Chapter 2: Mutiny at Gatekeeper High

<Back to Chapter 1: The Terms of the Espiri

The hallways of Gatekeeper Senior High School were one of many memories Urania Zed wouldn’t be eager to recall after May graduation. On any normal day, Urania could walk down those halls and forget where she was—today, however, was the Saturday she had registered to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The dreaded SAT that determined a teenager’s future economic success and life fulfillment. Urania could take tests like the best of them but today she was off her game. Her Friday was hijacked by nervous energy—an anxiousness that wouldn’t subside, even after running her usual 3-mile course, meditating for one hour on the word “STOP,” and Valerian root tea before bedtime. Her lavender eye pillow had even failed to help her sleep as she tossed and turned all night with visions of a twin pair of androgynous thieves.

As if lack of sleep wasn’t enough to derail her concentration, she also hadn’t heard from her boyfriend Mitchell since Friday evening after he told her he was negotiating a deal that would “change their lives forever.” Mitchell usually sent her zMS messages or zMail chats at all hours of the day and night because he knew she couldn’t go long without communicating or connecting to another person. She was even sure that they shared a special connection and could see, hear, and feel each other’s energies, thoughts, and desires. Sometimes if she concentrated hard enough, she could feel his breath on her skin and he would call her or text her and say, “I felt you.” Urania had started reading books about soulmates and past lives to help get a handle on what she was sure was a fateful connection.

The fact that Mitchell hadn’t sent a message to wish her luck this morning was a sign that something had changed. Urania thought perhaps his negotiation didn’t work out and he was ashamed to tell her so, but that wasn’t likely. Mitchell was not shamed easily—he just didn’t slow down or pause long enough to consider his actions, nor to reflect on past events.

Everything was ahead of him, endless opportunities to pursue… It was driving her mad that she couldn’t sense his presence or where he was at that moment. Her texts were unanswered, her thoughts unfettered; unreciprocated. She visualized her finger unrolling one of Mitchell’s Palomino-colored, curly locks of hair—course to the eye but soft to the touch. His long face, dark oval eyes and aquiline nose slowly appeared into Urania’s mind and she silently called to him, “Mitchell Swift, reveal yourself to me.” But no sooner had she issued the thought, her mind was jogged back to the present as the door to a classroom swung open and Dianat Hunt jumped into her path.

“Urania, are you trying to miss the SAT? C’mon, they’re handing out the Scantron and pencils!” He grabbed her hand, pulled her into the classroom, and addressed the proctor, “Urania Zed is present, Mr. Byblos.”

Mr. Byblos regarded Urania for a moment, then asked, “Ms. Zed, please surrender any electronic devices other than a calculator, and place them in the basket, please. You can retrieve them after the test is finished.” As he spoke, Urania noticed his tiny white orb flicker in annoyance above his head.

Urania reached for her zPhone and proceeded to place it in the basket but paused, “Mr. Byblos, I didn’t bring my calculator. I thought I could use the calculator on my phone…”

“That is not permitted, Ms. Zed.” The white orb above Mr. Byblos’ head flickered again and Urania heard a voice saying, “She must leave. She is unprepared and disrupting the group.”

“Please Mr. Byblos, don’t make me leave. I’m sorry for disrupting…” Urania pleaded. And she tossed her zPhone into the basket with the other devices. The basket assumed a bluish haze as they emitted their own energy force.

“I have a calculator you can use, Urania,” Dianat cut in, calculator in hand. “I knew you’d need one.”

Mr. Byblos’ mouth twitched and the alarmed look in his eyes receded. He didn’t know how Urania had heard his inner voice, as she did not appear to have a visible Espiri as did he and Dianat. His patience was wearing thin and he figured the girl must be decent if someone so learned and respected such as Dianat was caring for her so diligently.

“Mr. Hunt, Ms. Zed, please take your seats.”

Urania sat towards the back of the room and picked up her No.2 pencil. As Mr. Byblos began passing out test booklets, a disturbing image flashed into Urania’s head. The black eyes of the androgynous twin thieves penetrated her thoughts and, just as quickly, were gone. Urania had to fight the impulse to run out of the room—her stomach began to turn and for a moment, she thought she’d vomit on her desk. ‘I can’t do this right now. I’m not prepared for this test. Mitchell is in trouble.’

“Open your test booklets to the first page. I will read the instructions aloud,” Mr. Byblos began.

A flash of anger arose deep in Urania’s heart. She did not need to be here for some ridiculous exam. Why should she have to bend to the rules of the school? She knew she was smart and could perform tasks that many her age could not. Even if she wasn’t formally trained in computer science or information management, she could learn with the proper resources. Urania felt her face flush with defiance. ‘I could do Mr. Byblos’ job better than he can. I could run this whole school!’

“You may now turn the page…” Mr. Byblos continued.

Then, something strange happened. The girl in the seat to Urania’s left slammed her pencil down. Her face was like stone and her eyes burned with intensity. She stood up and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Urania looked around the room and to her surprise, the other students were closing their test booklets, slamming them on the ground or throwing them at Mr. Byblos.

“I have better things to do than take this stupid exam. I have to work and make money to help my family!” yelled Zachary Capricornius.

“My mother is in the hospital. Her chemotherapy started today. Who made the rule to have this test on a Saturday?” exclaimed Sonia Cancertan.

“What gives you the right…”

“Who gave you the authority…”

“Why don’t you take it…”

The students were mutinous—Mr. Byblos was frozen at the front of the room. Urania couldn’t believe how closely her classmates were mirroring her inner state of rebellion and anger. Only Dianat was sitting quietly in his seat, staring at Urania. His Espiri formed a white crescent moon shape and was growing larger. Urania heard a tiny voice, as a dark-skinned specter of a woman appeared in front of her.

“Urania, you must control your temper. Mr. Byblos is in danger. Leave the room now and they will follow,” the dark woman instructed.

The students began chanting, “NO TEST, NO RULES!” They were ripping Scantrons and stomping pencils and booklets.

“Urania, leave now!” The dark figure commanded, fading in front of her.

Urania stood up and raced to the front of room to grab her zPhone and to warn Mr. Byblos to run for it. Dianat moved with her and the dark lady joined his side.

“Go!” the dark lady cried.

Urania watched as the dark specter shifted into Dianat’s body and he formed a wall between Mr. Byblos and the mob of angry students. She bolted out of the classroom and instantly the students followed close behind. The anger she had felt now turned to panic and she sprinted down the hallway hoping to find a door to the outside where she could stop and collect her thoughts. Sonia Cancertan was on Urania’s heels, followed by nineteen other kids stampeding down the corridor.

As Urania spotted an exit, her zPhone rang and startled her. She went to answer, hoping it was Mitchell finally returning her messages but she tripped and stumbled, trying to regain her balance. Sonia shoved her out of the way, causing Urania to panic and fall to the ground. ‘Oh no, what if I get trampled by my classmates,’ she thought. No sooner after her thought was formed, Sonia screamed, sparking an eruption of screams from the pack of students coming down the hall. By this point, the commotion had reached the other testing rooms and full panic had spread. Students bolted out of the classrooms screaming and Urania tried to pick herself up from the floor but another student who was screaming and pushing others out of the way pushed her to the ground. She lost a grip on her zPhone and it was kicked from her hands. Jeremy Pische, a Junior and captain of the Gatekeeper Lacrosse Team, slipped on the skidding phone and fell with a thud. His head smacked onto the concrete floor, only a few feet away from the corner where Urania had managed to shelter herself from being trampled. Jeremy was not so lucky. Sneaker, loafer, flip-flop, wedge heel—all manner of teenage footwear found a place on Jeremy’s head, neck, torso, legs. Had it not been for Dianat, who lunged to create an invisible force field around Jeremy’s body, he would have been crushed to death.

A hush fell over the east wing of Gatekeeper High as the last of the students fled the building. Dianat, covered by a crescent-shaped orb of light, was whispering into Jeremy’s ear. Urania couldn’t hear what he was saying but his presence provided her a wave of calm. She stood up and scanned the area for her phone—she had to find out if the missed call was Mitchell. She thought she’s spotted it next to the garbage can and moved towards what she thought was a small, green, blinking message light.

“You’ll be disappointed,” Dianat said quietly, not looking up from Jeremy’s body.

Still, Urania advanced across the hall towards the trashcan, anxious to recover the mystery behind the flashing green light. But as she bent over to pick it up, she noticed the screen was broken—her zPhone was ruined. The touchscreen, advertised as indestructible, proved otherwise. Footsteps crept up behind her, she turned, ready to feel Dianat’s arms comforting her, but instead she met the eyes of Mr. Byblos. His shirt was stained with blood and Urania noticed his left shoulder had been assaulted by what she could only assume was a sharp blade. He was holding the basket of phones, which Urania could now see were all broken, the same as hers.

“Place your phone in the basket, Miss Zed,” he whispered as his orb pulsed rhythmically and taunted, “I knew she was trouble. She caused the disruption.”

Urania was silent—she knew she was to blame. She continued to hold Mr. Byblos in her sight, as she was not one to back down easily when confronted. However, she did not sense anger in his eyes. He looked at her with a hint of amusement as she surrendered her phone to lay amongst the other remains in the zPhone junkyard.

“Principal Punis has been informed of this tragedy. She’ll be arriving shortly as I assume she would like to question all of us. The ambulance is also on its way for Mr. Pische, unless, Dianat, I should call the coroner?” Mr. Byblos inquired.

“I can hear you,” a voice mumbled from the floor.

“Ah, Jeremy, I will inform Coach Powers that you’ll be warming the bench at Thursday’s game, then,” quipped Mr. Byblos.

And with that, he walked off, whistling the Gatekeeper High Fight Song.

Continue to Chapter 3: Principal Punis >