WnW 1.4 Say Nothing

After Mac and Claire said their goodbyes, I got ready and headed over to the dance studio. My head was buzzing with what I was going to ask Chase, but it was still an hour before we planned to meet. I needed to calm down and distract myself. A bell chimed as I opened the front door and went inside.

The dance instructor, Anjali, glanced over as I entered the dance room and smiled at me, still continuing to count, “One and two and cross… and four.” The class of dancers changed position to the beat, stretching arms and lifting legs, an abstract shape forming with their combined bodies, their eyes attentively on the mirror, adjusting their own form.

I sat in the corner and watched while changing out of my outdoor shoes. Anjali’s choreography was always mesmerizing, she had a style that didn’t get old. Behind the dancers was a large window through which I could see the forest that grew behind the studio, which was part of a large stretch of woodlands that bordered the western and northern sides of Sillwood. As a kid, I would take walks through the forest, the ground gentle enough on bare feet so long as you treaded lightly around the spruce trees and their fallen needles.

Anjali clapped and the dancers relaxed. “Good! That’s it for today. Make sure to practice the parts you are struggling with on your own. The studio is open for the next hour for free use, after that, John is teaching the kpop class. Be mindful of the space you are taking up. I’ll be here for the next half hour if anyone wants to ask me anything.”

As some of the dancers packed to leave and a few spread out to practice, Anjali walked over to me. “Hey there, dirty dancer,” she said.

That was her teasing nickname for me.

“Oh look at that!” She said in mock surprise and pulled out a twenty dollar bill from her sweatpants. She waved it in front of me. “All yours if you give Leonard some coaching on his footwork.”

I sighed. “Anjali…”

She raised her hands. “Okay! I had to ask. We’re still hiring for a junior instructor. I know you’re still in uni, so if you want some help paying the bills… You’ve been here for years, you know the ins and outs.”

I tightened my shoelaces. “That’s very generous. I’ll think about it.”

“Which is a polite no, coming from you,” Anjali said with a grin. “Alright, I’ll leave it be for now.” She turned and walked away. “Leonard! Let’s run it through again.”

I put earbuds in and let out a big sigh. She was right, the student debt would get lighter with this job, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Choosing a song with a good tempo, I moved over to an open space in the studio. The beat started up, chased by a melodic crooning in an unrecognizable language. I rolled my shoulders, keeping the ripple going down my back. Starting slow, I pivoted, leg dragging in a lazy half circle. My reflection danced with me, no matter which way I turned, with the glass or the mirror it was there. One and two and lunge. My knee contacted the floor a little too strongly. Ow. I made a mental note. That was easy to correct. I restarted the song and went again. Kick out, stretch out your hand, curl it in then slide left. The steps were visualized inside my head, muscle memory taking control. I paid attention to the individual motions and made sure they were tight and controlled. I couldn’t hear anything beyond my footfalls and the beat. Facing the window, I found my reflection dancing among the trees. A note of nostalgia played in my chest.

All the thoughts I had, I pushed them through my stretched out arms and stomping feet, until they were nothing but noise. After some time, I paused to rest, panting with sweat dripping from my nose.

There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Anjali with a concerned look on her face. I pulled out an earbud.

“There’s a man asking for you in the lobby,” she said, brow creasing. “He’s wearing a suit, looks very official. He wouldn’t explain why he needs to talk, just that he works for some government agency.”

My heart sped up. “Huh. Okay,” I replied.

Was it my dad? I think he said his job was funded by the government, but that wasn’t exactly the same thing. It didn’t seem likely anyway, he hadn’t had a private conversation with me in years. I quelled that train of thought. I knew where it went and I wasn’t in the mood to sit and stew.

The dance routine was still playing in my head as I took out my hair tie and changed my shoes. It was enjoyable to visualize improvements in my head, but I wanted to get this over with and continue to hammer it out in reality.

I walked out of the dance room into the small front lobby of the studio. A middle-aged man stood in the middle of the room. His appearance was immediately intimidating as he stood incredibly tall. He wore an immaculate black suit and an angry expression. A small white pin was affixed to his suit. It looked like a rabbit’s head, with its ears drooping down, covering the eyes and forming an X at the mouth.

The man gave me a thin lipped smile that looked more like a grimace than anything else. “Mr. Harte,” he said, more a statement than a question.

I nodded and he reached out to shake my hand. His long, thin fingers enveloped my own and he gripped me tightly before letting go.

“Nick Harte. I am Conrad Defreine of the National Bureau of Hesp.” He flashed an I.D. card in my face briefly. I didn’t see more than his photo and the abbreviation H.E.S.P. in bold letters.

“Hi,” I said, shifting from one foot to the other.

“I’m just here to ask a few questions,” he said in the least reassuring tone possible. “You were at the drinking establishment, Raise Your Spirits, last night, correct?”

I nodded.

“Do you know Chris Lee? He was at the same party you were at. Did you see him there?”

I shook my head truthfully. He knows about the party. Had he talked to Mac already? Was that why Mac was uncomfortable?

Conrad let a barely audible tsk escape his lips. “Is that a no, you don’t know him? Or a no, you didn’t see him?”

My sweat was starting to feel cold on my neck. “I don’t know him. I, uh, left early? So I wasn’t there when it happened.”

“When what happened?” Conrad jumped on what I just said, taking a step forward to loom over me.

I backpedaled. “Uh… I don’t know. Someone told me there was a crime or something? There was a street nearby that was closed off and full of police.”

Conrad looked at me intently, examining my face like a doctor studying a rash. “You said you left early, did you see the scene yourself? Did you notice anything unusual?”

It was dawning on me that this guy knew about the dead monster in the alley.

“No, I didn’t see it. Mac told me today.”

“You’re friends with Mackenzie North?” Conrad raised his eyebrows. “And what else did he tell you?”

“That was it!” I said, frustration brewing. He’d already spoken with Mac. He had seen the alley. Now he was pressuring me, to see if I would crack and reveal something.

Conrad leaned forward, causing me to have to crane my neck uncomfortably.  “After you left the party at 11:32, did you head home immediately?”

I felt a cold knot in my stomach. My mind was racing. How the hell was the time that accurate. Did he know about Chase? Did he know I was involved? 

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Was that Chase, texting me to say I should lie? Or tell the truth? How the fuck did he know where I dance?

“Yeah, pretty much,” I said slowly.

“Is there anyone that was home that can confirm this? Any neighbours who were up?”

I imagined what that would have looked like. A long haired man covered in blood, entering a dark home, not turning on any of the lights.

“N-no, my mom was asleep.”

“Your dad?”

“He doesn’t live there. And besides, he was probably working late.”

Conrad raised an eyebrow. “On a Sunday?”

I shrugged angrily, feeling the resentment in my throat. Intentionally drowning himself in work.

“You’re in university. What’s your major?”

“Biology,” I said softly. There was no way for me to know how much this guy knew. It felt like he knew everything already, like this conversation was a mere formality.

Conrad pulled out his phone and tapped on it a few times. He frowned deeper, viewing something. A video?

How had I not thought about cameras? It was possible the entire thing was on film. I felt defeated. But maybe I could get some answers at least.

“What does HESP stand for?” I asked.

Conrad ignored me. I clenched my fists. As I did, he glanced briefly at me, as if gauging if I would take a swing. Finally he put his phone away.

“Thank you for your time,” he said stiffly. “I will be in contact if I have further questions.” He strode quickly out of the lobby, stooping low to get through the door.

That’s it? I stood still, trying to play back the conversation word for word. Had I said anything wrong? My memory was a panicky haze. I wasn’t adept at conversation like Mac. I stumbled over my words more than I stumbled over dance steps.

I needed to speak with Chase now.

Grabbing my bag, I headed towards the fast food restaurant that Chase had picked as a meeting point.

There was the possibility that I was being surveilled, but outside of spotting strange cars keeping pace with me or shades wearing agents stalking me, I had no way of telling, so I gave up when neither of those things presented themselves on the walk over.

I briefly thought about school starting up in less than a month. I had gotten out my biology textbooks after Mac and Claire had gone, to quickly look over animal phylum classifications. The Pianist had features that crossed lines. Webbed feet and thick limbs, like it was supposed to drag people into water and drown them. Numbing touch, like that one poisonous bird, the Pitohui. The eyes were more like a praying mantis, massive and round, although I hadn’t noticed signs that they were compound.

The more I tried to bring sense and order to what I had seen, the more questions I had.

I stopped in front of the windows of the burger joint.

Chase sat in a booth, devouring a burger with childlike glee. He glanced over, ketchup smeared on his cheek, and saw me through the window. He waved cheerily.

Despite everything, a tremor of excitement stirred inside me. If only my younger self could know about this, he would have been overjoyed. Hunting monsters? Count me in.