"Poor little Cal. Too frightened to see what's really going on. There are much bigger games afoot, dearest, than two teenagers Changing under The Circle. Open your eyes. See the whole picture. This is larger than The Circle, larger than Paris, larger than the world itself. Can't you see it? You're a much bigger part of the events to come than you know." He turns away from me then, the noises outside growing louder. "Besides," he adds almost as an afterthought, "I've already Changed."
"You didn't, Sebastian." I breathe, "You didn't go to them."
"I did. It was the condition of me joining them."
"Your condition or theirs?"
"It doesn't matter now. It's happened. It's happening, and-" The door to the cathedral swings open and a tall imposing man dressed all in black struts in, the moon bathing him in light. "Hide." Sebastian whispers frantically.
Without thinking twice I scale a pillar high into the rafters where I can watch from above.
"Recruit." The man in black says to Sebastian who looks as if someone's punched him in the gut, "Have you obtained it?"
"Yes, sir." Sebastian says staring ahead.
"Good." The man purrs, stroking Sebastian's face tenderly while removing the volume from him. "You shall have your reward, as I promised. But first, where is the girl?"
Knowing Sebastian as I do, I notice the way his adam's apple moves up and down, the only indicator of his fear. "Girl, sir?"
"The girl you were just speaking with Recruit, where has she gone to?" The malice in his voice causes me to press my back further into the darkness.
The air inside the entire cathedral suddenly goes freezing and putrid, like death. Two wraith-like creatures enter through the open door and my heart stops beating.
They stand at least seven feet with holes for eyes and lips sewn shut with fraying thread. Gore and pus flow freely from the few ripped open seams. Their entire bodies are skeletal and they glide rather than walk across the floor, their bony feet making horrific screeching sounds as they go. "Girl, girl, girl." The three repeat. The leader, as it appears to be, glides right up to Sebastian. "Where is the girl?" It repeats, glaring down at him, it's voice that of a million screams of anguish.
"You didn't, Sebastian." I breathe, "You didn't go to them."
"I did. It was the condition of me joining them."
"Your condition or theirs?"
"It doesn't matter now. It's happened. It's happening, and-" The door to the cathedral swings open and a tall imposing man dressed all in black struts in, the moon bathing him in light. "Hide." Sebastian whispers frantically.
Without thinking twice I scale a pillar high into the rafters where I can watch from above.
"Recruit." The man in black says to Sebastian who looks as if someone's punched him in the gut, "Have you obtained it?"
"Yes, sir." Sebastian says staring ahead.
"Good." The man purrs, stroking Sebastian's face tenderly while removing the volume from him. "You shall have your reward, as I promised. But first, where is the girl?"
Knowing Sebastian as I do, I notice the way his adam's apple moves up and down, the only indicator of his fear. "Girl, sir?"
"The girl you were just speaking with Recruit, where has she gone to?" The malice in his voice causes me to press my back further into the darkness.
The air inside the entire cathedral suddenly goes freezing and putrid, like death. Two wraith-like creatures enter through the open door and my heart stops beating.
They stand at least seven feet with holes for eyes and lips sewn shut with fraying thread. Gore and pus flow freely from the few ripped open seams. Their entire bodies are skeletal and they glide rather than walk across the floor, their bony feet making horrific screeching sounds as they go. "Girl, girl, girl." The three repeat. The leader, as it appears to be, glides right up to Sebastian. "Where is the girl?" It repeats, glaring down at him, it's voice that of a million screams of anguish.
