HEAVEN IS HERE

CHAPTER FOUR

After breakfast is done, the girls seem to know where they're all supposed to be going, so Annalise just joins them and follows along.

They all line up in a hallway, and from the spot she's in, Annalise can see a glass window the highlights an empty room with ballet bars on the wall. This makes Annalise hopeful, maybe it's a dance school or something. She loves to dance, and she does ballet at home after school sometimes. At the moment, no one is in the dance room, but it's large and spacious, so she looks forward to dancing in there sometimes.

All the girls are lined up against the wall, awaiting some sort of instruction. That instruction comes.

"Hello, girls. Your first task of the day today is going to be hand-to-hand exercises. Following that, you will have class, and proceeding will be ballet. You will then be dismissed for lunch, Have your language class, and then combat skills outdoors. Afterwards will be showers, dinner, reading, and lights out. You are dismissed."

Madame B waves her hand, physically signally for the girls to disperse.

Annalise is so excited for ballet, but is unsure what Madame B meant by hand-to-hand excercises. She guesses she'll just have to wait and see.

                              ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

The girls all gather in a big room, lots of open space, and an even, steady floor. Annalise doesn't know why she thinks of it as steady, at first. Most floor is steady, she thinks. Maybe it's because it's not slippery, and as her black shoes pad against the ground, going along with her uniform provided that all the girls wear, the floor just feels reassuring. It's kind of an odd comfort to Annie, especially since she's been lacking that due to the recent events in her life.

"Okay girls, go into the changing room and to your lockers before we begin. Be here in promptly 5 minutes!" The instructor says in a loud voice, effectively getting the message across.

Not like any of these girls would dare to disobey anyways.

As Annalise heads into the changing room, she sees an array of identical lockers. Theyre carved with the names of the girls, and as she opens hers, she realizes it's pretty cool. The structure of the hinges seems to be made to be detachable to the locker door, easily replacing it. At first, she thinks it's in case the lock gets messed up or something, and mentions it the Maisie, who happens to be right next to her.

"Mais, this is pretty awesome. The way the hinges are structured is pretty smart for when the locks get broken." Annalise voices her observation.

"Yea, or if they need to replace the name on the locker." Maisie offers a sympathetic smile, and starts to change.

Change the name? Annalise thinks it's a bit strange, this doesn't seem to be a place where girls leave, based on what she's heard. The girls in this place sure do leave, as Annalise will come to learn. Maybe not in the way she originally thinks though.

The girls return to class, identical athletic wear adorning the small bodies of young girls her age scattered across the room.

"You! Hm, and you right there!" The instructor booms.

Two girls walk up to the center of the room, a doe eyed girl with dark, chocolate brown hair, and a girl with golden blonde hair, almost like honey, and a fierce determination in her eyes.

They put their right legs in front of themselves, standing directly in front of the other, with their left legs firm on the ground, white sneakers firm instead of black, shiny school shoes.

Annalise's eyes slightly widen when they raise their fists up to their chests, distancing them a little bit and raising them up ever so slightly.

"START!" The instructor yells, startling Annalise's intense focus on the girls, but she is careful to catch herself in time and not let it show.

The girls start to fight, skin on skin, limb to limb. Punches are pulled, and punches are thrown. Kicks to the shins, almost whimsical, maybe it's their ballet experience. Annalise is still excited, but now starts to question what the purpose of ballet here at 'The Red Room' is really for.

The blonde girl gets the upper hand, tackling the doe eyed one to the ground. Annalise and the other girls in the room watch intensely. Some with fascination, others with calculating stares, absorbing techniques and relatating moves. Annie picks up on this, and shifts into an analyzing, calculating mode too.

Small, pale hands reaching for the brunettes throat. Squeezing. Squeezing. And squeezing.

Squeezing hard.

A little too hard.

But is that on purpose?

Annalise starts to get alarmed, watching and watching until the brunettes face turns to a shy shade of blue.

The blonde doesn't stop.

A small wheeze, eyes shut. Tight, at first, but they loosen. The brunette's skin is now blue, but blue as in a blueberry, no longer a shy tint.

"Alright! Oksana, you're finished, thank you." The instructor dismisses the girl to rejoin the group.

The girl nods, dusting her hands off her black athletic shorts, and rejoins the others.

"Let Giada be an example to you all, girls. Kill, or be killed. Natural selection at its finest." The instructor sends a nod of approval to the girl with honey blonde hair. She gives him a smile back, beaming.

"Who's next?" The instructor asks with a chuckle.