Chapter 2 – Betrayed
Nicky rolls over at pulls the covers tighter over her head. She has just finished her first week at the Isis Boarding School for Girls and now it was finally the weekend and she was really wanted to sleep in. She had to wake up at 6 every morning during the week, but since it was the weekend she could sleep in an extra hour and a half. At 7:30 Nicky hears Chrissie's alarm go off and the other girl get out of bed. Nicky hears a door open and close then a shower start a few minutes later.
Nicky sits up, yawning and stretching. She was glad to have her own bathroom, happy that she won't have to wait for Chrissie to get out of the bathroom. The girl takes so long! Nicky chuckles a bit. It really was funny how Chrissie was spent so much time in front of a mirror. It wasn't like she had to look good for any men, since this was an all-girl school after all. Though, since they could go into town on the weekends Nicky could understand Chrissie taking extra time today.
Nicky slowly gets out of bed and heads over to her armoire to get a change of clothes before heading into her bathroom to shower and get ready for breakfast. When she walks out of her bathroom and looks over at Chrissie. She was wearing a long skirt and a pretty sweater while Nicky was wearing pants and a sweatshirt over a long t-shirt. Chrissie had her hair up in the usual ponytail with a red ribbon tied around it. Nicky, who's hair reaches the back of her knees when it's down, had her hair up in a long braid. "You look nice today Chrissie," Nicky says with a smile.
Chrissie smiles back, "Thank you, I don't think I've ever seen your hair up before."
Nicky nods, "Yeah, I just figured since it was getting cold, I'd put my hair up." And it was getting cold since it was getting close to winter. Jason hadn't actually applied for Nicky to go to the school until late November since that was when he had heard about the school. Normally the school wouldn't have taken in a new student like that, but another student had to drop out so they had an opening. Jason knew it was really lucky that Nicky had gotten accepted.
The two girls head out to meet up with the other four girls before heading to breakfast. While they eat the girls are talking about what they want to do in town and where they want to have lunch. Chrissie turns to Nicky, "So, where do you want to go to eat?"
Nicky jumps a little, even though they let her hang out with them Chrissie and her crew didn't really include Nicky in their conversations very much. Nicky smiles, "Actually, I was going to stay behind today and do my laundry."
"That's too bad," Leslie says, even though it was obvious she didn't mean it. From the first day it seemed like Leslie didn't like her very much.
"Yeah, this is your first weekend here you should into town with us," Chrissie says, sounding much more genuine, "But if you really want to stay then that's okay."
"Yeah, sorry," Nicky stands up, taking her tray and dishes over to the drop off area where the kitchen workers collect them. Nicky sighs and heads back to her room to get her laundry while the others go off to whatever it is they usually do on Saturdays. Nicky spends an hour doing her laundry, folding and putting it away. Since she wasn't really able to check out the school library during the week, Nicky heads there next. She spends two whole hours walking around and finding books to check out.
By the time Nicky gets back to her room it's already 11:30. Nicky spends some time reading then heads down for lunch. Nicky spends her afternoon walking around the school grounds and trying to familiarize herself with the area. Around 5:00 Nicky heads back inside to call home. Since the area she was in was five hours ahead of her home town she figured if she called then her mom would be either eating or making lunch.
The phone only rings twice before it's picked up and a familiar voice is heard on the other end, "Hello?"
Nicky smiles, "Hi mom."
"Nicky! Hi, how have you been? How is school going?" Kathy sounds really happy and relieved to hear from Nicky.
Nicky chuckles, "I'm alright and school is going okay. I have a nice roommate and she lets me hang out with her and her friends."
"That's great to hear. Have you been eating well? And what about your laundry? I read that you have to wash your own clothes." Kathy sounded a bit worried.
Nicky chuckles again, "I'm eating fine. They serve really balanced meals here. The school even employs its own dietitian. As for the clothes, yes I have to wash them. I actually did my laundry earlier this morning and everything came out okay so you don't have to worry about that either."
"That's good," there is a small pause, "Are you…enjoying yourself? Do you like it there?"
Nicky sighs, "Well, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I would rather be home, but I don't hate it here."
"Good. I really miss you sweetie."
"I know mom, I miss you too," Nicky looks down, glad the phones were in little booths and no one could see her. "But, at least I'll be able to come home for winter break and that's coming up here pretty soon." Nicky says with a smile that slowly fades when the line stays quiet, "Mom? Are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Nicky hears her mom say, sounding guilty and Nicky's stomach drops.
"Mom… I am coming home for winter break, right?" Nicky grips the phone waiting for her mom to say yes, that she was being silly for even asking, but the line goes quiet again. Nicky starts to panic, clutching the phone even tighter, "Mom?"
There is another pause, "Uh, well… Jason has to go to a business meeting in Aspen… He's going to be gone for two weeks, from the 21st to the 4th…"
"So?" Nicky already knew though.
"He wants me to go with him. The client told him to bring me and… I'm so sorry baby." Nicky stays quiet. "Nicky?" she hears her mom ask, but she just hangs up the phone, sitting there for a few moments. I knew it… He's taking mom on a vacation during the two weeks I'm supposed to be coming home. I hate him… Nicky stands and heads back to her room. She really wanted to punch something, but instead she falls face first onto her bed and cries for a little while, goes down for dinner, comes back to her room and takes a shower.
Nicky still couldn't believe her mom was going along with what Jason was planning instead of waiting for her to come home. She was her only child for Christ sake! Nicky sighs and gets out of the shower, drying her hair and putting on her long flowing nightgown. She stares at her reflection for a bit. She really loved her Olga nightgown. It was so pretty! Nicky smiles, slipping on the silky robe that goes with her gown and stepping into a pair of soft white slippers, ones that look almost like ballet shoes, before stepping out into her bedroom.
Nicky was surprised to see that Chrissie was back and the other four were with her. They were all laughing and going through the things they had bought while in town. The girls look over, all of them going quiet. Chrissie's eyes widen and Leslie's jaw drops. Alison is the first person to speak, "Wow… You're so pretty!" she jumps out of her seat, running over and latching on to Nicky's arm.
Nicky jumps, blushing a bit, "Uh… okay?"
"She means your nightgown," Natalie explains, "It's really pretty."
"Oh, thank you," Nicky smiles, patting Alison on the head. She and Natalie were actually a grade below the rest of them. It was actually their uniforms that made Nicky ask her first day about it. Their uniforms were a little different form her and the other two's. Alison lets go and goes back to sit down.
"What brand is that?" Chrissie asks, motioning for Nicky to sit down.
Nicky sits down on her own bed, "It's a vintage Olga Bodysilk."
"Vintage?" Leslie asks.
Nicky nods, "It's a 70's model."
"Well, it's very pretty," Chrissie says with a smile and the girls move on to a different topic. The girls stay up talking until 11:00 when Chrissie changes the topic again, "So, I think it's about time to tell Nicky about the initiation."
The other girls go quiet and Nicky looks around at all of them before asking, "What initiation?"
"Well, you see it's something we all had to do, how you officially get into our group," Chrissie explains smiling.
Now Nicky was worried, "What is it?"
Chrissie stands and moves over to the window, pulling the curtain to the side and motioning outside. Nicky stands and walks over, looking at what she was pointing to. "The gate?" Nicky looks over at Chrissie who moves to stand in front of the door.
All she says is "Come with me," before walking out, the other girls following close behind. Nicky stands there for a moment before walking and following the group out to the lobby and stopping in front of the dorm entrance. Chrissie turns back to look at Nicky, "Your initiation is, you have to go outside, go over to the gate, touch it and come back."
Nicky stares at Chrissie for a moment. She looks out at the tall bronze gate that was a good ways off. There weren't many lights so it was pretty dark. The only light touching the gate was the light from the full moon. Nicky looks back at Chrissie and asks, "Why?" She just doesn't see the point.
The girls look around at each other, mumbling to themselves. Chrissie raises an eyebrow, "Why?" Chrissie scoffs, "It…it's a show of loyalty, a test of courage. It's to prove to the rest of the group that you will stick with us no matter what. We've all done it."
Nicky crosses her arms, glancing outside before looking back at Chrissie, "It's against the rules to go out after 8:00."
"I know. We all know," Chrissie pinches the bridge of her nose and rubs her eyes sighing, "Look, because it's against the rules is one of the reasons we do this. It's a way of bonding." Chrissie walks over and puts a hand on Nicky's shoulder, "It's a secret we each share. It's kind of like; if one of us tells we all get in trouble so we know no one will tell."
Nicky just blinks and shakes her head, "I don't want to do it. I don't want to get in trouble my first week here."
Chrissie gives a heavy sigh, "Look, you won't get in trouble, okay? We'll all go outside with you. You just have to walk over to the gate by yourself."
"I don't want to. It's cold out and I'm in a very thin gown," Nicky crosses her arms tighter.
"Nicky…" Chrissie gives Nicky her sad, disappointed look.
"Look, you don't have to worry about me telling anyone. I mean, really who would believe me? I just really don't want to go out." Nicky just stands there looking at the other girls not wanting to tell them the real reason was that she was afraid of the dark.
Chrissie gives a disappointed sigh, "I was really hoping you would just agree to this…" Chrissie walks over to stand near the others. Nicky just stares at the group, a confused look on her face. She didn't understand what Chrissie meant until the girls suddenly grabbed her and shoved her outside, closing the door on her.
"C-Chrissie!" Nicky spins around and tries to open the door, finding it locked. She feels her heart start to pound as she bangs on the door. "Chrissie let me back in!"
Chrissie moves the curtain and Nicky hears her call out, "Touch the gate and we'll let you back in."
"No, let me in right now!" Nicky shouts back. Chrissies shakes her head and points towards the gate and Nicky can hear giggles and laughter coming from inside. "Let me in or I swear I'll report you for this first thing in the morning!" The laughter stops and Chrissie's eyes widen. Nicky watches her look over to the side, her mouth moving. She was obviously talking to the others. Chrissie looks back over at Nicky, letting the curtain fall back to cover the window.
Nicky bangs on the door again, trying to get it open. When the door doesn't budge Nicky looks back behind her, puller her robe tighter to try and fight off the cold. It was so dark out… Nicky feels her heart pounding in her chest. She could stand the dark while she was in her own room, lying in her own bed, but out there with all that open space it was terrifying. Someone could easily sneak up on her, especially with the gown and robe she was wearing. In the moonlight it was almost like they were glowing.
Nicky shivers and looks back at the door, moving a bit to try and keep warm. She whimpers and looks around again. Suddenly the door behind her flies open and Nicky is grabbed from behind, a pillow case thrown over her head and she was being dragged. Nicky struggled a bit but with two girls on each arm there wasn't really much she could do.
As Nicky struggles she hears the sound of metal against metal. Then she feels herself being shoved, the pillow case being pulled off of her head as well as her robe being yanked off. Nicky spins around to see a small rot iron door being slammed shut and locked from the inside. Nicky's eyes widen when she sees that she was on the outside of the wall surrounding the school grounds.
"Wh-what the hell?" Nicky can only manage a rough whisper.
Chrissie and Leslie stand looking at her from the inside while the other three head off to go back inside. Chrissie stares at Nicky, a sad look on her face, "You should have just done the initiation." Chrissie turns and heads back inside.
Leslie stands there, for a bit longer, holding Nicky's robe in her hands. She had a less sympathetic look. She actually glares at Nicky saying soft enough so only the two of them could hear, "You should have never come here. You should have just stayed in America."
"What?" Nicky stares at Leslie, shaking from fear and the cold. Leslie spins around and heads back inside. "Wait!" Nicky calls out, "Wait, come back!" Nicky grabs onto the door. "Come back! Let me back in!" She watches as the door to the dormitory closes behind the last girl. Nicky feels tears in her eyes. They'll come back out, right? They'll have to let me back in. They can't leave me out here all night, I'll freeze. But something told her, that was exactly what they were counting on. Oh god… Please tell me they aren't trying to kill me.
Nicky jumps when she hears a twig snap behind her. She spins around, seeing a flash of white and then everything went black.
