Elite || Marhinki

•Chapter Twenty-Two: Diamond•

The doors slid open, retracting into the metal frame of the train soundlessly. Mr. Lee Yang gestured towards them. The message was clear: get out.

After a quick shared glance, Mari and I slid out of our chairs and stood in the hall, waiting for Shayne's posse to leave, before we followed them. I was half tempted to take Mari's hand in my own for reassurance.

I wasn't scared, really. At least, I didn't think I was. But what lay outside those doors was a world I was not familiar with. One so far from the place I had grown up that the two places probably weren't even comparable. The Diamond District was probably going to be even fancier and elitist that the Training Center. Whatever the Diamond District had in store for me, it was not something I was used to.

Mari and I walked off the train and into a large, empty room. The floor was made of marble, and the three walls were jagged and embedded with pebbles. Water flowed over them, making the walls look blue. Hanging from the marble ceiling was a large chandelier that seemed to be made of gold and diamonds.

Wes, Mari, and even Shayne joined me as we gazed around the room in awe. If this was their train station, what did the rest of the District have in store for us?

A faint whoosh lured me back to the present. A short, dark-skinned woman had entered the room through a sliding door. Wickedly tall white heels adorned her feet. She was wearing a blue dress that had small gems stitched into it, making her shine every colour of the rainbow. Her sunglasses followed a similar theme.

Chandeliers, dresses, glasses... what didn't these people put diamonds on? Were they worried that if they didn't stare at one every second they'd forget where they were?

"Eugene!" the woman exclaimed as soon as she saw us. Running as fast as she could in her heels, she tackled Mr. Lee Yang in a ferocious bear hug.

So his real name was Eugene. I doubt he appreciated any of us knowing that, but with the fear he'd ingrained in all of us, I knew for a fact that none of us would ever refer to him with his first name.

"Hey, Quin," he replied, hugging the woman back. "It's been awhile."

"It's been a year is what it's been!" the woman retorted, releasing him from her grip. "You need to start visiting more. It gets so boring here without you."

"I'm busy all the time, Quin," Mr. Lee Yang rolled his eyes, "you know that."

"Busy doing what?" the woman replied. "Yelling at children?"

"Speaking of children," Mr. Lee Yang cleverly said, changing the subject. "Rember what we're here for."

"Oh, yes, right," the woman cleared her throat. "Hello, Elites! I'm Quinta Brunson, serving member of the Elite's court, and I'm going to be your guide of the Diamond District for your stay here. Any questions?"

Half of us were still looking around in amazement and the other half weren't listening. For a few seconds, it was so quiet you would've been able to hear a pin drop.

"No? Great. I hate questions. Waste of time," Quinta turned on her heels and started walking towards the door. "Follow me, everyone. Let's get this show on the road!"

She turned on her heels and started walking towards the door she'd come from. Mr. Lee Yang followed her, which shocked everyone back to reality. We all scrambled after her.

"So, our agenda is simple," Quinta explained as she took us down chrome halls. "I'm going to show you Town Square, some of the lord's mansions, the Elite Courtroom, and then we're going to go meet the Queen before you're shown to where you'll be sleeping. And we'll somehow do all of that in less than four hours, seeing as you're late."