The Initials | Nanowrimo 2023

70| The Uprising And The Orphans

Sky had only just started getting used to the reality of sharing a room with others but that was all ruined with the return of the students in the years above hers. Ever since then the dorms have felt a little claustrophobic and suspiciously loud. Fortunately, she and the others sorted out the room situation a long time ago.

Her bed has become her haven, hiding under the sheets whenever she can to avoid the common rooms. They're the worst, often feeling like a free for all brawl when it comes to sharing resources like food and shower time.

Whilst she's glad that none of her peers and seniors treat her much different from one another she does sometimes catch herself wishing they would. Maybe then she'd eat more than a burnt slice of toast for breakfast in the morning or have more than five minutes to wash the oils out of her hair.

The nights should have been her favourite time of day, being the only time the dorms are ever silent, but the memories of being trapped inside the morgue in the freezing dark.

Tight spaces and dying alone in the dark. Even just thinking about it makes her lose control of her breathing.

Instead of forcing herself to fall asleep, only to wake up in a sweaty daze and then having to choke down another fit of sobs, Sky creeps out of the dorms and wonders the halls aimlessly.

Like every night before tonight she'll probably do a few laps around the halls until she tires herself out enough that she'll pass out as soon as her head hits the pillow.

There were a few occasions where she'd sneak into the Fire dorms and sleep in Cloud's bed when he was up in the mountains, but those days are well and truly dead.

Her mind wanders onto other things as she stops at the room with the grand piano, cringing as she thinks about how she yelled at her father.

She let her emotions get the best of her, feeling childish for doing so, doubling down on herself once she cast a glance at the fluffy sandals covering her wiggling toes that resemble two adorable looking cows.

She lets out a sigh of frustration, scraping her hair back with her fingers when she realises she is not alone.

Sky jumps in her skin at the sight of the pair of glowing eyes in the dark, looking like a pair of pale blue spirits left wandering on this plane of existence.

It takes another second for her to recognise what they are but unfortunately for her it isn't a ghoul or a poltergeist but something much, much, worse.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?" she asks, absently feeling around for the light until she finds it.

Arden shields his eyes as soon as the fluorescent lights flicker on, patiently waiting for them to adjust to the sudden change in atmosphere. "I was getting too overstimulated...too many new things, sounds, people...I don't expect you to get it."

"Don't you usually sleep in Eden?" she asks, tentatively approaching him. "I mean, I know you're technically not supposed to but I've seen you sneaking out a bunch of times. Why not just go there?"

"It's really none of your business." he replies, turning his head away as he continues pinching the veins in his arm.

Sky opens her mouth to speak but closes it again, trying hard to fight against her neurotic nature.

"Do you want something?"

"About the other day," she utters, taking the opportunity to invite herself to sit opposite him. "What's your obsession? With Cloud, I mean?"

"None of this is about him," he replies, sinking further into his seat. "Not really anyway."

"But it is, isn't it?"