Page 40 of Prayer of the Damned

I pass by Ms. Lando and ignore her greeting, making my way directly to the folklore section. I immediately find the book I was browsing through yesterday, which had caught my eye because of the unusual depiction of the angels, and I stop on a page about Lilith. Until that moment I hadn’t stopped to look at the illustration of Lilith because she’d seemed like just another angel, winged like the angels in the other books. But she wasn’t an angel at all. She was Adam’s first wife, and she was a demon.

I grab my backpack and pull out the Old Testament we received during Dr. Abano’s lecture. I read from chapter 1: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them1.” And immediately afterwards came the contradiction in chapter 2: “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him2… And theLordGod caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And from the rib, which theLordGod had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man3.”

God created two women for his human man. But what happened to the first one?

As I read the third chapter we’ve been assigned, I realize that even though all mention of her has been removed, she got her own in the end.

“Lilith,” I whisper, caressing the page that mentions the snake – a repeating motif in the illustrations of demon women I found in other books. While humans are the creation of God, Lilith was the first marked by Satan. A human who became a demon, just like the other demons who found their way to Adam’s land. The story of creation isn’t just the tale of human creation, it’s the story that describes the start of the war between God and Satan, with its central arena being the world we know today.

I flip through the book of Jewish mythology and pause at the illustration of the Tree of Knowledge. Adam, Eve, the snake, the gang’s all there. Three birds circle the tree, and they catch my eye. You wouldn’t think it’ strange to see birds near trees, but something about the way they circle over it seems almost artificial.

I return to the illustration of Lilith, and read of the three angels barring her path. Three angels who oversee medicine. Just as Prof. Sapienti said, healing abilities only exist in the divine realm.

“Senoy, Sansenoy, Semangelof…” I whisper their names. Suddenly thunder splits the skies and knocks out the power in the library.

I lift my gaze from the book, and my heart starts pounding in my chest. Absolute darkness has fallen on the library, and its constant cold sends chills down my back. Glowing eyes shine from among the stacks, and I leap back. I rub my eyes, trying to get used to the darkness, trying to find the eyes I could swear were looking at me. But they were gone.

And yet the feeling that someone was watching me didn’t go away, and my hair stood on end at the invasive feeling.

I don’t dawdle, probing the desk with my hands, throwing the books into my backpack and fleeing the library. I walk the darkened halls until I emerge into the campus yard. Gleaming white eyes appear in every corner, and joyous cheers are heard in every direction.

I pull myself inward and stick to the wall of the building. Every time I lift my gaze I find another pair of glowing eyes reminding me of the ones watching me in the library.

The timing of the power outage is too suspicious. I’m terrified, and maybe that was the goal of the person watching me? To scare me? I can’t retreat now. I get to my room and discover that it’s empty. I thank all the damned ones that Valentina loves scented candles, and I light her entire overblown collection. With the room fully illuminated I can slightly calm my surging blood.

I open the backpack, pull out the Old Testament and another book about the divine, rifling through the backpack only to be disappointed that the book on Jewish mythology isn’t there. I could swear on all I hold dear that I’d put both books into the backpack before getting the hell out of the library. Someone or something was indeed watching me, and didn’t stop there.

I’m sure it took the book from me. Now I have no doubt, my answers lie with three angels whose names incite chaos even in the most damned place in the world.

Chapter Sixteen

Bellcolor

The blackout takes too long, stretching hours past midnight. I spend the whole time in my room, listening to voices celebrating outside. Again I try to call my father, but I’m still just getting his voicemail. I type another message, hoping he’ll get back to me soon. This isn’t like him, and I’m worried something has happened to him.

Dad, it’s me again. You’re not answering and I’m worried, I have to talk to you. Please call me back when you see my message.

I hit “Send”. Then the door opens and Valentina walks in, disappointment evident in her face.

“I can’t believe the Dean shut down our party! Not just that, he declared a curfew!” she grouses, falling onto the bed face-first. “Hey, where were you? I waited for you forever on that bench.” She gives me a questioning look.

I pick up the Old Testament. “I was too exhausted to finish my punishment, so I decided to come back here and finish my homework.”

“Damn, you’re such a nerd, Belle,” she rolls her eyes. “As soon as the power went out, the trio threw one hell of a party on the roof. It was amazing until the Dean interfered. Which is pretty weird, because if there’s one thing that’s definitely fantastic about this place, it’s that there’s no curfew and you can party all night.”

“Meaning we’re allowed to sin because that’s essentially who we are.”

“Exactly, isn’t it awesome? But what good is that if you shut yourself up in your room like a mouse? Is this because of what Liam said in self-defense class? Don’t bother with his bullshit.”

“What I don’t understand is why his bullshit doesn’t drive you crazy. I thought you hated them.”

“We came to an understanding. Don’t forget that I’m meant to be keeping an eye on them.”

“And on me,” I sharply retort.

“Come on, Belle, don’t lecture me like you’re my dad. I’m just one person, I can’t split myself and be in two places at once. Besides, you said it yourself – you were in here the whole time, I had no reason to worry. You’re a good girl. Too good for my tastes, but that makes it easier for me to not have to circle around you the whole time.”

“So that’s what it is? You feel like you’re circling around me? I thought you said we could be friends.” I won’t lie, her words have insulted me.

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