The Law Of Three [ On Hold ]

XIV

word count; 2201

[ O C T A V I A ]

I woke with a start, confused on to where I was, and fell out of bed, onto the cold, hard floor with a thud. I lied there for several minutes, waiting for the pain to subside. It didn't help that Rosie bit me upper thigh. She was angry with me, I guess, for falling out of bed. "Knock it off, Rosie, seriously. Can't you see I'm in pain?" I asked, lifting my head a little.

I picked myself up off the ground and set Rosie down on the bedside table. She scuttled around.

I made my way to the closet and pulled out the clothes Fiona had given me the night prior. Black pants, a black tank top and a black jacket to go over top. I changed, and hung my other clothes up. I slipped the combat boots into my feet, and sighed. I glanced over my shoulder at the door. I walked over to it. "Now how do you open?" I questioned. There was no handle, and no key pad. "Hello? Is there anybody out there?" I called. No response. "Well Rosie, I guess we're stuck in here." I said.

I picked her up and set her on my arm. She materialized into ink.

It felt like I was in my room for hours before the door actually opened. When it did, Fiona was waiting for me in the hallway. She wore all black, just like me, and her hair was back up in a pony tail. In this lighting, Fiona looked tan, almost an olive tone complexion. She smiled. "You ready for your first day?"

"I can't wait." I replied, sarcastically. Fiona only laughed.

"Come on. Breakfast is ready."

I stepped out into the long hallway. Several others were coming out of rooms much like mine. I paid them no mind, and hurried to catch up with Fiona who had begun walking away from me. "What time is it?" I asked, running my hands through my hair, trying to get rid of the knots.

"Almost ten o'clock." She said. We took a right.

"Ten?! What am I supposed to do every morning until then?" I asked.

"Oh, they normally let you out at eight every morning, but we had an . . . accident, - if you could even call it that - happen this morning, so we kept everyone in their rooms until it was resolved. It's to ensure the safety of all the residents here."

"What kind of an accident?"

"Can't say. I wasn't present."

I had a gut feeling that Fiona wasn't telling me everything she knew. I didn't ask any more questions.

She led me down several more hallways until we came to the cafeteria. The one that we had passed prior to this morning. "Breakfast it usually till eleven, so eat quickly. After that, you can just, wander around until lunch. Don't go in any of them rooms that say off limits, and don't cause any trouble." Fiona said.

"Wait, I can just . . . wander around?"

"Pretty much. We encourage exercise, and socialization amongst the residents. We don't believe in keeping people cooped up in their rooms. It's inhumane."