“You’re saying it wasn’t the deity that brought us back from the dead?” Ayaz frowned.
“Correct.” Zehra threw her dark hair over her shoulder. “I think it was West.Andmy source believes that if we can get the formula for the chemicals she uses, or even research notes on how she does it, then we could find a way to…” she stopped.
“To do what?” I asked.
Zehra squeezed my hand. “Sooooooo… it’s unclear. Maybe we could restore you guys to life, give you the ability to age, to step over the boundaries of Parris’ home, tolive. Or maybe all we can hope for is to lay you to rest and set your souls free.”
“We don’t have souls any longer,” Trey muttered.
“I’m not sureyouever had one to begin with, Trey Bloomberg,” Zehra said, swiping her hair out of her face. “But yeah, I can’t promise what’s going to happen, so if we’re going to do this you have to be prepared that…”
…that the guys might die for real.
All three of them looked to me, their faces a mix of anger, of horror, of regret. A sick feeling churned in my stomach. Even though I’d seen their gravestones, it was still so hard to think of them as dead – not when they laughed and fought and held me and kissed with lips that burned.
But theyweredead, and for twenty years their souls had been trapped inside bodies frozen in time. The torture they’d undergone at the hands of Ms. West and the Eldritch Club had robbed them of their chance for a future… and a vital piece of their humanity. No wonder they were capable of such cruel bullying – they’d known only cruelty themselves, their abuse baked into their skin.
The thought of them dying for real hadn’t occurred to me. I always expected that if we lifted the spell, they would return to life. But Zehra was right – they already had one foot in the grave. Theydiedin that fire twenty years ago – whatever unnatural process Ms. West had subjected them to had trapped them in this half-state, this life-that-was-not-life. To set them free, to truly break the curse of Miskatonic Prep, I would have to say goodbye. Forever.
Shit.
I fucking hate goodbyes.
Tears sprung in the corners of my eyes. I swallowed hard, forcing them back. Quinn met my eyes and flashed me a wobbly smile, and they almost spilled over. But no fucking way was I crying in front of the monarchs. I wasn’t giving them that power over me, of knowing how much they meant to me now.
“Personally, I think we’re owed a shot at life.” Quinn flexed his biceps. “I can’t die without unleashing all of this magnificence on the world.”
“We have to try,” Trey agreed.
“This isn’t about us, anyway. If we could stop this happening to others, then I want to find out, even if that means…” Ayaz sucked in a breath, unable to finish the sentence. “Where would we find research notes?”
“My source says that Ms. West must have a lab somewhere in the school. It would have to be cold, or have some kind of cold storage for any bodies she collects. That’s where you’ll find your evidence… ow, lay off, you’re crushing my ribs.”
A lab, like a mad scientist from a stupid horror film.I knew that this lab was where she planned to take me at the end of the school year, when my end of our bargain came due. She’d cut me open and experiment on me, trying to figure out why I hurt the god. I doubted I’d survive the process.
Ayaz didn’t loosen his grip on Zehra. From the haunted look in his eyes, I knew he’d realized that if his soul was freed, he’d be leaving her behind.
Trey glanced at his watch. “Ayaz, we should go.”
Zehra untangled herself from her brother’s grasp. “I’ll walk you to the entrance.”
Ayaz’s eyes bugged out. “You’re not… living in this cave, are you?”
She laughed – a musical sound that filled my head with light. “Of course not. Right now, I’m living out of an RV on the edge of the village. I can’t get the bloody thing up this road, so I hike up here as often as I can to search for Rebecca’s sigils, and to check up on my older brother here. I’ve gotten pretty good at using the caves and tunnels to sneak around without being seen.”
My gaze flew back to the sigil on the wall, forgotten in the thrill of meeting Zehra. “So you know about Rebecca Nurse, too? And you can see the sigil?”
She nodded. “But none of the guys can. Either because they’re edimmu, or because of some other reason. It’s the only one I’ve found so far, but I believe there must be others. I also gave you an article about Rebecca Nurse, but I’m assuming you didn’t read that, either.”
I sighed. “Nope. Although someone at the school has had some interesting night-time reading.”
Zehra shuddered. “I hope those articles haven’t fallen into the wrong hands.”
“Me, too.” As we walked to the entrance, I asked Zehra how she ended up at Derleth. “Surely the school wouldn’t be so stupid as to accept a student who already had a sibling at Miskatonic?”
“Yeah, they only accept orphans for that reason. Basically, everyone fucked up. The political situation between Turkey and the United States has changed since Ayaz went to live with the Bloombergs. My parents were so desperate for me to come here and get the same education that when they heard there was a scholarship program for orphans, they sent me here to apply with a different name and a different history. They didn’t even care that Derleth was on the same grounds where Ayaz had died. I played my part so well that the school didn’t connect that I was Ayaz’s sister. So of course, when I show up here and see my brother who is supposed to have died eight years ago, I’m a bit suspicious.”
We emerged above ground. The rising moon peeked through the trees, throwing an eerie pale light over the landscape. Zehra threw her arms around me. “I won’t go any closer to the school, in case you’re being watched. I’m relying on you to look after my brother and his two idiot friends. But you have my permission to kick his ass if he ever bullies another person.”
