by K. C. RILEY
It was all too much. My skull felt like it had been blown to pieces with dynamite. “But it’s just a story, right? A myth?”
Sister Clara came to a halt as the holograms dispersed into fading golden particles. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. I think that’s enough for the night. Tomorrow will be a full day. You’d better get some rest,” she said. “You’re going to need it.”
That last part didn’t sound threatening at all. And she was right. I was smoked and couldn’t digest another word. Let alone ask any more questions other than how to get back to my room.
Sister Clara turned to another set of doors. “This place is a hall of circles that echo out from the main library. If you ever get lost, just remember there’s one set of doors that cuts through them all, those with the black serpent overhead. Once you’re in the library you’ll find the tunnel to your room at the foot of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love and fertility.”
Okay, so I was wrong.
“Got it. Just one more thing,” I said. “If I can get into this place from my room. Does that mean someone from here can do the opposite?”
“The door to your room will only work for you. Think of your voice as your signature. Your passcode of sort. Only you can use it.”
Great, I thought.
I pushed open the doors to the way back, but stopped. “Do you really believe in this stuff? Eve, Lilith, and the Elohim?”
“The question is not what I believe, Miss Maverick. It’s what you believe.”
Why did I even ask? In all of the drama, there was only one thing that felt real to me. Jake. “At least tell me this. Can Mrs. Ellington help bring Jake back or not? And more importantly, where the hell is he?”
“We are all here to help you, Miss Maverick. But be wary of Wynona. She doesn’t do a thing without her own interest at heart, regardless of who gets hurt in the process. I would say that we each have our own way of assisting those in need, especially when it comes to our students. And, as far as Mr. Patrilo, we’re not exactly sure where he is, at least not outside the realms of this dimension. We do, however, know he’s alive.”
I still couldn’t tell which side Sister Clara was rooting for, but she had completely nailed everything I had suspected about Mrs. Ellington. I sighed before closing the doors and saying goodnight.
“Goodnight,” Miss Maverick.
I cut across a hall of herbs and tinctures to the next set of snake doors. I then cut across what looked like a hall filled with microscopes and lab equipment. The next was the spell room. The next, after that, was a sitting hall with various exquisite paintings, a superb fireplace, and comfy looking antique couches. That soon opened into a cavern that seemed to be made entirely of what looked like salt. The space was filled with gongs, meditation mats, and purple crystals that grew out of the walls. I licked my finger, rubbed it against the pale pink surface of the cavern and tasted. Yep. Salt.
From there, I crossed through an indoor garden of lush trees that had to be at least twenty feet tall. And, yeah. Trees. A soft breeze swished through the exotic foliage and against my face as though we were standing outside. And yet, we were underground. Freaking remarkable.
Water trickled down the sides of the stone walls and dripped into a small pool that gathered at the floor. It was all so…relaxing. And maybe that was the point. I stopped for a minute to deeply inhale the smell of herbs, stone, flowers, water, and magic that filled the air. I mean, what else would you call it? A garden that grows without sunlight and a gentle wind that blows from nothing. Again, remarkable.
Minutes later, I was finally back at the main library. And at the foot of Hathor’s statue was the doorway back to my room. I followed the glowing markings of dragonflies up the stairs.
With the magic words, my door opened and the radiator whistled as I closed it behind me. I dropped into my bed with a heart as heavy as lead. There was no way the story on the walls was true. It had to be a coincidence. My face, Jake’s face, Kai’s face. It had to be. Too bad I couldn’t convince the hives that had broken out on my arms.
Kai’s words rang in my ear. There’s no such thing as coincidence. While I missed him, his smile, his kindness, he was far better off being away from this place. He was probably giving some rich celebrity a reading in Hollywood right now, a reading without the worry of being possessed by some deranged spirit like my aunt. At least, I hoped. Yeah. He was totally better off.
Let me out...
The ragged voice inside of my head echoed through my bones. I hadn’t heard it for weeks and thought it had completely disappeared along with the whispers. As I swallowed the lump in my throat, I tried not to think about the beast behind the door from the dreams I’d had when first arriving at All Saints.
Looking back on it all, I figured that the darkness on the other side of the door was Norah. But what if it was something more sinister? What if it was...me?
No. I was being silly, tired. Paranoid. Sister Clara’s stories were just myths. I was not the reincarnated soul of Eve. And I was certainly not Lilith.
I would have said I’d gotten some sleep, but I had been awakened by one nightmare after the other until a cool breeze settled in the room. I wrapped myself tight into my covers grateful for the cozy drop in temperature and had finally fallen into a sweet sleep. Or so I thought.
I was back on the shore of Lake Shadowick, unable to control my own body. Blood conjuring. Aunt Norah had taken full control of my legs, guiding and forcing me into the depths of the dark water where she waited with foul blue lips ready to suck the life out of me. Taking back control of my legs was useless. And the only thing left after she had gotten a hold of me, were my dried bones and skin. But even that wasn’t enough for her dark appetite.
Aunt Norah swallowed me whole.
The strange part was that inside the black pit of her stomach, I saw Jake.
His beautiful wings had been ripped from his back, the raw nubs of bone and flesh putrefied as his battered body dangled from the chains that had held him bound between two stone pillars with symbols carved on them. The sweltering heat and stench of sulfur thickened the air until it was barely breathable.
My heart wrenched at every bruise and gash on his body like they were my own.
Jake’s voice was weak as he looked up. “Liz? What are you doing here?” He barely muttered. “And how?” Exhausted, his head dropped back down. “Don’t come back here...ever.”
I tried to speak but couldn’t. My voice was gone. I zoomed in closer to the chains that held him and could feel the hot metal that seared into his skin as though I was the one that had been bound. I tugged at the chains to free him when something from the shadows grabbed my arm burning the hell out of me.
“Soon my sweet,” it said. “Soon.”
A loud ringing scared me out of the dream slamming me back into my body.
I grabbed my phone and shut the blasted alarm off. 6:15 a.m.
It took a minute to reorient myself between the room and the things I had seen with Jake. It was just a bad dream, was what I told myself until I glanced at the burned claw print on my forearm, the one that sizzled and bubbled until it disappeared. I hated the supernatural. More than that, I hated struggling with what to believe. Was Jake really in trouble and barely alive? Or was I just delirious?
Drenched in sweat, I got up and showered.
Still worried about Jake, I changed into my uniform and anxiously waited by the door for Josie and Cassie to meet me for my first day of...Witch School. I still couldn’t believe I was saying that. Regardless, if going to witch school was what would get Jake back, then so be it.
The image of Jake’s ripped wings and broken body twisted at my gut when someone knocked at the door.
“That was fast,” Cassie said, radiant as ever.
Her dark brown skin glowed like an angel and her jet black hair had been straightened past her shoulders. Either way, curled or straight, she looked great. She really did. But there was something off.
Maybe it was
guilt for the betrayal and lies. Or maybe it was something else. Grief, perhaps? Sadness? I could see it in her eyes. And why not, after everything she had told me about her family. It was at that moment that I remembered Jake’s note about her dad. With everything that happened the previous night, I had completely forgotten.
I had no idea whether the man that had shot me, Cassie’s father, was still alive.
“You look like hell,” Josie said, with her platinum bob and big blue eyes sparkling in the morning light.
How on earth were they doing it? Staying up late but waking up like goddesses.
“Thanks,” I said, barging between the two and closing the door behind me.
“Sorry. That came out wrong,” Josie said. “You know me and my big mouth. No filter.”
“No. It came out right,” I said, cranky. “Well? Are we going or not?”
They both shared an awkward look before getting a move on.
I was tired, more than likely crazy, and more importantly, at a loss as to how to save Jake. The dream was still fresh in my mind, his broken body. I tried to squash the feeling of being pathetic. Everyone kept saying I was a witch, that I had special powers and that I was here as Eve to save magic, whatever that meant.
The truth was, I was nothing. No one. And yet, I had to figure out how to be something quick if I was going to get Jake back.
We stepped into the mostly empty bathroom and acted like we were putting on makeup until the coast was clear. I already knew what to do as Josie and Cassie lingered behind. I went into an opened stall and closed the door, but didn’t lock it. I whispered the magic words, and for a second hesitated at the ridiculousness of it all, walking through a solid wall.
3
I entered the gray-stoned hall where classes were being held. The first thing I noticed was the life-size stone angels with swords that lined the circular enclosure. At the front of the room was a fountain, a cherub pouring water from a vase. On his granite wing sat a raven, his chest rising slowly in and out as though he was in a deep sleep. How odd. I wanted to ask the girls what was up with the old molting bird, but I wasn’t talking to them, not unless I had to.
“Let’s give a warm welcome to our newest member of The Society. Miss Elizabeth Maverick.” Mrs. Ellington wore sleek black pumps with a chic black dress cut just above the knee and sleeves just below the elbow.
She seemed to have it all. She was sexy, rich, beautiful, and most of all, dangerous. Be careful with Wynona. Sister Clara’s words never rang louder as eight senior girls seated at stone tables clapped. I was the ninth.
“While I’m sure you’re all familiar with the rules, let’s go over them for our newest member. The house rule. Anyone?” Mrs. Ellington looked around the room.
Sarah from theology class finally raised her hand. “All students and members of The Society must take it and all its secrets to the grave.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Ellington said. “And the consequence for sharing our secrets?”
“Banishment.”
“And what is banishment?” Mrs. Ellington asked.
“A memory wipe of everything learned through our organization.”
“Precisely.”
These guys weren’t playing. I thought about who I would tell if I could. The only person that came to mind was Aunt Vye. And while Aunt Vye wasn’t a member of The Society, I suspected she knew a lot more than she was letting on, especially since her father was once a Grand Master of the place.
“What if you tell someone like a relative or a boyfriend or girlfriend by accident? What happens if you slip up?” I asked.
“My advice? Don’t.” Mrs. Ellington did that thing again, say something incredibly sinister with the voice, grace, and smile of someone sharing an ice-cold glass of lemonade on a blazing hot day. The only problem was that the lemonade was sweeter than nectar but straight-up poison. “The next three rules form the basis of our studies. One, never bring back the dead. It never works out. Two, never perform a love spell. Those never work out either. And three, never host a Fallen Angel or a Vamp.”
Never bring back the dead? She had to be kidding. “Host?” I asked. “What does that mean?”
“Letting a Fallen and or Vamp feed on you is strictly forbidden. Here at The Society, we provide our girls with their own resources. I think it’s time we demonstrate.” Mrs. Ellington walked over to the cherub water fountain. Napping, the raven never budged. Mrs. Ellington and all the girls then pulled out the small vials that hung around their necks like charms. One by one, the girls got up from their seats to form a line behind Mrs. Ellington.
Mrs. Ellington whispered to the cherub. “Onture Kures.” The water that poured from the vase in its hands stopped. She then placed the vial, encased in silver, underneath it and drops of black liquid oozed from the vase into the vial.
She did the same for each girl in line. Everyone returned to their seats, including Cassie and Josie.
“We are the keepers of The Secret Society of Souls,” they all said before placing a drop under their tongue.
My chest tightened at the haunting sound of their voices, the way it echoed through the halls. When they were done, every last one of their eyes had blackened over. Fallen venom.
Christ. I was neck-deep into some sort of dark seedy witch cult and was sure I had made a grave mistake. I wasn’t cut out to be dark, seedy, or a witch. At least, not until Jake’s tattered body flashed before my eyes.
Cult or not, The Secret Society of Souls was the only way to get him back.
“The Fallen venom comes from an aqueduct beneath the cavern floors. A great war between Angels and Fallen was fought here. Blood spilled on both sides. You could think of this place as one mass grave, a holy place. Sacred ground.”
That didn’t make me feel any better, either.
“Sir Isaac understood the energy of the site. It was he that discovered how the light in Celestial blood could stabilize the dark effects of Fallen venom. The sacrament enhances our natural talents, abilities, and intuition, some more than others. It also gives us the power to read spells. Most of the scrolls and books here are written in the language of The Burning Ones, angels, light. All that said, you, my dear Lizzy, won’t need a single ounce of it.”
According to her. The more I thought about Jake, the more I realized that maybe Fallen venom was exactly what I needed, something to jumpstart my magic. “And, why not?” I asked curiously.
Mrs. Ellington chuckled. “Why, it’s simple, dear. You’re a natural witch.”
“How can I be a witch if I don’t have powers? Any,” I stressed. “Or at least, powers that I can control when I need them.” And I wasn’t talking about empathy. Empathy was way over rated. Not to mention, exhausting.
Sister Clara entered the room dressed in her usual; all white. Her silver hair shimmered in the light of the orbs that hovered at the top of the ceiling. She and Mrs. Ellington glanced and nodded as though sending cryptic smoke signals to each other.
“Perfect timing, Clara. Lizzy was just telling us her dilemma. A natural witch with no powers.”
“I see,” Sister Clara said, intrigued. “Well then, that will be our first lesson for the day.”
“Marvelous. I do wish I could stay, but duty calls.” Mrs. Ellington turned toward me before leaving. “We’ll figure it all out. Don’t you worry about a thing. In the meantime, I think you’ll find your studies here to be quite different from what you’re used to.” She then glanced at Sister Clara. “We believe the best mode of learning is hands-on.”
I couldn’t say what was going on between the two ladies, but the feeling of being some kind of lab rat slithered across my shoulders as everyone’s eyes fell on me.
“Please, Miss Maverick.” Sister Clara motioned me up to the front of the room. “All right girls, gather round. Sarah, please dim the lights.”
Sarah glared up at the luminous globe that hovered at the ceiling. At the words, Tereres Otures, the lights dimmed and darkened the hall. Sister Clara and al
l eight girls then slowly walked around me in a circle peering through me as though I was a window to some foreign landscape.
“Wait,” Sarah said. The girls stopped in their places. “Are you sure this is safe? What about, you know, Lilith?”
“And the fresco,” another girl said, stirring a rumble. Clearly, they were not team Liz.
“That’s enough. There’s nothing to fear here,” Sister Clara said quickly cutting them off. Our sister needs our help. And help is what she will get. Now, are there any other objections?”
The heat of embarrassment flushed up my neck and into my face.
No one said another word about it, but it was clear they were all thinking the same thing. Was I good witch or a bad one? To make matters worse, I couldn’t blame them because I wasn’t sure of the answer myself.
“Good,” Sister Clara said. “Let’s continue.”
The girls started circling me again, their eyes glued to my soul.
“I don’t see a thing,” said Josie.
“I don’t either,” said some of the others.
Sister Clara clapped her hands. “Girls, focus.” Everyone’s eyes went black. “Miss Maverick, we’re going to need you to try and tap into your power. Think of all the times when it’s showed up. Even just a spark of it. Strange things that may have happened around you, or to you. Glitches. Anything. Magic is often triggered by our emotions.”
Hmmm. I thought back to Jake being devoured by the black mist, how I was both terrified and angry that I couldn’t do a damn thing to help him.
“That’s it.” Sister Clara’s eyes fixated on something.
What, exactly? I had no idea.
“Keep going,” she said.
I thought about Norah and Zander. It was Zander that had kidnapped me the night of The Homecoming Ball, forcing me to take him to the amulet. In the process, he had killed Charlene and Duke, the ghost hunters, drugged Jake, and might have killed me if the Black Mist hadn’t gotten to him first. And then there was Aunt Norah. She threatened to kill my friends if I didn’t retrieve the amulet for her. Not only that, she used Blood Conjuring to control my body. That, I had hated most of all.
