St. Văduva's School for Prestigious Girls

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝

Her phone call with Constance would have to wait, it seemed, no matter how much she longed to hear her only living family's voice. The reception was spotty, at best. The best place she could get a singular bar was standing on the bed on her tiptoes and angling the phone near the ceiling air vent. Even then, there was no guarantee that it would connect. Sighing, Temperance shot a quick message, letting her sister know that she landed safely but the signal was shot from the weather. She held it up to the vent until it sent out, and then she flung herself onto the bed, knowing that she would not see the reply until she got to a place with better reception.

Even without fancy covers and sheets, the plain white bedding was soft and comfortable. Thin, but manageable. With all the weight she had lost these past few months, she had been very cold, seeking warmth where she could. Which explained why she was dressed in a heavy winter coat in August. Summer break had just ended, and that meant that new students were being accepted for the semester. She wondered why it was she had no roommates as of yet but supposed that there were bound to be some empty vessels with sixty-four rooms and two people to each.

She thought back to the strange man she had seen outside. His piercing blue eyes, like daggers to the heart. There was no way he was real. The blood on his mouth, the way his gaze burned through the dark. There was just no way. So she dared not believe such a thing. She still was unsure if the little girl from the art show was real or not. The jury was still out with that verdict, but the man's sentencing had been given and the jury found the vision to be a hallucination. She would write it down in the journal nestled into her bag at a later date. For now, her body was trying to tell her something.

Boots still on, and bundled in the army-green coat with the fake fur on the top, she surrendered to the heaviness of her eyes and fell asleep.

☽☼☾

Ji-Yeong dropped off some stuff in front of her room by the time she woke up, her phone screen bright as she viewed the time. 2:30 PM.

Outside the door, lie a printed copy of her classes and the laminated map so she could make her way down to Student Resources and a small note on what she needed to remember to ask for — ID, uniforms, bedding, any machines for the kitchen that she could rent, etcetera. Her mouth watered at the idea of coffee. She was sure she could get it from the cafeteria, but they never seemed to be able to make it right. She preferred to make it herself, as dark and deep as an endless void.

Temperance rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took the items, shutting the door behind her. Opening up her suitcase, she pulled out a cream-colored turtleneck and some black jeans. Simple yet effective at keeping her warm.

Her head was already starting its daily round of pain, but she dug the ibuprofen from the darkest recesses of her bag and downed three, swallowing them dryly without the aid of water. She peered out the window, noting the drizzle and the lack of water flooding the grass. She assumed it must have all drained into the moat or trickled down the mountain. As long as there were no puddles of mud that she could get her boots stuck in, she did not quite care where the water flowed.

And off she went. Luckily, Ji-Yeong's instructions were not hard to follow. Down the hall, down the front staircase, through the wooden door, and follow the signs for the Student Resource office. It was not hard to miss as there were only two offices beyond that simple door.

She exited the dorms and traveled back down the hallways she entered last night. It was mostly clear of students, one or two entering or exiting their rooms. It seemed the majority were in class.

Temperance's stomach growled as she finally made it out of the depths of the halls, coming up to the stairs. With a clearer and more keen eye, she could better see what the parts of the school looked like. Right before the hallway to the dorms began, there was a room with double doors and wide, frosted glass panels embedded into the metal. A wooden sign above the doors announced the room as the library. Even through the frosted glass windows, she could see a plethora of natural sunlight streaming through. A room she would have to visit at some point in time.