Savage Saints (Monsters of Saint Mark's)

“See you tomorrow! And it’s Fireday. Don’t forget!”

“Yep.” And I step through thinking I have no idea what the significance of Fireday is.

But then there I am. Home.

I step into my sanctuary and the afternoon sun is shining bright overhead. It’s neither hot, nor cold, and there’s a little bit of wind.

Somewhere deep inside the maze of tombs, I catch the crackling of an AM radio station and the chatter of monster language. And I swear, I have never been so happy to be in a place in all my life.

No one is waiting to greet me. Probably because I’m home early. So I just start walking in the direction of the cathedral. When I come out on the main path and look to my left, I see Pell.

He’s standing in front of the black tomb.

“Hey!” I call, still walking in his direction. “I’m home early!” But he doesn’t move. “Pell?”

Something is wrong.

I run up to him, grab his shoulder, and try to turn him, but he won’t budge. “Pell?”

I slip around to his front side and when we are facing each other I realize… he’s in some kind of trance. I shake him, panic rising inside me.

But then he blinks and smiles. “Pie? What are you doing home?”

“What are you doing here? You were in a trance or something. What’s going on?”

“What?”

“I was calling your name. You didn’t even see me! What’s going on?”

He looks at the tomb, studies it for a moment, then looks down at me. “I went inside.”

“What?”

“Well, in my head, I did. I don’t think I really went inside. But do you know who I saw in there?”

I don’t know. And I don’t think I want to know.

But before I can say that, Pell says, “You, Pie. I saw you in there.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - PELL

My balance is off, my head is swimming with visions, and the world beyond Pie is foggy. I hear myself talking and I realize I’m standing outside the tomb. Did I ever go in?

“You don’t look good, Pell. Come on. Let’s go home and sit down. Can you make it down the hill?”

I feel dumb and weak that she even has to ask me this question. And then the fogginess disappears, the visions recede, and I can concentrate again. “I’m fine.”

“I don’t think you’re fine, Pell. What just happened?”

I point at my favorite broken tomb on the top of the hill and Pie tugs me over there. We sit and I take a moment, then try to explain. “I was working on the bag—shit.” I pat my pocket, fully expecting the stupid bag of rings to be missing, but no. It’s still there. Thank the gods. I pull it out. “This fucking bag.”

“Never mind the bag, Pell. Tell me what happened.”

“I was heading up to the hallways to find a new pair of pants—”

“Aww.” Pie leans into me, nudging me playfully with her shoulder. “You were looking for pants.”

I smile at her. “I knew you’d like that. Anyway. I was passing by the black tomb and I saw a door.”