The Phylum

Chapter Six: The Dust Labyrinth

I shut the door sharply behind me, a sheet of dust rising an inch from the door's crevices before settling. The room was eerie, brimming with miscellaneous items sheeted with old, torn cloth. The sheeted shapes created lengthy shadows on the erratically lit floor. I looked up at the precariously hanging light bulb, watching it flicker.

My footsteps were loud, thudding against the ground. I noticed the impressions my feet made in the dusty ground, almost as if I was being closely trailed by a ghost. If someone was here, I wouldn't surprise them. I looked behind my shoulder every now and then, the feel of intruding eyes on my back.

I was looking for something-- or someone. I didn't know. However, I'd lost something, and this seemed like an appropriate place to find it.

I ran my hands over the sooty drapes, sometimes feeling the sharp edges of unknown contraptions. At times I'd accidentally cause parts of the sheets to crumble in my fingers, more litter to add to the dust dumpster around me.

After I'd decided that meandering through the network of medley things was coming to nothing, I spotted the splatter of scarlet. It was cruelly artistic, the spot of color in the otherwise colorless room. I followed it, suddenly very aware of the possible hideouts that surrounded me.

It didn't take me long to find the body. Her body. I stumbled over myself, all of my senses dulling but my sight. I tried to say something, to tell her to get up, but hoarse animal sounds took the place of actual words. I crouched in front of her, pressing my fingers against her draining wound. Her neck had been violated, a thin and lethal slice against her delicate, tan skin. The blood trailed over her clothes, the ebony cloth shiny with the fluid. Her eyes were glassy, the contempt look she always wore now eternally vacant.

"C-Cal?"

Rather than awaking to the underside of the hanging bed over mine, I awoke to a pair of icy, gray eyes. I sat up suddenly, causing my roommate to double back, "Enjoying the show?" My voice was breathy, still shaken from the dream. "Enduring, is more appropriate, your obnoxious yelling probably woke up the entire T Block."

It took me a while to fully realize where I was and what he was talking about. T Block were the dormitories of the beginners. Mentors slept in M block and K block, the largest block, belonged to the experienced TKs. Who I assumed to be the troublemakers.

Peter stood up, his long legs making him tower over me. His blonde hair was slicked tight over his head, catching the artificial light. He threw one other smirk behind his shoulder before thumbing the lock on our bulky door. I watched Peter's bulky silhouette as he started down the stretch of hall, occasionally jostling other TKs out of his way. The door automatically sealed shut, obscuring my view. I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding and laid my head back down on my pillow.