"Remember kid. Blend." My father whispered in my ear as we stared at the iron gates ahead of us. I nodded, not knowing what else to do.
My mom snorted, closing the trunk. "God knows that's all your good at."
I bit my lip. I would blend, I'd been doing my whole life. In my parents eyes, being unordinary was bad. The greatest offense. God made Eve from Adam's rib bone so they'd be the same.
I was anything but ordinary. First off, I was adopted. Second, my natural hair color was silver. Thirdly, my eyes changed. They flickered like a fire, going from burning red to a warm orange. Finally, I had crimson red markings on my body. Some could be hide by clothes, others by concealer.
But, I could blend. It's how I became excellent at thievery. I was fast, and I could blend. I'd been raised that way of course.
Mr. Cye, the owner of Kapital Reform school for the Capitally Insane, or KRCI, was known to be the strictest person here.
While Mr.Cye dealt with the Criminally Insane boys, his wife, Mrs. Parlex, dealt with the needed to be reformed girls. Both of them looked nasty and mean. At least that's how the brochure made them look.
My mom pushed me towards the gate, the sign hanging above it crooked. It felt like she was pushing me into the arms of death.
I hesitated walking in, because the minute I did, I'd be a criminal. I looked back at my parents, hoping to see any kind of regret or love in their faces, but they were already in the car speeding back home.
I sighed, picked up my bags, and walked in. I had nowhere else to go.
Inside, it was even worse. It looked like what I imagined Hell to be, minus the screaming and fire.
Boys and girls alike were lined up, if their hair was too long, it was cut. The stood up straight, in a way that seemed uncomfortable. If they slouched, they were zapped. Wierd bracelets were attached to their ankles. They glowed red, beeping ever so often. All the bags were being taken, I assumed to the rooms. Handcuffs were placed on all the kids, as if they would try to kill someone then and there.
"Name?" A man walked up to me, asking. He had grey hair that spiked up in several places. His eyes were a startling blue. This man was the Mr.Cye.
I licked my lips, trying to force my voice out. I could talk, I know I could. It was just hard since the accident.
Mr.Cye looked up at me over the think frames of his glasses. He frowned, "Name?" He asked again, his voice harsher.
I tried again, closing my eyes. I imagined that I could speak. I imagined the words coming out. Nothing happened.
"You must be the mute one." A lady came up to us, putting her arm around Mr.Cye. Mrs.Parlex.
She looked like one of those cruel subs we all had in elementary school. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, not a grey strand out of place. Her cat eye glasses were attached to a beaded necklace, and rested on the tip of her nose. Her skirt, to tight, cut into the skin of her legs.
"She's mine love. I read all about her. Emarlia Damarys. Interesting case." She sighed, taking my bags from my hands. She handed them off to the nearest person.
"Pure beauty too, wouldn't you say?" She purred, running a hand along the side of my face. "We could use a girl like her."
"Yes we could. Cant speak, beautiful. Everything we look for." Mr.Cye agreed.
I played with the hem of my black shirt. This place, the people, they all gave me this bad feeling. Everything inside of me screamed to run.
I turned around, bracing myself to run. Just then, the gates slammed shut. A click sounded near me, I looked down, to see one if the Bracelets on my ankle.
"At least we wont have to waste a muter on her." Mrs.Parlex noted, pushing me towards the line. I let her lead me, I couldn't do anything else. It was like I didnt have control of my own body.
Handcuffs encircled my wrists, and I was pushed into the line of girls.
The first thing to hit me was all the different scents of perfume. The second thing was to notice how some of these girls actually looked like killers. I stood taller, throwing my shoulders back and head up. If anyone actually belonged here, I wouldn't let them see my fear.
"Its like Hell. Soon itll even smell disgusting because of all the teenage B.O." A girl to my behind me whispered.
I wrinkled my nose at the thought of the B.O. and looked back at her.
"Lyris Arisell. Nice to meet you." She smiled. Lyris looked like she belonged, but she disnt give that off.
Her eyes were a startling purple. The color everyone wishes their eyes to be. She had blonde hair, the tips curling above her ears. Her nose was pierced with a little diamond piercing. The most distracting thing about her was the scar that ran from the bottom of her left eye to her ear. That and the fact that her ears were pointed.
"This is where you introduce yourself." She frowned, her eyes flickering down as the anklet beeped.
I shook my head softly, moving my lips. I couldn't speak, and I couldn't even tell anyone.
Her eyes lit up, "You cant speak?" She whispered. I smiled, nodding. She understood me. "That's alright, I'm pretty good at reading people."
"Until I find out your name, I'm bound to sometime, im gonna call you..." Lyris paused, looking me up and down. "Mouse."
I rose my eyebrows. I hated mice. Why did she choose that?
"Well your small, I'm guessing 5 foot 2. You're silent, like a mouse. And I have a feeling your fast." She smiled. "So you're mouse. Dont argue, its sticking already."
I rolled my eyes. I was Five foot three. The inch counted, alright. I smiled, I wasnt completely sure why, but I could tell, being friends with Lyris would make life interesting.
"Attention students. You have all arrived, and are probably wondering why you are being treated like prisoners. That is because you are. We will find the strongest of you, the smartest, quickest, and turn you into fighters." Mr. Cye shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.
I furrowed my brows. What would happen if we weren't the smartest, strongest, or quickest. Maybe they were referring to all of us. It was a school after all, whether it was cruel or not.
I looked around, watching as kids my age shifted their weight. Some looked absolutely terrified, others were putting on a mask, slipping into the depths of a world where they felt nothing.
Mrs.Parlex stepped forward, immediately catching everyone's attention. "If you dont meet these qualities, then it's a loss to be celebrated. But that's tomorrow's lesson for the classrooms. Today, we test you to see where you stand, tonight we feast and send you off to bed. By the end of this, no one will recognize you." She smiled, clapping her hands together. "There are exactly 100 of you, so please pair into teams of five."
Immediately kids began to mutter. I had the feeling that this team was life and death. I could tell others felt the same way.
"Well, since we're already besties, your on my team." Lyris said, smiling. She grabbed my wrist, and the handcuffs fell off. Looking around, all the handcuffs rested on the ground now.
I followed her, letting her lead. Already, five seconds into picking, people had found their teams. With quick glances of the formed teams, I could tell what we were up against.
One team looked like they were all jacked up on steroids. Their arms were the size of tree trunks, their heads to big for their body. Clearly strength.
Another team had all the small people, with one expectation of a string bean. They could fit in small places, something the steroid team couldn't.
By now, everyone had a team, leaving the last three, the degenerates, part of our team. We consisted of three boys, Lyris, and me. Great.