“Is that what happened to Loretta?” I whispered. “You brought her down here and lowered her into that… that…”
“We did her a kindness,” West explained. “Loretta had nothing left to live for. She was at the bottom of the points table, which is how we choose our next sacrifice. She was groomed for the god’s needs – ready to give up her life and slide into oblivion. Souls that are broken are the most delicious to our god, and so she was enjoyed by him. But we are not unkind. For her sacrifice, she was given a second life, a better life, free from her pain. You were a dangerous influence on her – she was starting to believe that she had a chance to be someone in the world, and of course we all know that’s not true. Now she has friends and status and peace – the things she always desired but could never have outside these walls. We don’t usually allow scholarship students back into the student body, but Courtney felt Loretta could better serve our deity by returning to the school and helping to break your spirit.”
As if what I was hearing wasn’t sinister enough, West peeled away another layer of the school’s evil. Loretta was sacrificed to this… this deity, not just because she was a scholarship student, but because she fell to the bottom of the points table and the bullies of this school had tortured her so completely she no longer wanted to live.That’s why they choose us – because we’re orphans. Because no one will help us.
But someone helped me… Trey gave me his points so I wouldn’t be at the bottom. It was supposed to be me.
Loretta died instead of me.
Becauseof me.
The injustice of it boiled in my blood, turning my veins into rivers of fire. “Where do I fit into this?” I demanded, taking another step forward.
Inside its prison, the deity reeled. A fresh wave of torturous images burned into my skull, as if it were lashing out in desperation.You said I hurt it, but how? Why?
Ms. West circled me, her heels clacking on the stone floor, studying me carefully. “You are fascinating. You don’t fit, Hazel Waite. Our god doesn’t know what to make of you.”
“If he’s a god, isn’t he supposed to be all-knowing and all-seeing and all that jazz?”
“Oh yes, but when one’s life stretches over eons, when one sees the universe make and unmake itself in the blink of an eye, when the death of a galaxy is as insignificant as a speck of dust on your collar, then you may begin to understand why it cannot turn its eye toward you. That is why he needs us, to feed it and tend to its needs and to find a way to understand what you are and why you affect him so.”
I rolled my eyes. For real, this was too much. “Fine, whatever. Just explain why I don’t fit into your insane cultist plot.”
“Our Great Old God grants us his power to make the world in his image, to place his disciples in the mightiest and most influential places where they will gather the most followers and prepare for the day when he will be free of this prison. And in return, he asks for yearly sacrifices to sustain this power. The more broken the spirit of a sacrifice, the more enjoyment our god relishes from the devouring of them, and the more loyal servants they make when they rise again. That is why we first send them to the school, where our student body will prepare them for sacrifice. But you… you have resisted all attempts to break you. Trey and Courtney were tasked with preparing you for sacrifice, but their efforts have yielded some… undesirable results.”
Trey and Courtney… have been bullying me in order to make me fit to be sacrificed to their god?My stomach lurched, but I couldn’t deal with that yet, not while I was facing down Ms. West and that horrificthingshe wanted to feed Greg to. “So basically, I’m like Brussels sprouts and cod liver oil to your god?”
“For now,” she said. “But we will figure out a way to break you. We always do. That is why you cannot be allowed to leave the school. I can’t have students telling wild stories about Miskatonic, not when we still have so much work to do.”
I shuddered as a wave of hatred rolled over me, momentarily knocking me back with the force of the vile visions it flung in my direction. This time, instead of shuttering my mind against it, I leaned into the horror, searching for something I could use to escape this situation. And as I dug deeper, I felt the entity’s grip on my skull loosen, felt its shadows recoil from my mind, and I grasped at a possible answer, a single tiny hope.
Something else is going on here. All this searching for me tonight wasn’t just about keeping me at the school to save me for their god. It’s about protecting it… from me.
“That’s not the whole truth, is it?” I said. “Does everyone in this room know how important I am?”
Ms. West shrugged her shoulders. “You have a high opinion of yourself, Ms. Waite. You may be unusual, but you are just another insignificant sacrifice. You matter little in our great scheme.”
I dug the shard of glass out of my bra and held it over my wrist. “Fine. In that case, I’ll open my veins right here. Won’t that please your god?”
The god reared back, its malignancy giving way to shuddering terror. It didn’t seem very pleased.
Headmistress West stepped forward, holding out her hand. “You don’t really want to die, Hazel.”
“You’re right about that. But I’ll do it.”
She took another step toward me. I jabbed the shard into my wrist. I was so cold I barely felt the pain of the glass cutting my skin. A few drops of blood splattered along my arm.
A sound like the universe tearing roared inside my head. The ground beneath my feet trembled as the entity fought against its bonds.
The headmistress dropped all pretenses of calm. She lunged at me, grabbing for the shard. Trey swooped in and flung himself between us, grabbing her and yanking her away from me.
“You don’t know her like I do,” he snarled as Ms. West struggled against his grip. “Hazel will do it.”
“Interesting,” I grinned. “When I hurt, your god hurts. I wonder what would happen to him if I did this.” I dragged the glass over my skin, raising a line of blood. The ground rolled beneath me as the entity’s pain battered its formless body, sending a fresh wave of horror into my mind. I gritted my teeth as I kept on cutting.
Bring it, you fucking cosmic monster. I’ve lived enough hatred in my life that I’m not afraid of yours.
“Stop her!” The headmistress fought against Trey as other hooded figures stepped forward, raising their hands to grab at me.
