Prisoners of Prophecy

Chapter 1

Melany - July 10th, 2019; 2:13pm 

I watched my grandfather pull hastily out of the parking lot and start down the long road that led - eventually - out of the thick forest that I was now in the middle of. He had followed the police cruiser with my things, and had stayed long enough to watch the officers remove my shackles. He was gone before my police escorts, which stood close behind me. One of them had a tight grip on my upper arm. I wiped away the tears on my cheeks and kept my eyes on his car until all I saw was the sunlight shining on the silver bumper, wondering if I'd ever see it again. My grandparents had become ashamed of me after the incident, maybe even scared of me. I hated to see that look on their faces.
I had no choice now but to turn and face the tall iron gates that were the entrance to my new school. I cringe internally at the word. ShadowWood Reform School. There had to be a more fitting title - something terrible and menacing. A guard stood on the other side of the gate, a cautious look in his eyes. A mask covered the bottom half of his face. I wondered if he already knew about me.
Would he really pull that gun? If I made a move?
I studied the pistol on his hip nervously. Lately, even my own thoughts would sometimes scare me. I was unsure if they even were my thoughts. And on that horrible day I can't remember, the rest of my memories would try to come... It never got any easier to force them away.
     "Melany Marks?" The man questioned.
     I nodded. He used several keys on the gate then, constantly looking back over his shoulder. I pondered on how many kids had tried to escape as he hurried me through the doors. He locked the gate back just as quickly, giving a quick goodbye to the two officers who had brought me here. The first building - made of a bleak gray concrete with only a few windows - was where he led me, one hand gripping my arm tightly. He held the door for me and left without another word.
     More dull gray greeted me. The linoleum tiles were no longer white, but now the color of ashes. The rows of chairs in what seemed like a waiting room were gray. The walls. The telephones at the front, by the desk. Even the woman who was now walking towards me was wearing a gray uniform.
"Melany?" Her tone was harsh, as well as the judgement in her muddy brown eyes. The two guards that were flanking the desk took a step forward. Again I wondered how much they knew about me, how much of that awful lie of a police report of the day that it happened that they read. She waited for no answer. She didn't introduce herself, either; the only way I knew that was the name tag pinned to her collar. Sanders, it read. "Welcome to ShadowWood."
I tried to smile, but it felt foreign on my face.
She handed over the drawstring bag she had been holding, shoving it roughly into my arms. "This contains what you will need to start off. Your schedule, copies of the paperwork your guardians filled out to get you in. Also, there are a few sets of clothing - you can come here to ask for more later, if you need. The stuff your grandfather brought is being examined and will be sent to your room." She raised a bushy eyebrow. "Any questions?"
     "When will I be able to leave?" I ask in a whisper.
     She smiled, but it was void of any emotion. "Well, we only accept certain cases, with kids between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. Students are required to finish their curricular on through high school, unless, on the rare occasion, we believe that they are able to finish outside of here. That also depends on the crimes they have committed.
     "When they finish their classes, they are evaluated and that determines if they are available for release, and what their shortened sentence is, if applicable, will be. We give everyone until age twenty-five to redeem themselves.
     "But, with you... It will go differently. You still complete your classes, you are still eligible for a shorter sentence. But, I'm sure you'll stay until twenty-five even if you complete your classes, because you're going to eventually decide that being here is better than the long time you're going to have to be locked up in either a prison or a mental health facility. Everyone can ask to extend their stay, but usually only people like you are approved."
     "People like me?" I looked down at myself, then back up into her dark, cynical gaze. "What's that supposed to mean?"
     "Well..." She took a deep breath, maybe to prepare herself for what she was about to say. Maybe to prepare for my reaction. Or maybe just to savor each and every word. "You are here under a first degree murder cha-"
     "I didn't kill anyone," I snarled, surprised at the anger in my tone. "I swear it wasn't me."
     "Save it. I'm not here to solve crimes," she snapped, pulling out a set of keys and what looked like a singular handcuff with a red light flashing almost ceremoniously. "You must wear this the entirety of your stay here. It will track you. If you go beyond our perimeters, it will deliver a controlled shock that will keep you down until a guard can come retrieve you."
She clamped the bracelet over my wrist and locked it. The blinking red light turned a solid green. I noticed that there were six keys on the key ring in her hand, each with a piece of tape on them that had a letter written on it. The bracelet was cold and tight against my skin. She slipped the keys back into her pocket, eyeing me warily.
     "Is there any way you could loosen it a little bit?"
     Before she could answer, a bell dinged and a whoosh of warm air hit the back of my neck. I turned around to see a man my age walking through the door. He was dressed in all black - the school had stated that's the only color we could wear - his shirt tight against his muscular chest. As he came closer, I noticed he towered more than a foot over the both of us. He examined me curiously, his green eyes taking me in until my skin felt hot. His curly hair was the color of fire.
     Before he reached us, the woman pulled my sleeve over my bracelet and leaned over to whisper in my ear. "I would keep that hidden, if I were you."
     The man ran a hand through his already ruffled hair, offering us a charming smile. I gasped as I noticed a similar tracking device around his wrist. I wondered briefly if everyone had one. "Hey, Ms. Sanders. How's it going?"
     She rolled her eyes. For the first time, I noticed a glimmer of humor in her expression. Was it just me, then? I wondered. Is his past more acceptable? I glanced down again at the bracelet uncomfortably snug around my arm. Even though it was covered, I could imagine the small circle on it shining proudly in the gray room, the green light like a single all - seeing eye, taunting me, daring me.
     "You know you're not allowed to be in the office during school hours unless it's an emergency." Ms. Sanders scolded. "But, since you are here... You can give Ms. Marks a quick tour around as you head back to class."
     He looked down at me again, as if he was just now really seeing me. I took the hand he held out to me. His skin was warm - almost too warm. I pulled away quickly. "I'm Kai. Welcome." He stretched his long arms, as if showcasing a magnificent kingdom instead of a dull room, smiling charmingly.
"Melany," I murmured, dipping my head.
He glanced at Ms. Sanders one more time before leading me outside. "I'll see you later."
He pointed to the right as soon as we walked out, where two two story brick buildings sat next to each other. "Those are the dorms. You'll probably spend the rest of the day there unless you decide to walk around. No school for you on your first day, lucky for you. I'll check your key in a minute so I can lead you to your room." He then took me around the other side of what I assumed was the office. A field stretched out before us. From here, I could see the rest of the school. It was surrounded by a tall fence, and beyond that, woods that stretched undisturbed for miles. He named each building off from right to left, pointing at each of them as he did. "That's where all the main classes are, like math, science, whatever. You know. There's an old house behind that, and I'd stay away from that if I were you. It looks like it's about to fall apart at any time." There was a strange guarded look in his stare when he mentions this, and he studies me wearily. "Beside that's the cafeteria. Then the library. And in front of that is where the extra curricular classes are. You got it?
"Yeah, I got it." My voice was low. I could hear the pain in it. So many emotions boiled in the pit of my stomach, but in my mind I felt lost. Doomed.
"A woman of few words, huh?" Kai asked, eyeing me suspiciously. "What got you in here, anyway?"
"Kai! Hey!" someone yelled in the distance. I didn't want to meet anyone else that had done something to get into this reform school, but I was thankful for the distraction. I wouldn't know how to answer his question.
Two people came to a jarring halt in front of us. They gave me a curious once-over before turning their attention back to Kai. "What's up?" the man asked.
Even Kai had to look up at the stranger who spoke. One of his eyes was cloudy, probably for the same reason that pink scar cut through it. The other one was hazel. His caramel skin was flawless other than that, and had a red tint in the bright sunlight.
"Ms. Sanders had me show Melany here around." He gestured to me. "She doesn't seem to like talking much."
The man nodded his head respectfully towards me, smiling warmly. "I'm Cato. It's a pleasure to meet you. And this is Illisha."
The woman seemed tiny next to Cato. She shuffled her feet, shyly meeting my gaze with wide brown eyes. She seemed to be the youngest out of the four of us. "Nice to meet you," she murmured.
Kai reached towards the bag I was hugging tightly. "Let's see your key. We can take you to your room."
I handed him my bag. Cato began pacing behind Illisha. "We've got to hurry, though," he said. "Calypso wants us to meet her. And I wouldn't want to keep her waiting."
As he rustled through my bag, I turned towards Illisha. She seemed to be the easiest to talk to, and the silence was even worse than the idea of making conversation. "Is Calypso a teacher?" I ask her.
"No." She smiled, and it lit up her face. "I would hate for her to be a teacher."
"Hm. That's weird," Kai said, looking at the key in his hand. There was a round piece of blue plastic with a gold number on it hanging from the keychain. "Her room's downstairs, with us."
"So?" Cato asked, still walking back and forth. "All the other rooms are probably full."
"What does it matter?" I questioned.
They all went quiet, looking at me. Cato stopped his impatient pacing. Their expressions were suddenly guarded, as if they all collectively shared a secret and were considering what to say to cover it.
Kai held out his muscular arm and pointed to his bracelet. There was a pride in his smile that made me feel nauseous. If what I was beginning to realize was right - and it probably was, they wouldn't spend money on some grandiose shock collar for everyone - then that meant he was a convicted killer. And that was nothing to be proud about.
"See this?" And as he asked, I noticed the other two glance down at similar bracelets. My stomach lurched, and my own wrist grew ice - cold. "Not everyone has these. They keep us together. I guess to keep an eye on us easier. Just strange that they'd put you down there with us."