Darkness blanketed the flickering lights of a hospital housing the shouts from a madman. Just the week before, it was the screams of a deranged woman, and two days before that it was the cries of a demented child. The gloomy clouds that covered the lands of the Nile always seemed to bring out the worst within people or reveal who they truly were. Whatever the belief, two police officers still had a job to do, and the crazed man they were holding down to a bed in one of the hospital rooms made each second a struggle.

“I can’t hold him for long!”

“He tried to bite me!”

Yellings echoed from the room on the evacuated hospital floor. The two police officers were barely holding down the man, whose wild movements were causing the metal cuffs to dig deeper and deeper into his bleeding wrists. "Your father is gone, and he’s never coming back! He didn't even put up a fight while his screams filled me with joy!"

Cries of children filled the room, which only brought a devilish grin to the man they called ‘dad’, who was biting and snarling trying to break through his restraints. Not wanting the children to witness any more of what was once their father, one officer turned to the doctor who was in the room.

“Get the kids out of here, now!”

The doctor wasted no time in starting to move the children out of the room until a snap was heard.

“Ahh!”

A wail of pain came from the officer while the father was laughing and holding a gouged out eye. The other panic-stricken officer used the two-way radio attached to his chest to call for help, and before he was done, someone in a black hoodie walked into the room.

“Who are you?” The police said to a young woman with hazelnut skin.

“I am with the registered soul cleaner that was sent over to expunge the rekbane,” the girl said in a crisp voice.

The other police officer, now with one eye, frustratedly shouted, “We need an actual cleaner, not some teenager shadowing them! Just get over here, and help hold this man down until your babysitter gets here to expunge this vile parasite from him.”

The girl scrunched her face. “My name is Rom, and the soul cleaner is not my babysitter,” she retorted while walking toward the crazed father. But suddenly, she was stopped by the doctor.

“Also. that guy isn’t the host to the rekbane,” Rom announced before turning to the doctor with piercing eyes. “He is.”

The room would have fallen silent, if not for the father cursing to be let go.

“Are you crazy?” one of the policemen said barely holding down the father. “How do you think the doctor is the host to the rekbane instead of the man handcuffed to the bed, who tore out my damn eye!”

Rom ignored the officer and still kept her eyes on the doctor. “Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?”

The perplexed doctor replied, “What are you talking about?”

Rom ruffled through the curly black hair that crowned her head and pulled out a small square piece of black paper. The puzzled face of the doctor quickly turned serious. “You found me out, but now I have to kill you and everyone in this room.”

Before Rom could react, she was kicked clear across the room with such force that her body crashed through the window, leaving only a five-story fall to her death.

“What the—” and before the one-eyed officer could finish speaking, the doctor who was at least ten feet away, appeared instantly in front of him and snapped his neck. The other officer frantically tried to pull his gun from his holster, but the final handcuff broke, releasing the crazed man upon his neck. Teeth ripped out the throat of the officer leading the room to be painted in blood.

“There’s a beetle in your head,” the doctor whispered into the ear of the crazed father who started scratching at his skull and moving around distraught. Within five seconds, the father began banging his head up against the wall. Another five seconds later, a crack was heard, and the father dropped to the ground dead.

”Then, there were only two.” the doctor said, turning to the children, or rather where they once were. “Where did they go?” He turned to the broken window that he sent Rom crashing through and saw blood leading into the room and across to the entrance of the room. “You little bitch.”

The doctor ran out of the room and saw the children rushed onto the elevator. A cry was let out by one of the kids, who saw the malicious eyes of the doctor approaching them through the flickering lights in the hallway.

“It will be okay,” Rom told the kids, but it did nothing to subdue the fear in their hearts and the doctor appearing right behind her erupted that fear through a scream. Unfortunately, the elevator doors didn't shut quickly enough, and the doctor slammed Rom up against the elevator wall. If not for the cushion from her afro, the impact would have knocked her out but instead, her brain was just rattled.

As much as she tried, Rom couldn’t break free from being pinned up against the wall of the descending elevator as the children looked on in horror.

“What gave me away?”

Rom glanced at the doctor and saw him in the corner of her eye. “For the past three months, your patients afflicted by rekbanes have skyrocketed and the multiple soul cleaners scheduled to come to cure those patients were no longer needed since you were miraculously able to remedy them on your own.”

The hand bloodied by broken glass from pulling her body up from the window she was sent crashing through before, was smeared all over the doctor’s face with some of the blood getting in his eyes.

The doctor let go of Rom and stumbled back wiping his eyes. “Your blood…it burns!”

Rom held up the square piece of black paper from before saying “You wouldn't believe how many of these I ate before coming to this hospital hoping it would stay in my bloodstream.”

The doctor snarled with his vision blurred and pain from the blood. Rom wasted no time and slapped the piece of paper onto his forehead. A searing noise could be heard as the black piece of paper started to burn. A short bawl of pain was let out by the doctor followed by coughs of red vapor. The frightened children huddled together in the corner of the elevator and watched the doctor fall to one knee.

“This won't be enough to kick me out of the body,” the doctor said weakly.

The elevator doors opened behind him to a man in an all-black with a red sash saying, “That’s why I am here.” The doctor had no time to react to the back of his neck being grabbed along with one of his arms being twisted while being slammed to the floor.

“Who are you!?” The doctor demanded.

“A soul cleaner,” the man in all black answered, following with a deep breath.

Another shout of pain came from the doctor, accompanied by more coughs of red vapors, and steam radiating from his body. The coughs worsened and the red vapors came out more rapidly until there was no more. Rom watched the life go out of the doctor’s eyes just for a second and then it came back.

“Is it gone?” The doctor asked, trembling.

An applause came from behind the man in all black. People clapping, taking pictures, and expressing gratitude to him. “Thank you for getting that rekbane.” was one of the many thanks to the man for expunging a parasitic kind that has plagued the Nile for centuries.

“Rom, go wait outside while I handle the rest,” the man said.

She muttered something under her breath which caught the ear of the man. “What was that?”

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Rom quickly replied “It was nothing, Durn. I just may need stitches'' revealing her bleeding hand. He rolled his eyes with no concern for the injury. “You will survive. If that is too much for you then you can give up on becoming a soul cleaner.”

Rom scrunched her face with regret for not repeating what she truly said. You mean taking all the credit for something you barely helped with. This isn’t the first time Durn has taken all the recognition and praise for an expunge that he didn’t do alone but luckily for Rom, this will be the last.

To complete her goal of entering an exalted college, she must assist in expunging three vile spiritual parasites called rekbane from unwilling hosts. Since removing rekbanes that infest a person’s soul is the primary job for a soul cleaner, the entrance requirement for the college is just a taste of the life graduates will have after their four years.

The wait outside wasn't long and gave Rom enough time to stitch up her hand while leaning on one of the many lamp poles that brought light to the darkness-filled grounds around the hospital.

“It wasn’t pretty, but the gloom was able to complete her tasks,” Durn crudely stated on a phone while walking out of the hospital. Rom didn’t hear everything he said, but heard the word gloom and knew he was talking about her. She didn't bother to listen further since she spotted a sparse beam of moonlight that was able to get through the dark dense clouds that filled the sky.

“Damn. It's already nighttime,” Rom said looking at the silver glow from the sky street blocks away.

If one of the scattered lights from the moon or the sun weren’t near, then clocks, watches, and phones were the main way of telling if it was day or night for the people living in the Nile. The gloomy clouds covering the lands made little to no way for the natural light to reach.

“Okay, get in my car, and let’s get this over with,” Durn said, waving Rom to get into his vehicle. His face and tone were that of irritation, and this didn’t surprise Rom as she knew what people like him thought of people like her. Less than, poor, trash, or just the unwanted given name of gloom. Even as the doors to his spotless car opened to the dark clouds, it was easily distinguishable from the other vehicles parked in front of the hospital with dirt, mismatched parts, and dents.

An exhilarated “We’re going to the feathery oak?!” was asked by Rom, which only made the already unhappy face of Durn wrinkle with disgust.

“Yes. So just be quiet and enjoy the ride.”

Durn was not thrilled to be taking a gloom up to a place he and others deemed exalted considered sacred but being accepted into one of the colleges above the dark thick clouds was Rom’s ticket to see what she only heard stories of.

With the door closed and Rom in the passenger seat, Durn started his car which silently lifted off the ground and flew into the clouds. It wasn’t long before the murky view from the windows became the beautiful night sky, leaving Rom’s face in awe. Many glooms are not able to see what is above the clouds and only have pictures from books or what is shown on television as references.

“It’s calming,” Rom uttered while staring up at the moon among the stars and not realizing the huge structure they were coming upon.

“Welcome to the Exalted City of Noire,” Durn announced as they entered through an invisible bubble into a metropolis of metal buildings, houses, parks, and people living their lives under the moonlight. However, off in the distance, Rom’s attention was caught by something at the center of it all that was on top of a lofty green hill.

“We are coming near the Feathery Oak and security will need to see our credentials so get ready to show yours,” Durn told Rom as they approached another floating vehicle.

“Identification.” A voice from within the vehicle startled Rom while Durn held up a card to a small spherical device in the middle panel of the car’s front panel that started to scan.

“Durn Loomer. Watcher for Noire Exalted College,” the voice said.

Rom took out her identification card and put it up to the scanner.

“Romhtra Dorfmure. Nile resident. You all can proceed.”

What caught Rom’s attention earlier was now right outside her window and even larger than she expected. She studied everything she could about the Feathery Oak not just because it is needed to enter one of the seven exalted colleges but due to its mystery. No one knew how it came to be or even how long it has been around and yet it has become a major part of society.

“Okay, time to get out and walk,” Durn said to Rom.

“Why couldn’t we just land on top of the hill by the oak?” Rom asked.

Durn chuckled. “We don’t need to get a quill. You do. So I suggest you get out and start your hike up before my favorite show comes on television and I leave you here.”

Rom rolled her eyes while getting out of the vehicle, and started her long walk up the hill. The steepness of the ground would push anyone’s legs to the limit and one slip on the wet grass would send them tumbling back down to the bottom where they started.

I feel like I have been at this for half an hour, Rom thought trudging up the hill with sweat pouring down her head and the black hooded sweatshirt she was wearing being held and dragged along. After another thirty minutes, the top was finally reached, and Rom's body dropped to the ground from exhaustion. She planned to rest her eyes for just a few seconds but the Feathery Oak and all its glory didn’t allow it.

“Amazing.”

The only word Rom could think of to describe the blackwood tree with thick branches overflowing with white feathers. “It’s just as I read,” she voiced walking through a field of white feathers up to a tree root that stuck up from the ground to the height of her kneecaps.

Just a drop. One simple portion of one’s life is to allow the tree to know who, what, and when about a person. Who they were, what they are now, and when they will be the person they need and want to be. This was needed to obtain a quill and gain access to an exalted college.

Rom pulled out a small pocket knife and opened her stitched hand. The amount of blood coming from her hand was more than what was necessary, and the excess red liquid of life was for her benefit. For her show of dedication and belief in what the oak can give.

All the blood that hit the root was quickly absorbed and a slight shake was felt. Not because it came from the ground but as if a shock came from within. No pain was felt, just a refreshing change she didn’t know she needed.

What is that?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a white feather move. She fully turned to the feather shaking and changing its form and color. Rom could barely count eighty-five of the endless color changes and the shapes together with the sizes the feather took were leaving Rom at a loss for words.

White to pink. A pink feather with a small notch missing on its right upper side along with a small dark yellow mark on its tip.

Something reached out to Rom to go and dig it up or maybe it was curiosity. Whatever it was had her go to the feather and stick her hands deep into the ground beneath it. She then shoveled up the dirt and within her palms was the feather. As the dirt filtered through her fingers, a bulb was left with the pink feather stemming from it.

“About time,” a mysterious voice said.

She dropped the bulb out of her hand and looked around to see who spoke. Yet, no one could be seen, and realizing what she let slip through her fingers, she quickly looked down, only spotting white feathers.

“Where is it?” Rom said frantically searching for any speck of pink.

“On your right.” The voice spoke again prompting Rom to turn her head to a small green body covered by a silver shell fluttering in the air with pink wings. A long and narrow neck extended up from the shell with a head possessing two silver horns.

“Hel…hello?” Rom stammered while looking into its captivating pink eyes.

“Hey,” it replied.

Although Rom did her best to learn as much as she could about a feathery oak, she didn’t know everything due to the banned books and teachings about it in the Nile where she lives.

Is this my quill? she thought, which surprisingly got a reply. “Yes I am, so please hurry up and give me one of those names.”

Rom’s eyes widened from excitement due to the quill reading her mind and responding. She read about the psychic link the quill has with its bond and now also being able to give a name that she decided on years ago brought joy to Rom’s heart

“Shade. How do you like that name?”

“It doesn’t matter if I like it. Shade my name will be and we can leave this place.”

“Wait, don't you want to know why I picked that name?”

“No.”

Rom frowned her face in disappointment but quickly got over it seeing Shade flutter around her with its pink wings as they started down the hill.

“It's about time,” Durn snarled. “I was just about to leave and you would have had to find a way back down to the Nile on your own or get nicked for trespassing without a watcher.”

Rom was too busy still admiring Shade to even take notice of Durn’s displeasure, which was risky since him being her watcher meant that they must be at a certain distance from each other while above the dark clouds in the exalted skies. If they weren’t then the brunt of the punishment would only befall Rom a gloom while Durn being an exalted would just get a slap on the wrist. This was one of the conditions for a gloom to enter one of the exalted cities.

“I see you got your quill which is more than what a gloom deserves but the higher power believes some of you people should become a soul cleaner. Correction. Attempt to become a soul cleaner.” A small chuckle was let out by Durn at the end of what he had said.

Rom took heed of his smug face and his words which almost riled her up but decided to ignore him and continued to focus on Shade.

“You have one day before your move into Noire Exalted College and I will not be taking you, so I suggest you find transportation quickly because if you are not there on move-in then you will forfeit your acceptance into the school.”

Durn could have told Rom this days ago, but he deliberately waited until now leaving almost no time to procure a transport back above the gloomy clouds to the college. However, Rom was the type of person to plan ahead and already had a way to make it to her move-in day. Whether it was legal or not was a different story.