Chapter 4

RAYNA'S POV

"Rayna!" The voice came again, louder this time. I spun round but it was just me and four walls and a ceiling that wouldn't stay still.

"Who's there?" I called out but there was no answer. I moved to the window and closed it to stop the noise. Outside it was windy and the branches of the tree next to my window kept hitting it.

“Rayna!” I heard the voice again.

“Whoever you are, this is not funny!” I turned frantically around the room. But It was just me.

Suddenly it felt like hands had clamped down right around my throat. I couldn't breathe. The same way mother's hand used to find it when words weren't enough for her anymore. I was six years old the first time she did that.

The pressure tightened and the room spun. I fell to the floor, hitting my head hard and then it was gone — all of it — and so was I.

—

I felt the cold floor against my cheek and the morning light sparkling through the window.

I lay still for a moment, taking stock of everything slowly. From my Head banging. To my stiff neck. I had been on this floor for hours judging by how my whole left side felt. I peeled myself up slowly and sat on the edge of the bed and breathed until the room decided to stay in one place.

"Attention all new students." A Notification of The announcement beamed on my phone screen. "Please make your way to the west wing assessment hall by 9 a.m for baseline measurements. Attendance is compulsory."

I checked the time. It was almost time. I forced myself off the floor, grabbed the towel and went to take my bath.

“What….the fuck is this?” I lifted up my arm slowly. Right there on my arm were three lines. I didn't know where they were from.

They were too faint to notice almost immediately but you could still see them.

I scrubbed at them but it didn't come off.

I scrubbed harder, using soap and a cloth, still nothing. They didn't bleed, didn't blur, didn't do anything marks were supposed to do when you tried to remove them. They just sat there on my skin.

"Fine," I said out loud to nobody. I pulled my sleeve down and got out.

I was fixing my hair in the small mirror when I noticed something.

My reflection looked back at me like normal then suddenly my eyes…they flipped and turned a burning gold shade.

I gasped and then I was against the opposite wall with both hands out in front of me and my heart slamming so hard I could feel it in my ears.

The mirror showed nothing, just my face. My eyes were no longer gold. They were exactly as they had always been.

I tried to steady myself then I grabbed my bag and left. What the hell was wrong with me? My chest heaved as I walked out the door.

“Late coming will not be tolerated.” The voice from the speaker yelled, frightening me at once.

The west wing was easier to find than I expected. The assessment hall was already filling up when I got there.

I joined the back of the line and kept my eyes forward.

Suddenly, A girl slid in front of me with her friend right behind, both of them slotting into the queue im front of me like I had been saving their spot.

"Excuse you," I said.

"When we're done," the first girl said, not even turning. "Then you can go."

"I was here before you." I retorted. “cutting line is not allowed.”

She turned then, looked at me from head to toe like I smelled of canned tuna. "Sorry?"

"You heard me. Move."

The line went quiet around us. People deciding whether to watch or pretend they weren't watching.

"Do you know who—"

"I don't. I don't care. I was here first."

"She's right."

A voice came from just behind me. I turned to find a pretty girl standing there. She glanced at the girl who immediately stepped back.

Then she looked at me and then down at the name tag on my shirt.

"Michelle Collins," she drawled, pulling at the name tag. "I've heard that name." Her head tilted. "You look quite different to what I was expecting." She paused, and then continued "Or perhaps you aren't her at all."

The hall noise kept going around us.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I took her hand off the tag. “And you're in my way.”

She smiled. "Of course not." She stepped back,Enjoy it for now. Only time will tell."

She turned and left and her girls went with her.

I turned back to the front of the line and kept my face still and let out a breath through my mouth.

Under my sleeve the three lines were warm against my skin. I pressed my arm against my side and ignored it.

I was almost at the front of the queue when I heard my name.

"Michelle Collins?"

A woman in a grey blazer was standing at the entrance of the hall, with a lanyard around her neck, her eyes scanning the room.

I raised my hand slightly. "That's me."

She walked toward me. "I'm Vice Principal Liana. I need you to come with me please."

"I haven't done my assessment yet—"

"It can be rescheduled." She said it with the finality of someone who rescheduled things regularly and without discussion. "You have a visitor."

"A visitor?" I repeated.

"Your mother," Vice Principal Liana said. "She's waiting in my office."