Page 30 of A Dead Man's B-Side
I’ve always found a special type of fondness for the phraseeat the rich.
I sent him an annoyed look. “So, you admit there are rats, at least?”
“No, I just mean–”
He didn’t get to finish explaining himself because a knock sounded from my door and silenced him. The three of ussimultaneously turned at the sound of intrusion.
Except nothing followed afterwards. Three sharp and clear knocks that cut through the air, with only the tail end of a shadow left as a clue.
Who knocks and then leaves?
Was it another student signaling for us to keep it down?
Flashes of paranoid scenarios began to conjure themselves up in my mind, and I was immediately on edge. It felt, nowadays, as if that was all I’d ever be.
There was a sliver of a shadow remaining, however. A package of sorts.
Wolf and August didn’t get up, only sharing confused looks and hoping I’d join in along with them. But I only pressed my fist down on the soft mattress and lifted myself off it.
I held up a finger, signaling for them to remain seated as I padded slowly towards the door.
Despite my hesitance, I forced myself to power through, with the intention to hide any tremor August or Wolf could catch.
My hand paused on the doorknob, trying to calm the tremor making its way down my arm.
Reaching for the doorknob, I threw it open and looked out the door to both ends of the hall, preparing for a fight. Except, my tightly curled fists fell apart at the vacant sight in front of me.
Only an envelope at my doorstep.
And a similar one on Wolf’s.
I tilted my head in curiosity. Was unsolicited mail a thinghere? “Looks like I’ve got mail. You too, Wolf.”
Perhaps it wasn’t what I first believed it might have been.
“What–” I heard behind me before footsteps followed, but I didn’t look back, only reaching down to pick up the envelope.
I could feel my heart slowing down as August poked his head around and down the hall. “Well, that’s not fair. How come I didn’t– Oh, I did!”
He squeezed past with a shove and raced down to the end of the hall, where his dorm was, before racing back. I’m surprised he didn’t wake anyone. Checking the clock on the wall next to my bathroom, it was already half past ten.
Time passed, and I hadn’t realized we’d been speaking for so long.
The slap of Wolf’s slippers, for whatever reason, bothered me as he walked past and picked up the envelope waiting for him at the edge of his door.
“Well–”
“You say that word a lot, Wolf.”
That was the first time the latter’s annoyance was turned on the former, as he paused to send him a raised brow before continuing to speak, “We should see what’s inside, shouldn’t we?”
Lacking the patience, I ripped mine open and pulled out the rich paper waiting inside. It had gold accents on the corners and reminded me of a certificate. Except, the words written were far from congratulations.
“The Founder’s Society,” I read aloud. “Is proud to welcomethe candidates of 1982. Controlla past… orem, controlla oves. Controlla e-eos omnes. What language is that?”
“It’s Latin,” August said, absentmindedly, as he eagerly ripped open his own, Wolf following. “Yup, I got the same one.”
Wolf pulled out his letter and read through it for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing and his hand tightening around the paper. “Me too.”
