The Gunpowder Society

15. "Messages"

Mary woke up on the couch. She had cried herself to sleep and a pile of crumpled up tissues were on the floor. She rolled and rotated to a sitting position on the couch.

She heard people moving around. She got up, walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. The young students were already awake and breakfast was on with Gwen at the stove. Peter was holding Margaret and feeding her. Bruce was sitting at the table silent and had both hands wrapped around a coffee cup. As Mary entered he looked up at her with an expression absent any emotions and then back down at his coffee.

Mary turned to Gwen trying to get a hint with where Bruce was at emotionally. Gwen just shook her head and turned back to the food she was cooking. Mary could tell by her puffy eyes that both of them had cried themselves to sleep.

"There's a couple voicemails," said Peter keeping his focus on feeding his sister.

Mary turned and saw the blinking red button on the phone dock.

"Coffee?" Asked Gwen already filling a cup.

Mary nodded and hit the play button on the phone. Gwen handed Mary a mug as she sat down at the table. The voicemail began to play.

"Mary, it's Cam from security," started Cam in a intense whisper, "You need to come downstairs to the lobby right now. The new students are in the garage unsupervised," Peter, Gwen and Bruce all glanced at each other with looks of mild guilt mixed with a bit of annoyance that people felt they needed to be supervised. Cam continued, "They're using their powers and the rest of security saw on the cameras," full guilt now set in as the three were reminded that they more than proved their need for supervision last night. "The police were called and now they're outside about to crash in on the garage from the outside. The best thing I can do is destroy the video footage, and claim I didn't see anything, but the rest of security saw, and it's going to be difficult for me to say that they're lying. One of the boys, the youngest one, is lifting a pallet of marble that weighs least a half ton! I wish you would have told me what he was capable of. You really need to get down here before the police get them. They can't see them use their gifts, orholy shit he's lifting the. Fuck. I'm coming up to get you." Click.

The kitchen was silent accept for the cooing of Margaret and the sizzling of food.

"I'm sorry Mary," said Bruce with a bowed head and quivering voice, "I didn't"

Beep. "Mary, this is Father. I was calling to check in with you. I hope you guys are doing alright. I'm in Nepal with the others and one of the new students. I was hoping to have you read off the info about the new student we're looking for Subra."

"Sabra," Mary corrected the voicemail before sipping her coffee.

"Apparently, Subra is a boy's name and the school we're at is an all-girls school," Maven laughed slightly. "Also, I want you to know" Father stopped short and paused, "We..."

His tone of voice and elongated paused created a bit of nervousness in everyone in the kitchen. Peter took a sip of his coffee, and made eye contact with Mary with an expression that he was preparing for bad news."We were attacked at the restaurant last night," Father paused again trying to figure out what to say and how to say it. Gwen turned around to face the answering machine with a look of fear on her face.

Peter slowly placed his coffee cup on the table with an expression somewhere between dread at what might be wrong, and anger at knowing no matter what it was his warning to bring Bruce should have been heeded.

"We were surprise attacked by wolves," Maven said. Mary gasped placing her hands flat on the table and sitting up straight, "There were so many of them. At least a hundred."

"Oh my God!" Mary exclaimed and made the sign of the cross.

Gwen covered her mouth and tears began falling instantly.

Bruce and Peter turned to each other with wide eyes.

"Everyone's safe though. I mean, well," Father had instinctively tried to inject reassurance into his message, but then his memory set in, "Actually that's not Fr. Cicero has fallen." The priest's voice began to waver.

Tears ran down Mary's face as she now too covered her mouth and cried silently.

"He did not die in vain though. It was only through his actions that we all lived. We escaped with the new student Francois. We're all at the boarding school now and completely safe. I'll call you tomorrow during the day your time.

But Mary" Maven paused ominously again, "before the attack I spoke with Fr. Cicero, and he revealed much more of the plot to me. There was new info that he had just recently uncovered. It's too much to go through now, but please if anything happens, if anything goes wrong please call Fr. Augustine. I am more worried now about our safety than I have ever been. All our safety. I might even cut our trip short to comeback.

I don't know I'll tell you more once we get a hold of each other. I love you and give my love to the other students. I hope you're all well. Bye."

"End of messages."

Silence set back in. No one knew what to say.

Mary got up and walked over to the phone, and picked up the handset. She looked up at a whiteboard on the wall in front of her. Fr. Augustine's name and cell number were written and circled on the board.

Mary took a deep breath and looked at the phone trying to get the courage to call.

The phone rang in her hands and she jumped. The caller ID came up. It was the number on the whiteboard. Mary began to breathe more heavily as her nerves got the best of her.

It rang a second time in her hand, and the students watched feeling firsthand the same apprehension Mary did. It rang a third time. Mary raised the handset to her ear.

But before she pressed the button the answering machine beeped, "Mary, this is Fr. Augustine. Fr. Maven and the others were attacked in Nepal. The attackers were gifted, and he fears for your safety and that of the other students. He asked me to come to the school to watch over you just in case."

Mary turned to the others with a look of fear.

"I'm in the lobby now with one of my drivers. Can you ring the front desk and let them"

Mary picked up the call.