The Fallen One

Part 2

A group of four people are gathered around a wooden table in a dull hallway. On it is a plain piece of paper with five names written down. At the top of the list is my name in big bold letters, JULIET FULTON. Fuck sake. I let out a groan.

"What are you here for?" The girl next to me asks. She's shorter than I am with bright pink hair. She wears thick black eye makeup, and as she turns to look up at me, two silver eyebrow piercings catch the light.

"Where are we?"

"You don't know?" She sounds astonished. I shrug my shoulders. "We're at Lake Forest Academy. It's a reform school." She shoots me a mischievous grin.

"And what do you mean 'What are you here for'?" I mimic her.

"What shit did you do to wind up here? I've been done for shoplifting five times, but the last straw for my parents was when I arrived home in a cop car at two in the morning covered in blood," she says with a sense of pride.

"What did you do?" I gasp, but she just giggles in response.

A man dressed in a black tracksuit picks up the paper with the list of names. He ticks all five of us off and tells us to meet in the Grand Entrance at twelve-thirty for a tour of the grounds.

"But seriously, what did you do to land yourself in this hellhole?" The girl nudges me with her elbow.

"I don't know."

"She's a special case," another girl pipes up from behind us. Her dark brown hair rests in ringlets and her glasses sit on her chubby rosy cheeks. She's wearing an olive green skirt that scrapes the bottom of her knees and her arms are full of files.

"Where the hell did you come from?" I call in frustration.

The girl with pink hair looks at me in awe.

"You murdered someone," the girl with glasses states, unphased. She looks me dead in the eyes and then holds out a hand for me to shake, "I'm Adelaide, but you can call me Addie."

The pink-haired girl takes the opportunity to leave before the conversation furthers.

"What?" I exclaim. "I didn't kill anyone!" Adelaide shuffles her feet and avoids eye contact. My blood boils and I shoot her a wild look.

She bites her lip before flicking through the folders, and handing one to me. "This is yours."

I grab it hastily and tug it open.

Addie stays silent the whole time I'm scanning my thick file.

"What? Daniel is dead?"

"They said you killed him..." Addie mutters.

"That's bullshit!"

A moment of silence passes between us before Addie asks, "Who's Daniel?"

I feel the warmth rising in my cheeks, "Just someone I knew back at Kensington College. But what the fuck happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"No. Why do people keep asking me this," I retort, my face scrunched in annoyance. Before I stalk away I decide to ask Addie if she knows why my parents didn't talk to me before sticking me in this prison.

"All the principal told me was that they were scared of what you're capable of and that what you had to say wouldn't change their decision."

"Those fuckers..." I murmur. "Are you scared of me Addie?"

She shakes her head vigorously. "We've had worse come through these doors." She offers me a sweet smile and I hand her back the file.

I start my way down the corridor but stop myself short. I swivel on my heel and call out to Addie, "By the way, where's the Grand Entrance?"

"I'll show you." She doubles back towards me, links her arm through mine and leads us out of the hallway.