“And which of her friends is Palmer?”
I squinted, trying to remember. “I think that’s Micah. His dad was the distributor. He knew where all the sick fucks were and what they wanted.”I checked the list and confirmed it.
“Who’s left then? Harris. That’s Therese, right?”I nodded and wrote her family's name.
“They helped clean the upstairs whenever people did manage to get through the doors to check on us.”
I folded all of their names and put them into individual small cups.“Each and every one of these families had a direct hand in the sick shit my dad was doing down here and got away with it afterward. Well, not anymore.”I pulled the knife from the table and raised my arm.“The stronger the binding agent, the more powerful the spell is.”
Carefully, I slid the blade across my skin and began to bleed. Kansas quickly took the cups and began filling them.
“Is this enough?” He eyed the contents. There was just enough blood to cover the bottom.
“As long as the note is soaked in it, it is.”I reached for my backpack and pulled out the bandages, quickly cleaning myself up.
“What do we say?” he asked me.
“Why am I still baby-spooning this shit to you?” I reached for a cup and shoved my fingers deep into it to make sure the paper was soaked. I looked around for the cooler I had brought down a few days ago and filled it with ice this morning. It would serve until I could put these in Eisley’s freezer.
We set all six cups with the family's names on them, and together, we repeated the phrase.
“Stay there and freeze, as long as we please.”
We stood back up and Kansas began wiping my blood off his hands.
“Now what?”
I laughed. “Now, we wait for the Reanimator to do his thing. It shouldn’t take long.”
“It never does.”
Rule 52 - Constantine
Watch and learn.
Ten years ago.
My father pressed his hand firmly into my back, guiding me through the upstairs and to his office.
“We’re taking the back way as we have guests right now.”
“Guests?” I looked up at him, fear striking down me. I’d been taught to fear guests. They were only here to make things worse.
“Yes, it’s nothing to worry about, Constantine. Just some trouble in our little paradise. I shall see my flock through. Now, come, sit, I have brought you here for a reason.”
“I don’t want to watch any more movies,” I said firmly, my fists clenching at my sides. They were disgusting and I couldn’t bear to see the other boys and girls, the same size as me, be treated like that. I could never do that to Eisley like they wanted. I wouldn’t.
“No, none of that today. Although I note your distaste. We will put a pin in that to discuss later. Tonight, once our guests leave, you will witness one of the Fathers giving us his greatest gifts tonight, and I think you will change your view on things afterward.”
“A gift?”
My father grabbed a box from his office, along with a large book that looked so old it would crumble if I tried touching it, and took me back downstairs.
“What is this room?” I asked, stepping into it for the second time.
“All in good time, my son.” He chuckled and led me into the common room. I recalled this room, as I’d spent most of my time in it before Kansas and Eisley came. It had been years since I’d been allowed to spend more than a few minutes here, but it looked the same. I looked around for the door in which my friends were. It wasn’t too far away. If I had the strength and the keys, I could get them out and we could run so fast they wouldn’t be able to catch us. But, I had neither of those things. They didn’t feed us enough for us to be strong.
“Sit here, son.” He sat a chair in the corner of the room. “Do not move from it. Your role tonight is to observe and nothing else. You will ruin the ritual if you do. Understand?”
