Requiem by Jamie McGuire Page B

was forced, unnatural.
    “ You know those that are
aware of demons attract them.” Kim said this matter-of-factly,
making my reality feel twisted. Jared told me a few specifics about
the Others during the talk we had on our first date—the moment we
affectionately dubbed, ‘The Conversation That Changed Everything’.
Kim was the other side; someone I couldn’t tell. I hadn’t shared
our secrets from that night with anyone, and Kim repeating part of
it verbatim disconcerted me.
    “ Stay calm, Nina,” Jared
said, quiet and smooth. He placed his hand on mine. “They feed on
aggression and fear.”
    Kim’s body language was casual, but
deliberately so. “What we’re talking about is going to bring them
here, Nigh. The more upset you are, the more access they will have
to this situation, so just take it all in. Don’t try to analyze it,
just listen and accept.”
    “ Listen and accept,” I
said, taking a deep breath. I looked to Jared, who offered a small,
comforting grin. I returned my attention to Kim. “Okay. Let’s hear
it.”
    Kim’s mouth turned up infinitesimally. “When
I was sixteen I was possessed by a demon.”
    It was hard to concentrate. Months of
perfecting the art of keeping my emotions under control was the
only advantage I had, and I was determined to keep my cool. “You’re
kidding.”
    Kim continued, “I’m going to make this short
if you don’t mind.”
    I nodded and Kim rolled her eyes. “The story
bores me, so to get to the point, the Pollocks, my family, descend
from Crusade Knights. Those Crusade Knights used the Holy Sepulchre
as an end point of their pilgrimages…you okay?” Kim asked,
pausing.
    “ Yeah,” I said casually.
“Because I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” I
yelled.
    Jared held my hands in my lap, and lowered
his chin, looking directly into my eyes. “You need to stay calm.
It’s important.”
    I looked back to Kim. “Sorry.”
    Kim dismissed my apology. “Whatever. You
remember learning about the Crusades, Nigh. English knights…Robin
Hood…King Richard?” I nodded. “It has nothing to do with that.”
    I sighed, and Jared jerked his head to the
side in frustration. “You’re not helping.”
    Kim laughed once and looked down. “I'm
sorry. I just can't describe to you how much I hate telling this
story.”
    “ Try,” Jared
seethed.
    Kim looked to me. “Templar Knights took
their crusades to a very holy place in Jerusalem. It’s called the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was once the temple of Aphrodite.
Christians refer to it as Golgotha…the place where Christ was
crucified.
    “ The First Crusade was envisioned as an armed pilgrimage, and
no crusader could consider his journey complete unless he had
prayed as a pilgrim at the Holy Sepulchre. This is where it gets a
little hairy. During my great-great times infinity grandfather’s
pilgrimage, he came upon something under the basilica of the Holy
Sepulchre. It was a book. A Bible.”
    “ So you’re Bible savers?” I
looked at Jared in disbelief. “Cool? I guess?”
    “ We’re not talking about
the Holy Bible, here, Nigh,” Kim said. “You’ve seen it.”
    “ Shax’s bible?” I
asked.
    Kim nodded. “It was kept safely hidden away
in the cistern under the basilica, which is where it was rumored
that the mother of Hadrian found the true cross and the tomb of
Christ.”
    “ Isn’t that pretty much
sacrilegious? The Bible of Hell being kept under what was thought
to be the tomb of Jesus Christ?” I said.
    Kim rubbed her temples. I had clearly asked
a question she’d answered a thousand times. “The Holy presence
there kept Shax and his legions from finding it. My grandfather
didn’t know that. He removed the book, and after learning of its
importance, he vowed to keep it safe. That vow, and the book, has
cursed our family for generations.”
    “ Curses seem to be the
popular thing around here,” I grumbled.
    Kim glanced at Jared.
    “ I’m sorry,” I