[ March 13th, XX45]
"Come on, shit!" A nineteen year old girl cursed as she tried to free her leg from the vent she had just crawled out of.
"Ms. Foster!"
"No, no!" Elaine screamed the moment her leg was pulled from the vent, she landed on the ground beneath her.
"Come here young lady! I am sick and tired of these escape attempts of yours."
Elaine sat up to look her headmistress in the eyes and froze when she saw the look of pure rage on the woman's face.
"You've been in detention, had your fair share of whippings, and you've been on constant watch for the past four months. What will it take to put you in your place?!" The Headmaster said as she slapped a paddle in the palm of her hand hinting at what was to come.
"I don't belong here! Just let me leave, let me go!" Elaine screamed, her arm was pulled swiftly into the headmistress' grip and she was smacked hard across the back.
"Your grandmother entrusted you with us for a reason young lady, your ideals about the dead must be put to a stop. No matter how much you may act like it, you are not a filthy bound!" The headmistress yelled as she gave Elaine five more lashes for her misdemeanors against the institutes' policies.
"Stop, please!"
"...What are you doing?"
Hannah Ohms gasped as she stepped away from the door that led to the classroom nearest to the exit.
"I, uhm, I was just-"
"Spying." One of the upper years said cutting Hannah off. She didn't know how to respond, so she chose to remain silent.
"You know, you two are alot alike."
"I'm sorry?" Hannah asked, offended by the insinuation that seemed to stir beneath the young man's words.
"Pft, I simply mean that both of you are very curious about what goes on around here. Many people your age have already learned not to listen in on the masters and their dealings with the other students, it does nothing but lead to trouble."
"You act like I do this everyday!" Hannah bit back.
"Trust me Ohms, I've heard the rumours - that likely stemmed from your mouth - about how you operate within these halls. You and Elaine Foster would get along quite nicely."
With that said the boy left as the door to the Alchemy room was starting to open. Hannah dropped her books acting like she had just gotten there as she picked them up one by one.
The Headmistress stepped out of the room and gave her a passing glance before leaving for what Hannah presumed to be the main office.
Elaine however didn't bother stepping out of the room which had Hannah peeking her head in with curiosity.
'Damn, that boy was right wasn't he?' She thought to herself as she stared at the girl who was lying on the ground in pain.
"Are you alright?" Hannah whispered but Elaine didn't respond. The class would be starting soon and they were sure to spread rumors about what had happened. Hannah could spot the broken vent the moment she entered the room.
Walking up to Elaine, Hannah tried to shake her awake but her hand was smacked away the moment she touched her arm.
"Hey, I'm just trying to help you!"
"I don't need your help." Elaine whimpered out as she moved to push herself up from the ground. Hannah could see the splotches of blood that stained the back of Elaine's uniform.
"She hit hard enough for you to bleed?!"
"Well, it certainly feels like it."
"We should get you to the infirmary."
"I'm fine, why do you care anyway?"
"Well, because no one deserves to get hurt for just wanting to leave."
"Is that so, Ms. Ohms." Hannah flinched at the sound of the headmistress' voice.
"Then maybe you'd like to join in detention."
"Detention, but headmistress I-"
"No excuses, go now!"
"Yes ma'am." The both of them said in unison before heading off to the detention room with the headmistress following right behind them.
They were led to a small room without chairs, a large pile of books sat in the corner of the room.
"The two of you have been here enough times to know what to do, so get to it!" The two girls grabbed four books each and kneeled on the floor, both holding the books above their heads. They sat in complete silence that was only disturbed when one would drop the books, both of which did so many times during the course of the next four hours. Only to pick them up again, with weakened arms.
Once the day was over and they were sent back to their rooms Hannah stopped Elaine in the halls to speak.
"You know, I could help you."
"Help, help me with what?" Elaine asked, all she wanted to do was heal her injuries and to sleep.
"Help you to escape this place." Hannah whispered as they passed by a few students heading to their dorms.
"Hey, Elaine. You look like you got the life sucked outta ya."
"Yeah, I get it. Asshole" Elaine cursed under her breath as they got out of ear shot from the group of students.
"Look Ohms, I don't need your help, just leave me alone."
"You've been trying to escape for the past two years, that's as long as you've been here. I know where those vents lead and I know you've gotten close, but do you really think that you'll make it through? Especially now that the headmistress knows you plan to go through there again."
"I never said I plan on going through there again."
"No, but I can see the look of determination on your face. Look, I wanna leave too, hell half of the students here do, they just don't vocalise it as loud as you do."
"What exactly do you want from me?" Elaine bit out in retaliation, it wasn't often someone was nice to her, most of the students just sat back and laughed at her for even attempting to escape.
"You're different Elaine, you may not have a mark to prove it but we all can sense the strangeness coming off you in waves. I happen to like things that are strange, so, all I want is to observe your actions. That's it, oh, and to leave as well of course."
"Strange things? Are you talking of the bounded, you like them? Pft, have you ever even met one of them, I bet those marks prove nothing of their supposed 'powers.'"
"Well, that's why I want to observe them, and you. To see if an unbound person such as yourself can be more powerful than one of them, after all once we leave we're bound to meet one right? So, what's the harm?"
Elaine pursed her lips. "Fine, only if you prove to be of any use, that is."
"Oh, trust me Elaine, I know many things about this place. Meet me by the library tomorrow morning at five. I'll show you all the shortcuts the headmistress likes to take."
Elaine turned to Hannah, only to notice that she had disappeared.
"Shortcuts?" Elaine murmured to herself, is this the reason she kept getting caught? She did find it very strange how the headmistress would appear out of nowhere.
It wasn't until the next morning that she received her answer.
[ March 14th, XX45]
"They're planted where the camera's can't find you, I think it's because the headmistress is the only adult that knows about it, and doesn't want her higher ups to know of its existence." "They're all hidden very well." Hannah said as she hid in one of the corner walls and moved a picture frame causing her to fall through the floor.
"Woah." Elaine said as she did the same and her gut churned at the height from which she fell.
"Haha, fun right!" Hannah laughed as she picked herself up from the cushioned floor and waved Elaine over through the opening of the underground tunnel.
"Over this way is where you'll find the way out." They walked for quite a while until they reached a trapped door placed above their heads.
"The only thing is, is that this entrance is heavily guarded on the outside, and it's best if we remain quiet while we're over here, or the headmistress might hear us."
"How do you know that?"
"Because this entrance leads underneath her desk in the main office, where there happens to be a door that leads straight towards the exit."
"It's where I get most of the rumours from, student's direct visits to her office."
"Wait... So, you're the one who they call 'the talker.'"
"Yes but that's no surprise, almost everyone in our year knows it's me. I've gotten in trouble for it quite a few times."
"But you've never gotten caught." Hannah shook her head no.
"So, are you ready to leave, or not?"
"Wait, you mean this is it?"
"What were you expecting, some kind of massive showdown? Of course this is it you idiot. No offence...I've just been planning this for quite some time."
"So, why not leave sooner?"
"Because you weren't there with me."
"You really factored me into all of this?"
"Of course I did, now come on, before we run out of time." Hannah whispered as she climbed up and through the hatch, Elaine followed her lead.
It took them less than two minutes to crawl out of the hatch and get out of the door. There they ran to the nearest forest and continued as far as their legs would carry them.
As they ran Hannah pulled out what looked to be a hand drawn map.
"The teachers should be coming after us right about now!"
"This way!" Elaine cursed as she heard one of the teachers call out from behind them.
"Hannah!" Elaine shouted as quietly as she could.
"Come on!" Hannah said as she pulled Elaine's arm towards a new direction.
They ran for hours taking mini breaks along the way and Elaine was finding herself grateful that Hannah was with her, otherwise she might've starved to death having no knowledge of the right kind of herbs to eat.
"Luckily I thought far ahead, huh?" Elaine nodded as she ate another handful of berries.
"So, I've been wondering, what exactly led you to Hollister's institute in the first place, I mean I know you're strange compared to everyone else but that's about it."
Elaine swallowed her food and paused for a bit before she answered the question.
"I wanted to be a Mortician."
"Huh? Is- Is that it?"
"What do you mean? 'Is that it?'"
"Well it's just there are plenty of unbounded morticians, it may not be the most favored occupation but it is one nonetheless."
"Well I suppose my grandmother didn't see it that way."
"Hmm, well I can't say I really understand-"
"I don't either." Elaine said.
"I got here because I fell for my neighbor."
"Huh? Why would that be a problem? Was he too old for you or something?"
"No, she was fourteen, the same age I was before I got here."
"Oh… So, you've been here for how long?"
"About five years now."
"Damn, no wonder you know so much."
"...thanks."
"Also, I don't think there's a problem, you know, liking a woman. It should be your choice."
Hannah smiled.
"As should be your occupation." Elaine smiled back.
"So, where is it exactly that we're going?"
"Well, we're going to have to stick to the forests until we get out of the country."
"What, why?!"
"Well, we can't exactly go back home, our families will just bring us back, mostly because once we're enrolled we can't leave by law until we legally turn twenty-four, didn't you hear all of this when you first got here?"
"All I could really think about was leaving, I didn't pay much attention to what the headmistress had to say."
Hannah shook her head. "No wonder you ended up breaking so many rules. Anyway, I heard that outside of the country is a safe haven for both the Bound and the Unbounded that seek refuge from the laws."
"I see, so there are others like us."
"Yeah, and that's exactly where we're heading."
