Crossed Worlds

Chapter 25: Welcome

  The day before had been spent packing and stressing out, but most importantly, it had been spent with family. Jade's mother had helped her pick out all the clothes she needed; her father had listened to all her worries and soothed them somehow, despite being concerned himself; her grandmother had given little words of wisdom all day long.

Now, it was the morning, and the minibus was outside of Jade's house, already filled with most of the gang, waiting for her. She felt her stomach drop when she saw it out of the window, but she straightened her back and put on a brave face to say her goodbyes to the family.

"If there's anyway to contact home, please do, at least once a week, J," her father kissed her forehead.

She promised she would and went on to hug her mother, who squeezed her so tight she thought she may burst.

When it came to Grandma Jo, she pulled her in close, and faintly whispered into her ear: "Remember all I told you. Stay safe, and don't trust the authority. I love you."

Jade pulled away with tears in her eyes, and saw that her family all shared the depth of her emotion. She told them she loved them, and that she'd call if she could, for what felt like the billionth time before going down and loading her luggage onto the bus.

All her friends greeted her, and she sat in the space Anna had saved next to her, unable to look back at her parents waving for more than second without her heart breaking.

"It's going to be okay," Anna reaffirmed her, gently taking her hand in her own.

They stayed that way, hand in hand, until they arrived.

It had been a series of unfamiliar, winding roads, and even though they hadn't been blindfolded this time, Jade knew she'd struggle to find her way home from wherever they all were.

Guards opened a set of tall, metal gates, and the bus rolled in to a large parking area, filled with multiple other identical minibuses. Jade peered out of the window and watched the other teenagers, who had already arrived, grab their suitcases and rucksacks and make their way up a set of stairs into a large entryway.

"Everybody off! We're here," the driver announced, and the friends all slowly walked out into the fresh air.

After having retrieved their belongings, a man in a long coat wearing a bizarre headset over his blue hair greeted them.

"I'm Milo," he smiled. Jade didn't smile back, and by the look on his face, her friends didn't either. "I shall be your guide. Please, follow me."

The gang all did as they were told, and much like the other groups, were led up the stairs and through the huge doorway, which went into a long corridor.

Guards armed with weapons nodded at Milo as he entered, and Jade began to feel extremely small.

In the middle of the strange building were three white tables, and on top of them was a small, glowing green light.

"For your own safety, we will need to track your whereabouts within the Mixed School. Only vaguely – we will have them at the doors to each building, so we know when you enter and when you leave," Milo took in the faces of everyone watching him and registered their concern. "It sounds odd, I know, but it's just so we can reach you if we need you for anything – a chat, a check-up, to praise you, for an activity – nothing serious."

He then invited them to all come and take a closer look at the bizarre glowing green light.

"This will scan your fingerprint and register you on the system, so when you scan your finger on the machines in the buildings of the school, we can know it's you entering or leaving."