Vitrian Secrets by Dele Andersen (book club reads txt) 📕

Bathe walked up to Wanda and put his hand on her shoulder. “What happened to Jason?” he inquired in a low tone, his eyes focused on Wanda.

“I think a demon got him.” She spoke without thinking.

“What?” Sofia flipped. “I told you and Jason, I don't want you talking—”

“Mum!” Wanda spoke fast as the tears she'd been holding back began to gush out of her eyes. “I saw it with my own eyes. Tutu could not, but I saw it, and it chased me all over the—”

“Wait,” Bathe butted in, and Wanda saw the seriousness in his face. Both Bathe's eyes and those of her mum were fixed on her like she was going to be vaporized and they wanted to see it when it happened.

“What’s wrong?” Wanda asked, uncomfortable with her mum and Bathe's silent, deep stares. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

“You saw a demon, and it chased you?” Bathe repeated like he hadn’t heard Wanda properly.

“It's a long story. . . .”

“Give me a quick summary,” Bathe said urgently.

Wanda narrated her story, from stepping out of school and seeing Alfred while she and Tutu chatted, all the way until she rushed into the taxi. She left out the part where Eric was killed by the demon. She couldn't come to terms with the fact that she had let a boy die in her place.

“Oh! No!” Sofia raised her hands straight to her face and covered her mouth. “No! No! No!” She shook her head like she was forcing herself to wake up from a dream.

“Sofia.” Bathe turned. “We need to get her away from here now.”

“No, no,” Sofia cried, tears in her eyes. She took her hands from her mouth and placed them on her cheeks, facing Bathe with unseeing eyes. “Marcus promised me this would not happen.”

“Yes,” Bathe said. “Marcus probably said all that to keep you from being worried.”

Her mum began to shiver. Wanda didn't understand what her mum and Bathe were talking about, but she could see her mother was disturbed.

“What should I do?” Sofia said. “How do I find Jason?”

“I can make some calls and get a few people tracking him down,” Bathe said. “But right now, you and Wanda have to leave here.”

“Leave?” Wanda said. The urgency in her mother's voice and Bathe's tone swept away all her previous fright.

“Where can I hide her from demons?” Sofia asked.

“You know where, Sofia,” Bathe said, and Wanda sensed there was more to the story. Probably some history between her mum and Bathe, long before her father died.

“I thought . . . the entire demon and prophecy thing ended for us when Marcus and Xavier died.”

Who was Xavier?

“That isn't the issue now, Sofia,” Bathe said. “Wanda's safety is what we have to figure out right now. Gather a few things together while I make my calls. But keep it light, probably only important Vitrian and Marcus' stuff . . . like his Praying Méndez.”

The words “Praying Méndez” caught Wanda's attention. Eric had said the same thing. He had asked for hers, but she had no idea what he meant. She had only looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language.

Bathe pulled his phone from his pocket and walked away to make a call. Sofia turned toward her room, and Wanda followed her.

“Mum, why do we have to leave?” she asked.

“You shouldn't have seen the demon,” Sofia muttered, but it wasn't a complaint; it was more like she was trying to clear her head.

“Mum—I need to know what's happening. We have to do something about Jason; we can't just leave without him.”

Sofia pushed through the door to her room and turned to look at Wanda.

“Are you sure you saw a demon?” Her mother's voice was the usual firm tone Wanda got whenever her mum corrected her. Wanda could see the worry written all over her mother's expression and knew it wasn't the time to mince words.

“Yes, mum,” Wanda answered. “I saw it just as I see you right now. The same way Dad described.”

“I told Marcus not to tell you and Jason those stories, but he assured me they meant nothing. You and Jason weren't chosen; you had nothing to do with The Chosen. Marcus said.” Sofia sighed and bent to pull something from under her set of dresses in the wardrobe.

“Chosen . . .” Wanda repeated, staring at her mum tumultuously. “What does that mean?”

Her mother turned to the bed with a wooden box in her hands. The box was ornate, made of thick wood and well-polished in dark chocolate brown.

Wanda was sure she hadn't seen it before, even though she'd looked in her mother's closet several times. It was designed like a treasure chest with an oval shape on the lid. Objects with symbols on them were engraved on it, like the symbols Wanda had seen sparkling on the object Eric held. The symbol had a unique appearance. It was carved into the wood on all sides and at the top of the box.

“What is this?” Wanda's eyes fixed on the box in her mother's hand.

“You can see it,” her mum croaked.

“Yes, I can see the box, Mum,” Wanda said. She looked into her mum’s eyes and could see the anxiety in her mother’s expression.

“Something’s changed,” her mum said, sadness in her tone. “Your eyes are open now. It's Marcus' box. He brought it home a few days before he died and told me not to give it to anyone.”

“It belonged to Dad.” Wanda wondered why her dad had such an old and ancient-looking wooden box.

Sofia placed the box on her bed and opened it. The contents were items she'd never seen before. Pegs of different kinds, some wooden, but most of them metallic, more silver-like in appearance. It also contained documents and notes with different writings, indicating they were written by different people.

A few of the things in the box looked similar to the ones Eric had. They were as long as her arm from her wrist to her elbow, like the ones Eric threw at school.

“This is your father's Praying Méndez,” Sofia said as she picked up one of the objects. She didn't look at her daughter but continued to study the Méndez in her hand, looking at it passionately.

Wanda sensed the object brought up distressing memories, perhaps memories of her dad. She knew when her mum reminisced about her father.

The Praying Méndez wasn’t as long as the other objects in the box, but its remarkable appearance caught Wanda’s eye. It was like silver and wood twisting together from the bottom to the sharp pointy tip at the top. Like the other objects in the box, the Praying Méndez had a thin, elongated, cone-like shape. On the silver side was the same Greek symbol; the embedded symbol was made of wood, and the symbol on the wooden side was made of silver.

“What does it do?” Wanda stared at the Praying Méndez, knowing Eric had said she needed it for the demon.

“I'll explain later.” Sofia closed the box. “We need to get out of here.”

They stepped back into the living room. Bathe quickly ended the call he’d been making, and Wanda noticed the hasty way with which he stopped talking, like he didn't want them to hear the conversation. Sofia didn't seem to notice.

“I have about twenty people looking for Jason,” Bathe said. “They should find him very soon.”

What did that mean? And who were these twenty people that Bathe could suddenly order to look for her brother?

“Thanks,” Sofia said.

Wanda felt the reluctance in her mum’s response. She knew her mother well enough to know she didn’t like relying on others for help.

“We should get to the car,” Bathe said, moving toward the door.

“Shouldn't we take some clothes?” Wanda looked at her mother.

“We don't have time,” Bathe answered for Sofia. “If you were chased at school, then we only have a few more minutes before they get here.”

Bathe's car was the latest Audi model. Wanda pulled the back door open and plunged herself on the seat as her mum and Bathe discussed sitting next to each other in the front of the car.

“The Fortress is another five hours from here—how do you suppose we'll get there?” Sofia asked, turning to Bathe.

“I’m driving to one of the locator points. Those are areas the Vitrians have dedicated near the city. No demon can come near there.”

“I know,” Sofia said.

“It’s about an hour from here, but I’ll try and make it in less.”

“I am . . . I'm still not sure about this,” her mum said in the tone she used when she didn’t approve of a suggestion or plan.

“You and I know there is nowhere else to keep Wanda safe now.”

“What if they don't accept us? We left years ago?”

“That will not happen. If she's The Chosen, the Vitrians will want her safe.”

Sofia looked out the window, her gaze unfocused. “This is how Marcus and Xavier died.” Her voice carried sadness. “It started when Marcus became convinced The Chosen was important and had to be protected. Celina poisoned his mind. I don't want anyone poisoning my children's minds.”

“Sofia,” Bathe said, “Celina is in the past. No one even knows if she's alive.” He drew in a deep breath. “Wanda needs protection right now, and so do you.”

Wanda could see Bathe knew something about Celina, something he didn't want to say. The name rang a bell. Her mum rarely mentioned her, but whenever she did, her voice carried a deep bitterness and envy.

“Mum, what’s going on? The Vitrians, the Fortress . . .” Wanda broke off.

“I think you should explain it.” Sofia looked at Bathe.

Bathe inhaled hard and paused. “Your dad and I used to be members of a group. More like a community of people who lived apart from mere humans centuries ago. But not anymore.”

“Why?” Wanda asked, instantly not accepting that her dad was either in any secret group or more than human. “What was special about these people?”

“Nothing,” Bathe said. “Everything was the same as with regular humans. Except we could see demons, and we were given special gifts—tools to fight them, and the Praying Méndez to protect ourselves from them.”

Wanda recalled the stories her dad shared with her and Jason. Stories that her mum assured her were only fairytales for children.

“These people are called . . . well, I mean we are called Vitrians. Over the years, six centuries, to be precise, we have grown in number, large enough that the Vitrian elders created what we call Vitrain Fortresses. The fortresses are sealed with powerful Praying Méndezes. A Vitrian Fortress is a place where the Vitrians live and train in their own established city. A fortress is so strong it keeps away demons; no demon can get into it, so once you are in there, you are safe.”

Bathe's phone went off, the rattling noise interrupting him. He picked it up as he drove and put it to his ear. Wanda turned toward the window beside her.

“Mum, you’re not one of the Vitrians, are you?” Wanda said, but she could figure the answer out from what Bathe had explained. All the stories her dad had told her and Jason flashed back in her memory.

“No,” her mother answered.

“Those stories Dad told us . . .” Wanda paused, waiting for her mother to respond.

“They were true,” Sofia said softly, staring out the window beside her. “They were battles Marcus fought in. I didn't want—”

“But you can see things too,” Wanda interjected; she was annoyed, and she knew her mum could hear it in her voice, but she didn't want any apologetic responses. “You can see Dad's box and the Praying Méndez.”

“Yes. I was granted the opportunity to see things when I married