by K. C. RILEY
A smiley face emoticon beeped through from Aunt Vye tugging at my heart strings. That’s all there was to it. I couldn’t let her down. She was the only family I had left, besides Uncle Jonas. And he was still somewhere in the jungles of South America scavenging for who knew what? I would just have to figure it all out myself. I texted her back that I would be there which left me fifteen minutes to get to class.
Half out of breath, I dashed into Mr. Pinkleton’s room with thirty seconds to spare.
“Cutting it close, Miss Maverick.” He handed out test scores from yesterday’s test as I walked past him to get to my desk. “One more F and its detention.”
That had to be wrong. And if it wasn’t, why did he have to announce it to the entire class? An F? I had never gotten anything less than a B in my entire life. Mortified, I took the paper and sat at my desk.
The room got hot, almost spinning. An F. Me. I wondered if he’d let me retake it. Even if he did, where would I find the time to study?
“All right, everyone settle down and turn your books to page 374, Impacts and Linear Momentum. Sarah, can you tell us the definition of an elastic collision?”
“Sure,” Sarah said, without batting an eyelash.
Knowing good and well I hadn’t read the assignment, I sunk lower into my seat and prayed Pinkleton wouldn’t prey on me. And if he did, what would I say? Sorry, I was way too busy exorcising a demon slug from Cassie’s father?
I glanced over at Sarah again. Why couldn’t I be more like her? Or Cassie and Josie for that matter? She looked just as refreshed and glowy as all the other girls from The Society. And where was she finding the time to study between both places? The answer was simple. Fallen venom.
“An elastic collision is an encounter between two bodies in which the total kinetic energy is equal to their total kinetic energy before the encounter,” Sarah said, all bright and sickeningly cheery.
Aside from not knowing what the heck she was talking about, I wondered about using the sleep spell Mrs. Ellington had used on Mr. Johnson before Pinkleton could call on me. Then again, Pinkleton passing out in the middle of class was probably a bad idea.
“Very good,” Pinkleton said. He went on to ask several other students about inelastic collision and two-dimensional collisions with two moving objects.
Luckily, Pinkleton’s questions ended and he shifted gears to lecture mode.
I perked back up in my seat as the tension in my shoulders began to unravel. Minutes seemed more like hours as Pinkleton’s voice droned on and on. Nothing new there. The more he talked, the heavier my limbs got. It was like someone had cast a sleep spell on me, instead. I propped my hand under my head to hold it up. It didn’t help. Before I knew it, I was out.
Water dripping echoed in the darkness. I wasn’t sure where I was, but it smelled bad, like rotten eggs, sulfur. The sound of a heart beating—one other than my own—felt familiar as it thumped in my ears. I stopped to listen closer. Jake’s heart. Realizing it was him somehow pulled me out of the void of darkness and directly in front of his mangled body.
Jake’s bruises and cuts had gotten worse. So had the stench of the dried lumps of blood that had crusted over them.
“Jake!” I cried out. “What has it done to you?”
The demon from my dreams had beaten Jake badly, his beautiful black wings ripped from his back and thrown to the side like trash.
I scraped the bloodstained hair from his battered face with my fingers. This was all my fault. “Jake,” I whispered. “Say something. Anything.”
Jake barely muttered as he opened his swollen eyes. “I told you not to come here. Why don’t you ever listen?”
“Because I’m stubborn, like you.”
A smile curled on his bruised face for just a second.
“I’m not leaving you here.” I tugged at the chains tethered to his wrist but it was no use. I couldn’t free him. I pulled again when something grabbed my arm and burned the hell out of me. It was the demon. I still couldn’t see its face. But it was him. I was sure of it.
“Soon,” it grunted, holding on to my forearm.
I screamed out in pain when the class bell woke me up at my desk.
All the students gathered their stuff and swarmed past me as though I wasn’t there. Luckily, they were as desperate to get as far away from Pinkleton’s boring lectures as I was. I quickly hid the red claw print that sizzled underneath my hand, but there was no point because it had completely vanished. Just like before.
Relieved that I hadn’t made a complete ass of myself, I gathered my books and jetted for the door.
“Oh, Miss Maverick. A minute of your time, please. I know how valuable it is.” The sarcasm in Pinkleton’s voice was more like someone scratching their nails across the chalkboard.
I froze in my tracks and turned to face him with a half-broken smile. “I can explain.”
“Best to save it for kitchen duty. Tonight.” Pinkleton reached over to his desk and handed me the battered apron that had been sitting there waiting for me.
There was no way I could do kitchen duty. I didn’t have the time. “But…”
“No, buts, Miss Maverick. And my advice? Don’t be late.”
Pinkleton’s voice was drowned out by the conversation I’d had with Sister Clara.
The venom would be dangerous for you, Miss Maverick. There are just too many variables we don’t understand yet. Trust me. After everything you’ve been through and survived, you can do this on your own.
No. I can’t, was the only thing I could think as Pinkleton's lips moved like a cow chewing on hay. A cow with a really bad comb-over.
Sister Clara was wrong about me. I was stressed to the max. Besides looking, feeling, and smelling like crap, the F, falling asleep in class, Jake being tortured, and the realization that it would take a lifetime just to read one book from the Halls of Alexandria to find a way to save him… I’d had enough.
Pinkleton and his apron were the last straw.
“Are you listening to me, Miss Maverick?” Pinkleton barked.
“Yes, sir. Loud and clear, sir. Kitchen duty, sir. And don’t be late...sir.”
Pinkleton raised an eyebrow. I should have thanked him. It was because of him that I had finally made my mind up to take the venom.
Upon arriving at my next class, Theological Studies, the guilt had already set in. I hadn’t even done anything yet. It was hard keeping a straight face in front of Sister Clara all the while contemplating the best time to go and steal the venom. Then again, was I stealing? Really? No one ever said that I couldn’t have any, not exactly. Still, the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint her. Especially, given how much she seemed to believe in me. But what other choice was there?
During my free period, after lunch, I was pretty sure everyone would still be in classes at All Saints as opposed to running the Halls of Alexandria, everyone except Sister Maria who kept mainly to the lab. The plan was foolproof.
The only thing left to do was to make it through the rest of the period, calm, cool, and grounded. I had this.
By the time I had gotten to lunch, I was too nervous to eat. Jake was more than likely being tortured to death and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. The helplessness was driving me crazy.
I had just gotten in the lunch line and fixed a small plate of vegetable pad Thai when Josie flagged me down.
She and Cassie were radiant as ever. I couldn’t say I wasn’t bitter.
“Wow, you still look like crap.” Leave it to Josie to tell the truth, undiluted and unfiltered.
“Thanks,” I said, sitting down and ignoring her.
Cassie popped a tater tot in her mouth. “Heard about the F.”
So much for eating. I had forgotten how fast news traveled around this place.
Cassie smiled warmly. “Sorry. What I meant to say was we can help if you need it.”
“As in a magic spell for better grades?”
“No, not exactly,” Cassie said. “Study
partners.”
Not what I was thinking. “Thanks. But, I’ve got it covered.”
Josie dialed in closer. “What do you mean you’ve got it covered?”
I attempted to avoid all eye contact and the invasion of personal space by twirling more noodles onto my fork. She wasn’t backing down. “What?” I asked.
“What are you up to?” Cassie prodded.
As nervous as I was about stealing the venom, there was also something alluring about breaking the rules.
After all, it was Sister Clara, herself, who suggested I do that very thing the day of the Homecoming Ball when Headmaster Wheeler sentenced me to an eternity of kitchen duty.
“Here’s how I see it, Miss Maverick. What’s more important? The rules or your friends and Mr. Patrilo?”
“If you say anything I will find and end you both.”
“Grumpy much?” Josie asked.
“No way,” Cassie said. “Tell me you’re not thinking about—”
“I’m not confirming a thing until you both swear.”
Josie lowered her voice and looked around. “But you have no idea what it will do to a... You know...Conjurer,” she whispered.
Paranoid, no thanks to Josie, I looked around too. I was pretty sure no one could hear us. “Swear.”
“All right, I swear,” Cassie replied.
“Josie?”
“All right. I swear too. But for the record, I think you’re making a big mistake. I mean what if you blow yourself up, or the school for that matter?”
My phone buzzed.
“You’re not helping. And I’m still going to do it.” I said, glancing at my phone.
It almost fell from my hand. There was a text from Kai who I had just dreamed about hours ago.
“Are you listening to me?” Josie huffed. “And who is that? And why are you blushing?”
I quickly stuffed my phone back into my blazer pocket. “I. Am not. Blushing,” I lied.
“And here I thought we weren’t keeping secrets anymore?” Josie countered.
Cassie slurped on her soda grinning like the devil.
“Fine,” I said. They weren’t going to let up. I took my phone back out and handed it to Josie who proceeded to read Kai’s text.
Josie’s eyes widened as big as saucers. “I remember everything. Sorry for all of it. Can’t imagine what you think of me. I’m in town. Can we talk?” She glanced up from the phone. “No way.”
“Are you going to meet him?” Cassie asked.
I shrugged. The part of me that practically devoured Kai until he was nothing more than ash in my dream wanted to say absolutely not. However, the part of me that hated how Aunt Norah and Mrs. Ellington used him to get what they wanted, said of course. Kai and I needed to talk about what happened that night. That’s all there was to it.
Besides, I missed him. As a friend. I put the thought of kissing him out of my mind. It was just a bad dream. That was all. It had to be.
Cassie dipped her last tater tot in a blob of ketchup. “You know, I think The Society was going to recruit him before your aunt possessed his body and he lost his memory.”
Cassie might have been right. The day I bumped into Kai at school he had mentioned the school library was open to the public on the weekends, which was true. He had also mentioned he was doing some research. But what kind of research would a well-established psychic have been doing at an old high school library? Not unless he was talking about the one beneath the ground, the Halls of Alexandria.
“But who knows. If he’s back and remembers everything…” Cassie continued.
The thought of Mrs. Ellington possibly using him again sent my blood into a boil. “So getting possessed by my deranged aunt was what? A test to get in?”
“I hate to say it, but maybe,” Cassie added.
I already knew Mrs. Ellington would have stopped at nothing to get what she wanted, impeccable southern manners and all. She made that clear by freeing Aunt Norah in the first place. And while I wanted nothing more than for Mrs. Ellington to drop dead, I still needed her.
“What you said earlier, how The Society can erase a person’s memory. You don’t think they…”
Cassie shrugged. “I doubt it. Once The Society takes a memory, it’s gone for good.”
She had a point.
“Well, then, it’s settled. I’m going to meet Kai. It’s the least I can do after everything he’s been through.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Josie said. “If you need us to go with, just say the word.”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks.”
“Suit, yourself.”
“So?” Cassie asked.
“So what?”
A wicked smile curled at the corner of Cassie’s mouth. “When are you going to, you know, do it?”
“With Kai?” I said, defensively. The paranoia of thinking the girls had used magic to see me kissing Kai in my dreams had completely taken over.
“What? No,” Cassie said. “What’s wrong with you? The venom.”
Everything was wrong with me. “Next period,” I said. “Mrs. Ellington should be off somewhere in her palace, being, well, Mrs. Ellington. Sister Clara has another theology class. And Sister Maria will more than likely be in the lab.”
“I still have a bad feeling about all of this,” Josie countered.
The girls spent the rest of lunch arguing the pros and cons of what could happen if a natural witch took Fallen venom. It didn’t matter.
“So your mind is made up?” Cassie asked.
“Definitely.”
“Fine. Well, you didn’t get this from me.” Cassie slipped something into my hand before we got up to empty our trays in the trash. A glass vial encased in silver trimming. “Each vial is enchanted so that only the person who owns the vial can actually use the venom with in it. There’s no sharing. Not after what happened to Chloe and her boyfriend. The Society made sure of it. I couldn’t hack the spell so I had to create one of my own. It might work. It might not. But most of all. Whatever happens, do not share the venom you put in the vial with anyone.”
“I’ll take my chances. Thanks.” More and more I was beginning to think that just maybe these girls were actually on my side. Time would tell.
“No more than one drop to give yourself some time to see how it works,” Josie added. “Be careful. And we want to know everything.”
I nodded.
After dumping our trays, we grabbed our bags for class.
I knew the answer was probably no given that we had regular classes all day, but I thought I would ask anyway. “Any luck on a spell to remove the bind yet?”
“Nothing solid,” Cassie said.
“Me either,” Josie added.
“I plan on doing some more research tonight,” Cassie said. “You can join me in the library if you want. I’ll be there around six.”
“I can’t get there till eight,” I said throwing my bag over my shoulder. “I’ve got kitchen duty.”
“Ewww. Sucks for you,” Josie said.
“Yeah. Pinkleton,” I said. “Text me if you find something.”
They both nodded.
“Hey, wait.” Cassie stopped us as we were about to leave. “One more thing. I meant to show this to you guys earlier.” She pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it for me and Josie to read.
Church Revival - The Great Salvation
November 16th – 21st
From 7 – 9 p.m.
Old Timothy Rd.
Get Your Divine Healing from
the Reverend Brother of Light
Come one, Come all.
“The Reverend Brother of Light? And you have this because?” Josie asked.
“It’s not mine. It’s from Alexei,” Cassie whispered. “He found it in my dad’s pocket. He thought it might have been a clue.”
“If it’s a clue, why didn’t he give it to Sister Clara or Mrs. Ellington?” I asked. The whole thing seemed off.
A lunch monitor marched toward us. �
��Let’s move it, girls.”
Cassie shrugged and quickly folded the paper back up, shoving it into her pocket. “Maybe he doesn’t trust them either.” Cassie mouthed the words, The Society. “Anyway, we’ll talk more later.”
What was Cassie’s dad, or rather a demon slug, doing with a flyer for a church revival?
9
I was on my way back to the dorm to get to Alexandria. According to Sister Clara, the secret doors in our rooms were for studying after hours in the main hall library and emergencies only—like escaping an angry mob of townspeople bent on burning witches. That said, I couldn’t use the door in my room to get into the hall I needed. I would have to go through the girls’ bathroom to get to the main doors.
Attempting to multitask, I replied to Kai’s message.
Glad you’re okay. I’m sorry too. I’ve got work tomorrow at Vye’s.
I told Vye I couldn’t come in until 11:00 am so I could look up some spells for myself and Jake. But that also meant I wouldn’t get out of there until later in the day. I thought of The Book of the Unnamed but remembered my promise. I had to try to keep it.
Meet you after? Say 7:00? :)
A warm gust of wind with hints of cool air blew against my face. It made me think of Jake, the way he could get me out of my head long enough to breathe and sense the pulse of life that was all around me.
The night he revealed that he was an angel—I mean Fallen—he took my hand and placed it to the ground. I thought my entire body would implode, between the gentle touch of his hand and the feel of the moist grass at my fingertips. The night had been warm. And Jake’s eyes glistened as the energy of the earth ran up into my fingers, hands, and body. Jake’s lips had met mine with gentle kisses. And every part of my body quaked. I had never felt anything so alive, raw, and full of power—the Earth, and Jake, both breathing and pulsing through me as one perfect living thing.
I stopped for a minute to feel the leaves of the trees that whipped in the wind, the different shades of silver and green that danced and glittered in the sunlight. It was harder than I thought, connecting to the magic of all of it without him.
