CHAPTER TEN

“I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Beth looks like she’s going to burst into tears as we walk into the mess.

Since our classes are on the Level 1 island, including the mess, I’m relieved that we don’t have to take the ferry to get to the mess.

The infrastructure of this place is starting to look more and more like some private school with a large building in the center of the island with huge domes. It’s filled with classrooms and offices for the teachers, the structure a little old fashioned. It looks like something out of some British magazine for Victorian era mansions. The corridors are open-aired, and there are benches sprawled in the courtyard, a seemingly nice place to hang out. There is also a botanical garden and a class which we haven’t been assigned yet. The class takes place in the greenhouse, which was locked when I walked by it.

The more time I spend here, the more my suspicions rise.

This isn’t some normal camp or school.

The mess is located at a distance from the main school building. It’s not my favorite walk considering the low temperature.

However, the inside of the mess resembles a cafeteria, just fancier, with a buffet style menu and tables and chairs organized both inside and outside the mess. There are a few students already eating, and I recognize some of them as the same ones who were on the bus with me when we arrived.

We grab a tray each, and the sight of the food makes my mouth water. Breakfast alone was enough to tell me that while this camp or school, whatever they call it, may be an earthly version of hell, the food quality is superb.

I put some mac and cheese on my plate, along with a piece of sizzling steak and mashed potatoes.

“You’ll be able to eat all that?” Quill eyes me.

“Watch me lick my plate later,” I sigh, happily. “They had pancakes for breakfast here. The last time I had pancakes was five years ago when Dad—”

My smile freezes and suddenly a sharp stab of grief pierces me.

Dad.

I blink fiercely, suddenly losing my appetite.

“You lost your dad, huh?” Quill nudges me, sympathetically. “I lost mine when I was ten. Sucks big time.”

Beth smiles at me, sadly, “I lost both my parents together at the same time. Everybody always says that time heals all wounds, but it never does.”

I look at my two friends, and for the first time since losing Dad, I don’t feel completely alone.

“Yeah, it sucks,” I mutter, feeling the rawness of the wound inside me.

I wonder when it will stop hurting.

First Jane and then Dad.

I’m the only one left.

As we carry our trays back to an empty table, Quill asks, “So, either of you got any siblings?”

I shoot Beth a look, but she has her eyes fixed on her tray. “An older brother. He’s the one who sent me here.”

“What for?” Quill looks surprised. “Tiny thing like you?”

“I think he wants me to die here,” Beth’s voice is surprisingly clear, and Quill’s eyes widen.

“And you’re okay with it?”

She shrugs, “It is what it is. He’s my legal guardian.”

Quill studies her for a long minute, before muttering slowly, “And here I thought you might be the only one who was normal between us. Spoke too soon.”

Beth glances at me. “Am I weird?”

“He burns schools down for fun,” I roll my eyes at her. “Do you really care what he thinks?”

Quill doesn’t seem insulted by my words. “What about you? Any siblings?”

I set my tray down on the table. “A sister. I had a younger sister once. She—” I don’t really know what happened to Jane. My memory is blurred, but whenever I think about the last time I saw her, all I can feel is horror and fear.

“I was twelve when she disappeared, I guess,” I stare down at my food.

“Disappeared?” Quill looks intrigued. “Like somebody kidnapped her?”

I shrug. “I don’t remember. One day she was there, the next, she just wasn’t.”

I don’t mention the screams that haunt me from that day, a day I can’t recall. It’s just the screams and me crying out Jane’s name.

“I’m sorry, Taylor,” Beth touches my hand, and I feel my tension fade.

She has this knack of making me relax whenever she touches me. It’s almost soothing.

“Yeah,” Quill mutters, “that really sucks.”

“Forget it,” I shrug. “Let’s eat before our food gets cold. I want to check this place out while we still have time.”

I’ve never tasted food this good.

I need to put the past where it belongs. The past.

I can’t bring back Dad or Jane. I have to accept the fact that I’m an orphan and have nobody in the world.

It’s not an easy thought, but I’m sure with time, it’ll become more bearable.

I hear a cluttering sound to my left, and when I look up, I see a familiar face.

It’s the girl from last night!

It takes me a minute to place her name.

Veronica.

She looks angry right now, a large bandage on her jaw and a makeshift sling on her arm.

I stare at her.

She’s not alone, and I recognize some of the students standing with her from last night. They’re all talking in hushed whispers, some of them surveying the mess.

“You know her?” Quill suddenly asks.

“Who?” I say, abruptly.

“The girl you’ve been staring at like a hawk,” he grins. “What? Is she your new best friend or something?”

Beth follows his gaze and turns pale as a sheet, instantly lowering her head toward her plate.

“Beth?” I frown.

“Let’s just hurry up and leave,” she mutters.

My eyes drift toward Veronica. “What’s with the sling on her arm? I didn’t hit her that bad, right? I mean I pushed her a little bit—”

As I try to recall the events of last night, I’m seized by a sudden headache that has me clutching my head.

“Taylor?” Quill looks alarmed.

I glance at Beth, one eye open and the other squeezed shut with pain. “What happened last night? Now that I think about it, the barracks were clean when I got back?”

“Got back from where?” Quill demands. “Why’re you guys not telling me anything? Man, I knew I should have gotten a Zero! I’m missing out on everything!”

“That girl, Veronica, and a bunch of her friends attacked us last night when we were sleeping,” I hiss.

When Beth doesn’t say anything, I glance at her, my voice lowered, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”

“Let’s talk about something else,” she looks nervously down at her food, and I stare at her.

“Did I imagine the whole thing last night then?”

“N … No!” Beth says, immediately, before turning pale and clamping her mouth shut.

“What is it?!” I’m beginning to feel on edge now.

“I don’t want to talk about last night,” Beth mumbles. “It’s over and done with.”

“It looks like I broke her arm, Beth,” I say, harshly. “I don’t remember doing that. So, it’s not over and done with!”

This time Beth looks at me, confused. “You don’t remember?”

“I remember that there was a fight, but I don’t remember breaking her arm. I just pushed her a little.”

“A little?” Beth nearly chokes. “You—” She gives me a baffled look. “You don’t remember what you did?”

“I would if you told me,” I say, meaningfully.

Her face turns white, “I … I can’t.”

“Why not?” I’m beginning to feel frustrated. “Just spit it out. I’m going to go crazy otherwise!”

“It’s not—” Beth looks uneasy, her voice lowering even more, “We were told not to mention the incident ever again.”

“By whom?” I ask, stunned.

“The director.”

I stare at Beth. “What?”

She looks pale. “He didn’t—”

“She,” I correct her. “The director is a woman.”

“Well,” Beth looks unnerved, “she didn’t come in person, but we all woke up to a note inside our packets this morning. If we mention anything about last night, the consequences will be ‘dire’.”

I stare at her, feeling stunned.

What the heck is going on in this place?