The god’s touch was like being caressed by hatred. It was as if every dark thought in the world had form and mass. It wrapped around me, its shadow blocking out the light until I swam in its bleak embrace.
You found me.Its thoughts appeared inside my head, not words but made of a tangled web of screams – a nightmarish mockery of our language.
“How do you do that?” I whispered, digging my nails into my scar in a desperate effort not to slam my hands over my ears.
I have listened. It is nothing to me to learn your primitive tongue. The voices of my sustenance provide the vocalizations. You have returned to me.
I choked back a scream of my own. The voice I heard was made of the screams of all those sacrifices. “Y…y…yes. I was hoping you could answer a few questions. Did you… have you had a sacrifice recently?”
I have not consumed for some time. I starve alone in my prison, for I must wait for the one I crave.
Relief washed over me. I’d guessed correctly. Greg was safe. For now. My agreement with Ms. West was still binding. But knowing that only brought up more questions. “Am I the one you crave?”
Yessss.
The way he said it, like teeth crunching against bone, made me realize that something about mewasdifferent to him.
“Do you want to consume me?” I asked.
I want to understand you.
I didn’t know what that meant, but I’d take it. “Ms. West told me that when I am hurt, you hurt, too. Why is that?”
I am heavy with the weight of my greed. You are heavy, too. You have gorged yourself on the life of others. We have an affinity.
“Because you think I murdered someone?” I asked. I pressed my fingers to the scar on my wrist. “You think we’re the same because you devour souls and I… I…”
The darkness and the hatred stole the words that staggered to the edge of my tongue. The words I hadn’t been able to utter since the fire.
Luckily for me, the god didn’t seem to expect an answer. The screams crashed against my skull.You want to ask me about a particular soul. My servants have seen him alive and intact. Would you like them to show you?
“Yes.” My heart leaped with hope. “Very much.”
The darkness closed around me, squeezing me, pulling me backwards until I stumbled and toppled over. Instead of slamming into the floor of the cave, the god caught me in his dark embrace. Before my eyes, the darkness resolved itself into a pack of the shadow creatures that chased me in the gym. They drew back snarling lips to reveal teeth made of midnight. Tenebrous claws sliced the air, cleaving holes in the world from which more of their vile number spilled. They surrounded me, leaping on top of me, tugging my clothes and squeezing the air from my chest.
As one, they tossed their heads back and howled. The sound wasn’t of wolves, but of a great maelstrom battering the prow of a flimsy ship. From their mouths burst forth a net of oily strands that crossed and stretched out in all directions. They quivered and twanged against each other, and some even emitted a low hum – as if they were violin strings pulled taut.
A string wobbled in front of my face. Heat flared in my palms, and I didn’t know how I knew to do it, but I reached out and grabbed it. The string coiled around me, wiping the repulsive oil all over me as it swung me forward, dragging me through a maze of darkness until a shape resolved itself in front of me.
Greg.
His head slumped against his shoulder. His hands had been tied behind him, and one leg was pulled to his chest. Marks along his arm glowed red in the god’s vision – precision cuts, and small puncture wounds that looked like blood draws. Blood streaked his pale skin, and his blue eyes swam with pain and defeat.
My heart snapped in two. Greg came to this school for a second chance. He was kind and fun and wonderful and funny. He might be alive, but he was in great pain, and he didn’t deserve any of it.
“Greg?” I called out, thrashing against the oily threads. “Can you hear me?”
Greg turned toward my voice, but his eyes couldn’t focus. I tried to discern something about his location that could help me find him, but all I could make out was that he was tied to some kind of metal frame before a dark shadow moved in front of him, its doglike limbs long and lithe as it leaped toward my head.
I screamed and yanked myself back. Malevolent claws scraped against my arm, raising goosebumps against my skin. Teeth made of darkness snapped at my face. I screamed again, throwing up my arms. The threads around my torso tightened, dragging me back into the gloom.
I flew back through the web of strings until I came to face the god’s trapdoor. The shadow creatures disappeared, leaving me slumped on cold stone. I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate. I knelt on the edge of the platform, clutching the trapdoor.
You cannot reach him through his dreams. He is fragile. You will damage his soul.
“Where is he?” I demanded. “Is he still here on campus?”
My servants watch over him.
