Hell Born

by Marie Bilodeau

  Ms. Nadine called us to attention by simply walking onto the stage near the podium. I felt a bit better for having cleaned up and dressed in actual clothing before coming to the graduation ceremony (aka release day). I wasn’t fooling myself into thinking it was a kindness. They just didn’t want to keep me here longer than necessary, eager to ship me off to whatever guild or league, or more than likely circus, would have me.

  I hated this useless pomp and circumstance. It dragged me out into the light for no good reason. I felt exposed and kept looking around me. I wasn’t the only one here who couldn’t pass as human at first glance, but my purple skin, long dark hair and, not to mention, the short horns sticking from my head, definitely marked me as more different.

  Clay sat two rows ahead. Dressed all in black, he also stood out. His hair was longer than the school decreed, but they’d given up on trying to get him to respect this one piece of decorum. As though sensing my gaze, Clay glanced back and winked and grinned at me, making me feel instantly better. Or, at least, less alone.

  “Now, for your valedictorian,” Ms. Nadine said proudly, “Blake Connelly.” Blake, blond hair perfectly coiffed, stepped on stage to give his speech. Clay glanced back my way again and rolled his eyes. I grinned.

  Blake was a bully and a crass jackass. He’d only received the so-called honor because no one wanted to tell him he hadn’t been selected.

  I looked up at him, narrowing my eyes. Clay and Blake had pretty much declared each other lifelong enemies, after Blake had tried to steal Clay’s pendant, the only thing Clay still had from back home.

  Home. Real home. Not this fake one, on this strange planet. I wondered if Clay wanted to go home, too. He’d never mentioned it, only holding his pendant once in a while when we chatted about our future.

  Maybe Clay didn’t want to go to my home, even though he’d promised to get me there someday. Maybe he wanted to return to his own home, instead. And I got that completely. I knew without a doubt that I’d help him reach that goal, just as he’d help me reach mine. But the day suddenly seemed a lot colder at the thought that we couldn’t just be together on any world.

  Anyway, all of this thinking was useless. I’d end up in a circus guild within two weeks, guaranteed. It’s not like there was any way to get back home. They still didn’t know what the hell had happened twenty years ago, and a demon and a fighter weren’t going to be the ones to crack that mystery.

  “This place has been our home for more than a decade,” Blake droned on. He looked human, which made me dislike him even more. The divide between human and Traded was clear, sure, but even the Traded had lines drawn between them. Those who could pass as human, and those who couldn’t. I couldn’t. I’d tried, once, with makeup. The stuff was so thick it had cracked when I smiled. And I’d missed the purple sheen of my skin.

  I liked the purple. Plus, wearing a silly hat to hide my horns had looked ridiculous.

  Clay could pass as human, if he cared to. His teeth are a bit too sharp, though, and his hands more like claws. But, if he brooded instead of smiled, which he usually did when he wasn’t trying to cheer me up, he could pass as a grouchy human.

  Except, if you stared too long at his dark eyes, you could feel yourself drawn into them in a way that was definitely not human.

  Blake? You could stare at him all day and all you’d see is a pretty boy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he joined a performers guild.

  “Today, we step out into the world, waiting to greet us with open arms…”

  His speech was as bland as he was. And he was an idiot if he believed that. The world didn’t want to greet us with open arms. The world wanted us gone. It couldn’t keep us forever in these schools, but it didn’t want us on the streets, either.

  “In the two weeks gifted to us as we make our way to our future,” I tried not to snort at him. Did he really believe all of that? This wasn’t a future. This wasn’t a career.

  Boring Blake was also Stupid Blake.

  “I know that I, for one, intend to be a force for good out there.”

  This time, I failed to hold back my snort. Blake heard me. Hell, the whole gymnasium heard me, and they were all turning to look at the demon girl. I was sure my purple was growing deeper, but Clay covered for me, starting to cough snort.

  Everyone laughed, and Blake turned bright red, staring with dark eyes at Clay and I. Not that that was unusual. He’d always hated us. After today, we’d hopefully never have to see him again.

  That would be one good thing about leaving this place. One of many. This place didn’t exactly hold fond memories. Nothing did, really, except for a few friends. But I don’t really have many of those, either.

  “Some of us will make a good difference out there,” he spat out. I rolled my eyes at Clay. It had taken him that long to come back with an insult, and that was the best he could do. Ms. Nadine glared at Clay and me, though, so we returned to our best behavior.

  The tattoo on my neck began to tingle. I was sure Clay’s did, too. The school didn’t technically have to give us two weeks. Lots of kids were going to be leaving in the old yellow school buses lining the front of the school, to head directly to their guilds. Not all of the destinations were near, after all.

  I didn’t think they’d be given two weeks to explore. More like two weeks to learn the ropes to be ready to do whatever was expected of them on opening night.

  Opening night. A lump formed in my throat just thinking about it. About the spotlight, trained on you, the shadows deserting you…I couldn’t go to a circus guild.

  I was terrified. I wondered if what Clay said was true. It might be. That maybe once we left here, we’d be able to join a guild together. Whatever that test was, maybe it was something we’d passed.

  Please let there be an invitation in my room. Please let it be for the same guild as Clay. Please give us two weeks together if not, and don’t just send us away on a school bus.

  Just another few minutes and we’d be free, and the school shut down. It wasn’t like there were multiple cohorts of this class. One bunch of Traded, from one moment, twenty years ago. Traded all from different worlds, as far as we could tell, thousands of worlds across stretches unknown.

  This school would shut down, and we’d become something else. Something that contributed to society in whatever way this society, still grieving its missing children and fearing the monsters that had replaced them, decided we could best contribute.

  The rest of Blake’s speech didn’t register at all. I was too busy thinking about what I would do out there. I really didn’t know. I didn’t know which guild would welcome me, and where I would feel useful.

  It’d be nice to at least not feared and hated.

  It seemed like a little ask, but when you looked like a demon, it was the only ask you ever truly had.

  #

  Following more platitudes and haughty airs, Ms. Nadine finally took the stage again. Blake took his seat, near mine. He cast a dark glance my way, but I ignored him.

  With any luck, he’d be gone right after the ceremony, off to join whatever league or organization would have him. Hopefully far from where I’d end up.

  “Over the past few years,” Ms. Nadine began, “we tried to instill you with a sense of belonging.”

  I tried really hard not to scoff again. I somehow managed it, and grinned as Clay shuffled in the seat ahead, imagining he fought the same battle as me.

  “And, as you step out, remember your place.” She paused, looked at each of us in turn. I could swear she stopped longer on me, but that might just have been the nerves.

  “Some of you will step out into a pre-selected place, with offers awaiting you back at your rooms.” The selected few, sure. We’d seen the guild leaders ramping up for our cohort. The guilds were created specifically to keep us occupied. All of us, across various schools and holding places around the world. I didn’t know how many, or where exactly they were. That’s not something they’d taught us in civics class.


  Instead, they’d taught us about the values of human society, while teaching us to fight and protect ourselves, to get us ready to join various guilds.

  A place to live, to work, to be useful members of society. To serve important roles without humans having to worry about us being around them.

  Practically indentured servitude.

  “Those of you who don’t receive an invitation, you’ll need to select one before your two weeks are up.” She smiled, as though encouraging us to consider the possibilities. “Above all,” she concluded, “remember that, once in your guild, you are there for life. And may those years be as productive to society as possible.”

  To human society. That part wasn’t stated, but it was certainly implied.

  A scattering of applause echoed in the gym. Blake was loudest among them, getting more to rally with his dark looks. I sighed and didn’t bother, crossing my arms and waiting to be dismissed.

  Finally the moment came. Without further ado, Ms. Nadine nodded and stepped off the stage. We looked around, but the teachers were exiting. It was over. We were free to leave the school.

  I stood, feeling numb. This was the moment Clay and I had talked about for so long. The moment of us receiving invitations to the same guild.

  We began filing out of the gymnasium. The air crackled with nervous energy. Everyone was anxious to get back to their room and find out if an invitation was waiting for them.

  Clay fell in step with me.

  “Where you wanna go after this?” he asked.

  “Not sure,” I said, finding comfort in his stubborn belief that we’d be fine. “I guess it depends on if we have guild offers?” I gave him a wry smile, which he returned

  “I’m not worried,” he shrugged.

  The students filed out toward the rooms, some speaking excitedly, others quiet. I looked around, wondering if we’d ever get a moment like this again. Of everyone around us being from another world. Of finding comfort in the fact that we were all Traded, and none of us belonged on this planet.

  As soon as we left this place, we were going to be sharing space with humans. Some of us would blend in fine. But not all of us.

  “Meet you up front?” Clay said. I nodded, and we parted ways. Our rooms were in different wings. They just stuffed us in as they found us, so we didn’t exactly get to pick. The one thing I did like about this place was that you got your own room. Not that that was super impressive once you realized old jail cells had been repurposed for holding us. Still, everyone got a small room, a toilet and a sink. And the ability to be kept in lockdown if we didn’t behave.

  After last night, I wouldn’t miss this place at all. Just thinking about that solitary confinement made me shudder.

  Clay was right. We’d find better out there.

  A smile crept onto my lips, as I remembered past capers and started to allow myself to hope for new ones. The traffic grew thinner, the students all filing away into their own cells. I heard some excited shouts around me, but very few. There were moans, and silence.

  That silence bothered me most. I focused on the memories, a smile still on my lips as I turned into my cell.

  “Got lots to smile about there, demon?” Blake’s voice resonated behind me. My smile soured and I only half turned.

  “Getting away from you gives me plenty to smile about,” I shot back. He snorted.

  “That was some stunt you pulled off. Here I thought you hated bringing attention to yourself.”

  He was coming closer, and I turned to face him fully. He blocked the exit to my cell. Great. If the boy wanted a fight, he’d have it. Biggest problem was that I didn’t actually know what Blake could do. He kept that close to his chest, so I’d learned to always be cautious around him. He had a reputation you didn’t mess around with. Especially since a few of his “enemies” happened to just vanish.

  I stood my ground nonetheless. He glanced at my wall. They used old cubicle walls, mostly gray, to give us some privacy between cells. It made it even smaller, but at least it made it ours.

  “No invitation, I see?” he smirked and held up a piece of paper between his hands. It was gold-rimmed and looked damn fancy. Of course.

  “Did they invite you to the Dickheads R Us Guild?”

  Oh wow. Even I was embarrassed by how bad that comeback was.

  He took another step toward me. I continued to stand my ground, though shifted my right leg slightly, ready to move if he attacked. I was pretty sure that I was faster than him, but not sure enough to strike first.

  “I won’t forget what you did today,” he said, all dark evil like, and then smirked, like he was going to lean down and kiss me. But he didn’t, turning around instead, and vanishing around the corner.

  I hadn’t realized that I’d been holding my breath. As soon as he’d been gone long enough for me to be sure that he wasn’t going to return, I started to breathe again. Damn Blake. I wouldn’t miss that guy one bit.

  Or this place. I didn’t have much to bring with me. Mementos were few, as my “adoptive family” had dumped me here the first chance they got. Hadn’t seen them since. Didn’t really mind that part. They had been terrible, and I hoped that their own kid, the one that probably ended up in my crib in a faraway world, had found a nicer, kinder family.

  I liked to think that she had.

  I threw my clothing in my backpack and looked around for something else to take, but I didn’t have anything of value or worth keeping. I hoped to change that out in the world.

  I turned when something caught my eye. A black barrette lay on my pillow, one of those fancy (to me, anyway) hair pieces. I had a regular elastic that I used to braid my hair during practice. That was it. I’d never even seen a barrette in person before.

  I looked around me, my thin tail swishing in distrust. No one was here, and I couldn’t see any sign of anyone having been here. Then again, it wasn’t like this place was super secure. It was mostly just good at keeping people in.

  I took a closer look. The design was simple and thin. When turned at a forty-five degree angle to the light, a figure eight, an infinity symbol, revealed itself, carefully etched in the barrette’s strange material.

  There was no note attached to it.

  Who the hell had left it here?

  The bell rang again, giving us our ten-minute warning. They really wanted us out. The faculty would probably breathe easier once we were gone.

  Would the world? That part, I didn’t know. I had no idea how they’d prepped for us, if at all. They’d shut most of us out for years. I doubted a warm welcome waited for us on the other side. Maybe those two weeks to reach our guilds were to test that out. Limited-time offer for the Traded to prove they could in fact live among humans and not necessarily be trapped in guilds.

  That would be nice. The chance to actually have options.

  “Ready to go?” Clay popped into my room, turning sideways to clear the entrance. I slipped the barrette into my backpack and, with barely a glance back, I followed him out of the jail cell that had served as my room for the past thirteen years.

  “I really am,” I whispered to the shadows I left behind.

  #

  We cleared a few groups of hugging students. I caught snippets of conversations, mostly exclamations at where they were headed next.

  Some organizations, some businesses, even, but mostly guilds and leagues. The guilds. Strange and shady constructs with the sole purpose of keeping track of us. Of making sure we stayed in line.

  Most students were showing off invitations (more like orders to join) from various guilds. I spotted a few disappointed faces, though. The ones not selected now had two weeks to convince a guild to take them on. I’m not clear on what happens if one of us doesn’t have a placement by then.

  Probably best not to find out.

  We stepped out of the building. The yard stretched before us, leading to a now-open gate at the end. It was a good sight. Still, I glanced right and left, not quite believing we were just going to b
e allowed to walk out.

  A few students walked ahead, and Clay grinned at me.

  “Shall we?” he asked, and we practically bounced down the steps and walked up the path. We paused just before stepping out.

  “Haven’t been out of here, in the daylight, in thirteen years,” Clay said. I’d never heard him sound even remotely wistful beforehand.

  “Did you get a guild invitation?” I knew he wasn’t going back to his foster family, no more than I was. Clay’s mom was dead, and he’d never mentioned a dad, so I assumed he didn’t have one. Or not one worth mentioning.

  “Did you?” he asked. I thought about the barrette, but that wasn’t an invitation. Maybe a gift, I guess, though I couldn’t figure out who’d bother. I hadn’t exactly made many friends.

  “No,” I shrugged. “Their loss.”

  He grinned my way. “Just you and me, then?”

  I felt instant relief, all the stress oozing out of my tense muscles. “Guess so! I told you we failed that test.”

  He nodded and looked serious. “Spectacularly. We failed it spectacularly.”

  I laughed. “Yes. But we made it out, right? Because we watched each other’s backs.”

  “Always,” he said. “But, like, it was very spectacular.”

  “I told the girl I was a unicorn angel, Clay.”

  He glanced my way. “Oh ya? What’s that even like?”

  “I don’t know, but she didn’t seem to think I fit the bill.”

  “Hey, if you want to be a unicorn angel, Tira, then you be a unicorn angel.”

  I laughed again, feeling free for the first time in, well, ever. “So, where to now? We have to find something within two weeks. What the hell do we do before then?”

  “Well,” Clay said, “I guess we can head into one of the fine in-city halfway houses offered to us while we interview at guilds.”

  I glanced at his backpack, and my equally small pack of possessions. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Are we supposed to dress up for this interview?”