DeathRide

Chapter 2: The Arrival

"What do you want?" I shouted abruptly, "Don't you have somewhere else to be? Rather than just stalking us?!" Kirsten was startled. I immediately cupped my hand over my mouth, instantly regretting every word I had said. Both Kirsten and Avis looked up at me, shocked expressions on both of their faces. The only noise that surfaced was a loud bass guitar coming from inside.

Kirsten looked up at me, back down, then back up again. Her eyes dug deep into me, the guilt pressure rapidly building up inside. Finally, she spoke, "I-I-I live here.'' those three words, though stuttered, still pushed in deep with embarrassment.

"You- you what?" I asked her slowly. Kirsten giggled slightly.

"Sorry. I should have told you on our way here. I take my classes here." She smiled. My heart sank deep into my lungs. I swallowed hard, breathing deeply as I walked slowly up the steps and opened the door. The moment the door opened one crack, the mysterious bass boomed loudly, blasting all our ears' with the constant low drone, notes slowly changing. I recognized the tune after getting used to the loud noise, which was probably coming from two or three floors above us.

As we walked in, Kirsten grasped onto my arm. Trying to shake her off, I kept walking toward the office, yet she doesn't let go. I decided to just ignore it and I headed up to the front desk at the office, where sat a young woman- almost as if she had just finished high school or college. Her long, straight, dark purple hair was almost invisible within the brightly colored office. When she finally looked up, the first thing I noticed was her beautiful face; much like that of a doll's, her straight-cut bangs perfectly framing her silver eyes, surrounded with thick black eyeliner. She looked at me straight in the eye.

"Yes how can I help you?" the lady asked us abruptly, breaking the momentary silence. I looked at her in amazement, the most beautiful voice escaping from her mouth, "Are you, by any chance new here?"

"Yes," I replied to her, Kirsten slowly loosening her grip around my aching arm. "Avis and I just got here, from Ska-" The purple haired lady's eyes widened slightly.

"Ahh, yes. The two Skarcian girls. How wonderful it is to finally meet you." Avis came up to the counter, releasing the ponytail from her hair. "I have already found a room where you may feel comfortable in." she smiled and handed me the key card. Kirsten glimpsed at it, then gasped.

"That's the exact same room I'm in." she exclaimed as she let go of my arm and squeezed Avis; just like that girl did to me at the airport.

"Uh, thank you," I said as I walked away, the two twelve-year-olds following me.

As we continued down the hall, Kirsten slowly re-grasped my arm. 'Not again...' I thought to myself and we stepped into the elevator. This place was much nicer than the school back home. My old school didn't have a nice elevator like this, not even a safe sturdy set of stairs. The old, rickety staircase broke nearly three times every month, and at least one of the many kids who fell, would end up dying, the others severely injured.

I viciously shook those morbid thoughts from my mind and I pushed the button with the number '13' on it. The elevator suddenly started moving upward, Kirsten's grip harder than it was before. The elevator hummed quietly, as it gradually increased speed. After about two minutes, the elevator came to a screeching halt, and Kirsten still firmly held my arm. Trying hard to walk out of the elevator, Kirsten refused to move a muscle. Avis and I ended up dragging her along until she decided to get up off the floor.

We continued to walk down the hallway; I carefully referring to the key card the secretary gave us, and looking up at every door. As we continuously inched down the hall, the grip on my arm became tighter and tighter.