Charlotte entered the canteen in a daze, unable to shake the chill from her encounter with the threatening man in the yard. The canteen felt safe and warm compared to the lonely coldness she had come from.
She forced her shoulders down, trying to feign a sense of calm, she certainly no longer felt. She needed to appear normal, contented for her own sake. She was certain James would be as dismissive of her worries now and he had been the night before. It didn't help that their day had started and continued as normal. She had half-expected their new world to be torn apart before breakfast, but as the day had worn on and their routine had continued as it always did, it seemed nothing out of the ordinary was going on at the compound at all. Or at least she had come to that assumption, before she had met the strange man once more.
Charlotte exhaled, trying not to dwell on the worry she was trying so hard to ignore. Instead she mustered her energy and continued across the canteen. It was a huge square room with shiny, white laminate covered tables and benches, which made the room seem starker than it really was. Fluorescent lighting illuminated the white walls and the grey linoleum floor, offering it little warmth or homeliness. It was clinical, clean and simple.
On one side of the room, they served the food from behind great silver stations, huge, monstrous serving counters, steaming with food. The food didn't taste of much, making it almost impossible to tell what meat you were eating. Everything had a general saltiness to it, one thirst-inducing flavour.
Charlotte strolled along by the wall, her feet carrying her automatically to their usual table furthest from the serving counters. She ignored the other students gathered, only aware of the merry din they were creating, completely unaware of the growing threat that had arrived within the compound.
"Hey," Ian nodded as she sat down opposite him. He didn't look up at her. With great care and precision he was dissecting a huge slice of cheese-cake, seeming to labour over what part he would eat next. Charlotte frowned at him before shaking her head and shrugging out of her jacket.
"Hi," she breathed, a little relieved that he was the only one sitting at their table. She didn't need James fussing over her in front of everybody, trying to convince her she was exaggerating.
"How was your day? Old Maxie keeping you busy?"
"He's trying," she shrugged. "Same questions every day – I am still hoping he will get the point soon and realise I don't have a clue what they did to us at Kingston".
"Who caved first today?"
"He did," she whispered, chewing the nails on her left hand and thrumming the fingers of her other hand against the table.
"What is up with you?" Ian asked frowning. "I haven't seen you this irritated since before you vanished from Kingston".
Charlotte pressed her lips together, removing her hands from sight and sitting on them to hide her distraction. "Nothing - I just..." she sighed, closing her eyes.
Ian would be of little help to her current problem. He was not exactly the best at giving rational advice, though he was pretty adept at telling her what she wanted to hear. He had the same, reckless and short-tempered reactions as she did. But that would hardly do now. It wouldn't be worth the argument with James in any case. No - now she needed sane, sensible advice; now she needed Iseult.
Though that wasn't an option anymore. Iseult was gone. Bennett had made sure of that.
"Kiya told me what happened last night," he said in an offhand, awkward sort of way, interrupting her thoughts.
YOU ARE READING
Feared
Science Fiction'Play the game, she thought, remembering the only three words that had helped her to survive at Kingston. Only back then she had known the game, she had known what they wanted her to be, what they had wanted her to do - this man was different. She d...
