Chapter 15 CHAPTER 15
During the day, this place looked so much larger, imposing, and overwhelming.
Or maybe it's my irrational fear that I might be trapped here that scared me.
But beyond the war in my head, the Academy passed by as we walked through throngs of people rushing off to classes.
"This way," Erin called, taking my hand as we rushed downwards.
"Will you be punished even though the Principal asked you to help me out?" I asked her, scared I was going to get the girl in trouble.
"It's not about being punished but no one will be waiting for me before classes start. Every lesson is important," she replied, going faster than I thought legs could go.
That serious? I don't think I've ever been so anxious for PE class.
I followed though, increasing my speed while trying to memorize the path down. Stairs, hallways, more stairs.
Everything looked the same. Gray stone, dragon carvings, the occasional tapestry. By the time we crossed a bridge over the main courtyard, my legs were protesting.
"Can we slow down?" I nearly begged, breathing through my mouth.
Students had thinned out from here but I could still see them walking by and barely paying me any more than one curious glance.
"We're almost there," she replied instead, pulling me forward as we kept walking at a fast pace until we came by a block of buildings that looked like a hundred people lived in each one.
"We're in Block C2, room five," Erin spoke up as she walked towards the third building.
Oh good, they used the English alphabet. I wasn't ready to learn the other language considering I won't be staying.
She led me through the stairs, into the second floor and then finally we arrived at a door.
From the look of things, by the time I'm done walking around this place and blink back to earth, I'll be ready to begin a career in running or something.
Erin held her hand on the door for a second, two, and then pushed it open.
"Does the door work with fingerprints?"
"No," she chuckled as she walked in, "but it can only be opened by those living in it. Don't worry, you'll be entered into the system before the end of the week."
I followed her into the room.
Four beds sat in each corner, leaving a big space in the middle. It was bigger than my late Momma's living room but somehow felt smaller with all the belongings crammed into each person's space.
"Hey guys," Erin called as she rushed to what I assumed was her own side of the room by the far left, "meet..."
"Alira, yes we've heard about her. Where are my socks?" One of the girls cut her off rudely, making me freeze in the doorway.
Her skin had a blueish hue that seemed to shift in the dim light, smooth but textured like scales might be hidden just beneath the surface. As she spoke, I caught a glimpse of her tongue.
Forked in two.
"You put them in your second box last night. Why are you always asking me for your things?"
"Be grateful I find you useful,” the blue girl threw back while going to the small closet where she had two boxes stacked on top.
I stood awkwardly still, not knowing what to do next.
"There's no way you're a dragon kin."
I jumped, spinning around. A tall girl loomed behind me, and I hadn't even heard her approach. Her red hair fell past her shoulders in thick waves, and her eyes matched the same crimson shade. She wore the same burgundy color I had on, the first year uniform, but somehow she made it look like armor. Lean muscles corded her arms, and the way she moved reminded me of a predator circling prey.
She ignored my startled reaction and came closer, leaning in like she was trying to smell me.
"Can you back off?" I snapped, wondering why these people were being so weird.
The room went still. Literally. It felt like even the air stopped moving.
"Oooh," the red-haired girl broke the silence with a mocking laugh, "she's feisty! I would enjoy watching you get chewed into tiny pieces by the Academy. Take her for a drawing session Erin, I don't think she'll ever see this version of her face in the mirror again."
"Leave her alone Akua," Erin muttered and went back to pulling on a different pair of clothes.
"Tell her Mira," Akua kept up her charade, "she's so feeble. The type that would beg the trainers for a time out."
Both of them laughed, and it hurt because something told me it was accurate. This place seemed uninviting, harsh, and ready to tear my limbs apart.
One week Alira, that's all I'll need.
There's no way Baldwin would hang around the library for more than a week.
Right?
Erin was finally done and grabbed a bag, then walked towards me.
"That's your side of the room," she pointed to the bed and shelf opposite hers, "you'll get your things from the Admin block but that's after swimming training."
"Is that where we're going now?" I asked as I turned, following her and the other two who had just stepped out of the room as well.
"No, we're running every morning. Or different forms of that depending on how bad of a mood Master Torin is in."
"It gets worse every day," Mira grumbled from the front as I chased after them. Even Erin had walked past me and I was playing catch-up.
There's no way I'm dragon kin. This mark on my neck is just a mistake.
I kept running after them, listening in as they discussed things that although were said in English, might have as well been expressed in that other language of theirs.
Finally, we crossed the distance between the living quarters and into a huge training area.
Larger than three football fields, with packed dirt worn smooth under countless boots.
People wearing the same uniform as us were running on the track.
"Please tell me we're not about to do that," I begged, hoping I didn't come here only to die a slower death.
But before the girls could respond to me, someone, taller and older than everyone else in my line of sight, yelled from behind the runners, addressing us.
"If you don't get here before my next three breaths, you'll be running for the rest of today!"
Okay, the universe is back on the hating Alira train.