Blight

A gasp escaped my mouth. I never thought I would see her again.

Kenton looked down at me with a quizzical look, and then returned his gaze up at the woman. Her peppery hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Her once ruby lips were now a light coral. She wore a navy blue dress that fell to the floor. Its deep V-neck cut exaggerated her incredibly large chest.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at her. Griffin wasn’t with her. Good. I definitely got rid of him.

However, she was still there. Hot, angry blood coursed through my veins. She knew what Micah and I looked like. She would kick us out and execute us. We were too close to the barrier. The way she mocked us, how she read Micah’s memories. That’s what bothered me most. How she presented herself in front of all of us rounded up at the TCU amazed me. She was almost like a different person, less hostile and more appealing. I shook my head and looked at the ground.

“I am your Chancellor, Indra Staton. I am the Chief Nedral of the Alliance. President Pollard has assigned me to this post. I am not a teacher. But, I will help you manage your powers and will oversee your progress.” She raised an arm, gesturing toward the west wing of the building. “In the west wing, you will find the dormitories and cafeteria.” She gestured to the opposite wing. “The east wing is for training purposes only, and the north wing,” She pointed to its direction. “is for your challenges. Unless you have a challenge or permission, all students are forbidden to enter.” She dropped her arm and looked down at us. “You are now dismissed. Please make way to the dormitories. Our Guards will direct you to your rooms. Training and classes begin in the morning, 7 A.M sharp.” She paused from turning away. “Don’t be late,” she finished, turning her back to us and disappearing through the balcony’s door.

The crowd stood silent for a moment, still staring up at the empty balcony. Guards began barking orders, and we slowly dispersed, heading toward the front marble steps. The large metal and gold doors creaked open, revealing a vast room of white and gold. The floors shined a sparkling white. Hanging on the high ceiling were dazzling chandeliers, which were decorated with hundreds of crystals and gems. Two grand staircases rose up from opposite sides of the room, leading toward the east and west wings. The long, wide hallway before us must lead to the north wing. Light cascaded through long windows along the walls. There was a large entryway just beneath the west wing’s staircase.

We climbed the stairway that lead to the west wing and followed the long, white hallway. A metal door was near the opening of the entryway. Windows lined the corridor from ceiling to floor. The sounds of our steps echoed off the walls. No one was talking. We crossed under an elegant archway and entered a round common room. A grand fireplace roared before us. Groups of wooden tables and chairs lined the walls. There were tall bookshelves with old string-bound books packed tightly in them. Twelve small hallways branched out of the room, not including the one we just came from. Above each of them were symbols of power. On the right, all the symbols were a deep maroon. And opposite of those were cobalt symbols.

Two Guards made their way through the crowd of students and stood in front of the fireplace, calling us to attention. One female, one male. The female was clearly athletic. She had long, brown hair pulled in a high ponytail, which fell to her waist. Her eyes had an interesting yellow hue to them. The male was equally athletic-looking. He had a shaved head and intense blue eyes. The male cleared his voice and raised his arms in a welcoming matter.

“My name is Gerard, and Corra and I are your RAs. That means we will make sure things keep order in this wing. These are your dormitories. To my right are the girls’ rooms.” He gestured toward the hallways with the red symbols. “And to my left are the boys’.” His hands fell to his sides as he continued, “You are to follow the corridor which you belong. The symbols overhead will help guide you. This is so we can keep track of what group you belong and your gender. Curfew is at 10 P.M. Your rooms are labeled with your names and are prepared for you. You are required to keep them neat and respect others. If there are any problems, you can talk with Corra or me by visiting the Head Office. It is located at the end of this hallway.” Gerard motioned to the hallway behind us.

“Now,” the RA named Corra began. Her voice was raspy yet powerful. “I expect each of you to follow orders. There will be no sneaking out. You will listen to Gerard and me and there will be no problems.” She crossed her arms. “Now, please make your way to your rooms. Lunch starts in half an hour. The cafeteria is back towards the main entrance, down the stairs. There is an entryway just beneath them. We expect to see all of you. Now, go.” She marched through the crowd of mystified students and disappeared down the hallway with Gerard following closely behind.

I took one last look at Kenton and returned his smile. I looked for the maroon symbol of three leaves and followed the small hallway. Rows of metal doors lined both sides. Small plaques with names engraved into them hung lazily on the doors. My eyes scanned the names and stopped at the second to last door on the right. LANA HAWKINS. It was on a small white sign. I grabbed a hold of the golden handle and swung open the door. I felt underwhelmed at the sight of the room. A small twin bed with a purple comforter stood cradled in one corner of the room. I walked to the dresser opposite it. It was full of white shirts, no-show socks, and dark gray pants. A pair of black shoes laid just to the left of the dresser. A small desk and chair was in a small nook.

I quickly threw off my old outfit and replaced it with the eerily white shirt and drab pants. I kicked on the shoes they provided and exited my room. I found the bathroom at the end of the corridor. I washed my face and hands in the warm, soapy water and re-combed my hair with my fingers. I frowned at my lame reflection and left the bathroom, walking until I came upon the common room. To my luck, Kenton was already there, looking into the fireplace. He too was wearing the same outfit as I. He had washed his face, but he looked tired. He smiled at me as I joined him.

“So, what do you think?”

“It’s okay here, I guess.” He shrugged and kicked at an imaginary rock. “It’ll take some getting use to.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. The room was slowly filling with teenagers; some headed toward the cafeteria, while others made their way back to their rooms. “Want to go grab a bite?” Kenton nodded and we made our way to the stairs.

The mess hall was just as large as the main entryway. A buffet lined the far wall. Long rows of tables filled the rest of the area. I smiled as Kenton and I raced to the buffet, filling our plates with heaps of chicken and noodles. We grabbed drinks and sat down at one of the tables. The food was divine. Kenton stuffed his face without hesitation and left for more, returning with potatoes smothered in cheese and an apple. I had never had this much food in my entire life. I could feel my stomach expand happily, as I shoved strange, yet delicious, food into my mouth. We leaned back in our chairs, patting our full stomachs. I drank my water and wiped my mouth. My stomach grumbled from being over-stuffed, but I didn’t care.

And in a moment, guilt kicked in. I put my head in my hands.

“What’s wrong?” Kenton asked.

“I feel horrible. Here we are, stuffing our faces with food and back home, there are people starving.” My mind immediately went to Charlie.

“It’s all right,” he said, placing a hand on my hunched shoulder. “We will get a high Ranking and give our families their own buffet.” I looked up and smiled at him. Another thought clouded my mind.

“Have you seen–“ I began.

“No,” Kenton shook his head. “I searched the boy’s rooms in the fire section and there was nothing.”

I scowled. “All right.”

A pale, blonde boy hesitated with a plate full of cheesy potatoes next to Kenton. He looked at me nervously and bit his lip.

“You can sit,” I said, nodding my head at him. He smiled and sat down next to us.

“Kenton,” he greeted, extending a hand to the boy. The boy shook it and smiled timidly.

“I’m Lana. What’s your name?” The boy made a face and reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and pen. He scribbled quickly on it and held it up for Kenton and me to see. In sloppy letters, he wrote the name Bryce Smalls.

“’Sup bro?” Kenton said. “Why won’t you talk? Nervous or something?”

Bryce scribbled more words on the paper and slid it to Kenton. He read it and handed it to me. It read:

I was born a mute. I can’t talk.

I felt sympathetic for the boy, and handed the paper back to him.

“Sorry,” I murmured. He nodded and began eating his potatoes. “Well, we’re from Region 4. Where are you from?”

With his free hand, he wrote a sloppy '2' and continued eating.

“Cool,” Kenton said. “Lana here is a Micartyrr, and I’m a Chavayla. Yourself?”

Iraedaer, he wrote hastily. My eyes grew wide in shock. He could shift shapes. I didn’t expect that out of him. I thought he was like Kenton, a Chavayla. My eyes met Bryce’s and I looked away. My cheeks boiled. I excused myself, dropped my empty plate into a dirty dish basket, and returned to the table.

“I’m going for a walk,” I announced to the two.

“’Kay,” Kenton muttered, taking a sip from his drink.

“Catch you later.” I turned away as Bryce finished waving me off.

I walked into the main entrance and made my way down the front steps. I sat down and rested my head on my knees. Too many emotions were going through my mind. I kept thinking back to my family. Guilt. Anger. Longing. That was all I could feel. I also thought of Micah. I couldn’t imagine what he was going through. I wanted to know where he was, if he was okay. I needed my best friend with me. I really missed him. I realized my shoulders were shaking. I sat upright and wiped salty tears from my cheeks. Little droplets settled on the thighs of my pants.

The sun was just peaking over the roof of the building. The sky was too blue for this day. So much has happened in the last 24-hours. I was thrown in a luxurious school, given a clean room and all the food I could desire, and here I was, crying on the front steps. Was I that selfish? I inhaled deeply through my nose and exhaled slowly, calming my once racing heartbeat.

I stood and headed back towards my room. I didn’t feel like being around people.

The common room was empty, but the fire was still crackling. The lights overhead were dim, giving the white room a calming feeling. Instead of heading straight for my dorm, I walked along the massive bookcase next to the fire. I trailed my finger along the various books. The majority were history books, dating back to who knows when. I stopped my finger on an old leathery book titled Iraedaers: the First Sighting when I heard the squeak of a shoe. I nonchalantly looked over my shoulder.

It was a familiar blonde-haired girl.

“Lana!” Mel said as she crashed into me.

“Hey!” I mustered. “How have you been?”

“Decent, overwhelmed.”

“Yeah,” she said, plopping into one of the wooden chairs. “Where’s your friend?”

“Micah? Oh, well, he was arrested,” I said, looking at the ground.

“Shit.” She fussed uncomfortably with her braided hair. “Sorry about that. So, how do you feel about the TCU so far?”

I shrugged. “It’s okay I guess. Nothing spectacular.”

“Hey, let’s go chill in my room,” she said airily, making her was down the Quiala girls’ hallway. Mel opened the first door on the left and entered a room of summertime yellow. Her bedroom was set up like mine. She had a twin bed with a sapphire blue comforter. On her walls were different sketches of animals and patterns. I stood there with a perplexed look.

Melanie laughed at me. “I knew I was getting this room again, so I painted it and decorated it last year.”

“Why are you here for a second year?” I realized I never asked her during our first encounter. Melanie flung herself onto her bed.

“I didn’t want to take their classes ‘nd messed around during the training sessions. They didn’t even bother making me go to challenges. So they said I had to come back.”

“Ah, I see,” I said, even though it didn’t make much sense to me.

“Why did you two book it ‘fter we ate at my tent? I thought you guys were ‘out for a walk,’” she said, sitting up abruptly.

“Well,” I began. I really didn’t know. I guessed we were caught up in the moment. I was terrified we would be caught. Then again, Micah agreed too. He changed his mind a lot. “I guess we realized that it was stupid to be out there like that, I think.” I looked at one of her drawings on the wall.

“Sit down.” She patted the blue coverlet. I did as she said and sank into the mattress. “Lemme see your arm.” She reached over for my once singed arm. She inspected the faded pink scars and traced them with her fingers. “They’re warmer than the rest o’ your skin. Weird,” she said, dropping my arm. My hand instinctively went to the scars, tracing the long, jagged lines. They were warm.

“You’re right,” I whispered under my breath.

“’ere,” she said as she pulled a small container out from under her bed. She flipped off the top and lifted the water out from inside it. “Show me your arm.” I did and she moved her hands in a rhythmic motion around the scars. The familiar healing of the water soothed my arm. A faint light blue glowed from the water, illuminating our faces. Sweat began to drip down her forehead as she focused on my arm.

After a few minutes, she returned the water to the container and slouched back on the bed.

“Voila!” Mel exclaimed, wiping her arm across her brow. I touched the sensitive skin on my arm. The once raised lines were now smooth. They now felt cool to the touch. I liked it.

“Thanks,” I exhaled.

“No prob-lemo!” she exclaimed. Her voice had a hint of exhaustion behind it. “Maybe I really do need that training.” She scoffed and flopped onto her side.

“You seem beat, so I’ll head out.” Mel waved warily from her bed. I shut the door behind me and made my way back to the common room.

Again, the room had only a few stragglers. I assumed most of the students were hanging in the mess hall or in their dorms. I sat down near the fireplace. I sighed as I watched the flames lick the air. There was a faint crackle from the fire. It’s orange and red hues bounced off the walls. I could feel my eyelids grow heavy. I looked around for a clock, but the sun gave away the time. It was dropping rapidly, so it was around seven. I returned my gaze back to the fire.

I watched as the flames ate away at a wooden log. The log slowly blackened and cracked. The flames engulfed it and lit a bright yellow. My eyes dilated to the light. The fire danced on the wood, waving up and down haphazardly. A small bit of burnt bark shot up from the flame and floated gently down to the floor; its orange-red flare faded as it dropped to the floor.

My eyelids shut, and I drifted to an awkward, dreamless sleep.

Someone cleared their throat just to my right. It was loud enough to stir me. I groaned and opened my eyes. The fire had subsided to a glowing ash. I looked up in the direction of the person. The lights threw a dim amber light on the room, distorting the colours. My gaze met a pair of familiar, dark eyes. I exhaled a breath I didn’t realize I was holding in.

“Micah!”