Chapter Twenty-One
T hrough the familiar hallways of the beige marble walls and carpeted floors, we returned to the dining hall, only to find the same six white-capped figures sitting around the long table. Three females and three males, all stone-faced, were engrossed in whatever they were doing. None of the others were present, but I was thankful that Josh had accompanied us, even though I still wanted to bash his head in.
Not a single head turned to greet us as we made our way over, each taking a seat. Father Benedict insisted I take the head of the table since the meeting would be about me, and I attempted to keep a level head about the whole thing. Because Josh had been assigned as my guardian, he was allowed to stay for the meeting, and he stationed himself beside me, one hand on the back of my chair. Strange how just moments ago, I was threatening his life, now I felt comforted by his protection.
I clearly needed to seek intense therapy after this.
As they sat ignoring me, each Ace had a scroll unfurled before them, scribbling nonsense with white feather quills. Did they not live in a world full of computers? Pens and pencils? For fuck’s sake, we had lined paper, and they were acting as if technology didn’t exist.
But I was done waiting. “Excuse me?” I called.
My words echoed off the marble walls of the hushed dining hall. Not one shifted in their seats at my disruption.
“I said ex—”
“Father Benedict. Please remind the newly Blessed of her manners,” said one of the females, not looking up from her scroll.
The same female had advised me to continue with the purification ceremony.
I bit the inside of my cheek, holding back my rage.
Josh lightly squeezed my shoulder for support, as if he could sense my irritation.
“My apologies for her outburst, Nora. She is eager to discuss what has happened,” said Father Benedict, who bowed his head in respect.
She gave a silent nod in his direction before closing the scroll, placing the quill in an ink jar, and adjusting herself before turning to the others, motioning for them to do the same.
Simultaneously, they obeyed the one called Nora. Scrolls rolled up, quills returned to ink jars, and then they shifted their attention to me. At the other end of the long table, one of the males stood from his seat, pulling down the white hood to the cape. Tall and lean, with short, dark hair, worry lines on his forehead, and crow’s feet around the softest brown eyes I’d ever seen, he bowed to me, while the other Aces followed suit.
Holy shit, the fucking dean of students was in on this.
“Ms. Remi Watson,” he announced.
The voice of a man with great power had me almost soiling my pants. Josh kept his hold on my shoulder, unaware he was keeping me from passing out.
“The Lord has chosen wisely,” Dean Poverly continued, addressing me and his fellow Aces. “Today begins your destiny that the Lord has chosen you for. Like your fellow Scarlets, each one of you holds a purpose within this order to keep the world safe from unholy creatures.”
I blinked several times, trying to comprehend what he spewed. “Unholy creatures?”
“Demons,” he clarified, then added, “Demons that can only be seen by the Blessed.”
“There’s no way stuff like that exists,” I scoffed.
“You would do well to hold your tongue,” advised Nora. The harshness in her tone set me on edge.
Dean Poverly waited until the room was quiet again. “Now that you have gone through the purification ceremony and been Blessed, you have been given the sight and strength to fight these—”
“But demons? Surely this is some sick joke.”
Ignoring my second outburst, he walked graciously around the room, the white cape trailing behind. From left to right, every Ace lowered their hoods. “We have days set aside for your history lessons of our Order, but for now, I will explain your role. The females are gifted from birth, passed down from generations of warriors' dormant powers until they’re Blessed. The Tutelary Saints, known as the guardians to our Scarlets, have their separate gene that allows them to be Blessed as well.” He halted and monitored the room, making sure he had my undivided attention before continuing. “We must make sure we give all potentials an opportunity.”
“The others from the purification ceremony?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. It was all just too much. Demons? But my gut had been clenched since he uttered the word, something in me whispering caution, and the memory of the nightmarish creature that night at the club flittered through my mind.
“They retained the gene but were not chosen to continue. The Lord is very specific on which bloodlines are strongest to defend against the demonic.”
The idea of either parent of mine possessing such a gene left me with more questions. Could they have known before sending me here?
“Why did the water turn black?” I questioned. I realized this was my opportunity to get answers, to make some sense of all this.
“To fight demonic entities, one must be pure.”
My head spun around like a carousel, slow and tortuous. Not only did I have apparently the gene, but I passed every step through the purification process. And again, the image of the beast, dripping black ichor, stalking me through the night flashed through my mind. The inevitable sank in, and I realized I was now on a path I wished never to take but had no choice in. At least Heather and I were in this chaotic mess together.
“So, I carry the gene, passed the purification ceremony and the Blessing, as you call it. What now? I’m supposed to ignore my studies and slay demons?” I guessed. Though I tossed it out like a joke, there was something in me that responded to the notion… a part of me that I hadn’t met before.
He toyed with the cuff on his sleeve. “Your studies will cease to exist from here on out. A false schedule will be made to help disguise your actions from outside peers. You will, however, live on campus for your training to commence.”
Dean Poverly gestured with his hand at the others in their white capes, stone faces to match their stiff personalities. “Professor Nora Thatcher.” Her nod was cold like her, that familiar silver hair flowing out from under the hood. Nora Thatcher, the woman who demanded I follow the Lord’s plan. Poverly then moved on to a man of darker complexion, skin smooth as silk and eyes as black as the night sky. “Professor Callum Adler.” His smile was welcoming, the first since my arrival from anyone in the Order. Poverly laid a hand on another female’s shoulder and said, “Professor Ophelia Levine.” She gave a slight nod, her eyes green as the leaves of spring. “Professor Raven Stoll,” he introduced next. A petite woman with crimson lips. “And Professor Archer Toke.” Poverly motioned dramatically to the last gentleman on the left. Professor Toke nodded once, a serious expression plastered to his face. A scar was nearly invisible over his bottom lip.
Toke. Why did that name sound so familiar? I must’ve heard it before, but I couldn’t quite place where. And Professor Levine, were they the same Levine as my best friend, Jeremy? Didn’t he say one of his aunts was a professor at a local college?
Dean Poverly found his seat again, observing me with his beady little eyes.
“That’s it?” I asked.
“There’s more to explain,” he answered. “Father Benedict will begin your history studies of the Order on Monday. Training with your guardian will begin on Tuesday.”
“And I’m supposed to go on as normal? How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I exclaimed, though I knew it was. I did, as my gut was clenched, and my bones told me all he said was truth. But I resisted. For that too was in my bones.
Poverly’s expression turned dark, a cloud of doom circling his stature. “Those who have not been Blessed cannot see the wicked. From here on out, you will encounter many demons of all shapes and sizes. It is up to us to train and prepare you for what will come.”
Unaware that Josh had left, he returned to where I sat, a scroll and red quill in hand. Gently unfolding the scroll and laying it down before me, Josh placed the red quill on top, hiding the text underneath. I lifted the quill and gasped at what I read. Names upon names written in scarlet ink were signed, along with dates, as far back as the 1800s. Names of people who belonged to the Order.
Like Elizabeth Jones. My grandmother. Her familiar scrawl glistened in scarlet ink, and my heart hammered behind my ribcage as the reality of the situation set in.
“All the women who have served the Lord in our Order have signed this scroll. He has chosen you, Remi, to help us undo all the wrongs in this world,” explained Poverly.
With clammy hands, I hovered the scarlet quill over the line at the bottom of the names, the ink creating tiny droplets on the scroll-like blood-spatter. Grams’ name stood out among the rest, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from it as my mind raced. Even before passing, she never mentioned her extracurricular activities when attending Columbia University. Never cared to give me a heads-up about what my future would entail.
Not even my own mother shared what was behind closed doors.
“It’s okay to be afraid. I just want you to know I’m here for you,” Josh whispered.
His breath tickled my neck, the hairs standing on end. “What if this was a mistake?” I whispered back, the quill mere inches from the line.
“I refuse to let you believe that. You will succeed, Remi.”
Josh’s confidence in me gave me the push I needed, and as I pulled my gaze from Grams’ signature, I understood now why she had written her will as she had. And why my mother had been so strongly against me coming here. There was so much I wanted to ask her now… though I also didn’t. And in defiance of her, of both of them for keeping me in the dark, resulting in this mess, confusion, and fear, I picked up the quill to sign the scroll.
With a shaky hand, a half-decent signature appeared on the line following the year.
I took a good hard look at the company around the table. All eyes hyper-focused on me, then I got up and turned to Josh. “I would like to go back to my room now.” I’d had enough of their intense stares, their proclamations, their expectations and orders, and my brain shifted into overdrive. Sleep was all I wanted.
Father Benedict cleared his throat and said, “I agree. Some rest and space are a good idea.” He eyed the others, waiting to see if they would protest, but silence indicated they wouldn’t object to my request. Relieved and exhausted, I followed Josh as he led the way out of the dining room, my feet dragging.
The amount of information they’d presented began to swirl in a never-ending loop in my mind, and a headache began to form in the center. We kept to ourselves, Josh guiding us through the maze of the cathedral’s basement. The Scarlets and Tutelary Saints had been MIA since I’d awoken from the Blessing, except for Josh, who refused to leave my side.
Mindlessly following him, I became unaware of how far we traveled until the summer heat blasted us in the face. The sun beating down began to create sweat above my brows and then at the nape of my neck, and it seemed as though I stepped into a new, unfamiliar world as students walked in small groups, preoccupied with their own simple lives. My clothes, the ones Anna gave me for the Blessing, stuck to my skin like Velcro, and my inner thighs began to chafe. A cold shower called to me like a lover lost at sea, and I desperately needed to sort out my thoughts before my mind exploded, or, better yet, contact the authorities.
Picking up some speed, I took the lead, avoiding Josh’s confused look as he tried to keep up with my steps.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” he asked, matching my pace.
“Just need a shower, that’s all,” I mumbled.
“A shower? You look ridiculous. Slow down,” Josh said.
“No,” I snapped.
“You’re acting crazy right now.”
“Crazy?” I started, getting right in his face. “This whole goddamn school is crazy! Who in their right mind has a secret society for killing demons?”
“Keep your voice down!” Josh hissed.
His command pissed me the hell off, and my obstinate nature took over. “Look at me, everyone; I’m part of a weird cult that kills—”
Josh put a hand over my mouth and pressed my back against one of the buildings’ brick walls. “Stop. You can’t go shouting this information around like a crazy person. Do you want to be sent away to get a psych evaluation?”
My voice was muffled by his hand, so I kicked him in the shin.
He stepped back, releasing his hold on me. “Ouch! Seriously?”
“Do you honestly expect me to go along with this? You all need to check yourselves into some mental hospital if you truly believe demons are walking among us.” I said the words, though I shivered at the memory of dreams with clawed hands and alleys with moving shadows… demon-like in form.
“I was under the impression you understood everything before we left. Did you not see the water turn black? Your Blessing?”
I shuddered. The images that returned were unpleasant and gave me more reason to report them to the authorities. “I was drugged.”
Josh ran a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. “Remi, what happened from being inside the cathedral to now?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said nonchalantly. But it was the fight in me that had come alive. I’d woken up, stepped outside, took a giant sniff of the fresh air, and realized they were all off their rocker. They had to be. For a while beneath the holy building, in the dim rooms, with robes and candles and quills that set the tone, they had me swaying to their will. But here in the sun? With frisbees being tossed across campus and tests to study for? Yeah, no. Crazy. It was all just too crazy.
Josh took a step closer. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Josh moved until he was mere inches from my face, my back again up against the wall. The proximity of his body, his breath fanning my face… something stirred, something forbidden.
“Tell me. Did you see your grandmother’s name on the scroll?”
I swallowed, my throat dry from the sudden intensity of our conversation. “Yes.” I saw her name as it burned a permanent reminder inside my brain. Grams’ life had also been mysterious in ways I never thought of until last night. She never opened up about her younger years, only that she met my grandfather at some club, and they wed right after graduation, before his untimely death. I was starting to think that ‘club’ was the Order of the Scarlet Quill.
“Then you and I both know you were not drugged.” Josh then held up a familiar cell phone. My phone. “I took the liberty of adding my name and number to your contacts. Go back to your room and rest. I’ll text you soon.” He then took my limp hand and shoved the phone into my palm before walking away from our heated bubble.
After several minutes of trying to regain control of my labored breathing, I raced back to my room, shut the door, and prayed for the first time in my life that it would shut out the monsters too.