Chapter Seven
Audrey
“ N o. Why? I don’t understand...” I trail off, looking up at the person standing over me.
“Does it really matter?”
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
I jerk awake at the sound of my alarm. Reaching over blindly, I slap my hand over my phone until the alarm cuts off.
Sitting up, I run my hands over my face. I was dreaming, wasn’t I? I was confused and there was a man, a familiar man, who was standing over me as I asked why.
I try to focus on his face, but it’s like it only ends up blurrier. In fact, as I try to focus on any of the details of the dream, I can feel it all slipping away from me until all I’m left with is a feeling of discontent sitting heavy in my chest.
Damn it!
Throwing back my comforter, I walk blindly across the room toward the bathroom. Grateful to find it empty, I go to flick the lock on the doors before realizing there are none. What the hell is that all about? Who doesn’t put locks on the bathroom door?
Blinking under the harsh light of the bathroom, it takes a moment for my eyes to focus on the room around me. The bathroom is massive—bigger than the bedroom I’m sharing with Diana. Along the wall with the door to the shared living area are four sinks, two on each side of the door.
Turning around, I realize the reason there aren’t any locks on the doors leading into the bathroom. It’s been separated out by area so more than one person can be in here at a time. Beyond the sinks, it looks like everything else is behind a closed door. Starting on the wall that runs along our room, I start opening doors. The first contains a toilet, and the second a linen closet with fluffy towels and two containers with mine and Diana’s names on them. Inside the containers are soaps, shampoos, conditioners, makeup, hair brushes—anything we might need, honestly.
How did they know we’d choose that room? It’s a little creepy if you ask me.
Shaking my head, I grab the container with my name on it and two towels before continuing my search.
The next door reveals a huge shower room with a bench and tub inside of it. I set my stuff on the bench, taking note of the lock on this door before stepping back out to see what else there is to be found in the bathroom.
It turns out, not much. There are four total shower rooms, each with their own lock, two linen closets, and two toilets. Each side of the bathroom is a reflection of the other. It’s an interesting setup to be sure. If the containers in the other linen closet are to be believed, it appears that Diana and I will be sharing a bathroom with Celeste and Willow.
Heading back to the shower room where I left my things, I lock the door. There’s more than enough room in here for five or six people, which seems unnecessary. There are multiple shower heads on the back wall with the bathtub on another. It also seems to be bigger than necessary, but when I check it out, I realize it’s a jetted tub. I’ll definitely be making use of that, eventually.
Walking back over to the wall with the bench, I undress and leave my clothes there. Picking up the container, I realize there are spots beneath the showerheads to hold them. Walking over to the first one, I set the container on its shelf and flick the water on. I expect it to be cold, but it comes out at just the right temperature.
“Well, that’s nice. Magic definitely has its uses.” I laugh to myself as I dunk my head under the water and allow it to run over me. The hot water beats down on my shoulders and the tension slips away—tension I didn’t even realize I was carrying. I think the dream messed with me more than I thought it did.
Not that dwelling on it is going to do me any good, so I grab the shampoo and dump some in my hand. I hum, smiling as the peaches and cream scent reaches my nose. This has always been my favorite.
Even as I have the thought, my smile falls away. I know it hasn’t even been a day yet, but I hate not having my memory. I don’t feel comfortable in my skin. Every time I remember something like this, it sends a shiver down my spine. I’ve yet to remember anything tangible about my life, just stupid shit like this being my favorite shampoo. All useless information.
I lather my hair with more force than necessary, wincing when it gets tangled in my fingers. It’s not going to do me any good to get frustrated when there’s nothing I can do about it. Instead, I allow myself to enjoy the shower, and I’ll admit I feel better when I step back into my room, wrapped in nothing but a towel.
Diana’s alarm is going off, her phone lighting up and screaming, but she doesn’t seem to notice. Remembering her words from last night, I turn the lights on before walking over to her bed. Sitting on the edge, I reach over to shake her shoulder, but she just keeps sleeping. Shaking my head, I cut off her alarm. There’s no reason for me to continue to listen to it blaring if it isn’t going to help her wake up.
“Diana,” I call out, shaking her harder. She grunts and rolls on her side, pulling the covers over her head. I laugh, realizing this is probably why she gave me permission to drag her out of the bed. I’d rather not do that, so I hope it doesn’t come to that. “Come on, girlie. I’m starving. Get your ass out of bed.”
I pull back her covers and slap her ass. She squeals, sitting up and turning to me with wide eyes. “That’s certainly one way to be woken up.”
“Glad it worked. Now, I’m going to get dressed. Get ready so we can check on the others and get some breakfast.” Leaving her as she climbs out of the bed and heads for the bathroom, I move to the closet. Swinging it open, I stare in shock before laughter spills from my lips.
I’m still laughing a few minutes later when Diana rejoins me. “What the hell are you laughing at?”
Stepping back, I gesture into the closet. Inside are two rows of clothes—white button-down shirts with short pink and purple plaid skirts hanging just beyond them. “Maybe Death has a schoolgirl fetish,” I offer when she wrinkles her nose.
“I don’t know why else we’d be forced to wear these,” she agrees. “You know what? I don’t even care. At least there are clothes.”
She reaches in and pulls out a uniform for both of us, tossing me mine. Moving to my dresser, I find bras and panties waiting for me—all in the right size.
Yeah, that’s still creepy as fuck.
Choosing to ignore the creep factor for now, I hurriedly get dressed before realizing I don’t have any shoes. Heading back to the closet, I find a pair of pumps and shake my head. “Yeah, fuck that. I’m wearing my boots. Obviously, Death is a perv, and I’m at least going to wear shoes I’m comfortable in.”
“What do you mean?” Diana asks as she pops out of the bathroom again. I hold up the heels and she snorts. “Yeah, I think I’ll be sticking with the flats I woke up in.”
Once we’re dressed, we step into the living area to find the others waiting for us—none of them looking excited about the uniforms. Not that I can blame them. I feel like my ass is just about hanging out of the skirt.
“I didn’t even wear a uniform when I went to school,” Madison says with confidence before wrinkling her brow. “At least I don’t think so. I hate not having my memories.”
All of us hum our agreement because who wants to forget the life they’ve lived? Forget the person they were? No one, that’s who.
As a unit, we step into the hallway, finding it completely filled to the brim with others. I guess that’s what happens when you have a thousand people on one floor. Realizing that most people are waiting for the elevator, I grab Diana’s arm and pull her toward the stairs. I step into the stairwell, letting out a sigh of relief when I’m no longer feeling crushed by people surrounding me.
One by one, the other girls from my suite step into the stairwell, each looking relieved. Somehow, we managed to keep all eight of us together. If nothing else, at least we accomplished that today.
“I figured going down ten flights of stairs would be easier than trying to fight everyone to get on the elevator,” I say with a shake of my head, already starting down the stairs. Do I want to climb down ten flights of stairs? Absolutely not, but there was no way I was going to stand in the hallway and be crushed. Thanks, but no thanks.
I set a leisurely pace down the stairs, the other girls filling in behind me. It doesn’t take long for us to make it to the ground floor, only to find it nearly as busy as our floor had been.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Shaking my head, I grab Diana’s hand and wait until our group is linked together before starting my way across the floor. And I’m not exactly nice about it, which means I get more than a few dirty looks. Not that I care. All I care about is getting me and my suitemates out of this crowd. No wonder they start running the shuttles or whatever at six o’clock. This is insane.
Finally, I manage to make it through the building door and outside. I suck in a breath of fresh air, grateful to no longer be crammed in like sardines. It takes me a few minutes to realize I’d been close to a panic attack. Apparently, I don’t like crowds. Good to know.
Glancing up at the sky, I realize it isn’t blue like on earth. It’s a deep purple that’s nearly black and there’s no visible sun, moon, or stars, but it’s much brighter than it had been last night. Interesting. I assume we’ll be taught about that at some point. If not, I’ll need to make sure to ask.
It takes a few moments for the rest of the girls to shove their way out the door, but as soon as Grace steps out, I lead us over to the line beside the shuttle carts. They appear to be huge golf carts, holding at least forty people per cart. At least we won’t have to wait long to make it to the damn dining hall. I’m suddenly starving.
“This is crazy,” I murmur, shaking my head. “How is this sustainable?”
“It’s not,” the girl in front of me huffs as she spins around, her thick, black hair billowing behind her as her baby blue eyes lock with mine. “The morning is always the worst with the influx of new students. Most of us who are still stuck in these dorms are out of here at like six, so we don’t have to deal with it. By the end of the day, hundreds of those that arrived with you will be gone already. Plus hundreds from the class the day before, and so on and so on.”
I nod, chewing on my lip. “Oh. And how long have you been here?”
“A little over a month.” She shrugs, stepping up as the next cart pulls up for us to load onto. “If you make it through the day, try to go to breakfast early to avoid this. It’s supposed to be easier when we get moved into the older dorms—they have their own dining halls.”
“Thanks.” I smile, offering her my hand. “I’m Audrey.”
The girl frowns down at my hand as she shakes her head. “You’re welcome for the information, but don’t try to befriend anyone this early in your time here. It only ends in heartbreak. Trust me.”
My smile turns into a frown as I watch her clamber onto the cart, hurrying to a seat without glancing back. With a shrug, I follow her lead, but choose a seat further away from her.
Turning to the others, I wrinkle my nose. “That was weird, right? It’s not just me?”
Diana snorts. “No, that was definitely weird.”
“Maybe she has a point,” Celeste cuts in. “They did say cuts could happen at any time. Maybe it’s smart not to rely on anyone so soon.”
Cocking my head, I lift my eyebrows. “Are you saying you don’t want to be my friend, Celeste? I’m hurt.”
“That’s not what I said—“
“I’m just fucking with you.” I wave her off with a laugh. “How about we see what today brings, and then we can go from there?”
We settle into our seats as the cart fills up and then takes off. It doesn’t take long for us to pull away from the new dorm buildings and into the section of older ones. Here, everything is quieter, and I can feel myself relaxing. I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with this for who knows how long, but I’ll have to figure it out. For now, I allow the green rolling hills and the gorgeous architecture to distract me.