Page 47 of Dangerous Deviance
I turned around. “Dr. Bates,” I said. Still, that weird smile was plastered on his face, as if he was a skipping record. “I’m very serious about my stay here. I want to prove myself. To you, and to the rest of the camp.”
He shifted then, taking a step closer toward me. “Do you know what we do here?” The smile dropped then, his head tilting to the side. I shook my head. “We help lost women find their way into a new purpose. All it takes is a perspective shift, a new way of looking at the world around you. A flight toward the horizon.”
Why did that motto sound so demented?
“All right?” I said.
“I’m afraid you’re only here to seek your sister.” That was true, but why did that have to be a bad thing? “At the Skyline Shift, we give women a new purpose. We provide for them; we pay for their time here, and give them a place to stay. If you wish to have your entire world view changed, then, of course, you may prove it.” The smile took over his face once again, and his head straightened. “I assume you’ve seen the flyer on our website?” I nodded. “Download it. Give it to your friends. And when you’ve sent us enough referrals, we’ll discuss your application to the program.”
“Application? Seriously?” I couldn’t help it; I raised my voice. “Just accept me now, damn it. You know I’m good for it.”
His eyelids twitched, but otherwise, he was still, staring at me with that wide, plastic grin.
“Referrals, Ms. Jordan,” he said. “Thank you for your cooperation. We hope that you enjoyed your flight toward the horizon. May you have a safe drive back.”
I stared at him for a moment, but he didn’t blink. He would have seemed like a statue if it weren’t for his lab coat fluttering in the wind. I turned back to my car.
If referrals were what he wanted, then fine. I could hand out flyers for my sister.
***
I should have waited to see if the women from my gym were actually going to go to the Skyline Shift, but I couldn’t wait. As soon as I handed out the flyers, I went straight to the camp. This time, once the guard heard my name, he let me in right away. Dr. Bates came out of the nearest building, a clipboard in his hand. But this time he wore a white tie with an embroidered logo, the same one as the flyer: four hills, or lower-case Ns, squished together, tilting to the side.
“Ms. Jordan, you know—”
“Don’t turn me away,” I begged, my voice raspy. Tears were crusted on my face, but I had nothing left in me anymore. Everyone had turned me away, kept assuring me that Julie would turn up eventually. But she hadn’t shown up. I knew that she would never magically reappear. This was the only chance I had left to find her. I needed this to work. “I need this, Dr. Bates,” I whispered. “More than anything.”
And I was sure, so damn sure, that he was going to turn me away. That gummy grin never faded, and I waited for that creepy motto to spit out of his mouth.
Instead, he shifted, putting a hand on my arm.
“Ms. Jordan,” he said. His touch made my skin crawl, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t back away, not now, not when I needed him to let me in. His lips were pressed together, his curly hair falling across his forehead. “You are welcome here.”
My chest clenched. “Really?”
“I spoke with the board. We believe you’re ready. We’ll have you sign our contract, of course. Please note that our minimum stay is one year.”
One year? That was a long time.
But it meant that Julie could still be here.
“I can do one year,” I said.
“Good. I’ll see to it that you’re my personal student,” he said. And that smile spread across his face like a half-moon in the sky. “Welcome to the Skyline Shift, Ellie Jordan.”
After signing the contract, Dr. Bates gave me a tour of the front buildings. The entire campus was empty; granted, it was night—I had gone straight from one of the evening sparring sessions at the gym to the Skyline Shift—but there were no hints that other women were living there too. Only silent, half-circle buildings, all painted white.
“What about those?” I asked. I pointed to the buildings in the back, the ones with glass walls. From where we were standing, we couldn’t see inside, but I knew the glass windows were there.
“When you’re ready, you’ll go there,” he said.
He led me to a building with three floors of individual rooms. Dorm rooms. Mine was on the top floor, a small, but livable space, the ceiling slanting with the curve of the roof.
“Classes start at six a.m. sharp,” Dr. Bates said.
“I’ll get to sleep then.” I slumped down onto the bed, grateful that I had finally made it. It was a step forward.
“And one more thing, Ms. Jordan.” He tapped the door frame. “I took the liberty of locating your sister. I hope you don’t mind.”
