DON'T PRAY TO ME

11 - The Ball

Clad in her now most favorite dress, with rosy lips and tinted cheeks, Rachel enters the Deirci side of the ballroom. She walks slowly, her head facing up, admiring the beauty that is the room, not noticing the gazes on her of the boys and girls around her. She has never before seen a place as ethereal as the room she is in. It's her first time here. The ceiling has an oil painting of the school when it was newly established. There are people around the school in the painting, looking at it with astonishment. Light glows onto the art after being reflected from the golden molds of the ceiling. At the very center is a ten feet chandelier made of glass flowers with aflame filaments. The room holds Rachel in a daze, and when she slowly brings her head back down, her eyes meet with of those who are looking at her. She feels embarrassed for gawking at the room in front of everyone. She quickly finds her way to a vacant corner. Rachel stands there scanning the place. There are only Deirci here. Rachel didn't know that even though the ball was going to happen in the same ballroom, there is a large wall, spanning from floor to ceiling, in the middle of the vast space, dividing it between the Deirci and Dhamenci. One might even say there are two rooms instead of one.

Rachel sees the opening in the wall near the front. It's not big enough for her to see the other entrance, the one Dhamenci are using. Rachel is disappointed that she won't be able to see Slade. Unlike the last two times, Rachel can't just walk into the other side without repercussions. She looks above at the corridor circling the wall. There seems to be two levels in the room. Rachel turns her attention back to the ground floor and spots the refreshment nook. It's at the back. Rachel goes over to the drinks, while sticking close to the room's edges. At the table she pours herself a glass of grape juice, and moves back closer to the back wall. While sipping her drink, Rachel catches the glimpse of a garden at the back. She decides to find the door to get in there, but soon Penny calls out to her.

Penny hurries over to Rachel and grabs her hand. "Penny!" Rachel says and grins. Penny hastily tugs at Rachel's arm and says, "I want to show you something upstairs. Let's go." Rachel notices Penny seems a little out of breath. Sweat covers Penny's forehead. It looks like Penny ran over to here. Before Rachel could ask what is it that Penny is in a rush for Rachel to see, Penny has started pulling Rachel to the side. Rachel soon sees a staircase heading above, tucked behind the room's walls. So this is the way to the level above, Rachel thinks while Penny pulls her up the stairs. Above the stairs, the divider wall is gone. The circular platform has arches on both sides that open to their own pathways. Penny takes Rachel to one of the archways on the Deirci side. There are doors inside. Penny opens the closest one and asks Rachel to get in. Soon after Rachel gets in she sees the furnished room, with tables and chairs and shelves. And on some of those chairs are Mithria and her friends.

Before Rachel could comprehend the situation she's in, she hears the doors close. Penny has left. Rachel knocks at the back of the door. "Penny!" She shouts. The girls laugh. Mithria says, "Come on, Rachel, we just want to hang out with you. Why be so scared?" One of the girls goes over and grabs Rachel, and drags her to the seats. The rest of the girls get up and surround Rachel. Mithria says, "It's a pity your friend sold you out to us. But, then again, it's not like I gave her a choice." Rachel starts crying. Mithria says, "You look very pretty today in the new dress. It suits you. But... it is a little... plain. How about a little more color?" Mithria holds her hand out and one of the girls places a bottle of ink on her palm. Rachel tries to move away but two girls hold her in place by her arms. Mithria pours the ink all over Rachel's dress while Rachel begs Mithria to stop. After emptying the bottle Mithria throws it to the floor, where it shatters, and steps back from Rachel and looks at the dress thoughtfully. "Hmmm... Not enough. Need to fix the cuts, too," Mithria says and puts out her hand again. This time a scissor is placed on her palm. Mithria grabs chunks of Rachel's dress and starts snipping them off while Rachel is weeping. Her dress is torn, in the skirt, sleeves, shoulders, everywhere. Rachel's skin on the legs and arms bleed after the edges of the scissors cut across them through the fabric. Suddenly the door opens.