A scream rose in my throat, pushing against my teeth, fighting for freedom. A warm hand circled my waist, dragging me back from the creature’s grasp. “I know it’s horrible,” Quinn whispered, his breath hot against my earlobe. “You can’t scream. If you scream, they’ll find us. Screaming’s pointless, anyway.”
I opened my mouth, but no sound passed through my lips. How could I even scream? This was fuckingbeyondscreaming. My mind was being torn to pieces by a battering of perverse imagery that assailed me through the very air I breathed. Unimaginable tortures and abuses played out inside my skull.
Through the haze of vile visions, I managed to stare out into the cavern. I noticed in a detached way that the cloaked figures had stepped back from the platform, leaving the slumped object on its edge, right beside the open trapdoor. Open now, the trapdoor revealed a dark void – a well of darkness that had form, that flowed and moved and shifted as the malevolence grew inside it.
“Behold, our Great Old God, the one who came to our young world from the sky, on a trail of devoured stars,” the first cloaked figure cried, raising its hands toward the platform. “Your dreams have reached us once again, revealing your desires. We, your loyal servants, have returned to you, bearing this gift.”
The figure swept a hand across its shadowed face, flinging back a dark hood to reveal pale skin that glowed in the torchlight, sliced with bow-shaped lips colored crimson. Her dark hair fell in waves of shadow down her back.
Headmistress West.
“We long again for you to rise up from your deathlike slumber, to leave your dark prison and dance among the stars, for you to ride upon your cloud ship and play with your sisters and brothers, as you did when the universe was new. We honor you and your limitless knowledge of the universe.” She swept her cape around her body as she fell to her knees. As one, the other teachers in the room sank to the ground, pressing their foreheads into the stone floor.
The demon or god or fucking shadow whatever creature raged within its prison, satiated by their obeisances. Headmistress West raised her head, her voice booming through the domed space.
“Hazel Waite eludes us. But she can’t have gone far. We will find her, and we will tear her open and discover her secrets. We will figure out why she hurts you.”
Okay, what?
“Please accept this boy as a gift. His soul will repair the wounds she has inflicted.”
Ms. West lunged forward and grabbed the lump. A knife flashed in her hand as she cut away the straps and bag that bound it. A body rolled out and slumped against the platform, its limbs flopping, its face lifeless. It was bound in rope, with a foul gag stuffed in his mouth. As the robed figures hauled it up onto the platform and flung the ropes around it like a harness, the torchlight shone on a pair of glassy eyes and caught the golden threads of hair I recognized so well.
Greg.
My throat closed.They’re going to lower Greg into that pit.And I knew without knowing how I knew that it wouldn’t kill him. Not completely. Death wasn’t the thing to fear in this room. When Greg came out again, he’d be just like Loretta. All the Gregness about him would be gone.
No. They’re not doing that to Greg. Not for my sake.
Trey’s grip tightened around my shoulders. But he had nothing on me when someone I loved was in danger. I tore myself free from his grip and leapt to my feet.
I stepped into the cavern, my head high. “Hello, Headmistress. Hi, faculty members. Greetings, malignant demon of the void. I’m Hazel Waite. I heard you were looking for me.”
Chapter Four
Headmistress West spun around, her face as cold and impassive as ever. The only indication of her surprise to see me was a slight upward movement of one eyebrow, which was quickly reined in again.
“Miss Waite.” A slow, evil smile spread across her face. “We’re so pleased to see you safe and well.”
My legs trembled, but I didn’t dare back down. If I gave an inch to that… whatever it was, then I’d be the next person down that hole.
“Wish I could say the same.” I managed to keep my voice calm, even as my whole body convulsed. “You’ve been out looking for me. It’s odd to have all this trouble for a scholarship student, especially when this school usually doesn’t give a shit about us.”
Behind me, I could hear the boys whispering, arguing about how to deal with this curveball I’d just thrown them. As if I needed their help.
I shuffled forward a step. The entity swelled – not with power this time, but with something that would have been fear if a creature thatate stars for sustenancecould feel fear.
“You’ve been causing no end of trouble at this school.” Ms. West’s features remained locked in that smug half-smile.
I dared a smile back at her, intending to look a bit sinister. But with the entity’s vile visions pouring into my head, I couldn’t force my muscles to obey, and it came off as a wobbly grimace. “I aim to please. So… what exactly have I walked into here? It looks an awful lot like you’re trying to sacrifice my friend Greg to some cave demon. Which is obviously an insane thing for the headmistress of such a fine institution to be doing. I thought I’d pop out and ask you to explain yourself.”
Her creepy frozen smile didn’t falter. “No, no, that’s what we’re doing. Every year, four students enter this school. They are carefully selected, for we have very strict criteria. They must be exceptional, for it is their minds that our god most desires. They must be orphans, without anyone who will look for them. And they must be able to be broken. Four enter the school, but none will ever leave.”
“What happens to them?” I took another step. I had no idea what it was I was doing, except that I needed to reach Greg.
“A small sacrifice, but necessary. The alumni of Miskatonic Prep are the rulers of our country, of the free world. They need our god’s power in order to do their work, and so we must all make sacrifices for the greater good of our nation.” With a flick of her wrist, the headmistress indicated the trapdoor. “Our god needs sustenance, just like you and I. Only instead of food, He Who Once Devoured The Cosmos now requires human souls.”
Jesus fucking Christ. As if people like Trey’s dad didn’t already have enough power, they are literally dragging up ancient demons because they’re that afraid of the unwashed masses.
