“Well, Shepherd?” Kyle said.
I gritted my teeth and tapped my phone's screen to accept the invitation. “Yeah, I'm in.”
Just as all the Shepherds before me would have expected me to say.
Friday, December 11th
Tarah
Over the next week, word spread fast about the video of Aimee's arrest. It even headlined on Yahoo as breaking news. Gary was ticked off that his girlfriend had been arrested, but he was also proud of Aimee for gaining the outcasts so much national attention. He was convinced everyone in our group must be outcasts from the Clann and their families just didn't know it or want to admit it.
Unfortunately, her arrest didn’t seem to scare him at all.
There was some evidence that the U.S. government tried to step in and stop the video from going viral…YouTube’s first upload of it was mysteriously “removed by user”, and the new website where it appeared next was soon replaced with a generic download error message. But in our hyper connected world they couldn’t move fast enough to counter technology, and by the next week, almost everyone worldwide had either seen the video, reposted it online on their blogs, social media sites, YouTube accounts, and websites, or shared it with everyone they knew by email and text message attachment.
As a last resort, the U.S. government must have felt forced to do a little spin doctoring, judging by what happened next in World History class.
That Friday, Mr. Sherman didn't say anything before starting a video on the classroom TV as soon as the late bell rang. His mysterious behavior was the only thing that helped me resist the nearly overwhelming urge to turn and glare at the traitor sitting directly behind me.
In the video, another podium, this time an old fashioned wooden one, stood before the White House seal on a dark blue curtain. This time the speaker was the former Vice President Palmer, now our new president. She cleared her throat, shuffled some papers before her, then finally looked up at the cameras through rimless rectangular glasses that made her eyes seem eerily huge.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she began in a sharp, high voice that reminded me of a parrot with a Minnesotan accent. “As you know, the NSA has been relentlessly investigating the explosions that took place here in D.C. several weeks ago. I am currently speaking from a secure location, where we are working tirelessly to bring to justice the true terrorists behind these crimes. And today I am so happy to be able to say that our investigation has made several definitive breakthroughs. We now believe the explosions, while directly set off by Eli and Caleb Phillips, were actually part of a larger plot spearheaded by an international terrorist network who refer to themselves as the Clann with cells right here in our own nation.”
The Clann...an organized terrorist group? What the heck was she talking about?
“These so-called ‘Outcasts’...” President Palmer made air quotes, her long, bony fingers and sharp-edged French manicured nails looking like claws raking the air. “...claim to be only peace-loving, innocent people who were born with some kind of magical abilities that they merely wish to learn how to control and use for good.”
Now she gripped the edges of the podium like some creepy pterodactyl roosting on a rock while scoping out the air for its prey. “But make no mistake about it, these Clann members are nothing more than your average suicide bombers, and there is nothing good about their intentions. We have discovered that they are using ordinary, magic-themed books and arcane symbols to secretly communicate their plans with each other and find new recruits, recruits whose once innocent love for fantasy is all too quickly perverted by the Clann into a desire for destruction, anarchy, and chaos. So if you or someone you know has publicly accessible books on a magic theme, please consider temporarily pulling these items from public usage for the safety of your local residents. In doing so, you will be helping us thwart these terrorists’ encoded recruitment endeavors.”
My jaw dropped. “Is she for real? Give me a break! Why should we get rid of our books? Harry Potter had nothing to do with—”
Several people shushed me. I grumbled but shut up again if only to hear what else the crazy lady had to say.
President Palmer took a deep breath, and her face assumed a more pleasant expression that was apparently meant to make viewers feel comforted. “While these terrorists have wounded our nation and taken out many loved ones and our former president, they can not and will not win this new war on terror. The fact that I am here standing before these cameras today is proof that our great nation’s government will prevail. We as a people are strong as long as we stand united against terror. We can send them a bold message…that this is the United States of America, and we will not be made to cower in fear. To support that message, we at the federal level have taken careful steps to empower officials at the federal, state and local levels so we can all work together to bring these terrorists to justice for the fear and pain they have inflicted upon our country. To this end, we will be using any and all means to root out and capture these Clann members, as well as anyone else who seeks to undermine our great country's laws, which have been enacted for all of our safety.”
Uh oh. That didn’t sound good.
But President Palmer didn’t stop there.
“But we can’t just sit back and wait while the government and law enforcement do all the work,” she continued. “All of us must come together and declare that we are not afraid, and we will not stand by and let a few bad apples send the rest of us into the darkness of fear. So I am also asking you and everyone you know not only to avoid reading, selling or sharing books about magic, but to go one step further, to join with us in stopping these terrorists’ campaign of fear by notifying your local police if you have any knowledge of others who are distributing these books about magic in potential Clann recruitment efforts. Any and all tips will be greatly appreciated. And you never know, your tip just might be the one that helps us turn the tide in this new war on terror. Remember, we are not a country of individuals who stand apart weakened by our personal limitations, but rather we are a nation, one and indivisible, and together we will stand strong and brave.”
Amid clapping and more than a few hoots and hollers, Mr. Sherman turned off the TV.
I nearly threw up in my mouth.
I honestly couldn't decide if our new president was misinformed, nuts or just full-on diabolically terrifying. Maybe all of the above. Regardless of why she'd come to her crazy conclusions, one thing was clear. With her holding the reins, America was now on the brink of total disaster. And judging by the response from most of this class, way too many people were actually dumb enough to support her.