Da Vinci Code

“Stop copying my notes for a second and pay attention” you whispered to Joshua as you poked him in the arm. He was rewriting his science notes using your organizational skills to make his notes neater, like yours.
“I am paying attention, but your handwriting is always so nice and organized, it makes me want to rewrite mine” he responded quietly, not looking up at the science project you and him had started and were currently supposed to be working on. You looked at the teacher nervously, but they had their back to you.
“Well, hurry up” you whispered quietly looking back at Joshua, not wanting to get in trouble. He smiled and continued copying your notes and sped up only marginally.
You and Joshua had been childhood friends, and had grown up very close. Your parents were close friends as well, which allowed you and Joshua to grow up together, but there was also a dark secret that was shared between your families. This secret had been kept through generations for thousands of years, and if the general public found out it would change people’s views on religion forever.
Joshua’s parents were Secret Keepers. They held onto a secret that had been passed down from generation to generation through families. Your family happened to be that secret. The blood of Jesus Christ himself ran through your veins from your mother’s side. You had been born into a lineage you hadn’t signed up for at times, just how Joshua was born into being a secret keeper like his parents before him.
You were able to live a normal life going to school and joining clubs along with having many friends, but you had to conduct yourself with dignity and kindness no matter what. This was tiresome when your friends were out having fun and breaking rules, but everything you did had to be approved by the old and outdated council. There were times you wanted to let loose a bit, but you were always being closely watched by your parents and secret keepers alike.
This somewhat normal life was about to change.
“Ms. Y/L/N” the teacher called as you tried whispering to Joshua to hurry up again. Thinking you were in trouble you shot Joshua a worried look and headed to the front of the room to speak to the teacher. You felt your face growing hot and opened your mouth to ramble out an apology. As you approached the front of the room, you realized your teacher didn’t look mad, rather concerned and sad.
“Yes ma’am?” you asked. She placed a hand caringly on your shoulder and escorted you into the hall. By now you felt nervous and concern was welling inside you. You took one last worried look at Joshua before you exited the classroom into the hall. What was going on? You thought to yourself as the teacher turned to face you in the hall and her voice caught as she spoke to you.
“I received an email. Just now. There has been an accident. Please head to the principal’s office right away” she said placing her hand once more on your shoulder and squeezing reassuringly. You faltered and your brain seemed to have paused for a moment. You opened your mouth to ask questions but you could force none of them out. Eventually you spoke, but it was not any of the questions that were suddenly buzzing around your brain.
“But my things…” you began to say and head back into the classroom.
“I can send them with Joshua” your teacher said, once more emphasizing that you should head to the principal’s office. Slowly you turned and headed down the hallway. Your feet felt heavier with every step and your hands had begun to shake. You clenched them as you walked and tried not to let your mind wander too much.
You reached the secretary that sat outside the principal’s office. She too looked concerned and stood up when you walked in.
“I will let the principal know you are here.” She said and turned to knock on the door of the office behind her. The door quickly opened and the principal stood there with your family’s old caretaker, George that you had known since you were born. He had been your mother’s body guard when she was younger, and when you were born, his duty switched to guard you and, more so, your precious bloodline.
“What is going on?” you asked as George motioned silently for you to enter the office, which you did. Your knees began to shake badly when you saw George’s eyes were puffy and red. He looked forlorn as his gaze fell to the floor as he took the remaining seat next to you.
“I will leave you two in my office for some privacy” the principal said as he closed the door behind himself leaving you and George in silence, thankful you were sitting down knowing that your legs wouldn’t hold you up anymore. George stood up from the chair he had been occupying and began pacing. He rubbed his thumbs into his eye sockets before he spoke.
“Having a good day at school, Y/N?” he asked in a quiet voice. You remained silent and scared. You had never seen George like this before and it was quite worrisome. He realized you were on pins and needles and got straight to the point of why he was here, even though he had barely grasped what was going on himself.
“There has been a mishap. An accident…” George began as he seemed to have gathered his thoughts enough to know what he wanted to say to you. He glanced from the floor to you then back to the floor when you noticed his eyes had filled with tears again as he spoke. He took a ragged breath and continued.
“Your parents were driving home this afternoon, and their car had been hit” at this point his words seemed to muffle in your ears. You weren’t sure if you were hearing them correctly. Unwillingly, tears began falling from your eyes without you completely understanding why. Everything was moving in slow motion. You sat in stunned silence waiting for George to shout April fools or to begin laughing saying he had really gotten you this time.
But none of that happened.
“I don’t know how to say this to you” George said and wiped his nose with a cotton kerchief that he always carried, as he got to the point he was most anxious to get to. There was no way of avoiding it, even though the two of you sitting in that room wished that there was some other alternative.
“They’re dead?” you asked him, making it easier, rather than making this poor old man say it. He looked at you and tears fell openly down both of your faces. He nodded and brought you in for a tight hug.
You didn’t know how long you sat in the office crying, but eventually George gathered himself and you and headed home to gather your things. A lot had begun to happen after this catastrophe.
The Secret Keepers along with a Council of Elders had gathered and decided your future for you. They concluded it was too worrisome for you to be out and about like a normal teenager. There was too much trouble you could get into and more accidents could happen. There was no way they wanted to risk anything happening to you before you could have children of your own to pass down this bloodline. In your opinion, they were being overly cautious, but it would be out of line for you to mention this.
Initially you were still too in shock to care about what was going on. Everything still seemed to be in a blur from losing both your parents and only family. You spent most of your days in bed, not wanting to walk around the house that you had been raised in by both your loving parents. The memories were too painful.
You were immediately pulled out of school and moved to a bigger house that had a larger yard and a massively tall stone fence around it. This move was, at first, fine with you, not liking the empty house you had known so well. Soon, however, you grew wary of the confines of this new and unfamiliar place.
You were suddenly a prisoner in a new house you weren’t sure you could ever call home. George was still with you, but without school or extracurricular activities, you began feeling excluded from your friends and none of them were allowed over. The council felt they could be a bad influence.
The first day you walked into your large new room and looked around. There was nice, new furniture that had been moved there and all your personal belongings were boxed up at the moment. George began chatting about the room and how big it was and how you could really leave your mark on the empty walls. He was being strong for you at all times of the day, and you appreciated it, but you were not ready to bounce back just yet, like he was hoping you would.
“I brought over a few paint colors for you to choose. If none of them are to your liking I will gladly return to the store and pick a few more out for you to decide on. Whichever color you like to make this place feel more comfortable for you.” He said affectionately as he turned to leave when you gave him a small nod. He had been reeling from your parent’s death, but kept it inside for your sake. There was no need for two of you to be a mess.
You had begun to unpack your things slowly, placing them on your bed or dresser, not really having any direction on where you wanted to place things just yet. You walked over to the boxes by the window and looked out at the lush lawns that were your new home, when there was a knock at the door. You mumbled quietly telling whomever it was to enter which they did. You didn’t bother to turn and see who it was, thinking it was George returning to tell you what was for dinner.
“Hey,” your head spun when you heard Joshua’s voice greet you instead of George for once. You ran over to him and grabbed him in a hug, not meaning to be so forceful, but needing comfort from someone who wouldn’t give you empty condolences. The two of you stood there for a moment as he hugged you and you tried and failed to hold back tears. He seemed to know you needed him at that moment so he stood there and rubbed your back as you sobbed on his shoulder. Composing yourself, you broke the hug and walked away from him back to the boxes and began to unpack, as he struck up a conversation as he took a comfortable seat on your bed.
“I brought your school work. You have missed three days already. You can’t miss any more. Science has been dull without you. I had to work with the kid that smells weird and ate glue when we were in kindergarten.” He stopped abruptly when he noticed you were unable to stop your tears.
You stood holding a picture frame of you and your father from your birthday the year previously. They had taken you to Disney World and your mother refused to ride any of the roller coasters, but despite your father being afraid of heights, he escorted you on every single one. You clutched the frame and stared at it as Joshua watched you from his spot on our bed.
“Wait, what is wrong? I haven’t been told anything. The council have kept things pretty quiet.” he asked adjusting his position on your bed to face you better. You weren’t sure how to even begin explaining everything that had transpired in the past few days. Luckily George had been on his way up to check on you after hearing of Joshua’s arrival and he entered the room, coming to your rescue.
“Joshua. Good. Glad you are here. I shall fill you in then. Your parents are downstairs being given the details as well.” George explained and pulled over a small chair that had been placed in your room next to a desk. You listened quietly as George explained to Joshua what had happened. He listened intently, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly as his absorbed the information and held onto your hand when he noticed you began to cry silently once more.
“Since Y/N is the last member of the bloodline, as you are aware, the Committee has decided we cannot take any chances, and she must remain here.” George explained in conclusion. Joshua took a deep breath as everything sank in. He felt terrible that he hadn’t known sooner and hadn’t been there for you as much as you needed him. George remained silent and patiently waited to answer questions he was sure Joshua was going to have.
“All the time? What about school?” Joshua asked.
“There will be tutors brought in to continue a home schooled education, but I’m afraid leaving the grounds of this new house is out of the question.” George stood up to leave, leaving you and Joshua alone, knowing a close friend was what you needed.
“Please feel free to visit as often as you like, Joshua. The company will be good for Y/N, but let’s remember to leave the door open. We do need another member of the family, but please try not to take that task upon yourselves.” Normally this joke would’ve got you giggling at Joshua’s expense, but it fell on deaf ears. You hardly felt like laughing. Instead a moment of heavy silence hung in the room when Joshua and you were left sitting.
“I guess the homework I brought is pointless then.” Joshua said looking at you and wiping a lone tear from your cheek with his thumb. He smiled softly at you, and you tried to return one but it felt forced.
“Let me help you with your homework. It will take my mind off of things” you said wanting to shake off the sadness that surrounded you endlessly now that you had Joshua here with you.
“Sure” Joshua agreed nodding and walking to his back pack and taking out some books.

Notes