NEW OLYMPIANS (ISSUE 1) by Kelly Logue (best books for students to read .txt) 📕

going to give you an eye exam today,” the doctor lady said. “But I had to wait until you knew the alphabet, that’s why I had you do all those boring learning programs on the computer. But today I think you’re ready. Do you think you’re ready?

Maureen nodded her head vigorously, feeling very important.

“Good,” the doctor lady answered. “So I’m going to have you look in this machine, and I’m going to ask you some questions, okay?”

“And I’ll get two lemon candies,” Maureen whined.

The doctor lady laughed.

Maureen liked her laugh. It sounded like birds, like she had heard on TV.

“I suppose,” the doctor lady said.

“But the good news is,” the doctor lady continued, “is after we run this test then we can get you some glasses so you can see better.”

“Like yours?” Maureen asked.

“Probably a little stronger than mine,” the doctor lady said. “But yes.”

“Can I try yours on?”

The doctor lady smiled, and then took off her glasses, handing them over.

“Be careful with them,” the doctor lady said.

“I will,” Maureen promised.

Maureen put them on, and looked over at the doctor lady.

“Oh Maureen what big eyes you have?”

“The better to see you with,” Maureen growled, raising her hands up like a wolf.

The doctor lady jerked her head.

“Ow,” she said, “Maureen you hurt me.”

“I’m sorry,” Maureen cried. “Please, don’t be mad.”

The doctor lady took her glasses back.

Maureen could see there was a large cut on the side of the doctor lady’s face.

“I could never be mad at you, Chipmunk,” she said, tapping Maureen on the bridge of her nose.

“But, could you hold out your hands for a moment?” The doctor lady asked.

Maureen held out her hands, hoping the doctor lady wasn’t still mad at her.

“Relax,” the doctor lady said softly.

The doctor lady massaged one of her fingers, and then pressed hard.

Maureen gasped as her fingernail suddenly extended.

The doctor lady massaged another of her fingers, and again pressed hard.

Again her nail extended.

“Retractable claws,” the doctor lady said, and Maureen could hear the excitement in her voice. “This is amazing.”

The doctor lady released her grip, and the claws disappeared.

Maureen pulled her hand back.

“You continue to amaze me everyday, Maureen.” the doctor lady said, hugging her again. There were tears in her eyes.

“Can I come home with you?” Maureen asked.

The doctor lady stood up, and turned her back.

“We’ve...um...talked about this before,” the doctor lady said. “You...don’t belong to me. You belong to this lab. If I were to take you home it would be like stealing, and stealing is wrong.”

“You could just take me home tonight, and then bring me back tomorrow,” Maureen said. “Then it really wouldn’t be like stealing. And, I could see the outside… And your house…”

“Maureen, I can’t do that,” the doctor lady said sternly, “You do not belong to me. If I do that the people who you do belong to wouldn’t let me see you anymore.”

“Okay,” Maureen said, lowly her head.

The doctor lady touched her chin, and lifted her head up.

“And getting to see you Maureen,” the doctor lady said softly, “is the highlight of my day.”

The doctor lady smiled, a kind smile, one that Maureen would never forget.

“Here,” the doctor said reaching into her pocket.”

“Candy,” Maureen cried happily.

Maureen took the candy from the doctor lady’s hand quickly, before the lady changed her mind.

“Maureen,” the doctor lady said, laughing. “How many times do I have to tell you to take the wrapper off first.”

“That’s my favorite part,” Maureen protested, dead serious.

Maureen bit into the candy, and just as quickly swallowed the pieces.

The doctor lady continued to laugh.

“You said I could have two,” Maureen said, holding out her hand.

“That’s right I did,” the doctor lady said, reaching into her pocket again.

Maureen yanked her hand back, and lifted her nose in the air.

“Maureen,” the doctor lady asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Something bad,” Maureen whispered. “Something bad.”

The door behind them opened, and a man and a young woman entered the room.

The man appeared tall and lean, with graying hair at the temples. He held a pipe to his mouth, but did not smoke it.

The woman was dressed like a cowboy, and her yellow outfit, stood out against her brown skin. She held a weapon in her hand, for the moment pointed down.

The woman had scary eyes, Maureen thought. The eyes of a predator, like the eagle on her costume.

And, the man was just bad: smelled bad and felt bad.

Maureen's big ears folded down, and she scrunched down too, trying to make herself small.

Maureen could tell the doctor lady was scared too, but she was trying to put on a brave face.

“D-D-Dr. Parsons,” the doctor lady stammered. “W-W-What can I do for you?”

“Well, the first thing you can do is not call me doctor,” The man said. His voice sounded kind, but Maureen could tell by the infliction that it was all an act.

“I don’t actually have a fancy medical degree like you,” the man said pointing his pipe at the doctor lady. “My school was the school of hard knocks, and there was no better teacher than that.”

“Sorry,” the doctor lady said, quietly.

“Nothing to apologize for,” the man said. “In fact, I should be apologizing to you.”

“To me?” The doctor lady asked.

The man nodded, and then said, “Yes, I’m sorry to have to tell you this but this project is being shut down.”

The doctor lady’s head sank.

“Now, now,” the man said, wagging his finger. “No sad faces. You’ll be given a very generous severance package, and I think I might even be able to swing a bonus. I know this is a pet project for you, and the Agenda would hate to see you leave on bad terms with us.”

“What about Maureen?” The doctor lady asked quietly.

“Maureen?” The man asked, confused.

Then he chuckled.

“Oh of course,” The man said, putting the pipe back to his mouth. “The test subject.”

The man shook his head.

“Well, you know the standard protocol for that,” the man said. “Dissection.”

“Please no,” the doctor lady cried. She threw himself in-between the man and Maureen.

“That’s part of the problem, I’m afraid,” the man said pointing his pipe again at the doctor lady. “I’m not as learned as you, but it seems to me a doctor in your field should have a certain degree of detachment to her subjects.”

“No,” the doctor lady sobbed.

“Don’t make this difficult doctor,” the man said. “We asked you to make soldiers, not daughters.”

“I could take her home with me,” the doctor lady pleaded. “No one has to know. I could continue to run tests, gather data for you. She’s more than she seems...”

The man nodded to the woman next to him.

Quicker than the eye could follow, the woman raised her weapon, and shot the doctor lady through the heart.

Maureen cringed back, trying to scream, but could not, as the doctor lady fell to the floor.

“What a waste,” the man said, shaking his head. “A mind like that....”

He shook his head again.

“But if I made an exception for her, then I’d have to make an exception for everyone. And, that’s the kind of thing that leads to anarchy. And, damn my efficiency, if I don’t like to run a tight ship.”

Maureen dropped to the floor, next to the doctor lady. Pawing the lady’s head. Hoping she’d wake up.

The man turned to the woman.

“Katherine,” the man said, “would you mind...”

Maureen felt the room stir.

Smelled the air burning.

Heard the whistle of death approaching.

She turned snatching the arrow out of the air, breaking it in her hand. Then she stood, teeth and claws bared.

The man chuckled.

“Well perhaps our good doctor was onto something after all,” the man said.

The woman sneered, firing her weapon again.

Maureen batted the arrow out of the air, and then leapt forward.

Her claws found a target, raking across the woman’s face.

The woman swung a fist, but Maureen jumped back, retreating out the open door and into the darkness.

The last thing she heard the man say was, “Seems like the good doctor had the last laugh on us after all, and removed the girl’s tracking device. Well Katherine I leave this matter in your capable hands...”

The man went away.

And Maureen huddled in the dark, sobbing.

 

* * *

 

“Wake up, wake up, wake up,” a hundred voices called out to her.

Maureen stirred, shivering a little from the aftershock of the bad dream.

It was dark.

She stood, the rats making way for her.

Maureen strode bravely forward.

Finally, coming to a halt at the double door before her.

She pushed both of them open.

A wave of cool air washed over her, bringing all sorts of new smells in its wake.

Maureen gasped in excitement.

She was outside!

The night called out to her, and Maureen rushed heedlessly forward.

Only, stopping when she felt blades of glass between her toes.

Maureen shrieked in delight, and dropped to the ground.

Soon, she lay on the ground, merrily rolling in the grass, and getting soaked from the condensation

Maureen sat up, her nose twitching.

“Trees,” she shouted.

Jumping up she made her way over to a grove of them.

Maureen wrapped her arms around the nearest one.

She laughed as the rough bark tickled her skin.

Maureen pulled aways when a group of dark figures whirled past her, shrieking.

Bats!

She’d seen bats on TV before, and they always seemed scary.

But up close, they seemed friendly enough, and she waved a hand.

They returned the greeting, by lifting their wings a little, before flying away.

Maureen was glad she had made some new friends.

She, after all, was the same as them—a creature of the night.

And, the night teamed with life.

Maureen had never felt so at peace in all her life.

Speaking of friends, Maureen suddenly remembered she was supposed to be helping her friend Carol. That meant she would have to find people.

She sniffed the air.

A little north she smelled traces of gasoline, leather, perfume, spoiled food, coffee...

People smells.

Reluctantly, she left her tiny grove of tall grass and trees, and headed north.

But, the tiny grove had secrets of its own, for hidden in the tall grass were the tiny stone markers of a church graveyard.

 

* * *

 

Maureen didn’t make it very far before her stomach rumbled.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten, and this again made her miss the nice doctor lady.

She couldn’t be sad, though, not right now anyway.

Her friend was in trouble.

A moth landed on her shoulder—resting it’s wings after a long flight.

Maureen snatched the moth off her shoulder…

...and stuffed it into her mouth.

“Mmmm,” she said, biting down. It tasted both sweet and sour.

She snatched another moth out of the air.

“Mmmm,” she said again.

Soon, she had eaten her fill, and used a finger nail to pick out any bits still left in her teeth.

The nice doctor lady would have scolded her for doing that, telling Maureen that it wasn’t very ladylike.

But, Maureen shrugged.

She wasn’t a lady.

She was a creature of the night.

Thinking of the nice doctor lady, reminded Maureen of Carol again.

She had to stay focused, but the night held many attractions to tempt her.

Maureen shook her head, and headed north again, following the scent of people she had picked up earlier.

She picked up the pace a little.

Maureen thought of the bad men and the bad place that she had left behind, as she headed toward an uncertain future.

 

 

Chapter V

Carl woke with a start.

It sounded cliché, when he thought about it, something out of a soap opera. Like the ones he and his mom used to watch