but their attempt was foiled. What the purpose of the ritual was, I can’t tell you, but I do know that it will have dire consequences if they are able to complete it. And now they’re trying again, to succeed where they failed.” Selissa frowned. He clearly knew more than he let on, but she didn’t stress it. “I was sent here to make sure that they won’t succeed.”
“Sent by whom? And why come here?” Calen asked. He looked like he had a hard time taking all of this in. She couldn’t really blame him.
“Who sent me isn’t important.” Alassane said, sighing. “That is important is that they’re after you.” He said, looking straight at her.
She stiffened. “Me? Why me?”
“I don’t know.” She knew he was lying through his teeth. He was hiding something. “But they are after you. That means that you’re either of use to them, or a threat to them. Either way it means that you will be able to help stop them.”
Everything was spinning before her eyes. Selissa put her head in her hands, dizzy from all of this information. Some kind of demon cult had killed that poor boy? They wanted to do some ritual… And they wanted her? None of that made sense to her. She was not important. Why would any of this have anything to do with her? Alassane had to be mistaken…
But deep inside, she knew he wasn’t. She had felt it when she saw the symbol on the floor. She had recognized it and knew that it meant. That could not be a coincidence…
She felt the weight of Alassane’s stare on her. What did he expect her to do? Jump in like some kind of hero and save them all? She had no idea what they wanted her for. How could she ever help stop them?
She felt like she was suffocating. Her head spun, and she couldn’t bring herself to focus. She had to get out of there.
“This is insane… You’re insane.” She said to Alassane. Casting one last look at him, she turned around and stormed out of the room. She faintly heard Calen calling her name, but the only thing she could think about was getting out of there and away from Alassane.
8
Selissa wasn’t aware of how long she had been lying there staring at the ceiling. She had tried to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes the image of the poor boy lying maimed on the floor appeared in her mind.
These Demios… To literally rip a boy apart just to send a message… What kind of ruthless, disturbed people would actually do that?
“That is important is that they are after you.” Alassane’s voice sounded in her head. She closed her eyes, trying to force the memories of yesterday’s conversation from her head. When it didn’t work, she slowly opened them again. Sick of watching the ceiling, she turned to her side.
The view that greeted her was a pair of distressed, silver eyes staring back at her from the mirror on the other side of the room. She noticed how awful she looked. Her usually clear eyes were red rimmed from lack of sleep, and her face was pale as death. She was used to not getting a lot of sleep, waking up in the middle of the night from another terrifying nightmare, but it had been a long time since she had looked like that.
She swung her legs over the side of her bed. She had been wondering about something, something other than Alassane’s words, and since she didn’t get anywhere with thinking about her conversation with him, she could at least do something about the other.
She splashed some water in her face in hope of getting some color back into her cheeks, before heading out to find her target.
She found her in the far eastern corner of the temple, her brother by her side. As she approached them, she could see that Nadia had been crying. Selissa guessed that the news about yesterday had already spread through the sanctuary.
She came to a stop next to the siblings.
“How did you know?” She asked quietly. Nadia looked up at her with wide eyes, her face covered in dried tears. Nijel looked like he had feared this moment.
“How did you know that boy was going to die?” Selissa asked again when Nadia didn’t say anything.
“I…” She started, before hesitating. She seemed to gather her courage before continuing. “I saw it.”
Selissa’s eyes widened. “Saw it? What do you mean?” Nadia hung her head, ashamed.
“I can see… people before they’re going to die.” The girl answered, before going quiet. Nijel put his arm around her, before taking a deep breath.
“Nadia has an… ability. She foresees when people she has met are about to die… That’s why she got the Mark.” He said, while meeting Selissa’s eyes. She realized that he was waiting for her judgment. Waiting for her to reject his sister, like everyone else had.
“Do you…” She started, trying to get over the shock of their revelation. “Do you see them die?” Did she see who did it?
Nadia finally raised her head. The look in her eyes had changed to something Selissa couldn’t quite define.
“No.” She said. “I only see their bodies, when they’re already dead…”
“I see…” Selissa said thoughtfully. So she didn’t see how it happened, or who had done it. She turned to look at Nadia, when she felt the girl’s stare.
“You’re not scared of me?” She asked in wonder. Selissa blinked in surprise.
“Why would I be scared of you?” She asked puzzled.
“Because people always are…” Nadia answered. Nijel looked at her with a sad look in his eyes.
“There’s nothing most people fear more than their own death. No one wants to be around someone who can tell them when they will die.” He said.
Selissa couldn’t help but pity her. Not only was she forced to know when the people she knew were going to die, she also had to endure people being afraid of her because of it.
“I’m sorry.” She said. “And I’m not afraid of you.” It was the truth. She couldn’t say that the idea that this girl could tell her when she was going to die didn’t make her uneasy, but she was not afraid. She was going to die, no matter if she was told beforehand or not.
Both Nadia and Nijel stared at her in wonder, Nadia shocked, while Nijel sent her a thankful smile. “You’re a very good person.” He said. Selissa frowned.
“No, I’m not. But I have no right to judge others.” She didn’t even know who she was. Who was she to say she was better than anyone else?
A strange feeling of being watched washed over her. She cast a look over her shoulder and saw Alassane standing there watching them silently.
She didn’t want to see him right now. But deep inside, she knew she had no choice.
“Take care.” She muttered and patted Nadia on the head. She turned away and began walking towards the last person she wanted to talk to.
As she came closer, the smell of smoke assaulted her. She crinkled her nose in disgust. The man’s lungs had to look like coal by now.
“Strange company you keep.” He said when she came to a stop before him.
“With all the time I’m spending around you lately, I’m inclined to agree.” She retorted.
A disdainful snort was the only response she got.
“So what do you want?” She asked. “I guess you didn’t come here to tell me you don’t approve of the people I choose to be around.”
“I was serious, you know.” He said
“What?” Selissa asked confused.
“About you being able to help stop them.” He said. The usual arrogant tone was gone from his voice, and he looked at her seriously.
“And I was being serious about you being insane.” She huffed. “I don’t know anything about all this madness, and even if I did, I’m nothing special. Why would I be of any help?”
“If you were nothing special, they wouldn’t be targeting you. Either they need you, or you’re a threat to them. Either way, it’s important for them to get to you. And it’s important to us that they don’t.”
“Us? Who are “us”? I don’t remember agreeing to any of this!” She said. All of this was insane. “I’m not getting involved in this. You’re on your own.” She t
urned her back to him and started to walk away. She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew that it had to be away from him.
“Don’t you want to know what the symbol on your back means?” He said so quietly that she almost didn’t hear him.
She froze in her tracks. The symbol? How did he…?
She slowly turned to face him. All the muscles in her body were tense, and she clenched and unclenched her hands repeatedly to calm herself. What did that symbol have to do with all of this?
“How do you know about that?” She asked slowly, eyeing him warily.
“That is why they want you. They’re searching for the person who bears that mark.” He was watching her closely, waiting for her reaction. Selissa noticed that he had avoided answering her question.
“Why? How does that fit into all of this?” Alassane was silent for a short while, before answering her.
“I can’t tell you…” He said quietly.
Selissa didn’t buy it. “You can’t or you won’t?”
Silence was the only answer she got. “That’s it, I’m done here. Goodbye.” She spun on her heels and started walking. Once again her exit was cut short.
“So you intend to just wait for them to come after you?” Alassane asked. “You didn’t strike me as the type who waited for others to make the first move.”
Selissa bit back a spiteful reply and forced herself to walk away.
9
Low voices were muttering everywhere. Over and over again, they kept on whispering. The room was dark, the only light emitting from a few torches along the walls. They cast