Page 58 of Divine Oaths

I couldn’t breathe. It was as if Vivian was inside Sarah, like she was possessing her. And there was that pool of swamp water, dripping at Sarah’s feet. It occurred to me, suddenly: She was a ghost. Vivian, the girl who had taken me under her wing here at Westfield, was dead.

Theta’s members turned their attention to Sarah.

“It is against the sacred law for a ghost to steal possession of a human form,” Cecilia shouted. “Vivian, you may be under the protection of Ԑnhye, but you broke code from your sisterhood with your actions today.”

The Ԑnhye—I recognized the name. It was the society that Vivian and Angelica wanted me to join.

“She was just trying to help,” Honey said, but Cecilia raised her hand, silencing her.

“For a spirit to take possession of a human breaks law. It risks their soul morphing into that of a wraith. We of Theta Omicron Delta have made it our mission since our inception to free all souls in bondage. You dare interrupt our summoning that protects Westfield from the vestiges of the curse’s blight?”

“You were sloppy today,” Sarah said, speaking in Vivian’s voice. “And you will hear from my sisterhood about your actions, which put an innocent student at risk. Allow us passage from here, and I will ensure that I not break law again by disrupting your summoning.”

“Let’s bring it to a vote,” Honey said. “Renee, will you attend to the records?”

One of the Thetas nodded, stretching out her hands and drawing in the air like a conductor directing an orchestra. As she did, silver lines appeared, just like earlier, during the exorcism.

“All in favor of sanctions being brought to Vivian, of our cousin sorority?” Renee said.

“Nay,” Honey said, stepping forward.

“Nay,” Janette said.

“Aye,” Cecilia said, standing on the opposite side of Honey. As each member spoke, they stood behind the member they agreed with. Eventually, the members each stood according to their votes. Three nays, six ayes.

“We will bring your case to sanction, Vivian. Kasem, you too will be brought to Sigma for your actions of interrupting tonight’s banishing. But we grant you passage. Leave. Now.”

Kasem reached for me but I pulled away, pressing my eyes shut, taking in everything. And yet, the soft touch of his hands anchored me. “We need to leave before they change their minds. Can you walk?”

I nodded, and he helped me stand, taking my wrist and leading me past the members of Theta and through the hidden door in the bookcase that Cecilia had emerged from.

Inside was the skeleton of a hallway, made of wood and planks and rusty nails jutting from the walls.

“Follow my steps. Vivi, can you lead us?”

Sarah nodded, grabbing one of the candles from the walls.

“The notebook must be burned and buried with the body,” she said.

“I have it,” Kasem said. He’d picked it up, torn pages and all, and had rolled it into the waist of his pants.

“Be careful,” I whispered. “Won’t you get possessed by him too?”

“I wasn’t drinking tonight,” he said. “Most spirits need more than just a tether to possess someone. They need the consciousness to be weakened so they can overpower the host’s free will.”

I thought of everyone at the party tonight, everyone in the circle, forcing shots down my throat, others faded in the back, the curdling scent of smoke seeping into their pores, glazing their eyes over as they opened themselves up for the summoning.

“You knew this,” I said, pulling my hand from Kasem’s grip. “And you just let me open my consciousness to ghostly possession? You didn’t think to warn me when I’m the one risking everything trying to help you break your curse?” I was screaming at him, slurring my words and stumbling after him and Sarah, who was still possessed by Vivian, as we worked our way through the secret passageway in Theta House. There was a set of stairs that led down to a basement, where another stone hallway emerged. Eventually, we reached a fork as the path divided into three.

“We’ll go to the Saint James residency,” Kasem said. Sarah nodded, and we took the sharp left in the path.

“Kasem,” I said, screaming his name.

He spun to face me.

“You came here willingly, didn’t you?” he snapped. “You were downing shots from strangers like you didn’t have a care in the world. Did you know someone got roofied last year at one of these things? Did they not mention it in your orientation packet?”

“No!” I shouted. “They didn’t mention that or ghostly possession. Sorry that I thought I could trust you or Honey or Vivian or anyone on this godforsaken campus.”