Page 1 of Shadowface 1979

PART I

Umbra Mortis

(The Shadow of Death)

From The Shadow Codex (Babylon)

(rewritten and decoded 1751)

Prefix:

Shadowface

“Enlightenment is found in the perpetual dance of order and disorder, control and liberation. Just as stars are born from the collapse of darkness, so too must order yield to chaos for the light of true knowledge to shine.”

Creed I: Those who seek nirvana must embrace this collapse.

Creed II: Those who wish to enter must do so with their bloodline.

Creed III: Silence or death.

Creed IV: Each member must sacrifice their one true love.

TOMMY

OCTOBER 1979

Light the match.

I slip the burlap mask over my face as I huddle in the back of the dark theater of Smith Hall, facing the nearly 150 students that file in for their psychology class. Despite it being one of the largest lecture halls at Kinsmen, the dark walls start to close in on me, even as the room seems to expand to the abyss.

Talia is sitting in the front row, next to Professor Crux. She smiles at him, looking sexy with her long, shiny black hair in waves over her chest with the flower headband she likes to wear ever since spending six weeks with the hippies. Her low-cut bell-bottom jeans are tight in all the right places.

She looks my way with a dangerous glint in her eyes, though she can’t see me since I’m hiding behind the curtain at the side of the stage.

The best part of attending an ancient school like Kinsmen University is that everything here is dark. The wooden panels on the walls, the floors and ceilings, and the secrets—especially the secrets. It’s easy to hide in the shadows, especially when you dance with the devil like we do.

She knows I’m here though, and she’s waiting for me.

My stomach twinges as I watch Talia interact with the professor. I don’t like the way he looks at her, or the way his hand grazes her thigh while she talks to him.

I bet his wife doesn’t know he’s screwing her. Or that Talia is the leader of the cult he’s currently studying, and that she’ll slit his throat without a second thought to get the Codex back that’s in his possession. That’s how it works in this town. People turn a blind eye to the evil that lurks here. Once they get a taste of its power, everyone wants a piece of it, no matter what they must do to get it.

She’d hate that word cult, or that I consider us to be part of one, but I have a hard time calling us anything else.

I ignore them, and my gaze drifts to Bax. He’s in his usual spot, with his hippy hair he hasn’t cut since high school. Remy is three rows behind him in his dark leathers, looking haunted as usual. They’re all counting on me.

Light the match.

Sweat drips down my forehead, as the lights dim, and Professor Crux takes his place at the front of the lecture hall.

It’s late October, the second month of my first semester at Kinsmen University, and Talia wants to make our presence known. The demonic symbols Bax and I drew on the quad when we were stoned aren’t cutting it for her anymore, even if I was rather proud of the artwork.

At least I wasn’t killing people.

I was born into this life, but that doesn’t mean I’m good at it being evil. In fact, I’m terrible at it, but I need to show Talia I can do this. She wants me to cleanse this lecture hall with fire, and every person in this room needs to burn.

I adjust the fabric of the burlap mask, making sure it’s in place, and chuckle, knowing I found it behind the FreshMart where Mrs. Holly is shaking in her boots every night, worrying about being chopped up to pieces by Shadowface. As if any of us would actually choose her.