Hand In The Dark

By Alexander Mori

In the thrilling sequel to Exchange Day, the students of The Mirador School discover a world they never knew existed: a world full of sunlight, strange animals, and, most shockingly, other people. They uncover the truth about the school at the bottom of the ocean: the war that kept them trapped in the dark was nothing more than a rumor perpetrated by power and fear.

Alexander Mori takes us on a journey from the shores of nearby islands to the poisonous mainland and back to the depths of the dark ocean. The students’ adventures reveal fierce creatures roaming through mysterious, lost cities; a tribe on the brink of extinction within an unknown world; and truths about their teachers and their new world that force them to question everything and learn to trust their instincts.

Hand In The Dark explores innocence, tyranny, trust, and deceit. At its core, it’s a coming-of-age story that follows 12 teens as they discover the unpredictable world around them. They are searching for a peaceful way to live in a new world fraught with new dangers. They seek the truth. But they find so much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alexander Mori
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311737328

Book preview

Hand In The Dark

Book 2 of the Exchange Day Series

By Alexander Mori

Copyright August 2014 Alexander Mori

Smashwords Edition

This is for Keye

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

Etta wrapped her mangled hand in gauze and draped a piece of fabric over her shoulder as a sling. She’d been in bed for several days -- long enough for her legs to feel weak beneath her. But there was no time for weakness. Soldiers just landed at the northern pier and she had to be ready.

Etta’s emotions were a swirling storm of uncertainty. War. Bombs and poison. Soldiers and students. Lies. It was a lot for Etta to think about. As Marnie led Etta, Franny and Avery through the long hallway toward the courtyard, her words bombarded Etta’s mind over and over again. There was no war. Graduating students were sent adrift without food or water, where they would certainly die in the middle of the ocean.

Etta couldn’t believe what she heard. Was there really no war? Marnie explained that their entire lives had been a lie, a charade enacted by soldiers and teachers to protect them from a war that did not exist. Etta didn’t know what to believe. Like so many things in life, she was being asked to trust another’s words without evidence or support. It was like taking a leap off a diving board into complete darkness. She had no reason to believe what Marnie said. But she had no reason to doubt Marnie either.

Etta and the other students had lived so long in the dark. Teachers provided their only source of light. Only days before, Etta rode the long elevator ride to the surface and first encountered the bright rays of the sun streaming through the clouds in glorious ribbons of light. For the first time she could see clearly, and what she saw contradicted everything she’d been taught. Trust, once broken, was difficult to mend.

Etta didn’t know whom to trust. She didn’t know whom to believe. She could not identify poisons and bombs. She could no more distinguish war than she could feel the pain that should have radiated from her mangled hand. She was physically and mentally numb.

Yet Etta followed Marnie. Something Marnie said sparked a fire inside Etta’s mind. The fire burned brightly, providing a small amount of internal clarity to match Etta’s newly lit world. Marnie had said, I want you and the other students to decide your own futures, instead of coming to the surface and having your lives decided for you. That was free will. The students had been stripped of their free will once they boarded the elevator to The Mirador School, and Marnie hoped to return it.

For centuries, Fort Travis accepted only a few new recruits each year. The rest were abandoned. Sixteen students graduated last Exchange Day. That meant as many as thirteen were not worthy of the limited amounts of food their island could produce. Etta considered generations of students drifting helplessly in the middle of the ocean. Was Lukas, who had graduated only days before, among them?

Etta wanted simple answers. War or no war. Poison or no poison. Free will or no free will. She needed to know whom to trust. The strange power struggle that surfaced when Marnie cut the electricity did not interest her. She only cared for Jordi and her friends. And now Marnie explained that everyone in the world she cared about was in danger.

So it was with a sense of frustration and foreboding that Etta walked through the courtyard toward the cafeteria. She lined up behind Franny and Avery, three lone students representing the hundreds who remained trapped at the bottom of the ocean. She didn’t want to be a savior or a sacrifice. She only wanted to live a simple life, free from the manipulations and deceptions of others.

Chapter 2

Captain Ronald stood proudly at the front of his boat, one leg propped on the bow like George Washington crossing the Delaware. Of course, Ronald had no idea who George Washington was nor what he looked like so many centuries before. He only knew of his assignment to find Gable amidst the many small islands surrounding The Mirador School, searching beaches and woods for a boy who ran away from his home and duty.

Captain Ronald felt as ragged as his men looked. The last few days had been filled with rationed meals of dried fruits and berries, barely enough to address the raging appetites that accompanied days filled with rowing and searching. One night they spied raccoons climbing a tree and spent the better part of an hour throwing rocks high into the branches with the distant hope of knocking one down so that they may cook it over an open fire. Like their search for Gable, they experienced no luck.

Captain Ronald’s men knew better than to complain about their mission. They followed orders like good soldiers. He pushed them hard and did not accept anything less than his tasks successfully completed. But neither Ronald nor his men could stop themselves from internally questioning their tedious assignment. Why chase a boy with a suicide wish? Why dedicate the strength of Fort Travis to one man’s foolish son? Captain Ronald understood the assignment no better than his soldiers, but he certainly was not going to openly question TJ, the commander of Fort Travis. Instead, he dutifully took his section of the map and searched it efficiently and thoroughly for the boy who ran away.

True to form, Captain Ronald and his men methodically searched every square mile of each island in his sector. Despite his diligence, his team enjoyed no success and thus headed to The Mirador School in order to report their findings directly to TJ. Captain Ronald scanned the horizon and spied The Mirador School island right where it should’ve been, just south of their current heading. He directed his crew to row beyond the island’s northern edge so they could land their craft at the northern pier, setting up for an easy return to Fort Travis. He ordered his soldiers to row through the choppy ocean water, to make one final push for land so that they could eat a warm, hearty-cooked meal, food the entire crew had been longing for since they set out on their mission three days before.

Marnie greeted Captain Ronald and the soldiers as they tied their skiff to the northern pier. Any sign of Gable? she asked, assuming their early return meant they found nothing.

No, ma’am, Ronald answered. We searched the two islands to the west and found no trace of anything.

You boys must be hungry.

Yes, ma’am, Ronald replied, happy to know that food would soon be available to him and his crew. At least, food other than fruits and berries.

The soldiers followed Marnie down the pier and along the concrete path that led to the main street. Her short, choppy steps were too slow for Captain Ronald, who wanted to lead his men to the church at a reasonable pace. However, TJ taught respect above all other lessons, and Ronald would not chance the old woman saying anything, lest he wish to spend time in lockup without food, or worse yet, be sent to the rock.

Marnie directed them to the cafeteria and asked that they sit at the table. The empty room filled Ronald with pride, as his team was the first to return with their mission completed. Ronald pounded his fist confidently on the table and said, Would you look at that! The first to return!

The kid’s just lucky he wasn’t in our quadrant, one soldier responded. Otherwise he’d be chained to the rock by now!

Captain Ronald retrieved his map and unfolded it across the table. He wondered which team would be the lucky ones to get him, wondered which nearby island the kid might have run off to. He wished it could have been theirs. Captain Ronald, returning home victorious, prisoner bound in ropes and a reward to the captors! He would have asked for the honors, the privilege to dole out 24 lashes for a first-time AWOL offense. He could almost feel the leather in his hands, the harsh crack of the whip and the accompanying screams.

Three students whom Ronald did not recognize emerged from the kitchen with soup, bread and glasses of water. His stomach rumbled ferociously as the aroma filled the room. Who are you? he said, ignoring the hunger pains emanating from his insides.

My name’s Avery, the boy answered.

What are you doing here? Students ain’t supposed to be above water unless you graduated.

Avery placed a bowl of soup and a piece of bread on the table. Ronald eyed him suspiciously, waiting for a suitable answer. An answer Avery could not give. Ronald shoved his bowl to the middle of the table, spilling hot soup in every direction. He grabbed Avery by the collar and pulled his face roughly to the tabletop. You will answer me when I speak to you! What are you doing here?

That’s enough, Marnie said, as she entered the cafeteria. Captain Ronald, I need to speak with you in private. Can we have a word?

Ronald held firmly to Avery’s collar, keeping his head pressed decisively to the table. Keep an eye on these students, Ronald said to his soldiers. He lifted himself from the table, grabbed a piece of bread and followed Marnie into the courtyard.

Avery smoothed his crinkled shirt and wiped soup from his forearm. He rubbed the tender flesh of his cheek where his face had met the table. His first encounter with soldiers from Fort Travis had not been a positive one. What else could he have expected? Warriors who did not like to fight? He cleaned the tabletop of soup and carried the bowl toward the kitchen for a refill.

Where you going? A soldier with shaggy blond hair asked.

To fill the captain’s bowl of soup. I’ll be right back.

The soldier rose from the table and followed Avery to the kitchen. He showed no hesitation or annoyance. He followed close behind, as if Avery might flee if given the chance. The soldier would not disobey an order. He would keep an eye on Avery at all times, no matter how hungry he might have been.

Franny and Etta sat nervously at a nearby table taking in the growing tension that filled the room. They had no plan. They were not prepared. Marnie spoke of a fight, but she said nothing of what they were to do should one break out. Etta’s and Franny’s eyes met in the briefest of instances, a confirmation that both shared the same concerns.

Etta hoped the truth might be the easiest solution. The truth was simple. The Mirador School lost electricity and began taking on water. A teacher went crazy and tried to kill everyone in the school. Students were trapped in the auditorium without food. Etta, Avery and Franny escaped with the kindergarteners, and now everything hinged on whether or not they could fix the elevator. And Mr. Terry was still down there. Etta shook her head at the crazy truth and thought, Simple, right?

The truth was, they needed the soldiers’ help. They needed people to fix the elevator and face Mr. Terry’s guns. Three young students and an old woman couldn’t do it on their own. They needed fighters. Hopefully, Marnie could convince Captain Ronald to send a couple of soldiers to the bottom of the ocean to help. As far as Etta could see, it was their only hope.

Avery returned with a new bowl of soup and the watchful eye of the third soldier. He joined Etta and Franny at the table while the soldiers resumed their afternoon meal. Avery’s hands were clenched into tight fists, as he too waited to discover if Captain Ronald and the soldiers were friends or enemies.

Captain Ronald burst through the cafeteria door, causing Etta and Franny to jump in their seats. He clapped his hands loudly and said, Men, detain these traitors! I want them bound and gagged! Now! The soldiers swiftly rose from the table, spilling soup and water across the tabletop. With rope they carried in their packs they bound the students’ hands behind their backs. In a matter of seconds, the three soldiers created three prisoners.

What’s going on? Franny asked. What are you doing?

Shut your mouth, student, Captain Ronald said. Make sure they are tied tight! I don’t want anyone escaping.

The blond soldier slammed Avery’s face to the table and knotted his hands together tightly behind his back. Avery’s cheek throbbed where it once again connected with the table, and the rope burned his wrists. Avery said, You’re making a mistake! There are students and teachers trapped below the ocean. They need our help!

I heard, Captain Ronald answered. Now shut up, before I make you shut up.

The soldiers dragged the three students against the wall and threw them to the ground. Captain Ronald eyed them suspiciously, wondering which of the three was most likely to give him an honest answer. He spied Etta squirming on the ground, trying to regain her balance after being thrown to the floor. He lifted her to her feet and said, You only have one chance to help yourself, so you better think carefully before you lie to me. Is that understood?

Yes, Etta said calmly.

Where is Gable? He asked. You tell me that, and I will consider untying you.

I don’t know, Etta answered truthfully. I don’t know who Gable is.

Ronald backhanded Etta across the face, causing her to fall brutally to her knees. He once again lifted her to her feet and said, That was your only warning. I’m going to ask you one more time. After that, there will be no more talking. Only pain. Now, where is Gable?

Etta found humor in Ronald’s threats. Of the three, he chose the one student who could not feel pain, could not be persuaded by it. She could no more feel the pain of his slaps than she could feel her hand that had been crushed by the elevator doors only three days before. She calmly answered him again. She said, I don’t know where he is. How could I possibly know? I’ve been in school.

"You should be in school, Ronald said, but you’re not. That’s precisely why I’m asking you. You students should either be in school or at Fort Travis. And seeing as you three aren’t at either one, I find it appropriate that I get some answers!"

Marnie entered the cafeteria and in a gentle voice asked Ronald to stand down. She said, Ronald, that’s enough. Leave them be.

I’m through talking to you, old woman, Ronald said. I heard your crazy lies, and now I aim to get the truth. He returned his attention to Etta, who stood bound in front of him. This is your last chance. Where is Gable?

Marnie pulled a pistol from her pocket and aimed it at Ronald’s chest. Metal clicked against metal as she pulled the hammer back. She said, "Ronald, now this is your last chance. Untie those students and listen to what I am saying. Otherwise I’ll take you out of this world."

Captain Ronald snapped his fingers defiantly and in a stern voice said, Detain the old woman! I’m not playing games with you people, and it seems you forgot who is actually in charge around here. Tie her up with the others!

Before the soldiers could react, Marnie pulled the trigger. The piece exploded in her hand, causing a harsh popping sound to fill the cafeteria. The bullet struck Ronald in the chest and sent him backward to the ground with his arms splayed out in every direction. His face was frozen mid-sentence, his eyes displaying both terror and confusion. His body landed on the cafeteria floor, blood seeping through his clothes and into a messy, red pool. Franny gasped and shuffled her knees to avoid the bloody puddle forming beneath the body. Etta kept her eyes focused on Marnie’s gun. Smoke drifted from the barrel and dissipated into the air. Marnie warned them a fight might occur. She said it might be to the death. Etta shifted her gaze to the body on the floor and realized a war might be coming after all.

What the hell! One soldier exclaimed, with his hands placed over his ears. He watched the life drain from his captain, feeling helpless and confused. He knelt beside the body and attempted to stop the bleeding with his hand. Sir, can you hear me? He asked, but Captain Ronald said nothing. His life had already expired.

Marnie shifted the sight of her pistol to the soldiers. She kept her voice calm and collected to avert further bloodshed. Untie these students at once. Do not make me ask you twice. Her tone was calm but firm. Her eyes cold and steady. I hoped to work together on this, but I can see that’s impossible.

The soldiers did as she asked. They released the students from their bindings and in turn had their hands tied behind their backs. The tides had turned. The captors became the prisoners. Marnie stood patiently by the door, looking no different than if she had ordered Candace and Gable to clear the evening’s dishes. The soldiers stared at their captain’s body lying in a pool of blood, his eyes unnaturally open. Death had come so easily for him. So suddenly.

It was true, the tides had turned. The war had reached Fort Travis in the form of an old woman and her unruly students. The soldiers never saw it coming. They followed orders. They manned the walls. They trained the up and coming. But they never once suspected Marnie. Never thought the enemy would look so familiar. And so it was with confused and down-trodden eyes that the three soldiers were led from the cafeteria and taken to their prison, a vacant house on the far side of the island.

Chapter 3

Dehydration took its toll on Bo, Olive, Donovan and Samuel as they drifted and rowed for two full days without food or water. The intense sunlight overhead drained them of energy, so much so that they could hardly sit up. Their heads hurt. They felt dizzy and lethargic. Olive noticed that when she cried, few tears actually dripped from her eyes.

They headed north in their tiny boat with the hope of finding the mainland. The poisonous mainland. Days before, they had been labeled as weaklings, unfit to live among the soldiers at Fort Travis and cast away into the ocean. Olive did not hesitate to venture north. She understood they had no chance against the ocean and instead elected the poisonous mainland. However, after two days she began to wonder if they had been tricked into heading north to the never-ending ocean.

Samuel tried to complain. He whined about being thirsty and about his head hurting. He shifted uneasily in the back of the boat, whimpering each time his dry throat caused him to cough. Bo could not handle the complaining. He would not stand for it. Look, we’re all thirsty, he snapped. Whining isn’t doing anything but upsetting everyone!

Olive was in bad shape. After the rock, she could scarcely move on her own. She worried about food and water. She worried about the poisoned mainland toward which they rowed. She could see no easy solution for their unusual predicament, yet she understood their survival was at stake. If there was one consolation to their situation, it was that Bo was with her. At Fort Travis, Bo had earned a place among the soldiers with his courage and bravery. Bo could have been a soldier, but he chose to accompany her and two others deemed unworthy of even a chance of joining the army. TJ said she was too small, that she would be torn up. And just like that she was banished to the ocean, destined to die by dehydration or poison. Bo’s presence changed everything. He had been her boyfriend for almost a year, and with him on the boat, she felt hopeful they would survive. And if not, at the very least she would die with the boy she loved.

Donovan tried to lighten the dire mood that overshadowed the boat. Did you guys ever hear the one about the two students lost at sea? After days adrift, one student becomes desperate and raises his hands toward the heavens. He wishes the ocean would turn into the most delicious food on the planet. And without warning, lightning strikes the ocean, turning the water into chocolate pudding. The other student sees the pudding and says, ‘Great! Now we’ll have to pee in the boat!’

Olive shook her head at Donovan. She coughed and said with a croak of a voice, That’s not funny. And what is chocolate pudding, anyway?

I don’t know, Donovan said. I think it’s the best food on the planet. Anyway, it is funny. Instead of wishing for home, they have to pee in the boat!

Bo gently rubbed his eye, which was swollen shut from TJ’s punch. He dipped his hand in the water and dabbed at the tender flesh around his socket, hoping to quell the throbbing sensation that dominated the left side of his face. Olive did not like the look of his injured eye. The swollen flesh raged black and blue with tiny red veins streaking out from the center like bolts of lightning. It looked like a rotten tomato oozing from his face where his eye used to be.

She said, What are we going to do? We can’t last much longer out here.

We’re gonna do the only thing we can, Bo answered. We’re gonna keep heading north until we find land.

Olive grabbed an oar from the floor of the boat and rowed as fast as her tiny arms would allow. Donovan grabbed the second oar and positioned himself on the other side of the boat, matching Olive stroke for stroke. The boat creased through the tumbling ocean, hissing and spraying as water crashed against the sides. The students could not give up, could not succumb to their weak and thirsty bodies. They could not allow the soldiers to win, could not prove them right by dying in the middle of the ocean.

The sun drifted toward the horizon, and the wind calmed to a slight breeze blowing through the students’ hair. The boat glided through the water as Olive and Donovan made one final push before the sun would set for a second straight night.

Look, Samuel said lifting himself awkwardly to his feet. His pudgy mid-section revealed itself as his shirt clung to his sweaty body. He pointed toward the horizon, toward the faded mass that rested seemingly on the edge of the world. I think it’s land!

Olive stood on the bench, leaning heavily on Bo’s body to keep her balance. She surveyed the water that spread out in front of them. She couldn’t determine if she witnessed a mirage, or if it was wishful thinking. She saw a mass on the horizon, a faded outline seemingly miles away, and wondered if she might be dreaming.

Let’s keep rowing! she said.

Bo and Samuel took their turn at the oars and rowed with a renewed sense of purpose. Bo called out his rowing instructions to ensure that he and Samuel rowed together. He sounded like the soldiers who days before had guided them to Fort Travis. They developed a strong rhythm as their excitement filled them with adrenaline. Donovan perched himself at the nose of the boat, calling out with Bo as it might have been