Page 54 of Prayer of the Damned
He nods wordlessly.
I get to my feet, straighten my school uniform and walk out of his office, leaving him on his knees, dumbstruck. I served himmy soul on a silver platter, all he has to do now is drag it back to damnation.
Bartimaeus, you’ve opened my eyes, just as your God opened yours. Now all I ask is that you put an end to all this.
The Tale of Bartimaeus’ Miracle
In the land of the Hebrews, among the Righteous, it is widely believed that sinners bear the punishment of their impurity on their very bodies. But only the saints knew the truth – “the righteous suffer”. The path to redemption is full of obstacles, some are true physical pain, though there were those who lost their sight, for they had been blind to He that created them and gave them Faith.
Bartimaeus was a known beggar in the Jericho area. A transparent man among transparent men, his story bore the lesson of faith lost. In those days faith was not a casual matter, fortune smiled on very few and it was quite easy to abandon it. For many people, when there was no future on the horizon, the consequences of present actions changed nothing.
One day Bartimaeus lay beneath the scalding sun, as was his wont, feeling only that his flesh was burning. Despite the pain the light caused him – it was how he could tell night from day, for all his eyes witnessed were an endless veil. Suddenly he felt the strong presence of a man looking at him.
How different those strange eyes felt, how foreign the sudden invasion. It was the first time the desire to see awoke in him – after he’d been given the privilege of being seen.
“Cousin!” Bartimaeus called out, believing the stranger had already given him the only charity he longed for. Roughfingers touched his sweaty forehead, and he gasped in response. Bartimaeus opened his eyes and said, in absolute faith: “Let there be light, and there was light.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Bellcolor
Iwalk into my room and find that all my suitcases have been unpacked, and my things are organized everywhere they’re meant to be. I’d asked Libretto for a private dorm room, and he didn’t hesitate to fulfill my request. Who would’ve thought that of all people I’d be the one to wrap the head of the Council around my little finger. He’s so drunk on the false hope that his lover will return to him that he’s fully invested in the story I sold him to allow me to return to school.
“My body awakened because you didn’t interfere,”I’d pleaded.“Maybe my memories will return the same way.”He believed it, and now here I am, planning my banishment rather than my return.
I didn’t want to go back to the old room I’d shared with Valentina. That friendship is over and done with. I was free to do what I wanted, and decided to take full advantage of that. If at first I believed I’d live forever, now I knew my time was limited. Add my enormous power to that and top it off with being under the wing of the head of the Council, and I was pretty muchinvulnerable not just physically but to all the consequences of my actions. I’m at a damn demon academy, it’s time for me act appropriately. Maybe I’ll find sinning to be exactly as sweet as it’s described. I’m sick of being miserable. It’s time to have fun.
I decide to start with the mixer being held tonight. Every single student will be there, freshmen to seniors. This time I’ll walk in with my head held high and with a proud heart. After all, I must meet the ones who’ll be giving me their blood, even if they’re not aware of it.
“Don’t be greedy, Bellcolor. You must know when to stop. You’re not like other demons. You saw what happened to Liam, you have the power to send them to their creator. And if their blood isn’t enough to satisfy you, you will have mine.”Libretto insisted on repeating his warnings again and again, and I kept nodding disinterestedly. Libretto’s delusional if he thinks I’ll ask to taste his stinking blood. But he’s a stubborn ass.
Washed, made-up and dressed, I head out to the familiar ballroom in the University’s central building. I walk in with confidence and note that all eyes are on me. The faculty are serving as chaperones and I nod at Dr. Abano with a wink. A muscle in his jaw tenses and he reaches out to lean against the table next to him. That amuses me.
The seniors greet me and kiss my hand. They introduce themselves one after the other, and I elegantly ignore them. Spanish, Russian, American, Australian… an endless parade of demons from all over the world, each more boring than the last. I notice that only the men are approaching me. The women are glaring daggers at me. Among them I notice Valentina, who stares me in disbelief, with Tyra at her side heavily gulping. I smile and pass them by. That should get the message across clearly.
I walk over to the appetizers’ table, which is split in two: on one end are bowls of the florescent punch my father’s companydeveloped, and on the other are bowls of human blood. None of that could satiate my endless hunger. Human blood still makes me queasy, even after completing the transformation. I pass by the table and walk down the hall.
“How was your summer?” Evan leans against the wall as I pass him by.
I turn to him, but immediately regret it. He’s almost identical to Liam. I have to turn my gaze away so as not to recall his last haunted look as I drained him of his blood and sent him to his creator.
“Great, and yours?”
“Don’t play stupid, it doesn’t suit you, Belle.” His tone is venomous, and I can’t blame him. I continue wandering, ignoring the curses he’s hissing at me. “Damn you…” He doesn’t understand that for anyone else in the realm of demons, that’s a compliment. I should be praying for that as well, but my heart quails at the thought of it.
I give the hall another look at feel more out of place than I’ve ever been. Once again my attempt to veil myself in a different version of me has failed. I was a misfit then, and will remain a misfit forever. I decide I’ve had enough of the night; it’s not as amusing as I thought it would be. On my way out, I grab the tie of some random student and pull him after me. He seems eager to follow me. The idiot thinks he’s won the lottery, but he’ll regret it pretty quickly.
I pull him into a dark corridor, trying to hide us in the shadows, and I let him press against me. He props me up against the wall, enclosing me with his hands, and starts kissing my neck lustfully, leaving exaggerated trails of saliva on me. I contort my face with disgust. His body is so frozen and I’m even more intimidated. I flip him around, pressing him against the wall, and now I have control. I run my nose over his jugular and feel a tremor passing through his body.
“You’re so sexy…” he pants heavily.
I don’t bother replying as I fix my fangs into his prominent jugular as it beats under his pale skin. One sip and then another, I groan savagely. The darkness mixes together with flashes of the ecstasy I feel. I give into it easily enough, but it’s nothing like Liam’s blood. The feeling Liam’s blood gave me was almost divine. This miserable demon isn’t even remotely satisfying me. But this is my life now, a life I’d prayed to put an end to.
“That’s enough.” A hand grabs my shoulder and pulls me far from my victim, whose eyelids are fluttering while his eyes roll up in their sockets. Still unsatisfied, I moan with disappointment, but lean into him and lick his neck until the wound heals and closes. “TheLordshall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul,” Dr. Abano whispers as he places his hand on my victim’s forehead. “Follow me!” he commands, not waiting for me to obey and pulling me after him instead.
He shoves me into his office and slams the door, glaring at me, and for a moment I’m lightheaded. Then he grabs my arm and slams me into the bookshelf in his office. Fuck, this asshole is strong. My whole body rocks with the force of the blow and a few books fall to the floor.
“Careful, you wouldn’t want to trigger your OCD,” I hiss. The pain is just too much.
