"You see her mark?" Alex said in a low aside to me. "Takes more than the power of the Ouroboros to purify a she-devil."
This exchange hadn't gone unnoticed, and the other Disciples turned to look at me. My morning was slowly tumbling into hell, and my best friend was not helping. Alex was older than me in age not maturity. She'd turned twenty a few months before and was a few weeks behind me in classes. I had hoped she would take the final exam the same time as me so we could go over to the Temple together. It wouldn't happen if she failed her physical. She'd have to retake the whole of grade six, and I didn't want to have to fail another exam to keep pace with her.
A milky brown skinned boy with thick cornrows threw a wad of paper at the back of Zoe's head. "Not cool, Zo. Leave her be." His black-rimmed eyes looked overly large in his thin face, and his blazer hung open to show his naked chest, belly piercing and marks. Jeans worn and slashed at the knee, his boots were scuffed and unlaced.
I smiled warmly. "Hai, Ro. Where have you been?"
"Slums, on assignment," he replied. His eyes were on Alex who now stared at the table.
I twisted round further in my seat and bit my lip. I had loads of questions I wanted to ask. The slums were melting pots of every religion, race and minority you could think of. So intermixed there was little distinction between skin colors. Occasionally you got the odd throw backs, like Alex, who were dark and some, were pale or oriental in appearance and feature, but most were a creamy tan.
Slum shacks were shabby structures tacked onto old buildings. Made from wood, plastics, metal basically any material you could get your hands on. Nothing was wasted but then nothing was fixed either. The result was a mish-mash of junk and bric-a-brac homes, riddled with drug dens and whorehouses. The occasional Sect church stood out like a bleeding human in a hungry vampire nest. The Sect took over the churches and gutted the insides to fill them with literature preaching the Doctrine that kept us safe. The luxuries held in Sect churches, like books, candles and fabric were never stolen. Not unless you wanted to be stung up naked outside the Wall for a hungry demon to come teach you a fatal lesson.
As bad as the slums were, it was the place where the most talented and down to earth people lived. For every drug dealer selling slammers, the most popular narcotic of choice since the Rupture since it suppressed the appetite, there was a talented musician strumming a tune and singing a song. For every streetwalker there was a crew of dancers doing their thing. Artists drew on the floors and sides of buildings with chunks of rough chalk, knowing that rains that came every day would wash it away, but still happy to sketch all day long. Yeah, there was good in the slums. As Disciples we had no spare time, and only got to leave the Temple grounds to either train or complete an assignment. I'd only ever had one that had taken me into the heart of the slums. I'd been dying to go back ever since.
Ro saw all the questions on my face and winked at me. "We talk all about it later and I say hai proper," he said.
It didn't take long for my mind to wander. The fairy-boy from that morning was running around the Temple looking for me, waiting for me. I hoped no one else saw him. No human could appear and disappear without a trace so quickly, and it would be clear he was 'other'. That he was a demon that had managed to get around the Wall without tripping the klaxon; after all I'd done it too. The thought of him being discovered was making me feel slightly sick. I even threw up in my mouth a little.
I heard, rather than saw Cleric Tu step into the room. I knew what he'd look like from memory. His hair was a messy confusion of dark curls, and his shoulders were broad. He was young, cheerful and nice to look at. He was also a murderer. Few would call him that since most humans would see the death of a demon as belated justice, even the death of a demon-child.
I took a deep breath and looked up. It wasn't so bad. I didn't recoil or blanch at the sight of him. My stomach turned over but no one could see that.
