Tunnels 01, Tunnels

Will's eyes snapped open. He swiveled in his chair to look at the officer in amazement.
    "What?"
    "I said be civil" -- he nodded to Mr. Jerome -- "to your family , like."
    Will swiveled back to face the man and boy.
    "What are you talking about?"
    Mr. Jerome shrugged and looked down, and the boy frowned, his gaze switching between Will, the officer, and his father, as if he didn't quite understand what was happening.
    "Chester's right, you're all totally mental down here," Will exclaimed, then flinched as the Second Officer took a step toward him with his hand raised. But the situation was defused by the boy as he spoke out.
    "You must remember this?" he said, delving into an old canvas bag on his lap. All eyes were on him as he finally produced a small object and placed it on the table in front of Will. It was a carved wooden toy, a rat or a mouse. Its white painted face was chipped and faded, and its little formal coat was threadbare; yet its eyes glowed eerily. Cal looked expectantly at Will.
    "Grandma said it was your favorite," he continued as Will failed to react. "It was given to me after you went."
    "What are you..." Will asked, perplexed. "After I went where?"
    "Don't you remember anything?" Cal asked. He looked deferentially at his father, who was now sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed.
    Will reached out and picked up the little toy to examine it more closely. As he tipped it back, he noticed that the eyes closed, a tiny shutter counterbalancing in the head to extinguish the light. He realized that there must be a miniscule light orb within its head, which gave out light through the glass beads that were the animal's eyes.
    "It sleeps," Cal said, then added, "You had that very toy... in your cot."
    Will dropped it on the table as abruptly as if it had bitten him. "What are you talking about?" he snapped at the boy.
    There was a moment of uncertainty on everyone's part, and once again an unnerving silence descended over the room, broken only by the Second Office, who began to hum quietly to himself. Cal opened his mouth as if about to speak, but the toy animal, until Cal took it off the table and put it away again. Then, looking up at Will, he frowned.
    "Your name is Seth," he said, almost resentfully. "You're my brother."
    "Hah!" Will laughed dryly in Cal's face and then, as all the bitterness from his treatment at the hands of the Styx welled up inside him, he shook his head and spoke to him harshly. "Yeah. Right. Anything you say." Will had had just about enough of this charade. He knew who his family was, and it wasn't this pair of imposters before him.
    "It's true. Your mother was my mother. She tried to run away with both of us. She took you Topsoil, but left me with Grandma and Father."
    Will rolled his eyes and twisted around to face the Second Officer. "Very clever. It's a good trick, but I'm not buying it."
    The officer pursed his lips, but said nothing.
    "You were taken in by a family of Topsoilers..." Cal said, raising his voice.
    "Sure, and I'm not about to be taken in by a family of stark, raving loonies down here!" Will replied angrily, really starting to lose it.
    "Don't waste your breath on him, Caleb," said Mr. Jerome, putting a hand on his shoulder. But Cal shook it off and continued, his voice beginning to crack with despair.
    "They're not your real family. We are. We're your flesh and blood."
    Will stared at Mr. Jerome, whose reddened face exuded nothing but loathing. Then he looked again at Cal, who had now sat back despondently, his head bowed. But Will was unimpressed. It was all some sick joke. Do they really think I'm so stupid that I'd be taken in by this? he said to himself.
    Buttoning his coat, Mr. Jerome rose hastily to his feet. "This is going nowhere," he said.
    And Cal, rising with him, spoke quietly. "Grandma always said you'd come back."
    "I don't have any grandparents. They're all dead!" Will shouted, jumping up from his chair, his eyes now burning with anger and brimming with tears. He tore over to the glass window in the wall and pressed his face against the surface.
    "Very clever!" he yelled at it. "Nearly had me going there!" He shielded his eyes from the light of the room in an effort to see beyond the glass, but there was nothing, only an unrelenting darkness. The Second Officer grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Will did not resist -- the fight had gone out of him for now.

     

21

    Rebecca lay on top of her bed, staring at the ceiling. She'd just