by Cege Smith
In all of that detail there had never been mention of a person standing at the entrance to the garden. Eve looked at Malcom to see if he had noticed, but Malcom was still listening intently to Samuel.
Eve peered more closely. The man's age was hard to determine. His hair was black with startling streaks of white throughout, but his face appeared unlined. He was dressed in bib overalls and his skin was tanned from many days out in the sun. In one of his hands, he held what looked like a large pair of pruning shears. The man looked up at the sun and seemed to shift uncomfortably.
On any other day, Eve would have assumed the man was a gardener, but today there was something about him that was...menacing. If Eve hadn’t known better, she would have said that the man was guarding the entrance. But that would be silly. First of all, who in their right mind would want to go into the garden, and secondly, for what purpose? It was a large creepy place that led to the most mysterious monument in the whole of the territory.
She heard a throat clear again and realized that everyone in the group was looking at her. The acolyte looked pained and Malcom wore an expression of dismay. He bounced Cameron in front of him, and Eve racked her brain to remember where they were in the ceremony. She had studied the handbook night and day for the last six months. She knew she should know this stuff cold.
Eve closed her eyes as she clutched the handbook closer to her chest, willing it to tell her where they were. One wrong word and she would cost Cameron her soul. They had received the opening remarks. They had gone through the gate incantation. They were in the courtyard. The Lead Acolyte would ask if anyone had any questions before they would be escorted into the garden.
Eve's eyes flew open. As the last ones to enter, she and Malcom had first rights to ask a question. Each Chosen's parents had the right to ask one clarifying question in the event that the handbook had left out some critical detail. Given the complexity of the handbook, Eve thought many questions had been asked over the years, and the handbook had been enhanced to such a degree that the prescribed Q&A was little more than a formality. But today didn't seem like a normal day.
The words tumbled out before she could think to stop them, "Who is that man by the entrance to the garden?"
Eve heard small gasps from the others around her, and the acolyte looked at her through narrowed eyes. She saw him flush around the collar of his cassock. There was something going on.
"That is Bishop, the gardener," he said.
Eve started to ask for more information, but saw the warning in Malcom's eyes and caught herself. Each couple was allowed one question and custom dictated that usually it was the father who spoke. She knew she should be proud that he had been obviously paying closer attention to the ceremonial formalities than she gave him credit. Eve looked at the other two couples. Emily was staring at her with her mouth open. Eve felt herself blush under the scrutiny. She had been merely curious. The other two men murmured quick declines when Samuel asked if they had any questions.
Eve felt Malcom's hand on her arm. He tugged her off the side and she could tell that he was angry. He made one quick gesture. He swiped a hand across his neck and cupped it over his mouth. Then he stared hard at her. Cut it out. Keep quiet.
Eve didn't know what was going on with her, but the seriousness of the situation, now that it had arrived, was not lost on her. She looked at her daughter and then up into her husband's eyes and felt ashamed. She nodded and hung her head.
Suddenly Malcom's hand was under her chin and she was looking into his eyes again. She saw that they had softened, and she felt tears in the corners of her eyes. She grabbed his hand and pulled it against her cheek. Then she stepped close to him. She put her hand on Cameron's head and took a deep breath. It was time.
SAMUEL
The Lowden woman had thrown him off balance. Samuel wasn't used to parents being distracted during the ceremony. And they hadn't even gotten to the really important stuff yet. As if there weren't enough signs pointing to the fact that today's ceremony was out of the ordinary.
He had gone through all of the ceremonial activities that were required here in the courtyard. He had asked for the questions, and surprisingly had one. Samuel knew he shouldn't have been surprised. With the level of detail in the handbook, Bishop's presence would be a glaring omission from an otherwise exhaustive list of everything that a Resident could possibly experience throughout the afternoon.
The Head Master had always said that the more information that was given to the Residents, the more comfortable they'd feel with the rather unorthodox procedure, and therefore the fewer questions they would have. Samuel had long wondered if the purpose was to overwhelm the Residents with so much information that they wouldn’t even know what to ask, thus ensuring the Office of Souls didn't get questions that they didn't want to answer.
As the time stretched into several minutes, the couples in front of him were starting to glance at him with questions in their eyes. According to the ceremonial rules, they weren’t allowed to speak once they entered the compound grounds for fear of expulsion (no doubt another benign rule created to reduce the possibility of uncomfortable questions). He couldn't dally any longer, although the very last thing that Samuel wanted to do at that point was enter the garden itself. He was afraid of what he might find there.
He cleared his throat to ensure he had their attention, although they were already all watching him carefully. "Parents, Chosen, the time is upon us to enter the garden. Follow me and stay close together. If you get lost in the garden, you could be lost forever." With that ominous warning, he stepped towards the garden entrance.
As soon as he was within ten feet of Bishop, he sensed the wrongness in the air. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, and because the ceremony had started he couldn't ask Bishop if he had seen or heard anything amiss.
As he passed the gardener, he saw the man's eyes shift away from him and past the crowd out in the distance. He desperately wanted Bishop to meet his gaze but the man wouldn’t look at him, no doubt still annoyed after their earlier interaction. He had to continue forward.
The group was close behind him, and he could feel the electricity in the air the moment he crossed beyond the boundary into the garden. It was a feeling that he sensed every time he was inside. There was something alien in the garden, something that didn't belong here on this plane of existence.
Samuel knew what it was. It was the unenbodied souls that they called forth for distribution. The souls resided in the fountain's waters until they were placed within the Chosen. The location of the souls when they weren't in the fountain was a secret known only to the Head Master. Once the preparations began and the Calling was complete, the souls were simply there. And in between the distribution days, the fountain was empty.
Samuel remembered the day he had been dispatched to the garden to stop the fountain from being compromised. He knew how close they had come; Bishop's foot had been within inches of the water's surface. And if Samuel had ever doubted the souls within the waters could be dangerous, those doubts evaporated the moment that thing rose from the pond's surface.
He shook off the memory. That wasn't where he needed to be focused. He heard a short cry from one of the Chosen. He was tempted to turn and give the family a stern look, but he heard a quick and urgent “Shhh!” and knew that the parents were trying to stay within the guidelines.
He heard a rustling to his left. He drew up short and felt the others stop behind him. He knew their first inclination would be to ask a question, but of course that was forbidden, and once again he was grateful. The shrub wall was tall and thick, but Samuel had been walking the garden's pathways for years. He knew that, although they couldn't see it, there was a parallel path on the other side of the wall. If he hadn’t known better, he would have said that someone was moving along that path with them. Tracking them. But with the safety net in place, nothing malevolent could enter the garden. Samuel turned his attention back to the group behind him and continued on.
/> MALCOM
Malcom handed Cameron to Eve just before they entered the garden. He saw the gardener hanging around by the entrance and didn't know what to think of him. Eve had spent the last six months absorbing everything there was to know about what was going to happen today. He knew that her question had not been frivolous. His wife was never frivolous. The man's presence wasn't normal.
Although he wanted to ask Eve about it, he knew that the last thing he could do was speak again before the conclusion of the ceremony. That would be disastrous. So he held his tongue and kept his family close to him as they started down the garden path.
As they walked, the acolyte Samuel told them the story of the garden's beginning. Although he had read the story in the handbook, there was something soothing about Samuel's voice.
"Many years ago, after the end of Before and before any civilization had been re-established in what would become the territory of Malm, a small group of nomads found a pool of water standing alone in the midst of a great field. The pool was unusually colored for a normal body of water, and the nomads settled beside it to study it. No one dared drink from the water lest something horrible would happen," Samuel said.
"Then one day, one of the women who had been heavily pregnant when the nomads arrived went into labor. The ordeal was long and terrible, and when it was over she was exhausted. Then, as today, and as it has been since the end of Before: a birth meant that another soulless entered the world, our punishment for the wicked deeds of mankind in Before. Because she didn't have the strength to travel to another nearby pool, she took the infant to this strange pool to rinse off the afterbirth. This became the first Soul Distribution Day. You see, the woman had prayed to the Light above to save her child and ensoul it. When she rinsed the baby, she realized that where once there had been an ugly mottled face, now there was the face of a cherub. Through the mother's strong faith in the Light, the Creator had been granted her baby a soul. The word spread far and wide, and soon many mothers were bringing their babies to the pool to be ensouled. It didn't long before the pool turned white and no more babies were granted souls. A short time later, a wise man appeared in the settlement that had grown up around the pool. He claimed to know why the babies were no longer being granted souls. The Light above had spoken to him."
The acolyte stopped and turned around. The crowd drew up to him.
"That wise man was the man you met in the courtyard—our very own Head Master. Under his orders, a fountain was built on top of the pool, and after he spoke the ancient spells, souls appeared in the fountain again. And with his guidance, those souls were safely implanted into waiting infants. It has been so ever since then, and you and your children join a long lineage of Chosen who have been honored with a soul."
Malcolm looked at Eve. She was bouncing Cameron absentmindedly. Clearly she was absorbed in the story. As Malcom looked around the small circle, he could see that she was not the only one. They had arrived at a small opening in the shrub walls that seemed to shimmer in the late afternoon sun. Although the opening was unobstructed, he couldn't see beyond it. They had arrived at the courtyard.
"You are here today because your infants have been Chosen. You may decline and leave at any time that you wish. But if you continue forward into the courtyard, there is no going back. And the soul that chooses your child is the soul he or she will receive. What you have done to prepare for this point will determine which soul picks you. We have no control over this, and the Office of Souls bears no responsibility. If you accept this, step forward toward your future and speak."
Mark and Tabby went first again. They both loudly proclaimed their agreement. Then they stepped past Samuel and seemed to disappear. Brian and Emily were next. They were gone moments later.
Malcom looked at Eve and saw serene acceptance in her face. He took her hand and felt relieved when she squeezed it. He took Cameron from her arms, and then they stepped forward as one.
"The time has come. We agree," they said together.
At Samuel's nod they stepped forward into the courtyard of the Fountain of Souls.
MARIUS
Marius and Chim followed the small group from the other side of the shrub wall. He listened to the story of how the Fountain of Souls came to be and frowned. He may not have been able to read, but that didn’t look like the pictures in the book that he had stolen from the library.
Chim was almost skipping, and wore a small smile that made it look like he was hiding a secret. As they progressed further and further into the garden, the sky above them became more overcast. As badly as he wanted a soul, Marius was starting to feel uncomfortable.
Just as their path came to a solid wall that required them to turn left and head back away from the center, they heard the group on the other side stop. Chim’s face lit up and Marius wondered what the little man knew that he didn’t. He had a rolling feeling in his stomach that normally he would attribute to hunger, but this felt like someone had grabbed inside of him and was clenching it in their fist. He felt short of breath.
Chim whacked him on the arm and made a gesture at him. He pointed to the wall and mouthed courtyard, then motioned for Marius to give him the book. Marius took the book out of his coat and handed it to him. Chim knelt down on the ground and motioned for Marius to do the same.
So the parents and their soulless children were just on the other side of the wall. Marius could hardly wait to see the fountain in person. Perhaps Chim had been right and this thing that he felt was excitement. The pictures in the book made the fountain look huge and slightly menacing, but it was the beacon of his salvation.
Chim placed the book on the ground and flipped through it impatiently until he stopped on a page. His face lit up and he started nodding, engrossed in the words.
The page had no pictures on it, so Marius had no idea what Chim was so excited about. Chim smoothed the pages down, and then reached out to Marius with his palms facing up. It was time to begin.
Chim had been very clear in his instructions to Marius before they entered the garden. He needed to be completely silent, because the ceremony going on in the courtyard was going to be distracting enough. Chim was going to cast a spell that would allow them to safely enter the courtyard without worrying about any interference from the Head Master. Chim had also said that the spell would attract the souls to them, before the Chosen.
Marius was skeptical. How could Chim’s magic be stronger than the Head Master’s? But Chim seemed confident, so Marius had no choice but to trust him.
Chim nodded to him. Marius held out his hands and laid them palms down on top of Chim’s. Immediately he felt a tingle of electricity. Chim’s eyes were already closed, and he was muttering words that Marius had never heard before.
On the other side of the shrub, Marius could hear the booming voice of the Head Master. Again he heard words that seemed strange and alien. The clouds above were starting to swirl, and Marius saw a crackle of lightening illuminating the clouds from behind.
Fear. That was what was seizing his chest. Marius was afraid. There was something very wrong with what they were doing. In the back of his mind, he had thought Chim’s allegations were the blustering of an old, bitter soulless. But now there was energy flowing all around them, and it felt strong, powerful, and wholly alien.
Then Chim’s eyes flew open and his hands grasped Marius’s hands in an ironclad grip. Marius instinctively tried to pull away, but couldn’t. Chim’s fingers bit into his flesh and Marius had to bite his lip to keep from screaming. This wasn’t how Chim said things were going to go.
Chim’s red eyes glowed and his smile turned cruel. His words got louder so that Marius could still hear them over the whistling of the wind that had started to whip through the maze.
Marius almost doubled over as he felt a ripping pain in his chest, and this time he couldn’t hold the scream that pushed past his lips. He heard similar cries from the courtyard.
Was this what it felt like to become ensouled? There had never
been any mention of pain, especially one that felt like a white scorching heat burning him from the inside out. Marius felt like he was about to explode, and Chim didn’t look like he was going to help him. In fact, it looked like Chim was waiting now. He wore a smile of satisfaction.
Marius felt something crawl from the heat inside his stomach up through his rib cage. It was something that didn’t belong inside of him. This couldn't be what it felt like to have a soul.
“No,” he croaked, shaking his head. “No. I don’t want this.”
“It’s too late, Marius,” Chim whispered. “I wasn’t lying when I said that I had been waiting for you for a long time. You will be great. You will be the key to my domination of this place. Life as these pathetic beings know it is about to end.”
The thing slithering inside Marius was now wriggling into his brain. He knew he had made a terrible mistake. And if what Chim said was true, his world was going to pay for it.
SAMUEL
When Samuel stepped into the courtyard after the Lowdens, he saw the Head Master sitting on the edge of the fountain. The parents gathered at the edge of the gravel that surrounded the base, and they looked at Samuel for guidance. He motioned for them to spread out in a half circle facing the Head Master.
This was wrong. In every other ceremony he had attended, the Head Master was always standing in front of the fountain waiting for them, and he would guide the parents into their designated spots.
But now the Head Master still had not gotten up or even looked in their direction. Samuel stepped closer and carefully put his hand on the Head Master’s arm, even though he knew that touch was forbidden. Better to risk punishment from the Head Master later for a small offense than let the ceremony completely derail. He knew that the parents would suspect something was amiss; the McMurrays for sure because they had done this before, and the others because this deviated from the diagram included in the handbook.
