We all waited a moment as if expecting the Ruler to pop up. I stood still and waited. Both Vera nor my powers would be useful in finding where we were supposed to sleep. After skim-reading all eight minds around me, I realised that none of the Initiates–no, students now had any idea where to go…but students weren’t the only people around me. I whipped my head around and saw the Guide watching silently behind us. He seemed more polite than he was to us before. And a touch more respectful. Was it because we were students now?

I read his mind and realised that I was right. I also knew where our dorm room was. I didn’t leave for it though, not wanting to stand out. A few of the other students noticing my sudden movement looked to where my eyes lay and saw the Guide looking back at them.

He gave a polite tilt of his head in respect. “The Ruler does that every year. I’ll show you to your dorm room,” he said with every bit of the inflection of a tired receptionist. He spoke as if he had anticipated the questions before we asked them –he had. He spoke as if he knew exactly where we wanted to go after the Culling – he did.

Sleep. I had been so focused on the Culling that I had –and I know how crazy it sounds– forgot to feel tired. But now? Standing in the dark with the allure of rest on the edges of my fingertips? I yearned for it. I yearned for it the way I yearned for food when I was a child. I yearned for it the way I yearned for my friendship with Lucas. A constant back and forth of longing and forgetting once I realised I couldn’t have it. But sleep? Sleep I could have.

“So,” Seraphina said, “where’s the building where we’re going to sleep? You are going to tell us right.”

Seraphina glared at the Guide so fiercely that I physically felt like cringing. How in the Lord’s name does she do this stuff in public without feeling embarrassed? Actually, no, don’t answer that. I found out after reading her mind. She was just too headstrong to notice.

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“Yes,” the Guide said, seemingly not offended, “just follow me.”

We did. He walked with a steady cadence; not too leisurely but slowly enough that even the least physically capable of the group could keep up–namely, me. By the time we reached the building, I was slightly out of breath and realised I should probably exercise…maybe later.

The building covered a large area but wasn’t particularly tall. The Guide shugged when we arrived. “You can probably figure out what to do by yourself here.”

He walked off and we walked in. The interior of the room was a corridor with rooms to either side of the door, each with a name on them. Alex, Alexandra, Annabelle, Jason, Kira, Lucas, Seraphina, and Vera. Alphabetical order. I pressed my hand against my doorknob and felt something click. Magic of some sort? Magic was sometimes used as an umbrella term to describe anything that we didn’t understand, I mused.

I ignored that thought and went into my room. The inside was desolate, an empty room spare a plain white bed, a small table, and a wardrobe. I swallowed. I regretted not bringing anything. Not that you were allowed to bring things into the Culling. I absentmindedly set something down before realising I was holding nothing.

This was my life now. I had no traces of the orphanage on me and for that I was grateful. The Seer said it: Only those who go to the Academy will make any real change in the world. I felt strong. I wasn’t the scared girl in the orphanage I was before. I was in the Academy where I could make a change. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be. No fifteen-year-olds did– most at least. But…the Academy let me keep my options open.

I laid myself down and stared at the plain ceiling. If it held the secrets to my future, it was tight-lipped. I put myself in a relaxed position and calmed my breathing. In, out. I wondered if I should practice my Gift or go to sleep. After a beat, I made up my mind. I closed my eyes.