A. Rolland: Of Breakable Things

“What?” Alex exclaimed.

“The only spirits who could see the words were the ones who were looking for it. I’m sure you’ve discussed this during your therapy sessions, but young spirits are often searching for acceptance, and those particular spirits needed it more than others. And they found it. They found camaraderie and a sense of belonging within their recruitment.”

“How is ink like that possible?” Chase asked, shooting Alex a look that screamed I told you so . “Sounds dangerous.”

“The mind is a fascinating thing. There’s much we can’t see even when we know what we’re looking for … and there’s much we’re blind to when we don’t.”

“Do you have any idea who the group may have been?” Chase asked, digging his elbow into Alex’s side.

“I’ve seen this kind of ink used before, and the user had the ability to sway the decisions of others. The recruits who read the ink were not possessed. They never blacked out doing the things they did. They knew what they were doing when they did it, but they didn’t understand why.”

Alex felt a headache creeping in. “Jack said the group was called Eviar.”

Westfall didn’t immediately respond, and that in itself was confirmation. “Eviar is a group of inmates. They were ingenious, but they didn’t quite know how to control their minds.”

“Inmates?” Alex asked.

“From Paradise, yes.”

“Then how come Ellington didn’t know about the name?”

Westfall raised an eyebrow. “They didn’t adopt that name until after they were released from Paradise, a release that I approved but Van Hanlin ordered. He thought they could be of use. I thought they could be watched, tamed, useful during the war. We were arrogant. And wrong.”

“Van Hanlin,” Chase said. “And the ink showed up in law notebooks. You think Van Hanlin is responsible for all this?”

“No. He was working with us.”

“You knew what was going on?”

“Bits and pieces.”

Alex remembered his entrance in Moribund. “You knew the banshee was near the haunted house.”

Westfall nodded.

“And you and Duvall were talking about Eviar that day during her ABC group. Did you know she was going to send me to Parrish?”

“We needed to track the group. And we needed to see the extent of what the recruits would do and how you would handle it. We wouldn’t allow anyone to get hurt.”

“Van Hanlin is missing.”

“His mistakes continue to haunt him.”

Chase balled his hands. “We’ve been passed out for a month!”

“Newburies are tested throughout their entire stay at Brigitta. You’d better get used to it,” Westfall replied.

Alex placed a hand over one of Chase’s fists. She didn’t particularly like Westfall, but if he was giving out answers, she’d take all she could get. “Was Eviar named after one of its members?”

“Yes.”

Alex closed her eyes. So Eviar had found Paradise, after all.

“I was convinced they would help us to win the war, but I should have realized they had a different agenda. Eventually Eviar was dismantled with the help of a friend of mine, a prophet I’m sure you’d heard of by now. Sephi Anovark sacrificed her life to end the antics of that godforsaken brotherhood.”

“Sephi found them?”

Westfall nodded. “Sephi was responsible for the detainment of many spirits. You understand now why people wanted her dead. Why they might want you dead, if they think you can see their crimes before they happen?”

“So Eviar was responsible for what happened to us?”

“Seeing as how the founder of Eviar—not to mention the rest of the inmates released—are dead, we can’t say for sure. It might still be a copycat situation.”

Alex wanted to sink right through the mattress of the hospital bed. Eviar had died. And Sephi had died. That was the ending to the letters.

“So we may never know who would want to rebuild an army?” Chase asked.

“My concern,” said Westfall “is not so much who, but why .”

On the morning Chase and Alex were to be released from the Medical Center, Kaleb and Gabe arrived to escort them home. Alex couldn’t understand why Kaleb insisted it was necessary until they left the building to find crowds gathered, bordering the sides of the street. Most spirits watched her in fascination, others waved, and some held photos of Sephi. Alex spotted Ardor Westfall patrolling through the spectators, and she couldn’t decide if this made her feel safe or not.

She was relieved to reach the seclusion of the Brigitta campus and immediately excused herself to visit the learning center. “I have someone I need to talk to.”

Chase glanced in the direction of the school and made a face. “Do I need to remind you that Duvall led you to the Eskers that night? She put you in that situation.”

“I know. That’s the whole point.”

Alex entered the abandoned school and only heard her hollow footsteps after she wondered why she made no noise. Most of the doors to the classrooms were closed, but something told Alex that the one she was headed for would be wide open, the steam from a mind-bending concoction wafting into the hallway. Sure enough, the closer she inched to the ABC room, the thicker the smell of rotten eggs and gasoline permeated the air.

She hesitated in the doorway, watching Duvall lift her arms over a line of flasks. She was like a bat with wings of crocheted yarn. “Awake finally?” Duvall asked.

“You knew that though, right?”

“Not of my own accord.”

Alex hoisted herself up onto the nearest desk. “Did you know who we would be fighting that night?”

Duvall’s voice was low. “There are ways of knowing the pictures that fate has already painted on her canvas. I wasn’t sure of anything but the scene itself.”

“How?”

Duvall click-clacked around the lab table. “I think you’ll discover the answer to that question in due time.”

“If you knew what was going to happen, why would you let us go?”

“Because that was the plan.”

Alex twirled her hair nervously. “I want to ask you about a student you had a little over a hundred years ago.”

Duvall chuckled. “What makes you think I’d remember a child from so long ago?”

“Just a hunch. Sephi Anovark?”

Duvall’s bony fingers clenched the edge of the table. “No doubt you saw that blasted column.”

“I already knew about her. You knew I looked like her. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? It would have explained a lot.”

“That isn’t what made me curious about you,” Duvall replied. “But the staff thought it was best if you remained unaware about your appearance at least until you became adjusted to this world.”

“Why?”

“It isn’t easy being a prophet or to be associated with one. Much like it isn’t easy to be a witch. You see, prophets and witches are categorized together as the gifted. Sephi was an instant target. Witches and prophets are not safe in the spiritual world, which is why I never leave this campus.” Duvall studied Alex with a look of determination. “Your mother learned that the hard way.”

“My mother? So was she a witch? Or a prophet?”

“Neither.”

Alex threw her hands in the air, exasperated.

“But she resembled Sephi Anovark enough for the spiritual world to become hysterical. People thought she lied about her abilities. Right away, the government assumed she was gifted and employed her to help them. She went digging for answers about her ancestry and it led her back to your hometown. She never came back. Ardor Westfall thought it best that you remain ignorant so your fate would not mirror hers.”