Page 41 of Prayer of the Damned

She lets out a frustrated breath. “I meant every word, but you need to loosen up a bit. We’re supposed to be enjoying the whole college experience, it’s our time to be free, before our dads start controlling every aspect of our lives again.”

“I tried to loosen up, and you lost your freakin’ mind and disappeared.”

“I panicked! Okay?” She raises her hands dramatically. “I’ll admit, I thought it would be different. Something about youmade me lose my mind. It wasn’t at all like what I thought would happen, okay? And I’d be very glad if we put it behind us and never spoke of it again. Can we do that, please?”

“All right.” It’s pointless to debate the matter further, and she’s right. I got what I wanted, and it was over. “So what’s going on with you and the trio? You seem closer than ever.” I lean on the wall and try to relax my tense muscles.

“Nothing to tell so far,” she tries to answer calmly, but I note the slight twitch in the corner of her mouth.

“Are you sure? You spend almost all your free time together.”

“Yes,” she quickly replies.

“Okay…” I draw the word out. The atmosphere between us has gotten tense and a little awkward, like some abyss has opened up that neither of us can bridge. Suddenly Valentina gets to her feet and heads for the door. “Where are you going? I thought you said there was a curfew tonight.” I get off the bed to stop her.

“Laws are meant to be broken, aren’t they?” She smiles and leaves the room without telling me where she’s going, or inviting me along.

I stay still right where I am, my hand still reaching out, and a chill runs down my spine. There’s a whisper behind me that traps the air in my lungs.

I turn, but there’s no one behind me.

“Sensensensem…” The whisper spins around me like a gust of wind, blowing out all the candles in an instant. I scream and curl up into a ball as absolute darkness overtakes the room.

“Sensensensem…” the whisper comes again, but this time I feel breath against my ear. The temperature in the room seems to drop by at least ten degrees.

“W-who’s there?” My voice hitches with fear, or cold. The two mix together, working my tense nerves. Light breaches the darkness of the room and the sound of my phone ringing makesme jump. I run to the bed and hurriedly answer. “Dad?!” I exhale, putting the call on speaker and turning the phone’s light towards the room, passing it here and there to see who’s in here with me. I’m not imagining it, damn it, I’m not alone.

“Bell…col…” My father’s voice is all broken-up.

“Dad?! Where are you? You’re breaking up!” I scream into the phone while my gaze flits across the room, constantly scanning it.

“Can you hear me more clearly now?” I let the air out of my lungs and fill them up again. I was at the point of thinking a ghost was haunting me, and now it was time for the static. The worst part of any haunting.

“Yeah, Dad. Where have you been?!” I demand to know. It’s too fucking much. I’m on the verge of losing my mind. Maybe I never stopped being Crazy Fermi.

“There were some urgent things I needed to take care of. I’m sorry if I worried you, that wasn’t my intention.”

“What was so important you couldn’t answer me?!” I’m angry, scared, lonely, hurt and mainly seeking comfort.

“I’m afraid I can’t share that with you, Bellcolor.”

“I didn’t think otherwise,” I snap back. He’d held out on me during our last talk too. And on top of that, he disappeared. Whatever’s going on with him, something really stinks.

“Don’t talk back to me, Bellcolor,” my father chastises me.

“Fine, fine,” I give the phone screen the middle finger. “Listen, Prof. Sapienti has disappeared. The new lecturer said he returned to the creator, but—”

My father cuts me off. “I know.”

“So why didn’t you tell me? Is this about the research you asked him to do?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice is cold and distant, and I swallow the lump in my throat, processing what he just said.

“Are you kidding me? You asked him to look into—”

“I didn’t ask anything of him, Bellcolor. I’ve never met the Professor. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Are you being serious right now?!” I scream at the phone.

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