Snapped from my single-minded quest for truth, I flushed at the number of people staring at me. I shot a look at Alex who was wide eyed, pouty mouth hanging with a chocolate bar resting on her bottom lip. It was foolish for me to call such attention to myself, and plain stupid to insult the Sect. Pulling my hood up, I breathed out, and tried think of a reasonable explanation for my behavior. Skipping out of class wouldn't help; it would confirm any suspicions. Tu was one of the Clerics who had hunted me this morning. No doubt he was on his way to inform the others of my weird behavior and the direction of my questions. Great, talk about staying under the radar.
A sharp pain on my arm made me yelp. Alex's face popped into view. "Damn, Rae. You zoned hard."
"What class is next?" I asked. I wondered if I should consider ditching. If the Clerics thought I was a danger maybe I needed to leave now. If they found out I was a demon Wait. How would they ever know that? Gods, I was becoming melodramatic.
"We got Subterfuge," Alex replied, "but I might ditch."
I eyed her like she'd lost it. Why would she do that on a whim? Disciples who were caught ditching had to do bereavement duty. It meant helping the morgue deal with the remains of any poor misfortunate's that got taken out by demons who'd breached the Wall. You helped cremate dead bodies and notified any next of kin. Most times it was kids who'd stayed out too late, or had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was the Clerics duty to protect, and when they failed they made sure they grieved with the families, and showed them respect. I only considered it because my life might be on the line.
The class divided up into little clicks and Ro came over. He made a silly face at me then grinned. I built myself up mentally, knowing what was about to come next. Hauling me up, he wrapped his arms around mine and kissed my cheek. "I missed you, Rae." He was several heads taller than me, and my feet lifted from the floor as he squeezed. Roland, Alex's on off steady, was nice. He'd always talk to me if he saw me around the compound even when he and Alex were on outs. I wouldn't call him a friend since I only knew him and maintained a relationship because he was important to Alex.
And that's why I let him hug me, didn't punch him in the face and said, "You too." I shifted, a subtle signal for him to let go, but he remained uncomfortably close. I extracted myself. "How was it? The assignment, I mean."
I was genuinely curious. I hadn't lived in the slums before I came to the Academy. I had been tied to the Sect since birth, and held in orphanages in the upper dwells. I was one of the lucky ones. Those without parents generally became panhandlers, beggars prey for any hungry demons that hid behind the Wall. Plus, I loved the creative atmosphere of the place.
"A goblin kid hid in a shack close to the Sect church, a simple catch and release." He shrugged, shifted on the spot. "Same old thing. Dirty and cold, but it be my home, y'know?" He paused and made a clicking noise with his tongue, a sound one made unconsciously before bringing up a touchy or dangerous subject. It was a slum dwell habit I knew he'd been trying to get rid of for a while. "Something happened to you this morning?"
I pressed my lips together. Ro was perceptive, more than was usual for a boy his age. That or I looked worse than I thought. I worked hard to keep most of the kooky crap I did away from Alex. It would only worry her. The stuff from this morning would probably give her grey hairs. Ro looked like he was ready to buckle down and figure what was wrong with me. Maybe his well timed words and snorts earlier were trying to accomplish more than just derision. Maybe he was trying to cover up the fact I was giggling like a banshee during what was supposed to be a serious discussion. Whatever issues I had about how cooped up we were behind the Wall or how purist the teachings of Sect had become, the Temple was my home. Suggestions bound to get me into serious trouble stayed locked firmly inside my mind, most of the time. Disciples who'd voiced radical ideas like my own ended up failing the final exam or kicked out of the Sect. Then there were the ones who disappeared entirely. That was not going to happen to me. Ro and I had had a few very brief discussions about this. Touched on the subject more than once, how some things the Sect did and said didn't quite add up. How Disciples going missing, after they had spoken up about the treatment of demons we captured, was just plain wrong. Ro had always been keen to talk more, but I'd always pulled back.
"I went Outside," I said and lifted my chin. "I ran in the forest."
