Dark Addiction
-o-o-o-
'And it was the start of a my dark addiction'
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I stared at the buildings in front of me, their grey bodies towering over me ominously, staring down as if judging the stranger that was about to enter their territory. The sky above me rumbled and I glanced at it in worry.
I had been dreading this day for weeks. And now the day was here, I wanted to turn around and run. Even if I did they would still catch me and bring me back to this place. It's not like I had anywhere else to go.
I grabbed my suitcase that held what little supplies I was allowed to take and urged my feet to walk towards the tall black gates that fenced the dreaded place. The tops were spiked and the metal bars were thick and covered in dirt and rust, its paint peeling slightly from years of enclosing the building and its occupants.
A man stood at the gates entrance, his uniform was a mixture of navy blue and black, the collar crisp and straight from starch overdose and a long time under an iron. His face was wrinkled and a sickly pale colour. His brown hair was cut short and sharply, its neatness adding to his already strong air of authority.
"Are you Albarn?" His voice was deep and hard, like rocks scraping against rotting metal. I nodded nervously, in fear that if I spoke my voice would crack, or worse.
"Do you know your number?"
"T-two-seven-six-eight-point-four... Sir" I stuttered slightly, managing to keep my voice somewhat strong. The man looked down on me with analytical eyes. I stood in silence, letting the wind batter and push me around as if I was a thin piece of string. The man nodded.
"Come with me" Taking out a big, gnarled key, he slotted it into one of the gate's keyhole, opening it ajar slightly for me and my luggage. Placing a hand on my shoulder, he pushed me through the open gate and towards the bleak buildings of my nightmares. I heard the gate clang shut behind me, its noise echoing throughout the ghost-haunted graveyard. I felt all hope of trying to escape disappear with every drop of sweat that dripped down my neck and back. The man led me through another pair of smaller gates and into an open courtyard. The ghost town was ghostly no more. As we stepped into courtyard I saw hundreds of people fill the huge yard, all spread out and talking quietly among themselves in the dull sunlight. At the sound of the door opening they all stopped talking to stare at the new arrival.
I felt their judging gazes and critical thoughts shroud me like a cloud of fog on a mid-winter morning. Every hair on my body suddenly felt self conscious at the hard stares, prickling against my suddenly cold skin. As I walked past I noticed each one of them wore the same grey striped uniform as the other. The same uniform I would soon have to wear.
My guide pushed me forward and I pulled my gaze away from the sea of harsh stares and let the man lead me through a maze of concrete walls and worn out floors. Somewhere overhead a speaker fizz to life as a scratchy old voice crackled through it.
"Attention. All dorm occupants are reminded that visiting hours will be finished in 10 minutes. I repeat 10 minutes. Visiting hours are also open tomorrow at 5 till 6:30pm, anyone wishing to make a phone call, talk to the head receptionist. Dinner shall be served in 20 minutes. Anyone failing to arrive on time will be given no food and clean up duty. Lights go out at 8:00. I repeat 8:00" The corridor fell silent once more with only the sound of me and my guides shoes on the tiled floors echoing along the hallway.
He eventually stopped me in front of a door with the number '2768', and pushed the door to reveal the room inside. He softly shoved me inside to get a better look.
"This is where you shall sleep" I gazed at the room in horror. The walls may as well have been iron bars, as I stared at the faded pastel colours on the wall that were slowly starting to peel and shrivel up with old age. The room was practically empty, lacking in any sort of colour or light. Four beds were placed in each corner, the perfectly made sheets stiff and starch like, sticking out sharply at the edge of the bed.
To the side was a closed door which probably led to an adjoining bathroom with an open shower that held ice cold water, a chipped basin and a slightly grubby toilet.
"You have 3 other roommates to share the dorm with, so no fighting, shouting or arguing among each other. A list of all rules and regulations can be found in a book under your bed. Simply, stay out of trouble and we'll get along fine. Supper will be served in 20 minutes sharp. Unpack, wash up and get ready to head down" And with that the man left leaving me to watch his back disappear into the tangle of corridors and hallways. The wind moaned against the room, making it groan and squeak in protest as the pit pattering of a grey summer rain started. I sighed and sat on my bed making it sag sadly under my light weight and watched as a thin layer of dust rose from the mouldy yellow sheets, causing me to cough slightly.
-o-o-o-
'I didn't belong here'
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I looked out of the tiny window at the darkening sky, the sun sinking slowly behind the far off hills. Its light cast dark shadows across my new room and the garden below, making the empty trees, long dead, look like a zombie, raising its limbs out in chance to snare their cracked branches on an unsuspecting victim. Any plants that had once grown in the garden bed beside it had dried up or had lacked the loving care of a normal garden. Overgrown weeds and other unwanted plants had taken over the crumbly soil, declaring the garden as its new territory. I withdrew my gaze from the window and turned my attention back on the decaying room that I would be living in.
The silence was slowly interrupted as footsteps resounded in the hallway outside, slowly getting louder with each step. I hardly noticed the noise and stayed unmoving, deep in thought. It suddenly hit me as the footsteps outside stopped and the door to my room was opened, this was my new home.
-o-o-o-
'My new home for the next 6 years'
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This entire chapter is actually one of my first Extension English assessments. I was going through my stuff and, here it was! Truthfully this is one of my most favourite pieces I've ever written, and I doubt I'll ever be able to do it again. Originally it was meant to be a girl's perspective of a boarding school, but I made it so it could be anything really. A prison, insane asylum, creepy laboratory….
So I decided to tweak it slightly and make it a Soul Eater fan fiction, because I've been planning on doing one of those for ages now. I'm planning on making it slightly dark and gothic because I never right dark so yeah.
I really shouldn't be starting a new story. I know I know. Bad Azy
But I couldn't resist.
Anyway, hope you enjoy
Xx A.S