Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Bellcolor
I walk into Introduction to History and take the same seat as yesterday. The spot next to me is empty, and I search for Valentina. I find her sitting by Tyra’s desk. I turn back around, not interested in forcing her to be around me if she doesn’t want to. I have no intention of ratting her out either, that would make her another enemy of mine.
The phone next to me buzzes, and I pick it up. It’s an incoming call, probably from my father, but I can’t answer him. I smashed the phone screen last night when I threw it at the wall in a fit of rage. I’m so stupid.
I need to get back to him so he’ll order me a new phone, but I can’t even call… along with the screen, the touch interface is gone too. Just great. I remind myself to go to the secretary’s office and ask them to call my father. I haven’t had to do that since elementary school. Things just keep getting better and better in this place.
The bell rings, and students hurry to take their place as Dr. Abano walks into the classroom. He puts his leather briefcase on his desk and examines everyone seated there. When his gaze reaches my desk he raises an eyebrow, then turns to look at Tyra’s desk. He seems surprised at the change in Valentina’s position. Same here, buddy.
He doesn’t linger on the subject longer than necessary, and pulls the Old Testament out of his leather briefcase.
“Good morning, everyone,” he greets us without looking up from the book. “Yesterday I asked you to read the third chapter of Genesis. Have you all read it?” Every head nodded at once. “Excellent. Then let’s dive in. Who can briefly summarize the chapter?” He scans the hands raised in the air.
“Yes, please say your name first,” he gestures to a student sitting near the stage.
“Pearl, Dr. Abano. The chapter describes the banishment of humans from the Garden of Eden. The serpent tempted Eve into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which was forbidden, and then Eve tempted Adam. God exiled them as a result.”
Dr. Abano is fully focused on Pearl’s answer as she sits up straight, reminding me of the students who’d sit in the front row of every school I’d ever been to. Smart but arrogant. “From whose point of view is the story told?” he asks.
“The narrator’s?” She’s not so sure of herself anymore.
“Who is the narrator?”
She stares at him, wide-eyed, and forces herself to blink.
“Honestly, any kindergarten child could tell me that. Think of the point of view. Look around you, where are you? At Sunday Mass, or an institution meant to train you to become worthy demons?” His tone grows harsh, clearly disappointed in Pearl’s answer as she shrinks in place, openly ashamed.
Dr. Abano nods towards the student sitting behind me, and I turn to see it’s Valentina.
“Valentina, Dr. Abano. It’s the story of Satan’s first subversion of humanity’s descendants. God was too arrogant and thought He was omnipotent. You know, created the world in a week and all that shit, until he found out he wasn’t all-powerful after all. They say the Devil’s in the details, and this story proves it. Even in his perfect Garden of Eden.”
Dr. Abano smiles. “Excellent, Valentina. I’m pleased we’ve got some demons among us with their heads on straight, though I’d have chosen more appropriate language for my classroom.” She smiles at his comment and looks sideways with pride. I don’t know why, but I feel like knocking that arrogant smile off her face.
“In any event, what Valentina brings up is a very important subject—”
I raise my hand and interrupt Dr. Abano. “Yes?” He raises his eyebrow with curiosity.
“Belle, Dr. Abano. It’s not just a story of subversion, it’s Satan’s challenge that led to the ancient war raging to this day. God created the earth and humanity, and the Devil corrupted their souls. To this day we’re in a race to claim those souls.”
“And what is the role of the Tree of Knowledge in this story?” He leans on his desk, all his attention focused on me.
“God warned humanity that it was a kind of poisoned fruit, that they’d die if they ate from it, but that was a lie, since the serpent says the fruit will open their eyes. Meaning it would give them the ability to know good from evil. But that can’t be true, can it? If we count the number of times the word ‘good’ appears in previous chapters, they clearly knew what good was, didn’t they? I mean, the obvious conclusion is that eating the fruit is itself knowing evil. What’s more, the serpent says ‘and ye shall be as gods’. Which means evil exists in God Himself too. His fury afterwards proves that much. I suppose God was afraid His creations knew He wasn’t as pure as He’d made Himself seem up to that point.”
“So what you’re actually saying is that God is Himself evil?” I hear Valentina’s voice behind me, and turn to her.
“Not necessarily, it just proves the power of human souls. If Satan tainted their souls, he’d gain enough power to taint God Himself.”
“But doesn’t that mean every other descendant of Adam and Eve belong to the Devil now?” Valentina asks. “I mean, if—”
“That’s enough,” Dr. Abano interrupts Valentina and I turn back in my seat. “Discussion is necessary in my class, but you’ve gotten off-track. Let’s go back to the figure of the serpent. That’s what I want to focus on today.”
Dr. Abano continues lecturing us about the serpent, but I’m pondering Valentina’s words. She has a point. I know the Devil tainted the heart of Adam’s first wife, Lilith, but she’s not mentioned other than the reference to her creation. She’s been erased, like she never existed. Meanwhile the narrative keeps unfurling the story of Adam and Eve. They were punished for their sin, yet their souls could still be saved. Why were they different from Lilith? And if angels existed in that same Garden of Eden, why aren’t they mentioned in the story of Creation? Would acknowledging them mean acknowledging demons as well, just as acknowledging good necessarily means acknowledging evil too?
I scrawl some notes in my notebook, to remind myself to investigate all this speculation popping into my mind. When the bell rings, I lift my gaze to see all the students already leaving the classroom. I hurry to gather my things and head for Dr. Abano.
He doesn’t lift his gaze as he gathers his belongings into his leather briefcase. “Not here,” he warns. “Come to my office after dark.” He doesn’t say another word, just walks out of the room and leaves me wondering.
I hurry to the gym, replacing my school uniform with my gym clothes, and stand tall and proud for having made it on time. Right at the last second.
Ms. Kingsley walks into the gymnasium and enters the boxing ring without delay.
“Hello, everyone.” She scans us all with her eyes. “I’m pleased to announce that once again Miss Fermi has volunteered to serve as our demonstrator.”
My mouth drops in open shock, and I hear snickering coming from the crowd. “W-what?” I stammer.
“A little bird whispered to me that you didn’t complete your punishment yesterday, so you’ll get to assist me in today’s class too.” I grumble and hiss curses on my way to the ring. The Devil won’t give me a moments’ rest.
“Don’t worry, today we’ll see whether the class has picked up the techniques I taught last time. So you won’t miss a thing. All you have to do is try your best to block every incoming blow,” she whispers to me as I approach her. She stands tall and surveys the evasive looks from most of the crowd. The ones standing in front of her are tall and determined, they’re the ones who make me anxious.
“Miss Bandini, come here please,” Ms. Kingsley points to her. The only thing that comforts me here is that Valentina was one of the ones avoiding Ms. Kingsley’s gaze too. She may have put some distance between us, but I know she doesn’t seek to hurt me. Not unless she wants to get in trouble with our dads.
“Yes, Ms. Kingsley,” Valentina chirps, exchanging a look with Tyra – who is of course among those standing tall and seeming determined to test their abilities. I never liked that trio, and even less so now.
“We’ll review the attack and defense techniques we learned yesterday. Your goal today is to try and confuse the enemy – in this case, Miss Fermi, to give you enough time to flee. Remember, this isn’t the time to kick ass, you have to stall for retreat. You’ll both be graded on this training exercise.”
What? That’s fucking unfair! I wasn’t present for that class, how am I supposed to be graded on techniques I know nothing about?
Note to self: never piss off Ms. Kingsley.
Valentina stands before me, slightly spreading her legs and raising her fists. I imitate her stance and force myself to breathe. I scan her, trying to guess what direction she’ll attack me from. She takes one step forward on her right leg, lifts her left hand, and I immediately raise both arms to shield myself from the blow that comes from the right.
I smile when I manage to block her, but my smile is gone in an instant when her right fist hits me right in the lower ribs.
I let out a whine of pain and drop to my knees. Valentina turns and flees in the other direction.
“Well done, Miss Bandini! Excellent!” Ms. Kingsley declares, applauding. “Did everyone keep their eyes open and see the feint I taught you yesterday? Miss Fermi was wrong to think the attack was aimed at her face. It was just a diversion for Miss Bandini to strike lower, at her ribs. Feints are crucial in close combat, and we’ll teach you some techniques to help you in the event you find yourself that close to an enemy.” I clutch the side of my body and try to get to my feet with great difficulty. My father wasn’t kidding, Valentina is a force to be reckoned with. The force of her blow proves she’d be an excellent bodyguard, but unfortunately, she’s already expressed her unwillingness to hover over me.
“You can go back to your spot, Miss Bandini. That’s an A. Next, Mr. Pace. Please join us in the ring. Same guidelines.” Ms. Kingsley gestures with a hand, and claps to speed Liam up. Shit, shit, shit.
Liam towers over me with his huge form, and it seems like the most unfair thing in the world to me. My slim body and meager strength are no match for the mountain of a demon standing before me. What the hell is Miss Kingsley thinking, putting Liam up against me? There’s no balance here at all. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out how this fight will go.
Liam approaches and bends down towards my ear. “Wanna make it interesting, Belle?”
“What do you want?” I growl. God, he infuriates me.
“If you can land one blow, no matter the force, I’ll let you ride my dick today. I hear someone’s prepared herself for me.” He steps back and his mouth curves into an arrogant smile. My whole body tenses up and I stare at Valentina. She fucking told him what happened that night?
A fierce blush floods my face, and I pray someone wipes the sheer shame of my existence off the face of the earth. Fuck. What the hell did I even do to deserve all this evil? I was wrong to trust Valentina. My naiveté has really come back to bite me in the ass this time.
As I look back at Liam, I’m not surprised to see him already coming at me full-force. I can’t bring my hands up to defend myself before his fist is already striking me in the face. I see stars, literally, as I fall backwards. My back hits the ropes and I bounce back in, just to get a kick to the side of my head. My brain rattles around in my skull, and I can swear I hear a cracking sound in my head.
“That’s enough!” Ms. Kingsley’s voice is so dim I’m sure I’ve imagined it. I’m in an aquarium, drowning, drowning, and everyone watches from the sidelines and does nothing. I hear whispers and giggles from afar. My vision goes blurry and my head spins. A light shines in front of me and I reach out for help.
“Bellcolor?” I hear a strange voice calling me, and try to answer, but my vocal cords won’t respond. Only broken whispers emerge from my mouth.
The sound of an alarm splits my head open and I feel the ring trembling under my body. Footsteps running away, lots of them, in every direction. What’s going on out there, beyond the aquarium? I shut my eyes. My eyelids are so heavy and I give in to their desire to close. Maybe that can seal me away from the chaos rampaging outside.
“Belle! Belle!” Someone calls my name, but it’s too late. I’m gone.