The next morning, I was awoken by a loud alarm, sounding somewhat like a cat being murdered. Someone was trying to get out again. There's no doubt in my mind that they won't get very far, and they will be severely punished when caught. I get out of my bed, exiting my room and walking towards the great hall where we will be counted to make sure nobody else is on the run. Headmaster Andrews is up on a stage in the front of the room, standing at a microphone, though I highly doubt she needs it, she's usually yelling.
Once everyone has entered the room, she clears her throat, instantly silencing
Once everyone has entered the room, she clears her throat, instantly silencing the confused chatter that echoes throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and filling my ears with the sounds of puzzled voices.
"I apologize for having to wake you so early," she says, "but my reasons for doing so are sincere." The whispering begins again. "One of you lovely ladies has tried to get out again," she says, smiling like she's ready to kill us. A collective gasp sounds throughout the halls, but I don't know what they're so shocked about, this has happened before. Then again, if one of them is surprised they all have to be. "However, she has been caught, and will be punished severely. I hope you all take this as a valuable lesson and don't make the same mistake she did. You are dismissed," she concludes, sending us off. We turn, exiting the room and heading back to our own.
We don't do much that day, we aren't focused enough for classes and we're too afraid to go do something fun, so I spend my time alone in my room, taking more time to observe the ceiling that I've come to know so well. I know that there's a crack in the top left corner, the one closest to the wall, and some damage that seems to be from water in the middle section. There's also a mysterious red stain the color of a faded rose at the top of the wall across from me, though I'd rather not investigate that. I sigh, standing. There's no point in sitting here and moping, so I decide to go for a walk around the facility.
There's really nothing to look at, so this makes for a boring paragraph. The walls are the same color as my room, grey. There isn't a better way to describe it because it's nothing worth describing. I turn down a few more halls before I realize I have no idea where I am. And then their's the lights. They shut off, and the artificial night begins. I am in SO much trouble. There's people who roam the halls at night, though I don't really think they're people. Anyone who sneaks out at night never returns, they don't even have to use the alarms. I hear footsteps and the high pitched screech of claws dragging across the concrete walls and I wince. The sound is unbearable.
I start running. Whatever is behind me can't be far, and I don't want to find it—or rather it to find me. After running down a few hallways I hear the footsteps slowly fade away like whatever had been chasing me found something better to do with it's time.
It takes a while to get back to my room, and once I do, it's already morning. The doors swing open once more, and I pretend to walk out like I had been there the whole time.
Guards walk down the hall with their clipboards, taking roll, but they stop when they get to me. "Number 0473," one says, looking me up and down. After pausing for a moment, the guard speaks again. "Come with me."
