The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four)

by Spencer Baum

  Until Jill and Ryan figured out how to crack the code on that safe and bring Nicky back into the contest, there was no reason for her to pretend she cared. With the others now a good fifty yards ahead of her, Nicky turned around and started walking the other way.

  She saw a single lantern floating close to the ground out ahead of her. Whose lantern was that? How had it become so separated from the others?

  Whoever’s lantern it was, it was bottom-heavy. While the other lanterns were still flying high, this one was already on its way down. As Nicky moved towards it, the lantern hung in place, just a few feet off the ground.

  As she came closer still, she saw a name written on the paper walls of the lantern. Dark letters, backlit in an orange glow. Letters that were so unexpected she almost didn’t believe them, but there they were, calling to her. She started to run to the lantern, and with each step the name on the lantern’s side became more clear.

  Nicky. This lonely lantern, already nearing the ground, had her name on it.

  The lantern touched down softly in the grass just before she reached it. She bent down to look at it. It was a small, simple thing. Two thin crossbars made an x at the bottom of a short cylinder. Attached to the crossbars was an aluminum tray, its flammable powder nearly spent.

  And underneath the tray was a small package, wrapped in brown paper. Nicky lifted the lamp and removed the package.

  She peeled away the paper, revealing a photograph inside. Small, old, and worn, the faded colors and soft backing suggested the photograph was printed at least ten years ago—Nicky held the photo above the lantern, angling it so it caught what was left of the lantern’s light.

  It was a photo of her family. Her mother, young and happy, sitting on a bench in front of a tree. Her brother, the boy known only to her through the memories her mother shared with her—he was on the bench too. He was thin with a pale complexion. He was already sick with the illness that brought my family to Italy, Nicky thought.

  Her father was on the other side of the bench, smiling into the camera. This was a different man than the one Nicky knew when she was young. When Nicky thought of her father, she saw a somber man who drove her and Frankie from one remote location to another. Always serious. Always on the lookout.

  The man in this picture wasn’t burdened like the father Nicky knew. Whatever was happening on the afternoon this picture was taken, it made her father happy.

  It made Nicky happy too. Seeing her father like this, knowing that he had experienced joy like this once…

  “I found it in the guest house of Falkon’s estate,” came a voice from behind her. That voice, so familiar to her now, was soothing to her soul. Simply hearing it reminded her how much she had missed him since their last encounter.

  Before turning to look at him, she touched the ruby that hung from her neck.

  “A lantern for the person I care for most. Those are the rules, correct? A lantern with a gift attached. Of course, the photo is just a prelude. The gift I brought for you tonight cannot be attached to a paper lantern.”

  Nicky turned to face him. She had been in his presence so many times now it should have been routine, but it wasn’t. It felt more fresh than ever. He looked more beautiful than ever.

  She gazed in his eyes and lost track of where she was, as had happened with Sergio many times before. At the Homecoming Masquerade, when a dance with him opened a memory she had sealed shut since childhood. Underneath the Penbrook Theater, when she looked in his eyes and saw the moment Daciana made him immortal. In Falkon’s lab, where she stood over him with a broken steel pipe, intending to kill him, and unable to do so.

  He was here with her now, and they communicated without speaking.

  You understand why you couldn’t kill me, he said.

  Yes, I do.

  You understand that what is happening between us is greater than the trifling concerns of your human life.

  Yes, I do.

  You feel the pull of immortality on your heart, and want to complete the ritual and seal our bond.

  Yes, I do.

  And then they were transported somewhere else entirely. Inside Sergio’s mind—Nicky was there with him—they were looking at a memory.

  “Where is this?” Nicky said. “Where have you taken me?”

  They were standing side by side in the main hall of a stone castle. In the center of the hall, sitting on a wooden stand, was the same safe that now resided in the chapel. A shiny metal lockbox with four dials on the door, each dial bejeweled with a different gem.

  “Tonight we are supposed to give a gift to the one we care for most,” Sergio said. “This memory is my gift to you.”

  There were four people standing in front of the safe, two men, a teenage boy, and a young girl. They were dressed in clothes from a different era. Long coats and tight pants on the men, a large, unwieldy dress on the girl.

  “Where are we?” Nicky said.

  “Nineteenth century England,” said Sergio. “You are in Hastings Castle, home to one of the richest families in Europe. The Hastings family made their fortune in banking, and as such, they had close relationships with the master locksmiths in England. The matriarch of the family commissioned the construction of that safe for the very scene you are about to witness. Take note of the people here.”

  He pointed at one of the men, the oldest of the group. The man wore a long purple coat, and had an overlarge diamond ring on his left hand.

  “That is the eldest of the Hastings children,” Sergio said. “When the matriarch of the family died, she left him that diamond ring in her will. She also left him a number.”

  The man in the purple coat walked up to the safe and began spinning the knob with the diamond on it. He stopped at number ninety-eight.

  “Ninety-eight is Samantha’s number,” Nicky said. “Is the combination the same?”

  “Indeed it is,” Sergio said. “This safe is not designed to have its combination modified. The numbers that would have opened it two hundred years ago are the same numbers that will open it today.”

  The man in the purple coat stepped back, and looked to a younger man, who wore a gold medallion around his neck.

  A gold medallion housing an enormous ruby. Nicky touched the ruby on her own neck.

  “Is it the same?” she whispered. “Am I wearing his ruby?”

  Sergio nodded. “He didn’t need it after today,” he said.

  The man with the ruby around his neck approached the safe and began turning the second dial. He stopped at number fourteen.

  “That’s not correct,” Nicky said. “The second dial is my number. Seventy-seven.”

  “Fascinating, isn’t it?” Sergio said. “Madam Hastings feared just such an outcome. That man, who has purposely entered the wrong number on the safe, is James Hastings, second eldest in the family. He intends to deceive his siblings today. Turning the dial to the wrong number is just one of his lies. All the children of Madam Hastings were supposed to come here alone, but if you look carefully, you may see a companion of James who is hiding elsewhere in the room.”

  Nicky looked beyond the four people standing round the safe. Widening her gaze, she saw a vampire standing in the corner, hiding in a shadow.

  “Daciana. What’s she doing here?”

  “Daciana and I both were here mostly for our own amusement,” Sergio said. “You see, we were friends with the Hastings family. We knew all about this fascinating game their mother was making them play.”

  “What game?” said Nicky. “What’s going on here?”

  “Madam Hastings feared her children would fight over their inheritance after she died, so in her will, she devised a game to force them to work together. She put the lion’s share of her fortune in that safe, and gave each child a single number of the combination. That way, the wealth was inaccessible to all of them until they agreed to the terms of its distribution.”

  “But James is cheating,” said Nicky. “He entered the wrong number. What’s he planning to
do?”

  “James is playing at a larger game,” Sergio said. “In a twist of fate that ultimately served him poorly, James became an object of interest for Daciana.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She felt a bond growing between them. She created a ritual for James to follow. I was there when she explained the rules for him. Do whatever must be done to take all the wealth in that safe for us. That’s what she told him. Once the entire contents of the safe belonged to James, Daciana would bond with him. She is waiting there in hopes that he will make it happen. If he does, she will make him immortal.”

  The third brother approached the safe. This one, only a teen, was wearing a blue coat with white ruffles running down the center. As he reached for the safe, Nicky saw a pair of emerald cufflinks on his wrists.

  “This is the important part,” Sergio said. “This is my gift to you.”

  The boy reached for the third dial and began turning it. He stopped at number nineteen.

  “Is that the correct number?” Nicky said.

  Sergio nodded his head. “Young Richard had no reason to lie. He was dirt poor at this point and desperately wanted his share of the wealth.”

  Nicky looked at the emerald dial on the safe, which was pointed at number nineteen as Richard walked away. She now knew three of the four numbers of the combination.

  As Richard stepped back, the girl approached the safe.

  “Sweet little Anna,” Sergio said. “She was eleven years old when this happened. Such a shame.”

  Anna, whose long dress swooshed along the floor as she walked, wore a silver tiara with a sapphire set in the center. She reached for the fourth dial on the safe, and turned it to number eighty-four.

  “Is that it?” said Nicky. “Do I know the combination to the safe?”

  “Sadly, no,” said Sergio. “Little Anna is more clever than she looks.”

  As Anna stepped back into place, the eldest son approached the safe again.

  “And now, the moment of truth,” he said, reaching for the handle on the door.

  What happened to him was no surprise to Nicky. She had seen it happen thirty-two times already, in groups of eight, first at Daciana’s house, then three times at the chapel at school.

  When you tried to open the safe without the correct combination, the door made a dull clicking sound and held firmly shut.

  The family groaned.

  “What does it mean?” said Richard.

  “It means that someone has lied!” shouted the oldest brother.

  “Thank you everyone for sharing your numbers,” said James, then, in a swift movement, he pulled two pistols from his jacket. Aiming one at each of his brothers, he shot them both at once. Little Anna screamed as two of her three brothers fell to the floor.

  “Don’t be upset, Anna,” James said. “I have done a kindness to our brothers. They weren’t long for this world. Neither are you. None of us would have lived long enough to spend all the treasure mother accumulated in that safe. In giving their lives today, our brothers have ensured that our family name will live on forever. That’s why I did it, Anna. I’m going to live forever.”

  James went to the safe and adjusted the second dial, the one with the ruby on it. He stopped at number seventy-seven.

  Ninety-eight, seventy-seven, nineteen. Those were the first three numbers of the combination.

  The fourth dial was still sitting at number eighty-four, where Anna had placed it.

  James pulled on the handle. He too got nothing but a dull clang as the safe held itself closed.

  “You lying little bitch!” he yelled at Anna. His pistols both spent of their single shots, he had nothing to attack Anna with except his hands, which he placed around her neck.

  “What’s your number?” he shouted. “What is the fourth number of the combination?”

  Anna began coughing. Her face turned red. Nicky wanted to rush over and help her.

  “Don’t worry,” Sergio said. “Anna came to this meeting fully prepared for what happened.”

  A second after Sergio spoke the words, Nicky saw Anna’s left hand emerge from her pocket. She was holding a small piece of metal. It looked like a nail.

  With the metal, she scratched James across the arm, drawing a long, red line from his wrist to his elbow.

  Even though the scratch was bad, Nicky was surprised at the way James responded. Shrieking as he recoiled, grabbing tightly onto his forearm, which was darkening rapidly near the scratch, his reaction seemed a bit much for a scratch on his arm.

  “What is this?” he gasped. “What have you done?”

  Anna fell to the ground. As she landed, the nail clattered onto the wooden floor.

  “Poison,” she hissed. “I knew we couldn’t trust you. Mamma knew it too. We all could have been rich. Instead, we get nothing.”

  Anna’s voice was weak. Her skin was going pale as quickly as her brother’s. Both of them were fading fast.

  “She’s about to open up her left hand,” Sergio said. “Watch for it.”

  The hand opened after Anna’s head fell to the floor. There was a large, bloody scratch on her palm. Like the wound on James, Anna’s was turning black at the edges.

  “She cut herself,” Nicky said.

  “It happened when she retrieved the nail from her pocket,” said Sergio. “The poison on that nail found her blood before it found his. But still she summoned the strength to kill him. She was a good little girl.”

  James was the first to go. A minute later, Anna followed her brother in death. It was hard for Nicky to look at, so she didn’t. She turned her eyes towards the vampire hiding in the corner.

  “Why didn’t Daciana intervene?” she said. “I mean, if she loved James-”

  “--it was because she loved James that she trusted the ritual,” Sergio said. “Immortality is a dangerous, volatile gift. We need the rituals to guide us. The rituals tell us if the bond is meant to be.”

  “What if I don’t complete our ritual? What if we aren’t meant to be?”

  The question hung in the air for a moment, until Sergio put his hand on Nicky’s cheek and turned her head towards him.

  “Love is a matter of the heart, Nicky Bloom. Listen to what your heart tells you. You have only one number of the combination left to discover. Let the ritual guide you. Find it, so we can be together.”

  His face was close to hers now. She felt like he was going to kiss her. She wanted him to. She closed her eyes and waited.

  It didn’t happen. While her eyes were closed, the world around her changed. She sensed it first in her ears, then on her skin. When she opened her eyes again, she was back on the Thorndike campus, standing under the moon, holding onto a paper lantern.

  Sergio was gone.

  Chapter 30

  The wind carried the lanterns in a hundred different directions, and the class splintered apart to chase them. Jill and Ryan were mostly alone as they entered the courtyard, and entirely alone when they passed behind Sullivan Hall and onto the north lawn.

  If they had truly followed the spirit of the game, they wouldn’t have stayed together, chasing after a single lantern. They were each supposed to chase their own lantern, but the lantern Jill made for Ryan was somewhere far away at this point. Ryan had let it go. He wanted to be with Jill when the lantern he made for her came down.

  He wanted to be there when she saw the glass ring he had kept safe for three years.

  The lantern led them across the lawn, through the senior parking lot, and towards the street. As it passed over the asphalt, they had to stop. A car was coming. A set of headlights attached to a very noisy engine—it had rounded the corner and was rolling up the hill, slowing down as it approached.

  “I think this guy’s going to let us cross,” Ryan said. “Come on.”

  He tugged on Jill’s hand, but she didn’t move. She was looking at the car, which was pulling close to the curb.

  “He’s stopping,” Ryan said. “Let’s go before the lantern ge
ts away.”

  “Just a second,” Jill said, removing her hand from Ryan’s. She moved in the direction of the car, which was fully parked now. Its headlights were shining in Ryan’s eyes and he couldn’t see much, but he heard movement. The driver was opening his door. He was getting out.

  “Jill?”

  It was a male voice. The driver of this car knew Jill, and she was moving more quickly in his direction. Ryan took a few quick steps down the sidewalk to get out of the glare of the headlights. His eyes needed a second to adjust to the darkness, and the scene came together for him slowly.

  A big, red car. A guy with black hair, tattoos, and piercings in his eyebrow and lower lip.

  Jill spoke, not to Ryan, but to the guy getting out of the car. “Zack?” she said. “What are you doing here?”

  “You know this guy?” said Ryan. No one answered him.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” the guy said.

  “Jill, who is this?”

  Again, no answer. It was like Ryan wasn’t even there.

  “Zack, you can’t be here,” said Jill. “You need to leave.”

  “I have to talk to you,” the guy said. “Ever since that night…”

  “Jill, is this guy bothering you?”

  “It’s okay, Ryan. He’s a friend.” She looked at the other guy and added, “A friend who shouldn’t be here.”

  “Please, I’ve been looking for you for weeks,” the guy said. “I’ve got to talk to you. A few minutes. That’s all I need.”

  Behind the guy, on the other side of the street, the lantern was beginning its descent. It was going to land in the flower garden on the north lot. What a perfect place for Jill to see the ring, and for Ryan to tell her how he felt.

  “I’m sorry, Zack,” she said. Was she crying? “I can’t talk to you. I need for you to go.”

  “We knew each other before that night at Marty’s, didn’t we?” the guy said. “I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. Ever since I saw you, I-”

  “Hey buddy, she’s asked you to leave,” Ryan said. “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

  The guy, Zack, looked at Ryan, but only for a second. It was as if Ryan was just a piece of scenery. An inconsequential object that happened to be nearby while Jill and Zack had their moment together.