There Can Only Be Six

by Andrea Levesque

  With our hands still holding the scrolls above our heads, we waded as fast as we could back to shore, our teeth chattering and losing feeling in our limbs. It took a while since we couldn’t use our arms to swim, but we were almost to shore to my great relief.

  “Thank god,” I mumbled, my entire body burning with pain.

  When our toes finally touched the ground, Valentina turned and smiled. Who knew skinny dipping in frigid temperatures was what it took to get Valentina to show some joy? I thought. I smiled back, feeling surprisingly just as satisfied to have almost completed our very first challenge. I liked the rush it gave me, and I especially liked how close I was swimming to Valentina.

  She looked up at her scrolls and moved them both into one hand, freeing up the other arm and letting it drop. I moved to do the same, bringing my hands in front of my face and pushing both scrolls into my left palm, eager to feel the blood rushing to my right arm again. Before I could bring the scrolls back up and away from the threatening water, I felt Valentina’s grip hard on my wrist, and soon it was plunging the scrolls deep underwater. I felt the drowning paper slip from my fingers and screamed, “no!” as Valentina turned from me and moved quickly back to the beach.

  I dragged my hands around in the water and found only one of the scrolls. Though I pulled it out as quickly as I could, it was already sopping wet and ruined.

  “You bitch!” I yelled out, not caring who heard me. I peeled the scroll open carefully as I propelled myself out of the water, but it was too late. The only ink that was readable at this point was what looked like a string of numbers inked into the bottom right corner. Before I could look too closely, I stumbled out of the water and into the towel Nina was holding open for me.

  I pulled the soft fabric as snugly around me as I could, my head spinning in various directions looking for Valentina.

  “She’s already halfway back to the mansion,” Nina said, her tone defeated. “I saw the whole thing. We’re out, aren’t we?”

  Still wearing Adan’s jacket, Nina helped me rub the towel quickly across my body and pull on my dress. I squeezed out my hair and followed Nina to a powder room on the second floor of the Cunningham estate. She had a hairdryer and some red lipstick waiting for me.

  “I’m surprised Shane didn’t try and steal all the other scrolls to screw the rest of us over,” Nina said loudly over the hairdryer she was using on my hair.

  “It was too cold. He would probably have frozen to death before he managed to grab them all.” I said. Nina’s fingers pulled slightly as they dipped into my tangled mess, spreading out strands as the heat blasted onto it.

  “True.” She said, “Plus, he’s too cocky. He doesn’t think anyone is as smart as him. Probably didn’t think anyone else could do it.”

  I thought about Valentina’s death grip on my hand and the defiant look she’d given me before sabotaging my one chance at the Order. “I know one person who’s smarter than him,” I grumbled.

  “Not that it matters, but we have about three minutes until the burning of the Yule log,” Nina said, looking at her phone.

  “It’s fine,” I answered, smearing the lipstick over my lips and taking a step back to look in the mirror. I looked entirely different from the girl who’d walked into the party, the one with sleek, long hair and natural-looking makeup. My hair now had a beach wave, which was saved by the glamour of the red lip.

  “Unbelievable,” Nina complained, the hairdryer dangling from her hand. “You take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the night and still come out of it looking better than me. Maybe I should have gone in…”

  “Shut up, Nina, you know that’s not true. I should be thanking you for pulling me together after that whole ordeal.” I said.

  I watched Nina hold up the single scroll I’d recovered and inspect it, now mostly dry from the heat of the hairdryer. I leaned in but saw nothing but smudges.

  “Valentina’s such a bitch.” I said under my breath. “She’s going to pay for this.”

  Nina pulled my signature move and rolled her eyes. “Retract the claws, kitty. We’ll figure something out.”

  She clutched the scroll covertly in her hand as we descended the staircase back to the party.

  “We have to,” I whispered as we made it just in time for the Yule log burning.

  FOUR

  I held up a tiny green bottle and turned it slowly in circles. Satisfied I’d made a note of every scratch and crevice, I set it down. Now that it was clean, the sea glass texture glistened in the morning light.

  I took a sip of my coffee, spilling a little when the doorbell rang. I uncrossed my legs from my bar stool at the kitchen counter and headed in the direction of the foyer.

  “Ms. Fontaine, Mr. Vasquez is here to see you.” One of the housekeepers called as she spotted me. Adan stood in front of the large door with his hands in his pockets. His jeans were clearly ironed, and his cashmere sweater added a preppy element to the polished look.

  “Thanks,” I said to the housekeeper. “And you can call me Harper, by the way.” She tipped her head slightly in acknowledgment, then turned and flitted off, her shoes not making a sound on the tiled floor.

  I smiled at Adan and waved him over. He followed my lead into the kitchen and took one of the many empty stools across from me at the island, stretching at least ten feet. I could tell he had something on his mind by the way he was fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve.

  I pressed my lips together. “Do you want some breakfast? My dad has this huge spread made for me by the cooks every morning, but I’m not really a breakfast person.” Piles of sliced fruit, muffins and croissants lay untouched on large plates across the marble countertop. I picked up the coffee pot, still warm, and topped off my cup.

  Adan relaxed a little. “I could go for some juice. What do you have?”

  “Ah,” I stood in front of the three chilled pitchers with brightly colored liquids, Vanna White style. “We have Cranberry juice, Apple, and the absolute classic, orange juice. What strikes your fancy?”

  “Hmm, I’m going to go with the classic.”

  “Orange it is,” I said and poured him a glass, condensation immediately clinging to the sides of the cup as the liquid rose to the surface. As I pushed the glass in front of him, I pulled myself back onto my stool and re-crossed my legs.

  “What’s that?” Adan asked, pointing to the bottle I’d just been cleaning. I picked it up and placed it on display in the palm of my hand, holding it out to him.

  “It’s a sea bottle. Tons wash up on shore around here. My dad finds them year-round and saves them for me. His father used to do the same for him. We use the big ones as decoration around the house, and then the little ones I like to store or carry around as kind of a memento.”

  He took it from me and examined it. “Sounds cool. I guess you were serious when you said you were a collector.” I took the bottle back and flipped it over a few times in my palm.

  “Yeah, I collect all kinds of things, anything that seems valuable.”

  Adan took a sip of his orange juice. “And what does valuable mean to you?”

  I considered his question, pursing my lips slightly. “When I find something, it holds value if it sparks my interest. Maybe there’s a story behind it, a history, or maybe even a mystery of some kind. If I look at something and it intrigues me, it’s probably something special.”

  I placed the sea bottle between us. “Take a look at this bottle, for example. See the seafoam green color? Most bottles this color are either old Coca-Cola bottles, which this is clearly too small to be, or from the 1890s to the 1920’s. Knowing that and looking at the smooth and foggy texture, it’s clear this tiny thing has been on a long journey. We get tons of these of varying shapes, sizes, and colors, but green is the rarest. Some bottles have embossed labels, and some don’t. It’s fascinating to study each one and determine a piece of its story.”

  “There’s that many?”

&nb
sp; I nodded.

  “Sounds like the bottles are washing up from an old shipwreck. You know, there are some interesting legends of Pirates and lost treasure around here. Who knows, maybe a precious gold coin will wash up on the beach.” He said with a wink.

  I laughed. “Totally. Now that sounds like a real collector’s item.”

  Adan pushed his orange juice to the side and leaned forward. “Look, I just wanted to apologize for my sister yesterday.”

  Adan stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a scroll, placing the neatly rolled piece of paper in front of me.

  “Here. Take my scroll. I don’t think we even need our own anyway; it just points to the next meeting spot. I shouldn’t have let V go in the water with you; that was stupid. You guys deserve a chance.”

  I blew out a breath. “You heard about that?” I said, “I’m surprised Valentina told you.”

  “She didn’t,” he said. “Nina called.”

  I leaned back in my chair and let the sea bottle roll around in my hand. The smooth material felt cool on my palm. “Oh, I see now.” I bit my lip. “Aren’t you afraid Valentina’s going to give you shit for this?”

  “Valentina doesn’t know I’m here. She’ll figure it out at the next challenge, I’m sure, but it doesn’t matter because you and Nina will already be there.”

  Part of me didn’t care about the stupid Order. I wanted to blow off this whole thing and forget about it. But the other part of me remembered the fire at my school and the pulled strings to get me out here. I had questions that called for answers. I needed that scroll, but I knew it might send Adan the wrong message about us.

  “Look, Adan…” I started, wondering which direction to take my next sentence. I really appreciate how much you seem to care for me, but I only like you as a friend. Or maybe, You probably shouldn’t be putting me before your sister so frequently. It’s never going to happen, buddy. I settled on, “I don’t want to mess things up between you and Valentina.”

  “Okay,” he said, putting his finger to his chin. “What if you take the scroll but figure out the riddle on your own? That way, I can tell V truthfully that I didn’t tell and that you guys found the next challenge yourself.”

  I pressed my eyebrows together. “Hmm…” He knocked the scroll in my direction, and I picked it up, pulling the paper open. On one side was the same rose compass emblem from the first invitation. The other side was a new riddle, formatted similarly to the last one.

  Meet where the serpents eat their tails, hidden behind a glossy wooden covering.

  Monday, 8 pm

  Escape

  “That’s it? That’s the entire thing? Meet where serpents eat their tails?” I repeated aloud. “First of all, ew. Second,” I said, holding up the paper, “I have no idea what this means. I guess the 8 pm part is pretty clear. But then, ‘escape’? Escape what? It sounds like that might be a direction. Like maybe the first part is the location, the second is the meeting time, and the third is a hint at whatever challenge we have this time.”

  He nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too. Doesn’t sound too good, does it?” He admitted.

  “Look, I’m all for figuring this out on my own, but what the hell is a glossy wooden covering?”

  Adan smiled. “You know, I think if you ask Nina, she might be able to help with that.” He winked and stood up off his chair. “I’ll see you tomorrow at 8.”

  I watched him go, then looked back down at the scroll again. Something nagged at me like I might be forgetting something. I pulled out my phone and dialed Nina, who I had no doubt had been anxiously anticipating my call.

  Adan had been right; Nina knew exactly where the scroll was telling us to meet. According to her, everyone in Newport could figure this one out. Everyone, of course, except me.

  So there we were, driving down the coast of Rhode Island at 7:45 the next night in the pitch dark, stereo blasting and coats buttoned tightly as we waited for the heat to kick in. When it finally did, Nina’s grip on the steering wheel relaxed.

  “Okay, so, I’m guessing we’re almost there,” I said, peering out the frosty window. A building formed in the distance. Patches of trees and woods transformed into a massive football field, the building behind it growing larger and larger.

  “Mhmm,” Nina said, her breath visible as she spoke. “And honestly, this is the last place I want to be in the middle of winter break.”

  As we zipped past the field, I caught a closer look at the logo imprinted perfectly into the grass. A snake eating its own tail with a wooden shield partially covering it.

  “Wait…” I said, glancing between the field and the now-massive brick building. “Is this a…” I couldn’t finish the sentence because I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking at. There was very clearly a full-sized church centered within the building’s framework. A pointed cathedral and towering stained-glass windows reflected the moonlight as we grew closer. Built in long stretches around the church, however, looked like the kind of century-old brick buildings you’d find at universities, combined with a few startlingly new renovations that mimicked modern architecture. The entire setup looked both impressive and like it was confused as to which century it belonged to.

  “Welcome to Wellsley Prep,” Nina said with a grin.

  “Well, dad did suggest you give me a tour.” I joked, and we both laughed.

  “So, if the Order of the Six is so big and powerful, why does it seem like a bunch of spoiled teenagers are the ones running it?” I asked, hoping for a little clarification. So far, the Order didn’t really seem that scary.

  Nina kept her eyes on the road as she spoke. “Oh, you’ve got it all wrong. Look, here’s what I know. From what I hear, all the recruits are selected carefully by the higher-ups in the Order. Like, they’re given a list of acceptable recruits or something. Each and every one of us was vetted thoroughly for compatibility with the Order, of that I’m certain.”

  “Okay, then where were these ‘higher ups’ during the first challenge?”

  “They most certainly have better things to do. You know, like ruling the world or whatever? That’s why no one knows which old people are in the Order. No one ever sees them. It makes more sense to let the teenagers handle this recruitment stuff anyway. We definitely have a flair for that kind of thing.”

  “Sure, that makes sense, I guess.” I bit the nail on my ring finger and stared out the window. “But what’s with the whole ‘there can only be six’ thing? Kind of culty if you ask me.”

  Nina rolled her eyes. “Oh shush, no, it isn’t. It just means each chapter of the Order contains six members. Every however many years, a new chapter is formed. This year is one of those years, lucky for us.”

  I scratched my arm through my coat, the fabric squeaking. “So, how many members are in the Order in total?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe one hundred? More? You ask a lot of questions.”

  I let my head fall back against the headrest. “I’m new here, remember?”

  Nina pulled into one of the many empty spots in the parking lot out front. “How can I forget?” She said, her car puttering to a stop in the empty space. There were only a few other cars scattered in the lot, all shiny and freshly waxed, even in the winter. As I went to open my door, I noticed Nina slinking off her parka.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Taking off my coat. I don’t want to do whatever this challenge is with a massive coat on. I doubt we’ll have a chance to swing by my locker. Plus, this is Rhode Island. In these parts, we walk around in sweatshirts and light jackets.”

  I stared at her. “But it’s freezing.”

  “Not inside! Maybe in New York City, you guys are used to walking everywhere, but here we’re always inside. We don’t really need coats.” Her baby blue sweater did look quite thick.

  I sniffed. “You guys are so strange here.” I sighed and shrugged off my goose-down jacket. I looked down at
my flannel and wondered if I’d be warm enough.

  “It’s a school, Harper. There will be heat,” Nina said. Following her lead, we hopped out of the car, the night air hitting me like an icy whip. I walked to the front door as quickly as I could manage, eager to escape the cold.

  When we stepped inside, there was a slight relief from the frigid weather, but not much. Possibly because the building was so large, it likely took ages to heat fully. I shoved my hands under my armpits and looked around. A lot of the same kids from the beach last night had made it, but not all. There were ten of us by my count, including Nina and I, Valentina and Adan, Jamie, Shane and his two buddies, and the couple from the beach. I guessed their kayak idea worked after all.

  Most of the kids were clustered around the serpent logo in the center of the hallway, a centerpiece for Wellsley pride. This was the first time I saw the other kids around here in their own clothes instead of fancy evening wear. Some of the kids were even wearing Wellsley Prep sweatshirts with the logo on them. Still, I think I preferred that to the collared shirts and boat shoes the others were wearing.

  “Oh, look, there’s Adan,” Nina said, pointing to the two kids leaning up against the lockers. And Valentina. Valentina’s arms were crossed, and her back was slightly to me as she chatted with Adan. Her long inky hair draped down her back and blended into the shadows of the corridor.

  “Okay, should we look at the scroll again?” I said quietly to Nina, hoping to keep my attention off Valentina. “It’s almost 8 pm.”

  Nina pulled the scroll from her back pocket and pulled it open. We squished our faces together and read aloud, “Meet where the serpents eat their tails, hidden behind a glossy wooden covering. Monday, 8 pm. Escape.” Just as I was finishing my sentence, the lights turned off with an echoing click, and the entire building went dark.