The Vaticinator

leave.”

  “Why do we have to leave?” I say as we start moving outside.

  Mikhail momentarily falters in his steps at my question, “Do you want a repeat of what just occurred, boy?”

  He doesn’t wait for my response and exits his room. I also increase my pace, thinking of searching in our room for Neal first. But as soon as we step out of the room, the sight of Rufina aunt briskly walking towards us, looking alarmingly disturbed, makes all of us stop. Instantly, I feel something heavy getting heavier inside me; so heavy that it seems to be moving down and down towards my stomach owing to the gravity. A tensed Rufina aunt is never a good indication.

  “Did you hear-” she starts in haste.

  “We know.” Father says, walking ahead and calmly stopping her, pacifyingly placing a hand on her shoulder. “But Jennifer is not the priority right now. We need-”

  “Not Jennifer!” Rufina aunt exclaims. “I am talking about Neal.”

  “What?” father and I ask in unison.

  “The council is talking to Jennifer right now. I overheard them. She…she gave Neal to the Occultist!”

  I take a moment to understand what she is trying to convey. But eventually, I do not understand what she is saying. So, I ask, “What do you mean that she ‘gave’ him?”

  Father’s hand on my shoulder makes me realize that I have used quite an antagonizing and loud tone with my aunt.

  “We should go to the meeting.” Aunt says, backtracking towards from where she came.

  I immediately start walking, right on her heel. My father, however, remains back. I turn to find him watching Mikhail. The latter is standing, stoic as always, yet looking somewhat tired.

  “I am getting too old for such drama.” He grunts and then walks past my father, who oddly seems to be sympathizing with his father. All with lack of words. Mikhail joins steps with me and we walk down the length of the corridor towards the grand room. My heart is literally thundering in my chest. I still do not understand more than half of the things occurring around me. But the thought of my partner being in some sort of a danger is highlighting above anything else. We have been formulating plans to protect him from the First Occultist. I do not even know what any other Occultist may want to do with him. Or maybe I do. I have just been too blind and believed only First Occultist to be a threat.

  When we enter the grand room, the conference table is lined by almost all the council members. Julian, the middle aged member, is standing right next to Jennifer. Jennifer is sitting in a chair in the center of the room, right in front of the conference table. When our horde enters, the council meeting goes quiet. They wait for us to join. Mikhail walks up to his designated seat on the council table. The rest of us sit down on the edges. I glare at Jennifer. She doesn’t turn to look in our direction. She looks dejected, almost mourning. But I will not be fooled by her demeanor again.

  “Alright,” Anastasia speaks as we all settle down. She looks at Jennifer, “You forgot one tiny detail when you handed over Neal to the Occultist. Neal has a partner and you shouldn’t have-”

  “He is not Neal’s partner.” Jennifer snaps bitterly.

  “Whatever I am,” I say loudly, “I at least don’t hand over Neal like he is a ragged doll. So don’t be all uppity about who is good for Neal and who is not. Keep your fucked up opinions to yourself.” I feel such blinding rage as the whole situation starts dawning at me. I look at Anastasia, “What exactly happened?”

  Anastasia hesitates, “We are just aware of the fact that Jennifer summoned our Occultist and offered the vaticinator to her. We were getting to the reasons.”

  “You better have a good one.” My father says, impassively staring at Jennifer.

  Jennifer looks at all of us sitting at the edge. She has some galls to look at us in a demeaning manner. But then guilt comes up on her face. She turns at the council members, “I did it for my safety.”

  “Elaborate.” Mikhail says. For a moment, a few council members look at him as if to interrupt him. I realize that as my grandfather, he has no right to speak as a council member in regard to my partner’s business. Yet, nobody voices anything against Mikhail. Despite looking stoic, it’s not tough to make out that he is pissed.

  “The Occultists can find us through our auras.” Jennifer says, “Being a protector…I have faced instances when I encountered the First Occultist.”

  “And you failed to mention that to us.” Terry uncle grunts, “I knew this bitch couldn’t be trusted.”

  “Please, do not interrupt while she speaks.” Anastasia says, then nods at Jennifer to continue.

  “I still do not know how come the First Occultist caught my trace, but she did. The first time I encountered the First Occultist, Neal was very young, around eleven or twelve. Since the occultist always has the intention of finding the vaticinator, her approach to me usually happened when Neal was never around. The first time it happened, she inquired me about the vaticinator. Information to which I declined, by lying that the vaticinator’s present existence is unbeknownst to me. Knowing that my presence may probably cause Neal’s discovery…I shifted to a newer, neighborhood country, letting Neal stay on his own. As long as no one knew he exists, he is safe. Even if someone got the whiff that he exists, then also they cannot find him if they kept that as an intention. Latvia is almost scarce in therian population, anyways. But of course I did find ways to contact Neal at intervals of few months. The First Occultist caught on my sneaky behavior and demanded that I tell her the truth…she was not polite.” Jennifer swallows as she continues, “I gave in and told her that I suspect that the vaticinator has taken birth. And that I am trying to get to the vaticinator through an oblivious person. I could explain David’s presence by my last lie. The First Occultist believed me. And she put forth a demand that I hand over the vaticinator to her as soon as I get him. I was hoping that I never meet Neal from that day forth. When Neal called and informed me of the attack at his place,” she lifts her head and looks at my father, “I knew that my days of lying to the First Occultist are going by fast. And then I got to know that a member of the First Realm has got to know about the vaticinator. That invariably meant that the First Occultist will know of him soon too. She paid me a little visit before I reached Liepāja. She demanded of me to bring the vaticinator to her, unharmed. Or else she will ensure a not so good life or even a lack of one for David and I.”

  I feel a hand on my shoulder and judging by the softness, I know it belongs to Rufina aunt. I realize that I have my palms covering my face, my elbows resting on my knees. I am too shocked to learn of this revelation. This woman acted so well, expressing such unwavering concern for Neal, despite their lack of connection and here she is now, offering Neal as bait for her own life.

  I do not blame her for being selfish and giving herself more importance than anybody else. I blame her for being pretentious throughout this ordeal, for faking concern, for somewhere making Neal feel that he has an aunt, he has a family.

  I think of all the time I have spent in this mansion, all the past three weeks and more days, there have been very few instances when I have left Neal’s side. I have especially never left him alone if David or Jennifer has been around. I cannot help but find myself at a little fault. I should have restrained from following Mikhail when I saw Neal with Jennifer. I should have brought Neal with me. There wouldn’t have been a big deal if he were to sit through a conversation between myself and my grandfather, even if it is an awkward one.

  “All of those high-end preaching over saving Neal from all the other therians.” Terry uncle scoffs, “You lying bitch.” He mutters, averting his eyes to a different corner, his face expressing infinite amounts of disappointment.

  I run a hand down my face, “So…what now?” I ask quietly, to everyone in general, though my eyes are fixed upon the ground. “The Ninth witch will hand over Neal to the First witch?” even to my ears my voice sounds terribly upset. I do not even want to imagine what I must be looking like.


  “Ninth Occultist, Josh.” Anastasia corrects, frowning, “And I don’t suppose she will do that.” She says, slightly smiling in sympathy, “We will summon the Ninth Occultist and explain the whole situation of you being Neal’s partner.”

  “We cannot summon her.” Mikhail says instantly.

  “She will not listen to it.” Jennifer says at the same time.

  “What did the Ninth Occultist say in regard to Neal? Why did you even call the Ninth Witch?” father asks.

  “I didn’t want to.” Jennifer suspires. “But Neal was hell bent at not leaving with me. And I was not aware of the spell to summon Occultists of other Realms. So I could only summon the Ninth Occultist. At first I explained to her that I needed the First Occultist, to which she did not react well.” Jennifer’s voice quivers as she explains, “She simply claimed Neal, saying he will work for her now. I tried to coalesce her by informing her of the First Occultist, and at some point I even mentioned Josh, to which even she replied that the vaticinator cannot have a male partner.” She glares at me harshly as she finishes.

  “Rot in hell, Jennifer.” Is my monotonous reply, my eyes burning a hole through her. I cannot believe that even now she is picking on Neal having a male partner.

  “This situation,” Anastasia speaks up, ignoring me, “can be resolved