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“Whatever, Audra. ”
And on we’d went…
Was this ritual about Idun? For all I knew, the goddess was alive and well, running around Valhalla—seeing Sonja had made the most i
mpossible notion possible.
“Epli…epli…epli…” they chanted, and it must’ve struck a chord with Frost, too, because I saw a fleeting moment of panic in her eyes. There and gone.
“Are you ready, dear Acari?” Sonja traced a tender finger down Frost’s cheek, and my roommate didn’t move. She looked paralyzed, but whether by fear, hypnosis, or the cloying smoke, I didn’t know. “Are you ready for your good death?”
Apparently, Sonja didn’t care about her answer, because she turned her attention back to the crowd. “Women are the givers of immortality. Beginning with the goddess Idun, whose apple granted eternal life. ”
Bingo.
Sonja looked so peaceful, so calm, so triumphant. …I could tell something very bad was about to happen. I held utterly still, holding my breath, clenching my teeth till my jaw throbbed.
“You must thank this young woman for her sacrifice,” she said. “Come, partake of the young Initiate. It is through the apple of her flesh that you will experience Idun’s deathless power. ”
And then she plunged her blade into Frost. Oh God, oh God. I wanted desperately to look away, but couldn’t.
“Consume,” she shouted. “Consume and know immortality. ”
Her face bloomed into the most magnificent smile as she thrust deeper still. My roommate seized once, her body arching and stiffening on the table, before sagging into death.
“Epli,” Sonja was chanting, over and over, and the Trainees’ voices rose to match hers. The drums pounded wildly now. “Celebrate, dear children. Celebrate this night upon which you ascend to the next level. Thank this girl for her gift. ”
A chorus of male voices rose around me.
She turned her loving attention to Frost’s chest and— Oh God, her heart. I was desperate to look away, to shut out this ghoulish scene, but was too terrified of what the consequences might be. She was going to do something to Frost’s heart. Her voice cried above the din, “Thank Idun for her immortality. ”
I could tell from the riotous chants of the boys that something was happening. I realized I’d shut my eyes tightly beneath my mask, and I forced myself to look. I couldn’t be caught now.
Sonja swayed in place, hands raised. The drums were pounding, smoke choking the room. Trainees were passing something from hand to hand, each taking a moment to take a taste.
Oh God. Oh no…It was Frost’s heart.
They passed it along, each boy tasting in a haze of ecstasy. I saw Josh take his turn, saw the rapture on his face. He held it longer than anyone.
Nausea punched me in the gut. Spit pooled in my mouth, revulsion washing over me in violent waves. My body rebelled, wanting to expel the contents of my stomach, to repel everything about this. I had to swallow and swallow again, choking back my bile. This was how the boys became vampires. How vampires became immortal.
Except for Yasuo. Yasuo wasn’t surviving the transition. I doubted he was even here tonight. He’d spoken of Emma’s heart. Her heart. Of course Yasuo was turning Draug. Did he know he’d be forced to hold his girlfriend’s heart in his hands? Or was she already gone?
A Ferris wheel spun in my brain, making me woozy, blurring my vision. I was sick. Confused. Hysteria clawed at me, desperate to be unleashed. A thin, rational thread was all that held me together, while the rest of me had snapped, wanting only to fall to the ground and curl into a ball, weeping and trembling.
I fought it. I had to save Emma from this. Had to save everyone from this.
I backed up until my hand touched the wall, clutching at the cold, damp stone to hold myself upright. I panted through my teeth. Deeper than this horror was the visceral, animal instinct that I couldn’t be caught. I couldn’t betray my presence.
The madness in the room reached a fever pitch. Miraculously, I managed to edge away.
I stayed away from the “apple. ” It repelled me. And it was easy enough to avoid—the boys were too doped up on smoke and Idun’s immortality to notice me shifting through the crowd.
Sonja, though…I imagined I felt her eyes on my back. But she made her grand exit, and the boys filed out behind her.
I wanted to run, to shoulder my way through the crowd and be the first out the door, but I made myself wait. Finally, everyone was gone.
All that was left was Frost, on the table, alone in death as in life. Her eyes were wide open, and I couldn’t help it. My feet stuttered beneath me, walking toward her. I had to shut those eyes. I had to do one kindness for this girl.
