Never Really Gone

Chapter 4

I stare at the three others in the room. The room itself is amazing, with four double beds, a huge bookshelf, and all sorts of other things.

One boy has his head buried in another's chest, and the third is sitting cross legged on a bed, holding a book. I assume the first two know each other, considering how they hold each other closely. The third is sitting by himself though. All three are quiet. And scared.

"Aren't you a little young to be here?" The boy with the book asks. I assume he's American, as he clearly has a Southern accent.

"What do you mean?" I ask defensively, giving him an unamused glare.

The second boy stops hugging the other and looks me up and down awkwardly.

"Well... you're just a little..."

"Short" the first finishes bluntly. Even though his voice is muffled by the second boy's dark green sweater, I can hear the gruff, moody sarcasm very clearly.

"Well... well that's just rude!" I scoff, crossing my arms. The boy only rolls his eyes, which I notice are a bright red. He almost looks scary, with his red eyes, white hair, and X shaped scar he and the second boy both have above their noses.

But the similarities end there. The boy in the green sweater has bright purple eyes, dragon-like wings, and tiny little horns poking out of his hair. Looking closer, I can see a little dragon tail as well.

But before I can ask any questions, Xerea then comes back in, and I can tell she isn't over the moon about being here. She also seems quite tired and a little bit sad as well.

She also isn't wearing her mask or hood, and I see she has blonde hair, gray-purple eyes, very pale skin, and light freckles across her nose.

Sighing heavily, she crosses her arms.

"Look, I'm gonna skip all the welcoming propaganda and just cut to the chase. My name is Xerea and I was assigned to 'mentor' you four over the next six years. Details will be explained tomorrow about all that."

Then she bites her lip

"I won't lie to you, it won't be easy. The higher ranked Watchers will all tell you how amazingly privileged you are to be here, how you'll love being a Watcher once you graduate. Odds are you'll die a horrible death, be forced to kill someone, or even destroy a server once you do.

I know how scary this is for you. You don't know where you are, what'll happen to you, if you'll ever see your families again... so I'll let things slide the others won't."

"Like what?" The boy with the Southern accent asks, tilting his head curiously.

"Crying, hugging, general affection, talking about your families or old homes, using real names-"

"Wait, what? Real names?" The dragon boy with the green sweater repeats in confusion.

"You don't think my parents ACTUALLY called me something as stupid as Xerea, did you?" The Watcher asks "When you go to the Welcoming Ceremony tomorrow they'll give you a 'Watcher Name'. Afterwards you can only call other students by that name. But because they're really old, hard to remember, and are specifically given to try help you forget your old lives, don't bother with them when you're in here or if it's just me with you guys"

The room is quiet, before the boy with glasses and the American accent smiles a little.

"I'm Joe"

"I'm Grian" I tell him, smiling a little too.

"I'm Xisuma!"

"Pardon?" I ask, turning to stare at the boy in green in confusion.

"Xisuma. X-I-S-U-M-A"

"That spells Ex-Eye-Soo-Ma" I remark flatly, the white haired boy snickering. Then everyone in the room turns to him.

He frowns.

"My name's none of your business!" he huffs, avoiding eye contact with us.

Xerea raises her eyebrows m, giving him a disapproving look. He tried to ignore us, but caves eventually.

"Ezra" he mumbles quietly.

"It's a nice name" I tell him, smiling. He pretends to ignore me, but I see the little pink blush on his cheeks.

Xerea sighs again.

"Ok, I'm leaving you four and trust you NOT to burn the dorm down. I'll be back by 12."

Before I can question where she's going, she leaves the room. Sitting down on a bed, I remember the photo of my mother I she in my pyjama pocket I insisted I had in case I was taken.

Not really wanting the others to see it, I just hold it in my pocket, the feeling of it there providing enough comfort for now. Laying my head back in the bed, I smile sadly. At least these four were nice enough.

Looking back, I don't think I'll ever be able to say the same about the other Watchers.