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Chapter 9

I sat cross-legged on the concrete floor, playing one-woman soccer with my water dish, humming softly to myself. As the metal slid across the floor, I could hear sighs coming from the one guard in my section.

"Harmony, would you cut it out?" he yelled over. It was the same one I had apparently bit.

"Give me a dorm. With nice people. Who are not you. Then I'll stop," I said, matter-of-factly. "Oh, and also give me your name."

"Can't do that. But I can tell you that you'll be getting neighbors soon enough. And you already have my name."

Huh, neighbors. Probably those kids on the list.

"Yeah, well, I forgot it," I lied. "Oh, will you just get your butt over here. We're practically shouting. You're all the way over there when I'm your only prisoner."

There was a pause, and then shuffling. "Guess you're right," he said. He was standing in front of my cell now. I continued to hit the wall with my dish, scoring goals repeatedly. "Jack."

"I'm sorry?"

"My name," he murmured. "You said you forgot."

"Oh. Right." Awkward silence followed, except for the sound of screeching metal on concrete.

"Would you stop that?!" Jack shouted.

"Give me a dorm!!" I yelled back.

"Fine!!" he gave in. I looked up, surprised. "Follow me." As he unlocked my door, I leapt up. Being locked up, I hadn't gotten out much. They stopped letting me go to lunch a few days ago.

Down the hall, past the cafeteria, and up a flight of stairs. "The boss is going to kill me for this, but here you go." Jack opened the first door on the right. An unlit room was inside. With just 4 beds, a small closet, a bathroom, and a few suitcases scattered around, it was very plain. But, hey, it beat the dirty prison.

There were three people in the room. Sam, Thea, and Emilicia looked up from what they were doing.

"Harmony!" Emilicia squealed and stood up to give me a hug.

"Have fun," Jack said, rolling his eyes. He shut and locked the heavy door behind us.

The girls invited me over to the bed that was to be mine.

"So, what happened since I've been locked up?" I asked them, bracing myself for the worst. They suddenly grew very serious.

"Ciel got called," Thea said. "He was on the list day before last. We couldn't keep him from going."

"No!" The thought of someone becoming a monster, especially one I had become friends with, was awful.

"Uh, Harmony, what's up with your eyes?" Sam handed me a spoon that had been laying on the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed as I saw my reflection. "Look at my hair!!" I ran my fingers down my hair in an attempt to smooth it down. Then, I noticed my eyes.

A waterfall of color surrounded my pupils. Neon blue on light blue on dark blue on navy. My eyes were a blue-gray normally, but nothing like this. It was almost as if my irises were rippling out towards the whites.