Innocence and Fear Chapter 5 part 2

5.5 of Substack exclusive story.

“They are using us…” Miette began. Jamie still looked amused. It was as if nothing had phased him. Kelvin had narrowed his dark blue eyes behind the large thick-framed black glasses he always wore. Kelvin seemed a little shaken.

“We are all what they call ‘Blessed’, all of us who didn’t pay our way into the school. We were all given a deal we couldn’t refuse to come here. They worked so hard to get us for a reason.” Fabian said his soft brown lips moving quickly, but he never seemed stressed. He was explaining it all as if he was talking about stories in the morning paper.

“They are using our ideas and work we do here to run several companies, but also they are hoping we grow to love it here. They want us to join them.” She hadn’t been as eloquent as Fabian had.

“Who are they? What the hell are you talking about?” Kelvin said.

“Of course they want us to love it here. We are ‘blessed’. We are some of the smartest people here. Wouldn’t it make sense for a school to want an impressive alumnus? It looks good when schools can attract gifted students.” Jamie said, rolling his large brown eyes. Miette found it odd that this was the part of what they had said that Jamie had commented on.

“Ok let me just tell you both the entire story from the beginning then,” Fabian said, a hint of annoyance in his warm voice. “Miette and I both noticed that strange messages were being sent through the email here at the school. A lot of mysterious ‘security’ around the school, so we looked into it deeper, and we found out some odd things which made us look into it even more.” He paused, but neither Kelvin nor Jamie said a word. He looked at her, and she nodded for him to continue. “The school is just a tax shield for the company Patton Industries, also the brighter students create products and marketing and software programs. Each gifted kid here is working for free with no knowledge their work is being sold to the highest bidder. These things they sell the kids like us create overseas most of the time, so we never run across the product and wonder how it happened. But they sell a few things under a few shell companies, which would make it hard for most of us to prove anything. The ties are not obvious at all unless you really delve into things like Miette and I did.” He breathed out hard.

“So we are making things for them?” Kelvin asked. Miette noticed him recalling things from his memory that someone might have stolen from him.

“Those old cars you restore for class, the ones going to the museums…” Miette said. She felt bad for shattering the sweet illusion Kelvin must have held. Kelvin just continued to stare at the ground.

“I’m not surprised, really.” Jamie said. “My father told me about Patton Industries when I decided to attend this school, and he called our dear headteacher Elena a shrewd businesswoman tinged with incurable insanity, but he told me she was a billionaire for a good reason.”

“She was handed all that money. Her family is American Royalty, but they just aren’t as well known as the Rockefellers,” Fabian said. He was challenging Jamie, which annoyed Miette. She thought that now wasn’t the time.

“Did you tell them about the weirdo secret society yet?” A voice said from behind Miette the statement followed by a small burst of laughter. It made her jump a little, but she recognized Carina’s voice. Carina had told them she was opting out of the meeting, so she wondered what she was doing there and how she got in so quietly.

“Carina, did you use your own code to get in here?” Fabian asked. Miette’s mind flashed to the implications of Carina leading security there.

“I’m not that stupid. I know this meeting is all hush-hush. I stole Miriam’s code. She is a ditz, had it written in her notebook, labeled: doors and everything. Carina laughed. Miette had seen in the security logs that Miriam, one of the “chosen”, had forgotten her pin numbers and access information often. This didn’t surprise Miette. Miriam always seemed to have her head in the clouds, but Miette liked her. She was the most good-natured of the chosen kids, even though she was a scatterbrain. Carina was wearing an oversized dirty magenta sweater riddled with moth holes and a pair of loose jeans and skater sneakers. Her blonde hair hung thick down over her shoulders, spilling beautifully. She noticed that in an unusual turn, Carina must have brushed it and washed it. She was beautiful, even in her messy casualness. She noticed Jamie staring at Carina.

“Hey Jamie,” Carina purred at him. He looked frustrated but did not answer her.

“We were just getting to that,” Fabian said. Their animosity towards each other was something Miette hated, but it did not surprise her. Carina felt nothing good for most people.

“Anyway, we found out several programs we had made ended up being used in Chinese Corporations and made a boatload of money for Patton Industries despite the recent Chinese Economic crisis. Patton Industries keeps making money overseas even though the world market is kind of crazy right now,” Fabian told them, ignoring Carina’s harassment of Jamie. He was happy she was giving Jamie a hard time.

“They have good people advising them to you guys. My father told them to lean into German markets and they listened.” Jamie said.

“Wait?!” Miette exclaimed. “Your father works for Patton Industries?” She was shocked. They had seen no mention of this anywhere whenever Jamie came up in emails or more secretive documents.

“Works WITH them is a better way to put it,” Jamie said.

“I don’t understand what investing has to do with us?” Kelvin said. “I’m a little more concerned about them using us for free labor.” He seemed very surprised by everything being said.

“Yes, so they may steal ideas from us, “Jamie said in a nasty way looking at his hand and examining his nails as he spoke, “I see it as a trade-off, they give us everything we need here, food, clothing, accolades, in’s with all the best colleges…I guess I’m saying I don’t care.”

“But there is more,” Miette said. “Patton Industries is partners with another company, Trimberg Collective. And the owner of Trimberg, Johnathan Trimberg, doesn’t like the school or us at all!”

“Yes, but the partnership with Trimberg isn’t that big of a secret. All these facts are out there in the public if you know where to look,” Jamie said in a snotty tone.

“Not all of us have parents who have worked with these people,” Fabian said. Miette searched through the emails they had saved the most incriminating ones.

“No, you don’t get it…he really doesn’t like US.” She shoved the laptop into Jamie’s hands. He received it, making a small hissing sound as he did. Kelvin crowded towards Jamie and looked over his shoulder. “Read it.” Miette said to them. She watched them read. She knew what the email said almost by heart.

“Elena, if you keep going against my wishes, I will retaliate and I will punish your precious and blessed students in your place. We don’t want to have a situation like Quinyetta again, do we? I will retaliate and you know what that means. Careful.”

The rest of the email was more of the same, obvious threats of some sort. She had sold manufacturing rights to a factory in Bangladesh and this had displeased Jonathan Trimberg, the owner of all the companies owned by Trimberg Collective Group. He seemed angry, she had decided without him.

“What does that mean?” Kelvin said. He pushed his thick glasses up on his nose. Then his face lit up, but not cheerfully. “Wait, I remember a Quinyetta…she drowned in the pond last Spring…or that’s what I heard?”

“She got drunk and fell in the pond at two in the morning and no one heard her…” Jamie said, still somehow arrogant. He sounded heartless.

“You are telling me with all the cameras no one heard her struggling?” Fabian said, scoffing.

“I guess? She was bright, here on a full-ride scholarship like all of us, but she got stupid when she drank, and that girl partied a lot,” Jamie said.

“Ugh,” Carina blew out a hard breath, “Get to the weirdo cult already!” She said, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning on the podium.

“Getting there, just hold on…” Fabian said. Miette told the computer away from Jamie.

“There is a lot more of this…he even says he will ‘teach us the way things really are’ in one of these emails. Do you want to see more?” Miette asked more for Kelvin than for Jamie. Kelvin seemed to shrink inside himself. She had expected this. She knew Kelvin would immediately know it was all creepy, and that Jamie would try to act as cool as possible, showing no weakness. Kelvin reached for the laptop and she opened another angry-sounding email where Trimberg called them all a “stupid liability”. Kelvin looked a little white after reading this.

“Maybe he just thinks the school is a waste of money…if they are like business partners or whatever?” Kelvin asked. Miette took the laptop back and opened the reply email from the head of the school, Elena Patton, and handed it back to Kelvin.

“We want the club to be filled with the best and BRIGHTEST. I see your point of view. They are only making us small figures now, but these kids I’ve collected are special. If we can harvest their abilities for the business, I think they would more than pay for themselves…and if we could get them to see the benefits of the club, well, that would be even better for us. Give me a little more time and I’m sure I can have them ready to join us. JUST GIVE ME SIX MONTHS.”

The following emails had been more of a back-and-forth. Miette showed Kelvin and Jamie a few more responses, then took the laptop back and checked to see if she was still in control of the time they had.

“It goes on like that…I also have some stuff proving they are watching us all the time, everywhere,” Miette said.

“Everywhere?” Kelvin asked.

“Everywhere, this entire school is wired up to watch us like germs on a microscope,” Miette said.

“So watch what you do in your room, the shower, the garage…” Carina laughed. Kelvin looked like he was about to get sick. Carina had added the garage on purpose to rattle Kelvin. Miette wished she hadn’t, but Carina just enjoyed pushing people’s buttons. Kelvin swallowed so hard it was almost audible.

“I guess they just want to keep us all safe and following the rules,” Jamie said nonchalantly. “I don’t care and am not ashamed of anything they may watch me do…I’m an open book.” Miette felt her face scrunch up. Jamie was worse than Carina, he was a true contrarian.

“I guess if it doesn’t bother you it’s fine, but just know these aren’t the most savory people collecting every detail about us,” Miette said.

“They are all part of a weird sex cult. They are all perverts.” Carina said. Jamie gave her a look that seemed like she had gotten his attention.

“We don’t know that,” Fabian said. His long fingers danced over the keys. “We have thirty minutes left.”

“We don’t know that for certain, but the school and both Patton and Trimberg and their companies are connected to a, well, special secret club.” Carina smiled they had gotten to the strangest part of the information they had uncovered.

“The Club is called God’s Chosen,” Fabian said. “It’s a club for only the most elite and made up of old money people…people who have had millions or more for generations. It’s a social club mostly it seems, and we aren’t sure who the members are except Elena and Johnathan Trimberg. Elena calls herself ‘Mary’ when conducting Club business and Johnathan, well, he seems to be a megalomaniac and calls himself ‘God’. Everyone else goes by biblical names or some sort of code name.”

“So they have a weird club for rich people? What does this even matter?” Jamie said, paused a moment, then added, “But I am curious about the sex stuff.” He laughed a little. Miette was getting a bad feeling from him.

“We have seen hints about orgies, and drama between members who were sleeping with each other, but that’s not the issue here,” Fabian said he seemed exhausted. “The main thing is, this club seems to have members all over the world. We don’t know who they are…but they are powerful.”

“This school is almost like a recruiting pool for them. That’s why they call us ‘blessed’ and the other kids, the rich kids, ‘chosen’. The rich kids are being inducted into the club automatically. We think every kid here who isn’t on a scholarship like us, we think all of them have parents in the club.” Miette said.

“But who cares anyway? I’m just here to graduate, get into an Ivy League school, and just take what I can from this place.” Jamie said.

“You don’t find it a little suspicious that all of this is happening, meanwhile our school Headmistress is receiving threatening emails from her business partner and fellow cult leader about those of us who didn’t come here with a silver spoon in our mouth?” Miette said she was getting annoyed at his lack of concern for anything.

“You don’t think it is creepy?” Carina said, staring into Jamie’s handsome, dark face.

“They’ve never asked me to be in any weird club, and I’m a spoiled rich kid, remember? I’d probably join them, anyway. I wouldn’t mind an orgy or two. I’d even fuck Elena if I got the chance.” Everyone in the group stared at him. He shrugged his shoulders, “What? she’s pretty hot, for a lady her age?” He said in a surprised voice. “Common Fabian, Kelvin, have you actually met her? Don’t tell me her being hot didn’t cross your mind.”

“I only met her once, not my type, and I’m not into the Ms. Robinson thing,” Fabian said Miette saw him fight back a smile. She rolled her eyes. Kelvin was just staring at them all, eyes as wide as an owl behind the glasses. Miette didn’t know what “Ms. Robinson-thing” meant, but she was glad Fabian had not gone along with Jamie. She thought about the blonde and fair-haired headmaster. She thought about the expensive all-white and pink silk suits that she wore that always seemed to show too much and gave her a slutty vibe. I guess if you are into that sort of thing? Miette thought.

“This does sound weird. What should we do?” Kelvin asked.

“You guys can do whatever you want, but until it affects me, I’m just going to keep trying to stay on all these people’s good side. If there really is some sort of culty-corporate theft-weird power dynamics going on, I think I’ll just stay out of that. I think you guys should do the same. As for the cameras, I guess I’ll just have to be more discreet when I have umm, visitors or jerk off in the shower.” He waved a hand at them. “I’m going to go back to my room now. If you want to play detective and get in trouble, that’s fine, but I’ve got a good thing going here,” He said. He walked away when they all heard a small dainty sneeze from where the pews sat behind them. Fabian’s face showed panic. They all heard a small shuffling sound. Fabian leaped into action, throwing his long legs forward. Everyone just watched him run towards the noise.

He ran down the plush red carpet that led down from the pulpit to the center of the rows of pews. He stopped when he got halfway down the row of pews and looked down a row of pews to his left.

“What are you guys doing here?” At first, Miette couldn’t see who he was talking to, but after a few seconds passed, she saw two figures rise from where they had been ducking down to remain hidden.

It was Agnes and Sean.

She knew Fabian must have been furious. He had said these very two people should not be involved. He had explained to her they wore their religion on them and would just be weak links in the chain of people who knew what was going on. She met Sean’s eyes from across the room. They were such a bright glacial blue she could see them burning into her from that distance. She saw the small girl with puffy shoulder-length red hair. She looked almost like a child. Before she could think about how much they had heard, her thoughts were interrupted by laughing.

“You two want to play detective,” Jamie laughed a little too loud, “You want to be little secretive spies and hack into computer systems and take on rich, powerful people, and two kids snuck up on you!” his white teeth shone and for a moment it looked like Carina was going to hit him.

“You didn’t hear them either,” Carina said.

“I wasn’t in charge of whatever this was…” Jamie said, still chuckling.

Miette watched as Fabian motioned with his light brown and graceful hands for them to follow him. Agnes and Sean said nothing and walked towards the rest of the group up by the pulpit. They looked like children who had gotten into trouble and now had to explain to their parents why they did what they did. They almost marched with small steps towards the group. When Sean and Agnes reached her, Miette exhaled before saying,

“What did you guys hear?”