The Dark Divine

"This completely sucks," Daniel said, and leaned against the abused locker. "That Barlow guy doesn't get it."

"Well, maybe you can reason with him. Or maybe if you tell me about your obligations, I can explain it to him for you. ..."

Yeah, could I be any more obvious?

Daniel looked at me for a long moment. His eyes seemed to reflect the fluorescent lights in the dimly lit hall. "You want to get out of here?" he finally asked. "You and me." He held out his uninjured hand. "Let's blow these jerks off and do something fun."

I was an honors student, daughter of a pastor, citizen-of-the-month wi

"No," I said before I could change my mind. "I can't miss class, and neither can you. You skip one more day, and you'll lose your scholarship. You still want to get into

Trenton, don't you?"

Daniel balled his hand into a fist. He took a deep breath, and his face shifted into a cool, unruffled facade. He pulled a crumpled slip of paper from his pocket. "So, precious, how do I get to geometry?"

I studied the list, relieved that AP art was the only class we would have together. "Room 103 is down the hall and to the left. Past the cafeteria. You can't miss it. And don't be late. Mrs. Croswell loves to give detention."

"Welcome back," Daniel mumbled. "I forgot how much I hate this sh--crap." He smirked at me and laughed to himself.

"Yeah, welcome home," I said. And this time I was the one who walked away.

LATER

I didn't know how many people would remember Daniel Kalbi. He'd had only a handful of friends growing up, and he'd moved away from Holy Trinity before his sophomore year. Regardless, I expected the appearance of someone like Daniel to at least spark some controversy and gossip. However, there was another scandal sweeping through the halls of school that upstaged Daniel's return tenfold: the sudden death and mutilation of Marya

I was the recipient of many sidelong glances and backhanded whispers as I made my way from class to class. I was used to people talking about me. Watching me. It was just part of being a Divine. Mom always said I had to be careful about the clothes I wore, how late I stayed out, or what movies I was seen going into, because people would set their own behavior by what the pastor's kids were allowed to do--like I was some kind of walking morality barometer. Really, I think she was more concerned about people having a reason to talk bad about the pastor's daughter.

Kind of like the talk that was going on today. Except, it was Jude's and Dad's names that came up in conversations that halted as I approached. A lot of people had the decency to stick up for my dad against Angela Duke's accusations of mistreatment, but stories spread fast in a small town. It was only inevitable that wild speculations about my family's "involvement" in Marya

But as sad and distraught--and prone to bad language and dirty looks--as J was, I could only imagine how Jude must have felt. April was the only person considerate--

or clueless--enough to actually speak to me in person about all the things that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

"Okay," April said the second I sat next to her in art. "Number one: where the heck were you last night? Number two: what the heck is he doing here?" She pointed to

Daniel, who sat with his feet up on a table in the back of the room. "Number three: what the heck happened to your brother, and is he okay? And number four: numbers one, two, and three had better the heck not have anything to do with one another." She scrunched her lips and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I want answers, sister!"

"Whoa," I said. "First of all, I'm sorry I missed you last night. I got stuck in traffic."

"Traffic? Around here?" She pointed her finger at Daniel. "You were in the city," she whispered. "You were with him."

"No, I wasn't--"

"I know he lives downtown because I saw him by the city bus stop this morning."

"That could mean anything. ..." But really, what was the point in lying? "Okay, I was. But it's not what you think."

"It isn't?" April did this sassy little head shake that made her curly hair bounce like spaniel ears.

"No, it isn't. I was just delivering a message for Barlow. It's your fault, anyway." I mimicked her feisty stance. "You're the one who turned in his picture and made Barlow want him back in class."

"Oh, no. Did I get you in trouble? I didn't mean to. How did he know it was Daniel's?"

"I told him."

"What, are you crazy?" April's eyes widened. She leaned in close and whispered, "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

"With Barlow?"

"You know who I'm talking about." She looked back at Daniel, who was playing the drums on his leg. "You're still in love with him."

"I am not. And I never was to begin with. It was just a stupid crush." I knew she was wrong, but I felt heat rushing up my neck. I grasped for the first thing I could think of to change the subject. "Don't you want to hear about Jude and Marya

April's demeanor changed immediately. Her eyes softened, and she brushed her fingers through her hair. "Oh, my gosh. He looked so sad last night when I came looking for you at your house. And then this morning I heard Ly

I shook my head. "You know the monster's just a story, right? Besides, Marya

"Yeah, but what happened to Marya

I glanced up at the window of Barlow's office. Barlow was on the phone, and he looked like he was going to be a while. April seemed genuinely concerned, and I really wanted to talk to someone about what had happened. I lowered my voice so no one else (especially Ly

April gave me a hug. "It's going to be okay."

But how could she know that? She hadn't felt how strange it was to eat di