I have no idea how long I had blacked out, but when I woke up, I saw two faces hovering over me. One was Sam’s familiar face, with his perfect skin and deep blue eyes. The other was dark, like a man who was standing in the shadows. My sight was a little bit blurry, and I couldn’t make out where I could be. All I saw was darkness, except for Sam’s shining light.

“You knocked her out? Samuel, you are supposed to have her conscious and tell her to hold her breath. You could’ve killed her!” His voice didn’t sound kind, like Sam’s. It sounded deeper. It made me a little bit unsettled, especially since I had no clue who the man was.

“She was resisting. She pushed me down. She didn’t believe me.”

“It’s bad enough that you didn’t bring the Cuban girl. She wouldn’t have resisted. She would’ve been a fine addition to our team.”

“I’m sorry, Master. Somehow my beam curved. I don’t know what happened.” Sam sounded ashamed. I tried to call his name, but I couldn’t speak. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Sam and the Master returned to fighting about me. I tried to move, and after probably a minute of attempting to lift myself even a little bit, I managed to sit up.

“Sam,” I said, breathlessly.

“You’re alive!” They had stood up by now, and had moved around the room. Sam was holding a lamp, and the Master was holding a towel. I wondered for a second what they were planning on doing to me with those items. My thoughts stopped when Sam sat in front of me and grabbed my face. He started poking my cheeks and looking deep into my eyes.

“No mush,” The Master commented. My hands flew to my face. What did he mean, mush?

“Sam, where are we?”

“You are in my lair, Miss Mallory Hope Destiny,” The Master crooned. I shuddered at the fact that he knew my name.

“Quite a name, too. Luckless hope that meant to be. It’s as if it was written in the stars.” Every time he spoke, a chill went down my spine. This wasn’t a cult. I knew it. I felt it. I felt like I was in the presence of something evil. At the time, it seemed like Sam had
somehow taken me to hell with him.

“Why are you scared?”

“Because I just realized something about my best friend,” I whispered, looking around at the dark room that surrounded me.

“Wait,” Sam stepped forward, “Are you a believer now?”

“I don’t know.” Even without an absolute response, Sam looked happier than I had ever seen him. He ran up and hugged me tight. It was nice to hug him. I felt safe.

“Sam, leave.” The Master boomed. I held on to Sam and whispered “don’t leave” in his ear. He shrugged. With a shake of the shadowed man’s hand, Sam disappeared from sight. I could feel myself welling up. I wanted to go home, back to my family. I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. But I knew I had to be strong and figure this situation out.

“What do you want from me?” I stood up and put my hands on my hips.

“I want you to stay here, and study. You, my dear, are meant for greatness.”

“Study what?” I asked, ignoring his last comment.

“Study how to become a true villain.”

“Look, I don’t want any part of this cult, or this religion, or powers, or anything. Just please take back whatever ‘powers’ Sam gave me.” As much as I tried to stay strong, I just couldn’t. Tears streamed down my face. The Master came closer to me, and touched my cheeks. I tried to smack his hand away, but he had some sort of force field around him.

“You will stay.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You will!” He screeched. I backed up. His voice had the power to make my heart stop.

“It’s not like people won’t notice I’m gone. They’ll call the police-“

“Don’t be silly. Every hour that passes by here is less than millisecond on earth. Nobody will notice anything different.” I walking around the room at this point, attempting to find any sort of door to go out of. I slowly began to realize that I wasn’t getting out of here.

“I….But…” I stumbled, trying to find something to say that might get me out of here.

“Just face it,” the Master whispered sharply in my ear, “I am the Master of this place. I control this. I control every little person that contains my power. You will never escape. So you might as well comply.” I was crying still, trying to regain my composure. I couldn’t help it, the man terrified me.

“This… It’s happening too fast. I didn’t even get any warning,” I heard myself whispering, “If you could just give me some more time…”

“The time is now. You will be at higher studies. NOW.” And with a snap of his fingers, I found myself inside of a different room, next to Sam.

The walls were painted beige, and there were two other beds in their own little section. Over one of them was posters of some random guys. Over the other was a barren wall. Both desks were bare. If anything, it looked like an oversized dorm room. I looked to my right, where Sam was sitting. He smiled at me.

“How are you?” He asked. He reached out his hand to touch me on the shoulder, but I pushed him away.

“Weak. Tired. Scared.”

“That’s normal for the first couple of days.” He went over to the bed that had posters above it and began to play with random items that lay on the dresser. Same old Sam, too ADD to focus on any one thing for a long period of time.

“Hey,” he commented, picking up a hacky sack that laid on the dresser, “You want to see my powers in action?” He threw the hacky sack at me, but I let it fall limply on the bed next to me. I sat quietly, feeling kidnapped. He frowned. Then, strangely, he opened his palm, and then squeezed it tight. All of a sudden, a young girl appeared next to him. She steadied herself before she punched him in the arm.

“What the hell, Sam? I was in the middle of something.”

“You have a roommate,” He grumbled, rubbing his arm.

“I do?” She excitedly pushed him out of the way. I felt a little startled as she sat on the bed with me, bouncing up and down.

“Hi. I’m Robin.” She extended her hand. Robin’s nails were perfectly painted a devilish shade of red. She was a gorgeous girl, with long dark auburn ringlet curls. For some reason, she looked familiar. I didn’t speak.

“That’s Mallory,” Sam said for me. I shrugged, racking my brain to figure out where I had seen this girl before.

“Luckless. Too bad. Mine means famous brilliance.” She smiled a dazzling white smile. Famous brilliance. I had heard that before. At school.

“You were in my English class sophomore year,” I said out loud. She gasped and hugged me enthusiastically.

“You remember me!” She shook me back and forth. I tried to break free from her grasp without seeming rude. Her perfume was so strong that I couldn’t breathe.

“Robin has a freakish memory for people,” Sam added in. Sophomore year English came rushing back. I don’t recall liking Robin very much. She had strutted into class every day, in terribly skanky outfits. She never talked to me, except for the first day of class when she pointed at me and said, “Wow, you need work done!” She was a pretty girl, but if you ever got close to her, you could see the layers of cheap makeup she caked on to hide her acne. Also, she was always mooching off of people.

“Gee, to think now that I was only in mid studies at that point. You must have been too! Why have I not seen you around here before?” I just stared at her, convinced I was in the middle of some really strange dream.

“She’s new.”

“New, and she’s already at higher studies? She must be some kind of powerful.” I felt myself well up again.

“Are you crying?” Sam asked, sitting next to me. I shook my head and wiped off my eyes.

“Can I just go to sleep?” I half whispered, half croaked. Sam nodded pointedly at Robin, and they both left the room. I sat up. I was tired, but at the same time, I felt like there was no way I could fall asleep. I got up and started to patrol the room. I took a close look at the posters. They didn’t look like any celebrities I knew about. Each one of them had dark hair, dark eyes, and were dressed in all black. I found it strange. Back on earth, Robin always flirted with the blonde haired surfer dudes. She seemed to ignore the dark haired kids completely.

I walked over to her dresser, putting the hacky sack back where I had seen Sam pick it up. Next to it was a picture of a man next to a little girl. I guessed it was Robin and her dad. I looked closer, trying to fit Robin into that little girl. Her face shape was the same. Her smile was the same. But, the girl in the picture was pale, with bright red hair in messy waves all over her head. The girl I had seen in school was practically a model. Tan, with perfect auburn curls and dark green eyes. It was such a jump.

Deciding to be nosy, I opened her drawers. Mostly, it was just food. She had every hostess snack you could imagine shoved in her top drawer, and about fifty types of candy bars stuffed in her bottom drawer. As I sifted through the candy, I saw a notebook hidden at the bottom. I picked it up. I had a feeling it was her diary. I decided not to open it, feeling guilty for even holding it in my hands.
I placed it back where I found it and shut her drawers. It suddenly dawned on me that I had no clothes to wear. Just as I was thinking this, I heard a creak coming from what I assumed to be the closet. Subconsciously, I grabbed the pillow from my bed as I slowly walked towards the closet door. I slowly pushed it open, and found a guy sifting through some clothes. I screamed and started to hit him with the pillow.

“Whoa, whoa! Calm yourself! I’m Robin’s boyfriend!” I stopped hitting him and held the pillow close to my chest. He gave a judgmental look to my weapon of choice. “What were you gonna do, pillow fight me to death?”

I hugged the pillow defensively.
“You never know.”

“Who are you, anyways?” He stepped closer, examining me. I took a step back. He was a good looking guy. Dark hair, dark eyes, tan skin, and dressed in all black. He looked like one of the guys in the posters above Robin’s bed. He smelled like Axe. I cringed a little bit. It reminded me of the time that Sam thought it would impress this girl Sally if he wore the cologne she liked. However, he didn’t understand that you need only one spray. I’m pretty sure he used the entire bottle in one try. I told him about it later, but he just said, “Whatever, you’re just jealous of how hot I am”.
The young boy stared at me expectantly. I realized that I had drifted off without answering his question.

“Who are you?” I asked back, deciding not to answer.

“I just told you. I’m Robin’s boyfriend, Cole. Are you new to higher studies or something? Because I thought last month they closed promotions.” I had no idea what he was talking about. I’m sure my face showed that.

“I’m just new here in general.” He skewed his face. I wondered if he went to my school as well. It was a very big school, and I hadn’t seen him before.

“How? I mean… Do you know where you are?” I shook my head. He stared at me like I was an alien. “Are you crying?” My hands flew to my face to wipe off the tears.

“No. I’m just…” I stared at the jewelry box he was holding in his hands. “What is that?” I asked.

“None of your business,” He commented slyly. I took a step closer, but he made it disappear. I shuddered. Why did people keep doing that? I started shaking.

“Are you alright?”

“I have to go,” I cried, running out of the room. I didn’t exactly know where I was going, but at least the hallways were empty. I ran until I reached what looked like a hotel lobby. I stopped, and looked around. It seemed like everything around here was beige. Beige walls reached a slightly darker beige carpet, and light beige couches were scattered across the room. During my scan, I saw double doors in front of me. I ran to them, pushing and pushing, trying to get out.

“You aren’t going to get out,” A guy’s voice said behind me, “Trust me, I’ve tried.”

I backed up against the doors. He stared at me, arms crossed.

“You’re new here.” I nodded. I scanned him. Unlike Cole, this guy had light blonde hair, hazel eyes, and was pretty pale. He was a little nerdy looking, but in a geek-chic kind of way. He wore those thick rimmed black glasses, and was wearing a quarter sleeved button-down shirt and jeans. If I had met him at school, I would be crushing on him big time.

“Can you tell?” I said a bit sarcastically through my tears.

“How long have you been here?” He grabbed a tissue from the container on the coffee table and handed one to me.

“Since my best friend launched me into some kind of version of hell.”

“Your best friend?”

“Sam. Um, Samuel Storms?” He nodded, signaling that he knew who I was talking about. He handed me another tissue.

“I’m Joseph,” he said. He stuck out his hand for me to shake it. I did, reluctantly. We stood there in the silence for a little bit. I didn’t know exactly what to say, and I was still crying.

“It’s pretty quiet out here,” I commented.

“Yeah, well, everybody’s in class.”

“You’re not.” He nodded slowly and pointed at me, as if saying “neither are you”. I shrugged. I began to walk around the lobby. There were no windows that showed outside. They were all covered up with some kind of parchment paper. I touched the glass of one of the windows. It was freezing.

“So… How do you know Sam?” He wasn’t very good at making small talk.

“We’ve been friends since third grade.”

“And you never knew?”

“Well, he was always a bit off. I mean, now that I think about it, he kind of has some…tendencies.”

“Like?” He asked curiously, following me as I continued to scan the room.

“Well, he is really evasive about his interests. He won’t get a job, and he refuses to be around large groups of people because he says “they all suck”. But I kind of agreed with him on that… So…” I lost my train of thought and began to look at paintings on the wall. Not one painting made an actual shape. They were just blobs of paint scattered on a board. Underneath them, there were names, like “Timothy Sutton” or “Joanna Glaser”. I figured those were the painters.

“Interesting painting,” I commented. He nodded.

“Timothy was my brother,” he whispered. Was?

“What happened to him?” He stared at me for a second, and then shook his head. He mumbled, “It’s complicated,” and walked away from me. I suddenly realized that I had stopped crying. I wasn’t scared of this guy, but I couldn’t place why . He seemed much nicer than the other two people I met, even though I’d only talked to Cole for a minute. I didn’t get a good vibe from him, like I did from Joseph.

“Why aren’t you… like them?” I asked, “I mean, you look different. Like you’re from a different planet or something.”

“You said you were forced here by Sam, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied, a little angry that he didn’t seem to be answering my question.

“Well, the same thing happened with me. Except, my parents dragged me here.”

“Your parents are villains?”

“Well, my dad is. My mom just lives down here with him. She can’t have powers.”

“Why not?”

“It’s complicated. You’re a bit nosy aren’t you?”

“Hey, wouldn’t you be? I just got kidnapped and dragged here! I would at least like to know what the hell is going on!” I blurted, offended. He put his hands up, as if saying “I surrender”.

“Fine, fine. Ask me anything you want.” I stayed silent for a little bit. I had so many questions. Asking them was the hard part. Finally, I got the courage to ask the one thing that I didn’t really want to know.

“Where are we?” I shut my eyes, expecting to hear him speak the words “we’re in hell”. He didn’t.

“You want the short version or the long version?” I gave him a look of hopelessness.

“Just break it to me gently.”

“Short version? We are in what is called the down low. This is the breeding ground for future super villains. They all gather here, work on their powers, and wait for the day the Master will send them on a mission. Long version? The down-low breeds what you would consider ‘bad guys’. The up-high breeds ‘good guys’. Everyone here has more than one power that is meant to be used for major destruction. Natural disasters, crime, death, it’s all due to the work of super villains. The Master basically leads these students to believe they’re the good. He blames every fault on the up-high. When students begin to feel guilty about something evil they’ve done, The Master tells them to keep going. He says that guilt is just the up-high’s way of knocking down selfless people.” As relieved as I was to find out that I hadn’t been taken to hell, I still felt unsettled.

“Why are you down here? You just said right now that the bad guys are here.”

“Technically, I’m a member of the up-high. But still, I can only partially leave. I mean, I have enough powers to get myself to the up-high. Anything other than that, I’m powerless. The only people that get out of this place are the recruiters.”

“Who are they?”

“They’re the Master’s cronies. He handpicks them when they’re born. Sam is one. Robin Chambers, Cecilia Bowen, Martin Skins… I think there are twelve. They get to go to earth and send powers to whomever the Master think will be a good host. They are the only people that actually have a life on earth.”

“What about the others’ parents? You’d think they’d notice that their baby just disappeared.”

“Usually, the parents are members of the down-low, so they just live here with them.”

“What if they aren’t? What if they’re like me?”

“They… Well… They’re brainwashed into thinking they never had a child in the first place.” I stood up angrily. I didn’t want to believe anything he was saying. I wanted to believe this was just a sick nightmare. Joseph continued to sit, crossing his arms.

“So not only is my best friend evil, but he has given me supposed “powers” that can’t even bring me home? Oh, and as an added bonus, my parents won’t even know who I am anymore? Please just tell me this is a sick joke. I want to go home. I want to see my house, and my mom and dad, and graduate and go to college…” I was screaming and crying, like a little kid having a temper tantrum. Joseph sat in the chair, unfazed by my anger. I continued screaming until something strange happened. I smelled fire. I was quiet, looking around me, trying to find what was on fire.

“Looks like somebody discovered their powers,” Joseph smirked, pointing at my hands. Turns out, my hands had been the cause of the fire. I didn’t feel it at all, I just smelled it. I shook my hands rapidly, trying to put the fire out.

“Make it stop!”

“Calm down and it’ll go away.” I took deep breaths, trying to calm down. Joseph stood next to me and patted my back. I started crying again when the fire stopped.

“This is too much at once! I just need more time.” I broke down in sobs, too weak to stand. Joseph helped me up.

“Come, on. Come back to my room for a little bit. We’ll talk. Okay?” I nodded. He picked me up and we walked down empty beige hallways until we reached his room. Once he opened the door, he plopped me down on his bed. He sounded relieved when he let go of me, shaking his arms. I felt a little bit offended at the gesture, but decided to forgive him since he was being so nice to me.

“Sleep,” he commanded. I thought he was joking, so I laughed a little bit. He wasn’t joking. He threw a blanket over me and shut off the lights.

“See you soon.” He walked out the door. This was a weird situation. But I was really tired at the time. Under the warm blanket, in a dark room, I fell asleep instantly. When I woke up, I wasn’t in his room anymore. I got up from where I was sleeping, which turned out to be a white couch. I didn’t feel scared in this place. I was calm. As I walked around the well-lit room, I started to see that it looked a lot like a small coffeehouse. There were tables and chairs neatly placed across the room, with a little bar stand in the corner. It looked like the coffeehouse I would go to with Sam when we went to Barcelona. We ate breakfast there every morning while my parents figured out where we were going that day. I had been sleeping on the couch we sat in. I smiled, and walked around the familiar place. That week in Barcelona was full of the best memories of my life.

“You remember this place?” A voice spoke. I jumped, not expecting it.

“Who’s there?” I called, after looking around and finding nobody.

“You can call me Him. I am the leader of good. Of the up-high.”

I kept looking for someone to appear. Nobody did. I continued to stand, waiting for him to show himself to me.

“Where are you?” I asked, after a moment of silence.

“I am with you. Don’t worry.”

“But I don’t see you.”

“Do you have to? Or can you just know that I’m here?” I was a little bit suspicious, since He wouldn’t show himself to me. I figured I was dreaming or something. How else would I end up in the café? How else would I hear a strange voice and have nobody there?

“So….This is the up-high?” I played along, “The little café in Barcelona?”

“For you, yes.”

“Just for me?”

“For Sam, also. This place holds his fondest memories, as it does for you.” I could picture that week very clearly. We had such a good time walking around the city, taking pictures, and trying to convince people that we weren’t tourists. It was a week with no drama, and no fights. Not that Sam and I fought all the time. We just… Well, we clashed sometimes. Weeks would go by where he would ignore me. Sometimes neither of us knew why. Then, I would be angry at him for ignoring me, and he’d be angry that I was angry. But we always made up. Always. Nothing could tear us apart, then. Not even the biggest fight.

“You’re thinking about him,” He commented. I nodded and sat down on the couch.

“I never thought that he would be something… Paranormal. I guess I knew he was strange. I don’t want him to be bad. I don’t want to be bad…” I trailed off and stared into space.

“You want to be good?” He snapped me back into reality.

“Well, I certainly don’t want to be evil.”

“Good, then. You can help me defeat the Master’s Plan.”

“What is he going to do?”

“I can’t tell you right now. But you will figure it out the more you complete missions for me.” I shuddered. I remember Joseph telling me that villains waited until the Master sent them on missions. How could I know that this was the good, and Sam was part of the bad? What if this was all some huge mix up, and I was suddenly working for everything I’m morally against?

For some reason, I couldn’t accept that. I felt in my gut that this was the good side. Back where Sam had brought me, I felt scared, and I couldn’t stop crying. The only time I felt safe was when I talked to Joseph.

“Joseph!” I realized, out loud,

“Where is he? Is he here? How did I get here?” He laughed.

“Don’t worry about Joseph. He sent you here. He only has enough powers to send one person up here. Usually it’s himself, but he decided that you would be fit to join the team.”

“Who else is on the team?”

“Joseph.”

“That’s it?”

“Unfortunately. There are too many evil spirits down there. You and Joseph have come in pure, no evil. This is why you can help me. You believe that I am not evil, even though you have no way of knowing that.”

He explained to me that I needed to talk to Joseph about our first mission. But I needed to make sure that I didn’t tell anybody that I was part of this. If anyone knew about my affiliations with the up-high, I could be exiled. He said I needed to make sure to keep quiet, and try my best to blend in. He told me that meant I needed to go to class. Joseph would not. He needed to stay on the outside, for some random undisclosed reason. But I needed to go inside, and gain trust. Apparently, I was the only one that could go in, and fix whatever problem I wasn’t allowed to know about.

“Be careful,” he warned me, “You will lose yourself. You will change, and you will become someone you don’t recognize. I just need you to know, that no matter what happens. No matter what you do, or where you go, I will be here for you. I will always be here, helping you live a life for good.”

I just nodded. It was strange that he was so set on telling me that he was here for me. I barely knew him, and he barely knew me. Still, I felt secure. Whoever this “Him” was, I wanted to make sure I did what I could to please him.

“I think I can handle it.” I decided to say.

“You say that now. But I see all possibilities. As does the Master. Steer clear of him, and his trickery.” I nodded again.

“You can go back now. I will send you to Joseph. Before you go I should tell you something. Your friend, Sam, can’t be helped. He’s too far gone, and if you try to pull him out, he will just drag you back in.”

“But Sam… He’s not evil. He’s good. He’s just confused.”

“Mallory. You need to trust me. He cannot be saved.”

I knew I should have believed him. I should have trusted him one hundred percent and completed my mission, no questions asked. But something inside of me was pulling me towards Sam. I just needed to make him better. He and I were so close… I couldn’t lose him. I could talk him out of it.

Boy, if I would have done just that…. Who knows what my life could be right now?

He sent me back to Joseph in a flash. Once I reappeared in his room, I found him sitting at his desk, typing feverishly on a computer. I took the chance to look around his room, now that the lights were on. It was pretty plain, nothing very exciting. The only strange thing was that the room seemed a lot smaller than mine. Instead of three beds, dressers, and desks, he just had one. I wondered how he managed to snag a single room. His computer seemed pretty old, too. It looked like it was from 1997.

“Nice computer,” I said sarcastically. Joseph jumped, not expecting to hear my voice.

“Gees, Mallory. You scared me.”

“How do you know my name? I never
told you.”

“He told me.”

“How does He know my name?”

“He knows everything about everybody.”

“Freaky,” I commented, trying to look at objects on his dresser discreetly. I had no reason to be suspicious of Joseph. I just was. I may watch too many crime shows.
Anyways, he had no pictures; just an alarm clock and what seemed to be candy wrappers. They looked like the one’s Robin had stuffed in her bottom drawer.

“It’s not freaky.” I shrugged and stared at what he had on the screen. It looked like he was writing a novel, or something. But whatever it was, it was in extremely small print. I couldn’t read it without being right up against the screen. He didn’t seem to notice me standing near him, so I leaned in closer to read what he was writing.

“Stop being nosy,” he said after he closed whatever document he was typing.

“Not nosy, curious.” I sat down on his bed again, since there were no other chairs then the one he was sitting in. He had gone back to his computer. I was kind of annoyed with him. Probably ten minutes passed where all I heard was him typing.

“Aren’t you going to brief me on the mission?” I finally got the guts to say. He stared at me like I had just asked him what two plus two was equal to.

“Yeah, because I know so much about what we’re doing,” he replied in a snarky tone.

“What are you talking about? He told me to ask you about it.”

“Well, here’s me telling you that we know nothing. He will tell me when we start. For now, we wait for instructions.”

I sighed. If I was going to be here at all, then I wanted to actually do something. From what I could see, there weren’t any TVs. What else was I supposed to do?

“I guess I should go back to my room,” I commented, just about to walk out. Joseph stopped me. Apparently girls aren’t allowed in the “boy’s hall” after eight. He had to poof me back to my room so I wouldn’t get caught. I really hated people moving me places by their powers. If you didn’t hold your breath, you’d get knocked out like I did before. Of course, I didn’t know this until Joseph told me then. Before, Sam had just knocked me out and zapped me here without warning. Worse than that, it messes with your equilibrium. Unless you’re really used to doing it, you can’t walk in a straight line for a little while.
Once I was back in my room, (wobbling around, trying to get my balance back) I saw Robin, standing in front of the mirror. She didn’t even look surprised to have me appear with no warning. The look on her face told me she knew I had been in a boy’s room.

“Make a new friend?” She asked, smirking, “You’re lucky the alarm didn’t go off. One detection of switching rooms, and your powers could be suspended.”

“Um. I don’t-“

“It was that Joseph kid, right?” I couldn’t wrap my head around how she knew that. She nodded in a way that I assumed signaled approval. She sat down on my bed and patted next to her.

“Tell me all about it,” She gushed.

“Why? Nothing happened.” I stood still, not sitting next to her. I’m not going to lie, after I heard who the villains really are, I was kind of scared of them.

“Nothing happened? Then why were you over there?”

Oops. I realized that I couldn’t exactly tell her why I was there. I didn’t want to say that we were hooking up, or something. I mean, I didn’t want to get a reputation as the girl who hooks up with everyone she meets. Besides, I was sure Joseph wouldn’t appreciate it when big-mouthed Robin told everybody what her roommate claimed she was doing.

“He was showing me around this place. You know, being friendly to a girl who was kidnapped,” I decided. Robin tried to pry into my situation more, but I wasn’t budging. He had told me to keep all of this a secret. I trusted Him, and I didn’t want to screw everything up on my first day.

She eventually got bored with me and went back to her reflection. I watched her frown at her appearance, and mess with her hair and makeup. Her dress was so tight it was a miracle she could even walk in it. The sad thing was that Robin is not an ugly girl. She’s got that whole hourglass figure thing going on, and she has gorgeous tan skin. She does have mild acne on her face, but not horrible. She could cover it up with concealer, but she chooses to cake makeup on her skin. I wondered why she chose to look so fake.

“You got a brush?” She asked. I gave her a look. “You don’t have any belongings, do you?” I shook my head. She sighed, as if this was a huge burden on her.

“Conjure them.”

“Yeah, because I know how to do that.”

“Do you not know how to use your powers?” I shook my head again. I suddenly remembered an hour earlier, when my hands had lit on fire. Joseph had told me that I found my powers.

“My hands lit on fire earlier.”

“Your hands! Okay, so your powers are in your hands! Good, we can get somewhere with this. Umm…” She started pacing, like she was wondering how she was going to teach me. “My powers are in my lips. Look, I’ll show you.”

She walked over to my dresser and blew a kiss at it. Instantly, a lamp appeared. I had to admit- that was pretty cool.

“You try,” she pressured. I was unclear of what I was supposed to do. I was new to the whole concept at the time.

For some reason, I decided that slapping the dresser was the way to get something to appear. It didn’t work. Robin burst out laughing.

“No, silly,” she said through laughter, “Squeeze your hand. Like, make a fist.”

I made a fist. It still didn’t work. I shrugged. Did my powers only work when I was freaking out?

“Guess my powers don’t work all the time?”

“You have to think about what you’re doing. Think about what item you want to appear.”

I thought about it. The first thing that came to mind was a toothbrush. So, I started to think about my toothbrush. After I squeezed my hand, my toothbrush popped up on my dresser. Robin squealed in delight and clapped her hands. She started blabbing about how good of a teacher she was. I couldn’t hear her, though. I was too busy staring at my hands in awe.

I had known that I had powers, because of my hands lighting on fire. But that fact that I had learned how to work them… It was like everything that had happened that day was reality. I wanted to freak out. But I knew I couldn’t. If I freaked out, I wouldn’t be able to save Sam. And most of all, I would be stuck here forever.

I needed to get out of here, and staying calm was the only way.

After probably thirty minutes of listening to Robin tell me how amazing she is at teaching, somebody knocked on our door. As grateful as I was for this intervention, when she opened the door, I wasn’t so happy about it.

“Hey sexy,” Robin cooed. I knew it was Cole. Even though I had only known him for a brief minute, something about him rubbed me the wrong way. Every guy that looked like Cole was narcissistic and rude. Because, when you look as good as Cole looks, you know it. And so does everyone else. How can you not be narcissistic under those conditions?

“Hey, Red,” he replied in his tauntingly deep voice. He strutted in the room like he was on a runway. I rolled my eyes, and purposely
turned away from him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. I found it strange to do when your roommate was still in the room.

“The guards let me come by because you left this in my room.”

He held out the carved wooden jewelry box I had seen him stealing earlier that day. I wanted to call him out about it, but I didn’t exactly want him to notice me there. They continued to kiss. I tried to hint at Robin that the PDA was making me uncomfortable, but she obviously didn’t notice my excessive throat clearing. I coughed really loudly. That got her to stop.

“You know, if you need water, there’s a fountain down the hall.” I stared at her incredulously. Robin wasn’t stupid. She obviously understood what I was doing. I just thought it was rude for her to make me leave. There were probably plenty of places around here to make out with your boyfriend.

A bit angry, I got up and walked out the door. I saw a water fountain in the distance, next to what I assumed were the bathrooms. I got to the fountain and got a drink of water. It was pretty good water, but the fountains had little etchings all over them. It looked like the ones that were scattered around my junior high. Curious as to what they looked like, I pushed open the women’s bathroom door. To my surprise, it was nothing special. It was a plain bathroom, like one you’d find in a dorm. Showers were lined up against the walls in the back, stalls lined up another. Each sink had a name sticker above it, and little caddies with those people’s toiletries. I looked around, but my name wasn’t on any of them. There was one sink that didn’t look like it was being used, but it did have a name above it. The sticker looked old, and seemed to have been scratched off. I could barely make out what it said.
I turned around, about to leave. But of course, as I did, I was confronted with Cole. I was a bit startled, so I jumped back.

“Gees, chill,” he said. He was acting as if this was a normal place for us to meet.

“What are you doing in the women’s bathrooms?”

“I wanted to ask you something.”
I stared at him. He had walked closer to me, and I could smell his cologne.

“What?” I asked, a bit rudely. I was really not in the mood to talk to some jerk. Especially in the women’s bathroom. He was looking at his reflection in the mirror behind me. He played it off like he was just looking at me, but I could tell where his eyes really were.

“Why were you talking to Joseph earlier?”

That really freaked me out. Robin had already known, and now Cole? What was up with this place?

“How do you know that?”

“Robin’s got a big mouth.” I nodded. That part was true. I remember back in school, she had practically told the entire grade when her friend lost her virginity. The worst part was, after she blurted everybody’s secrets, she would self consciously say, “Oh, but don’t tell anyone!”

“She also told me you didn’t use your powers until tonight. Let me just say, if you’re new here, don’t rely on Joseph to help you very much.”

“Why not?” Joseph seemed like a nice enough guy. I trusted him, for the most part. The whole secret typing thing made me a little bit suspicious of him, but that was really all at that point in time.

“He isn’t one of us. He’s a legacy, and his parents run so much… But he doesn’t use his powers at all! He never goes to class, and he just stays in his room all day. He’s pretty sketchy. You’d be better off around a guy like me.”

I couldn’t believe what he was saying. It seemed like he was hitting on me. I just couldn’t place why. It wasn’t like I was his type back then, anyways. His type was Robin.

“Get away from me,” I sneered, passing by him.

“What, are you hooking up with this kid or something? If you’re gonna hook up with anybody you might as well pick someone attractive.”
I scoffed at him, leaving the bathroom.

“Oh come on!” He called after me, “I was joking! What, do you not have a sense of humor?”
I stopped at the door to Robin and me’s room.

“I just got kidnapped and brought here by my best friend. I’m sorry if I don’t have my wits about me.” And with that, I slammed the door behind me.

I fell asleep listening to Robin chat on her phone, and woke up the same way. I had barely slept that night. I kept having nightmares, and woke up sweating. Once I woke up, it took me forever to fall asleep. Robin is a mouth breather. A loud mouth breather. It’s a miracle I had gotten any sleep at all.

I sat up in bed really slowly, hardly able to move. Robin said goodbye to whoever she was talking to and sat on my bed.

“Hey, lazy butt. Way to sleep in.” I looked over at the clock. It was only eight.

“It’s early,” I mumbled. She rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. Come on, class starts in ten minutes.” She began to slap my legs. I got up as fast as I could. Robin is not weak.

As much as I wanted to go back to sleep, I knew I had to go to class that day. The day before, He had told me that I had to go to class in order to gain the trust of the down-low. I was a little bit afraid of what “class” really entailed, but I figured it wouldn’t be that bad. I mean, if He had sent me there, it must be pretty safe.

“I picked out an outfit for you,” Robin said in a sing song voice. She blew a kiss at my bed. Of course, what appeared was hardly anything. The halter top looked like it would only hit mid stomach, and the skirt was basically a small piece of blue fabric.

“No thanks, Robin. I’m more of conservative dresser.”

“Oh come on, that outfit is cute!” I scanned what she was wearing. For a shirt, she was wearing a bright pink bikini top. For bottoms, she was wearing pants so tight it looked like she had simply painted her legs black. I decided not to say the thousands of snarky comments that popped into my head.

“I need a shower,” I commented. She frowned at me not wanting to wear her outfit, but pointed me back to the showers anyways. She conjured a towel for me, claiming I wouldn’t be able to do it myself. Apparently linens are the most difficult items to obtain using your “powers”. She told me she would tell the professor of the class that we would be late, since I insisted on taking a shower. I found it annoying how she made everything I did seem like a burden on her.

I walked down the bathroom. Strangely, I was the only one there. I expected it to be more crowded, but I figured it was empty because class started in ten minutes. I put my towel down on the counter next to the vacated sink spot. My name still wasn’t above it, but I decided to use it anyways.

I turned on the shower, and realized I had no soap. I had to use my powers. But for some reason, I just couldn’t get soap to appear. I tried the best I could, but somehow ended up with my hairbrush. Obviously, my mind wasn’t in the right place. I walked over to Robin’s sink area and pulled her little toiletry caddie out. I pushed through numerous empty hairspray cans before I managed to find her body wash. I grabbed her shampoo and conditioner and went back to my shower.

After getting clean, I put Robin’s stuff back where I found it. I figured she wouldn’t care that I borrowed it, considering I was new at this whole powers thing. Then, I went to grab my towel. And when I did, I realized that it was gone. I was confused, so I went to grab the clothes I had slept in. They weren’t there either. What was going on?
I tried to conjure up anything that might cover up my body, but I just couldn’t. I didn’t understand my powers yet, and everything I did was useless. Beginning to panic, I cracked the door open.

“Robin!” I called. She didn’t answer. I called her name again. She still didn’t answer.

I closed the door, trying to think of what exactly I could do. The showers had doors, not curtains, so that didn’t help me. There was no form of cover up in any of the girls’ caddies. I only had two options. I could stay here, and wait for Robin to come looking for me. Or, I could make a run for it back to my room.

I peeked into the hall again. Nobody seemed to be out there. They all had to be in class… Right? Probably ten minutes passed before I decided I would make a run for it. Hopeless, I opened the door and ran. I don’t think I have ever run that fast in my life. I’m pretty sure I beat Usain Bolt’s record. I slammed the door shut. Robin was nowhere to be found. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Robin had promised me the night before that my entire wardrobe was transferred into the closet. However, looking at the outfit she had set out for me, I wasn’t so sure it was the wardrobe I had back on earth.

I opened the closet door, and started rummaging through my dresser, trying to find which drawer Robin had put my underwear in. Luckily, my fears were unfounded. My actual underwear was in my drawers. I assumed if I looked in Robin’s I would either find thongs or no underwear at all.

I pulled a crewneck shirt off of the rack and began to search for my jeans. I only had one pair, and those would be the ones that had mysteriously disappeared off of the bathroom floor.

“Looking for these?” Robin asked. She threw them at my head. I grabbed them and put them on quickly. I was uncomfortable changing in front of somebody I just met.

“Where did you find these?” I asked.

“They were on your bed, silly.” I stared at her. They were definitely not on my bed. They were with me in the bathroom. I had worn them to bed the night before.

“Did you steal these from me in the bathroom? Along with my towel?”

“No,” She laughed, “Why the hell would I want to leave you stranded naked in the bathroom?”

“You tell me.” She just rolled her eyes.

“You’re crazy. I didn’t steal your clothes. They were sitting here on your- Wait. You wore them to the bathroom. I gave you that towel.” She pointed to the towel that was neatly folded on my bed.

“Yes, Robin,” I said slowly, wondering why it took her so long to get that.

“Somebody must be out to get you,” she scoffed. I skewed my face at her. Someone was out to get me? Who? Why? I had so many questions.
Robin had no time to answer them. After telling me I dress like an “old cat lady”, she blew a kiss at the mirror, and dragged me through the swirling vortex.

At that point in time, I knew nothing about anything. I thought I knew something. I really did. But I was wrong. And my first day of class was when I found that out.