The Festival of the Moon (Girls Wearing Black: Book Two) by Baum Spencer

Author:Baum, Spencer [Baum, Spencer]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Before Melissa went to Sutter’s Field for Brawl in the Fall, she paid a visit to Annika Fleming. She spent nearly an hour with the girl and learned many interesting things. When she was done searching Annika’s mind, she made her forget about the encounter and sent her on her way. That visit made both Annika and Melissa half an hour late to the Brawl. By the time Melissa stepped onto the field, the festivities were well underway.

The thirty-foot bonfire was already raging. In front of the bonfire loomed the boxing ring. Together, bonfire and boxing ring created a world of spotlight and shadow, the bonfire like some demon sun lighting up the night, the poles and ropes of the boxing ring creating long lines of crisscrossing darkness in the crowd. Dancing, stumbling, wandering students were everywhere, roaming between tailgate parties. Pickup trucks with kegs of beer, limos with girls sticking out of open sunroofs, lawn chairs and picnic tables, blankets in the grass tethered by bottles of wine and champagne…

There were barbecue grills and meat smokers, pop-up tents, camping trailers with floodlights, giant speakers standing tall on stainless steel tripods, blasting hip-hop and other modern noise over the top of the party and into the night. It was a magnificent scene of debauchery. It made Melissa happy to see.

Immortals were welcome at Brawl in the Fall, but Daciana had always asked them to remain hidden. Unlike the Masquerade, where the students behaved with perfect manners out of respect for their host, at the Brawl, students were in charge. If you can get away with it, you’re welcome to do it, was the instruction to students on this night of unsupervised bedlam. No teachers, parents, or other chaperones were allowed. Everyone at the party was eighteen or younger, either in real years on this earth, or in medical age of an immortal body. As the night went on, the event would take on a Lord of the Flies feel to it.

“That’s what makes it so fun,” Daciana said to Melissa once. “We send these kids to a clearing deep in the woods, and for one night in their lives they let out the inner animal. Once that animal’s out, it’s hard to ever put it back in again. Every one of them will do things at this party that in the future will serve as a reminder to them of who they truly are and what they’re capable of. Years later, when they are all adults and they inherit the empire of their parents, they won’t question the morality of the system they perpetuate. They will know in their hearts that they are a part of it, that they are guilty. They will have sealed in their guilt by their own actions on this night.”

The boxing tournament was the central event of the night, but it was just one of many traditions associated with the party. The bonfire was another. As the night went on and the bonfire’s fuel was expended, students would keep it alive with things other than wood.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.