She awakened slowly, but didn't open her eyes. She never opened her eyes right when she awoke. It was a habit that her mom taught her; her mother said that if you still seem like your asleep, that you could hear angels talking. So Leah taught herself to not open her eyes when she woke up, and she still does it, even though she doesn't believe the story.
She did hear something, though. Two voices, talking in another language. Both were female. She listened. Suddenly they both laughed, and fell silent.
Leah kept her eyes closed, waiting...waiting...
"Leah." Someone said in her ear. She jumped and her eyes opened. She turned her head, and screamed.
The woman was black, with white hair. She was smiling; she had the teeth of a vampire, and her eyes were snake eyes. There was not a single blemish on her skin. Leah stared, wide eyed. She didn't breathe for a while. Then she exhailed.
"Jesus!" the woman said, meking a face. "Brush your teeth!"
Leah blinked, and the woman walked away. Leah was instantly greeted with another woman.
"Sorry about that." She said. Her accent was English. "Arielle is always bloody rude to newbie's."
"Ah, they need it. All the one's that Anahimi picks are always weak and dumb."
"Here, you need to sit up." The English woman helped Leah sit up. Leah looked around, noticing an old Victorian-style room. She was in a bedroom. There was a dusty chandelier hanging lazily from the ceiling. A dark red chair sat only feet from where the English woman stood. Behind the chair was a big window, which Arielle was staring out of. It was night.
"Oh, my name's Cider, by the way." The English woman said. Leah was too baffled to speak instantly. She opened her mouth, but her throat seemed clogged. She swallowed and managed to say, "Where—am--I?"
Cider smiled. "You will be told in a while. Listen, you need—" She reached over to the side. Leah leaned over to see where. Cider produced an old metal cup with steam coming out of it. "—to drink this. Don't worry it's not poison. It'll help you sleep." She held out the cup. Leah slowly took it, and stared into the cup, seeing dark liquid. She suddenly remembered what happened before.
Leah threw the cup in Cider's face and ran towards the door. She opened it and ran out.
"Leah!" She heard Cider yell. She kept running. She didn't know where, she was too frightened to notice.
"Leah! Stop!" Cider yelled. She was closer. Leah's heart pounded with fear, but she kept going.
Suddenly, it became dark. Her body stopped, as if by some invisible force. She was lifted off the ground, her head touched the ceiling.
"Leave me alone!" She screamed. She was moved, slowly, but she didn't know where; it was too dark to tell. She heard a door open, slightly squeaking. A light came through it. It was from a candle on a desk. An old man, bald head, but with a slight beard, was sitting behind it, reading a book. Leah was slowly put down onto the ground. But she still wasn't able to move.
The man looked up, smiled slightly, his wrinkles becoming obvious. He looked down at his book.
"Leah Beatrice Johnson, I assume." He said. He then turned a page. Suddenly, Leah somehow knew who this man was. She knew, even though she had never seen this man before. Not in the newspaper, not on T.V., not in her life.
But she knew that this was Anahimi Colopis, head founder of the I.S.U.