Darkness Within the Light

Chapter 9: The Fellowship

I walked through the halls numb and unreachable. My legs dragged me towards my locker before homeroom. I had missed softball tryouts due to the incident and when I begged the coach for an exception, she aggressively told me no.

It was like she was afraid of me.

Rumors of the fight spread like a wildfire and some of the accusations were ridiculous. They made me sound like an evil being that attacked anyone within six feet of me.

I was nervous to see Rachel, afraid that Hannah may not want to be my friend anymore, but to my surprise the two girls waited for me at my locker with bright smiles and enormous balloons. There were at least a dozen rainbow-colored balloons tied together in one bundle.

“What's this?" I stood intrigued as I maintained a safe distance in case this was a trap.

“Look, Katie Anne," Rachel paused as she fidgeted with a strand from the balloons, “I just want to apologize for the other day. I don't know what came over me. It wasn't me. I honestly don't remember anything that happened. I blacked out. Anyways," she nervously shook her head as she ran her fingers through her hair, “could ever forgive me? Can we still be friends?"

“Of course, Rachel. I still don't understand what happened either or how I did whatever-in-the-h*ll it was that I did. I'm just glad you're okay." I turned to Hannah as I buried my hands into my jacket pockets. “Are you upset with me?"

“No. Not at all. It was all just a freak accident. You didn't mean to hurt each other." Hannah wrapped her arms around both of us and squeezed us tight.

“And Rocky?" I nervously questioned Rachel.

“Don't worry about him. He just gets overprotective. I've smoothed things over with him. Promise," she reassured as we walked together to homeroom.

Throughout my morning classes and lunch, everything seemed like it was going back to normal.

Everything that happened the other day disappeared into an oblivion of imagination, like it never happened. However, I was extremely nervous facing Shadow in fifth period.

His eyes were locked on me as I entered Mr. Burton's classroom.

It was strange. I felt this extreme gravitational pull towards him like a magnet to a metal plate.

I began to hear a buzzing sound and the closer I got to him, the louder the buzzing became. It sounded like a swarm of bees ravishing a hive of honey. I covered my ears with my palms as I collapsed into my chair.

Are you alright? I heard his voice echo in my mind.

“What?" I asked him more loudly than I intended.

Are you alright? He asked again.

At least, I could have sworn he did. His mouth didn't move with the words that I heard in my head. The buzzing grew louder and then I realized the sound wasn't of bees. It was of flies.

Focus on my voice and the buzzing will stop.

“I can't." I shook my head as if I were trying to swat the flies from my mind. My brain began to tickle as if I could feel them nibbling on my internal flesh.

Suddenly, someone walked into the classroom causing the sounds in my head to cease.

“Mr. Burton? I need a word with Katie Anne Willows in my office for a minute please," Principal Vice proclaimed as his eyes confiscated me. I felt swallowed in his intense stare.

Did I do something wrong? I felt an uncontrollable panic fill my chest.

I gathered my belongings and followed Principal Vice, but we didn't go to his office. He led me to some type of conference room. He stopped me outside the awfully ugly green door. “They are just going to ask you a few questions about the incident that occurred in the lunchroom the other day. No one is in trouble. We just want to get all the details right so we can ensure something like this won't happen again. The safety of our students is our main concern," Principal Vice said as he adjusted his pants over his large belly.

The banana-yellow suit he was wearing was just hideous.

He peaked over the rim of his round glasses as if he were waiting for me to acknowledge his statement. I simply nodded, then, he opened the door.

There were seven individuals gathered around the meeting table. They weren't staff members because I had never seen them on the campus before.

“Hello Miss Willows. Please, have a seat." He was an old man—at least in his late seventies. He was dressed in a silk royal blue suit and large stones cradled each finger. He was surprisingly slim and fit for an older man. He held his head high when he acknowledged me, and his dainty fingers motioned for me to have a seat at the opposite end of the table. I anxiously took my seat as I glared around the room with confusion. “I hear you've been asking about us lately—maybe even a little obsessed." He flashed his pearly white teeth.

“I—umm—" I stuttered, unable to comprehend what was happening.

“Don't be embarrassed, dear. Nothing to be ashamed about. We are pretty important—respected, as a matter of face." He tugged on his blazer as if he were inflating his ego. “My name is Pride."

“No one said she was such a beauty." The woman to my left reached for me with her long hot pink fingernails as she twirled her pink bubble gum with the other.

I rescinded into my chair.

Her hair was bright pink and trimmed into a short pixie cut. She wore a revealing hot pink dress and pink high heel pumps to match. Her lips were painted a hot pink which matched her eye shadow.

“Lust," Pride interjected, “this is not the time."

“But look at her. She seems so sweet and tasty. I just want to bottle her up and swallow her." Was this lady seriously flirting with me?

“I'm sorry—umm—Mr. Pride. I have no idea who you are." I was shaking so much I could hear the screws rattling in my cheap metal seat.

“What!? How does this little brat not know who we are!!! She has been asking for us for days like some annoying little twerp!" A tiny petite woman in a blazing red spandex suite and fiery red hair that was tangled in a frantic mess leaped from her chair. Her eyes blazed at me like a fresh flame as her bright red lips twitched with anger.

“Wrath!" Pride slammed his hand on the desk, snapping at her rage filled rant. “Can't you see you are scaring the poor girl?"

The Fellowship. Shadow's voice boomed in my mind.

“You're the Fellowship…" I choked as the oxygen restricted itself in my lungs. My mouth was instantly dry as I clenched tightly to the arms of my chair.

“That's right. You've already met Lust and Wrath. This here is Greed." Pride pointed to a tall and slim man dressed in a silver suit. His face was designed with platinum make-up and his hair looked like tiny spikes of icicles. He tipped his top hat to me.

“This is Envy." He pointed towards a tall and slender woman—at least in her early twenties—wearing an emerald-green evening dress with matching gloves that went all the way to her elbows. Her dark forest green hair was blessed with the abundance of magical curls that reached the floor.

She smacked her dark green lips as she rolled her matching eyes. “I don't see what is so gorgeous about her, Lust. You need to get your eyes checked. She's just a typical teenage girl who probably hasn't even hit puberty yet. She's not a desirable woman like me."

“She may not be a woman yet, but she is undeniably more desirable than you," Lust snapped back as Envy gasped with disgust.

“Ladies, please!" Pride halted their argument with his hands. “Lastly, this is Gluttony and Sloth."

A heavy-set man—at least 400 pounds—tilted his fat head towards me. The abundance of meat on his neck restricted him from nodding at me. He wore a bright orange robe that had golden swirls on the seams. At least thirty gold chains dangled from his neck, and he wore even larger rings than Pride on his fingers. He brushed back his straight orange hair as he rolled his dark brown eyes. “She's so thin it's pathetic." Gluttony twisted his lips with revulsion.

A woman in her mid-thirties slouched beside Gluttony. She had straight dark-purple hair that flowed to the middle of her back and dark-purple make-up to match. She wore fuzzy, purple pajama bottoms with a matching long sleeve top and slippers. She peaked her head out of the dark-purple blanket she was wrapped in and said, “hey," before she turned to Pride with an unimpressed look on her face. “Can we like, hurry this up? I'm going to be late for my nap."

“You nap all day, Sloth. I hardly doubt that you have an actual scheduled napping routine," Envy scorned as she flipped her hair towards Sloth. That was girl code for 'I hate you.'

“Alright, then. Now that you know everybody, we can be friends. Let's get started, shall we? I assume that Principal Vice explained why you are here today." Pride flashed a sinister smile. I think he was trying to be comforting, but it only made me queasy.

Don't answer any questions. It's a trap. Demand that your mother is present. They cannot question minors without a parent. Shadow's voice resonated in my head as I inhaled a deep breath.

How in the h*ll was he talking to me and how did he know what was going on?

“Yes," I hesitated as I searched for courage, “I think my mother should be here."

“Of course. We already called her. She should be here soon," Pride reassured as he leaned his elbows on the table, “but while we wait for her, how about we get to know each other?"

I nodded.

Okay, good. My mother will be here soon.

It's a lie. Shadow snarled in my mind as chills crawled up my spine. She's not coming.