"No! Absolutely not, Anastasia!" Mallory whispered in the doorway of Anastasia's room. The girl had stayed up most of the night trying to figure out a way to sneak into Venable's private suite. She figured it couldn't be that hard, considering she had stumbled in there on accident several times before. And after hours of thought, she decided it was best to keep it simple.
"I'm not asking you to do much, Mallory." The girl grasped her friends nervous hands. "Just...lie a little. Ya know, just if anyone asks," She held up her hands in a calm manor. "I'm sick and decided to skip out on breakfast."
Mallory sighed at her friends plan. It really wasn't that much, she was just afraid of Venable finally cracking the whip on her. "Alright. I'll do it." The grey girl offered a small smile. "But be careful, Ana. Venable is bound to snap at you one of these days."
Ana nodded at her friend, bringing her knuckles up to kiss them. "Thank you!" She smiled as she let go of her hands.
Mallory then went on her way, leaving Anastasia alone in her room. Taking a deep breath, she ventured quietly as she could possibly manage out into the cold, empty halls. She was surprised at the lack of nerves she held at performing such a sneaky task. But the girl felt more motivated than she could possibly remember. The name was extremely potent today. She could feel it burning in her mind and she was growing more annoyed by the second. When she had woken up that morning, she almost two hours writing down random names in her notebook. But every time she wrote one down, she felt disgusted. It was all wrong, she couldn't figure it out. She was going through the alphabet one letter at a time, and she was currently on 'J, thinking of every possible name that could begin with the letter.
The closest she could really describe was close to having the flu. You know, headache, nausea, sore and tired limbs. It was exhausting. Nevertheless, Anastasia refused to continue to wallow in self pity and to submit to Coco's cruel words. No longer would she be the girl everyone gave a second glance to. Ana would get answers.
She traveled down the long, narrow halls, constantly checking her shoulder to keep from being spotted. She could hear Evie talking rather loudly, probably another wild tale of hers. This would be real quick and easy. Venable was organized, neat. She had files on everyone, maybe in a desk or cabinet. She would find hers and get answers.
When she finally approached the tall, dark doors to Venable's room, she took a deep breath and quietly slid open the doors. Her room was quite large, accompanied by several leather chairs that decorated the floor and candles that were held in chandeliers. Anastasia scanned the room with her blue eyes, squinting them slightly. "Keep talking Evie." She whispered to herself as she began sifting through the desk that was against the wall. There was hardly anything on it, besides more candles and a few stacks of paper. Crouching to her knees, she rummaged through the cream colored files that were alphabetized.
"Come on, come on. Where are you?" She breathed as names of her fellow roommates flashed in her eyes.
Emily, Dinah, Coco-
"I suggest that in the future when you plan to rummage through my things like an insolent little pack rat, you pick a friend that is much better at lying than that stuttering gray girl." The loud, booming voice of Wilhemina Venable came across the room, freezing Anastasia in her spot. She was ducked behind her desk, hands frozen on what she thought may have been her file.
Dammit, she thought. Taking a nervous breath, the girl stood from her shaky knees, eyes locking into the intimidating woman from across the room. "Ms. Venable, I can-"
The sound of her cane cracked down loudly against the floor as she slowly began walking towards her, causing the girl to flinch slightly. "Not once since we have been down here have you not shown your precious little face at mealtimes." Her voice became louder as she grew closer to Ana.
"If your plan was to fool me, child, I suggest next time you choose a more significant tactic." Anastasia breathed nervously as Venable stood a few feet away from her, the woman's cane almost touching the tip of her heel. She wasn't exactly afraid of Venable, more curious. The woman in the past never harmed her, hardly ever even raised her voice. That always made the girl wonder. Venable never had a problem with yelling at anyone else, so why was she always more calm with her?
"Now, do explain why you felt the need to sneak behind my back and look through my things." The tall woman looked down on her.
Anastasia broke eye contact, feeling anxiety bubble in her stomach. As much as she liked to pretend she was brave, she didn't like confrontation. "I..I..uh."
"Speak!" Venable raised her voiced, causing another flinch from the girl.
"I wanted to see my file!" Ana snapped, turning her body to snatch the file she had placed on the desk. "I'm tired of being lied to all the time! I'm tired of everyone looking at me like they're...afraid or that they don't trust me. You've been lying to me since the start, Venable! I want answers!" The words poured out of the girls lips before she could stop herself. She was never one to yell, but she was so fed up with everyone's bullshit.
Venable had a small smirk on her face at the girl's outburst. She had never seen her snap before. Composing herself, the woman stood up straighter, taking a step closer to the girl. "You think I'm lying to you?" She questioned, face glowing from the candles that were lined up against the walls.
Ana breathed loudly through her nose, her chest heaving against the tight purple gown she wore. "Sit down." Venable sneered with venom, cocking her head to the leather chair that sat by the fireplace.
Staring at her oddly for a few moments, Anastasia slowly walked to her seat with clenched fists, not wanting to anger the ginger woman further. The room was silent as Venable grabbed the file of the table. Ana watched her carefully, anxiety and anger bubbling in her chest. It felt like an adrenaline rush, finally standing up for herself.
Slowly, Venable approached her seat, standing a few feet away from her as she held the file tightly in her hand. "You want to see your file? Fine. Have a look." She tossed the thin file harshly into the girls lap, causing Ana too look at her questionably. Was it really that easy?
Forcing her eyes to look down her lap, her shaky fingers tore open the file. She held her breath at the words she read.
Name: Anastasia Lorraine Grey
Sex: Female
Age:19
Height: 5'8
Weight: 130 pounds
Eye color: blue
hair color: brown
She read over the words again and again, mouth gaped open in shock. She looked up to Venable with narrowed eyes, looking back down at the paper to flip it over and examine the back. Scoffing, she looked back to the woman. "Where's the rest?" She shook her head.
With a click of her cane, Venable tilted her head at the girl. "That's it. That is your file, Anastasia."
"No." Ana fired back, hands gripping the paper. "There has to be...something else. I need to know why-"
"I don't appreciate being called a liar." Venable interrupted in a fierce tone. "You wanted to see your file, well now you have seen it. You have lots of questions, Ms. Grey, but I'm afraid I cannot grant you answers." Ana was silent as she stared at the angry woman above her, eyes slowly pooling with tears.
"As I told you before on your first day here, you were brought here by a group of men who were in charge of bringing you to this outpost without being harmed. It was said that you were to be given a purple suite and to be treated respectfully and kindly. The order was given by someone of extremely high power, someone I have not yet met. I have no answers as to why this person was adamant about keeping you safe, nor do I know the reason to your lack of memory. Maybe the two connect, maybe they don't. Perhaps it was the radiation like I suggested all those many months ago. The point is Anastasia, you know just as much as I do. Now, I can't make you believe me, but I will not be called a liar. This is my outpost and my rules will be followed. If it weren't for the strict instructions I was given, I would have you stripped and flogged for your disobedience. Now, take your damn file and get out of my sight." Venable spoke with a loud voice as she looked down to girl, hands wrapped around the top of her cane in anger.
Anastasia stared at Venable in shock, tears streamed down her face that was illuminated with an orange—candlelit glow that made her look like an oil painting. Her bottom lip slightly shook as she tried to keep in her small cries, Venable's words penetrating her ears. That adrenaline that she had felt earlier, well, that was gone. In replacement of that feeling laid devastation and hopelessness. She felt completely shot down. She had been so confident when she had walked into the room, she knew she was going to get answers. She had in a way, she did in fact, get to view her file and Venable did open up to her. It just wasn't what she thought it would be.
Swallowing a whimper, she stood on shaky legs, hands holding her file limply. Venable never took her eyes of the girl as she watched her stumble and cry softly on her way out. It had taken her great strength to not physically punish Ana for her crimes.
Anastasia walked down the hallway to her purple suite, one hand gripping her file while the other was pressed against her stomach. Her vision blurred from her tears and her chest heaved with every breath. She felt more hollow than she could ever remember, like her will to live had been completely diminished. It looked like darkness was about to become a permanent resident.
Rounding the corner to her room, she came face to face with a worried Mallory. "Anastasia! Are you alright?" The grey questioned frantically as she griped Ana's forearms. The girl nodded in return, not being able to form words.
"I'm so sorry! I tried-" Before Mallory could finish, the two girls suddenly fell to their knees as the outpost began rumbling with such fierceness that they could the floor vibrate beneath them. The two girls screamed in shock, grasping each other's hands for comfort. Their ears were sounded with falling bookshelves and the candles blew out all around them, the sound of their fellow house guests screams were loud from the other room.
"Mallory, what's happening?" Ana screamed in a panic, wincing as a powerful headache pushed through her temples. Wind blew through the outpost and the girls gripped each other tighter. The unknown name was screaming in her head again, the name, the name, the name.
"I don't know!" Mallory shouted back. "It must be an Earth-" And as soon as it came, the mysterious rumbling vanished. The girls looked around the room with wide eyes, Ana's shiny due to her previous tears. "Quake." Mallory finished.
"That didn't seem like an earthquake, Mallory." Ana winced as they stood, her head pounding with the fury of a thousand drums. Nausea began to overcome her as she groaned. At the sound of footsteps, the girls flinched as Ms. Mead came face to face with them.
"Ms. Mead! What's going on?" Ana breathed in pain, causing Mallory to wrap an arm around her waist.
"Where is Ms. Venable?" The short, emotionless woman answered.
Ana pointed to her suite down the hall as she winced from the pain of her headache. "In her suite. But Ms. Mead-"
The woman began walking towards Venable's room, not offering the girls another glance. "There's been a perimeter breach. Go in your room and lock your door." She shouted over her shoulder.
The girls glanced at each other nervously before Anastasia doubled over in pain. "Oh God, Mallory. I think I'm going to be sick."
Mallory hurriedly rushed Ana into her room, glancing down the halls in fear at what could have entered their safe house. The girl stared at her friend worriedly as she locked the door to the purple suite. "What is that you need?" She questioned with a calm voice.
Anastasia searched the room with her blue eyes, breathing in relief when she spotted what she was looking for. "My notebook."