Categories > Original > Romance > Breathe
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The first day of school went absolutely awful!! When I could finally retreat to my room, my roommates were nowhere to be found. I sat down on my bed and just stared at the wall. I studied the room and then spotted my shoe. The one that had gotten in the liquid the night before. Something black covered the bottom of my brown shoe. I went over to it and kneeled down. I reluctantly touched the black. It was extremely sticky. I pulled my finger back but the black stuck to it. It stretched. "Uh!" I yelled. I tried to scrape it off with my free hand but it just stuck to that too! My hands were stuck together! I tried to pull them apart but the black stuff was working against me!!
"Buh!!!" Wait, I wonder if that one girl will be able to help me? What time is it? I glanced at the clock. 5:00. 8 hours then. I can stay like this for that long...
My roommates returned at about 9:00. Lights out is at 9:30. They never said a word and they all went to bed at exactly the same time. I pulled a torch with my teeth off the bedside table and went under the covers and read Pride and Prejudice (not without much difficulty, I might add) for a while. I thought about the unlikely relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. It always made me feel like some day maybe I would find someone that I truly loved. Someone like....Robert.... I smiled. I looked at the clock. It said 12:30. "Whoa!" I threw the covers off and jumped out of bed I ran in my stockings out the door and climbed up the stairs that were across from my room. There was a lone lamp hanging at the top of the stairs. I ran down the hall. I slowed to a walk. 100...101...102...103, here it is.
The grandfather clock in the hall read 12:59. 3,2,1. 1:00. I knocked on the door with both my hands 3 times quickly. It opened so fast I barely even knew what was happening until I was inside the room with a hand cupped over my mouth. "Talk very quietly, please," the blonde girl from this morning said.
"Okay!" I said in a loud whisper. I held up my glued-together hands. "What is this?" I demanded. She gasped and her eyes widened in horror. She backed away from me.
"How did you get that?"
"Uh..when I got here...last night...no one was up and I stumbled around in the dark and I'm guessing this stuff got on my shoes when I stepped in some puddle of something," I explained, trying to remember. She didn't say anything. "You can get it off right?"
"Yes, but please remain calm," she said even though she looked like the one who needed to calm down.
"Ok," I said warily. She walked over to a dresser and opened the bottom drawer. She dug through her many pairs of the school uniform and pulled out a pocket-knife. "What are you going to do with that?" I said, getting nervous. Then I felt something weird happening to my hands. I looked at them and the black was moving, like it was alive. It started to spread up my arm. "What is it doing?! Get it off me!" I nearly shouted.
"Calm down!" she said, "It will only stop if you stop hyperventilating!" I calmed down and she was right. It stopped spreading. It had come up to my elbows.
She came closer to me and slipped on a pair of surgical gloves. She took the pocket-knife and started to cut at the black stuff. When she cut it and pulled it apart it writhed like it was alive. She struggled until she had finally got all of it off. The stuff was still writhing, stuck to her gloves. She took them off and threw them out the window. She came back to sit next to me on the floor. "Never touch any black liquid again," she said and pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. It had taken her 28 minutes to finish.
When she didn't say anything else I asked, "What was that?"
"Acerbus, one of the foulest poisons in the entire world," she answered. She paused then askesd, "How long do you think I've been at this school, Penny?"
"How did you know my name?"
"Just answer the question," she snapped.
"I guess you've gone here before, but I'm guessing you spent the summer at home..." I answered.
"I've been here since I was 13...I was sent here by my foster parents. They hated me. My name is Christiana Wilson. I figured out the secrets of this school when I turned 14," she informed me.
"Wait! Tell me about the secrets!" I demanded.
"I...can't" she said obviously struggling with the words.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because...they'll kill you, me, and...and...Elijah James," she said, becoming very sad at that last part.
"Who's Elijah James?" I asked.
"He's a student here, my best friend..." she said, "He should be here soon, he comes every night at 2. That's the only time we can talk. He knows the secrets. We're the only two. We made a deal with them where we wouldn't tell anyone if they didn't kill us. I know, great deal, right?" She smiled half-heartedly.
There was a soft knock at the door. Christiana rushed to it and opened it and pulled who I guessed was Elijah James through the door. She quickly shut it. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He was average-looking. "Who is this?!" he asked once he saw me. He seemed a little angry.
"This is Penny, she just got here."
"What do you think you're doing?! You've just jeopardized all our lives!!" he yelled.
"I watched her when she got here yesterday. She's marked to become one of them. He approached her," she said, emphasizing the "he". I felt the mood of the room become very intense. Elijah James immediately stiffened.
"Are you certain?" he asked.
"Yes." Elijah James looked at me. He came over to me until he was only inches away. He picked up a lock of my hair and brought it to his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
I looked over at Christiana with a questioning expression on my face. Her face was expressionless. I turned straight forward and he still had his eyes closed. He opened them and the brown in them had gotten considerably darker. His pupils dialated and his pale skin darkened. Then, while I still watched, everything about him turned back to normal. He backed away.
"You're right," he said to Christiana. An electrically-charged silence followed. After about 5 minutes, I'd had enough of it.
"What does all this mean?" I asked. They both looked at me like I was a bloody idiot!
"We can't tell you what it means...not yet...but we might be able to...soon," Elijah James said. He moved closer to me and whispered, "We have a plan..."
"What plan?" I whispered back, "Are you going to take over the school?" I added a bit of sarcasm into that last part. That was a wrong decision. He backed away and glared at me. He was absolutely fuming. Christiana moved to his side and put her hand on his arm. He calmed at her touch.
"James..." she said, "You can't just get keep getting so angry like this...not everyone you meet is trying to kill you..."
"Chris...how do you know she won't betray us and become one of them willingly?" he questioned quietly.
"I don't think she will...she seems trustworthy...you know I can tell these things," she said, smiling, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yes, I know," he said reluctantly, "I just don't think we should take the risk.." He was getting angry again. He shook her off and walked swiftly out the door. I was taken aback. Is this school really bad enough for him to fear for his life every second of every day?
"He can be so tempermental," Chris said, shaking her head.
"Is he always so touchy?"
"No, he just has a few trust issues.."
"Oh...I don't think he really likes me..." I said.
"He'll get used to you...I'm sure of it."
"So...will you tell me all that you know when you can?" I asked.
"Of course! Well, I'm going to bed, I suggest you return to your own room. They do a bedcheck every night at 3:30. It's 3:25!! Hurry! Don't open your eyes when they shine the light!" she said and rushed me out the door, "Meet James and me here tomorrow night at 2:00."
I rushed down the stairs having the scary feeling that something was behind me but I never once looked back. I got to my door. I checked the grandfather clock that was located in every hallway. It was 3:30. I decided to make sure that no one was in there first. I leaned down and peeked through the key hole. A tall figure was leaning over my first roommates bed shining a torch in her face. Oh no! I decided that I had to get in my bed before they checked it. The figure was facing the right side of the room. My bed was on the left side. I might be able to make it... I braced myself and silently opened the door, but gasped in horror at what faced me. The man that I had seen the night I arrived now stared me straight in the face. "What are you doing out of bed at this time of night Miss Miller?" he asked in a chilling whisper.
There was something different...his eyes were a strange shade of dark blue now. "Uh...umm.." Think, think! "I needed to use the facilities," I answered confidently. "Really?" he asked. He raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward until his face was only inches from mine. "Think carefully when you choose your friends, Penelope." His breath blew in my face. It was unnaturally cold. I flinched away from him. He straightened back up. "You will serve detention for 2 hours tomorrow after school for being out of bed after 9:30, Miss Miller," he said as he headed for the door. "See you then," he said and grinned. He walked out the door. I shivered and crawled into bed. There is something very wrong with this school... I thought as I drifted off to sleep.
The first day of school went absolutely awful!! When I could finally retreat to my room, my roommates were nowhere to be found. I sat down on my bed and just stared at the wall. I studied the room and then spotted my shoe. The one that had gotten in the liquid the night before. Something black covered the bottom of my brown shoe. I went over to it and kneeled down. I reluctantly touched the black. It was extremely sticky. I pulled my finger back but the black stuck to it. It stretched. "Uh!" I yelled. I tried to scrape it off with my free hand but it just stuck to that too! My hands were stuck together! I tried to pull them apart but the black stuff was working against me!!
"Buh!!!" Wait, I wonder if that one girl will be able to help me? What time is it? I glanced at the clock. 5:00. 8 hours then. I can stay like this for that long...
My roommates returned at about 9:00. Lights out is at 9:30. They never said a word and they all went to bed at exactly the same time. I pulled a torch with my teeth off the bedside table and went under the covers and read Pride and Prejudice (not without much difficulty, I might add) for a while. I thought about the unlikely relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. It always made me feel like some day maybe I would find someone that I truly loved. Someone like....Robert.... I smiled. I looked at the clock. It said 12:30. "Whoa!" I threw the covers off and jumped out of bed I ran in my stockings out the door and climbed up the stairs that were across from my room. There was a lone lamp hanging at the top of the stairs. I ran down the hall. I slowed to a walk. 100...101...102...103, here it is.
The grandfather clock in the hall read 12:59. 3,2,1. 1:00. I knocked on the door with both my hands 3 times quickly. It opened so fast I barely even knew what was happening until I was inside the room with a hand cupped over my mouth. "Talk very quietly, please," the blonde girl from this morning said.
"Okay!" I said in a loud whisper. I held up my glued-together hands. "What is this?" I demanded. She gasped and her eyes widened in horror. She backed away from me.
"How did you get that?"
"Uh..when I got here...last night...no one was up and I stumbled around in the dark and I'm guessing this stuff got on my shoes when I stepped in some puddle of something," I explained, trying to remember. She didn't say anything. "You can get it off right?"
"Yes, but please remain calm," she said even though she looked like the one who needed to calm down.
"Ok," I said warily. She walked over to a dresser and opened the bottom drawer. She dug through her many pairs of the school uniform and pulled out a pocket-knife. "What are you going to do with that?" I said, getting nervous. Then I felt something weird happening to my hands. I looked at them and the black was moving, like it was alive. It started to spread up my arm. "What is it doing?! Get it off me!" I nearly shouted.
"Calm down!" she said, "It will only stop if you stop hyperventilating!" I calmed down and she was right. It stopped spreading. It had come up to my elbows.
She came closer to me and slipped on a pair of surgical gloves. She took the pocket-knife and started to cut at the black stuff. When she cut it and pulled it apart it writhed like it was alive. She struggled until she had finally got all of it off. The stuff was still writhing, stuck to her gloves. She took them off and threw them out the window. She came back to sit next to me on the floor. "Never touch any black liquid again," she said and pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. It had taken her 28 minutes to finish.
When she didn't say anything else I asked, "What was that?"
"Acerbus, one of the foulest poisons in the entire world," she answered. She paused then askesd, "How long do you think I've been at this school, Penny?"
"How did you know my name?"
"Just answer the question," she snapped.
"I guess you've gone here before, but I'm guessing you spent the summer at home..." I answered.
"I've been here since I was 13...I was sent here by my foster parents. They hated me. My name is Christiana Wilson. I figured out the secrets of this school when I turned 14," she informed me.
"Wait! Tell me about the secrets!" I demanded.
"I...can't" she said obviously struggling with the words.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because...they'll kill you, me, and...and...Elijah James," she said, becoming very sad at that last part.
"Who's Elijah James?" I asked.
"He's a student here, my best friend..." she said, "He should be here soon, he comes every night at 2. That's the only time we can talk. He knows the secrets. We're the only two. We made a deal with them where we wouldn't tell anyone if they didn't kill us. I know, great deal, right?" She smiled half-heartedly.
There was a soft knock at the door. Christiana rushed to it and opened it and pulled who I guessed was Elijah James through the door. She quickly shut it. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He was average-looking. "Who is this?!" he asked once he saw me. He seemed a little angry.
"This is Penny, she just got here."
"What do you think you're doing?! You've just jeopardized all our lives!!" he yelled.
"I watched her when she got here yesterday. She's marked to become one of them. He approached her," she said, emphasizing the "he". I felt the mood of the room become very intense. Elijah James immediately stiffened.
"Are you certain?" he asked.
"Yes." Elijah James looked at me. He came over to me until he was only inches away. He picked up a lock of my hair and brought it to his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
I looked over at Christiana with a questioning expression on my face. Her face was expressionless. I turned straight forward and he still had his eyes closed. He opened them and the brown in them had gotten considerably darker. His pupils dialated and his pale skin darkened. Then, while I still watched, everything about him turned back to normal. He backed away.
"You're right," he said to Christiana. An electrically-charged silence followed. After about 5 minutes, I'd had enough of it.
"What does all this mean?" I asked. They both looked at me like I was a bloody idiot!
"We can't tell you what it means...not yet...but we might be able to...soon," Elijah James said. He moved closer to me and whispered, "We have a plan..."
"What plan?" I whispered back, "Are you going to take over the school?" I added a bit of sarcasm into that last part. That was a wrong decision. He backed away and glared at me. He was absolutely fuming. Christiana moved to his side and put her hand on his arm. He calmed at her touch.
"James..." she said, "You can't just get keep getting so angry like this...not everyone you meet is trying to kill you..."
"Chris...how do you know she won't betray us and become one of them willingly?" he questioned quietly.
"I don't think she will...she seems trustworthy...you know I can tell these things," she said, smiling, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yes, I know," he said reluctantly, "I just don't think we should take the risk.." He was getting angry again. He shook her off and walked swiftly out the door. I was taken aback. Is this school really bad enough for him to fear for his life every second of every day?
"He can be so tempermental," Chris said, shaking her head.
"Is he always so touchy?"
"No, he just has a few trust issues.."
"Oh...I don't think he really likes me..." I said.
"He'll get used to you...I'm sure of it."
"So...will you tell me all that you know when you can?" I asked.
"Of course! Well, I'm going to bed, I suggest you return to your own room. They do a bedcheck every night at 3:30. It's 3:25!! Hurry! Don't open your eyes when they shine the light!" she said and rushed me out the door, "Meet James and me here tomorrow night at 2:00."
I rushed down the stairs having the scary feeling that something was behind me but I never once looked back. I got to my door. I checked the grandfather clock that was located in every hallway. It was 3:30. I decided to make sure that no one was in there first. I leaned down and peeked through the key hole. A tall figure was leaning over my first roommates bed shining a torch in her face. Oh no! I decided that I had to get in my bed before they checked it. The figure was facing the right side of the room. My bed was on the left side. I might be able to make it... I braced myself and silently opened the door, but gasped in horror at what faced me. The man that I had seen the night I arrived now stared me straight in the face. "What are you doing out of bed at this time of night Miss Miller?" he asked in a chilling whisper.
There was something different...his eyes were a strange shade of dark blue now. "Uh...umm.." Think, think! "I needed to use the facilities," I answered confidently. "Really?" he asked. He raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward until his face was only inches from mine. "Think carefully when you choose your friends, Penelope." His breath blew in my face. It was unnaturally cold. I flinched away from him. He straightened back up. "You will serve detention for 2 hours tomorrow after school for being out of bed after 9:30, Miss Miller," he said as he headed for the door. "See you then," he said and grinned. He walked out the door. I shivered and crawled into bed. There is something very wrong with this school... I thought as I drifted off to sleep.
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