12:35pm, Thursday, 3118

I noticed two things as soon as Arina walked into the hospital ward:

She wasn’t actually hurt, which is a first. She seemed to be looking for something.

I slowed my job of loading supplies into the necessary compartments to watch her. She seemed small under the heavy mahogany door frame, almost like a weak little teenage girl. I paused in my work. It’s rare to see her like this—to see this flash of vulnerability. Suddenly her eyes shifted toward me and the image of the scared girl disappeared. Her eyes, while distant, were sharp and clear. There’s an intelligence in them that rivals even Kirosh.

I nodded my head at her in greeting as she made her way over to where I am.

“You’re unhurt today.” I state when she gets close enough. “This is a rare sight.” Fact.

Arina just looks at me. “I’m looking for your father. I am supposed to have a check-up today. Is he around?” Fact. Fact.

This is how we talk. In facts. No pleasantries. No doublespeak. Just facts. My mother was the one who taught me to think in facts. I…No, don’t think about that. I quickly swallow and turn back to my work. “He’s at lunch, but he should be back soon. He doesn’t eat for very long.” Fact. Fact. Fact.

Arina nods and starts to hand me supplies. She works methodically. Deliberately. Almost as if it were a way to distract her from something.

I don’t ask.

“…You got fourth in the Tournament.” She stated bluntly after putting a few items away. Fact.

“You got sixth.” Fact.

“I’ve accepted my position on the team.” Fact.

“I’m going to the office after lunch today to drop off my form.” Fact.

“You’re going to accept?” Arina slowed her movements. I could feel her eyes scrutinizing me.

“Don’t have a choice.”

Arina stared at me for a moment. “You don’t want to be in the top six.” She says it more as a statement than a question.

I shrug.

“Then why are you?” she asked.

“Was lucky, I guess.”

Arina’s face doesn’t change as she cocked her head to the side slightly. “You don’t like camping.” Fact.

“…Fact.” I agreed with a nod.

“Then why are you in the Top Six?”

“To become a doctor.” I sighed.

“You don’t need to make the Top Six to become a doctor.”

“No…” I hesitated. “But I will if I want to become a researcher. Only people with Jackal permits can become researchers.”

Arina nodded, but a dark look crossed her face. I blinked, and it’s was gone. Strange.

“Your mother was a researcher.”

“Fact.”

“She is dead.” Fact. “How did she die?” Arina pins me with her unblinking stare.

The question caught me off guard and my hand hesitated as I reached for more supplies. “…Camping.”

“Where?”

“Gavi Quintar.”

“Where?”

“The mountains. We were there for one of her research projects.”

“This was before you came to the Akademy.” Fact. “How old were you?”

“We’re not friends Arina.” Fa…well, if we take into account the amount of time she has spent in the ward, then add the amount of time she spent talking to me minus the amount of time she spent talking to anyone else at the Akademy… I scratch my neck absently. I’m probably the closest thing she has to a friend here. I rub the bridge of my nose. “Is this information important?”

“It is.”

“Fine. I was seven.”

“How did she die?”

“I already told you.” Fact.

“No, you didn’t. How did she die?”

I narrowed my eyes at Arina. “Why are you interested?” I ask warily.

When she doesn’t answer, I narrowed my eyes even more. Why is my mother’s death an interest to her? “Law of Tanstaafl: Nothing is free” Fact.

“Correct…” Arina nods slowly.

“You have asked me very intrusive questions.” Fact. “You owe me, so now it’s my turn.”

Everyone knows to avoid Arina. Everyone. Because you just don’t know when Arina will snap. However, I’ve learned that Arina thinks in owing and not owing. She won’t become angry as long as she thinks that she owes you something.

“Fine.” She purses her lips into a thin line.

“Why are you so interested with my mother’s death?”

“I’ve heard that you get nightmares.”

I can feel the blood drain from my face. How did she know? How did she find out? “Lots of people get nightmares.” Fact. “How did you hear?”

“I overheard Kirosh talk about it after last year’s camping trip.”

Kirosh and his big mouth. I ball my hands around a package of supplies and jam it into its compartment. “Why are you so interested in me?”

“You are part of the Top Six. The Top Six get broken into partners. I don’t talk to anyone else.” Fact. Fact. Fact.

I don’t know how she does it, to be honest. To go throughout the entire day barely talking to anyone. I’ve rarely seen her smile. I wonder if she even knows how to sometimes.

Kirosh, on the other hand, almost never stops smiling. Or talking. Although, every three months or so, he goes through a period where he smiles less than usual and his answers become short and curt. But even then, Kirosh is still Kirosh.

She doesn’t know what the nightmares are about. She doesn’t know anything.

I jammed another packet into its place, but it got stuck. I tried to fix the packet, but my hands slip off the slick material.

She doesn’t know. No one has found out. I’m still safe. She’s here to see my father anyway. This is just small talk.

I forcefully adjusted the packet and slam the container shut. Arina worked silently across from me. I didn’t know either of them until they came to the ward after their now considered “epic fight” four years ago. And sometimes I wish I knew neither of them.

Relax. Take deep breaths. She doesn’t know anything…Fact: these are conjectures, not facts…think in facts. Think in facts Roshcar!

I take a deep breath.

Fact: Four years ago, Kirosh had three broken ribs, a broken nose, a concussion, two broken fingers, and a fractured neck.

Fact: if Arina had hit him one more time anywhere on his face, Kirosh would have been paralyzed from the neck down

Fact: Arina only had a broken nose and a black eye.

Fact: Kirosh had fought back.

Fact: Fighting is against Akademy rules. Against Qui law.

Fact: Kirosh’s hands that day weren’t hurt…

“Arina?” I jerked my head around at the sound of my father’s inquisitive voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I came for my check-up.”

“Your check-up isn’t until tomorrow.”

“Oh…I must have gotten the days mixed up. I will come back tomorrow.”

I watched as she silently left. My heart rate has risen to an almost painful degree now.

Fact: My father wasn’t expecting her.

“Roshcar, you can now go eat dinner.” My father didn’t look at me, which would normally bother me…

Fact: She talked to me more than usual.

I picked up my bag and forced myself to cross the room at a normal pace even though every fiber of my body is telling me to sprint out of the room.

Conclusion: She wanted to talk to me, not him.

I tried to swallow.

Fact: My mouth is dry.

I made my way to the door, but I no longer see the door.

Fact: My palms are sweating.

Instead, I’m back there.

Fact: My heart is pounding.

Trapped in the ice cave.

Fact: My breath is coming out in shorter and shorter breaths.

Something is coming. Something is chasing me.

Fact: I want to run. I want to run far, far away...

I can hear it howling in delight. I am running across the chasm my mother has been working in, the bridge teeters from side to side precariously. Suddenly, my foot catches on one of the rungs and I go down. Hard. I have to fight to keep myself on the wavering bridge. Clawing at the rungs as my leg goes over the edge...Then it steps on. Laughing at my weak attempts to pull myself up.

I almost let go when I see its face. That horrible, ugly face. Large eyes. Blood red eyes. Gaping mouth with lips in a permanent snarl. The flesh is melded into the rest of its body as if it had been soaked in acid.

It takes a step toward me. Towering over me.

I gulp in the thin cold air faster and faster as I try to find my balance. Pulling my leg back under me, something tears into my flesh and I crumple in pain. I look back…

It takes a step toward me. Grinning. Laughing. Mocking.

My heart speeds up to an excruciating level. I have to get to the other side. I claw myself up and sprint. Not caring about the pain in my leg or the swaying of the bridge. I have to get to the master controller.

I reached for the door handle but in my mind my hand slams down on a blue button. I’ve seen my mother push it after everything is packed away and the hole is ready to be refilled with the ice she had displaced in the name of science. But, nothing happens. I need to destroy the bridge. I push the blue button again, but still nothing.

It’s coming. It’s behind me…

I push on the button furiously. Why isn’t the button working? Suddenly, the cave gives a rumble, but the thing doesn’t seem to notice. Its snarling laughter fills the cavern, sending chills down my spine. It’s taking it’s time in crossing the last few meters of the bridge like it’s having fun, like it’s enjoying seeing me panic. It knows I have nowhere else to go. I’m trapped. I’m—

The door swung open and it hit me hard in the shin. I looked down to rub my leg, but the ice is stained red. My blood…My leg is bleeding from where…

“Oh, Roshcar. What are you doing standing behind the door?” The entering doctor frowned at me.

“I, I, I was going to lunch.” I stuttered, forcing my thoughts back to the present. I placed one foot in front of the other. My leg is fine. My leg is fine now.

The doctor just grunted and passed me. I closed my eyes and took a ragged breath before walking through the door and down the empty hall. The door suctions shut behind me and I jumped. The sound reminding me of the terrifying high pitched scream as the ice came crashing down--taking with it the creature and the bridge, and…Stop it.

Fact: It’s done.

Fact: That day is over.

Fact: I can’t let it haunt me; I can’t let it ruin my life.

Conclusion: Arina can never find out. No one can ever find out.