The Devil's Labyrinth

CHAPTER 31

MELODY CLOSED HER textbook and pushed it to the back of her desk — what was the point of even trying to concentrate on it when she’d just read the same page three times and still didn’t know what it said.

No matter how hard she tried, right now all she could think about was Sofia, who lay motionless on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Exactly as she’d been doing for the last two hours.

But the Sofia that Melody knew hated just sitting around the dorm room in the evenings. She was always the one who’d rush through her homework, and always had a scheme to go do something fun, which always seemed to involve both boys and at least bending — if not outright breaking — the school’s rules.

It had always been Melody herself who had been the quiet, studious, well-behaved one.

Yet now there was this new Sofia, who just lay there, not studying, not even talking. Melody turned her chair around so she was fully facing Sofia. “I’ve got an idea,” she said, leaning eagerly toward Sofia and doing her best to make her voice sound as excited as Sofia’s always did when she was about to set out on some new adventure. “Let’s call Ryan and Darren and see if they want to sneak out for a Coke.”

Instead of instantly seizing on the idea, as she would have on any other day Melody could remember, Sofia only shook her head. “No, thanks.”

Melody let the smile on her face dissolve into the worry that was a genuine reflection of her feelings. “Do you feel all right?”

“I’m fine,” Sofia replied, but with a flatness in her voice that belied the words.

Melody moved from the chair to the edge of her roommate’s bed, but Sofia didn’t even look at her. She just kept staring at the ceiling, though Melody was certain she wasn’t really looking at it any more than herself. She tried again, choosing her words carefully. “If something happened to you last night — I mean, something that your parents or…well, something the police ought to know about—”

Sofia’s eyes flicked away from the ceiling and fastened on Melody for a second, and in the light from the fixture overhead they almost looked like they were glittering like a snake’s. “I told you, I’m fine!” she said, spitting the words hard enough to make Melody flinch.

Flinch, but not give up. “If you’re so fine, then tell me what’s going on with you!” she demanded. “First you didn’t sit with us at lunch, which was good considering what you did with your food. Then you didn’t sit with us in the chapel, either. You sat in back like you were afraid of the place. But after the service you went up to Kip’s body, and did that weird thing.”

Now Sofia’s eyes locked onto Melody’s. “What weird thing?” she demanded.

“T-Talking to him,” Melody stammered. Sofia’s eyes were boring into her so hard she could actually feel them, but she didn’t stop. “And not just talking to him. You were touching him. Touching his dead body! It creeped me out — it creeped everybody out.”

Sofia’s gaze never wavered, and her eyes seemed to be glowing with a light from within, like those of an animal stalking its prey in the dark of the night.

Melody shrank away. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. You’re — You’re just so different, and I’m scared.”

In a flash, Sofia’s eyes dilated until the irises vanished and Melody had the feeling she was staring into a vast dark emptiness. “Just leave me alone,” Sofia said, her voice little more than a rasp.

“No!” Melody shot back, even though her heart was suddenly pounding with a strange panic. “You’re my best friend, and if you won’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to call Brother Francis, and then I’m going to call Father Laughlin, and if I have to I’ll even call your parents. Something’s wrong with you!”

Sofia rose up on the bed, and as her face drew closer to Melody’s, her eyes glittered and her features seemed to warp and twist, her lips curling back from sharply pointed teeth. Melody recoiled from the hideous visage, springing from the bed and backing away a step or two. But as quickly as it had come, the evil mask was gone and Sofia looked once more as she always had.

And now she was smiling. “I keep telling you, I’m fine. Nothing happened to me, and nothing is wrong.” She flopped down onto the bed, and sighed heavily. “Actually, I feel really, really good!”

Melody, heart pounding, stared at Sofia. What had she just seen? But even as the memory of Sofia’s contorted face rose in her mind, she wondered if she’d actually seen it at all. It had all happened so quickly — maybe it was just a trick of the light. Or maybe she’d only imagined the whole thing.

“All right,” she said softly. “If you’re okay, you’re okay. I was just worried about you, that’s all.”

But as she went back to her desk and tried yet again to focus on the textbook she’d cast aside, she wondered if she’d ever be able to sleep in the same room with Sofia again.

† † †

Sister Mary David had put her ear to Sofia Capelli’s dorm room door just in time to hear her final words: I’m fine. Nothing happened to me, and nothing is wrong…actually, I feel really, really good!

The old nun crossed herself, and silently offered a prayer of thanks to the Holy Mother for Sofia’s salvation.

All day, she’d been watching Sofia, and all day she’d been worried about the girl.

But now, reassured by the voice of Sofia herself, Sister Mary David knew everything would be all right.

Lifting her habit so its hem wouldn’t drag on the floor, Sister Mary David walked as lightly down the long dormitory hallway as she had almost fifty years ago, when she herself had lived in this dormitory. Until this evening, she had been feeling the weight of that half century, especially this year. After the loss of Jeffrey Holmes and the terrible death of Kip Adamson, she had actually been feeling old.

But tonight, after hearing Sofia Capelli’s words, Sister Mary David felt much better.

Tonight, she would be able to sleep undisturbed.

Things, she was sure, were getting back to normal.