Instrument of Peace (Symphony of the Cursed Book 1)

by Rebecca Hall

  A familiar title caught his eye; he double checked it against his list and pulled it down. He almost dropped it when he opened the front cover, desperately telling himself that someone had made ink in a disgusting shade of reddish brown and not used blood. Some twisted sicko had written a book on curses in novelty ink; their teachers would never permit them to read a book written in blood. That logical assertion was enough to calm his racing heart though Mitch had heard rumours of a basement level where even more questionable books were stored for their teachers and visiting scholars. Something could have been mis-shelved. He shook his head; Mr Greeves would never allow that to happen. The book had been made by someone with a twisted sense of humour, that was all there was to it.

  He took the book to his usual spot and started to read, reminding himself on every page that it was just novelty ink intended to make the book scarier. He still thought it was overkill; a book that discussed how to curse people from beyond the grave didn’t need any help in that department. At first he wondered why anyone would want to curse someone from beyond the grave, he stopped wondering after the first chapter; after the second chapter he stopped wondering how a corpse could want something. The book did absolutely nothing to make him forget about the zombie horse, it just added the terrifying thought that it might curse him. Halfway through, the book changed tack and began to discuss cursing people who were already dead. Mitch hoped that Mindy never got her hands on a copy, and resolved to have his remains cremated as soon as possible, it was the only sure way to prevent him cursing someone or being cursed in turn. He crossed it off the list; it hadn’t helped with any of his problems, and went hunting for another title, shoving it into the first empty space he found in the cursed section. He wondered if everyone reshelved the cursed books like that and if Mr Greeves spent every night moving things around so that the same books wouldn’t stay at the front of the section where they were most likely to be read. Mitch decided that he wouldn’t like to be a librarian if that was the case.

  The unnatural silence in the library continued; even Greeves was quiet. Usually Greeves would have offered him a dozen hints and suggestions by now, today he hadn’t moved from behind his desk. Mitch wasn’t sure he’d actually turned a page since he’d arrived. Greeves was probably reading a book from the cursed section, or the secret vault, some of those books were dangerous to read. Mitch reclaimed his seat and started on a new book. He almost put it back when he saw that it was illustrated. A picture was worth a thousand words and none of those words were nice. They’d help him forget the zombie horse but only by branding themselves into his mind; after the first couple the zombie horse began to look friendly.

  Mitch almost found himself wishing for one of those mp3 things that the mainstream kids insisted on having. He didn’t particularly care for music, radios and magic didn’t get along, but it would have helped drown out the silence. He slammed the illustrated book shut on the sixth picture, he’d prefer the zombie horse to another one of those images. Hell, he’d prefer being flayed alive by a giant weta to that. He was pretty sure nothing could be worse. For a fraction of a second he wondered what could possibly be in the books that weren’t considered fit for student use and then his imagination mercifully shut down.

  He returned the book and went in search of happier books. A dog-eared copy of Hairy Maclary would have been ideal but they didn’t have any on the secondary campus. Grimm’s Other Fairytales had been returned to the shelves; it was less happy than the version the travelling magicians had published for normal people to fund their esoteric endeavours but it did contain The Four Brothers. It ended with the brothers dead, along with their families and followers, the land around them reduced to a desolate wasteland. He hoped the ending wasn’t an accurate prediction.

  He reorganised his notes and left, the bell for curfew would be ringing soon. He’d missed dinner, partly because he’d eaten so much at his lonely late lunch and partly because he’d wanted to avoid Mindy for as long as possible.

  He met Hayley at the intersection between the library, infirmary and dormitories.

  “How is she?” Mitch asked, no doubt she’d just been ejected from the infirmary.

  “Sleeping,” Hayley replied, “thank you for saving her.”

  “Someone had to do it,” Mitch said, staring at the ground. Not helping her had never occurred to him.

  “I have your feather,” he said, he’d tucked it into his folder when he realised that he was looking for angels. It had seemed appropriate and it was one of the few places where he could be reasonably sure that he wouldn’t lose it or it wouldn’t be found by Gwen.

  “I told you to keep it for now.”

  “But–”

  “As far as I can tell only four people in the Academy have been unaffected by this madness,” Hayley said cutting him off. They turned down another path, taking the long way back to the dormitories though they’d be cutting the curfew close.

  “Nikola thinks it’s the Twisted Curse,” Mitch said.

  “He’s one of them, you, Belle and me are the others. Care to guess which is the odd one out?”

  Mitch took a gamble and guessed, “Me?”

  “You,” Hayley agreed. It started to snow gently. Mitch knew that the snowfall was deceptive; if they stayed out here too long they would have to wade through it to get back to the dormitories. “You’re the only one of us that doesn’t have celestial magic and that’s the only thing I can think of that separates us from the rest of the school. You have an archangel feather.”

  Mitch wasn’t sure how much sense that made but he decided to keep the feather with him just in case she was right.

  “So celestial magic protects you, us,” Mitch supposed there had to be some in the feather as well for it to work, “from the Twisted Curse.”

  “From its effects anyway, unless you were actually stupid enough to make a deal with one of the Fallen.”

  “How would I do that?”

  “One of the more interesting books in the library says that they can be summoned, I looked into it while I was investigating the feather.”

  “If you do decide to go ahead with the summoning do you think you could pass on a message for me?” Mitch asked. Summoning was part of Alchemy, he wasn’t going to try it unless he was desperate and he hoped that he was never that desperate.

  “What?”

  “Tell them that the Taniwha wants them to stop the war,” Mitch said before realising that that had been an exclamation of surprise rather than a question. “It wanted me to pass the message on to the archangels but I don’t know how to do that, so...”

  Hayley sighed, “Sure, if I ever decide to perform a highly dangerous and borderline illegal ritual I’ll pass it on.” Mitch pretended not to hear the sarcasm. They rounded a final bend in the path, they’d be inside in less than a minute for which Mitch was grateful; the cold was beginning to seep into his shoes. He’d have to see about getting proper hiking boots next time he was allowed to visit Taupo. He suspected it wouldn’t be for a while, no doubt Mr McCalis would punish him for damaging school property and leaving the grounds without permission once he was done with Mindy.

  “Why didn’t you ever try and make friends with Nikola?” he asked. The two of them probably could have worked this out before Mindy started making zombie horses.

  “I’m pretty sure he hates me.”

  “Pretty sure?”

  “I’ve never actually talked to him, he skips most of the classes we have together and practically bolts whenever we happen to be in the dining room at the same time.”

  “It could just be a coincidence,” Mitch said. Given Nikola’s background he probably found Teratology boring, what could Dr Henly teach him about the undead that he hadn’t learnt from growing up with them? And it was rapidly becoming clear that Nikola’s poor health earned him a lot of leeway from the teachers.

  They reached the door and Mitch dragged it open, swearing as it caught on the mounting snow. Stupid outwards-opening doors. He
hoped there was an inwards opening door somewhere or they’d have a lot of trouble getting out in the morning. He’d never considered it before. The teacher on duty looked meaningfully at the clock when they finally pried the door open enough to go inside. Mitch looked as well and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they weren’t quite late. He decided not to push his luck and hurried upstairs.

  #

  “Did you hear?” Gwen asked, sitting down next to him

  “Hear what?” Mitch asked around a mouthful of cornflakes. He didn’t usually make it to breakfast on Sunday but every time he closed his eyes he’d seen the zombie horse or the book illustrations.

  “Last detention today,” Gwen answered, “they decided that those of us who actually went to our detentions have been sufficiently punished.”

  Mitch swallowed, “And those who didn’t go?”

  “They have to write essays on why their behaviour was wrong. Do you want to go out next weekend? The road should be open again.”

  “Maybe,” Mitch said, scooping up the last of his cornflakes, “I have to see Mr McCalis later and find out how much trouble I’m in after yesterday.”

  “I heard about that,” Gwen said, “honestly Mitchell you should have just let Mindy have her fun.” Mitch choked on his cornflakes and Gwen patted him on the back until he could breathe again.

  “I have to go,” he said, he’d been considering another bowl of cornflakes but Gwen had effectively killed his appetite. He tried to remember that she’d fallen under the influence of the Twisted Curse but it didn’t make him feel any better. He’d have to go back to the library and see if he could work out exactly how much influence it had over people. The cursed book flashed through his mind again and he shuddered. Maybe not; spending too much time with those books wasn’t healthy. Nikola and Hayley had told him more than those books had anyway. Hayley had probably read every book in the library to know so much.

  He went to Mr McCalis’s office and knocked on the door.

  “Enter,” Mr McCalis called. Mitch quite liked Mr McCalis’s office, a sentiment that the majority of his classmates didn’t share. They were usually in trouble when they were sent to the vice principal, Mitch came to ask for help with some of the more difficult maths problems.

  One wall held Mr McCalis’s degrees, one in theoretical mathematics and another in a language Mitch couldn’t read. The opposite wall was lined with books, Mitch had borrowed some of the maths books from time to time, and the far wall was dominated by a window and an excellent view of the Academy. Mr McCalis sat behind a desk that was probably older than half of the buildings in the country. “Sit,” Mr McCalis ordered, looking up from the report he’d been reading.

  “I trust you won’t be making any more extra-curricular trips outside of school grounds.”

  “No sir,” Mitch replied. Sneaking out of school had slipped way down his to do list and was hovering just above horse riding. Mitch didn’t care if the next horse he saw was a live one, he wanted nothing more to do with them.

  “Good, I have spoken to everyone else involved in the incident and they all agree that you acted commendably though that was not the word they used.” Mitch could just imagine the words Mindy might have used and Cullum was probably upset that Mitch had ruined his fun and got him into trouble.

  “Even Belle?” he asked. “Is she ok?”

  “Even Belle, I believe she will be returning to class tomorrow.”

  Mitch had to swallow before asking his next question, “Mindy?” He hadn’t seen her since yesterday, largely because he’d been avoiding her though he wouldn’t have minded a chance to tell Bates that he was dating a psychopath.

  “Miss Lamdon is not your concern,” Mr McCalis said, “all you need to know is that we have taken steps to ensure that there is no repeat of yesterday’s incident. Both you and her sister will be safe.”

  Mitch suppressed a sigh, he wanted to know more but Mr McCalis wouldn’t tell him, any more than he would discuss his punishment with Mindy. No doubt he’d find out soon enough anyway, probably from Mindy herself. That wouldn’t be a fun conversation.

  “Now, there is the matter of what to do with you. As I said, you acted commendably, however, such actions would not have been necessary if you had not broken school rules to begin with. As such we will do nothing. You will receive no punishment beyond the knowledge that the entire affair could have been avoided, nor any reward beyond the knowledge that you saved a young girl’s life. You may go,” he said before Mitch could formulate a reply.

  Mitch wandered the Academy aimlessly, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sit still long enough to study or watch TV but all of his friends were still serving detention. Even if they had decided to cut it, Mitch wasn’t going to encourage them to do so by hanging out with them. Eventually he found his way to the infirmary and the only two sane people left that he was allowed to talk to. He was afraid to talk to someone under the curse’s influence; Gwen had shown him that they might say anything and if he heard someone else say that he should have let Mindy have her fun... He’d never hit anyone before, not in anger, but it was becoming an increasingly attractive option.

  He peered into Belle’s room and found her fast asleep. Someone had brought her pyjamas over and the torch Hayley had given her during the earthquake was clutched in her hand. She’d bounced back from that, Mitch didn’t think she’d bounce back from the zombie horse. He slipped back down the corridor to Nikola’s room.

  “If you keep visiting like this, I’m not going to believe you the next time you say you don’t like me,” Nikola said. Mitch shrugged, he wasn’t sure he believed it either. Maybe they were wrong about the curse not influencing him.

  “You must be feeling better,” Mitch said, seeing the stack of books on the bedside table and the open book in his lap.

  “A little,” Nikola coughed, “they still won’t let me go to class tomorrow though.”

  “Maybe the doctor is immune to the curse as well,” Mitch suggested. It looked like he was still taking care of his patients.

  “Some things are easier to influence than others,” Nikola replied, “I suspect Melinda already resented her sister.”

  Mitch grunted, the curse did seem to be bringing out the worst in people. Gwen, Richard, Mindy, probably everyone in the maze as well. At least if it had to work with what was already there then there were some limits to its power.

  “More mythology?” Mitch asked, eyeing the titles on the books.

  “I like it.”

  “Shouldn’t you be trying to catch up on course work or something?”

  “It’s harder to focus on things I don’t like and the doctor disapproves of me working while sick. Besides, I just have to do better than everyone else.” Mitch snorted, that particular bar wasn’t set very high at the moment.

  A high-pitched scream split the air.

  “Belle!” Mitch lunged for the door; Mr McCalis had said that they’d taken precautions but...

  He burst into Belle’s room and found her sitting up, her eyes completely bloodshot. A vision, Mitch thought, sitting on the bed next to her and trying to hide his panic. Nikola staggered in as well and sank into the chair, no doubt they’d soon be joined by the infirmary staff.

  “What did you see Belle?” Mitch asked. There was a box of tissues on the bedside table, Mitch grabbed a couple and pressed them into Belle’s hands before reaching for the glass of water.

  “He’s coming,” Belle said, “he’s coming, he’s coming.”

  “It’s ok,” Mitch said patting her on the back. Where was Hayley when they needed her?

  “No,” Belle cried, “he’s going to hurt her. Everyone is going to burn and burn and... I don’t want it to happen.” She started to sob and Mitch hugged her awkwardly.

  “Who is he going to hurt Belle?” Nikola asked. Mitch glared at him.

  “Hayley,” Belle said her voice muffled, “he’s going to hurt Hayley.”

  “Why?”

  Mitch wanted
to tell him to shut up but the doctor had arrived and he wasn’t saying anything though he did look disapproving.

  “I don’t know.” Belle seemed a little calmer, her voice steadier.

  “Do you know who he was?”

  Belle started to shake her head and then paused. “There were two names,” she said softly, “Gabriel and Azrael.” Mitch jerked and looked at Nikola who nodded minutely in response. Angels. Maybe he’d get to deliver his message in person after all. He looked down at Belle’s tear-stained face and decided that that possibly wasn’t a good thing.

  “You’re supposed to be in bed,” the doctor said to Nikola, finally deciding to intervene.

  Nikola shrugged, “I heard screaming.”

  The doctor sighed and looked at Belle. “I had hoped you would be okay on your own, it’s harder for us to monitor who comes and goes in the ward, or to stop them prying.”

  “Ask Hayley to come,” Mitch suggested.

  “We can try,” the doctor said, “but she has no obligation to do so and we would have to find her first.”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Nikola croaked. He cleared his throat and continued, “it’s not as if I can leave.”

  “You’re going back to bed Nikola,” the doctor said.

  “She can stay with me if she doesn’t mind breathing my germs,” Nikola coughed. Belle started nodding before he’d even finished speaking.

  “Fine.”

  Nikola dragged himself to his feet, clutching at the chair for balance as his face drained of colour. The doctor caught him before he could fall and guided him back across the hall to his bed. Mitch trailed behind with Belle wrapped around his arm. He wondered if Mindy would agree to swap siblings. The doctor found another chair from somewhere and left them alone after making it clear that he would tie Nikola to the bed if he had to. Nikola didn’t look inclined to go anywhere.