"Your room is right here," Evelyn announced, opening the door.
The room was spacious, the walls painted a soothing dark blue instead of the blinding white of the room I had been in before. White curtains hung over the windows, and two beds sat opposite each other, each made with the same clean precision as everything else in Safe Land.
"You will be sharing this room with someone," Evelyn explained.
"Okay," I said.
One wall held two small wardrobes. A full-length mirror stood on the opposite wall, and a slightly open door revealed a cream-tiled bathroom beyond it. The tiles, the curtains, the mirror; all of it was a sharp contrast to what I had come from.
My room in the village had been four walls and a wooden floor, before the war, we had had a bedroom like this. The memory of it surfaced and I set it back down.
It had been four days since I woke up here, and in that time I had asked the general to let me leave every time I saw him. The bald man refused every time, in the same flat tone, without any sign that repetition was going to change his answer.
I had stopped asking. I was plotting instead.
The walls were high. I had confirmed that from the window in the white room but there were gates, though heavily guarded, gates had routines. People went in and out. Supply deliveries probably came in from somewhere. Every system had a pattern, and patterns had gaps.
What I needed was information, time, and access. I had neither yet, but I was going to get them.
"This one is yours," Evelyn said, opening the first wardrobe.
Inside was a full row of clothes. Colours I had not seen in years, fabrics that were whole and clean and had not been mended. I stood and looked at them for a moment longer than I intended.
"If anything does not fit, the seamstress in the other building can make adjustments," She added.
I had questions. How did they know my measurements, whether this was a standard for all new arrivals. I let the questions go.
"There is a welcoming party for all the newcomers tonight, and you are expected to attend," Evelyn said, her tone brightening noticeably.
I looked at her. A welcoming party?
Once again I was struck by how someone can be so perfect. If I had a choice, I'd rather avoid Evelyn.
She was effortlessly beautiful, a constant reminder of how inadequate I felt. Today, she wore a peach-colored floral dress that perfectly showcased her curves. Her long red hair was pulled into a high ponytail, drawing attention to her flawless features.
"Where and when?" I asked.
"Six o'clock. I will take you there."
"Why are you so excited about it?" The enthusiasm seemed so genuine, which made it more puzzling. Everything about Safe Land so far had been functional and serious.
She sighed. "All we do here is train. The general and a chosen few go out on missions, but most of us stay inside. I have only been outside once, when I was part of his team. It gets monotonous after a while. But tonight there is a party, and that is something." She grinned. "Everyone is looking forward to it."
I understood the feeling of wanting a break from routine, even if the idea of the party itself held no appeal. Standing in a room full of people I did not know, all of them more capable and more gifted than I was, was not my idea of relief.
"Is it mandatory?" I asked.
"Yes." She said.
I managed a smile.
"I will leave you to settle in," Evelyn said, turning toward the door.
"Evelyn," I called.
She turned back.
"Thank you. And I am sorry for being so rude when I first woke up."
She chuckled. "Most people react that way when they arrive. I am used to it."
"Are you in charge of all the new arrivals?"
"I am part of the group that helps newcomers adjust. We make sure everyone is settling in comfortably."
"You must be powerful, then," I said. Managing frightened, disoriented people seemed like it would require more than just goodwill.
She shook her head. "It is not about power. I just enjoy helping."
I believed her.
I had been carrying a question since before the room or the party announcement. I asked it now. "Evelyn, can you tell me about Devon's powers?"
Her expression shifted. "Devon?"
"The demon."
I had not stopped thinking about our encounter. The chair that had appeared from nowhere. The speed. The sleep that had descended on me without my consent.
"No one knows the full extent of his powers," She said. "But I have seen him conjure things."
The chair. That explained it.
"He teleports," She added.
That must be how he had appeared in the room in the first place.
"He is capable of more. Most of it is still unknown to us."
"He put me to sleep," I said. "Without my consent. "
She did not look alarmed by this. " I will make a note of it."
"He also knew my name before I had told anyone here. He said he knows everything about me." I heard the unease in my own voice and could not keep it out.
"Kira," She said softly. " We have a seer in our midst. She must have passed the information to Devon before he came to you. And I am sure that is all he knows. He was probably just trying to unsettle you for whatever reason." She paused. "Let it go."
I was not convinced. The way Devon had looked at me had not felt like a performance or a test. It had felt like recognition. It was specific. The way someone looks at you when they already know things about you that you have not said.
"Let it go, Kira," Evelyn said, firmer this time.
"How does everyone here trust him?" I kept my voice low. " He is a demon."
A faint colour rose in her cheeks. She looked at the window for a moment before answering.
"That is what I thought when he first arrived. He was badly injured when the general found him. Barely alive. He is half-hunter after all, and the general could not leave him like that. So he brought him back." She stopped. "Devon is not evil. I know that it is difficult to accept. People just do not give themselves the chance to find out."
For good reason!!!
She was blushing. She did not seem aware of it. I did not mention it.
She liked Devon. Maybe a little too much.l
I filed the information away regardless.
Devon was half-hunter, which meant the general saw some value in keeping him here. Whatever that value was, it was leverage I might be able to use.
"I will keep that in mind," I said.
She looked relieved to move on. "I will see you at six."
"Later," I said, and she left.
I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the room. The second bed still empty. The wardrobe full of clothes in my size. The bathroom with its cream tiles.
There was nothing I could do about finding my mother.
For now, I had a party to get through. I changed into the black trousers and yellow top from the wardrobe, choosing on the basis that they fit well and required no thought.
I had bigger things to think about.
****
Six minutes before six, i stood in front of the mirror. Hair up. Black trousers and a yellow top. Bruises across my caramel skin that the clothes could not cover, dark circles under my brown eyes that no amount of sleep seemed to be touching.
I knew better than to compare myself to the hunters around me. Comparison was a losing exercise and I had done enough of it over the years to know where it led.
I looked at what I liked instead. The length of my lashes. The line of my waist. The fact that the yellow top was clean and the trousers fit well.
That was where I was when the knock came.
I took one last look in the mirror and made a decision to stop looking. I opened the door. Evelyn was in a tight black dress. I looked down at the yellow top, and all my positove affirmations became meaningless.
"You look great," She said.
I feigned a smile. "And you."
****
The party was everything I had been dreading. The music was loud enough to feel in my chest, the room was packed, and for two hours I stood near the wall while everyone around me danced and laughed and ate. I visited the food table three times. That was the best part.
Evelyn had not left my side, and it was hell. She gave new meaning to the word popular. Everyone had to talk to her. Everyone had to greet her and in turn, i had to smile and wave when they turned to my direction.
A tall blonde hunter appeared beside Evelyn and leaned down to say something in her ear. She turned to me.
"I will be right back. I need to handle something."
The smile I gave her was genuine. "Take your time."
She narrowed her eyes. "You better be here when I get back."
"Of course," I said.
She walked away. I waited until she had turned the corner, then filled my pockets with everything the food table had that would fit; two packs of chips, a bread roll, something wrapped in foil that I could not identify and walked out the door.
Nobody stopped me. Nobody seemed to notice. I was glad.
The night air was cool and quiet. After two hours in that room it felt like coming up for air. I tore open a pack of chips and started walking, not toward anything, just away from the noise and the eyes and the general feeling of being somewhere I did not belong.
For a few minutes it was good. Then i noticed the music was gone. I stopped.
The trees around me were dense, the branches thick enough overhead to block most of the moonlight. I turned to look behind me and found nothing recognisable. No lights from the building, no path, no point of reference.
Every direction looked the same.
I stood still and made myself breathe. Getting frightened would not help. I needed to think.
But the longer I stood there, the more the dark pressed in around me, and it reminded me of something I had managed to keep at a distance.
The forest outside the village.
Running without knowing where I was going. The space where my mother had been standing.
I was not there. I was here. I was inside the walls of Safe Land and nothing was coming for me.
I was also completely lost, alone in the dark, and the chips in my pocket were not going to help with that.
I absolutely regretted leaving the party.
"You seem lost," a voice said calmly from the shadows.
I turned toward it, my heart already picking up speed.