Devil's Boarding school

Chapter 4. Waking up in wonder.

The world was a myriad of dancing bright lights as Ember's eyelids flickered against the weight of sleep. She could hear a frantic many noises as she regained consiousness, the feeling of someone patting her cheek and calling out to her from the darkness. "Em'! Oh Em', I'm sorry please wake up! I didn't mean for this to be so shocking! Em'? Open your eyes!"

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and cringed at the bright light in the room. She found herself lying under the shadow of that man, who frantically flitted around her, panicked like a small rabbit. Several bell-like voices could be heard referring to him as the "Dean", much to her amazement, as such a childish and panicked person did not seem the type to fill that role.

"I'm alright." she said, "though nobody has called me Em' in a while.." she shielded her eyes from the light,

She lifted her head slightly, but it felt heavier than usual, a stabbing pain at the back of it. She reached back to see why, and felt a small bump and wetness to it. She hissed at the sting of it as her finger brushed against it. The Dean was most concerned with this, and renewed his stream of fussing and apologies, handing Em pills and bottles of some tonic she did not recognise.

"I'm alright really." She smirked darkly, "Just an Advil and I'll be fine."

"Advil?" he stopped and seemed confused, repeating it to himself, then suddenly demanding of some figure she hadn't noticed before.

"Yes, Advil. None of that here?" She asked, a little unsurprised since she had seen the typewriter and a certain lack of electrical lighting. Though she wondered, where the light actually came from, now aware of the fact that she could not see any lamps or sources of light in this room despite it's brightness.

"No, I'm sorry!" He thougth for a moment "That's it, I'm not taking any chances, an Undine will be here promptly!" He said as he shot up and just began to walk away.

"Wait!" She called, grabbing him feebly by the arm, "Where are you going" she pleaded, suddenly reluctant to not be by his side, the urge powering her moves and grasp. All much to her surprise.

"I'm fetching the Undine?" He seemed confused at first, then quietly sat down and held the hand that had restrained him, once Em had calmed and lain back down he said "An Undine is a water wizard, they will heal you." He signalled to the mysterious figure from before, gestured to her, then gently let go and dissapeared in an instant.

Her head hurt, and the room kept spinning. She reached down and grasped the fabric of her bed sheets. Bed sheets? She realized then that she was in a sort of infirmary bed, if you could call something so finely crafted in woven metal detail to be that.

The room (still spinning) was large and surgically white, made of marble, and decorated with greek or roman style sculptures like the foyer. They lined the height of the room, presumably of saints and others of the guardian variety. It was in stark contrast with the darker offices, but still felt dead. The air was always still and just the temperature of your body, almost so still that you forgot there was air at all.

Each statue had it's own alcove over each of eight beds, where they looked forever blankly over you with pupil-less eyes. Curtains hung over each bed as well, just so that they could be pulled around them for privacy, just as those around Em's bed were haphazardly drawn, the door and room just visible. Each bed was slightly larger than the typical twin size, with fine silken sheets and smooth black bed frames, each intricately designed, all hinting at the slightly more refined appeal of the whole school. Even the sick were going to be comfortable here, however brief their stay.

She was pleased to find the room had finally stopped spinning after a while, and she was able to unclench her fists, relax, and press further into the comfort of her bed, before stretching and sitting up against her plush pillow. Her head throbbed at the action of suddeness, causing her to wince and reflexively put her hand up to touch it gingerly. When she brought her hand back there was a drop or two of blood. Snapping her head to the table beside her there was a towel that was covered in a larger more vivid red splash.