Chapter Two: Punishment [THE CUBE][Unedited]

A Chapter by Rachel Barnard

Indescribable; Future Best Seller; Page Turner; Future Classic... I can dream, right?

THE CUBE

RACHEL BARNARD

[Unedited]

Chapter 2: Punishment

I walked through the doors and into the Cube, rubbing my wrist where the scanner had touched it absentmindedly. I looked up. I saw the sky. A blue window, same color as the river in the ravine, but a stark contrast to the grey material that encased me. I went over and touched the nearest wall. It looked so solid yet yielded slightly to the touch. I pushed in with my finger and it gave a little more. I let up and it sprung back slowly to its original dimensions. I never tired of touching the Cube and I knew that it was designed to slow a fast-moving body without breaking any limbs.

“Looking for the secret pathways?” A voice joked behind me. I whipped around, pushing my hand in my pocket and putting a glare of contempt on my face.

“You know those don’t actually exist” I hissed at the squat shoulders of Johnny Italiano. His real name was actually Jonathan Borelli but everyone called him Johnny Italiano because he was a stereotypical Italian. He laughed as if I was a child who had just discovered that fire was hot by burning my hand. I tried to raise on my heels a little to lessen the height difference between us. He was massive, over 6 feet tall and 3 straight years of weightlifting and physical training had increased his massiveness tenfold. His strength was impressive and our body-tight outfits magnified his bulk even more. He snorted at me and then walked off to chat with Barbie, another mammoth human. Her parents must have fed her steroids when she was a baby because she was almost as tall as Johnny and also packed superman muscles beneath her uniform. I held in my snide comment and put my hand back on the wall and trailed my fingers along the coolness, making my way around the football-sized arena, waiting for the first bouts. After everyone checked in at the entrance, 4-man teams would be formed at random and the first two teams would be announced. I knew that I would only have 5 minutes to find my teammates before becoming an easy target for Johnny and his gang. I remembered the first time I had met Johnny

I had been so lonely my first few weeks at the Academy. I didn’t have any friends and I didn’t want any. I couldn’t afford to have friends. I could tell that my roommate wanted to be my friend but I had tried to spend all my free time outside the room and only come home late and fall into bed, silent. She didn’t push the friend issue after the first two days and I was glad; but at the same time depressed at how my life was going to be over in the next couple of years.

I had taken to spending my free time wandering the grounds of the Academy. I had discovered the shed in the back of the school with random goodies, like the kayak. At first glance it didn’t look very seaworthy and was coated in a layer of dust. I had wiped it clean and checked it over for holes. It looked like it was only scuffed with chipped and faded paint. I dragged it over the grass until I had finally made it to the lake. By that point I was very red in the face and panting. I was a skinny girl with very little strength when I first came to the Academy but that had soon changed. I pushed the tip of the kayak into the rippling water, holding onto the front end with my other hand. It floated calmly and I delicately stepped in. It lowered a bit and a ripple pushed outward from the craft. I fished the cracked paddle from the bottom and a hidden spider scuttled away from me. I pushed off from the bank with the end of the paddle and glided toward the center of the lake. The kayak creaked but held firmly together. Excellent, it was a bit cold for swimming. I was too tired from dragging the boat to the water to do much more than drift lazily and occasionally steer with the paddle; but even this was glorious.

On my way back it was around sunset when I saw the boy. He stood, framed by the setting sun. Tall and tan, he started walking towards me. I had stopped walking when I saw him and waited for him until he was within speaking distance.

“You’re not supposed to go there.” He stated.

“Go where.” I answered innocently.

“Beyond the grounds of the Academy.” He responded, “Didn’t you get the memo?” I answered him by hefting the kayak up the slight hill again. He laughed.

“They sure are getting desperate. However did you pass the entrance physical exams? It looks like you’ve been half-starved. Can you even lift 50 pounds?”

I decided not to answer but continued dragging the kayak back along my scuff trails I had made earlier. He didn’t leave, but kept badgering me all the way back to the shed.

“So where’d you grow up, Hollyville? Knoxwood? Definitely not Denman, don’t look smart enough. I bet you can’t even throw a boot” He was getting on my nerves so I shot back.

“Why in hell would I want to throw a damn boot?”

He laughed again.

“So she speaks.” He said. I shook my head and waited to see if he would say anything more.

“You don’t even know!” He seemed surprised. I gave him a searching look and he said again, “You don’t even know?” now he seemed a bit more questioning.

“I can throw a boot as far as you can!” I yelled back, my anger rising. We had reached the shed. I brought the kayak in and turned it over, to drip dry on the floor.

“Oh really?” he teased, looking me up and down. “Well, throw this” and with that he stepped back and shut the shed door. I ran back to the door and tried the handle. The handle moved but the door remained motionless. I rattled the handle and heard muffled laughter beyond.

“For your information Noob, we have a boot toss every field day and I ALWAYS win. Obviously they let you in to make the rest of us look even better by comparison ‘cuz obviously you’re weak AND brainless.” I put my ear to the door and heard him walking away. At this point, the last of the light was fading fast and in the shed it was even darker. The one window that let in the light was too high to reach and too small for me to fit in, even with my skinny form. I looked around, to see if anything could help me escape. I knew that the doors were solid and heavy, after struggling to open them earlier. Even the hatchet rusting in the corner wouldn’t be much help to me. I doubted many people used the shed, from all perspectives it looked abandoned. In a rage of loneliness and frustration I kicked the door. When nothing happened I screamed loudly and kicked the far wall. Still nothing, except now my foot ached from the force of my kick. I jumped up and down in a display of juvenile immaturity. The floor made an odd sound. I stopped jumping and looked down. I wiped some dirt to the side of the wooden floor and saw what looked like a hidden handle. I pulled it around and up, so that it was standing on end. A round wooden ring sat in my hand, so I pulled on it and felt the ground shake beneath my feet. I shoved more dirt aside and noted the fine crack running in a square, stepped off this area and pulled the handle again. The trap door opened. I looked down at the stone steps under me. How convenient, I thought, just like in a novel or movie. I was a little trepidatious of the dark but I had no other choice. Using my hands as guides, I stepped down and then down some more. I pulled the door back over my head, covering my tracks, just in case the boy came back. The stone was even colder than the passage was dark. I kept one hand in front of my face, to protect it against what I couldn’t see and the other hand pressed firmly against the wall; leading me forward. After what seemed like ages, my hand hit a corner and then curved around to meet a wall in front of my face. I hoped I had not missed a left turn in the pitch black. I hoped again, that this was the entrance to whatever it was the entrance to. I prayed dearly that this underground passage was in fact a passage; and not a bomb shelter or something. I was relieved to feel a handle and pushed but nothing happened. Oh no, I thought, what if you could only open it from the other side? I panicked and pushed with my whole body on the rock and shouted and shouted, but I heard nothing in return. My hand was glued whitely to the handle and I slumped back in frustration, forgetting to unwind my hand. I fell backward, pulling the handle with me as the door opened inward. I peered up into darkness. Another passage perhaps? I put my hands out in front of me and felt in the air for a wall, nothing. To the side of the door I felt; rather than, saw a book fall in a clump to the ground. Books? Why would I be in complete darkness at a wall with books? I stepped out into the open, keeping my hand on the wall with the books and quietly shut the door behind me. I leaned down and picked up the book that had fallen and clumsily shoved it back on the bookshelf, horizontally across the top of the vertically stacked books. I didn’t bother feeling for its original placement because it would have been too hard in the dark.

Feeling along the wall I continued in my pursuit of light and my warm and welcoming bed. My shins knocked into what felt like a large chair. After rounding a wall or two I came to another door, this one a normal wooden door. I pushed this one open and found a glimmer of light in the distance, on the wall above me. There was a set of stairs that looked like it rounded a corner. I climbed up to the lighted wall and saw that another set of stairs ninety degrees to the left… led up into the light. After spending as long as I did in complete darkness, this dazzling light was a little difficult to stand and I squinted; but kept stepping upward, toward the light.

I ended up in the basement. I did not know a basement could have its own basement? I didn’t know what the book room would be called but it was definitely a place I would be revisiting during the daytime or at least with a flashlight. The basement was a place I had been to but I guess I had not noticed the flight of stairs; because they were placed in such a way that one would not notice them, unless one knew they already existed or if one was very observant. Since I had been to this basement before, I knew how to get back to my room from there. I did not, however, go straight to my room. First I had to undo whatever the boy had put on the shed to keep it from opening; so he would think I had gotten out through the shed’s door. Minutes later I was standing outside my room, satisfied with the day’s events. Getting locked in the shed had turned out to be a good thing after all and now I knew to stay away from that lug head. Far away. I opened my room door and immediately was met by a flying creature that jumped straight at me.

“Jeanie!” I breathed, “You’re strangling me.”

“Oh! Sorry.” She giggled but let go. “I was so worried about you. Johnny told everyone that you drowned in the lake, going for a late afternoon swim!”

“Who?” I countered.

“Johnny Italiano. Tall. Muscular.” She emphasized his tallness with her hands, marking the air. “Everyone knows Johnny. His parents are famous!”

“Oh well, of course Johnny. I was joking.” I faked. I had let my guard down but she hadn’t caught my blunder and continued babbling.

“He came running into the dining hall and yelled out for everyone to hear that he saw you going to the lake. He said he told you that you weren’t allowed to go there, Academy rules. He said he followed you and tried to convince you to go back but you wouldn’t listen. He said you ran to the lake and jumped in but didn’t come back up. He wanted to jump in after you but he can’t swim; you know after the California incident he never wants to go back into water.” I swear she had not breathed through this entire outburst. She spent a few moments regaining her breath and then looked at me, waiting for an answer.

“He lied.” I stated simply. I didn’t want to tell her about the kayak. I didn’t want to tell her about anything. I didn’t know if she could be trusted. I knew I would need allies, but I didn’t know anyone well enough for details yet. My old self would have immediately gossiped about Johnny and what he had done; and about the super-secret passageway but I was a different person now. I was MC now, upper-class daughter of a senator.

“Come on, give me more than that! Did you really disobey the rules?” She pleaded.

I decided to be brief, “I went to the lake but I didn’t drown, obviously.” I said.

“Then why did it take you so long to get back?” She asked.

“What time is it?” I inquired. The red lines of the clock read 12:13. “Shouldn’t you be asleep by now?”

“What? With you being dead, well not really but the whole school is excited. They say that no one has died here for 25 years! And that was a suicide!” She ended in an excited whisper.

“Well, I’m not dead but I’m really tired. I’m going to bed.” I responded.

“You can’t do that, you have to tell the headmaster… um… that you’re alive.” She said back. Damn I didn’t want to do any more talking about it. Already I was getting too much attention, the wrong kind of attention. It was still the first week. I didn’t want to be found out! I had to come up with a better story but I couldn’t say anything Johnny would disagree with. I decided there was only one thing to do.

Johnny’s room was on the other side of the building. His door was locked but he kept a spare key above his doorframe. Idiot. I silently opened the door; my hunter’s knife at the ready, at my side. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness as I slid the door closed behind me. I spotted Johnny, his oversized feet dangling at the end of his twin bed. I tiptoed over to his bed, glancing at his roommate’s bed for signs of life as I did. I held my knife out at Johnny’s throat.

“Don’t move.” I croaked. He opened his eyes sluggishly and opened his mouth a little more quickly to shout something but he never got the chance. I put my hand over his mouth and spoke again. “Any sudden movements and you’re dead! Never, ever mess with me again or I will slit you from nose to...” I indicated my intent with my wickedly curved blade. He stared at me in utter shock but with respect for my weapon and the deadly look in my eyes; he did not move an inch and I felt his mouth close under my hand. I turned around and walked calmly out of the door and replaced the key with only slight difficulty to its original place. I wanted to remember that look in his eyes forever! I hid my knife at the side of my leg, placed halfway in my socked foot and made sure it would stay before striding over to the headmaster’s office.

She listened to my story calmly and then dismissed me but not before doling out punishment for my breaking the rules. I had to set up the Cube course for a week. I didn’t blink an eye when she said this. I didn’t know what the Cube was at the time or what this sentence really meant. I would find out though.

The next day I started my punishment. After a breakfast of eggs and toast, I reported to the headmaster’s office, as she had told me to. Another man was standing next to her and they both had stern looks on their faces.

“You will do what Henry tells you.” She said and with that she put her attention to the stacks of papers lying all over her desk. I was dismissed. Henry strode out the door and starting walking down the hallway, not even making sure I was following. I had to quickstep to keep up with his long strides. We made our way through the school and then outside to the looming structure. Henry was a talker.

“Come along then.” He said as we got closer to the Cube.

“Don’t be shy.” He laughed at my sigh of appreciation for its architecture.

“He walked to the front door and took out an oversized bronze key and opened the door with a clink. He gestured for me to enter and I walked through. I was at first surprised to be met with natural sunlight on a football sized field of grass. It looked so… plain I thought. Where was the intricate layout the first years talked about excitedly? I looked left and right and was only met with a lengthy plain wall that curved around to enclose the field.

“That’s what we’re going to be doing.” Henry said as if I had asked my question out loud.

“What?” I said, startled at his human interjection amidst all the grass and grey walls surrounding us.

“We’ve gotta set up the obstacles. They are always placed in random patterns, keep the students guessing. Can’t have them know the setup, gives an unfair advantage. Course, the smarter ones learn fast. One year, we had this real intelligent fella. We had to add something new to get past him, that’s when they added the second story.” He pointed up and I followed his finger. What looked like a balcony was over my head. It was almost as if I could reach up and climb to it though.

“Remember those little play pens you would climb up and through as a child? Just like that, but for bigger bodies. Here let me show you.” He walked over to me and put his arms with the fingers interlocking, making a step for me. “The bigger ones can jump and reach but for others, that’s where the teamwork comes in.” He gestured with his head and I decided to trust the man. I put my left foot in his hand step and he lifted me gently until I could reach the balcony. “I need you to see the second floor anyway; we’ll be working on that next. Climb up for a minute and then find the stairs and come back down. I’m just going to get some of the equipment.” I hauled myself over the railing, noting that it has a slight give to it from my body and flung myself over clumsily. I landed with a slight thud onto a cushioned grey material that also seemed to contract slightly when my body hit it. I leaned up on my elbow and took a look around. An open space, much like the bottom football field met my gaze. The only difference was the ground was made up of the cushiony gray material and not a grassy field. Stairs? I walked to the far wall and saw immediately sets of platforms, some lower and some higher than my current floor. I decided to go up and clambered from one platform to the other, like Frogger I thought. The third floor had a lot more walls, like a maze but all the walls had curved corners and no sharp edges. I tried to run through the maze and accidentally collided with a curved corner and slid around, my momentum carrying me into a room with three walls. I walked over to the only open space and looked down. There was the field and also, the ledge, I could almost just climb down to it. I looked more closely and saw; yes those were definitely foot and handholds. I swung my body out and hooked my toes in one of the little indents in the wall and climbed down to the second floor. I looked into the empty curved space to the platforms and then continued on my way down. I then noticed what I had not seen before, there were little footholds everywhere. This whole area was like a big adult play pen! I was a hamster in a deluxe cage. Henry chuckled when he saw me climbing down the wall.

“The stairs woulda been easier.” He was rolling a giant donut-shaped object that was at least 10 feet tall toward the center of the arena. “Gimme a hand would ya. Grab the little red box and take it to the center X.” He stopped for a minute and pulled out a sheet of paper.

“D3 to C.” He mumbled to himself. I tried to snatch a look at the paper but he saw me looking and snatched it to himself and crumpled it back into his pocket.

“That’s confidential. The patterns are pre-determined and not for students’ eyes. That’d be cheating.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re not a cheater are ya?” He frowned, “Already don’t follow the rules….” He said and then continued rolling his donut toward a corner of the arena. I started making my way to a part of the wall that was open, I guess the storage area? Inside was like a workshop of odd proportions. Giant blowup contraptions were freely standing or leaning on the far walls. They were all shapes and sizes. I saw the little red box and grabbed it but it was far heavier than I anticipated; I decided it would be easier to drag it instead. The thing was only as big as a stack of textbooks but it was at least as heavy as I was. I wondered what it was made out of that made it so heavy while being so small. It took me a lot more effort dragging “the little red box” to the center of the arena, than it had took to drag the kayak to the lake yesterday. When I finally got to the center, I saw that Henry had already assembled several large obstacles in various places on the field. He came around behind one and pushed a button on the little red box. It made a whirring sound and started to expand. “Step back” He commanded and I jumped to the side. It unfolded and continued making sounds until it lifted almost to the third floor in height and had expanded to fill nearly half the arena.

“This is a new piece. Gonna throw the new fourth years for a loop. Ha-ha. You can’t tell any of ‘em about it though. You do and you’ll be in even more trouble than you bargained for.” He told me succinctly. I nodded my head solemnly.

“What the heck, go check it out.” He said excitedly, like a young boy getting ice cream from the ice cream man. “Wait a minute!” He said again and then walked back to the equipment area and came back with two fireballs. “This will make it more fun.” He said gleefully.

“But I’m not in uniform and you’re...” I started to say.

“Don’t matter, these are different. They work on a much more simple principle, designed ‘em myself. Each piece won’t paralyze you. They stick to you. The game is a bit different, try to get more of yours to stick to the other person than they get to stick to you. But first you gotta eat one of these, and he handed a small cracker to her. It attracts the balls, but only when they come into contact with you will they actually stick. You gotta wait a few minutes though so it can disperse throughout your body. He and I ate the crackers. He pushed a button on his watch and then started to stretch in preparation. I decided that I didn’t have much chance against an adult male but this would be good practice for the real games I would play in the future with the other students. I started to stretch as well and a few minutes later he told me it was ready, looking at his watch again.

“Go to the opposite end of the field, like you’re supposed to, behind the line and I’ll be on the other end. We’re only going to use the field for now but when I shout ‘go’ we’ll start, ok?” He asked. I nodded my agreement, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. I jogged to my side and stood behind the white grass line. I tried to see if I could see Henry through all the obstacles but they were strewn all throughout the arena and obscured any view of the far wall.

“Go!” I took off running and decided to head straight for the main obstacle, the one I had carried. I jumped onto it and ran up a ramp-like thing, trying to hold my fireball steady in my left hand. I picked off a piece in preparation, deciding to go with a larger piece than I thought I should have, about the size of my hand, but it left me a good chunk in case I missed. Leaping to the top of the little ramp I saw a field of waving arms in front of me but no glimpse of Henry. I ran down the other side of the slope and got bashed in the side by one of the moving arms and was instantly knocked off my feet. They were hooked to the ceiling of the contraption and hung down within a foot and a half of the floor. I saw boots through the field and rolled under the waving arms to the side and found a flap of material and pushed it. I reached down and felt grass. Aha! I slid through the hole and then turned around and stuck my head back through; to sight Henry on his way up the little ramp. I pulled my head back out as he glanced backward. He disappeared on the other side of the ramp and I scrambled back through my little hole. I crawled up the ramp and peered over. Henry was just turning his head from my direction but when he spotted me he swiveled and then jumped high in the air. Puzzled I watched, forgetting to throw my fireball at him. He hit the ground again and suddenly I was airborne. Very airborne in fact. Waving my limbs about unsuccessfully in the air as I went up and then started coming down; I was pelted by fireballs. I hit the ground and bounced again, half as high and was hit by more fireballs. This time I was able to land on my feet with a wobble as I fell forward a bit and then caught myself. Somehow I had lost my fireball when I was shot upward. I looked around and saw Henry holding it.

“You lose. Once you let go of your fireball, whoever picks it up gets to keep it. It looks like I hold all the power.” He grinned then beckoned.

“We still gotta do the second floor. He walked over to the equipment shed and threw our balls in and shut the door. It was very difficult to see the outline of the door in the wall but you could tell that it was there. It seemed like the person who designed the Cube had also designed the Academy building and its secret inner workings.

“Will the… um… attractive energy from the fireballs stay?” I asked as we headed toward the outer walls of the arena.

“Naw, they only work for a little bit, it dissipates kinda fast. Still working out the bugs. This is my least favorite part.” He groaned as he stooped to avoid hitting his head on a platform but clambered onto a lower one and attempted to climb the platforms; designed for a person my size with dignity, which was difficult to do as a large adult and he looked rather funny doing it. I followed agilely.

We walked over to where I ascertained the equipment shed was located (below us) and Henry pulled on a secret latch and a door opened. I looked inside. More random objects! The rest of the morning we spent assembling random obstacles and placing them in a pre-determined manner all over the second floor. This was physically demanding work and by the time we were through, I was certainly exhausted. Henry dismissed me after walking me out and locking the door pointedly.

“Same time tomorrow, but you can meet me in front, out here.” And with that he walked off, away from the direction I wanted to go, so I headed off for class. I didn’t need to stop for books because my first class of the day was self-defense. I scuttled in the door as the bell rang and hurriedly took off my shoes and joined the rest of my class, at the other end of the classroom. The rest of the day was a whirlwind to me. I did poorly in self-defense because I was so tired. I was certainly making a bad impression in my first week. After self-defense I got a short break to shower, change and eat lunch. I ate heartily. Jeanie, who had taken one of the many empty seats beside me, much to my chagrin, noted my worked up appetite and tried to engage me in some small talk about how Johnny seemed to be avoiding me but I only responded with yes’s and no’s while stuffing my face. Johnny did seem to pointedly avert his gaze when he passed me in the lunch line and walked to the far end of the cafeteria to eat. He was rapidly joined by a group of his buddies and they commenced glancing slyly across the room and then talking amongst themselves.

Before I could finish my meal, a slender but tall boy walked up to the table and sat in another one of the empty seats. Dang! The whole reason I chose the corner near the bathrooms and trash cans was to be left alone! He settled across from me and said a brief greeting to Jeanie, a head nod to me, and then pouncing on his chicken caprese sandwich with gusto. If my mouth hadn’t been full I would have made a comment about his table manners, but mine were hardly that great at the moment either.

“Arrow, do we have anatomy or human behaviors next?” Jeanie directed at the new boy.

He swallowed his mouthful and said, “That’s all tomorrow. Today is Plant and Animal Life as well as Debate.” Jeanie looked off in the distance for a moment and then said,

“Oh, I’ll have to go back to the room then. I brought the wrong textbooks.” She glanced toward her bag and then at me.

“You didn’t bring any of your books with you this morning. Where did you go so early?” She asked.

I sighed. It was going to be really hard to keep to myself. I decided the less secrets the better and the less lies, the easier I would have keeping them straight in my mind. “I was confronted for going beyond the Academy grounds and for this week I am being punished. My punishment is setting up the Cube.” I tried to look glum as I said this.

“You get to go in the Cube? What does it look like?” Shrieked Jeanie.

“Is there a random number generator that calculates where all the obstacles are supposed to go before each game?” Asked Arrow, still with his mouth full.

“Yeah, did you see how they placed the obstacles?” Jeanie supplied, looking from Arrow to me.

“Did you see the second floor? Are there really secret passageways? Did you go there by yourself?” He continued after swallowing a bite.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa guys,” I started putting my hands up, “Henry tells me where to put the stuff and I’m not supposed to say where I put it because it’s a secret. I’m not really supposed to tell anyone that this is my punishment, really. You guys can’t tell anyone.” I said. I figured it was probably an intrigue that would make them leave the subject be, but not make them despise me for being overly mysterious and keeping all the good information to myself.

Jeanie looked disappointed, “Oh.” She frowned, “Well, we only have 15 minutes before class. She looked over at my still-full plate. Hers was nearly empty, only crusts and crumbs sat on it. “I can get my books and yours and meet you guys back here and we can walk together to class.” Without waiting for my response, she got up and strode out of the dining room.

As hard as I had been trying not to make friends and not to make a scene at this school before I was ready, I had been thwarted. My escapade yesterday had made me nearly famous; as the scrawny first year who had nearly drowned, a lot of people suddenly knew who I was. It seemed another group of people just gravitated to me. Jeanie and Arrow seemed more than interested in me as just another scrawny first year who was suddenly infamous. They accompanied me to class and wanted to work as a group together on our identification task during our Plant and Animal Life class. They also chose me in their group when we formed teams for a debate during our last class. They seemed hung on every word I said, Cube-related or otherwise.

Excerpted from The Cube by Rachel Barnard. Copyright © 2012 by Patricio DeLaCruz. Excerpted by permission of Imagine Books, a division of Imagine Group USA, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

***This is a chapter from RACHEL BARNARD’S “THE CUBE.”***

***Released by IMAGINE GROUP (USA), INC. ***

***Every two weeks, a chapter will be leaked; so stay tuned. ***