Chapter 2 : Kira's Life
Kira woke with little pain in her head and still a good bit in her gut, but nothing like it was before. She could at least sit up and her stomach felt more like a playful romp had gone wrong rather than being used as a punching bag for hours. She looked around the room and realized she was alone. As was his way, Kevin had done his work and then vanished. “He left me to sleep so that he would not disturb me. He is probably the best non-friend, friend that I have.”
She slowly stood and also realized that she had been dressed while unconscious. She was dressed and ready for the day with her shoes on and her tunic covering her body. The clothes were even clean, which was not the case the night before as she had gone to bed without hanging them.
The smell of the dirt floor permeated the room once more and she could hear the commotion in the hall as people were going about their daily business. Luckily, Kira didn’t have any work today, but she had missed the morning meal and as such would not get anything until Dinner, if she could get that. “Damn, another meal lost. I hate that. I’ll be groaning about my stomach again tonight if I don’t find some way to get food. It’s not good to go more than two days without and I am now on my third. Stupid Wyndall.”
When Wyndall stalked someone, he had a habit of trying to control their entire life. He would go to the lunch room before anyone else and let all the kids know not to allow a certain person to cut in line. Then he would slow that person down or side track them from getting to the cafeteria so that they did not make it within the allotted time. At Bugsby Hall, those that were not noble would eat at a certain time or go hungry and since many of the nobles were still eating at that time, food would become scarce. Anyone that is not of the nobility or of the assassin class, which was all of wing “C”, were left to fend for themselves. If the cafeteria ran out of food, or the time lapsed, the students simply did not eat. This happened often and was used to encourage all of the students to steal from one another or to become creative in the endeavors to food. Adapt or die, was the motto at Bugsby, but it only applied to those of wing “C” and all the rest were fed well. “Maybe one day I will get to eat some of the things they get.”
Kira walked to the far wall of the room and pressed her ear against the door. She could hear nothing and was relieved. If she were going to leave late and Sortana was in her room, she would get a stern talking too about getting up late and Sortana could go on for a very long time before getting to any point. Kira truly didn’t want to deal with her this morning. She leaned on the door and realized that her stomach, though painful, was not going to slow her down at this time. She was grateful for that. “Now I just have one thing that has to be done today and I can come back here and prepare for tonight. Please, Gods, Malds, Supre Malds, don’t let him come again tonight. I don’t think that I can handle it.”
She opened the door and peered into the massive hall. The marble floors, scarred from years of magic use and weapons use, still gleamed as if the face of the moon reflecting its beautiful light down on the planet. The walls, made of quartzite, were a dull red and had pock marks from past fights as well, but were much less scarred due to thickness and higher grade of defense. Quartizite was used because it is cheap and very sturdy, but inside the walls were layers of Untigora, which was a rock so durable that an inch of it would stop a blast equivalent to a Volcano erupting, though the lava would eventually wear it down. These walls, however, were filled with thirty feet of Untigora in every hall and within every bottom level building. The top levels have 10 feet of Untigora rock and are mystically defended as well. The building is made to be impregnable and quite nearly is, because everyone on the planet wants into this school. Everyone, that is, except those in wing “C”. “Wish I did have powers or some talent that I could use to get out of here. I would never come back, no matter what.”
There wasn’t anyone in the halls now, though down the way she could hear footsteps, but they were going in the other direction. She stepped out and then pulled her door shut behind her. The candles had been blown out much earlier, probably by Kevin, so she didn’t have to worry about them, but she did make a point to lock the door. Though she realized it would do her little good. Wyndall would find his way into her room rather she liked it or not. Then she would have to face him once again. “Creep!”
She started down the hall, her stomach doing some strange loops into her chest, but the pain wasn’t enough to slow her. She passed all eighty of her classmates rooms, knowing that of those that started with her into this semester’s classes, only twenty still lived. Such was the life in Bugsby Hall. Those that were here when she first come to Bugsby were all dead, save for two. Kevin was here when she got here and doesn’t seem to age. They say it is because of something to do with his connection to Blue Magic, but she hasn’t asked him about it. The other, Wyndall, has been here forever due to his mother and he should have left Bugsby years ago. He is at least twenty five now and he still acts like he is a thirteen year old. A sadistic thirteen year old, but thirteen none the less. She loved one and hated the other.
She came to the stairs that led to the cafeteria, which were also the only stairs that could get someone out of wing “C” without a pass card or a key. She started to climb the steps, but her stomach protested, keeping her movement to one step at a time. She wasn’t to the point of crying, but it was still there. Kevin had done a great job in the healing, but she always wished that he would help with numbing the pain as well, which he never did. The nurse, whom she often went to, was great with the numbing, but poor at the actual healing. She wouldn’t go her direction today because the hassle of going to the nurse was never worth the pay off. Instead, she was going to go to the gardens and talk with her favorite teacher. “Please let him be there today. I hope that I haven’t missed him.”
Father Jacobs was always a great pick me up for Kira, though he never had to do much. His piercing eyes and baritone voice were always uplifting and the way he made her feel safe was something she did not experience with anyone other than Zalgora. Though Zalgora was more of a safe place like a pit of vipers would be. Sure the outside world is going to leave you alone, but at some point you must expect to be bit.