Page 84 of Sinister

I edge closer, straining to catch every word.

Who is this “he” they’re talking about?

The implication is heavy—Sin. My Sin.

The thought hits like a stone to the chest. Could he really be responsible for this? Could he be the hand behind this massacre?

Something breaks inside me at the idea.

The image of his mouth, of his kiss, still lingers in my mind—tender, warm. Not savage. And yet . . .

“No, he’s still here,” my brother says suddenly, cutting through my thoughts. “He’s holding a lecture right now.”

“That damn Arnoult the First’s going to pay,” my father growls. “We’re taking our town back. And we’ll drive those devil worshippers out once and for all.”

Arnoult? Who is Arnoult?

23

THE RADCLIFFE HERALD

30 March 1896

ST. ANSELM HALL UNIVERSITY TO CLOSE DOWN INDEFINITELY

After a number of complaints from eminent members of the Radcliffe council, St. Anselm Hall University has been closed down indefinitely. Rumors of involvement in the occult and satanic rituals have plagued the eminent university for decades, but with the latest events, the University’s Board has announced it would perform a thorough investigation into its faculty and students.

SATANIC RITUAL GONE WRONG: TWENTY-FIVE MEN DEAD

The corpses of twenty-five students from the illustrious St. Anselm Hall University have been found in Radcliffe’s town square, all drained of blood. The evidence points to a satanic ritual. This is not the first time the University has been embroiled in scandals surrounding the teaching of the occult. There is an investigation pending, and more details are expected to emerge when the police catch those responsible.

PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY OR DEMON WHISPERER?

Three names associated with the Theology Department of St. Anselm Hall have emerged as high interest after the ritualistic murders in the town square. Mr. Arnoult, Mr. Kimaris, and Mr. Haas have not been sighted since the horrific events that occurred on Saturday night. Mr. Arnoult, an eccentric but well-regarded academic in his field, is at the center of this controversy as rumors have started to spread about his peculiar interests in the occult, the monthly soirees he hosted with his students and out-of-town occult enthusiasts, and his claim to be able to speak with the dead. Not much is known about Mr. Kimaris.

24

PETRA

PRESENT DAY

I must be more traumatized by Edwin’s passing than I realized. Hearing the details of his sadistic murder did not help at all, and now I find myself dreaming of the strangest pagan rituals and satanic sacrifices.

Even the prospect of Ms. Matthews’s spirited lectures cannot pull me out of the trenches. The very hallways of the school seem darker, and the sky grows more overcast as well.

My conversation with Fiona and Phil sits heavily on my shoulders, and I feel like I’m moving through a fog. Yet my surroundings are as animated as ever. Even as I find my seat and start taking out my things, whispers echo around me, and I catch bits and pieces of conversations that make my skin crawl.

“—some sort of satanic ritual,” a girl is saying. “Just trust me. It has to be connected to the Society.”

“What’s that?” another student asks.

The girl—Sierra’s her name, I think—replies, “The Ouroboros Society. Haven’t you heard of them? The admins on St. Anselm Hive always post about them close to Halloween.”

“Yeah, I heard about that,” another voice cuts in. “It’s almost Halloween, right? Maybe it’s a sacrifice for the Ouroboros Society.”

“Excuse me,” says the same voice that had responded to Sierra the first time. “Who or what are the Ouroboros Society?”

A secret society, I want to respond, but don’t have to because Sierra says as much.