Fade Into Black - Shadows of the Night 5

Chapter 8

Hi,

Trouble ahead, trouble behind. The big question: is Anna doing the right thing? Who should she trust? Is there anybody she can really trust?

Lara

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Chapter 8

The longer I stayed with the Inri Brotherhood, the more I was starting to doubt myself and the world I was living in. Absolute truths, unshakable beliefs, the foundation my determination was built on – they were starting to crumble, threatened to fold in on themselves like a flimsy house of cards.

No, I couldn't ever forget why I was here. Why I 'joined' the Inri Brotherhood to begin with.

In order for you not to become the hunted, Anna Johnson, you must become the hunter

I stared Medici in the eye, mixed factoids with falsehoods, unable to tell where the line between truth and lie was.

"Then let me become a hunter. Show me how," I said. "All this time you've been simply taking me along. Today I almost got caught because of it. Give me back my pendant. Show me what the books say about what you think I am. Make me one of you, for real."

Medici's eyes narrowed. For a long moment he simply stared at me. Slow, almost imperceptibly, a smile spread on his face, twisted and dark like the rogue witch himself.

"You're starting to think like one of us, Anna Johnson."

I wanted to cross my hands in front of me, a defensive mechanism that would let him see I was averted to the idea. My fingers twitched, ready to curl into fists. I couldn't even do that. If I telegraphed the wrong information, Medici might see right through me.

I channeled my energy into a blank face, the kind of face a washed-out, human version of Alexander would have made, and forced my voice to neutral grounds.

"What do you know about Pentagrams?"

Medici sighed and turned his back to me. "As I said, we're working on a quid pro quo basis. Since you're willing to join us, I'll show you a glimpse of the information I have." He walked to the make-shift table on the other side of the room. He moved his palm over the city maps and papers strewn allover, before picking one – seemingly at random.

"Learning to control Spirit isn't just what I want you to do. It's what you have to learn if you don't want to end up like the rest of the Pentagrams throughout history."

I licked my lips. Like the rest of the Pentagrams. Dead, he meant.

He held up the sheet of paper. "This was taken from a copy of Elena Larosa's diary. I take it you're familiar with the name and who she was."

I stilled. Elena Larosa. The third Pentagram, and my ancestor. According to history she destroyed greater parts of the Catholic Church's corrupt Inquisition apparatus, and the vampire coven that had insinuated itself into it.

"Where did you get it?" I said.

I'd been trying to get my hands on something, anything pertaining to Pentagrams and their history, without success. No one seemed to know anything, and if they did they were unwilling to share.

He shrugged. "Is that really of importance?" He walked up to me, holding out the sheet. "You're still asking the wrong questions, Anna Johnson. You may have this now. See it as advance payment. I'll give you more later."