Isle of Sanctum | The Aya Thrasher Chronicles | Book 1 |[Editing]

Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

PRESENT DAY

RAYNE

I should have been in prison. By now, I probably would have already been sentenced. The area I was from was known for its strictness and timeliness when it came to trial, which was good in some ways. The crime rate was probably the lowest amongst the entire continent. But that still didn't explain why I was here. There was no way they would have just let me go without approval from the governor. That made me believe that this place was much more dangerous than it appeared to be.

Sitting down on the bed, my mind began to wander. What if the sheets were poisoned? I was skeptical of everything, something I had developed as I had grown up. My life wasn't going the way it was supposed to go. I wanted to work in the theatre or what was left of it, and Nova wanted to be an actress. We were best friends because of our shared interests. Nova and I met Zander in a drama club; he wanted to be a director for holographic films. 

Though, after I didn't get into the Southern Academy of Dramatic Arts, everything changed. My father and grandmother didn't approve of me going out of the South for college, so they wouldn't pay for it. Paying for it on my own wouldn't be an option. The only other affordable drama institute was in Woodport, and they were the most competitive drama university in the entire world. 

Lake interrupted my moment of self-pity and poked her head in the door. Although I hardly knew her, something about her presence felt comforting. She wasn't like the others. She didn't care what people thought.

"Hey, um, sorry to bother you. Tayler assigned me to hand out toiletries to the others," she explained, holding a bag in her hand.

I got up from the bed and took the bag from her. I looked inside. "No brushing bots?" I asked.

She nodded her head. "Nope, sorry. Probably too expensive to hand out to everyone."

"You're probably right," I said.

"Have a good night."

"You too." 

I woke up the next morning fully refreshed, though, I felt I could have slept for the entire day, but noise coming from other parts of the suite kept me from doing so. After throwing on a sweatshirt, I entered into the living area, rubbing my eyes to wake myself up a bit more. I was still exhausted from the past few weeks. 

"Morning," Lake said with her mouth full of cereal.

"Hey," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "Who's in the back room?"

Lake shrugged. "Dunno. The door was shut all night."          

A door squeaked open. I had expected Tayler to come out, but it was someone else. Someone I had never seen before. The girl wore a nice, black, party dress, and her make up was smeared across her cheeks. I wondered if she had wandered into the wrong suite. 

"Who's this rando?" I turned my head and stared at the girl.

Aya also glanced at the new girl. "Hi," she said with a yawn, as she walked out from her room.

"Hey. I'm Piper," the new girl responded.

Aya smiled. "I'm Aya, that's Rayne," she pointed at me before pointing at Lake. "And that's Lake."

"Did you sneak in like a ninja?" I asked.

"I got in late last night. I was told to be quiet and not wake you guys up," Piper explained. "Who's Tayler?"

"She's basically like our den mother," Aya said. 

I stared at Piper's dress. I had known her for barely a minute, but yet she looked like a lot of fun, or maybe a hot mess. Issa finally came out of her room and walked over to Piper.

"Who's this and what's with the walk of shame?" Issa asked.

"I'm Piper. Yeah sorry about this, I kind of fell asleep when I got here a few hours ago."

I got up and searched through the refrigerator for a water cube. All I saw were large plastic bottles. "There's no water cubes?" I asked. My head still buried in the fridge. I had never had bottled water before, only water vacuum sucked to form the shape of a cube. 

"Nope. Only water bottles," Lake responded.

Someone knocked on the door, but I was too engrossed with trying to find water cubes to care about answering it. I shuffled the bottles around until I was satisfied that there were no cubes. After pulling out one of the hefty bottles, I saw some of the guys.

"Hey, we were just going to go sightseeing, if you all want to come," Brennan mentioned sticking his head in.

Tayler walked behind them, back from her run. "You guys should go," she said with a smile.

"I'm in," Aya replied.

"I'll probably just stay here and relax," I replied.

"You, sure?" Hayes asked, stepping into the suite. "It will be fun."

I nodded. "I'm sure."

I appreciated that Hayes wanted me to have fun, but I was just too exhausted. If I went, I would just be a burden on them, and they would end up resenting me for it. 

As the minutes passed, the suite started to empty out, and I was kind of happy. I wasn't necessarily the loner type, but some quiet time would give me a chance to clear my head. The suite was spacious for a few people, but packing six girls in this suite alone wasn't exactly a recipe for peace and quiet. Quietness was something I treasured, especially when I needed to clear my thoughts.

I retreated to the couch and took a sip of water. My mind raced back to the previous night. My powers were no longer working. It had me worried that something was wrong with my body. Was I sick? My mom died in childbirth, or at least the story I was told.

Perhaps, last night was an isolated event. I was probably just too tired to execute my powers properly. I set the water bottle on the counter and tried to concentrate on it. Nothing happened. I kneeled down on one knee and tried again, this time I closed my eyes. Again, nothing happened. Frustrated, I decided to give up.

What if it wasn't me? What if it was this place?      

That gave me an idea. I spun myself around, scanning the room while simultaneously becoming dizzy. Then I spotted something – a small black object at the top of each corner – closely resembling a spider. I didn't even know why I was surprised. Of course, they would be recording us, how else would they be able to report back to Dr. Marks at the dyeing center. Taking in a deep breath, I tried to hold my composure. If I did something, they would kick me out, and then I would never find that Key. 

END OF PART ONE.

EDITED: 01/23/2020