Page 16 of Viper

Fallon. My new father has to come back soon and unlock that door. I’m not stupid. He didn’t give Sister Isla all that money to fix broken things at Saint Theresa’s if he planned on letting me die.

Another one of my da’s traits, my mum said I possess.

I’m nosey. But it’s only because I like to know things. Information, Mum said, is as valuable as gold and can get you out of any situation. That’s why I listen a lot.

On the second day, I moved around a bit. My butt was numb, so I stood up, using the wall to guide me, and walked the entire room, counting each corner as I went. When I came back to the fourth, I sat down and took off my shoes to rub my toes.

They are still cold, my whole body is, but it’s no worse than the ice baths Sister Isla gave me.

A grating sound to my left snags my attention away from thoughts of Eve and apples and repenting for sins I haven’t even committed. It’s the sound of metal scraping metal, like when he left and locked the door. The door swings inward, and a bright blue-tinged light casts a long line over the concrete floor. I blink, trying to focus, but my eyes sting, so I press them closed really tight, willing tears to soothe them, but nothing comes.

I’m too thirsty.

“Syn.” His deep voice makes my shoulders tense, as does the word.

He keeps calling me that, even though it’s not my name. Makes me wonder if Headmistress told him I was full of bad things, so he thinks it’s my name now.

I open my eyes. They land on a bright metal belt buckle, then travel up the buttons of a gray vest over a white shirt, like those fancy men on TV wear, to the tie at his neck. It’s pale blue, like his eyes.

“Fallon,” I say, but my voice cracks. “Can I come out now?”

The light from behind him only catches half his face, but that’s all I need to see to notice the way his brows turn down.

I wonder what I said that was confusing.

“I’m right hungry.” My belly growls as I push myself up, knees trembling, but I don’t feel nearly as bad as when I left the purging room. He frowns, so I say, “Some bread?” I tack on apleaseto see if that will help.

Fallon’s face twists weirdly. Like he’s not sure what to make of my words. He speaks differently, so maybe I sound as strange to him as he does to me. His pale blue eyes slide from my face down to my belly. I drop my hand from my stomach, not wanting him to see me hurting. It always made Sister Isla smile.

I have a feeling Fallon might smile too.

“Come with me.” Fallon holds out his hand, and I think for a minute before taking it. He locked me in here. I don’t trust him. I didn’t trust any of the sisters either, but I had to take their hands and do what they said or be punished.

I’ve already been punished. For what, I’m not sure. But if I don’t listen now, he may walk out and shut the door again.

So I take his hand.

“Where are we going?” I ask, daring a look at my hand in his. His skin isn’t as fair as mine. He has large, strong hands, with long fingers. My hand looks fat and small in his. I wonder if my real da had big hands like Fallon’s. I wonder if I will whenI’m older. Sister Isla always said I’m going to be a big, strapping man. Maybe that’s why she always paid me so much attention.

“Am I getting food?” I ask, and can’t help but press my belly again. I feel like bugs are in my belly, eating my stomach.

Fallon stops in the middle of the hall and looks down at me. “You’re a curious boy.”

His face has that strange look again. I’m not sure if he thinks I’m odd or if I ask too many questions. So I nod. “Yes, sir.”

That strange look slips off his face, and he frowns. I forget to ask if he wants me to call him Father, Fallon, or sir when we start walking again.

“Am I going back to the room after I eat?” I ask, as he guides me down the hall. I point back behind us to the open metal door. “Back to that room?”

The hallway looks just as it did when Fallon led me through the new school the other day. Dull. Paint chipped in places.

“No,syn,” he says, glancing down at me. It’s the same look Sister Blair would give me when she would take me back to my room after my cleansing. A little uneasy and wholly bewildered. Like I was a beast set free of a cage and she wasn’t quite sure what to do with me. “You’re going to have your own room, and go to classes with your brothers.”

“Brothers?” I’ve never had a brother, and I’m not sure I want one now.

He tells me he’ll explain later, so I bite my tongue, not wanting to make him mad. If he gets mad, he may put me back in that room.

We take a left, then another left. Then a right. A few small windows with bars over them show that it’s daytime outside like I thought, but the sky is dull gray like it’s about to rain.