TAINTED ROSE

Chapter 1 - The Girl in the Rain

Bare-footed, drenched to the bone, the lone figure approached the gates of a majestic campus, located in a remote corner of the diminutive country…

 The gate-keeper, an elderly woman, got out of the comfort of the guardhouse and approached the girl with a gun, a Glock- used by the Austrian army, hidden from view behind her back.

Only the fittest can survive…

“Who are you? This is no orphanage! Go back! “ Old Lim the gatekeeper snarled. A tough façade hid a soul of tainted gold. Her thoughts were muted; run away! This place is horrible! Go before it is too late!

The girl trembled in fear…

“I heard a call. And I came, to answer.” Raising her head, brown eyes hardened by fate returned the stare.

“Lim, what is the matter?” A soft voice approached, a man wearing a suit walked towards the agitated Lim and the calm girl. With an umbrella, he blocked the rain from its fierce tempest.

“This crazy girl tried to enter. Do I shoot?” Trembling hands reached the back for the Glock.

“ Oh no, don't. It would be such a waste. I see potential in her. Bring her to Lois in the staff room. She would know what to do.”

“Yes sir!” Lim, nodded, secretly relieved that she didn't have to shoot.

The heavy scent of cologne wafted faintly and diminished in the rain.

Old Lim brought the girl though the gates and the girl stood in awe at the sight of the school. It was a stony building with ferns growing out of the cracks and had a picturesque look of a haunted house. However, that did not stop her from liking the school.

Old Lim knocked on the door of the staffroom, whispering into the speaker. She looked at the girl and asked, “What’s your name?”

The girl was drenched in water, but her look remained cold and stoic.  “Adolpha.”

Old Lim whispered into the speaker once more. After the conversation, she stood up and told Adolpha to stand next to her.

“She does not like untidiness… You shouldn’t be here,” she mumbled.

Soon, the door opened.

An immaculately dressed woman peeked out of the staffroom. She wore the latest fashion and shiny, well-polished stilettos, but Adolpha could not help but notice her manicured nails were badly bitten.

“ Lois? This is Adolpha. She’s in your class this year. Don’t you dare make the same mistake with her.” Lim pushed Adolpha roughly towards Lois and threw her a look of scorn.

The Academy, a school that trains skilled spies and assassins for the government…

There was a prophecy, made by one student…

Lois was a young teacher who taught a feisty and rowdy pack of fourteen year olds orphans. She made sure that her students were well equipped with many skills. If they could not make the cut to be an assassin for the government, they would have to die. It was too dangerous to let them live. Too many secrets could be exposed. Like the last time.... She shuddered. The girl was lucky to live. It was hard to imagine that her pack of unruly hounds could actually kill. They were more of a litter of untrained puppies.

Friendship holds bonds together…                                                                             

 Her girls were trained since they were young, the longest student was Crystal, the principal's own daughter. Some students wondered to themselves why she was in the school but they kept their thoughts to themselves. They knew that the principal had another daughter, but they did not know who she was. Some said that she ran away from home, some said that she was in another school. But they were all rumours. No one knew what the truth was, including Lois.

Crystal had to live up to this sad kind of expectation. She was expected to be a better fighter and smarter that the others. It was surprising to find another student at fifteen. Kind of late the other teachers murmured.

Stoically, standing barefooted and not shivering from her damp clothes, Lois examined her new student. Been through a lot for sure, from that expressionless face.

“She needs a bath.” Old Lim shook her head, wrinkling her already shrivelled face.

“Yes, I'll take care of her from now. Thank you Lim.” Ushering the silent girl, to the bathroom, her concern of her feet, leaving behind a trail of no, not breadcrumbs, but blood.

 It strengthens one…

After a brief bath in the warm water, Adolpha emerged, wearing a robe where Lois was waiting to treat her blistered soles.

“Tell me when it hurts alright?” Gently swabbing a cotton bud with antiseptic, Ms Lois began to treat the girl's wounds. Emerging from a cubical stall silently, trying to sneak out, Sherry was called over to bring a set of uniform for the new girl. “Su… Sure,” she stuttered, shock clearly shown in her raised eyebrows.

 She returned shortly after, with a blue and white pinfold, coupled with a black jacket. “Thank you Sherry.” Nodding her appreciation, the stoner returned into the store to change. When she came out again, she looked like any other student, apart from the stony expression.

“You look great! Sorry we don't have shoes now. I didn't know your size.” Sherry looked at her own feet, comfortable in her sneakers. Shaking her head, the girl waved her hand, or rather her arm up and down several times, and focused her attention on a passing lizard, fascinated with it steaming at the side of the bath. Screeching both teacher and her other student fled the toilet, with the other one emerging out calmly.

Time to move on…