Initiation (19 page)

“Um. I don’t know what you mean.”

“Well, all we do at this end is put her in a scene. Remember yours from last year? What was it?”

I remembered it well, mainly because I had been petrified going into the chamber, not knowing what was about to happen. “I was sitting in my garden, swinging from my tree swing.” I recalled how I had instantly felt a sense of calm at the familiarity.

Professor Bern nodded. “That would have been your response to the visual scenario we put you in. All we would have seen on our monitors is the scene itself. In your case, it would have been an image of your backyard with the tree swing. That’s all. Your mind did the rest. But we have no way of telling what that was. All I am able to do is study and record your biological responses.”

“Wow. That’s interesting. When my mom came out to the garden to give me a drink, was that stimulated by you or my mind?”

“It’s hard to say, since I wasn’t present at your test. But it’s very rare that extra image simulations are added during the first test. We usually wait and start that after the first five. So, the visual of your mom most likely would have been something conjured by your mind.”

“And you have no way of telling that? I mean, that I saw my mom come into the garden?”

“No. All we would have been able to record was your response to it. You may have stopped swaying in the chair and gotten up to kiss her–”

“Professor Bern, we’re ready to go,” the lab assistant interrupted.

“Okay, Henri. Come on over, Cordelia. Watch over my shoulder, if you want. But you must promise not to make a sound. Not one. Or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Thanks. I won’t.”

Henri put his mouth to his microphone. “Faustine, are you ready?”

“Yes.” Her voice was hoarse over the speakers.

“Okay. I’m going to kill the lights. It will be completely dark, so close your eyes and relax.” Henri switched off the lights. The only illumination came from the glow of the monitors.

Professor Bern tapped in a code, and a beach replaced the blank blue screen. I could almost feel the warmth of the pink-tinted sand and the fresh wind blowing from the clear blue ocean. And I wasn’t even in the scene.

Henri handed me a pair of goggles. I put them on and could instantly see everything around me. Night vision. Awesome! I glanced over at Faustine. She still sat in the chair, but her legs were stretched out in front of her, while she leaned back into the chair, her arms dangling by the sides. She seemed happy and content, as though she were lying on the beach, soaking in the rays. She sat like that for about an hour. I thought she must have fallen asleep because I was sure I heard a couple of her piggy grunts. I wanted to ask Professor Bern how long we were going to watch her sleep, but I didn’t dare. The last thing I wanted was to be asked to leave.

Finally, Faustine stirred and stretched, opening her eyes. She sat up in her chair and shielded her eyes with her hand, then she reached down, picked up an invisible something, and put it on her nose–sunglasses, I guessed. She got up and skipped forward a few steps, then unexpectedly jumped back and giggled. She kicked her legs and picked up something from the floor, threw it, and laughed. She strolled back to her chair and sat down, stretched her legs, and picked up something from the floor again. She squinted down at whatever she had in her hand.

Prof. Bern keyed something into her computer, and the beach image began to fade.

Faustine closed her eyes.

After about ten minutes of typing, Henri finally spoke. “Faustine, you may open your eyes now.”

She did, and Henri turned on the lights. Faustine got up, appearing pleased with herself. She came out of the chamber with a smile plastered on her face. “That was more like a vacation than a test. I was back in–”

Professor Bern interrupted, “Faustine, it’s best not to share what you saw. We’d like to analyze the data we collected without that information.”

She nodded. “Okay. But can I tell Cordelia?”

“For reasons that will become clear as we carry on with these tests, I’m going to ask you not to share the information with anyone. Please try to remember the Academy’s second Golden Rule. I know it’s hard to accept, but it’s a Golden Rule for a reason. Isn’t that right, Cordelia?” Professor Bern stared at me.

“Yes.” I squeezed Faustine’s hand.

Faustine sighed. “So when is the next one?”

“Same time next week,” Henri replied.

“I’m ready if you want to do another one tomorrow,” Faustine offered.

“That’s good. We’re on a tight schedule, though. We have a lot of Initiates this year. We’ll see you next week. Concentrate on your classwork in the meantime.”

Faustine rolled her eyes.

I was glad she’d enjoyed it. Hopefully, the next few weeks would be equally fun for her. “Come on, Faustine. Dax is waiting for us in the dining hall. He’s excited to hear how it went. Everyone else in your group had their first tests this morning as well, right?”

“Yep. I can’t imagine Martha not spilling.” Faustine snickered.

As we made our way toward the dining hall, it was my turn to feel tense. It was Faustine’s first time visiting the Initiates’ dining hall. The cafeteria would be full–full of possibly dangerous Initiates. I had tried to get Dax and his group permission to eat in the mentors’ lounge, but the rule was unbreakable–only mentors in the mentors’ lounge. We were allowed one guest, so I could have taken Faustine on her own, but Dax insisted that his group would eat together after their first test. It was tradition, a time to bond. Thankfully, none of the vamp Initiates would be there. At least, that was something.

As soon as we entered the dining hall, I noticed a lot of students stopped eating to sniff the air. They could smell her human blood. Damn.

Faustine seemed totally oblivious as she tried to find Dax and the others. “There they are.” She pointed to a table in the far corner.

Great. I’d have to maneuver her safely through the crowd to get her there in one piece. I was relieved when Dax got up and hastened toward us.

“Thanks, Dax,” I said gratefully.

“No problem. I see what you mean now. Perhaps you two should join us later.”

“But I’m hungry!” Faustine whined, totally unaware of the effect she had on the other students.

“I don’t get it,” I whispered to Dax. “I mean, I knew that we’d get a bit of a reaction, but this?” I scanned the cafeteria. Groups of students were getting up and staring at Faustine. “How come this didn’t happen in class yesterday?”

“There were mostly demons in the class, and a few hybrids. No shifters, vamps, or faeries,” he explained.

 
“Can you two stop whispering? I’m really hungry.” Faustine nudged us, then marched off toward the food stations before I could grab her. By the time I got to her, she was halfway to the food, and there was no stopping a demon–even a hybrid–once she’d picked up the aroma of meat. I knew Faustine would let nothing come between her and her steak. I had no idea what to expect, but I had a feeling that things were going to get very ugly, very quickly.

The students, who had initially just gotten out of their seats to stare at Faustine in fascination, were making their way over to us–packs of werewolves, groups of faeries, and other supernatural beings. I was too focused on Faustine to be certain of exactly what was going on, but I knew that Dax was right beside me. I had no idea how I was going to get Faustine out of this.

Purposely striding forward, Faustine abruptly stumbled and fell to the floor. She looked up in surprise as Dax and I reached her. She had rebounded off a shifter standing between her and the food station. My fingers were fused and ready to go. Dax stared at me wide eyed. A troll wouldn’t be of much use in an all-out fight.

The shifter Initiate held out his hand to Faustine. “Hello, gorgeous. And who might you be?”

Before I could pull her back, she grabbed his hand and hauled herself back to her feet.

“I’m Faustine. Sorry about bumping into you like that. I wasn’t looking where I was going, just letting my nose lead me.” She giggled. “You can let go of my hand now, but thanks for helping me up.”

“Anytime, Faustine.” He didn’t let go of her hand. “You’re a demon? A part demon. What else are you?”

“Human.”

“A weak demon. Perfect. We hate demons, but they can be so annoyingly indestructible. But you, on the other hand, will be fun to play with.”

“Maybe later. Right now, I need to eat. So, excuse me.” Faustine tried pulling her hand away.

I noticed that her fingers remained unfused. Didn’t she have any demon instincts? Any other demon would have fully transformed already.

“Let go of her! Now!” I yelled, getting between the two.

“Or else?” he growled.

“Or–” I stopped as I felt Faustine suddenly tense behind me. Then, I smelled it. The eagle. I could smell her strong and clear. The eagle was very close. I transformed instantaneously and jabbed my scorching fingers into the shifter, picking him up and tossing him against the wall.

All hell broke loose. The pack of shifters who’d been blocking the entrance to the food station launched themselves at Faustine and me. I swung around, fighting them off as fast as I could, taking them out one by one. I desperately looked around for Faustine, but I couldn’t see her in the throng of bodies surrounding me. I hoped Dax had somehow managed to get her out. Then, I spotted Dax lying on the floor. I kept fighting. The weres came at me as quickly as I could chuck them away.

Then, I saw her. The only reason I knew it was her was that I didn’t know anyone else on campus who had managed to get a pair of custom-made Chanel flats that looked almost identical to our standard issue Mary Janes. The rest of her was beyond recognition. She had grown to one-and-a-half times her normal size and transformed into a demon. A really ugly one. Her only saving grace was that her skin seemed to be smooth and boil free, a condition that affected most other demons, including me, when we transformed.

I smiled. Faustine seemed to be doing okay with her attackers. She grabbed a shifter by his leg and held him upside down, smacking him really hard with her other hand.

I gaped at what I saw next. She yanked his arm off and ate it. Gross! I knew she was hungry, but that was just… well, against the school rules for one thing. Beating someone up was one thing; eating or even killing it was quite another.

I had to stop her.

I launched myself at her–and landed on the floor with a crashing thud, my nose slamming into the hard concrete. Hello, plastic surgery. Where the hell did Faustine go? She was gone. Again! Then, to top off my day, the eagle flew into me.