Invidia

SIX

          When he awoke the next morning, he groaned with a throbbing pain in his head, ribs, and stomach. He immediately regretted sitting up, but there wasn’t really any other option. He supposed he should go to school that day. He hadn’t coughed up any more blood, but he’d vomited during the night.

          “Oh, yay. Another lovely start to a gorgeous day,” he grumbled.

          You coming in today? Madison texted.

          Yeah, probably, he answered. I’m a little sore, but nothing like yesterday. I’ll see you in Lit class.

          Alright, cool, she replied, and Cameron got dressed as quickly as he could muster.

                                                   *****

          “Dude, where were you?” Madison asked when he came in late with a note.

          “I was late, and I had to talk to Mr. Leonard,” he whispered to her. “It’s fine. I’m not in trouble.”

          Madison looked incredulous, “You really got away with missing twenty minutes of class?”

          “Apparently so,” he said with a grin.

           “I was two minutes late last week, and he gave me detention,” she whined.

          “What can I say? Maybe I laid on the charm,” he beamed his best sarcastic smile at her.

          “Oh, kiss my ass, Richards,” she stuck her tongue out. “But yeah, thanks for talking with me about all that.”

          “What’s with that, anyway?” Cameron asked. “What turned you off from Justin?”

           Madison’s face reddened as she confessed, “To be honest, I wasn’t sure at first, but I think I’m beginning to like somebody else.”

          “Really? Who?” Cameron pestered eagerly.

          “Oh, it’s no one you’d know,” she brushed her hair behind her ear.

          “Oh, come on, Mads,” he punched her arm. “Who is it?”

          “It’s no one, okay?” she snapped. Cameron didn’t push her any further, so as to not get another bruise to match the one on his ribs, but it was going to drive him crazy until he knew. He didn’t even know why he cared so much, but he felt strangely possessive when picturing anyone other than Justin looking into her golden-brown eyes.

                                                   *****

           A week later, after his stepfather went through one of those rare moments when he was genuinely a decent person, Cameron was elated about his presentation with Madison. His bruise had lost its angry blackness and faded to yellowish-green with minimal pain.

           It must’ve shown when he got out of the car because Madison sprung up beside him, “What’s got you all happy?”

          “It’s just been a good week,” he beamed. “Everything is cool right now.”

          “That’s good,” she dropped her head. “I’m really glad you feel that way. By the way,” she inquired, “have you heard anymore of that god-awful screaming?”

           “Yeah, I have,” he answered.

          She glanced at him curiously, “And have you, perchance, checked it out?”

          “No,” he was ashamed, “should I have?”

          “I think it’s common knowledge that when you hear screaming in your house, you check it out,” was all she said. “You bring a bat with you at least, so you’re not a typical white person, but yeah, you check it out.”

          “I’ll check it out tonight. Do you want to join me?”

          “Hell yeah,” Madison said. “Let’s go catch this bitch.”

                                                      *****

          That night, Cameron told Terry that Madison was coming over for another project, which was true if you think about it. He just didn’t specify what kind of project it was. 

         “Okay, you ready?” Madison pulled a katana out of her bag. 

          “Whoa, what the hell, Mads?” Cameron took a step back. “How did you fit that into your bag?” He wasn’t sure why that was the first question he asked, but he was curious how she fit that into a backpack without the security agents noticing.

          Madison just shrugged instead of answering. “Where do we go? You’re the one who lives here, and I don’t know where the screaming comes from.”

          “Follow me,” he said, opening the door. “It’s from my stepfather’s office. I’m not sure where in there, but somewhere.”

          Madison stopped in her tracks, “You don’t know where it is we’re going?”

          “Well, Mads, you see, I haven’t checked it out yet, so no, I don’t know where it is, no.” He felt bad about getting an attitude, but it was a rather stupid question at a very tense time. “We have to be quiet as hell, alright?” She nodded her understanding, so he signaled for her to follow; she did.

          His stepfather’s office was right down the hallway from his room, so it didn’t take long. The tricky part, however, was getting into the office without him, Shane, Terry, or anyone else of the manor staff noticing. He pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear any signs of life, but the only sound he heard was the lingering thrum of the Presidential HoloComm. “Okay,” he whispered to Madison as quietly as he could, “we’re good.”

          He opened the door so slowly that one would think he were defusing a bomb. It’s almost like I am, he thought. By some act of God, he managed to open and close the door wide enough for them both to squeeze through. The first thing he saw in the room was the 20 foot wide HoloComm projected onto the wall behind his desk, and on it sat a picture of Christy and Hendrickson. It wasn’t one he’d seen before.

          “Is that–” Madison started to ask but stopped. Cameron nodded silently, shoving down his grief. “She’s beautiful. You look like her, Cameron.”

          “Really?” his heart leapt at the thought. He’d grown up hearing how he looked like a father he never knew.

          “Your hair is the same unruly chocolate color,” she roughed up his hair and Cameron smiled. “Now, let’s get to finding this shit.”

                                                         *****

          They searched the room, top to bottom, for approximately 45 minutes. They searched all of the printed books Hendrickson likely only had for show, along with the drawers in his desk, the cabinets under the bookshelves which were hiding plenty of other secrets, but the secret of the screaming was nowhere to be found.

          “I don’t get it!” Cameron yelled a little too loud.

          “Shh!” Madison shushed. “They’ll hear you, dummy.”

          “Oh, shit,” he whispered. “But, I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t it be here? I know this is where the screaming came from.” Madison was still crouched over by the desk, inspecting something. “What are you doing, Mads? It’s obviously not here.” She flicked her hand at him to be quiet, and after a moment, a secret drawer on the bottom of the desk popped open.

          PROJECT INVIDIA - TOP SECRET. That had to be something. Even if it didn’t resolve the secret of what was going on with the screaming, it had to be juicy to require that kind of lock and key. Madison flipped open the HoloComm. It was the only file on it. She threw it into 3D and they read about it.

          “Project Invidia, top secret, enacted on the 22nd day of September, 2161, is hereby passed by President James Hendrickson. It shall be pursued by a Special Directives Team that works to end the oxygen shortage. They have permission to utilize whatever means necessary to end said shortage, and only the members of the Special Directives Team will know the other members of the Special Directives Team, aside from President Hendrickson himself. The team also has full access to any and all of Keegan Enterprises’ technology and resources.” Cameron read aloud, “Okay, this doesn’t sound shady at all.”

          He glanced back up at the date and his face fell. Madison, being the observant person she is, noticed. "You alright, Cam?"

          "September 22, 2161 is the day my mom died." She put her hand over her mouth in shock.

          Footsteps. “Oh, shit,” Madison said, and they had to scurry to put the HoloComm back underneath the secret desk compartment. She shoved it under the desk, and Cameron made sure it was secure before they darted out of the room.

          “What were you doing in there?” Hendrickson addressed Cameron when they stepped out of his office.

          “We were looking for you, sir,” Madison said. Hendrickson popped his glare over to her, and she continued unfazed. “We were wondering if you could answer a question we had for our project. It’s about our current affairs class.”

          “I’m sure I can,” he replied, putting on his brightest presidential smile. “Step into my office,” he opened the door and gestured for them to come in.

          “Why thank you, sir,” Madison said kindly, and Cameron could tell she, too, was putting on her best smile. They sat in the chairs opposite his desk, and she took Hendrickson’s silence as meaning to continue with the question. “Sir, we were just working on a project for our class, as I mentioned, and had come to a conclusion. What is it the country is currently working on to end the shortage? I know we’ve adjusted through the implants and the cleanliness and healthier food and such, but are we doing anything right now to actually stop it?” Cameron’s eyes widened. She’s ballsy, asking about that directly. 

          “That is a question I’m not allowed to answer for you,” Hendrickson stated nonchalantly. “Rest assured, we have many projects in the works, but I am not at liberty to state what they are.”

           “Who’s stopping you?” Madison asked. “You’re the President. Surely you can give us a glimpse into some of them.”

          “I could,” he admitted, “but I won’t. Not to some teenager.”

          “Okay, understood. But because I’m curious, off the record here, what do they consist of? Is it, like, shady stuff or what?” Madison was losing her kindness, and now Cameron was getting worried. His stepfather could sense a change in atmosphere as easily as he could sense his arm attached to his body.

            “No, it’s not ‘shady stuff’,” he put air quotes, clearly mocking her.

          Madison leaned onto the edge of her seat, glaring a smile, easing the man into a challenge they both knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. “Then what are you hiding?”

          Now the President’s smile was shifting into something less presidential and more sadistic. “I’m not hiding anything. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I have real business to attend to.”

          Madison leaned closer. “Is it in this room, what you’re hiding?” Now, Cameron was officially concerned. 

           Yet, they both noticed Hendrickson’s hand slowly shifted underneath his desk, to where they knew the file was. Cameron had never seen someone get under his stepfather’s skin quite like that before, and he was completely in awe of Madison van Buren. “I’m hiding nothing,” he said, the presidential smile coming up as quickly as it had fallen. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m a very busy man.”

          Madison had gotten the answer she’d wanted out of him, so she consented. “Absolutely. I’m very sorry about that, sir.” Cameron and Madison stood up at the same time, and she cut Hendrickson one last glance before they left the room with the tension as high as it had been in years.

                                                     *****

          “Wait, what happened?” Justin also had to wrap his head around how Madison had gotten under Hendrickson’s skin like that.

          “You heard me,” Cameron said. “She totally had his skin crawling. I’d never seen his presidential face falter like that before, especially around someone he’s never met. It was awesome, honestly.”

          “But how did she know how to challenge him like that?” Justin asked.

          “Because they’re smart like that,” said a guy dressed in all black with makeup lining his eyes. Cameron didn’t know who he was, but he had seen him briefly in passing before. “Hi, I’m Eli.” He extended his hand, and Cameron shook it.

          “Cameron,” he said.

          “Yeah, I know who you are,” Eli said with a dangerous look in his eyes.

          “Uhh,” Cameron stuttered, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

          Eli had a dark look in his eyes when he said, “You’re the one who put my sister in danger.”

           “Are you Madison’s brother?” Justin asked him.

          “Half-brother,” he corrected, “but yes.” Justin nodded mockingly which said exactly what Cameron was thinking. “What? You think because I’m emo and gay that I can’t be her brother?”

          “No, that’s not what I was thinking,” Justin snickered.

          Eli snapped, “Then what were you thinking?”

          “I was actually thinking that you’re quite a stereotype,” Justin observed, and Eli blanched. “I mean how are you not? You’re wearing black nail polish and you told us you like dudes.”

          Eli looked really taken aback and walked away, but not before saying, “Cameron Richards, if you ever do that to my sister again, just know that you won’t live to defend yourself.” On that note, he left.

         “That dude’s a creep,” Justin said.

          “For sure,” Cameron said. He couldn’t admit to Justin that Eli had shaken some kind of fear deep in his bones.

                                                    *****

       Justin and Cameron both sent their lunch money through the HoloComm system, tapping the button on their displays. They walked to their usual lunch table, which had a new pair of people occupying it. “Yo, dudes,” Justin said. “You jacked our spots.”

         Cameron’s face dropped when he recognized the black hair and eyeliner. “Hi, Eli,” he said, doing his best to hold back his eye roll. “Can we help you now?”

         “First you can start by sitting down and losing that snarky ass attitude,” Eli snapped.

         Justin’s eyes widened, a remark on his lips, when Cameron cut him off, “What’s up, Eli?” Cameron shoved Justin into a seat across from Eli, “Come here to threaten me again?”

         “Actually, no, be that as it may,” Eli said, flicking his hands backwards like a villain in a children’s movie. He seemed to be one to frequently talk with his hands. “I actually came to ask for your help.”

         “You came to ask for our help?” Justin asked incredulously.

         Eli’s eyebrows scrunched in disgust. “Do I really need to say it again for you, Morrison? Should I use smaller words next time?” He spoke in baby talk, “Me need you to help me,” he finished with some hand gestures to further signify how ignorant he found Justin.

         “Oh, you little—” Justin started, but was cut off when Cameron’s hand went over his mouth.

         “What do you need, Eli? We might consider it,” Cameron said. He kept his hand over Justin’s mouth until he felt his tension relax.

         Eli smacked his dark purple lips together and said, “Look, I know you don’t like me because I threatened you for hurting Madison, but now I need your help to find her.”

         Cameron’s eyes went wide, and he roared, “What do you mean FIND HER?” He stood up. His voice got so loud at the end that the whole cafeteria went quiet and stared at him.

         “Lower your voice, dude,” Justin whispered. “People are staring.”

         “I don’t care. This dipshit lost his sister,” Cameron said.

         “At least sit down,” Justin pleaded. Cameron took a deep breath and then sat back down, which seemed to signify to people that he was not about to throat punch Eli, even though he was deeply considering it.

         “Whoa, are we feeling protective, little bird?” Eli purred, taunting him.

         “How did you lose Madison?” Cameron asked steadily that time, ignoring the remark.

         Eli sighed heavily, his nose ring seeming to accentuate any kind of nose scrunching that he did. “She was at home last night, holed up in her room like she had been all day. I tried to talk to her, get her to eat, anything. She just yelled at me to go away, so I did. I went to bed. Then when I got up this morning, she was gone. I don’t know where. She didn’t even leave a note. Her HoloComm was left by her bed, charging. Wherever she went, she just took what she had on her at the time.”

         “That doesn’t sound like her,” Cameron said. “She’d never go anywhere without leaving a note.”

         “I’m just worried she was going to do something stupid to herself, given the state she was in,” Eli said.

         Cameron interjected, “No, no. She wouldn’t do that. Trust me, I know. I almost went down that road a few weeks back, and---” he trailed off before saying, “Just trust me. She wouldn’t do that. She would never intentionally injure herself.”

         Justin chimed in, “I’m sorry to be the one to say this, Cam, but there are lots of ways someone can harm themselves beyond knives and guns.” At both Cameron’s and Eli’s confused looks, Justin said, “Well, they could purposely forget to wash their hands with the hope they’ll get sick and die, or drink away their problems, or sleep with someone they know they shouldn’t in hopes they’ll get an STD, any number of things. Sometimes people don’t have the bravery or the strength to actually kill themselves, so they just become careless in the hopes the universe will take care of it for them.”

         Cameron and Eli shared a look, and Cameron was worried. Justin had never said anything like that before, and he wondered immediately if Justin had ever felt that way. He prayed to whatever god was ruling over this cursed world that that wasn’t the case. He made a mental note to check in more on Justin. There were things they obviously needed to talk about.

         “I still don’t think she would do that,” Cameron said, though less sure.

         “What makes you think she wouldn’t?” Eli said, stroking his fingernails over his lips.

         Cameron sighed, getting really frustrated and said, “That’s not my place to tell, but just trust me, okay? Mads wouldn’t do that.” He thought for a moment before saying, “It had to be Hendrickson. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone getting to him like that, so he did anything to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.” He replied with a shiver down his back, “I’m not sure where he would’ve taken her. He obviously never told me those things, given how he hates the mere thought of me.”      

          “I think I know who might,” Justin interjected, cutting a glance at the last person Cameron wanted to talk to.

          “Shane,” he sighed. Walking over to Shane’s lunch table, he interrupted, “Hey, sorry to interrupt whatever gross talk you all are having, but I need to talk to you. Alone.”

          Shane’s eyes darkened. “Okay. Meet me after class.”

          “No. Now,” Cameron demanded.

          “Fine,” he huffed. “Lead the way, moron. This better be good.”

          Cameron led Shane out of the cafeteria, up the stairs, and down an abandoned hallway to an unused staircase to talk. “Okay,” he turned around. “Do you know where Hendrickson keeps the people he takes?” Shane was about to speak, but Cameron interrupted, “and don’t even try to tell me he doesn’t take people because you and I both know that’s a lie.”

          “Well, if we were to consider the thought of him taking people,” Cameron got Shane’s tactic in his wording–saying without saying, “he’d probably take them somewhere he can keep an eye on them. Somewhere close by. I’d even consider him having hidden rooms in the manor.”

          That would explain the screaming, Cameron thought. “And why does he take people?”

          “Again, if he were to, and I’m not saying he does, it would probably be for different reasons: they were a threat, maybe they’d done something to piss him off, I don’t know. Some, I’d bet he even took just for the hell of it,” he answered. “But again, I’m not saying he has.”

          “Thanks,” Cameron gave a sincere glance with his eyes, and Shane returned the look.

                                                      *****

          “I know where she is,” Cameron said when he got back to Justin and Eli, “but we can’t go now. We have to wait until after school so we don’t arouse suspicion.”

          “I can’t wait that long,” Eli stood up this time.

          “You have to!” He whisper-yelled. “Now, sit down, please.” Eli begrudgingly sat. “Now, we wait until after school, maybe after Hendrickson goes out–he’s got a meeting tonight–and we go back into his office. There has to be something we missed. That’s basically where Shane was saying she’d be. Somewhere close.”

          “Wait,” Justin pointed out, “you didn’t tell him who you were looking for, did you?”

          Cameron shook his head and his hair flopped in his eyes. He pushed it back. “No, I didn’t. We talked without talking the whole time, if you know what I mean.” Justin nodded that he did.

          “So, what, do we just come by your house?” Eli asked.

          “Uh, how about I pick you two up?” Cameron said. “Or you can ride home with my driver and I after school.”

          “Alright,” Eli agreed. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a plan.”