Anastasia took the offered seat without comment, smoothing her silk dress carefully across her lap as she sat. Then she waited in polite silence, her hands folded neatly, resting on her knees.
“I’m certain you know why we’ve called you here today, Anastasia,” Gaul said from behind his hands, the glare from his glasses hiding his eyes.
“I’m not so certain,” Anastasia said dismissively, inspecting her immaculate black nails. “Are you going to tell me?”
“Where’s Alex?” Rebecca demanded, her voice tight and her frustration obvious. “Where’s Eerie?”
“I don’t know,” Anastasia said, sounding bored. “Are we finished, then, or do you have more?”
Gaul turned briefly in his seat to glance at Rebecca, who gave him a curt, angry nod.
“The students in question appear to have departed the Academy sometime this afternoon,” Gaul said mildly. “We have reason to believe that members of the Black Sun Cartel assisted them in this endeavor.”
“Is that so?” Anastasia shrugged and gave them a wan smile. “Well, I am afraid that I don’t know about it. If this was done by members of my cartel, as you suggest, then it was done without my knowledge.”
“You expect me to believe that your cartel members acted on their own?” Rebecca made a face. “Not likely. You run too tight a ship, Anastasia.”
“Believe me or don’t, Rebecca. I’m telling the truth. I am not sure what else I could offer you…”
“Help us to understand,” Gaul suggested. “If you didn’t approve it, how could this happen?”
“Well, I am not certain about Eerie, but I told Alex that the resources of the Black Sun were at his disposal,” Anastasia explained matter-of-factly. “I had instructed my staff to provide him with anything that he might ask for, no questions asked. Perhaps, then, he requested transportation? My people would not have sought my approval, because I had already given it in advance.”
“Why would you do that?” Rebecca asked, surprised. “What did Alex promise you in return for that?”
“Nothing,” Anastasia said, shaking her head. “I didn’t ask him for anything, and he didn’t promise me anything. Maybe I like to help people. Maybe I felt sorry for him. Maybe I’m that confident. You’re the empath, Rebecca, you tell me.”
“You little witch!” Rebecca exploded, flicking her cigarette out the window. “How is that you keep me out of your head?”
“I have my ways,” Anastasia said lightly. “You can question my staff, if you like. All of them will corroborate my statement. Is there something else I can do for you?”
“Can you find Alex for us?” Gaul asked patiently.
Anastasia stood up, her smile compact and mocking.
“Is that all?” She asked cheerfully. “Ask me directly next time. You know how eager I am to do favors for the Administration, after all. But, as crass as it is to mention, if you want me to do you a favor, then…”
“You little brat,” Rebecca snarled, only to be cut off again by Gaul’s arm. “You’re still a student here, Anastasia.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Anastasia said, nodding.
“What will it cost us to get Alex back?” Gaul asked, pushing his glasses back up on his nose. “And Eerie too, of course.”
“Of course,” Anastasia deadpanned. “My terms are simple, and I hope, not too objectionable. If you want me to find Alex and Eerie, I will. But it will be the Black Sun that collects them, not Central.”
Anastasia waited while Gaul calmed Rebecca down, who was fuming and swearing behind him. She managed not to laugh out loud, not right then, but as a reward for her self control, she promised herself that she would laugh later.
Last, to be specific.
It wasn’t a club, but it wasn’t what Alex would have called a rave, either, from his vague understanding of what a rave constituted.
This was a couple hundred kids packed into what might have been an indoor basketball court, judging from the painted wooden floor that Alex could see peeking out from underneath the black foam mat that had been put down over it. The DJ was in the far corner of the room, spinning tribal-infused trance at a deafening volume, the sound system massively oversized for the space. A few long cloth curtains and a handful of black lights seemed to constitute the whole of the decor for the otherwise naked building.
The promoters had seemed leery of police attention, given the number of hoops they’d had to jump through to get here — a phone number on the back of a flier that Eerie had selected from the stack of them she had collected while shopping which rang endlessly until after nine, when a voicemail message appeared and gave directions to what turned out to be an alley in the Tenderloin. Alex found the whole thing sketchy, walking between two dark brick buildings and past overflowing dumpsters, the whole narrow alley reeking of urine and rotting food, up a set of stairs and into a small enclosed parking lot. There they bought tickets, and got a sheet of photocopied directions from a Mexican guy in a wife beater, and a blond girl with at least a dozen piercings in her face.
The party wasn’t anywhere close to the ticket location, and they’d ended up taking a bus back to Soma, Eerie leaning her forehead against the window, staring out into the intermittent darkness on Market Street. Alex stood next to her, clutching an overhead pole, wondering how long it would take them to get to the party, wondering if the bus driver planned to let them live long enough to get there in the first place. He was a little bit sick to his stomach. Alex stopped counting, but it was at least a dozen stops before Eerie abruptly stood up, grabbed his arm, and dragged him wordlessly from the bus and down a side street. There was a short line in front of the building, which looked like an old, anonymous commercial property. While waiting, Alex noticed that SF police impound lot was directly next-door, a couple of uniformed officers lounging by the closed gates, laughing at the party-goers attire. He swore to himself and wondered what the purpose of all that had been.
Eerie seemed pleased, however, and started bouncing up and down almost as soon as they were admitted into the flyer-strewn lobby, her eyes sparkling and her pale skin flushed.
“Uh,” Alex said, hands shoved deep in his pockets, casting about desperately for something to say. “Do you want a drink or something?”
Eerie laughed, pulling the lollipop out of her mouth so she could talk.
“Alex, they don’t sell alcohol here,” she chided him, amused. “Those big guys by the door, they sell drugs.” Eerie gestured around them. “Pretty much everyone here takes them. That’s why we came.”
Alex looked around apprehensively. The crowd was a strange blend of club kids and hippies, most of them covered in glitter and shining with sweat, dancing with abandon on the makeshift dance floor, despite the oppressive heat. They looked a bit loopy, Alex decided, but pleasant enough, and they did seem be to having a good time.
“Okay, so, do you want me to go buy some of… those?” Alex asked, unable to keep the nervousness out of his voice. Thanks to years of court-ordered supervision and unscheduled drug testing, he hadn’t gotten high much. Outside of smoking pot a few times while he was in the Youth Facility, and once with Rebecca, he hadn’t taken any drugs at all. He wasn’t even sure what kind of drugs they would sell here, or if the money Eerie had given him would be enough.
Eerie looked at him thoughtfully.
“You could do that,” she said mischievously. “Or, if you wanted, you could try something else.”
Eerie held out her lollipop expectantly, holding it in front of Alex’s face, near his mouth. Alex recoiled, and looked aversely at the wet, rounded piece of red candy.
“W-why exactly would I…” Alex looked at Eerie desperately, but she continued to stare blankly, while offering the lollipop. “What is it?”
“It’s a Blow Pop.”