I woke up what felt like hours later, lying on the bed, looking up at a very nice white ceiling. I felt the blanket over me and almost cried. I had never felt something so nice in my whole life, and the mattress was soft. It felt like sleeping in a cloud, tempting me to close my eyes and go back to sleep. But I had to get out of bed for the kids.

I sat up and realized I was in nice clothes, looking around and seeing everyone had their own bed, instead of the small bodies huddled together for warmth. Everyone seemed to be my age too, and then it hit me, all over again. I was in hell. And I hadn’t put Yelena to bed, like I promised.

Right then and there, I almost flipped the whole bed over, wanting to kill anything I could get my hands on. How could I be here in this nice bed when they were back there, and now they were without me? Who would protect them? Who would make sure that Natalia tied her chest up? Who would make sure Mikhail wasn’t trying to steal from those poor suckers in Goudstad? Who would make sure Maria could at least walk outside?

No. I would go home. I was going to break out of here even if I had to fight every fink in this place. My stomach growled angrily, like it agreed. I needed to get back. I think Vincent doesn’t know, but that stupid snitch Jack had mentioned him before I severed his throat.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Lieutenant Zenzele strode into the room, tranquilizer in hand.

She looked at me, sitting up, and took a step back, raising the tranquilizer a little. She stared for a little while, like she was surprised I was awake, but then she seemed to snap out of it, raising the tranquilizer over head, seemingly ready to bang it on a bed frame, for what I assumed was a very loud wake up call.

Sounds like something I would have done back home. I raised my hands, desperately communicating with her not to. She looked at me confused, like I had lost my mind. I pointed at my own hair, trying to signal there was something wrong with hers.

She seemed to blush, although I couldn’t tell through her dark skin, before she leaned over and stared at the only mirror in the room, fussing with her hair.

I hadn’t even noticed the mirror before. It was just… there, reflecting everything back at us.

And suddenly, I felt a strange pull toward it. A real mirror. Not a broken piece of glass scavenged from the streets. Not some warped reflection in a puddle. A full-body mirror. I could see what all of me looked like, from the tips of my toes to the thing hanging between my legs to my probably handsome face.

She was fiddling with her hair, looking mighty confused, before looking at me in the mirror. I just grinned at her, letting out a small chuckle under my breath. She looked at me, her face contorting with anger, lifting the tranquilizer up towards me, clearly wanting to use it again. I just held up my hands, trying to suppress the laughter now.

She seemed to calm herself but still looked at me with utter hatred, before banging on the metal pipe at the end of one of the recruits’ beds. “All of you, wake up! This isn’t a daycare! You will be dressed in the next ten minutes or I swear to god none of you will eat anything until lunchtime!”

What? That was the worst threat she could think of? And it seemed to work too, everyone jumping out of bed and trying to get dressed into the clothes they wore yesterday. I was flabbergasted, but I just got up out of the bed and sauntered over to the door the Lieutenant just left, leaning out to look down the hall. I heard her waking up the girls in the room across from us, waking them the same way she had woken us.

I didn’t understand why we were so close to the girls. That didn’t seem like it would end well. They should know finks can’t control themselves, partaking in every sin they can get their hands on. Well, none of my business. I’m going to leave soon.

And then Lieutenant Zenzele was there, leaning out the door. “Boris. After breakfast, come find me. Need to sort out your paperwork. And why aren’t you getting dressed? Do you not want to eat?”

I looked at her, confused. Paperwork? Why would I need paperwork? “But I am dressed?” I asked rhetorically instead, stepping out into the hallway fully now and pointing down at myself.

I was in the same clothes from yesterday. Still the same specks of blood dotting the front of my shirt. Still the same black pants that everyone else seemed to be wearing. I even still had those nice shoes on, surprisingly.

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She pinched her nose with her unsleeved arm, like she already hated life and wanted to go back to bed. “I told them to undress you. Now you’re going to stink up the whole dormitory,” she said under her breath, shaking her head from side to side.

She pointed to a line on the floor, extending past both sides of the room. “Put your feet on the line, and stand next to the door.”

And then she started walking off, before she turned on her heel, one finger in the air, ready to chastise me. “You haven’t even brushed your teeth! Go right now!” She said, pointing back into the dormitory, the only other door in the room.

“Uh, Ma’am, how would I brush my teeth?” I asked, spreading my hands wide, like I had nothing on me.

“Firstly, you will never. Ever. Call me that again. Am I clear?” she said, anger making her voice echo down the hall as she walked back toward me.

“Secondly, you will address me as Lieutenant. Now. What the fuck do you mean, ‘how would I brush my teeth?’ Have you never brushed your teeth before?” she asked, her face twisted in disgust as she stopped a little ways away from me.

“Uh, no. I just don't have a piece of charcoal or anything, and I doubt you finks even know how to make a fire.”

She seethed with rage. I think she even wanted to smack me, as she lifted the tranquilizer and put it to my face. “You will address me as Lieutenant! If you wish to say no, it is 'No Lieutenant!' If you wish to say yes, it is 'Yes Lieutenant!' And you will not use that word again! Or so help me, you will not eat until the tournament! Now why the fuck are you bringing up charcoal to brush your teeth? Where is your toothbrush?” she screeched at me, as if I were the most offensive person she had ever had the displeasure of speaking to.

I gave her my favorite mock salute and replied, “Lieutenant! I have not owned a toothbrush in years! Where the fuck would I get one?” I screeched back at her, imitating her tone quite well.

Then she started tapping her shoulder, rage spilling across her face. Something struck her, just as she began to lift her hand—probably to do her weird off-switch thing.

I saw the girls peeking out the door behind her, trying to catch a glimpse of the argument. All of them were trying to squeeze their heads around the door. The Lieutenant, however, was just looking at me. She closed her eyes, seemed to count to three under her breath, and said, “Boris, what did you bring with you when you came here?”

I just lifted my hands, gesturing down at myself. A perplexed expression grew on her face. “Oh! Wait!” I interrupted her as I dug into my pants. Yes! Still there. I fished out the fake bills I’d made yesterday for that bastard Sergei. I couldn’t believe none of those bastards peeking out the door stole it. Suckers, can't even search through pockets properly.

I held it up proudly to her, my single, actual possession. She looked down at it, then picked it up off my hands and looked at its side, seeing the notes I had gotten from Maria to make it seem like a wad of bills.

“Is this five bucks? Why would you do this to five bucks? What can you even get for five bucks?” she asked, as if this were the most strange thing she had ever seen in her whole life. I was quite offended; it took a miracle to make that little trick work so well.

“Uhm, a taxi fare? Used it to trick some gangsters. Anyway, Lieutenant, was I supposed to bring something else?”

She looked up at me from the fake wad of bills and handed them back. I pocketed them greedily—my last connection to home. Looking back up at her, she looked like she was evaluating me, as if she had found the last piece of a puzzle, making the picture clear.

“Come straight to me after breakfast. Do not do anything else,” she said calmly now, almost… almost like one of the sisters used to speak to me. I almost punched her in the face. I'm not a little boy to be spoken to or coddled. I had done things her entire family tree wouldn’t dream of, had to make sacrifices she wouldn’t dare think of. Fucking fink. How dare she pity me?

“Everyone. Get your feet onto the line! What are you doing? Move!” she roared loudly. She waited for everyone to scramble out of their rooms, some of the boys still pulling on shirts as they lined up next to me.

“Now follow me!” she said as she started walking down the long hall. I was first in line, right behind her as we walked down the long hallway, taking a few twists and turns. It didn’t matter. I seethed with rage. How dare she speak to me like that? It was all I could think about the whole way there. I was going to hurt her for that. My eyes bore into her back, trying to see if I couldn’t make a small hole where her chest was.

Then she opened the door, and I saw four long tables with enough chairs to seat every person in that hall yesterday. There was a smaller table toward the entrance, with only enough seats for us B ranks.

“You are B rankers. You eat first. You will finish eating and be outside in the next fifteen minutes! Not one of you may be late!” she shouted down the hallway, holding up the tranquilizer like that was a sufficient threat.

Then she looked at me, her voice quieting now. “Boris, come to my table after you finish eating. We’ll get your paperwork sorted.” And with that, she walked off. I almost took her head off on the walk here, but I could wait until after breakfast. My stomach growled in agreement, again.