Part 13 (2/2)
”He said,” Serena continued, ”that I had to call the others to a place off the map. A place where we could gather away from the noise of the cities and suburbs. A place where I could study and . . . watch you.”
Even Ade, whom Ash had pegged as the calm one, was squinting with what was either confusion or the beginnings of a headache. ”So we're here at Blackwood because a stranger who came up onto your porch-a stranger you've never even seen-told you to bring us here?”
Serena shrugged. ”To be fair, I've never seen any of you, either.”
”And now what?” Lily asked. ”We save the world?”
Serena shook her head. ”We save ourselves, and in doing so, we save the world.” With that she slipped the knapsack off her back and dropped it into the wet sand.
She crouched and plunged her hands inside. And when she pulled them out . . .
”Oh, Christ,” Ash said.
In her tiny little hands Serena held five pieces of parchment rolled around wooden dowels. A triumphant grin spread across her face as she displayed them.
162.
”Scrolls?” Rolfe scoffed. ”You brought us scrolls?
What are you, Moses?”
Ade punched Rolfe on the arm. ”The Commandments were written on stone tablets, idiot.”
Serena giggled. ”Well, I couldn't find a hammer and chisel at the time. And the messages I was carrying seemed too important to, you know, type up and print out.”
”Messages?” Ash echoed, and then she couldn't help but laugh. ”Of course. The blind prophet. I should have known.”
Serena shook her head. ”The messages aren't from me; they're from Jack. He said I was to hand-deliver each to you. He also said that under no circ.u.mstances are you to share your messages with anyone else.” She paused significantly, her eyes pa.s.sing over the five summoned. ”They're instructions on how to prevent Ragnarok.”
”What the h.e.l.l is Ragnarok?” Raja asked. ”Sounds like some sort of German heavy metal concert.”
Rolfe's turbulent expression cut the group's laughter short. He adjusted his wet suit uncomfortably. ”It's Norse,” he said, correcting Raja. ”And it means the end of the world.”
The cold spring ocean air renewed its attack on Ashline's soggy clothes. She rubbed her arms. The pregnant clouds over the water looked ready to open up again at any moment. This was all too much to take in.
Blind prophets, shared visions, a strange man writing 163 messages to five random teenagers, lost memories that weren't hers . . .
Ash shuddered. ”So you've been holding on to instructions on how to save the world since we transferred here?”
”I told you,” Serena reminded her, ”I didn't know who you all were until the other night in town. What was I supposed to do-send out a campus-wide e-mail inviting all of the recent transfer students to a paranormal support group? When Jack pa.s.sed along the messages, he gave me only your true names. But after the visions we shared, I think I can connect the dots.”
”True names?” Lily repeated.
”Yes,” Serena said. ”Our divine names. You see, we aren't superheroes, or mutants, or freaks of the evolution-ary chain. We are G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses; we just somehow happened to be born as mortal as everyone else.”
While the others digested this news, Ash was trying to fathom how someone like Eve, who she was now supposed to believe was a divine demiG.o.d, could be capable of doing something so deplorable. Then again, now that she considered what little she knew from Greek and Roman mythology, the G.o.ds were known for treating humans like fodder.
”I'm really starting to wish I hadn't slept through Mr.
Carpenter's cla.s.s on world mythology last month,” Raja said. She closed her eyes and rubbed her skull; Ash wasn't sure whether she had a migraine or if she was trying to ma.s.sage the truth into her brain.
164.
Serena felt along the edge of the first scroll until her fingers came to a small brail sticker. Her fingertips whispered over the tiny b.u.mps. ”Shango, Zulu G.o.d of thunder,” she said. ”Where are you, Ade?”
After a hesitation the Haitian boy stepped forward and wrapped his hands around the scroll. He whispered ”Shango” as he did. Ashline could see the reflection of a falling steeple in his eyes.
Serena's fingertips played over the next scroll.
”Konohana, s.h.i.+nto G.o.ddess of the blossom.” And then, ”Lily.”
Lily's eyes seemed to pierce right through the yellowed parchment as she took it gingerly into her hands, as if the real answers lay far beyond it. At the edge of the forest, the trees rustled.
”Baldur,” Serena said. ”Norse warrior, father of justice, G.o.d of light.”
Rolfe made a noise in the back of his throat. ”Going to take a wild guess this one is mine.” He glanced between Raja and Ashline. ”Seeing as neither of you look particularly Scandinavian. Or male.”
”And I was so hoping it was me,” Raja said.
Serena held out one of the last two scrolls to her.
”Would you settle for Isis, Egyptian G.o.ddess of the dead?”
Raja shrugged and accepted the scroll. ”Depends on whether I have access to her shoe closet and her credit cards.”
As the others laughed, Serena held out the final scroll. ”I guess by process of elimination that leaves this one for you.”
165.
Reluctantly Ash reached out and took it by the wooden rods. She cradled it in her hands. ”What's the name on the side of the scroll?”
Serena frowned. ”That's the interesting part. There isn't one.”
Ash flipped the scroll around, and sure enough, this one lacked a brail tag.
”Jack said I would just know who to give it to when the time was right,” Serena continued.
Ashline's fingers tightened around the dowels.
”Maybe he knew that I'm not like the four of you.”
”Or maybe he thought it was important for you to figure out on your own.” Serena's hand touched Ashline's shoulder rea.s.suringly. ”I know it's frustrating when all you want is answers, and instead you get a big pile of questions. When I first lost my sight back in Minneapolis, I prayed every morning and night for my vision to return.
Instead I met a strange man who sent me halfway across the country to gather five strangers, and I still don't know why I'm here. I'm just going on faith.”
”Faith in G.o.d?” Ash asked.
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