Chapter 17

The first room I walk into has to be Neil’s. I know because the artwork hanging up screams Neil’s entire personality. It’s clean, neat and immaculate in all it’s glory. His sheets are pressed into perfect lines on his bed. The wood around the room is light and refreshing. There’s one window that looks out into a lake next to the pyramid. Fish swim by like the window doesn’t exist. Mia points them out and coos.

“Yes, Mia,” I say. “Fishies!”

She says something back that sounds mildly like my words. I laugh at her. I give the room a once over and don’t see my dagger. I am too worried of messing up the perfection to dig through anything. Quietly, Mia and I leave Neil’s room and head into the second room. It’s most definitely Archer’s.

It’s littered with trophies out the wazoo. Medals hang from the shelf that contains all of them. The bedspread is so classically boy: navy blue. There’s several posters hanging up. I recognize a few of the men as warriors. I scoff at the thought of having such a ridiculous poster. I look a little deeper for the dagger in Archer’s room. Still, I find nothing.

The next room is Beau’s judging by the lack of order. There’s shit everywhere. Most of it is piles of leather jackets or leather pants. There’s a few random spikey jackets. The posters in this room are women in lewd positions and minimal amount of clothing. I shift Mia in my arms so she doesn’t see it. There’s a few band posters of bands I’ve heard the guys in Greendale talk about.

I go through the piles of shit, hoping to find my dagger and only find a pair of lacey black panties. I shudder and drop them then all but sprint out of Beau’s room. I’m half convinced I just got some sort of disease by touching them.

The last room is Steven’s. It’s neat and orderly but very small. I’m confused until I turn the corner. There’s a giant wall of windows that leads into what looks like a lab. Random bubbling potions are set on the counters. There’s also a coat hung out next to the glass wall, labeled with “S. HAYES Ph.D.” I snort at it. Of course they’d have to make sure everyone knew who they were. I shift through a few of the drawers outside the lab and still, no dagger.

I let out a frustrated cry. Mia touches my face, as if she knows I’m upset. I kiss the center of her palm. I need that damn dagger. It’s the only thing I have to protect myself. I’m determined to survive the rest of my time in the Pyramid and my time after. I will become a warrior if it almost kills me, tough competition and grueling training be damned.

I’m back in the hallway that has the brother’s rooms when I hear a bell ring. I quickly scamper back off to mine and Mia’s rooms. I guess I won’t be doing a second pass to look for my dagger after all. I sigh and set Mia in her crib. She yawns and rubs at her eyes. She must be exhausted from our adventure.

I soothe her to sleep and settle back in the rocking chair. I fiddle with my phone before it starts buzzing in my hand. I glance at Mia then step outside to take the call.

“Hello?”

“Chloe! How are you, love?”

I sigh in relief. It’s my mom. I wipe my hand over my face. “I’m good. How are you?”

“Splendid!” she says. “But enough about me, I wanna know about this new school. Is it really as affluent as Isaac says it is.”

“It’s...” I try and put into words the nonsense I’ve endured the past few days. “Something.”

Mom laughs. “Sounds interesting.”

“That it is,” I sigh.

“And Wyatt? He’s being nice to you? Helpful?”

I frown. I contemplate telling my mom about how much worse Wyatt has made this for me. I think about her and Isaac in their little blissful bubble of happiness. Who knows what kind of argument that would cause.

“Yeah,” I say. Better to keep it as vague as possible. But Mom knows me.

“Okay?” she half laughs. “How’s class?”

“Informative,” I say.

Mom laughs again. I can almost hear her shaking her head. “One word answers,” she says. “Who are you and what have you done with my Chloe?”

“I’m just tired,” I say. Not a lie. If anything, it’s the only truth I’ve spoken.

“Okay,” Mom says. She pauses. “You’ll tell me if you don’t like it there, right? Isaac knows people. He can pull some strings for you. Or we could send you back to Greendale—”

“No!” I shout, almost frantically. I clear my throat. “No. I don’t want to leave. It’s good here. This will be good for me.”

“As long as you think so,” Mom says. “I just want you to be safe.”

“I’m safe, Mom,” I say. I try and switch the conversation, eager to get me away from telling more lies. “How was Prague with Isaac?”

“Oh, Chloe,” Mom gasps. “It was beautiful.”

She goes on for another while about the trip and all the nice stuff they did. Her whole closet is designer now, she says. She’s also into snorkeling now, something I never could picture my mom doing. It’s nice, hearing her happy. With the amount of dickwads she dated before Isaac, it’s rare she’s this at peace. S

he’s halfway through a story about the sales associate at Chanel when I hear stirring within the room. Mia must’ve woken up for her night feeding.

“Mom,” I cut her off gently. “I’m sorry but I have to go.”

“Oh,” she sounds disappointed. “Okay. We’ll be safe. I love you!”

“I love you too,” I say and let the phone hit it’s dial tone.

I look down at the phone somberly. I miss my mom more than anything. But I know this is the place for me. This is how I make my dreams reality. Even if it means playing babysitter to some kid that apparently appeared from thin air. Another noise comes from inside the room and I go back in. Mia kicks her legs and giggles inside the crib. I gently pull her into my arms and get a bottle warming for her. I rock the two of us in the rocking chair and wonder what life would be like if I was still in Greendale.

Certainly not like this.

The next morning, Mia’s awake and fussy. She won’t take her bottle and keeps trying to eat my hair. I sigh and make my way into the kitchen. I plan on cutting up some berries, super small, and giving them to her. My plan is thwarted when I look into the kitchen and see someone I didn’t expect to be there.

Laura, Debbie’s sister, the one who shot me in the arm, is filling the fridge with snacks.

I blink twice to make sure I’m not seeing things. My arm immediately lights up in pain. I hiss. Laura snaps her head to look at me. She stands up and her eyes go wide when she realizes who I am.

“What are you doing—What is – Excuse me?”

“I’m taking care of her,” I say. There’s not a waver in my voice. Mia gurgles and pats my cheek with her hand. I raise an eyebrow at Laura. “What are you doing? I didn’t expect you to stoop so low as to steal from the Hayes.”

“I’m not stealing,” Laura sneers. “I work here.”

I blink twice. “Work here?”

“Yeah,” she wipes her hand on the apron she’s wearing. “I was chosen to serve the Hayes. I’ll be here once a week. Guess we’re coworkers now.”

My heart beat goes up to my throat.