her dinner and rose from the table. She kissed her mother goodnight and went upstairs. It was only 7 pm and she wanted to rest, hoping she would go jumping through the trees tomorrow.
Chapter 12