MORTALS

/08: Everything Looks Like a Barren Desert

I took the stairs.

I mean, a luxury hotel elevator was fine, but it was too fast. I needed some time to think.

I needed the stairs.

The stairs weren't secluded stairwells in the west and south corners of the building Instead, the main two staircases were situated in the front foyer, starting at the first floor. My footsteps seemed heavy, but without a physical suitcase, I had no excuse for why I was walking so slowly.

The staircases branched off and met again, like a bunch of Hogwarts stairs with polished marble instead of cracked stone.

The top floor was stunning. Since it was the top floor, there wasn't much space needed to accommodate the staircases. The hallway was wide and brightly lit, with simple chandeliers hanging every few feet. Simple doors were placed every few meters or so. The gold plaques outside each one read things like, Laundry Room A5, or Study Hall A2, or even Girls' Washroom, A3. I walked down the quiet hall, wondering why there wasn't more bustle. Maybe they were all in class? No, it was a Sunday. Of course, they were all at orientation.

I arrived at the end of the hall, where there was a single door. The double door was made of polished oak, the handles made of gleaming brass. The gold plaque read, Stream One, Coterie Dorms.

Taking a deep breath, I turned the handle and walked inside.

I was greeted with a cozy common room, a fireplace crackling merrily. The room basically looked like a large, modern living room. The walls were all white, with floor to ceiling windows along one side of the room. There seemed to be two rooms; A living room part and a small kitchen. The kitchen part was separated by a glass wall.

The living room part had about seven small arrangements of cozy chairs, each with their own table in the middle. There was a flat screen TV at the front of the room, with the fireplace underneath. I walked over to the arrangement closest to me. The chairs weren't exactly armchairs, but they were really comfortable. About five or six people could fit in each arrangement. I looked at the plaque.

"Coterie: Viper."

I quickly walked into the kitchen. The glass divider had a doorway-sized opening. The kitchen was small, with an island and two fridges. It wasn't like we were going to be holed up here, but it was more for snacks and stuff.

I looked around. There didn't seem to be any bathrooms or laundry rooms. Instead, there were four doors by the back, each with another plaque. I walked up to them, my footsteps echoing against the polished hardwood.

"Coterie: Viper. Coterie: Jaguar. Coterie: Phoenix. Coterie: Hawk." I read aloud. Beside the doors was a staircase that led to a balcony. I slowly climbed the stairs, running my hand along the railing. My shoes seemed to leave dust and dirt every step I took, visibly ruining the polished atmosphere. The top balcony had another three doors, again with their own plaque.

"Coterie: Lynx. Coterie: Centaur." I walked up to the last door, expecting to see my Coterie. "Coterie: Gryffin."

This is it. This is where I'll be staying for the rest of the year. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I had no reason to be nervous. Well, it was going to be co-ed, but Drezza had talked to the rest of the Coterie and they had all agreed that it would be okay, so I should be fine, right?

I took a breath and knocked twice.

No one answered. I waited two seconds before opening the door.

The place I saw was cozy and welcoming. Another table, this time styled like a desk. Five chairs were situated around it with a small couch by the wall. A few pencil cases and a lamp were scattered around the middle. There was a couch by the right wall, and two doors by the back wall.

I walked over to read the plaques. The door on the right read Stream One: Phoenix Coterie-Girls. The door on the right read, Stream One: Phoenix Coterie-Boys.

The room was silent, so I decided that no one was there. I opened the door to the girls' room, the door squeaking slightly. The room inside was square and had light blue-grey painted walls. The windows along the back wall were floor to ceiling, with nice, off-white curtains. The floor was polished hardwood, with a small, fluffy white carpet beside each bed.

There were two beds, one against each wall. The bed frames were made of simple light oak wood. The mattresses were raised slightly to allow room for drawers underneath. Each bed had a small table at the foot.

The bed on the right had pink and black covers with an Eiffel Tower in the middle of the bedspread. The pillows were pink with black fringe. Chic. Beside the bed, on the wall, were framed pictures of Paris. I stepped closer to look at the details. There was the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre Museum. And that's the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris! Amazing. The photos were taken really well, I could just tell.

I glanced at the other bed, the one by the far wall. The table beside it was empty, the mattress bare. Nothing special or personalized, just waiting for someone to move in.

Were these people expecting me?

Before I could process anything else, I was tackled from behind.

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Hello, my dear readers. So, if you're reading this at the time it's being published, then you might be wondering why the next three chapters are out three weeks earlier. So, I entered a contest, the Writers of Wattpad Awards. WoW is a writing contest for undiscovered books under 5K reads. I hope that my writing is decent enough to win. So, I'm going to just publish Chapters 8-10 early so that this stoyr might actually have a slim chance of winning. Okay, that's all for today. Please, if you wish, comment, vote, whatever. Have a nice life!