Monsters Only Come Out at Night

A New Beginning

"You are nothing without me. I gave you power, and in exchange, you take the only man I love. You owe me your life, you understand?" Elise had only heard those words being said once, when she was young, maybe four. Still, she'd actually heard them thousands of times since that day, like every night as she slept someone whispered those words in her ear.

She blinked awake, blinded by the small centimeter of light the curtains failed to block. She had chosen this bed, the one next to the window, because of the view it had of the sunrise, giving her inspiration that she felt he'd been waiting lifetimes to have. Her mother would have never given her the luxury of seeing that, she hated when Elise got her "ideas".

Elise shook her head, clearing the thought. She was at a new place, a fresh start waiting for her. Maybe she hadn't chosen to be there, but that didn't mean she couldn't take advantage of the situation. She glanced over at the bed next to hers. There were at least three feet between the two, but it felt like nothing in this claustrophobic room. The girl sleeping in the bed looked to be around eighteen, which meant she was likely a second or third year. Her brown hair, normally a wolf cut, had turned into a small ball of fluff overnight, concealing the upper half of her face.

Elise snuck to their dorm's bathroom, thanking the universe for giving her the chance to manage her wild red curls before needing to meet with people. Her uniform was hung next to her roommates, each labeled with a name tag, though all you needed to tell the two apart was looking at the size. It wasn't only that Elise was considerably short for her age, nor was it that Ashna was extraordinarily tall either. No, the issue was that Elise was thirteen in a school that had a minimum age of fifteen.

It wasn't as if Elise were exceptionally smart, though her perfect memory did indeed give her an advantage against her peers. The girl had just gotten her gift early, though it was unclear exactly what that gift was. Most had gifts that were easy to understand, like telepathy or superspeed, maybe even turning into a tree –though Elise couldn't understand why anyone would want that– Instead hers was a complete mystery. The most she got it to function was when she needed a little explosion over here or a levitating slice of bread over there. Other than that, no one could grasp any understanding of her gift, which is why she was sent to the "big kid school". They thought that maybe her gift needed to be looked at by more experienced teachers, not some elementary teachers that could only accomplish making her cause a fire in a flame-proof room.

Elise sighed and glanced at the burn mark on her wrist, her "trophy" for nearly exploding a school filled with children. She set her hairbrush down on the counter, not too sure when she'd even grabbed it in the first place, and looked herself up and down in the random full length mirror next to the shower. She wasn't sure why someone thought that was a good idea, it would probably take just a few quick seconds taking a hot shower for the mirror to fog up in the position, but she was grateful nonetheless.

Her uniform fit her surprisingly well, considering the only measurements she had gotten were the glance of a tailor, who quickly shooed her out of the office, saying she didn't have time to measure an eyesore like her, though she must have analyzed her more than she thought with how well the outfit fit.

The starched button up fit perfectly around her torso, while still leaving her growing room, and the sea foam sweater over it was very warm yet light. It clashed with the blues and whites of the rest of the uniform but that didn't bother her too much, it was the only thing she had gotten to customize, she didn't care if it looked horrible.

She adjusted her periwinkle bowtie as she slid out of the bathroom. Her roommate was still asleep, despite the numerous alarms she'd heard blare while she was getting changed. After some contemplation Elise snuck over and attempted to shake the girl awake.

"Ashna," she called to no avail. "Ashna, wake up, we have to leave. The entrance to breakfast closes in an hour."

Even the thought of breakfast made Elise nauseous, eating after she woke up made her sick, but the word seemed to have the opposite effect on Ashna. Before Elise could react the girl dashed to the bathroom to get changed.

"Hey, Elise," Elise had no idea how the lazy girl had gotten her name. "Don't leave to eat without me!"

"Too late," she called back. "I've already eaten, heading off to class now." In truth, Elise really hadn't eaten anything that morning, she just wasn't in the mood to explain why she didn't want anything to eat to the strange girl. Most found comfort in sharing their deepest darkest secrets with strangers, Elise knew she'd be stuck with this stranger for a long time.

True to her word Elise made her way over to the door and pulled on her uniform's brown loafers, she was amazing at directions when she knew how to get there but this building was huge and she was sure it'd take her at least fifteen minutes to find her way out of the dormitory alone, and she had already traveled that path once before to get to her dorm. Let alone find all three of her classes for the day in a building she'd never been in before with over twenty stories, and she needed to find a new hiding spot for the time when lunch rolls around, she couldn't stand eating by people.

She thought about the buffet at the opening ceremony. She hadn't grabbed much to eat, as her stomach was bad at handling food, it's why she was so unnaturally thin. As she stood in the corner of the room she could hear the girls poking fun at her. Judging her for being so thin, for having so little on her plate. In that second she decided she would eat as much as she could, be a normal weight for someone like her. She filled her plate, despite already being too full to fit anything else in her stomach. She ate until she felt she would explode and then some. After the ceremony she made her way to her dorm before Ashna. She looked in the mirror, disgusted by the bloating, disgusted with herself for all the anger she had felt. Before she could truly think about her decision she emptied her stomach. Every single thing she ate that day went down the drain, soon replaced by loads of water to keep her hydrated. She often had struggles with dehydration due to her eating problems.

She pulled herself back to reality quickly, reminding herself that she should leave before Ashna could bombard her with overlapping questions.

Elise quickly promised to herself that she wouldn't lose her cool to people like that again then laid her fingers on the cold doorknob that led to the hallway. She gave herself a few seconds to absorb the calmness of her dorm, minus Ashna's horribly pitched singing in the shower, before opening the door.

"A new beginning," she whispered under her breath as she took the first few steps out into the hallway.