“I guess no one expects these things, grandma.”
“My clever child,” she sighed heavily, and Eva felt that same heaviness of heart.
The voice of her grandmother was as loving as usual. Eva knew that if she talked to her any longer, she would start crying, and that would worry her even more.
“Listen, grandma, I just called quickly to tell you I’m fine and not to worry about anything. I have to unpack and stuff, so I’ll call you some other day, okay?”
“Can I reach you on this number?” grandma asked.
Eva glanced at Principal Rannulf, because she sensed that he could hear the whole conversation. He just shook his head.
“No, grandma, this is the public number. Everyone is using it. If you need anything, just call auntie.”
“Well, alright then…”
Eva could tell that grandma didn’t really like this idea, but there was nothing she could do.
“I love you, grandma. Tell grandpa the same. I miss you so much,” Eva bit her lip, to prevent herself from crying.
“Love you, too, sweetheart. Call when you can, okay?”
“I will, bye…”
Eva hung up before her grandmother could say anything else. She felt like a monster hand was squeezing her heart harder and harder, and it was about to burst. She had to calm down.
“Are you alright?” principal Rannulf asked, taking the phone from her.
“I’ll be okay,” she replied.
“We’ll make sure of that,” he smiled.
“Thank you,” she managed to muster. “May I be excused now? I would like to go back to my room and prepare for my classes tomorrow.”
“Of course,” he nodded quickly, “and remember, we are all here for whatever you need.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
She was already by the door, waving weakly, then closing the door behind her. Once again, she was in the long, dark corridor, illuminated only by candle light. She wanted to scream, to shout, to cry her heart out. But, this wasn’t the place for that. Nowhere in this school was there a place for that, so she swallowed her pain. She had to be strong. She had to make her parents proud.
Chapter 5
The following morning, Bella’s alarm clock woke them both up at six am. Eva still felt very tired, overwhelmed even, by all the new knowledge that came crashing down on her like an avalanche. Principal Rannulf did explain many of the questions she had, but there were still things which didn’t seem to make sense. One of those things was Principal Rannulf himself. Why was he the one she saw in her grandparents’ room? Did he make sure himself that all students arrived safely? Was everything he told her the truth, or was there something else?
She had a gut feeling that there was more to his story, but she knew he wouldn’t have told her, even if she did ask. She needed to find out on her own. She decided to remain here, and make as little trouble as possible, at the same time, trying to figure out whether the story she was served was the whole truth.
“You awake?”
Eva heard the still sleepy voice of her roommate. She peeped from underneath the covers and saw, to her annoyance, that it was still dark outside. She snorted.
“What the Hell?” Eva frowned. “It’s freaking August. Why is it so dark?”
“It’s always dark here at this time,” Bella shrugged her shoulders, already sitting on the edge of her bed, with her legs firmly planted on the floor. “No matter what the season is.”
“That’s weird…”
“You’ll see there are lots of weirder things here than it being dark at six am,” Bella laughed.
Eva wondered what she meant by that. But, Bella wasn’t in the mood for any more morning chit chat. She’d already grabbed her towel and gone to their shared bathroom, closing the door behind her. Eva heard the shower a few seconds later. Her first thought was to snoop around the room. After all, Principal Rannulf said that he put her in the same room as someone in a similar situation as her. Maybe some snooping might offer an answer or two about things Bella wasn’t in the mood to talk about right now.