The Invisibles

Stella Hale © 2009

One or the Others

Draco thought Caleb was kidding, but when he got to the bathroom, he had never seen anything as convincing as his best friend leaned against the toilet, his lips white, his face even more white, and his face dangling in the toilet.

“Dude!” Draco called, hurrying forward.

Draco took out his cell and dialed Maggie’s number.

“What?” she snarled into the phone.

“Rude,” he said. “Caleb’s not playin’. We need help, like, now.”

“On it,” Maggie sighed and then hung up.

Draco took his friend’s shoulders while he heaved. Draco looked away, disgusted by the very sound of it. He wondered what was making his friend so sick, and he thought of their disease. If you were not treated, then you would have serious, possibly deadly, complications later.

Just then, Gallows and Maggie rushed into the bathroom. Gallows moved Draco aside and he let him. Gallows forced Caleb to turn away from the toilet so he could give him some water with a small tablet in it. Caleb coughed and sputtered. He took a deep breath, opened his clear blue eyes and looked at Draco. He gave a weak smile and then went limp.

“Is he dead?!” Draco demanded, shocked.

“No, that tablet was something to help him sleep and help him fight this flu,” Gallows said, picking the boy up. “Now, someone flush that puke and everyone go back to bed. Not a word of this to the others.”

Maggie and Draco nodded, but Draco was not convinced. Caleb was in no control of his medications here, so why is it when he comes here he’s suddenly gravely ill? Draco needed to talk to one of the Invisibles, but which one would keep their mouth shut? Definitely not Jason or Matt, but Helen was too stuck-up to care. Therefore, it would have to be Ivy.

Maggie headed for her room, and Draco headed for his. Draco’s room was down the hall from Ivy and Caleb’s rooms. He passed his door and went straight to Ivy’s door. Behind the door, he could hear the sound of someone crying. He hesitated and then knocked. Was it normal for masterminds to cry when they poison best friends?

“Go away!” Ivy yelled, not caring that it was two in the morning.

“Ivy, it’s me Draco, I need to ask you something,” he said, putting his “I’m friggin’ serious,” voice on.

Draco heard her shout for him to go away again, but he opened her door and stepped into the moonlit room. His expression was stern and his brown eyes were black. Ivy curled up in her bed, looking up at him with puffy, red eyes.

“I told you to leave!” she shouted, throwing a giant koala teddy bear at him.

It bounced off his chest with a soft squeak and fell beside his foot. Draco’s shoulders slumped and he knew he had to cheer her up somehow, but he did not want to do it the way he did with his younger half-brother. He bent down and picked up the koala, knowing there was no other option.

“I heard you weren’t feeling so hot,” he said, completely mortified that he had just put on that voice.

Ivy looked up at him again and he could see the confusion on her face.

“I won’t hurt you, I just want to talk,” he said for the koala.

“Well, I don’t want to talk,” Ivy mumbled into her knee.

“Okay, then you can just listen to me. Caleb got really sick tonight and Gallows gave him some medicine that should make him better.”

Ivy’s eyes locked with Draco’s and she cursed. “How’d you find out?”

“Well, Caleb used to deal with his medicine--”

“Enough with the bear, please it’s more embarrassing for me than you.”

Draco doubted that and tossed the bear onto the bed. “Caleb took his medicine everyday and now he has no control of it. The doctors said we’d get really sick if we didn’t take it, so we made sure we took it everyday. Now, who is cutting his medicine?!” Draco demanded.

Ivy sighed. “Gallows is.”

“Then how do we stop him, and can we help Caleb get better?” Draco asked eagerly.

Ivy shook her head. “If Caleb goes back on the medicine, then his body will be stuck like this. He’ll constantly be sick and he’ll never get well until he dies. However, if he was taken off the medicine permanently he’ll become like the Invisibles,” Ivy said, sniffing and wiping a tear away.

“Is it really that bad?”

Ivy nodded. “No one has ever explained to you what your disease does, have they?” she asked. “And what it did to us?”

Draco shook his head. “They always kept it quiet.”

“Exactly, only few know about it, because all who know the person with the disease will forget them as soon as the disease takes hold of them.”

“Wait, what?”

“The disease is contagious, but not in the way that you think. It destroys memories of those who have come in connect with the diseased and it makes the diseased…invisible to all who have forgotten or to everyone who has never heard of us. All it takes is for an outsider who knows about us to tell a regular person, or hear us and say ‘Invisible’ but most people call us angels so we don’t appear.”

“Whoa, you mean that I’m going to get this someday?” Draco asked.

Ivy nodded. “I wish Gallows didn’t involve all of you,” she sputtered. “You all could live a normal life, but people would always be forgetting you. However, Gallows brought you into this mess and eventually each of you will become Invisible, starting with the strongest to the weakest.”

Draco took in this information. “Can’t I save the others?”

“Gallows will find you again and make sure you disappear from the regular people. Whether it’s in death or life, I don’t know.”

“Can’t we go to the police?!” Draco asked, frustrated.

Ivy shook her head. “He’s in the police force, he’ll trick them. It happened with Jason and it won’t happen again.”

“Why not?”

Ivy’s green glare caught Draco and stared at him. “Haven’t you ever wondered why Jason is so gloomy all the time?”

That struck Draco. “Enough said,” he muttered.

“Good night Draco,” Ivy said, lying back in her bed.

“G’night Ivy,” he muttered, leaving the room.

He walked into his room and flopped down on his bed. How was he going to tell the others? Should they run while they still can? Why had Gallows even gathered them here? What was the purpose of making kids who could have normal lives invisible? Gallows was up to something, and Draco had a feeling that Ivy knew exactly what it was.

In the morning, everyone gathered for breakfast and noticed how Draco and Ivy were eerily quiet. When Mario came out with the platter, they realized that Caleb was missing. They asked what was going on, but Ivy, Draco and Maggie were silent.

“He’s still a little under the weather from yesterday,” Gallows said, walking in and leaned on the back of Ivy’s chair.

Ivy tensed and hunched over as a turtle goes into its shell when threatened.

“He’s in bed and getting better. He should be awake and running a marathon by tomorrow,” Gallows announced.

Draco and Ivy shared a knowing look and then they started to dig into the food. Maggie sat with her hands on her lap and looked at the table absently, Jason was even gloomier than usual, Margret bit into a small chocolate chip and was thinking about what she was going to make everyone do today, Matt was pushing food around on his plate, and Helen was checking out her reflection in a spoon.

“Enjoy your breakfast everyone!” Gallows said, calling Mario into the hallway.

Draco looked down at his medicine and looked for an amount on the tablet. There! He saw it and was relieved to see it was still 5.2, unlike Caleb’s 4.3, which meant that Caleb was at a lower risk of staying as sick. No wonder Draco’s mom only forgot him if he slept over at Caleb’s house! Caleb had a lower dose, which meant that his mother always forgot him! Nevertheless, why didn’t Draco ever forget Caleb?

Draco bit into a pancake and bit the side of his mouth, he yelped and all eyes went to him. “I bit my mouth,” then he called them a foul name just to make sure they thought he was out of character today.

“Whatever, Captain Retard,” Maggie mumbled.

Maggie was just about to put her medicine in her mouth when Draco got the urge to take it from her. He grabbed her medicine and ran, knocking the chair over. He laughed as he normally did when he did something bad, but it was not the same.

“Draco!” Maggie shrieked, running after him.

Draco ran to his room and slammed the door shut, hoping there was a lock. There was a lock, but it did not work. He cursed and rammed his back against the Maggie’s siege. She screamed for him to open the door with he inspected the medicine. It was normal. He took his weight off the door and stumbled away from the pissed off woman.

“Draco.”

“I see you came to help me tear up my room,” he said casually, with a wink.

“Give me my medicine, or else I won’t help you…later.”

Draco held out her medicine and she snatched it away.

“Geez what’s your problem today?”

“Problem? I don’t have a problem, you’re not thinking straight. I think you’re having one of those girly issues with my awesomeness,” he retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

Maggie glared.

“Mags, have you been stressed lately?” Draco asked slowly.

Maggie’s glare intensified.

Draco sensed it was not going anywhere, so he walked around her and as he was walking down the hall he shouted, “Make sure that you clean up after that mess you made in my underwear drawer!”

When he arrived at the dining room, everyone was beat red and more than a little embarrassed. Even when Draco was stressed, he was good.

“Oh, dear!” Ivy said, making yet another mistake in Caleb’s notebook. While Caleb was sick, Ivy had his job. Her hand slipped and it left a huge line across the page, cutting the words, “Icky” and “Awesome” in half. Ivy sighed and continued to write as Draco smashed Matt into a wall. It was very entertaining to watch two guys fight for no reason, but it writing it as it happened was not fun.

Maggie, Margret and Jason walked into the gym once Matt and Draco finished killing each other. Margret and he were not doing so well, and to keep them from using all of Jason’s time in the gym arguing, they had called on Maggie. Maggie stood in the corner with her arms crossed and ordered them to free spar like Matt and Draco had just done.

“Man, I wish I was in there with them,” Helen said, walking up behind Ivy.

Ivy nodded. “Why can’t we go in there and just have a free for all?” she asked.

Helen smiled. “There actually is no rule saying we can’t.”

“Very true,” Ivy said, setting her book aside. “Maybe we should get Draco and Matt, eh?”

Helen smiled even bigger. “Let’s do it, fill the others in. This is going to be big,” Helen said with a grin.

“Not enough action in college is there,” Ivy sighed.

“Yeah, but I’ll keep my day job thanks.”

“Which is?” Ivy asked.

“Trying to get on Matt or Draco’s good side,” she said, seductively.

“Ah,” Ivy squeaked, going into the gym as Helen disappeared.

Three pairs of eyes were on Ivy as soon as the door closed loudly. “I heard from Draco and Matt that they could totally kick your butts hands down,” Ivy provoked.

“Okay,” Jason mumbled. “We already know that, so why even comment?”

“We don’t need to take that crap from them,” Maggie snapped. “Bring ’em in here so we can show them who is boss!”

Ivy smiled mentally as Margret walked over to Jason and started talking to him. He nodded and then grinned; his eyes alight for the first time since she had met him. He wrapped his arm around Margret’s waist and said, “I won’t let them hurt you.”

Margret turned a pleasant pink and smiled up at him. “Okay and I won’t let any of them hurt you either.”

“I heard someone thinks I’m weak,” Draco huffed, walking into the gym.

“Which wasn’t very nice,” Matt said.

“I got them now we need to tell them, I guess,” Helen said, flipping her hair.

Ivy clasped her hands together and smiled at everyone. “Hey everyone, we decided to shake things up today, instead of going one-on-one with a tired trainer and then going back to your room; we’re having an all-out fight involving everyone.”

“Except Caleb,” Jason voiced.

“Yeah, when he’s better he’ll join us, unless he’d rather sit in the locker room and write, which I highly doubt. So, do you want to do teams or--”

“Free for all!” everyone except Margret and Jason said in unison.

“Okay, on your mark, go!”

Draco ran for Maggie and aimed a punch at her stomach. Then everything exploded and Ivy could only keep track of her fight with Margret. Margret was a skilled fighter, but she was insane. She aimed two punches at Ivy’s head and stomach. Ivy blocked them and kicked out Margret’s knees, getting ready for Jason’s attack. Jason aimed for her shoulder met his target. Ivy turned sideways and knocked the back of her fist against his chin. He stumbled backward and fell over on Draco and Maggie. Cries of pain and angry erupted from the squashed fighters. Margret jumped to her feet and helped Jason to his feet, while Ivy turned her attention on Helen. Helen was standing by the locker room window, watching. She locked eyes with her and grinned. Ivy stepped closer to Helen and they got into their hand fighting stances. Helen made a flinch at Ivy’s face and Ivy was unphased by this attack. She moved her hand around Helen’s defenses and smacked Helen in the ear. Helen’s nostrils flared and it became an all out catfight. Helen grabbed her Ivy’s ponytail while Ivy grabbed Helen’s long hair. They held each other’s hair and shouted in annoyed pain. They hopped around and attacked the other with their free hands. Helen got Ivy in the chin with her fist and Ivy hit Helen in the gut.

“Can you please keep it down?” a voice asked.

Everyone paused and looked at the door. There was a sleepy Caleb. His eyes were droopy and he held a bottle of aspirin in one hand.

“Caleb!” everyone roared.

Ivy stepped in front of everyone and held them off. “Why are you out of bed?”

“To tell you guys to be quiet,” he said impatiently, wrinkling his nose.

Ivy looked at him skeptically. “Is that really the reason?”

Caleb’s eyebrows rose and he frowned. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because you should be in bed, come on mister!” Ivy said. “To bed with thee! Draco come and help me take this boy to bed.”

“Why me?” Draco complained.

Ivy looked at Draco sharply.

“On it!” Draco said, rushing forward. He caught Caleb’s arm and towed him down the hall. Ivy looked at the others and said, “Resume!”

Margret looked at Helen and punched her in the shoulder. Furious, Helen aimed a punch at Margret, but Jason intercepted the punch and the fight began.

Ivy turned and left, hurrying after Draco and Caleb. Caleb was unstable right now; the change was messing with his mind and body so he could lash out at Draco at any moment. Ivy found herself running to find Draco and Caleb. She ran past Caleb’s open door and saw Draco lying on the floor and Caleb was absent.

Ivy cursed and pulled out her cell phone and dialed Gallows number.

“Hello?” he said in his deep voice.

“You are happy now?!” Ivy demanded angrily.

“Pardon me?”

“Caleb has just knocked on Draco and is nowhere to be found. Now do you know where he is?” Ivy asked.

“Yeah, I just found him. He is by the phones. Meet me here in five minutes, you need to see this,” Gallows said mysteriously. He hung up then.

Ivy slid the phone into her pocket and ran to the phone. She skidded to a stop and peeked around the corner to the phones. Caleb was standing in front of a phone with it at his ear. He was tapping his foot impatiently and then he said hello anxiously.

“Mom! Can you hear me?!” he shouted. “Mom I’m right here!”

Then Gallows appeared beside him with an impish grin. “Congratulations Caleb, you’re now an Invisible,” he said.

Ivy’s head swam as she stared at the looked Gallows was giving Caleb. It was a total déjà vu moment. Gallows had given that exact look when she was thirteen. The memories filled her brain as she swatted them away. She focused on Caleb’s pale face and wanted to see what he was going to do next.

“Ivy, you can come out now,” Gallows said, not taking his eyes off Caleb,

Ivy came out from behind the corner, furious. Caleb glanced at her and his eyes widened. Ivy must have looked like a mama bear ready to attack, except without the mama part. She stepped forward, called Gallows a foul name, and spat at his foot.

Gallows looked down at his now wet shoe and frowned. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“And neither was taking Caleb off his medications,” Ivy snarled.

She took Caleb’s arm and he was cold. She glanced at him, noting that he was very pale from the sickness. Caleb had gotten off lucky with the change, but it was not what she wanted for this poor boy.

“Damn you, Stefan Hall,” Ivy hissed.

“What’s going on? Why are you so mad?” Caleb asked his voice was hysterical.

Ivy closed her mouth and licked her front teeth. “I’ll tell you later, now Gallows I have lost all respect for you. Punish me if you will, but I swear you can never silence me or make me scared of a coward like you!”

Gallows stepped toward Ivy and she did not flinch, but Caleb did. He pressed himself against the wall and made himself as small as he could manage.

“Coward? I’m not the one who can’t speak to people unless someone tells them about you!” Gallows hissed.

Ivy’s eye twitched. “Damn you. It’s not my fault that my mother never had enough money for the medicine! And it most definitely not my father’s fault that I am invisible!”

“Most kids would give anything to be where you are!” he shouted.

“Like who? Kids whose parents abuse them? Parents who are abused by their kids? Hell, I’d switch with them in a heartbeat!”

“Oh? You don’t like this life? You’d be nothing without me!”

“I can find my way, thank you,” Ivy hissed.

“Oh, no, I’m not letting you go Ivy. You are worth a lot of money,” he said.

Caleb watched as Ivy’s eyes narrowed in comprehension and frustration.

“You mean I’m worth a lot because we’re all being trained to become assassins?!” Ivy growled.

Caleb’s eyes grew wide and he looked at Gallows for confirmation. Gallows shifted his weight to his heels as he frowned at Ivy.

“How long have you known that?” he asked quietly.

Ivy rolled up her arm and revealed a tattoo. The tattoo wrapped around her arm and was only an outline of vines in the shape of a strange symbol. “Since they told me I refuse to go along with this Gallows, and I am not afraid to tell the others as well,” Ivy threatened.

Caleb’s head swam and his eyes became unfocused. Ivy stepped in and let him lean on her. “I swear if you make any more of those kids into an Invisible, you will have a problem,” Ivy hissed.

Gallows was not happy, but he nodded. “You win, Ivy Fields, I hope you enjoy your brief win.”

“Oh, I will,” Ivy said with a sick smile.

Gallows eyes narrowed and he walked away, leaving Ivy to tend to Caleb. Caleb had heard everything. He was very confused. Ivy led him back to his room and got him to lie down on his bed, avoiding Draco. Once Caleb was in bed, she used her cell phone and called Matt. Matt hurried in with a blackened eye and took Draco away; hurrying so, he could get back to the fight. Once he disappeared, it was time to tell Caleb the truth.

He had waited patiently while she made sure Draco was still alive, and then until Matt had left but now he was practically bursting with questionings. Why had he been sick for the past few days? What happened in the hallway with Gallows? What did Ivy’s tattoo mean?

“Whoa,” Ivy said as Caleb opened his mouth to ask. “Here’s what you need to know.”

She explained it exactly as she had to Draco. Then she had to explain the tattoo and the assassins bit.

“The other bit will be revealed eventually,” Ivy finished, laying her hand on Caleb’s arm.

“The tattoo and us being assassins?” Caleb asked.

Ivy nodded. “Draco knows as much as you do, but not about the assassins bit and my tattoo. If you tell him we’ll have problems,” Ivy said.

“Why?”

“Because if they knew they’d draw the sides; I have to make sure everyone is on my side before I spill the beans,” Ivy chuckled. “I’m pretty sure Helen would join, but the rest are a mystery. I have Draco confirmed on my side, but once again people can change.

“Then what are we supposed to do? Why’d you show Gallows your tattoo?”

“It was to stop this from happening to any of the others. Draco nearly broke Maggie’s hand today trying to see if her medicine had changed, but he’s good he kept it under wraps.”

“He’s good how?” Caleb asked, confused.

“He told Maggie to clean up the mess she’d left in his underwear drawer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Helen embarrassed, ever.”

“That sounds like Draco,” Caleb resigned. “Now, what? I’m invisible and no one can hear me?”

Ivy nodded. “I would say it’s not that bad, but I’d be lying. I’ve been invisible for five years and it hasn’t gotten any better.”

Caleb was silent, thinking.

“Well, I’d better go make sure they haven’t killed each other yet,” Ivy said. “Get some rest, you’ll need it.”

Caleb nodded and sat back in his head, looking up at the ceiling.

Ivy left him to his thoughts and ran to the gym. Gallows was standing in the locker room, staring at the fighting group. Everyone looked like rabid dogs, making Ivy scared to go. She walked past Gallows and went into the locker, pulling out a whistle. She also grabbed a baseball bat, just in case. She went into the gym and blew the whistle as loud as she could. Everyone stopped struggling and looked at her blankly.

“Enough. Training is over. Go tend to your wounds and go to your rooms. I want everyone to do ten push-ups for every punch you threw, and if you do not remember do two hundred. Hit the showers everyone,” Ivy shouted.

Everyone nodded and left the gym obediently. Ivy wondered if she would have been like that if Caleb had not entered the gym. She left the gym, flicking the light off, and putting the whistle and baseball bat back in the locker. Gallows caught her arm and slammed her against the wall. Ivy met his eyes and stared up at him calmly.

“They’re all mine, Ivy. You made that trade without even knowing it. Caleb for them. It’s not too late to decide.”

Then Gallows released Ivy and disappeared. Ivy slid down the wall as the words sank in. Caleb was stronger than everyone else is, but together Helen, Jason and Matt were stronger than Caleb was. Six assassins to two. Ivy gripped her suddenly pounding head and tried to think.

Caleb or six other invisibles. That was the deal.

Ivy’s heart said take Caleb and deal with the consequences later, but her head told her to take the six and try to get Caleb on her side. However, Ivy knew that if she picked one of either, then the other(s) would never be convinced to join her.

Sobs ranked Ivy’s body as she sat in the dark locker room, alone.