Her First Mistake

Chapter Eleven: Psycho, Mad Scientist, What's the Difference?

   I eventually ended up in front of the room circled on the map. It had taken some wondering, cursing, and walked-circles until I found it. Number sixteen. The door was solid wood and looked exactly like a hotel's. I looked back down at the paper and blinked slightly. The corner -- at some point in my trip -- had hardened and morphed into a key card.

   Roxie Reilly -- Apprentice
   A. Albers
   Mage.

   Curious, I peeled it off of the map. A lanyard came with it, unfurling and dropping a bit. Hoping it was the room key, I waved it at the door handle. I felt a faint buzz and my hand sparked with gold. I yelped as scarlet seared into the door and the lock popped open. My hand felt odd, like it'd been asleep. Blinking rapidly, I shook out my hand and stepped into the room. I looked back down at the lanyard and noticed it had turned crimson -- the exact color of my magic.

   Perhaps that had been a spell to make it so that I was the only person able to enter the room? It had forced a reaction from my magic and then color-coded my lanyard. I just assumed that was it and closed the door after myself. I hung the lanyard around my neck and looked around.

   There was a queen bed in the center, a large window looking over the snow-tipped trees outside. A few lamps turned on automatically. I appreciated that it almost looked like a normal hotel. Almost. The door still hung in my mind. Exhaling, I turned on my heel and sent my cloak away. There was no reason to hide in it -- no one had been able to see me with Alexie. I still didn't get his insistence on making sure the other apprentices figured it out on their own.

   Well, I was going to do some investigating. That woman -- Mary -- had known him. How? And she acted like she had offended him by calling him a prank? I didn't get it. Intent on getting answers, I unpacked and prepared to leave the room. Seeing my reflection had been a bit of a surprise, since I hadn't in the past five months. My hair had definitely grown too long. Though the very light dusting of freckles on my nose had faded from my time indoors.

   Finally, I closed the door to my room. Then I looked down at my lanyard and grimaced. Alexie's last name was on it. And Mary had known who he was from that, so what was to say that others wouldn't too? I went back into my room, pulled some paper from my tiny notebook, and snatched the pen on the desk. I scrawled my name on the paper and slid it into the lanyard, covering the original design. I checked to make sure the other side didn't have the same thing and knew I was set to go.

   I closed the door after myself and just decided to wing it. It wasn't like the map was exactly helpful with finding the other apprentices. Besides, I was ready for some interaction that wasn't with the humorless robot that was Alexie. 

   With a shrug, I ventured down the hall, away from the direction I'd come from. A couple of turns later and I'd found some sort of corner room. Windows spanned the whole wall and a couple of couches dotted the area. There was a pool table and some sort of gaming console, though I was fairly sure it was the first ever edition of the Wii. In other words, it was obvious an adult had put the place together in a hope to appeal to teenagers.

   The sound of something smashing together made me wince. I stepped around the corner fully only to jump backwards with a yelp. The boy, wielding the pool stick like a javelin, yelled as he tumbled around the corner and sprawled. The pool stick fell out of his hands and landed at my feet. His eyes were wide and latched onto me. His mouth opened, quirking into a grin, before he was dragged backwards. He screeched as he was dragged out of sight. "No! Wait, dude wait! Ack!"

   There were a few laughs. I picked up the pool stick, suppressing a snicker at his face. "Wait what, Liam? Huh?" Someone taunted.

   "There's someone -- aaugh! Dude! Quit beating me with that thing!"