Page 73 of A Mastery of Monsters

If I had it my way, I would skip the community dinner. But I promised Mia, and without her help with my knives, I wouldn’t have even made it through the test yesterday. Not that it mattered in the end.

When I step into the barn, the afternoon sun is high in the sky. It’s a bright, sunny day, making the cold more bearable. Proof that the world moves on no matter what’s happening in your life.

My eyes widen at the setup. I was expecting to have a lot to do, but most is already finished.

The linens have been put onto the tables and chairs.

The centerpieces of mismatched candles arranged.

Even the heaters have been put up, though they’re not on yet.

And swathes of cloth have been hung from the barn loft.

Mia and Isaac are arranging heating lamps on a table for the food. When she spots me, she says, “You’re here! And… I think most of the stuff is done.”

When I reach the two of them, I avoid looking Isaac in the eye. I know he won’t talk about the candidacy with Mia here, but I don’t want to see whatever emotion he has swimming there.

“Virgil came early and did all this on his own,” Isaac says. “I guess he let himself in.”

“You saw him?” I ask, staring at the table.

“No. He texted after to say he helped set up. It was like this when we came by. Except for the rafter stuff, we hung those.”

I guess he wanted to keep his promise too. But without having to see any of us. Without having to see me . I scratch at the tablecloth, imagining ripping a hole into it just to hurt something.

“Isaac was saying he might not come by at all since he’s sick,” Mia says. And there’s something about her voice that makes me look up. She’s staring at me, her expression flat. “I texted to see if, since he was feeling well enough to help, he might come tonight.”

Isaac looks at Mia and then at me. Again, I turn away. “What can I do?” I ask.

“Come learn how to sharpen knives with me.” Mia turns to Isaac. “You don’t mind finishing with the heat lamps?”

“Uh, no, that’s cool.”

“Thank you!” She hooks her arm through mine and drags me over to the shed behind her house.

My eyes bug out when I see inside.

The walls are packed with weapons. No firearms. Just row after row of knives, swords, axes, and more.

“Told you he had a nerd collection,” Mia singsongs.

She leads me to a table at the back, where she pulls out some small tools.

“These are whetstones. You can come in here whenever—just text me, and I can let you know when’s a good time so you don’t get caught by Dad and end up suffering his admiration. ”

“You’ll lose leverage by teaching me.”

“I don’t need leverage anymore.”

I stare at the arrangement of tools. I really thought she was out here with one of those medieval wheels, since I’d never actually watched Mom sharpen.

She instructs me, handing me a dull blade to practice. I’m curious about how it got dull in the first place but don’t pry. I know how she threw that knife wasn’t a fluke. The same way that Virgil knew when he watched me throw.

“Your dad taught you how to use some of this stuff, didn’t he?” I ask.

“Mom taught me traditional medicine and Dad taught me blades. Between you and me, her lessons were a lot more practical. But I do use some of his moves in hockey.”

“My mom taught me.” I move the knife the way Mia showed me across the whetstone. “Which I guess most people think is weird. But I don’t know. She wanted to share a hobby with us. It’s not that strange.”

“Is that what you think?” Mia leans her hand against her palm.

“Don’t you?”

“I don’t think my parents would teach me anything they didn’t expect me to use.”

We stare at each other for a moment. I turn away to the wall of weapons and notice that one of the swords has initials stamped on it. I peer closer. G. T. M. “Was this someone else’s before?” If it belonged to Jacques, it would be J. L.

“Yeah. Grandad. My dad’s dad. He made some of these—that’s how Dad got all obsessed. G. T. M. Garrett Thomas Murphy.”

My fingers clench around the handle of the knife.

Garrett Murphy.

“You okay?”

I relax my grip. “But… your dad’s last name is Levesque.”

“Yeah, it’s his mom’s maiden name. He had this whole falling out with Grandad and changed his name, and they didn’t talk, like, my whole life, and then this year he started coming back around. They were arguing for a bit there, but I think they worked it out.” She shrugs. “Family, right?”

I force out a laugh. “Yeah, right.”

Mia doesn’t know about the Wilds. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be speaking this casually about Garrett to me.

She would know I’m part of the society. Or that I was, anyway.

Just like born monsters, not every Wild family has children who become Wilds.

Maybe it didn’t happen to her, and so Jacques decided to use his mom’s name and live like a normal family.

That was why he was so weird in the barn.

It wasn’t the event itself, it was the fact that Virgil and Isaac showed up.

Maybe even just that Mia was spending so much time with me.

Monsters can’t sense each other or anything, but Garrett’s been at the nominations and tests.

He would know I’m a candidate. And he would know Virgil because of his parents.

You know.

I know Jacques, but I didn’t know Jacques was a Murphy. Maybe he’s like Mia, not a Wild. Or maybe he is. He and his dad have been repairing their relationship this year. The same year Cyrus dies, and the Wilds’ agreement becomes null.

“You should ask Virgil to come tonight,” Mia says, and I jump, shocked out of my thoughts. “I don’t know what’s gone down between the two of you, but I know him being sick is bullshit. If you ask him to come, I bet he will. You guys can work things out.”

I hunch my shoulders. “He already has an invitation.” Part of me wants to see him, and another part of me never wants to set eyes on him again.

Because the next time I see Virgil, it’ll be to say goodbye.

The barn is unrecognizable by the time people start filtering in for the dinner.

The lights strung from the rafters have been turned on and add just enough to the space.

Not too dim and not too bright. Everyone’s dishes are laid out on the tables under heating lamps, and people help themselves to drinks from the refreshments area.

Music floats through the space from a sound system that one of the residents donated to us for the event.

Margot’s been invited alongside Isaac, and though I personally avoid her, she’s getting along well with everyone else.

There’s a hum in the air of people talking and laughing. That buzz that makes a room feel full.

I didn’t appreciate how many people live here until I saw everyone who turned up for the event. I sit next to an older Black woman named Opal. She’s one of the people whose door I knocked on to invite to this, and it’s nice that she came. I’m pretty sure everyone we invited is here tonight.

We moved so often, and when we did interact with neighbors, it was brief and perfunctory.

Mom liked for us to keep some distance. We never had anything like this.

I bite my lip, considering what Mia said earlier about how her parents wouldn’t teach her something they didn’t expect her to use.

Why would her dad think she would need to use weapons like that, and why would Mom think I would need knife and combat skills? But then, I did need them.

I eye Jacques from across the space. Could he be a part of everything going down with Jules, or am I being paranoid?

Mia stands at the head of the room. Like her mom did before, she has a paper that she reads from in Mohawk.

She uses it the whole time but speaks just as well as Izzy, only stumbling over her words a couple of times.

In English she adds, “Thank you so much to everyone for coming. It means a lot to gather here with you on the traditional lands of my people. My parents wanted to transform this place from something owned to something shared.” She nods to Izzy and Jacques, the former of whom is misty-eyed watching her.

“I didn’t get to know my maternal grandma.

My mom didn’t either. We’ve had a lot of things stolen from us that can never be given back.

But we’ve also been trying to recover what we can.

And community is a part of that. People who know each other, and support each other, and live together.

That’s what tonight is about. I’m thankful to the Creator, and my parents, and my friends who helped, August, and Isaac, and Virgil, and all of you who’ve come here today. Nyawenhkó:wa.”

There’s a round of applause, and she beams.

I never wanted to be a part of this community that Bailey found her way to, and I definitely didn’t want anything to do with the Learners, but I like being here with these people. With Mia. And I like being with Corey, and Margot, and Isaac. Violet and Bryce. Riley, too.

And Virgil.

When Mom disappeared, I turned around, and the people who used to surround me were gone too. Everyone except for Jules.

I feel it happening again now.

And I don’t want it to.

“August?” Bailey asks.

Tears slide down my face. I wipe them away. “Sorry, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Uh, no, but yeah.” I manage a smile.

“I know what that feeling is like.” She reaches across the table and grasps my hand. “You don’t always have to be fine.”

The rest of the night goes well. Mostly everyone’s food is great.

There’s a mac and cheese with what looks like a frozen vegetable medley mixed into it that I avoid, but it’s otherwise perfect.

I meet everyone who lives here, and Mia does several rounds of icebreaker games to make triple sure we become familiar with each other.