The Arise: Chapter 5
by Naomi D.
Cillin ducks under the half-risen wall of the Old Offices. Jashui tries to follow him, but Cillin stops him.
“Jashui, I think you should stay here. My father has never shown you the Old Offices, so he might not want you to see them,” Cillin says.
“Are you sure you’re alright being alone. You looked pretty bad a few hours ago,” Jashui says back.
“That was a few hours ago. Now I know he is alive. Besides it is almost time for lights out anyway, and you have to get home.”
“Oh shoot,” Jashui exclaims. He ducks back under the wall and runs back to his home.
Cillin laughs and then starts on his way through the Old Offices. It is so quiet here. Not peaceful quiet though. Sad quiet. Cillin has no idea how long he will have to live here. He wonders how long it will be before he sees his father again.
That’s when Cillin realizes that he is lost. He didn’t follow the path correctly. He wasn’t even thinking about it. Cillin turns in a full circle, not recognizing anything he sees.
“How do I—?” He thinks aloud.
He starts panicking. He walks in every direction, through every door and corridor, yet he still can’t find the wall, or any part of the path. He can’t even retrace his steps.
Then he hears clatter behind him, and his instincts kick in. He hides behind a corner and goes silent. He quiets his breathing like Kentae taught him to and angles his body, so his shadow faces the wall. However, he risks a peek over his shoulder; it could be his father.
He regrets it immediately. The man here with him is not Kentae, it’s Hastor. Hastor is scrambling around, turning his head in every direction. He is searching for something. He is mumbling about a girl and something about Fia. He’s probably figured out Malaysia will be released soon.
Cillin recognizes where he is now, he can get back on the path and hide, but his father will want to know why Hastor is in the Old Offices. Instead of following the path, Cillin follows Hastor. He stays a few feet behind him, stepping the same time Hastor does, so he can hide his footsteps.
Cillin follows as Hastor passes through a part of the offices that Cillin has never seen before. If it is important for the mission though, Kentae would have told him about it, so at least Hastor isn’t going to find anything useful here. Unless Hastor knows something Kentae doesn’t.
Cillin continues to follow him deeper into the ruins of the offices. Hastor is going somewhere –he is not just randomly looking. Why would he be looking for anything in the Old Offices? He’s the one that shut them down.
Oh, Cillin thinks, He shut them down because there was something important here, something dangerous.
Cillin picks up his pace. He can’t afford to lose Hastor. If he does, he will never find this area again. He definitely won’t find whatever Hastor is looking for.
Hastor goes deeper into the Old Offices. It is darker back here. It looks like no one has set foot back here in decades. The ground is covered in dirt and is overgrown. Desks are upturned and broken. Broken glass is everywhere. The walls are covered with dust and peeling paint. This building is so old it was made when people still used paint.
It looks like there was a fight here. Hastor must’ve torn this place apart looking for what he wants. Cillin can tell Hastor was angry. Hastor just steps into the room and sighs. He looks pretty calm now.
“Let’s try this again,” Hastor says.
Hastor skips most of the big room and goes to a small closet in the storage corner. He opens the door and pulls out a thin package. Hastor opens it but doesn’t pull anything out. Cillin is still hiding in the doorway, he can’t see what is inside.
Cillin reaches into his satchel and feels around for the box with the key. What if that is what Hastor is looking for? Cillin grabs it and squeezes it so hard he can’t feel his fingers. Maybe he shouldn’t keep following Hastor. If he gets caught, then it could jeopardize everything. He should have left the key in the cave like his father asked him to.
Hastor turns around suddenly. He starts making his way toward the entrance. Toward where Cillin is hiding. Cillin can only back farther away from the doorway. He is exposed in this long hallway. He could risk running, but then Hastor would know that somebody is here.
Cillin backs farther into the shadows and pulls out his dark brown cloak from his satchel. He silently puts it on and pulls the hood over his head. Kentae taught him what to do in this situation, but he can’t remember anything. He is too stressed.
Hastor gets closer to the doorway but never exits. Instead Hastor opens the door of an upside-down desk and pulls out a leather book. It is stuffed with pages; it kind of looks like Kentae’s notebook except older.
Hastor must’ve hid this stuff, Cillin thinks.
Cillin moves closer to the doorway. When Hastor is far enough away, Cillin slips inside the room. When Hastor leaves, Cillin will have a bigger chance of getting caught out in that hallway.
Cillin moves farther into the room and hides behind a cabinet that looks as though it was thrown across the floor. He listens for Hastor’s footsteps and tries to guess how close he is. Thankfully, Hastor is all the way across the room.
Cillin just sits there for so long he loses count of the minutes. He is silent the whole time. He doesn’t dare peek over the edge. He doesn’t dare move either.
At last, Hastor leaves the room. Cillin waits for ten minutes before leaving his hiding spot. His eyes are heavy. He didn’t get any sleep last night, he is exhausted. He doesn’t want to leave the room though; he might never find it again.
I might not need to find it again, Cillin thinks, Hastor was here for a while, so he probably took a lot of stuff.
Cillin shakes the thought away. Kentae can’t do this for him. He must do it himself. Besides he isn’t hidden, he is still lost. He can’t fall asleep yet.
But it is too late. His eyes close, and he drops to the floor.
Cillin is back in the cave sitting on the floor. He is seven years old again. It has been a year since he met Kentae, his father.
Cillin is listening to Kentae tell him about the system and his cousin Hastor. Cillin was told about Malaysia the day before, and he can’t wait to meet her. He keeps interrupting Kentae to ask about her. Kentae keeps dismissing his questions. He finally answers when Cillin asks where she is. Kentae says that she is in her system and gets Cillin interested in learning about the system.
Now Cillin is nine. He is mad at Kentae and is not talking to him. He is also mad at Malaysia, even though he has never met her. Kentae talks about her so much. Cillin feels like Kentae doesn’t care about him.
Earlier that week, Kentae kept saying how Cillin wouldn’t understand or how Cillin isn’t old enough or how it is irrelevant. Just because a question doesn’t have to do with their mission, doesn’t mean he can’t ask it. What if he feels like he needs to know something for the mission? What if he just wants to know?
Cillin is ten. He is getting ready to go to school. Kentae must first take him back to his system though, so that he can be taken by the ambassadors. Cillin is excited to meet other children. He wonders what they will be like. He is also excited to go outside. It has been four years since he has been outside. What he is most excited about is the sky.
They must leave during the night so that no one sees Kentae. Which means Cillin gets to see stars. Maybe even a sunrise. Kentae says he will probably be in his system around sunrise. But Cillin chooses to hope.
They reach the exit of the cave and Cillin is mesmerized. The Cove is huge. So much bigger than he remembered from four years ago. He wants to just run around, explore everything, but Kentae keeps walking. They walk farther away from the cave. Cillin keeps walking, taking in all of the trees and the clouds. Then he stops – he has seen the moon. The moon. The big silver mirror in the sky. Cillin gets homesick for his system where he got to see the moon every night. He didn’t realize how much he missed it.
It will be hard to go back to his system. He will get to see everybody he thought he had lost. Everybody he had finally let go of. Now he will have lose them all over again.
His father has always done what is best for the mission. But does his father ever think about what is best for him? Why couldn’t he just have a normal life? Why does Malaysia get to have a normal life?
What is this feeling? he wonders. I’m not jealous of Malaysia… am I? Malaysia has lived her entire life under lies. She has a bigger connection to her system than I do, it will be harder for her. But… she didn’t have to grow up feeling forgotten, feeling expendable all the time.
Kentae must have read Cillin’s face. He comes over and touches him by the shoulders. Another thing Cillin misses from his system, a hug. Kentae is always so serious, he has never hugged even his own son.
“You can do this Cillin,” Kentae says, “You are my son, you can do anything. We could not do this without you.”
Cillin wakes up on the floor. Now that it is light, he can see that there are windows in this part of the Old Offices. Through them he can see the sunrise. He is awake on time; he was not found. Now he has to get to school. But first he has to find his way out of here.
He gets up. His back aches from sleeping on the hard ground. His head hurts from how he fell on the floor. But at least he isn’t as exhausted as he was yesterday.
He grabs his satchel and his stomach growls. He didn’t eat dinner last night; he probably won’t eat breakfast either. He doesn’t have time to find food, if they even have any here.
He leaves the room and starts going back down the hall, retracing his steps from the night before. He keeps walking until he finally reaches the part he recognizes.
Cillin follows the path down the entrance of the Old Offices. Jashui is waiting for him with a concerned look on his face.
“Tough night?” Jashui asks.
“How could you tell?” Cillin asks sarcastically.
“Let’s just go to school, you will feel better by the afternoon.”
✾
The bus ride seems to last forever. Malaysia’s heart is pounding the whole time. She hopes she will be able to make friends. Nia was on this bus with her, but she mostly ignored Malaysia the whole time. Nia might not even know they are on the same bus.
Four more busses pull into the school driveway behind Malaysia’s. At her old school there was only two busses. Malaysia wonders what bus Anika is on. She wonders if they will become friends.
As soon as Malaysia steps off the bus she can feel eyes on her. People are noticing her. People are already judging her. Nia passes her, acting like they are strangers. They are strangers.
Malaysia is called to the school office when she enters the building. It is fairly easy to find. There is a green sign hanging over the entrance of the office.
When she walks in, a familiar face greets her. Anika! She is waiting calmly in the office next to one of the teachers.
“Hello,” the teacher says, “I am your school counselor, you can call me Mrs. Joanna. I wanted to make sure you had someone to help you around. Anika volunteered for that.”
Anika waves to Malaysia with a cheery smile. Joanna tells them that they get to skip the first class so that Anika should show Malaysia around the school.
Anika took me around a couple floors of the school. The students in class stare at them as the pass by the open doors of classrooms. The school is huge. So much bigger than Malaysia’s old school.
They pass another classroom and Malaysia sees Nia. Nia waves through the glass but drops her smile when she sees something. Malaysia realizes Nia is looking at Anika.
“I wouldn’t talk to her,” Anika says, “she isn’t exactly friendly.”
“What do you mean?” Malaysia replies as she drops her gaze and leaves the classroom with Nia behind.
“She and her friends think they’re better than everyone else,” Anika says, “I always see them kicking people out of tables in the cafeteria and slacking off in class because they don’t like their partner. It is really annoying.”
Malaysia sighs and continues walking down the hall behind Anika. At least she knows there is one decent person at this school. She hopes it won’t be long until she meets some others.
The whole school looks the same. Malaysia doesn’t know how she will ever find her way around. Thankfully, Anika can help her. At least for today. Anika might have other friends who she wants to spend time with. Malaysia feels a rush of jealousy. She isn’t happy about it, but she knows why. All of these kids have a home here, have friends. Malaysia tells herself that she will eventually have that too, but it doesn’t feel that way now.
The rest of the day isn’t that exciting. She goes to her first few classes and is introduced. She can tell that they have marked her as the weird new girl. Either because of her hair, her eyes, her name, or any other ridiculous reason.
She sits with Anika at lunch. Apparently, Anika usually sits alone, so it isn’t a problem that Malaysia joins her. Nia obviously doesn’t like how Malaysia sits with Anika though; Malaysia keeps noticing her dirty looks from across the cafeteria. Anika doesn’t seem to care though, so Malaysia just ignores it.
The classes are pretty much the same. Same lessons, same weirdly cheery teachers, same amounts of homework. Except in a way, it is all different. It will always be different.
If she hadn’t ever moved, she would probably be talking with Averie right now about what they will do after school. She wouldn’t be worrying about getting lost or making new friends… or the world glitching. She would just continue her normal life.
When she gets back home, she expects to see her sister, Shirley, waiting at the door, until she remembers that Shirley isn’t here. Shirley said she would visit on weekends though, so it won’t be long until Malaysia sees her again.
Malaysia falls onto her bed and is surprised when her phone rumbles. She picks it up and sees a text from Nia.
Hello, Malaysia reads, your mom gave my mom your number. I was wondering if you know that Anika tells a lot of lies, and whatever she told you about me probably isn’t true. You are welcome to sit with us tomorrow if you want to, I know you don’t really have any other friends.
Malaysia groans and sets down her phone. Great, she is already caught up in school drama. She doesn’t even know who to trust anymore. Maybe Nia is right. She does seem to have a lot more friends than Anika, maybe because people like her better. Then again, maybe Nia is just a typical bully trying to keep Anika from making friends.
Malaysia drops her phone and hears her mom come in. Malaysia’s bedroom door opens and her mom enters, looking cheery as ever. She asks about Malaysia’s first day and Malaysia responds with a sigh.
“Exhausting and boring, as always.”
Her mom chuckles and leaves the room with the door open. Malaysia gets up to shut it when she sees her dad coming through the door with his arms full of mail and packages.
“What’s all this?” Malaysia asks as she leaves her room.
“Not sure, a lot of it is for you though,” her dad responds, handing her a bunch of letters and a box.
“Weird.”
Malaysia takes the box and the letters back to her room and sets them on her bed. She opens the box first and sees that it is full of clothes and has a note on top. She picks up the small sheet of paper and reads it slowly – confused because she doesn’t recognize the handwriting or the sender. The box is sent from someone named Hastor.
Malaysia, February 16,
I am sure you are confused, but it will all reveal itself in time. Please wear these clothes – especially the sash and shoes if you don’t need the clothes – when it all disappears. You will know what this means when it happens.
Hastor
Malaysia sets down the piece of paper, trying to make sense of what she just read. She decides to think more about it later, and instead, she looks through the box.
It contains a medium-sized gray shirt and a simple pair of baggy jeans. It also has a pair slip-on flat black shoes and a bright orange sash. There is something embroidered on the bottom of the sash, it reads: 83602:0023:001 and a symbol: ✾. Inside the box Malaysia also finds a pair of short white socks.
Malaysia puts everything back in the box and sets it on the floor of her room. She would’ve thought it was sent to the wrong address, but the note mentioned her name. It’s not like there are many other people in this town with her name.
Nothing about the package makes sense. So instead of trying to figure it out, she just starts opening the various letters on her pillow.
She picks the first letter. This one doesn’t have a sender. Malaysia ignores it. She opens the letter slowly, hoping it will be less confusing than the box. This letter was written a lot earlier than the note in the box. The note was only written yesterday. Malaysia wonders how it got here so fast.
Malaysia, June 23
This letter was written long before you got it, unless information is incorrect, which I highly doubt. You will meet me shortly after you read this, which at most will be a couple weeks.
I cannot tell you much in this letter, in case someone else finds it before it is given to you. I can only warn you that a lot is about to change, that you should be ready for the unexpected. Your system disappearing will only be the start of it.
There is something else I must warn you about. A person. His name is Hastor. He will probably also send you something. I am not sure if you have opened it already, but I must advise you to be careful. The clothes are harmless, don’t worry about those; you need to wear the sash once it all disappears, otherwise people will be confused. However, Hastor is not harmless. If he sent you anything else other than the package, you must be extra careful.
I cannot tell you who I am either, for the same reason I said before. So, I hope you can figure it out with the clue I gave you. I would like to ask you to burn this letter once you finish reading it. Don’t show it to anyone, not even your family or your closest friend.
Good luck and remember my warning.
Your friend,
5-2, 3-2, 6-2, 8-1, 3-2. 3-3, 4-3, 6-2, 3-1, 6-1, 3-2, 4-3, 6-2, 8-1, 4-2, 3-2, 2-3, 2-1, 8-3, 3-3.
Malaysia throws the letter to the ground, outraged and confused. What is all this? How did the sender know that she would get something from Hastor? How did they know what Hastor would send? How did they know the letter would come late? Why did both of them mention something disappearing? And what is with all the numbers?
Malaysia picks up the letter again, remembering what the mysterious sender asked her to do. Since there is no way to burn it in her small apartment, she decides to rip it into multiple small pieces. But she debates whether she should tell her parents first. The sender didn’t want her to. But what if they are dangerous?
She rips the letter up. She could tell her sister about it when she visits, and if Shirley thinks Malaysia should tell her parents, then she will. Right now, Malaysia has more letters to open. Hopefully they are less weird than the others.
Malaysia looks at the ripped-up pieces of the letter and gathers them to throw them away. Then she sees the piece with the numbers the sender left. She looks at it for a second, then stuffs it in her backpack pocket and throws away the other pieces. The sender said that there would be a clue, what if this is it?
Malaysia puts it in her backpack, hoping to have some time to figure it out at school. She opens the rest of the letters. One is from her grandmother, and the last one is from her aunt. At least there are no more cryptic letters.
Then, her dad opens the door to her room and hands her another envelope. Malaysia looks at it and sees that it is from Hastor. She sucks in a breath, remembering the warning of the mysterious sender. She hesitantly takes the letter from her dad and he shuts the door. There is something odd about all of this. She thought her parents would’ve at least asked who the letters and packages were from.
Malaysia can’t think too much about it though, because she is already opening the letter. She sees the same neat handwriting that she found in the box, another confirmation of who this is.
Malaysia,
When it all disappears, I would like you to tell the ambassadors that I have assigned myself as your first Mentor. I have only ever been a Mentor once before, so the rules around Mentoring apply differently to me. My son, Augie, will also be here. He does not switch Mentors like everyone else does, so he can keep you company while you learn your way around the Cove. I hope the disappearance is not too hard on you, but I want you to know that I will always be here to help. I will see you soon.
Hastor
