Chapter 31 The Crimstone Academy
Canyon typed in the last of his report and turned his computer off.
He was still at his desk. Timber had been back from relieving Sebastian for almost two hours and was taking a power nap in the break room down the hall.
They’d been working non-stop for weeks now, no days off and very little sleep, so they napped when they could.
Canyon grabbed his stuff and headed for the breakroom.
He pushed the door open and found his brother passed out on one of the couches, surrounded by Slim Jim wrappers.
Cartoons blared on the TV. Canyon kicked the couch on his way past it.
He turned the TV off, then shuffled the jerky wrappers closer to the garbage can with his boot.
Timber was still and quiet. Canyon kicked the couch again.
Timber didn’t respond. Canyon went around the back and lifted the couch, meaning to dump Timber off, but a hand came up and grabbed on, then swung at him.
Time to go, Canyon said, dodging easily.
Timber was up and moving quickly and within a few minutes they were headed up Crimson Bluff, Canyon driving.
Sebastian? Canyon asked.
Timber grunted affirmative. “He got White out of Trevor’s house by inviting her into his head.”
His head? Gross.
“He says she’s in there going through all the pup stories he’s ever heard. He won’t let her get a peek at anything else.”
Canyon was silent for a long while, trying to figure out how that would even work, then he dropped it. Not his business. Sebastian knew what he was doing.
Guess what.
“What?”
Trevor’s got a lead on another One True Mate.
Timber clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. “Nice. I’m ready for her.”
Canyon scoffed. What makes you think she’s your mate?
“I’m up,” Timber said.
You’re not up. If anyone’s up, I’m up. But they can’t find her. She’s missing.
“Like the foxen.”
Funny you say that. She might’ve lived on Street Zero.
Timber looked pointedly at him. “A foxen One True Mate? Interesting.”
You think it’s possible?
“Sure, why not?”
Who’s her mate, then?
“Me—I already fucking told you.”
Trevor doesn’t think foxen can mate with wolven.
“Didn’t anyone tell him foxen came from wolven?”
That’s what I said!
They reached the tiny bluff substation and parked the truck.
Canyon pulled out their equipment while Timber got the ATVs out of the shed.
They sprayed scent blockers on everything, working quickly in the dark, then they drove away, off-roading up the bluff to a spot in the forest they knew well.
They stopped and covered the ATVs, then shouldered their rucksacks and covered the last miles on foot.
Back in Spookville, everything was silent and dark.
They worked their way into the center of the neighborhood, passing houses and trees in silence.
When they reached Building #1, Canyon got to work at the door.
He used tools to access the inner workings of the retinal scanner, then set Predator’s transceiver to replay the last ‘accept’ from the scanner back to itself.
It should have gotten them in right away, but it didn’t.
Canyon growled lightly. Replay attack was blocked. Someone knows what they’re doing.
“Database insertion might work.”
It’ll take a while—let me try something else.
Canyon finessed and tricked his way past multiple levels of security, accessing the code that interfaced between the lock and the scanner itself.
The code streamed past on Predator’s small screen.
Canyon read it from the top until he found what he was looking for, then he had Predator insert a few lines, then he backed his way out and tried the replay attack again.
BEEP.
The door slid open smoothly.
Timber fist-bumped Canyon, then moved past him into the dark hallway beyond. “I’ll take the first floor; you take the second.”
They were quick and quiet, and met back exactly where they had started in a few minutes.
I think it’s a school, Timber said. There’re classrooms and empty lockers and a half-gymnasium.
Could be, Canyon said. I found classrooms upstairs, but there’s nothing on the walls, no supplies, no files, and the computers are wiped clean.
Right. No pictures on the walls, no trophy cases... but come see this—
Timber took Canyon down the hall and through a set of double doors.
Inside was a half-gym with one basketball hoop and a set of bleachers along the far wall.
Walking inside, Canyon caught latent layered scent impressions of sweat and enthusiasm, adrenaline and aggression, competition and comradery, plus lots of foxen and foxen-human mixes, all ages.
Timber went straight to the wall behind the basketball hoop and knocked on it. “Look at the floor and the ceiling here and here,” he said, his voice echoing. “I think this wall moves.”
Canyon agreed. I bet there’s a switch hidden somewhere. Spread out.
Shortly, Timber found a digitally locked switch behind the bleachers.
Canyon got to work with Predator. Like the retinal scanners, the replay attack didn’t work, but after some digging, he was able to find and manipulate a back door in the code.
The lock beeped and the wall in front of them split smoothly open, pulling away to each side, revealing another wall behind it.
“Look at that,” Timber said, backing away.
Canyon whistled. A stylized depiction of the head of a red fox filled most of the wall, like a school mascot.
The fox was facing them straight on and snarling, its eyes were glowing blue.
Above the image were the words, THE CRIMSTONE ACADEMY, and below were the words, HOME OF THE CUNNING AND CRIMSON.
Canyon held Predator up and took several pictures.
“Predator,” he said, “Google ‘the Crimstone Academy’.”
:Nothing found— displayed on the screen and was recited in Lego Batman’s gravelly voice.
Canyon was confused until he heard his brother holding back laughter.
“Stay out of Predator’s settings, fuckwad.”
Timber gave him a thumbs up, still laughing.
Canyon shook his head. “What about Crimstone?” he asked Predator.
:It seems to be a made-up word that does not pertain to any investigations—
“Does not pertain to any investigations,” Timber repeated in his best batman voice, inspecting the image on the wall.
Move, Canyon told him. I need pictures.
When Canyon was done, they triggered the switch to close the wall halves, which slid together with a hollow thunk that made Canyon look up and think about the second floor.
Upstairs, he said. I think maybe… he trailed off, imagining the space in his mind.
He left the gym quickly and Timber followed.
Upstairs was a large open room with classrooms to one side, a long, bare wall to the opposite side, and large windows along the other two walls, with empty desks placed in rows.
Canyon went straight to the longest wall and knocked on it.
It feels small up here, he told his brother. I bet there’s something hidden.
Timber nodded thoughtfully and then helped him knock on the wall. They searched together until Timber found a moveable panel, and behind it, another digital lock.
“Yeah, buddy,” Timber whispered.
Canyon hooked Predator up to the lock and got to work. The security on this lock was excellent, but Canyon and Predator together were all-powerful. After several tries he managed to get past.
BEEP.
A door appeared in the paneling and slowly swung inward. They hit the light switch. Floor to ceiling bookshelves lining every wall, each stuffed full with books of all shapes and sizes. In the middle of the room were long tables and utilitarian chairs, plus a vintage card catalogue cabinet.
“A library?” Timber said.
Small one.
At one end of the long narrow room was a desk topped with office equipment. Behind it stood three filing cabinets and one armoire-sized safe.
Timber went to the safe and knocked on it. “What do we have here?”
Canyon went for the books instead, reading the titles. He found math, physics, botany, and English textbooks, plus homesteading books, and children’s early readers, plus some fiction. At the last shelf, every book he saw caught his eye. He read through several titles.
Conversations with Rhen
Messages from the Pravus
History of Serenity Saint Clair
Wolven, Bearen, and Felen Prophecy with Methods of Discovery
Foxen Prophecy Vol. 1 (years 1600-1799)
Foxen Prophecy Vol. 2 (years 1800-1899)
Foxen Prophecy Vol. 3 (years 1900-1999)
Foxen Prophecy Vol. 4 (years 2000-?)
The Kept and the Promised Vahiy Signs
The Science and Magic of Breaking the Bondservant Tether
Known Lineage from the Demon
Mechanics of Going Dim
Biological Dimness: Myth and Reality
Surviving Khain and the Pravus, Story and Strategy
Defying Khain’s Mark—Theory and Practice
Never trust a Vod
The Seven Secret Signs of the Vahiy
The Full Text and True Meaning of the Vahiy
Khain Through the Ages
Best Practices to Resist Khain in a Modern World
Each title rocked Canyon’s worldview a little bit more.
He read quickly, trying to get a sense of what he didn’t know about foxen by titles alone.
He put a hand on the book The Known History of Serenity Saint Clair, meaning to skim through it to figure out who Serenity Saint Clair was, but Timber called him over to the filing cabinet.
Canyon left the books and went to his brother.
Timber waved a stack of papers aggressively. “You have to see this shit.”
Timber handed him a sheet of white paper that looked like a workbook exercise for grade school kids. At the top, there was no name, only initials, plus a number: LVC. Canyon read through the questions.
When Khain comes for me, I will _____________.
The easiest places in Serenity to go dim are __________.
Khain is easiest to fool near _______, because __________.
A foxen’s best defenses are _______.
In my opinion, the most meaningful prophecy is ________, because _______.
Recite the prophecy.