The door opens, revealing Mizuki’s furrowed eyes. Behind her I see Ezra and an unfamiliar man and woman huddled in the shadows of the small room. The man, an older guy with silver hair and a braided beard narrows his eyes at me.

“What are you doing here, boy? This floor is off limits to all attendees besides instructors. You should find it in your benefit to find a good reason for me not to remove you from campus for this. Permanently.”

I swallow hard and stammer for an explanation. “I-I I’m sorry. I-I just. I-”

“Don’t be brash, Josie. He was looking for me,” Ezra lies smoothly, pressing a hand to Mizuki’s waist to let them move past. She hesitates but moves aside. “Weren’t you, Aiden?” Their voice is warm like honey. But there is a warning in those eyes. If I make a wrong move, I can be in a lot of trouble. I’m unsure why Ezra so swiftly lied on my behalf, but I don’t dwell on it. I nod feverishly.

“Ye-Yes. I-uh-came to ask you a question. In private,” I hastily add. “I tried to flag you down at the hall but lost you too quickly,” I rush to say. I need to become better at lying. This is just pathetic. The man–Josie–looks unconvinced. Until Ezra reaches out and clutches the cookie in my hand with a sound of delight. I had completely forgotten that I was still holding it.

“Oh you got this for me? You shouldn’t have, you know. It goes right to my thighs,” they say with a grin as they break a piece off the corner of the cookie and pop it into their mouth. It seems to fool Josie though, as realization contorts his features.

“Oh great,” he deadpans. “Another confession.”

“Aw don’t act so sour, friend. Your envy is ugly.”

“I’m not-”

“Come Aiden,” Ezra replies with a smile. “Let us discuss your matter in private, as requested. I’m sure we don’t need an audience for this, do we?” That warning in their eyes resurfaces and I shake myself from my stupor.

“Yes, o-ok.”

I’m not sure if I’ve convinced the others. The woman in the back has her full lips pressed in a single line and her dark eyes narrowed. And Mizuki has been staring silently at me with such vehemence that I squirm beneath her scrutiny. But Josie is convinced. And that seems to be enough for now.

Ezra has a hand on the small of my back and is now leading me down the winding hallways back to the elevators. When the doors slide shut I whip my head to look at the Edict but their eyes shift to mine as if to signal not here; not yet.

I look up, seeing a small black camera looking back at me from the mirrored ceilings. Oh. If Ezra and those people were speaking in a restricted area, it’s obviously to keep that conversation a secret. And if they are wary of the cameras around campus, it is a conversation that even those viewing these cameras must not have authorization to know about. I was right to be wary of this place. What secrets are lurking behind all this elegance?

I quiet my thoughts for a moment and focus on the situation at hand. I try not to look so shaken up as I open my mouth. “You weren’t kidding about those sugar cookies, were you?” I ask instead. Ezra smiles and breaks off some of the remaining cookie.

“Try it for yourself, little one.” I take the piece from their hand and let the sugar dissolve on my tongue. It’s suspiciously good. My thoughts must be clear on my face because the Edict laughs a little and nods.

“I wasn’t lying, see?”

The elevator hits the ground floor and Ezra glides across the marble floors out the front door. I am practically running after them. They weave through people, through trees, through buildings. I follow them all the way to the lake. Just the sight of it makes my stomach churn. I still the freezing water pulling me under. The prison of ice above me.

“Ezra-” I start, breathless.

“You really don’t like the water, do you Aiden?”

“No! I really don’t,” I announce, backing away from the surface.

“Very interesting, don’t you think so?”

“Not in the slightest. I can’t swim, I told you. Now what was-”

“You intrigue me Aiden. But I’m not the only one. Be careful with what you know and who you tell.” Their words were coming out faster than I could understand.

“But I don’t know anything-”

“Good. Keep it that way. It is much safer.”

“Ezra you aren’t making any sense!” I pleaded. They, still fully clothed, began wading into the water. I shook my head and backed up further. “What are you doing?”

“Come, Aiden.”

“No! What? This is lunacy. What are you doing?”

“I know you do not trust me. And I cannot explain much of anything right now. It is not time yet, nor is it safe. But there is something. One thing. If you swear to secrecy.”

“Ezra-”

“I will let no harm befall you, Aiden Brooks. And if there is one thing I am known for, it is my word.”

I am quiet for a moment, every cell in my body fighting to create more space between me and the lake. There is a startling firmness in the Edict’s eyes. I feel a break in me, though my fear grips me tight. More than anything, I am curious. And that is what will destroy me.

“If you’re lying,” I say in a shaky voice, no louder than a whisper. But there is a warmth radiating from Ezra, one that calms my racing heart just slightly. I don’t say another word as I roll up my sweats and wade through the shore to join them.

“You are a man of such little faith.”

“Faith isn’t my forte. Life hasn’t given me much incentive to believe in much of anything.”

“Lay down,” they order and I look at the Edict as if they have grown another head. They wear a warm but eager smile. I bit my lip hard and kneel in the water, reminded of my baptism, when I so fiercely believed in a God I surrendered entirely to the notion of unconditional love. I feel a tug in my chest at the thought, the memory of believing, and wonder what happened to me.

With a shaky breath and shaking fingers I lean back and spread my limbs out, feeling water rush past my ears. The fear claws up my throat. I’m struggling to breathe. Even shallow water can drown me. I grip the sand and stones and beg my heart to slow. 

“Calm down, Aiden,” Ezra says. Their voice is clear over the rushing of the water and my own blood in my ears, as though it were coming from within me. I take a deep breath through my nose and out my mouth. I want to get up and run away, far away. But I don’t. I take another breath. And another. Calm down.

I try to think of the water like an extension of myself. It won’t hurt me. It won’t hurt me. If I keep telling myself that maybe I can believe it too.

I was too focused on not panicking that I kept my guards down. A memory, a very distant memory, resurfaced. I remember my mom drawing a symbol on the palm of my hand. Remember Aiden. If you ever feel afraid or weak, remember this symbol. And swallow it. I remember. But what was that symbol? What did it look like? It was… kind of a weird shape. That’s right. It was everywhere before Mom died. She put it on everything. The doors. The cupboards, sharpied on the mirrors.

I gasp against the cold water and open my eyes. Without thinking further, I brought my palm in front of me and traced the symbol on my hand. And then I swallowed it. A good luck charm.

A sudden burning in my chest makes me jolt up in the water. The burning begins to spread out to my arms and legs and I wince, hugging my abdomen. I try not to be afraid. I think of my mother’s face. Her warm smile and her bright eyes. Things I cannot remember vividly anymore, no matter how hard I try.

The burning stops and I gasp. I’m about to say something to Ezra but in an instant I am doubled over in pain, It feels like someone is cutting me open. I clench my fists and bite back a scream. The water is rushing past my knees. I hate it. I hate it. 

“It hurts,” I gasp, collapsing against Ezra, who has now knelt beside me in the water. I claw at my chest, though I know there’s nothing there. My vision is red but I can see the troubled look on the Edict’s face.

“It’s as I thought,” they whisper. “The gift has been suppressed. This must only mean-”

The pain makes me double over again and I can’t hear Ezra. I can’t hear anything. I scream and my eyes blur with tears.

“Make it stop,” I sob. “Please.”

Ezra quickly runs a hand over my chest and mutters something indistinguishable. In an instant, the pain is gone. And I feel… like I’m on fire. Like it’s seeping out of my pores. But it doesn’t hurt anymore. It feels more like I have taken my first full breath in my entire life.

And then something strange happens. The water around us is pushed outward, as though repelled by us. And we now kneel on dry land, surrounded by a moat of water.

“What-” I gasp. But Ezra’s eyes are glued on me. 

“Hold out your hand,” they order. I oblige, still stuck in a daze.

Ezra breaks the chain on my neck and, before I can protest, slips Silva’s ring on my finger. Much to my surprise, it fits on my middle finger perfectly. Even more to my surprise, as soon as the ring touched the skin of my finger, all the water fell back to its original place, blanketing the two of us once more.

“What the-”

“Do not take this ring off, do you understand me, Aiden?”

“Why? What does any of this mean?”

“You will have your answers eventually. But I must leave you in the dark this evening. You must not know until you learn to shield your mind.”

“But what does this mean, Ezra?”

“It means I was correct in my assumptions. And you must tell no one.”

“Tell them what? Does… does this mean I have a gift?”

Ezra stands abruptly and walks toward shore. I chase after them like a lost dog.

“It means I cannot protect you as well as I would have liked to. It means the start of a divination that ends in bloodshed.”

“Why does everyone here speak in goddamn riddles?” I yell, frustrated. 

Ezra reaches over and brushes a lock of my burnt reddish-auburn hair behind my ear, a strangely intimate gesture that feels motherly. They smile but there is sadness clear in those big brown eyes.

“How cruel a prophecy can be,” they say softly. “You are still just a child.”

“Prophecy?”

“People are afraid of change, even the necessary kind. Your mother told me that, did you know?”

My jaw hangs slack. My mother? The Edict knew my mother? How much did she know? And how much about her did I not know? Before I can ask another question, Ezra turns and rushes away, leaving me alone by the shore of the lake. My hand wanders to my chest and I swear I can feel a mark there, like a scar. I take off my shirt and look down. Though there is only moonlight to see by, what I do see makes me fall back on the rocks.

There is a mark, the same one I drew on my palm, now inked into my chest, still red and raw as though it had just been tattooed into my skin. And I could swear it feels warm, as though pulsing with life. I quickly put my shirt on and leave, desperately needing the clarity that comes with sleep.

In my room I look around for cameras and wires. I come up empty handed but don’t feel assured by that. I’m sure I’m being monitored. I’m sure we all are. As for why, I’m not sure. All I know is Ezra is insisting I keep my mouth shut so that’s what I’ll do.

As I lie awake in bed, I keep thinking of my mother’s face, of those symbols in our old house, of the lake water moving like some biblical obscenity. And I wonder what it all means, what I’m missing. 

I fall asleep with my mother’s voice in my ear. People are afraid of change, even the necessary kind. And I dream of being swallowed up over and over by ice-cold water, a fire in my chest growing dimmer and dimmer each time.

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