Unbeknownst

Bracelets

     Sirus jumped to his feet. The cool air that seeped in from the hallway door felt like freedom.

     But he knew better. This is how they wanted him to feel. 

     He took his first few steps towards the door held open by the headmaster. His body and mind felt a lot stronger since the week he came in here.

     He didn't know it yet, but he was mistaken in being ready for the next challenges.

     "Sirus, if you would follow me, the start of this year's orientation will begin soon. We must find our seats." He just nodded. He wasn't ready to speak to anyone quite yet, especially this guy.

     Together they walked once again through the white hallways, until the hallways turned to stone. The creepy fluorescent lights had gone, being replaced with something Sirus couldn't see. The stone hallway, which was much broader than the white one, was simply lit up. The stones were crisp and clean, and the edges were decorated with chairs, bookshelves, lockers, and many other things you might find in some sort of private school. 

     He didn't quite know what to make of this place. It was a lot nicer than what he had seen so far. 

     They turned towards a room with a large set of double oak doors. Inside, laughter and loud talking could be heard. A long black walkway stretching into what looked like a stage could be seen from the entrance of the doors. The headmaster didn't hesitate walking through, so Sirus swallowed his nerves and walked in right behind him.

     The headmaster spoke again. Sirus expected him too now that they arrived. "Please, follow me to our seats."

     They arrived at the top row in less than 30 seconds. Headmaster gestured to Sirus to enter the row first, so he walked over to the last open spot before others were seated. Although the noise was bothersome, he thought being around others was refreshing. A week in a white padded cell will do that to you. The seat was quite soft under him, surprising Sirus. The headmaster followed suit, sitting down in his seat with a straight rod posture. 

     Of course he has straight posture, even sitting down. This guy was a load of fake news and Sirus had to fight the anger rising in him. That wouldn't get him anywhere, except maybe another padded cell.

     He really hated this place already. It was hard to imagine people would actually do this.

     The pathway to hell was pathed with good intentions, he supposed. Maybe they thought they were doing the right thing. It sure seemed like it given the whole spiel they had given him about-

     "Hey," The dude on his right whispered in his ear. "I'm called Lucas, who are you?" This completely jarred Sirus out of his spinning thoughts.

     "Sirus," He answered back weakly. "Did they have you in a padded cell for a week too?"

      Lucas gave him an incredulous look at that. "What do you mean?"

     That's when Sirus noticed a guy had gotten on stage. He started speaking before Sirus could answer Lucas back.

     "Hello everyone, please quiet down as I'm sure you are all interested to hear more about this place you were brought to." A hush fell over the gathered crowd. Everyone's eyes were forward and their attention fully taken over by this man on stage. "My name is Davis, and I am a fourth year here. This is a place where dreams come true, where freedom truly means freedom," Yeah, right, if you call freedom being locked up, "and where you can be anything, do anything, you desire."

     He wondered if this guy was being paid to do this.

     Or maybe this was just some very, very early April fools joke.