The Nine

c h a p t e r f i v e

tell your friends ; the weeknd
{Told me not to fall in love, that shit was pointless.}

(Grayson pictured.)

•••

"So how many stories does this place have?" Ago asked as they made their way towards the staircase.

"Fourteen." Otto responded immediately. "If you include the dungeon. The first floor is the library and the kitchens. The second through fifth floor are all guest rooms. The sixth floor is the dining hall and the ball room. The seventh floor is the training room and the gym. The eighth floor is for recreational stuff, like the music room and the art room. Floors nine and ten are the classrooms. Floor eleven is where the residency bedrooms are, floor twelve is for meetings and official business. And floor thirteen is the greenhouse."

Ago's eyes were wide. She hadnt realized that there was so much to do in the House.

The two of them jogged up the stairs, Ago asking a question every few seconds and Otto answering without getting impatient. Soon enough, they had reached the eleventh floor.

They walked past the room that Otto had been in earlier, all the way to the end of the hall. The duo stopped at a black doorway, with nine letters painted on in childish handwriting.

OtTO rUShE

Ago giggled and Otto sent her a look. "Dont judge, I was three when I painted that."

Ago quieted down as Otto placed her hand on the doorway. Her tattoo flashed and the door swung open.

The two of them walked in to the darkly lit room. In the dim lighting, stick-on-stars glowed faintly on the ceiling. There were hundreds, sprinkled all over her ceiling. On the walls were posters of surprisingly human things- bands, tv shows, movies, sports stars. What surprised Ago the most was the array of photographs arranged on Otto's dresser. Photos of a younger Otto with different girls and boys. Some, she recognized- Anais, Grayson, Lach. Some, she didnt. A young asian girl with a triangle tattoo on her collar bone. A blue eyed boy with a single stripe of white through his dark curls that showed up in nearly all of the photographs. An older girl with flaming red hair and brilliant green eyes, their arms wrapped around each other.

"That's Holden." Otto explained when she caught Ago looking. She pointed at the blue-eyed boy, smiling softly. "Alia's older brother. He's been my best friend since the day I showed up. Fourteen years ago."

"Who are they?" Ago asked, gesturing to a photo of Otto standing in the center of ten boys, five on each side. Ago recognized one, Lachlan. Otto had her left arm wrapped around a young boy around two years old, and her right hand entertwined with a seven year old. Everyone in the photo was grinning at the camera, their golden eyes shining. The photo couldnt have been more than a year old.

"My brothers. All ten of them."

Ago frowned. "No sisters?"

Otto laughed. "No, no. Im the first- and supposedly the only- daughter of Zadkiel."

They were a silent for a moment. Otto shook her head, turning and holding up a small obsidian rock.

"Give me your hand." She instructed.

"Why?" Ago asked as she held it out. Otto took it, flipping it over to reveal the back of her hand. She pressed the rock against her hand, etching something in.

Ago hissed in pain. Otto removed the rock, and an inky black symbol was etched onto the back of her hand. It matched Otto's.

"What the hell was that?" She hissed, shaking out her hand. Otto's mischevious smile curled across her face.