Anne Ursu - The Shadow Thieves

It was with a tremendous sense of relief that the family found London was as hale and hearty as it had been when they left. Zee called all his friends and found them quite well, thank you. He met with his best friends, Phillip and Garth, for dinner the day after he got back, and they were quite well too, and all their friends were quite well, and for one night Zee put away the Piper Flu and that big ol' uneasy lump. Football practice would start in two weeks and school in four, so the boys resolved to spend the rest of their summer enjoying themselves as much as they possibly could before the exigencies of school put fun to a tragic end.

As for Samantha Golton, Zee stopped off at Nicki's house on the day he got back to find that Samantha had been taken to the south of France with her family. Nicki didn't know much more – she was no better, but no worse. And yes, Nicki was feeling quite well, thank you. And so were the rest of the girls. Everyone was just great. Absolutely everyone.

Well, everyone didn't stay great for long. Two days later Garth was sick. Then Nicki. Then Phillip. It went on through his neighborhood, and through their friends, and through friends of their friends. One by one the Piper Flu picked off Zee's friends, his casual acquaintances, even people he didn't like.

When Zee heard about Garth's illness – then Nicki's, then Phillip's -he wasn't even surprised. He was horrified, yes, panicked, yes, but not surprised. He had known it would come.

He wasn't uneasy anymore. The creature in his stomach had transformed itself into something much more powerful than unease. Now he was filled with fear and dread, and some kind of strange apprehension. There was something wrong, something really wrong, and it was something strange, something unnatural-and it was something to do with him.

But what?

There was no answer, just dread. He could barely eat or sleep. Every time the phone rang, he jumped out of his skin, sure that on the other end would be news of someone else who had fallen ill. His parents, who had at the first appearance of the Piper Flu in London begun to talk of sending Zee to America, spent their time whispering and watching.

One night Zee decided he could not stand it anymore. He could not bear this alone. He was doing nothing, accomplishing nothing, and people were suffering.

He sat his parents down at the kitchen table, leaned in, and whispered, "I have to talk to you."

The Millers exchanged glances. "What is it?"

"It's the Piper Flu."

Mrs. Miller sat straight up. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No, no, I feel fine. But… but…" Zee trailed off He didn't know how to say it. He knew his parents sensed something was wrong. Even he could see how pale and tired he looked, and Zee was not prone to notice his own appearance.

"What? Zachary, what's going on?"

He coughed. "I think, um, I think it's something to do with me."

His parents both looked perplexed. They exchanged another glance, then his father asked gently, "What do you mean?"

"The flu. I think it's something about me. I mean, look, everyone got sick in Exeter. And now we come back here, and suddenly everyone's sick here. And it's all my friends. It's right here. It's not all of London, or we'd be hearing about it in the paper or on the news or something. It's just us. It's just… around me…" Zee's face flushed. He could hear how he sounded.

"Sweetheart," Mrs. Miller asked, "are you saying you think you're carrying something? That you're infecting people?"

"No, not really… well, maybe…"

"Well," Mr. Miller said slowly, "you know, they've decided it's not contagious."

"I know. But I mean, think about it."

"Zach," his father continued, "just because these are the cases we know about doesn't mean these are the only ones. I mean, of course it seems like it's only all around us. But it's probably not. There could be some poor family in Birmingham who thinks they're carrying the plague too." He laughed slightly. Zee did not.

"Honey," his mother said, "if you're feeling ill, we'll take you to the doctor. I mean, you certainly were a little off for a while. We can find out for sure. That will set your mind at ease."

"And Zach," his father added, "I know you must be scared and upset. But it's not your fault. Believe me."

Zee thought if his parents exchanged any more meaningful glances, their faces would freeze that way.

He couldn't make them understand. They wouldn't understand. There was only one person who would understand, and she had just died. Grandmother Winter would have believed him. She would have been able to help him. They would have figured this out together. But Grandmother Winter was gone, and he was all alone.

Preterm sports started two weeks before school for Feldwop students. On the first day just over half the team showed up for Feldwop's football practice, and as the days went on, fewer and fewer students came. Then the tennis team was hit, then rowing, then rugby. Even the chess club suffered. Finally the preterm training sessions were called off completely, for utter lack of participants.

Without training, Zee had plenty of time to see the doctor and do whatever else his parents wanted him to do, though he did not think it would help any. He had made a mistake by telling his parents what he thought-now they were just more worried, they suspected he had gone quite mad, and he was only more alone.

Mrs. Miller took him in to the doctor at the first available cancellation. She kept saying that they would get to the bottom of this, that they would help him feel better, but Zee could not help but feel that it was her fears she wanted to alleviate. His parents were acting suspiciously gentle with him, as if he were going to pop at any moment.

Zee didn't know what his mother had said to the doctor-perhaps something along the lines of "My son's gone barmy." But Dr. Widmapool was kind and thorough. Zee did not mention the Piper flu; indeed, they did not discuss it at all. Zee could not help but wonder if the good doctor wasn't relieved to see a patient who could sit upright.

Dr. Widmapool poked and prodded, both literally and metaphorically, and then sat Zee and his mother down.

"Well, Zachary looks just fine. I don't see any sign of this… this syndrome."

"Good," said Mrs. Miller.

"There is one thing in his blood work: He's a little anemic. That means your iron count is a little lower than it should be, Zachary. That may be why you were feeling dizzy and fatigued. Anemia happens, and it's not dangerous. But it's not something you normally see in healthy young boys. It means either you're not getting enough iron in your diet or else you've had some kind of blood loss. Are you a vegetarian?"

"No," Zee said.

"Have you lost any blood for any reason? An injury?"

"No," Zee said.

"Well… as I say, sometimes this happens. I don't see signs of anything serious. I'll want to monitor those levels. But I think a good vitamin regimen should cure you right up, and you won't feel so worn out."

"There's nothing else?" Mrs. Miller asked.

"No. No signs of infection. Other than the anemia, Zachary is a healthy young man. Though he does seem to be exhibiting some of the symptoms of stress… I believe that may be causing his sleeplessness and appetite trouble. I think this is perfectly understandable, given the, um, situation. Zachary, I'd like you to talk to someone. I have a name."

So Zee found himself in a psychiatrist's office. He was fairly sure this was also to make his mother feel better. With a few nice pink pills maybe whatever delusions he was having would go away, and they could all stop whispering and worrying and go back to being a normal family

"I'm not a nutter, Mum," he told her.

"Oh, honey, I know. But you have been under a great deal of stress, and he can help you with that. Dr. Widmapool thinks it will help you sleep."