The lock clicked. The door swung open. On the other side of it was Evan. He was drenched in sweat and a towel hung around his neck, indeed clarifying that he had just finished a workout.

He looked at her in confusion and then rage when he noticed the book in her hands. He was at her side in a heartbeat. “Don’t touch my stuff.” he said as he snatched the journal out of her hands.

Ailith fired back, equal fury in her eyes. “Then don’t touch my stuff!”

He rolled his eyes. “Would you rather me tell Clarice about it then?”

She didn’t have anything to say to that. He could easily have told on her. Then it would have been taken away for good and would probably leave a mark on her record.

Ailith gave him a glare strong enough to make most people cower but he held his ground. “You snitch.” she said.

He made a cruel laugh heading towards his bathroom. “I WILL hand it over to the authorities if you don’t behave yourself.”

He took his shirt off. “You better not be in my room when I come out.” Before he was able to fully shut the bathroom door on her, she stole a glance at him.

‘Damn, what a body.’ She let out a low whistle. But there were also many scars on him. From what she could see, it made out most of his torso. They were diverse too. From long and deep slashes across his abdomen to gunshot wounds to bruises....

The only thing that concerned Ailith however was how she was going to get back her dagger. She was too naive at the time to give a care in the world to what those scars meant and what she had really gotten herself into.

‘Hmmm. He seems to be quite attached to whoever was in the photo. If I use it to bargain with him…’ She was quick to dismiss the idea. ‘No, he would probably get all pissy again and REALLY gut me this time.’ ‘Shit. What do I do…’ After a minute or two of thought, Ailith decided to start by placing the photo back into the book. After all, it would do her no use anyways. He was already stronger than her so it wasn’t like she would be able to hold on to it long anyway. Frustrated, she slipped the journal off the shelf again and opened it.

“I thought I told you NOT to touch it.” Evan said from behind her.

She hadn’t even heard him approaching. Startled, she staggered back into him.

He gave a low growl when he noticed not only the journal but also the photo in her hands.

She gave him an awkward smile and shrugged. “It’s not what you think?”

“Give it back and get out of my room.”

He would make her life a living hell tomorrow at training but that was only if she got out of here alive first. Nobody, not even Ailith was crazy enough to face him in this state.

She passed him the book and ran out of his room, glancing back just long enough to witness him slump down on his chair and put his face in his hands.

He heaved up and down.

Ailith turned back around and ran the rest of the way to her room without so much as another glance backwards. She’d seen enough. Whoever it was in the picture had obviously mattered to Evan, enough so that it made the most emotionless person she’d ever seen slump down on his chair and cry.

Back in their room, she slammed the door shut. ‘Close call.’ Once sure that Evan hadn’t followed her back to the dorm, she heaved out a sigh of relief and slumped to the floor. ‘I still have to go to Dorrance today though.’ ‘And it would just be plain stupid to show up in front of the people I am now supposed to kill, unarmed.’

Once again, Ailith snuck out of her dorm and into the main wing but this time, she didn’t approach Evan’s room. Earlier on, she had noticed a weapons shack in the hallway. She was told by her professor that it was where they kept their practice daggers. ‘Hopefully no one gets up in the middle of the night, decides to train, and notices a couple of weapons missing. That would suck.’ Ailith tried the door. ‘Locked...again. As expected of a high end building in the city, every room was secure. They were easy for her to pick but, she did have to give them credit, most ordinary people would find it impossible to pick.’ She once again whipped out the barbed wire and got to work. In her rush to leave Evan’s room, she had almost left it behind. ALMOST. “There.” Not seconds after, something in the lock clicked and the door swung open. She scoffed. Apparently, authorities didn’t think rooms in this building important enough to install electronic locks...not that it would be able to stop her. Ailith was quite the talented person when it came to breaking open locks. She had known it ever since she was young.

She took a final glance down the hall before entering the room full of weapons. ‘No one there. Good.’ The inside of the weapons shack looked exactly like it sounded. It was a room filled from ceiling to floor with weapons. There were all different types of guns, daggers, swords, staffs, explosives, and more. She grinned. She felt comfortable in the midst of weapons. Ailith tied a belt around herself and sheathed several daggers in the most comfortable- to- reach places. Several hidden in the belt under her shirt, several on her thigh, one in her shoe. After she was satisfied with all her placements, she stashed her bag with a gun and after some hesitation, two explosives. ‘I don’t really know how to use them but they might come in useful later on…’ Only seven minutes later, Ailith exited the shack. ‘Hopefully, I don’t get ambushed but in the case that I do, at the very least, I’ll be prepared.’

It was fairly easy to sneak out of the building. She locked the door to their dorm, praying that Alex wouldn’t return before her and find her missing, then snuck out the window. The roof of one of the wings was accessible from her window so she used it to her advantage. She jumped from her window ledge onto the roof, then over the barb wire fence.

Ailith slouched on one of the chairs nearest to her on the train headed towards Dorrance. It would be too suspicious to get off near Dorrance so Ailith planned on exiting the train three quarters of the way and running the rest. ‘What am I doing with my life. Everything I do just brings me a step closer to death.’ She heaved out a sigh, ready to rest her eyes for a bit when the train suddenly stopped. Alarmed, AIlith sat up straight and stared at the doorway. ‘Please no, please no.’ Randomly, the authorities checked the train thoroughly for any suspicious activity. Surely being caught with daggers guns and explosives counted as suspicious behavior.

The doors opened and people dressed in the uniform of the authorities barged in.

“Authority here, listen up everyone.” the captain - it seemed - barked.

Everyone’s heads turned toward the man now standing at the doorway of the train.

“We are sweeping the train for any signs of resistance. Everyone gets in a straight line. You try to run, hide, attack, or sneak away from us and we will not hesitate to shoot every one of you standing here. UNDERSTAND?”

When no-on moved or spoke, the captain translated it as submission and motioned to his peers.

Ailith swore to herself but got in line, bag in tow. The officers slowly moved down the line. 10 people in between her and the officer. 9 people, 8 people, 7 people, 6 people, 5 people, 4 people, 3 people, 2 people, 1 person…he stood in front of her.

“Hands up.”