Page 21 of Prayer of the Damned

“Truth be told, I’m a little intimidated by you,” I smile, hoping not to offend her.

“Me? Why?” she tilts her head in askance.

“Because look at you! You’re gorgeous, and I’m sure you were popular. Now all your university years are wasted because of me. I mean, look at me!” I gesture to myself and another burst of laughter erupts from her.

“I don’t know what you think of me, but being the daughter of the head of the mafia doesn’t exactly win me many friends. Most people were afraid to get close to me, and those who were brave enough to befriend me always wanted something from me.” She seems sad, and I feel bad. Maybe I really did rush to judge her. “My only friends were my family, because we’re a big family. I saw the university as an opportunity to break through that family wall and build myself a world all my own. Boy, did I get that one wrong, huh?” she laughs.

“Yeah,” I nod in agreement.

“So how did he do it?” she jumps on the bed and stares at me expectantly.

“Do what?”

“You know, how did your dad take your life? My father invited every demon in Chicago. He held a fucking ball for my death-day! If that’s not nuts, I don’t know what is.”

“Ah…” The words stick in my throat.

Valentina continues staring at me, and when the words don’t come she contorts her face. “Your dad screwed up that bad? Youcan tell me. I told you, my dad gave me no choice but I think we can use the opportunity to become true friends. We still have some control over our lives.”

Maybe she’s right. We’re stuck with each other anyway, so there’s no reason not to really try to be friends. Besides, I think she’s taking her father’s threats seriously, and I can trust her.

“What did your dad tell you about me after my dad approached him?”

“He said your father was looking for someone to protect you. He didn’t mention exactly what I’m meant to be protecting youfrom, but I assume there are demons out to get you if you need protection at a demon university?”

“Something like that… I mean, I don’t even know myself. I just know I haven’t completed the transformation yet, and the head of the Council wants something from me. And let’s just say I didn’t get the sense from him that it was a good thing.”

“Wow! You met the head of the Council? What’s he like?” She jumps excitedly onto her bed and it almost hurts to shatter her illusions of Libretto.

“He’s… very serious.” That’s all I can say without getting in trouble. I think the Council members won’t take kindly to someone speaking poorly of them.

“My father’s met them a few times. It’s a huge honor. I’ll be inheriting my father’s businesses, so I’m looking forward to meeting them too.”

Yeah, just don’t hold your breath,I think, and freeze instinctively. My father isn’t here, I remember. I can’t believe my thoughts are just mine again. I cheer internally and Valentina doesn’t suspect anything about my strange behavior.

“That’s nice,” I finally answer, trying to be blasé.

“So you didn’t tell me how your death day went,” she reminds me of the question I was trying to avoid.

“It didn’t go the way my father planned,” I admit. “I beat him to it by one night.”

“What do you mean?” she raises an eyebrow and leans in.

“I took my own life,” I whisper, lowering my gaze.

“Wow… the Devil must love you,” she blurts out.

“What?!”

“The unforgivable sin. Think about it, in some ways it’s even worse than murder, isn’t it? You’re like the valedictorian of this place.”

I like Valentina. With one sentence she managed to erase the shame of what I did that night.

“I guess you’re right,” I smile, feeling uplifted for the first time in a long while. “But as you can see, it didn’t exactly work in my favor. I decided to kill myself using pills I thought were mood stabilizers.”

“That’s what your dad told you? How melancholic! My dad told me they were vitamins.” She bursts into laughter. “So you believed you were crazy your whole life? No wonder you tried to off yourself, sis. If you’re told something long enough, you ultimately start believing it. There’s research proving that consciousness is so strong even our bodies can start showing symptoms the mind believes in.”

“Yeah, I guess…”

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