Page 43 of Prayer of the Damned

Dr. Abano smiles. “Excellent, Valentina. I’m pleased we’ve got some demons among us with their heads on straight, though I’d have chosen more appropriate language for my classroom.” She smiles at his comment and looks sideways with pride. I don’t know why, but I feel like knocking that arrogant smile off her face.

“In any event, what Valentina brings up is a very important subject—”

I raise my hand and interrupt Dr. Abano. “Yes?” He raises his eyebrow with curiosity.

“Belle, Dr. Abano. It’s not just a story of subversion, it’s Satan’s challenge that led to the ancient war raging to this day. God created the earth and humanity, and the Devil corrupted their souls. To this day we’re in a race to claim those souls.”

“And what is the role of the Tree of Knowledge in this story?” He leans on his desk, all his attention focused on me.

“God warned humanity that it was a kind of poisoned fruit, that they’d die if they ate from it, but that was a lie, since the serpent says the fruit will open their eyes. Meaning it would give them the ability to know good from evil. But that can’t be true, can it? If we count the number of times the word ‘good’ appears in previous chapters, they clearly knew what good was, didn’t they? I mean, the obvious conclusion is that eating the fruit is itself knowing evil. What’s more, the serpent says ‘and ye shall be as gods’. Which means evil exists in God Himself too. His fury afterwards proves that much. I suppose God was afraid His creations knew He wasn’t as pure as He’d made Himself seem up to that point.”

“So what you’re actually saying is that God is Himself evil?” I hear Valentina’s voice behind me, and turn to her.

“Not necessarily, it just proves the power of human souls. If Satan tainted their souls, he’d gain enough power to taint God Himself.”

“But doesn’t that mean every other descendant of Adam and Eve belong to the Devil now?” Valentina asks. “I mean, if—”

“That’s enough,” Dr. Abano interrupts Valentina and I turn back in my seat. “Discussion is necessary in my class, but you’ve gotten off-track. Let’s go back to the figure of the serpent. That’s what I want to focus on today.”

Dr. Abano continues lecturing us about the serpent, but I’m pondering Valentina’s words. She has a point. I know the Devil tainted the heart of Adam’s first wife, Lilith, but she’s not mentioned other than the reference to her creation. She’s been erased, like she never existed. Meanwhile the narrative keeps unfurling the story of Adam and Eve. They were punished for their sin, yet their souls could still be saved. Why were they different from Lilith? And if angels existed in that same Garden of Eden, why aren’t they mentioned in the story of Creation? Would acknowledging them mean acknowledging demons as well, just as acknowledging good necessarily means acknowledging evil too?

I scrawl some notes in my notebook, to remind myself to investigate all this speculation popping into my mind. When the bell rings, I lift my gaze to see all the students already leaving the classroom. I hurry to gather my things and head for Dr. Abano.

He doesn’t lift his gaze as he gathers his belongings into his leather briefcase. “Not here,” he warns. “Come to my office after dark.” He doesn’t say another word, just walks out of the room and leaves me wondering.

I hurry to the gym, replacing my school uniform with my gym clothes, and stand tall and proud for having made it on time. Right at the last second.

Ms. Kingsley walks into the gymnasium and enters the boxing ring without delay.

“Hello, everyone.” She scans us all with her eyes. “I’m pleased to announce that once again Miss Fermi has volunteered to serve as our demonstrator.”

My mouth drops in open shock, and I hear snickering coming from the crowd. “W-what?” I stammer.

“A little bird whispered to me that you didn’t complete your punishment yesterday, so you’ll get to assist me in today’s class too.” I grumble and hiss curses on my way to the ring. The Devil won’t give me a moments’ rest.

“Don’t worry, today we’ll see whether the class has picked up the techniques I taught last time. So you won’t miss a thing. All you have to do is try your best to block every incoming blow,” she whispers to me as I approach her. She stands tall and surveys the evasive looks from most of the crowd. The ones standing in front of her are tall and determined, they’re the ones who make me anxious.

“Miss Bandini, come here please,” Ms. Kingsley points to her. The only thing that comforts me here is that Valentina was one of the ones avoiding Ms. Kingsley’s gaze too. She may have put some distance between us, but I know she doesn’t seek to hurt me. Not unless she wants to get in trouble with our dads.

“Yes, Ms. Kingsley,” Valentina chirps, exchanging a look with Tyra – who is of course among those standing tall and seeming determined to test their abilities. I never liked that trio, and even less so now.

“We’ll review the attack and defense techniques we learned yesterday. Your goal today is to try and confuse the enemy – in this case, Miss Fermi, to give you enough time to flee.Remember, this isn’t the time to kick ass, you have to stall for retreat. You’ll both be graded on this training exercise.”

What? That’s fucking unfair! I wasn’t present for that class, how am I supposed to be graded on techniques I know nothing about?

Note to self: never piss off Ms. Kingsley.

Valentina stands before me, slightly spreading her legs and raising her fists. I imitate her stance and force myself to breathe. I scan her, trying to guess what direction she’ll attack me from. She takes one step forward on her right leg, lifts her left hand, and I immediately raise both arms to shield myself from the blow that comes from the right.

I smile when I manage to block her, but my smile is gone in an instant when her right fist hits me right in the lower ribs.

I let out a whine of pain and drop to my knees. Valentina turns and flees in the other direction.

“Well done, Miss Bandini! Excellent!” Ms. Kingsley declares, applauding. “Did everyone keep their eyes open and see the feint I taught you yesterday? Miss Fermi was wrong to think the attack was aimed at her face. It was just a diversion for Miss Bandini to strike lower, at her ribs. Feints are crucial in close combat, and we’ll teach you some techniques to help you in the event you find yourself that close to an enemy.” I clutch the side of my body and try to get to my feet with great difficulty. My father wasn’t kidding, Valentina is a force to be reckoned with. The force of her blow proves she’d be an excellent bodyguard, but unfortunately, she’s already expressed her unwillingness to hover over me.

“You can go back to your spot, Miss Bandini. That’s an A. Next, Mr. Pace. Please join us in the ring. Same guidelines.” Ms. Kingsley gestures with a hand, and claps to speed Liam up. Shit, shit, shit.

Liam towers over me with his huge form, and it seems like the most unfair thing in the world to me. My slim body and meager strength are no match for the mountain of a demon standing before me. What the hell is Miss Kingsley thinking, putting Liam up against me? There’s no balance here at all. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out how this fight will go.

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