Page 47 of Black Hollow: Awakening

Will went pale.

“Man, I can’t believe it!” Danny was as happy as a kid. “I didn’t even apply! They just called me and said they’ve had their eye on me for a while! That they’re impressed with my progress. Man! I think I’ll go tell my mom.”

Danny raced back upstairs. Will leaned against the wall, panic washing over him.

He was starting to come to the conclusion that Blake had been right.

December 9 | Monday

Will got to school almost an hour before classes started. He went to the gym and stood in the doorway, watching the basketball practice in progress. He’d texted Liam yesterday that he needed to talk about something important, and this was where they’d agreed to meet.

For a few minutes, Liam was too engrossed in the game to notice him, but when he finally glanced toward the entrance, he signaled to his teammates that he was stepping off the court and then jogged over to Will. His friends grumbled something, but Liam paid them no mind.

They went to the locker room. Will told Liam about the situation with Dan.

“That sucks,” was Liam’s summary of the story, looking only moderately concerned.

“What’s this about experiments at KC?” Will asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Liam replied, to his surprise. “There are a lot of stories circulating in our community about Kubrick’s organization. I have no idea how much truth there is to them. For example, they say that Kubrick selects some of the interns based on their special abilities and conducts some kind of research on them. I’m guessing this all sounds less than convincing,” he added, seeing Will’s doubtful expression, “but if Blake says Kubrick is to be feared, then he is. The Aldens always know best what goes on in this town. It’s always been that way.”

Will was surprised by his words. Didn’t that imply Blake was hiding something from his friend? But Liam not only seemed to be aware of it but also clearly had no problem with it. Will wondered why.

“If they really want to experiment on people like us, then Dan is safe,” Will pointed out. “He doesn’t have any abilities.”

“It’s not about him, it’s about you. It’s no coincidence that they chose your roommate, of all people. They want to use him to watch you.”

“Danny would snitch on me? Never.”

“No one’s saying he’d do it knowingly. They could plant a bug on him. Or they could present the whole situation in a way that makes it seem harmless, maybe even necessary. You have to talk him out of it.”

“How?” Will snorted helplessly. “It’s an internship at KC, for crying out loud! Who wouldn’t accept?”

“You have to try.”

It wasn’t particularly helpful advice, but time was running out. After classes today, Danny was supposed to go to KC to finalize the paperwork. If Will was going to talk him out of it, it had to be now.

He tracked his friend down before third period.

“Hey, Dan,” he said nervously, stopping by his locker. “Can we talk?”

“Now? I’m in a bit of a hurry. You know Robins hates it when we’re late.”

“It’s important. It’s about your internship.”

Danny looked at him expectantly.

“You shouldn’t take it,” Will blurted out.

“What?” Dan snorted in disbelief.

“KC has a bad reputation.”

“Meaning?”

“They supposedly promise payment, but they don’t actually pay. And that’s not even the worst of it. Apparently, they fire a lot of interns just like that, because they don’t like something about them. They give them bad recommendations.” Every word out of Will’s mouth was a lie, but what else could he say when the truth was off the table? “They’ve treated a lot of people that way.”

Danny narrowed his eyes, studying him.