~Hazel POV~


A wheezed groan slipped past my lips as I shifted my body, letting my fingers roam over the thick, black silk sheets. I knit my eyebrows together, wincing at the bright sunlight illuminating the white room as I sat up in the King-sized bed, confusion washing over me. Wall-to-Floor windows covered the entire wall opposite of the bed, a large black wardrobe and matching English-style desk pressed against the wall to my left. Silk black curtains were wrapped around the black iron bedposts that sprouted from each corner of the bed frame.

A few raps on the door echoed through the room and my muscles tensed, my instincts kicking in before the large black door swung open and a small, frail, cream-colored woman with her grey hair tied into a French knot entered the room carrying a breakfast tray. She grinned at me, her wide lips parting as she motioned for me to scoot over. I did as I was told, curling up on the let side of the bed as she set the tray down on the right and sat down.

"You're up awful early for such a young lady," she commented, her high voice piercing. "Most of you teenagers will sleep like the dead if Dominus allows."

"Dominus? As in Dominus Creto?"

"Oh, girl, you'll do well not to say his name like that," the small woman laughed, handing me a glass of orange juice. "Well go on now, drink up. You've been asleep for days."

"Where am I at? And where's Anastasia?" I demanded, setting the juice down on the nightstand.

"The short-haired one they brought with you? She's fine, she's alright. She'll be just as confused as you have been, I imagine, although when I took her breakfast, she was snoring."

"What are we doing here?"

"They brought you, of course."

"Why would they bring us here? I wanna talk to who's in charge. I'm not staying. Not here."

I shoved the sheets away from my body and strutted over to the wardrobe, throwing open the doors and combing through the articles of clothing.

"We assumed you were about a size six." The nurse commented, watching me in amusement. I shot her a look before yanking on a pair of white jeans and a royal blue peasant blouse. I leaned against one of the tall windows, looking at the landscape outside.

"Where are the others? The two girls and three boys?"

"There were no others with you when you were found, Dear."

I breathed a sigh of relief. The other's hadn't been caught.

Tall, multi-colored mountains hung like blurs in the background, masses of colorful fall trees creating a sea of changing leaves several stories beneath the window. Several white marble buildings sprouted amongst the forest, pathways leading to each of them, all covered with bustling, uniformed students smiling and waving, weapons and bookbags strapped against their shoulders.

"Creto hates me," I said flatly, crossing the room and plopping down in front of the vanity, twisting my curls up into a ponytail. "Why is he buying me clothes?"

"He doesn't hate you, dear, he hates your circumstances."

"Excuse me?"

"Creto has a distaste for Downworlders, but has elected to allow a few of them into his housing due to their...talents."

"He likes what I can do."

"Everyone here likes what you can do, dear. You're quite famous if you weren't already aware."

"So when does he plan on killing me?"

"Killing? Are you able to be killed?"

"Can we stop playing the damn riddle game and just send me straight to him so we can speak?"

"I'm afraid not dear, he doesn't take too kindly to visitors. He's a busy man, you know."

"Yes, must be a tedious job, destroying lives and feeding on the souls of small children."

"If you don't have any classes today, I would assume you'd like to explore? Roam the castle a bit, take a poke around. I can wake your friend if you wish?"

"Classes?" I exclaimed, turning to face her. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Well of course not, dear!" She exclaimed, looking at me like I was stupid. "What else does one do at a boarding school?"

I watched her for a moment, unsure of whether or not she was serious.

I thought of Jamie. I thought of Aaron, and Lucy, I thought of all of them. I thought of the boy's beautiful bronze hair and the fact that I'd never kissed him, and now, thinking that I'd never see him again, it was all that I wanted to do. My fingertips brushed against my lips lightly before I turned back to the vanity and crossed my arms on the hard surface, laying my head down.

A hand squeezed my shoulder gently.

"Don't be afraid, dear," the woman whispered into my ear. "If anyone wanted you dead, you'd be dead by now. He would not have bothered to bring you here, to treat you well and keep you comfortable."

"Comfortable? He killed my bo-...he killed my friend's parents." I shot, my cheeks warm as I stared at her.

"He has killed many people in his quest to restore what is necessary to our government. Perhaps you ought to learn what is necessary instead of what you believe is right based on the way you feel."

"The way I feel is that no one deserves to die."

"Not even Dominus, then?"

I paused, biting the inside of my cheek with no answer. She raised an eyebrow at me and gave me a look before I sighed, leaning back in my seat.

"Suppose I don't put up a fight," I said slowly. "Suppose I stay here, and I learn, I go to class and all of that. What happens then? He just expects me to live here?"

"To live here, explore your talents, develop your gifts, you know as much."

"Gifts? I don't have any gifts. I mean...you already know what I can do. But I have no gifts."

"Oh my dear," she chuckled, shaking her head at me. "You have so much to learn. Everyone here has gifts."

I watched the old woman, searching for any type of deception in her eyes. There was none. She could be under a spell, enchanted, I thought to myself carefully. She could be a fantastic liar. I bit down on my lip and nodded at her.

"I should probably have a bite to eat, shouldn't I?" I asked sweetly. She nodded, grinning before leaving me with the food. The door shut behind her and I bolted to my feet.

I slid all of the foot off of the tray and shoved it out the windows, along with the orange juice. I clutched the metal tray in one hand and the glass in the other. I tried the doorknob, surprised when it opened easily, and peered out into the bright white corridor. Jesus Christ, I thought bitterly. There's no way in Hell you could hide in this place.

I ducked out of the room quickly, making it only a few feet before a pair of hands snatched at my shoulders. I yelped, swinging the tray backwards and connecting it with the jaw of my attacker.

"AH, GOD," Thomas shouted, clutching his face. "Jesus!" he sprawled out against the floor on his back, turning to his side.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I-wait, what the Hell are you doing here?" I demanded, raising the tray again in suspicion. Thomas raised his hands in defense, scooting away from me.

"The same thing you're doing here you crazy ass-"

"What? You mean they brought you here too?"

"Well, duh. After they started carrying you out, Stas went ape-shit and they grabbed her too. I had to follow, I wasn't gonna let them walk off with my chick."

I helped him to his feet, apologizing to him again.

"What are we doing here?"

"It's a school," Thomas shrugged. "They took our blood and analyzed it, had to figure out what species we were before they were gonna decide whether or not to kill us, but eventually they just gave me a dorm and a list of classes like nothing ever happened."

"And you didn't try to escape?"

"Of course I did, am I stupid? I've gotten my ass beat at least twenty times within the last three days. They said as long as I cooperate though, they'll leave me alone. They just want us to be good and go to class. As long as Stas is here and safe, I can't really complain."

"Complain?! We're surrounded by the enemy?!"

"Enemies would want us dead," he said plainly. "They just want us to go to school."

I tossed the tray aside and crossed my arms, sighing.

"Jamie and them will come for us."

"Yeah, if they can find the place. We're underwater."

"What do you mean we're underwater?" I looked through the window and up at the blue, clear sky.

"I mean they took us into a lake. We went underwater and poof-here we were. I've no idea how to get back, but I supposed that's why they're not worried about us escaping. It's because we can't."

"So what do we do?" I demanded in disbelief. Thomas shrugged, running a hand through his thick blonde hair. The light was casting a shadow across his straight, small nose, his wide, thin lips forming a tight line.

"Well, Stasi's asleep, so I guess there's really only one thing we can do. We gotta talk to Creto."

"Creto doesn't handle visitors, that's what the Nurse told me."

"He doesn't handle visitors unless they're causing trouble," he grinned, mischief spreading across his expression. "So trouble we will cause."