Page 28 (1/2)

28

12:00 AM

CEREMONY

Jessica followed Rex down into the center of the snake pit

The ground was da in the library Dess had explained to her how sinkholes forround pocket of water trapped between layers of stone, which had collected back when the Bottom had been a lake The crust of sand beneath her feet was thinner here than across the rest of the Bottom and had partly collapsed into the pocket of water a few decades ago

Jessica walked carefully, wondering if the snake pit was planning on collapsing the rest of the way anytiht

At the center, the lowest and daround Dess had said it had been buried for a long time, maybe thousands of years, before the forain The stone had been is in the old days, before the creatures had retreated to the secret hour

It was about as tall as Rex, with a flat shelf jutting out from it about halfway up A little pile of rocks sat on the shelf Rex swept them away

"Kids," he said

"Lucky there&039;s no stiffs tonight," Melissa said She turned to Jessica "So done"

"Yeah, I heard about people coht"

"They do," Melissa said "We like to give them a scare, just to keep them out of the way next time, you know?"

"I&039;m sure you do"

Melissa sood"

Rex was tracing his fingers across the stone, staring intently at it

"This is one of the places where the lore changes," he said to Jessica "I try to coes? You hts?"

Jessica took a step closer, trying to see the signs that Rex was reading All she saas rock, divided into separate layers of different hues In the blue light they were all shades of gray

He nodded "Yeah Every tins here, there are new stories" He thumped the rock with one knuckle "There are a lot of tales stored in here, and only so many show up at once"

"So it&039;s like the screen of a computer," she said

Melissa snorted, but Rex nodded again "Sure Except you can&039;t make it tell you what you need to know It tells you what it wants"

"Unless you ask it really nicely," Melissa said

She pulled a black velvet bag from her jacket and drew a knife from it

Jessica sed "How does this work, anyway?"

"The rock just needs a little taste of you," Melissa said

"A taste," Jessica asked "As in it&039;s going to lick ain "More of a bite than a lick"

Rex turned to Melissa and took the knife fro a deal"

He turned toward Jessica

"A few drops of blood will do"

She drew a step away "Nobody said anything about blood!"

"Just froertip It won&039;t hurt that much"

Jessica clenched her fist

"Come on, Jess," Melissa said "Haven&039;t you ever become a blood sister with someone? Or made a blood oath?"

"Uh, not really More of a cross-irl"

Rex nodded "Actually, the crossing of the heart was originally a blood oath They used a knife in the old days"

"The hope-to-die part was a lot more literal back then," Melissa said

"These are not the old days," Jessica said "And I don&039;t particularly hope to die"

"What, are you too wier?" Melissa asked

Jessica scowled After everything she&039;d been through that night, no one was calling her a wimp Certainly not Melissa, anyway

"Okay Give h

"Let the blood collect right here," Rex said He pointed at a ser than a quarter