Rising Shards

The blaring lights and annoying sounds all around us got worse at it sunk in something had gone very wrong. It was like our memories were altered, and we were plopped into this casino to just gamble and not think about why we were there. Why we were plucked away from chaperoning a dance. A pit in my stomach formed, hoping that everyone there was alright. With that pit was fiery determination as well, to get out of this as soon as possible and make sure Zeta was safe.

”Damn it, when did they get us?” Evy said. ”Didn’t even bring my wristband...”

”How did they get us, too?” I asked. ”And also, who got us?”

My head was spinning with questions, but the focus had to be on leaving this place.

”OK, remember the training,” I said, thinking back to when I went to school. I took a stance with my feet shoulder distance apart, waved my hand forward, exhaling. ”You wave...then you sweep! The leg!” I kicked my leg forward.

Nothing happened, outside of Evy laughing.

”Are you quoting that Cani video from ages ago?” she said.

”Sweep! The leg!” I repeated the gesture.

”Cani science has moved on from that method, it has about a two percent success rate for returning home from sudden void escapes,” Evy said. She patted her pockets. ”Didn’t bring any gate rosin, damn it...”

In addition to Alix, I saw Pippi and some other coworkers scattered around the casino, fully engrossed in whatever gambling they were up to. How could we snap them all out of their trances? What was even going on? I had too many questions, but one I had to say out loud.

”How’d this even happen?” I asked.

”I dunno,” Evy said. ”I thought security was getting better at school, but maybe there are still blind spots. Potential windows to exploit.”

”Like...?” I said.

”Like say we keep an eye on the information about shifting between home and the void as data,” Evy said. ”Our numbers could look good, but if there’s someone nefarious that...wants us in a casino for whatever reason, they could fudge that data. If they change a miniscule percentage, it might slip by under our radar.”

I wasn’t really following, but that wasn’t Evy’s fault, I was just getting more and more worried about Zeta and her friends. Someone pulling all of us adults away just as the kids go to their dance? That was terrifying, and not knowing who did it made it worse. Everyone else was still focused on some gambling machine or game around us, all in some kind of spell.

”They really got your asses, huh?”

”What?” I said, seeing that weird gremlin kid by me.

”Yeah, they got all the teachers and faculty and chaperones, pretty crazy, right?” Chumbler said.

It wasn’t the best thing for a librarian to think, but I really wanted to punt her big, stupid head. I pictured it sounding like a beach ball as I imagined her flying across the casino. Once I got that daydream out of my system, it was time to interrogate this brat.