To her surprise there was a light switch. With a small flick the room lit up. The first thing she noticed was the single desk against the wall facing one of the windows. She glanced at the two sets of bunk beds to her right. So, she had three roommates at the most.

Arin shuffled across the carpet to the nearest bottom bunk. Evidentially it would be hers, leather armor and a fresh pair of clothing rested in the center.

Time to remove this winter gear. She set her jacket, hat, and gloves next to the uniform. Arin quickly changed into the black clothing, hating how loose it was. She kept the boots and armor off, hoping she wouldn’t need them for a while. Once her uniform was on she examined it in front of the mirror in between the two beds. It was all black with a small Roman numeral of a one stitched on her right shoulder. Her braided hair was a mess.

Arin sat down on the bed redoing her braid, examining the rest of the room. Her dorm was a bit bigger than her room with the Lightfoots. There was enough space for ten people to be standing side by side. With the curtain drawn the two light bulbs provided hardly any light. At the far end of the room was another door.

Once her braid was sloppily redone, she slowly approached the old door. It creaked as Arin used some of her strength to push it open. Inside was a modernized bathroom. The memories she had been trying to repress came flooding back. She closed the door, shuffling back to bed worn out. Her body was aching already from the training and running she did today.

Everything’s not horribly bad, sure everyone doesn’t like me but as long as I’m safe I don’t care. She lied next to her Earthly clothing. When will her new roommates arrive? Terrible thoughts crept into her bored mind. Ms. Holt is dead . . .

The doorknob twisted and Arin sat up, trembling. The door was thrown open violently. Arin jumped, hitting her head on the bunk above her. The two girls entering the room spotted the stranger and let out a startled scream, backing out of their dorm. Arin rubbed her head, holding back a whimper. No longer wary of the stranger, the two girls reentered the dorm.

“Haha! That was a good scare that’s for sure,” the green-haired said laughing so hard that she was holding onto her stomach.

“I know right, I wasn’t expecting her to be sitting right there!”

“Are you my roommates?” Arin asked, rubbing her throbbing head, unamused by what just happened. No longer laughing, the two straightened their posture.

“We are. You must be the new kid. What’s your name? What Province do you come from?” the green-haired girl inquired.

“I’m Arin.” The smaller of the two pulled back the curtain allowing light to enter the room again.

“Which Province did you come from?” she repeated.

“Province?”

“Uh, yeah, what province, do you need me to spell it out?” The other student punched her friend in the shoulder.

“Don’t be rude, Fleana, gosh,” she snapped. The room entered a stage of awkward silence.

“Sorry, Wisp, but every Crimson knows the Provinces why doesn’t Arin?” Fleana grumbled rubbing her arm. Arin bit her lower lip shuffling on her bed tense. Coyasko should have trained her for this, how was she supposed to know? Was she supposed to say she was an Earthling? With the treatment she received from Mila perhaps speaking of her true origins was unwise. Fleana relaxed slightly, brushing her dark green hair over her shoulder. “I’m sorry for my words. We’ve had an incredibly long day.”

“I don’t know which province I came from because I . . . I didn’t come from one, I came from Earth.”

“You’re human . . .” The smaller one gaped at her in disbelief. “From the Reality Dimension?” Arin slowly nodded her head.

“Wisp, don’t,” Fleana started. That sounded bad.

Little Wisp pouted. Her incredibly pale skin reflected the slowly rising moonlight. She blew a long strand of her platinum hair out of her face with a frustrated breath.

“How come only you can pepper her with questions? I want to ask her about the Reality Dimension and why she is here! I always wanted to know about their lifestyle!” Wisp whined stomping her foot on the ground. Her friend glanced at Arin uneasily.

“I—I’m only here because I read a prophecy. Scolo tried to kill me. I promise I am not as bad as everyone thinks!” They withdrew from her at the name.

“Scolo, that horrible shifter! Are you all right?” Wisp asked sitting next to Arin concerned.

“Not really,” Arin replied, lowering her head miserably.

“What did he do to you?”

“Don’t ask her personal questions!” Fleana dictated.

“He chased me out of my ‘safe house,’” Arin began. Tears stung her eyes. She gestured to the clothes on her bed, blood was on some of them. “I ran with a Watcher and then he attacked us. Gage found me by the river and brought me here.” She couldn’t stop her tears from falling.

“I—I’m sorry,” Wisp sympathized, sitting next to Arin, hugging her tightly. The more she thought about her day the more she teared up. Tears began to roll down her dirty cheeks. “You’ll be fine I promise; I’ll make sure that no one hurts you. Okay?”

“I’ll get you killed in a matter of days,” Arin sobbed.

Fleana smirked, “we have been training in combat for a while now. Plus, they would never be able to find you among us. You blend in too well.”

“Mila will probably allow you to train with us in sword fighting and flying,” Wisp added.

“I don’t think I can do that. Mila knows that I can’t.” Arin sighed wiping her tears away.

“Mila is wrong. Lucky for you, tomorrow we have a little test to see how well you can fight. If you can prove yourself to Mila that you can wield a sword, he might actually consider you worthy,” Fleana explained.

“What do I have to do? I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“I don’t know, it’s a surprise.” she shrugged.

“We should sleep, if we want to win then we should be fully rested. Plus, I’m sure we all had a hectic day, my eyes are already begging for sleep,” Wisp said, nimbly climbing to the bunk above Arin. She was amazed that she could move so well. Fleana clambered into he bunks as well, squeaking over and over with every movement.

Arin moved her leather armor and clothes under her bed and lied down. Too much was happening. She gazed out of the window watching the sun set. A moon slowly revealed itself; it was so much bigger than the one back on Earth.

Look, Arin, you need to sleep, if you want to survive you should listen to these two and get some sleep, even closing your eyes will be good. She rolled over to face the wall. Prove yourself to everyone that you read the Plaque and that you deserve to be here.

She continued to comfort herself. Everything will be all right. She just had to survive this surprise test. Her thoughts began to drift to the Others. She would have revenge. Her dreams were molded to the hatred for them. Instead of falling asleep with sorrow, rage burdened her heart and dreams.

***

“So, you’re telling me that you failed?” an Other inquired. “that’s a very disappointing report. Care to explain what led to this?”

“We had many complications on the pursuit. But at least when we attack the Crimsons, we can attack and find her. At least we can kill two birds with one stone,” Scolo explained lowering his head in shame. “I’m sorry . . .”

“Did you learn anything about her? We can use almost any information to find her because there will be a lot of suspects there and I’m not willing to bring all of them back here for interrogation,” he pressed on.

“Her name is Arin. Small, a little runt; has long blonde hair; and will stand up against you. She is a fool like that. Oh, and she has a bruised nose. I hope that detail helps,” Scolo explained. The Other he was reporting to laughed.

“I see . . .” he turned to the tall man next to him. “You’re done for a while, Kin will handle this instead.”

“I will?” Kin asked, body rigid.

“Don’t fail, Kin. I hope you understand how important she is,” the evident leader warned.

“What do I have to do, sir?” Kin asked unable to mask the fear in his voice. His cloak shielded his expression.

“Attack tomorrow, make sure all future threats are eliminated or in my control. Do I make myself clear?” he instructed, and Kin nodded his head slowly. “Then go!”