Page 20 of A Mastery of Monsters

That Saturday, I drop my bag on the floor and look around the small space that I’ll be living in for as long as it takes me to find Jules.

The society prefers that I stay on campus, and so Henry is not only covering my tuition for the year but also my room in Victoria Hall.

The same dorm Jules was in. Though I’m on the fifth floor in the B wing.

The halls are crowded with parents and students carrying suitcases and bloated garbage bags filled with clothes. Lots of tear-filled hugging and goodbyes. Or otherwise, loud shouts and laughs.

Dad used to talk about this moment all the time.

Moving me into the Queen’s dorms. He was in peak form when we dropped Jules off last year.

He and Mom both wore their old tricolor rugby shirts, and he talked about the places they used to hang out on campus.

He wanted to make sure that I was paying attention since I would be here next year.

Then he lectured Jules about balancing his schoolwork with fun—good friends will always be there, but you can destroy your GPA for all four years with a single full credit course.

We took a bunch of pictures in front of the buildings.

The perfect family being perfect. That was us, always.

There are these memories, family vacations and Christmas dinners and movie nights where, in the moment, I thought I was happy.

Maybe I was. But only because I was being who they wanted me to be.

I was jealous when we moved Jules into Vic Hall because he was already here, and I would have to wait until next year. I wanted that warm glow of our parents’ beaming smiles and tight, generous hugs.

Now that expression on Dad’s face is the last thing I want to see.

How happy he’d be to see me back on the road he’s spent my whole life steering me on.

He’s called multiple times today and sent a text about how proud he is, and how he’s busy with his start of the school year prep, but he’d like to drop by.

I have no intention of responding.

I’m grateful when me and Corey arrive at the quiet of my room at 506. Virgil had to go get some paperwork set up with Henry, who is apparently his legal guardian. I said I could move in alone, but Corey insisted that would be depressing and she should come.

The room is big enough for a single bed featuring a bare mattress pushed against the right wall and a desk on the opposite wall that has a flat laminate wood tone with shelving overtop.

There’s a window overlooking a parking lot, and the walls are painted brick and cool to the touch.

Finally, near the door there’s a set of drawers and a narrow closet in the same laminate tone as the desk.

It’s basically the exact reverse of Jules’s room.

Corey bustles in with a giant bedding set that she told me was my housewarming gift. I’m glad, honestly, because I hadn’t even thought about getting one. Without her, I would be sleeping on a naked mattress.

“I also put a topper in. You gotta separate yourself as much as possible from their mattress.” She strolls around the room and brushes aside the curtains to peer down at the parking lot.

“Not much of a view, but at least you’re central.

Can you believe we’re first years? And a little birdie named Henry told me he can even get us into the same frosh group. It’s like a dream!”

I stare around the room. “Dream? Nightmare? Same difference.”

She sits in the desk chair, crossing one leg over the other. Today she has a skirt on. Her prosthetic leg starts just below her left knee.

I groan as I sit on the bed. My entire body has been sore ever since Margot started her training, which consists of constant horrible drills and her getting pissed at me for not having sharpened my knives yet.

Even though they work perfectly fine as is!

I’ve also been forced to go running every morning by myself, which is especially grueling.

Corey makes a face, looking from me to the bed. “Separation from the mattress…”

“I’m wearing shorts!”

“Still…” She eyes the bed like she expects a torrent of bugs to erupt from it.

I drop my head back against the brick.

Corey shifts on the chair. “Can I ask you something personal?”

“Shoot.”

“Why didn’t you confirm your acceptance?”

“Because I didn’t want to.” It’s an honest answer. But it’s also a lot more complicated than that. “Can I ask you something personal?”

“Sure.”

“The society is a cult, right?”

She laughs. “Wow, I do like you.”

“I mean… you believe in an apocalypse. That’s kind of cult-y.” Not to mention those reactions to Cyrus’s death. It made me feel like I was living on a separate plane of existence.

“I know what it sounds like, but the apocalypse is real. Tracking monster births was simple at first. We watched bloodlines via born or bitten monsters. We also prevented a lot of bites when we started imprisoning out-of-control monsters. However, Dr. Weiss predicted that one of the early signs of the apocalypse would be spontaneously born monsters. No bloodline and no bite. Just appearing. And that’s been on an upward trend for a while.

And those monsters turn faster too.” She swallows.

“There’s an eight-year-old girl who turned.

Spontaneous. No one in her family was ever a monster.

She was having an argument with her mom, and then…

” Corey shakes her head. “She tore them apart.”

I flex my hands, the palms feeling hot suddenly.

“The full apocalypse will see people spontaneously developing the mutation and having it activated instantly. Like the effects of a bite without an actual bite. It’s never happened before, but Dr. Weiss felt that the spontaneous births, which already existed, were the closest step toward that.

I know it sounds silly. I do think we should consider rebranding since ‘apocalypse’ is, like, very dramatic.

But it’s real. We have the data to prove it.

There’s a feeling that the serum can help protect people from turning when the time comes, but we don’t know for sure.

” She licks her lips. “I think most of us just hope it won’t happen in our time. ”

“You and me both.” I can’t imagine the sort of carnage that would bring.

A big part of me still wants to deny it, but a couple of weeks ago, I would have denied the existence of monsters, too.

Ignorance isn’t my friend right now. Even if I don’t buy into the apocalypse thing, clearly, the spontaneous monster births make things more dangerous for everyone.

If the society couldn’t keep up anymore it’d be bad.

“But it’s not just the apocalypse that’s giving cult. There are other things too.”

Corey nods. “Honestly, I understand that impression. Especially with the way people responded to the Doctorate’s death, but cults are controlling and abusive. The society helps people.”

I cross my arms. “Interesting, because I have this vague memory of being forced to attend a school I didn’t want to attend.”

She opens her mouth and then shuts it, thinking for a moment.

“The society is an organization, and it’s integrated into the country’s academic systems. Beyond Canada too, though they organize their chapters a little differently.

But overall, it’s a means of protection for you.

Our students are embedded at every level.

This is how Bachelors and Masters like Margot can automatically get TA positions that fund living.

Or how payment can be provided for extracurriculars like the training of a candidate.

And I know you didn’t want to go here, but you being a candidate is also the only reason that Virgil can attend. ”

“What does that mean?”

She shifts in place. “Monsters… because of volatility, are not allowed to attend any post-secondaries unless they’re paired with a candidate, Bachelor, or Master.

They have special society-created monster schools for compulsory education like elementary and high school.

To keep them apart from the general population and decrease possible exposure.

But none of the ones in the city would take Virgil.

Bernie offering to tutor him and Dr. Liu agreeing to have him live at McIntosh Castle is the only reason he got a base education.

And he still wouldn’t have even gotten that far without Henry vouching for him and becoming his guardian.

Of course, Virgil wanted to go to Queen’s, but without you, he couldn’t. ”

“How is this supposed to be convincing me that this isn’t an oppressive cult?”

Corey smiles without mirth. “I’m trying to show you that the society is an imperfect organization.

No different from the university itself or the government.

But it helps people. We have a lot in place for that.

My parents came in as students and within a couple of years were given the rent-to-own condo that I grew up in.

Only possible because the society owns the building.

Many students experience that. It’s just that for people like Virgil…

it’s flawed. That’s why the Progressive faction exists.

So those sorts of rules can be amended or abolished.

The faction has existed on and off throughout the society’s history, like the others, but this is the closest we’ve come to making big changes.

And we now have a democratic process to achieve that.

It’s not perfect, but cults don’t hold elections. ”

She’s got me there. And I guess I know now why Virgil was so desperate to find someone. It’s not just about the monster thing, it’s also about what he is or isn’t allowed to do. It’s like he said that first day on the island. With a partner, he can have a life.

Or, at least, he can until I find Jules and leave.

I swallow and wipe my palms on my shorts.