Soraya slept comfortably on the top bunk above Moiya's bed. Yabo lay curled around her head, purring loudly in her ears, his furry face resting next to hers. The wide, open room around them was pitch black, and the faint rustling of sheets could be heard as other students tossed and turned in their beds.
"Wake up."
Another voice called to her from the back of her mind, waking her with a start. She could tell it was different from what she had heard the day before. This one sounded like seven voices speaking simultaneously. All were deep, low and menacing, like how she imagined demons from the depths of Sheol would sound.
Who are you? What do you want? Soraya replied in her head, her heart rate increasing as fear gripped her body, leaving her paralyzed.
"Where are you currently residing?" the multiple voices asked with a hint of curiosity, completely ignoring her questions. "Tell me!"
Soraya's blood turned cold in terror. The overwhelming sense to obey the voice was back. Half of her felt compelled to answer the demon's question, but the other half knew she shouldn't.
N...no, Soraya thought loudly and kept her eyes shut. She recalled pictures of the stars and planets. I live somewhere in the galaxy.
The demonic voices erupted into monstrous cackling. "You are quite entertaining and intelligent, my child, but I will find you."
A world map of Etheria flashed into Soraya's mind. "There are only so many places you can hide from me. Eventually, you'll slip up and give me a hint of where you're living, and I'll pinpoint exactly where you are..."
As Soraya tried with all her might to shove the demonic voices out of her head, she became aware, once again, of Yabo's loud purrs in her ears. Despite having a small, quick thought about her beloved pandacoon that lasted less than a second, the demonic voices picked up on it.
"Yabo..." they mused. "Such a sweet little thing...
"Kill it."
Much to the girl's surprise and dismay, her right arm moved on its own, reaching up towards Yabo's face. Her fingers widened, like the jaws of a predator before clamping down on its prey.
No!
Soraya smacked down her right arm with her left and tackled it, holding it down with all her might to keep her pet safe. She was horrified that her right arm wriggled around like a snake, desperately twisting and writhing under her grasp while it hungrily reached for her pandacoon.
Not Yabo! You're evil! Soraya mentally screamed towards the otherworldly foe while focusing all of her energy on holding her right arm down. The second she got it to lie flat, she rolled onto her right side, pinning her arm between her body and the bed.
"It's good to test you occasionally..." the layered voices taunted while fading from her mind. "You have too much Etherian blood in you. I will have to fix that..."
The voices vanished completely, leaving Soraya panting and shaking violently. She stayed on her side and didn't move for a few minutes, just in case her right arm tried attacking her pet again.
Did that really just happen?
Soraya cautiously rolled herself off of her right arm and flexed her fingers. She was in complete control of herself again.
Too much Etherian blood in me...
She thought back to her father telling her that Adonia was Casmerahn, and shook her head. He's forgetting thirty years of his life, and it's genetically impossible for me to have blue eyes when mama's were red. Mama must have been something else, which means I'm half of whatever she was...
The girl sat up in bed and folded her hands together, as if she were about to pray.
What am I?
* * *
Soraya awoke to the sound of an alarm clock going off. The high-pitched noises blared across the room, causing other students to groan and mumble sleepily as their dreams came to an abrupt end. Even Yabo lifted his small, fluffy head and stared in annoyance.
"Oh, did I wake you all?" Jacquelle's prissy voice filled the air before she ceased the alarm's incessant wailing with a small click of a button.
"What time is it?" yawned Moiya from beneath Soraya's bunk bed. The other students in the room stretched their limbs, rubbing the sleep away from their drooping eyes before glaring at Jacquelle. The room was still dark and absent of the sun's rays.
"It's six in the morning," replied the blond in a condescending tone. "Unlike you losers who like to sleep in, I'm getting a good start on my weekend."
Jacquelle turned her attention to Emrose and Vamera. "Come on, get up already," she commanded. Both girls sighed before pushing the warm blankets covering them aside.
A twinge of pity built up within Soraya while she watched the tired and disheveled looking pair slide out of their beds and follow their leader out of the room. Upstairs was where their lockers, showers and bathrooms were located.
Was that all a dream, or did it actually happen?
Soraya mulled over the night's events as she rolled up the long sleeves of her pajamas and looked down at her right arm. Dark purple bruises spotted her wrist and forearm. She moved it and winced slightly when a small sting flared up her muscles.
It must have been real. Why else would it look and feel so beaten up?
"Hey, Soraya!" Moiya called from beneath her. "I'm not able to fall back asleep, did you want to start the day with me?"
"Yes, that sounds good," Soraya replied. She was grateful for the distraction from the demonic entity that had attempted to possess her the night before.
"I'll show you where all of your classes are," Moiya continued. "We're together for most of them, but I still want to make sure you're ready for next week."
"Thank you, I really appreciate your help."
Moiya rolled out of bed, while Soraya leapt nimbly to the floor from her top bunk. Yabo got up from the pillow, stretched his little legs and paws, jumped down onto the ladder perched next to the bunk bed, and landed gracefully onto the wooden floor with a light thud.
"Mow?" he cooed up at the girls.
"Yes, you can come too," Soraya said, lowering her left arm for Yabo to rub his face into her gloved hand. The thought of anyone or anything wanting to hurt such a precious and innocent life chilled her to the bone.
I won't let you control me. Soraya stared intently at one of the windows covered by dark navy blue drapes. I'll never hurt him. Never.
"Hey, are you okay?" Moiya asked, snapping Soraya back to the present.
"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just annoying that Jacquelle robbed us of our sleep."
"True," Moiya nodded. "She's just trying to get back at you by making us all suffer. That's just how she is, unfortunately."
Yabo climbed up Soraya's blue pajamas and perched himself on top of her shoulder. She kissed his small black nose and followed Moiya upstairs, so she could also get ready for the day.
Soraya wasn't comfortable with the idea of changing in front of Moiya or anyone else, so she grabbed her school uniform from her locker and made her way to one of the empty bathroom stalls. She made sure to take a long sleeved white shirt in order to hide her bruises.
Now both my arms and hands are covered...
The girl frowned, gazing at the soft black gloves she hadn't taken off since leaving home. As she passed by the shower room, she could hear Vamera and Emrose chatting away to each other. Soraya shielded her eyes, so she wouldn't have to see anyone without clothes on, and happened to enter the bathroom just as Jacquelle was putting her shirt on over her head. The girl caught a quick glimpse of what appeared to be long and thin scars across the blond's lower back.
"How did you get those wounds?" Soraya asked. "What happened?"
Jacquelle spun around, pulling her shirt all the way down. "That's none of your business!" she huffed. "I don't have to tell you anything."
Someone did that to you...
"Are you okay?" Soraya asked, her voice brimming with pity.
Jacquelle was thrown off guard by Soraya's concern for her. For a moment, it looked as if she were about to say something, but stopped herself.
"I'm fine," she replied with fake happiness in her voice. "Perfectly perfect."
"Okay, if you say so," Soraya dipped her chin in acknowledgement and headed towards an empty stall to change. She placed Yabo on the floor and took off her pajamas. As she tucked her long sleeved white shirt into her navy blue skirt and placed the straps over her shoulders, she heard a small sniffle come from the blond's direction behind the closed door separating them.
"Soraya?" Jacquelle spoke hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"I'm..." she stopped, as if she were catching herself. "I'm fine," the blond repeated. To Soraya, it sounded like she was trying to convince herself that it was true.
"If you want to be friends with me, let me know," Soraya replied. "I'd like to be your friend too."
Jacquelle didn't respond. Instead, she walked out of the bathroom in silence.
She's so stubborn, Soraya sighed. At least I tried reaching out to her.
After getting dressed, Soraya rejoined with Moiya downstairs and watched with fascination as her friend wove her long, beautiful blueish black hair into two long, thick braids. Moiya finished by adding white ribbons at the bottoms of each, tying them into thick bows.
"Do you want me to braid your hair, too?" Moiya flashed Soraya a smile when she noticed the girl gazing in admiration at her.
"I would love that!" she exclaimed. "I've never had my hair braided before!" Adonia had never learned, and Tishva had never bothered tackling her rat's nest.
Moiya sat Soraya down on her bed and settled in behind her. She slid her slender fingers down Soraya's thick strawberry blond hair, weaving and tugging gently at the three thick strands she had created as she went. After twisting it altogether, Moiya tied a long white ribbon to secure the braid.
"And... we're done," Moiya smiled. "Now you match Rhys and I."
Soraya twirled on her heel, so she could watch her braided hair fly alongside her. "Do you think we could put a bow in Rhys' braid?"
"We can ask him at breakfast," Moiya laughed while stuffing her pocket with another white ribbon just in case.
The two girls, along with Yabo, exited their dorm and walked up and down the empty hallways together. Soraya carried her school schedule in one hand and held it up so Moiya could guide her to her classes.
"And this, to your right, is Room 203 with Mrs. Sworvski," Moiya pointed. "An easy way to remember where the rooms are located is by looking at the first number. If it's 100, it's on the first floor. 200 is on the second floor, and so on. The only exception is Room 50 because that's the kitchen, which is located on the main floor in the middle of the school."
"Good to know," Soraya commented while following her friend up to the third floor. She smiled at Yabo, who was perched on Moiya's shoulder. He was batting playfully at one of her braids with his little black paws.
"You have history class there," Moiya gestured towards Room 300 before untangling Yabo from her hair. "Biology is just around the corner, right there," she gestured towards Room 320.
"After your first two classes, you get a forty-five minute break. Elementary schools usually give out homework for students to do, but not high schools. We only study for exams. Any assignments the teachers give us are either for extra credit or practice tests."
Soraya had never been given homework before, so she simply shrugged her shoulders at Moiya's explanations.
"Breaks are usually when students gather with their study groups to practice for upcoming tests," Moiya continued. "It's also when we can ask teachers questions about topics we're struggling with. Some kids even manage to squeeze in quick naps, but I've never done that."
"Say..." Soraya spoke up. "Is there a library here?"
Moiya's emerald green eyes sparkled with amusement at the question. "Of course there is, silly," she laughed, her voice sounding like wind chimes dancing in a delicate breeze. "I'll show you, come on."
The girls flew down some more stone stairways and ran down the main floor hallway together. The pitter-patter of their steps echoed around the wide room.
"Oh, that's it," Moiya halted before a huge set of swinging wooden doors. Above them, in golden letters was Library Room 10.
"We have to keep our voices down when we go in," Moiya cautioned Soraya while holding a finger to her lips. "It's still early in the morning, so we're probably going to be the first ones in here, but the librarian will still scold us if we're too loud."
They slowly pushed the oaken doors in, and Soraya glanced around in awe at the large open room before her. Tall, magnificent shelves painted in white with golden rims lined every curved wall, reaching up towards the dome shaped ceiling painted in bright blues like the sky outside. Soraya spotted two golden staircases leading up to railed balconies that circled the entirety of the room.
"This library looks like something out of a fairy tale," Soraya breathed.
The two students walked up towards a large oval shaped desk, where a librarian sat in a red velvet chair. Her purple hair was done up in a bun, and her dark skin glowed in the bright light streaming from the overhanging lamps. She paused and looked up with bright violet eyes towards the girls.
"Can I help you two with something?" she asked, closing her novel shut.
"Yes, actually," Soraya replied. "Do you have any books about demons, by chance?"
Moiya's eyebrows raised inquisitively, but she remained silent.
"We do..." the librarian's eyes widened. "Are you studying mythologies, by chance?"
"Yes."
I'm not really lying. Demons are in various religions and fairy tales.
"You'll want to look under Z, for Zinvi," the librarian pointed towards the second story balcony on the far right corner of the room. "His book is all we have on that topic, unfortunately, and, if I'm remembering correctly, it's written in Casmerahn."
"That'll work. Thank you," Soraya bowed politely before heading towards the nearest staircase.
"Demons?" Moiya couldn't help but blurt out once they walked away from the desk. "Why would you want to read up on those?"
"I'm just curious, that's all."
"Okay..." Moiya stared at her friend, but didn't press for further information. Instead, she followed Soraya up the wooden staircase to the section labeled "Z."
The girls searched high and low throughout the entire section before, at last, finding the name, Amraphael Zinvi. There was indeed only one book on the shelf with that author's last name, and it was titled, Altera No Mundus Ex No Amicusi.
I've seen this name somewhere before, Soraya thought as the hairs on her arms stood on end.
"Hey, are you alright?" Moiya asked, concern showing in her voice.
Where have I seen that name?
Soraya closed her eyes, scanning through several pages and letters in her mind, but couldn't match it with any of those obscure documents.
I saw this more recently...
Soraya pulled up the image of her birth certificate in her memory and let out a small gasp. The witness signature was the same name as the author.
"You look like you've seen a ghost!" Moiya commented while leaning in to catch Soraya's attention.
"I'm sorry," the girl whispered, then took a sharp breath in. "I think my Dad might have known this author."
Her hands shook as she flipped the cover open and scanned through the names of the previous Etherians who had checked out the book, and nearly dropped it in shock. Tishva Thenayu was written, clear as day, as the last check out, from the year 3048.
*2,719 Words