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My heart races and my breaths become shorter.
I race through the empty corridors and slip into one of my secret hiding spots. It's a lot more cramped than I remember. I hold my breath as the footsteps get closer. They pass by me, and I think I’m in the clear.
I get a good look at the group moving down the hall and my blood runs cold. What the hell is going on here? Why are they wearing blood red cloaks and masks? I don’t know who they are, but they seem to know me.
My name is spoken more than once between the group, but I can't recognize their voices.
They seem excited about something with Eve, too.
I wait for them to move around the corner before taking a deep breath in. Another person comes running down the corridor, and I'm glad that I didn't move yet.
They are on a phone, yelling about something, and I do recognize that voice.
Why is Ash down here? Wearing one of those robes? I know I should sneak off back the way I came, but curiosity is driving me forward, following behind them. I just hope it doesn't end up getting me killed.
Chapter15
We follow Levi and the other Elders to the bottom of the stone staircase. I hold Bastian’s hand, as his vision isn’t the best in the dim lighting. It’s so fucking dumb that we can’t wear glasses under our masks. Yeah, I get that we can wear contacts, but Bast didn’t have time to pop them in after his shower. We were getting ready for bed when we were called, and Ash is nowhere to be found. I don't understand what he did to set Chastity into a panic attack, but I know he feels guilty about it.
Entering a room at the end of the hallway, it’s cavernous and echoes. It’s also fucking cold, and I shiver as I see a group of men in black robes, their faces shrouded in their hoods.
“Grati fratres et initiati!” they intone, and I watch wide-eyed, squeezing Bast’s hand once before letting go.
We bide by law and sacrifice.
The flesh between a woman’s legs is our price.
To honor thy Society, the truth we must seek, and always our secrets we must keep.
Lies and sins we will abolish, for the cause of the Brotherhood is our promise.
“Initiants, we have an announcement to make. It seems your Eve is now on campus, and you can start phase one of your initiation.” Murmurs sound all around as people start talking at once, excitedly. We have been waiting for the illustrious ‘Eve’ to show up, but why now?
Levi slips next to me and mutters something, but I can't hear him over the many voices.
“I know you’re all very excited about this, but we must have order!” the Dragon commands, and people begin to quieten down. We don’t want to screw up getting our Eve, now that we’re one step closer. There’s a lot of competition around us, and only one true Eve.
Ash enters through a side door and everyone turns as they hear the large door bang closed. Ash runs his hand through his hair, cringing at the noise. Now that it’s quiet, you can hear everything.
“I’m sorry I'm late, Elders. I know your time is important, and I promise not to let this happen again. I saw Mother Cross, and I had to hide in the corridor until she moved past me. I know it’s important not to be caught when we meet here, and I wouldn’t have been able to explain why I was dressed like this,” he explains.
I wait, breath abated, hoping Ash isn’t punished. We are rated on a points system, and if one of us is in trouble, we all are. It’s why Levi yelled at us for fighting in school.
The Dragon, our Head Elder, grunts. “As you know, secrecy is very important to the Society. I abhor lateness. It’s a bit of an ingrained trait to be on time. However, secrecy trumps this. Brother Adam, you are excused for your tardiness. Please, join us,” he says, inclining his head.
I’m still not used to being called “Adam”, but that is what we all are until initiated and we can claim our ‘Eve’, then we can have our names back. Ash walks quickly over to us, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Levi comes closer now that Ash is here and talks softly as The Dragon continues to speak to the room as a whole.
"You boys need to be the ones to get Eve. There are other girls lined up who volunteered, but you will be the true Adams,” Levi says. My focus is split between him and The Dragon, but I caught the important parts. We have trained a long time for this, and we nod before going back to listening to the Elders speak. We will be given a series of challenges to show that we are worthy of our Eve, and I still can’t help but hope that maybe it’s Chastity.
ASH
I am so fucking late. I can't believe Bridget locked me in a storage closet. She is becoming more unhinged everyday. I think previously she suspected the boys and I were gay, and that's why we never tried anything with her. But now that we're showing Chastity attention, she's pissed. I know I’ve never been attracted to any of the girls’ here and I can assume Bast and Jonas feel the same.
I reach the corridor just behind the others. Hopefully, I won't get in too much trouble this time. I race down the hall, and a whiff of vanilla and blackberries has me almost tripping over. I glance around but I don't see her. Why would it smell like Chastity down here?
God, I’ve got it so bad. She’s in my head all of the time, and now I’m even hallucinating that I can smell her. I wish she wasn’t ignoring me. I think I made things worse when I apologized to her.
