Seeders: A Novel by A. J. Colucci Page A

we’re about to enter a room with two plants. The first is to be the victim and the second, a witness.”
    The room on-screen was featureless except for a long table that held two identical dwarf palms, about four feet tall, in heavy pots. Attached to one of the trees was a polygraph. The first student entered the room, staring at the plants. Then he started speaking to them. Awkwardly at first, and then more casually, as if they were old friends.
    “We were supposed to be kind to the plants, except for the killer, of course.”
    The next three students took turns chatting with the palms, watering them, blowing softly on their leaves, and the whole thing began to seem a bit silly.
    Finally, Jules entered the room alone.
    “ Bum bum bummm, ” Monica said ominously. “I knew it would be you.”
    “Oh my,” Isabelle said, smiling. “Are you really going to hurt that plant, Jules?”
    “It’s an experiment, for goodness sakes.”
    Isabelle smiled behind her fingers. The young man on-screen seemed so shy, with an innocent expression and timid manner. She wondered if he’d pluck off a leaf or two.
    They all watched as Jules reached out to the plant, tracing his finger gently down a broad leaf. His eyes closed and he breathed deeply through his nose. Isabelle stopped smiling as the expression on young Jules’s face changed dramatically. It twisted into a gruesome snarl and his eyes sprang open and alert. With lightning speed he ambushed his prey, seizing the plant and straining to rip it from the pot.
    Isabelle stepped back in alarm.
    The roots clung on tightly, but it was no even match. Jules shook the trunk and the tree broke loose. The ceramic bowl smashed onto the floor. He threw the tree over his head like a javelin and it shot against the wall, sending dirt flying in every direction. Jules pounced on the injured tree, ripping the leaves to shreds and pulling apart the roots with powerful claws that came down again and again.
    It was all happening so fast and Isabelle stared with wide eyes. As much as she tried, she couldn’t look away.
    Dirt sprayed everywhere—across Jules’s shirt, his face and arms as if it were a bloody massacre. There was barely a leaf left on the tree, but Jules wasn’t finished. A silent scream came from his mouth, a deplorable rage on his face as he stomped the trunk with all his might, using hands and feet to pry its lifeless body apart.
    Her heart pounded in her ears and Isabelle thought Jules must be possessed. She watched in horror as he struck the tattered remains of the plant against the floor, blow after blow—
    The tape stopped.
    Jules stood by the VCR with his finger on a button, helplessly looking at the shocked faces around him. Then the dreadful moment was broken by Monica.
    “What an actor ! Jesus, you deserve a freaking Emmy for that!”
    The others were silent as Jules struggled to explain. “Well, yes, you have to be … convincing … or, well, the experiment won’t work.”
    Luke slipped from a dazed expression. “So, that was just an act?”
    “Let’s see the rest of it,” Monica said, excited.
    “No,” Jules said quickly. “It’s a bit disturbing to watch all these years later.”
    “Well, how’s it end?” Monica whined.
    Jules looked at her, pale and silent. There was sweat on his brow but he tried to act calm. He swallowed hard. “Um … let’s see. We left the plants alone for a while. There was the dead one on the floor.” He tried to sound scholarly, as if casually explaining the findings, but he was shaken by the video. He winced, as if trying to remember and forget at the same time. “We all had to go back into the room. You see, there was the other plant.”
    “The witness,” Luke said.
    “Yes, the one hooked up to the polygraph. We had to measure its reaction.”
    “And? What happened when you went into the room?”
    Jules spoke low, almost to himself. “The recorder was in a frenzy. A state of distress like I’ve never