"There's a monster under my bed." These were the first words spoken to Ese this morning.
"Ha ha." She muttered ironically in reply. Ese wasn't very good at recognizing jokes, but there was no way her roommate was being serious. Melida frowned.
"I'm not kidding , Ese!"
"Mel, there Isn't a monster under your bed." It was impossible. Never had a monster managed to get through the protective field, let alone break into the academy building. Ese shook her head in confusion, "What makes you think that, anyway?"
"I saw it.." whispered Melida, looking around to see if anyone was listening, "I stayed up late last night studying for- never mind what I was studying for, I was using a flashlight to keep you awake when I dropped it under the bed. I bent down to pick it up and.. and something touched my arm. At first I thought it was just something dropped there, but Ese, when I looked down, I saw a kind of... tentacle or whatever it was, pulling away from my hand!" she made a disgusted expression as she said the last part
"You were tired, it was dark, the most logical explanation-"
"I know what I saw, Ese!" Melida interrupted. She seemed quite horrified by the hypothetical monster, and Ese finally gave in.
''Okay, I'll come with you after class today to see if that monster of yours is where you say it is. - She said, trying to sound like she was taking the imaginary monster as a real threat - she didn't want to offend Mel after all. Her roommate nodded in agreement.
The first hours for Ese went by quickly. That was until it was time for one of her least favorite subjects - history. The whole thing just seemed too much like a guessing game to Ese. Because of the destruction of much of the historical records during the Hundred Year War, phrases like "presumably" "most likely" and, her personal favorite, "no information about what happened" were all too common in her textbook. Because of the lack of information, people with too much free time on their hands spun ridiculous conspiracy theories with little to no evidence.
Ese walked into the classroom and was surprised to find she was alone. Had she been early? People here were sticklers for being on time after all. She found her seat and opened her history file. It was time for some intense writing. Their teacher, Mr. Gardner, who insisted all his students call him 'just Tab' was one of the people with a lot of free time on his hands. He didn't believe their textbook- on the contrary, he had a personal feud with it, and only accepted as correct the answers consistent with his beliefs and conspiracies, no matter how much they were supported by the evidence. So if she couldn't write down the things Mr. Gardner rattled on about for an hour, then Ese was done. The problem was that when her teacher got excited, he started talking at a speed that made it impossible to write his speech down. It didn't help that Ese had dropped her electronic board a few days ago and now it wasn't working quite right.
Ese looked around. Still no one. As she was wondering what to do now, Mr. Gardner basically flew into the room. He had a slightly panicked look about him-his hair was disheveled, his eyes were wide open, and he kept muttering something under his breath that Ese couldn't make out. He headed straight for his desk, throwing everything around in search of whatever he needed, and not being at all careful with his personal belongings.
- Mr. Gardner? - Ese asked cautiously, as if she were speaking to a wild animal, trying not to startle it. Her teacher must have thought he was alone, because he jumped at the sound of his name.
- Ese? - He narrowed his eyes at her, as if she couldn't really be there, and he doubted he was imagining her . He didn't even correct her for not calling him 'just Tab' ''Ese, what are you doing here? - He asked her when he finally made sure she wasn't an apparitionq ''Val-... Principal Madrigal said she sent a message to all the students!''
''What.." started Ese but was interrupted by a loud beep coming from her board. She really needed to stop procrastinating and take it to be fixed. She read the beginning of the announcement, saying something about an emergent assembly, and when she scrolled down she realized the time for that assembly was only a few minutes away. It was then that Ese finally gained some of the haste of her teacher, who had apparently found what he was looking for, as he shoved a few papers into his bag and headed for the door, motioning for Ese to follow him. They caught the nearest elevator, and during the ascent, Ese finally ventured up and asked what was going on.
''I can't discuss this Ese..'' Mr Gardner muttered absently, 'But I don't want you to worry, everything will be fine.'' The last sentence sounded so convincing that Ese had almost believed it until she saw her teacher's expression, which was saying something completely different.
Mr. Gardner led her to the theater room on the fifth floor and promptly dissapeared behind the stage as Ese searched for her class. It was her fifth year at the academy, which she had come to when she was ten, so she headed for the back rows, after the first four years. She couldn't help her sigh when she saw who the last remaining seat was next to. Alienora Latanieva. If you didn't count the principal's daughter, Rida Madrigal (we did), Alienora was her biggest competition when it came to academic performance.
''Lesto.'' Alienora used her last name as a greeting when Ese sat next to her. Well, okay, greeting was an exaggeration. Rather, she half growled it at her, "Only eighty-seven percent on the science exam, Lesto-you're letting yourself go."
''Our exam results are confidential.'' Ese muttered, to which Alienora snorted. As the minutes ticked by, Ese began to yearn to know the reason for the meeting. She wasn't going to ask Alienora, naturally. She was too proud for that. As she waited, she managed to spot Melida two rows back. Her roomate didn't see her, though. Her gaze was distracted, no doubt still thinking about that nonexistent monster.
- I beg for everyone's attention. - The voice of their headmistress, Valonia Madrigal, came through the microphone on stage, and the whispers around the room died down. Ese noticed that the headmistress was dressed more formally than usual today - she wore shoes with higher than usual heels, her tight curls were loose, reaching down to her shoulders, and she wore earrings that could pay for the remaining three years of Ese's education without her having to take out a scholarship. Something she had learned about the headmistress was that she used the flashy jewelry and the expensive clothes like armor. That didn't give her much confidence that the news would be goo ''I called this meeting to discuss the events taking place in our academy of late.'' Some of you may be familiar with the situation, to varying degrees, but there have been several.. disappearances in the past weeks. - Ese was not one of those few who were familiar, and by the way Alienora took a sharp intake of breath beside her, it seemed she was also unaware
''There are three students whose whereabouts we do not know. Their roommates haven't seen them, they haven't attended any of their classes... and we have lost the signals from their chips.'' The headmistress continued. Whispers slipped through the room again. Ese herself had to admit she was confused. Her eyes darted out the nearest window to the darkness beyond. It was the protective field, keeping them from everything outside. From the inside, it looked like an impenetrable abyss, with dark blue bodies circling around it as the clouds did across the sky in day. Ese hadn't seen clouds in a long time. And that was due to the protective field as well. It not only kept everything outside out, but all the occupants of the school, in. Students were rarely sent outside. This was a task for the helpers. They went out to gather herbs for the students' spells, and materials for their studies. Always in broad daylight, of course, but even then, two years ago, one of them disappeared without a trace, probably caught in the clutches of some monster. It was quite dangerous for students to go out - to do so, the protective field had to be weakened and they had to have a certain mission set by the academy, which was an honor, but also quite dangerous. In any case, there was no way the students could have crossed the field without any of the teachers and especially the headmistress, finding out.
But that didn't explain their chips. They were implanted in every student's neck. To lose contact with them, the student either had to be outside the protective field or the chip had to be destroyed. An uneasy feeling settled in Ese's stomach at the next thought that popped into her head. Either these students had help from someone, to remove their chips surgically or...
The headmistress' voice pulled her from her thoughts, "The worst thing we can do now is panic.'' - Ese, however, could see no other appropriate reaction to what they had just heard. She involuntarily glanced sideways, at Alienora, who was already looking at her, and Ese saw her own confusion in her rival's eyes. As the headmistress spoke, one of the teachers brought the hologram projector on stage and turned it on. A picture of a girl she vaguely knew came up before Ese's eyes. Her name was written next to it in darkened letters.
Escherova, Yasna
She was in the year above Esse. They had never spoken. The headmistress asked for anyone that had any information on the girl's whereabouts, to come forward immediately. Silence fell over the room. The projector switched to the next picture again with a name next to it
Wroth, Eren
Ese didn't know him, but from the rising anxious whispers and exclamations, she guessed he was well-liked. Is well liked. That was what Ese meant. The last picture came up and she nearly gasped.
Han, Leto
She was from her class. Though Ese didn't know her well. But she had talked to her. She'd even written her a homework assignment once, in exchange for borrowing a rare book from her, that she'd managed to find in the library. Everyone in the class looked slightly stamped seeing her face. One girl even started crying. Melida gave her a worried look from further back in the row.
''Do you think they're dead?'' Alienora asked her.
''Don't talk like that! Of course they aren't.'' Ese replied, trying to convince Alienora as much as herself. But there was still no completely logical explanation for their chips.
''I think they're dead.'' Alienora said. She said it as if she was talking about the weather, not the lives of their classmates. Several people nearby turned to them.
"Quiet!" hissed Ese to her, and turned back to face the stage. Mr. Gardner had just come out and was announcing that he needed about a dozen volunteers to put up flyers for the missing students. Ese offered herself. She didn't want to stand by completely idly.
"Don't kid yourself, Lesto, you're only doing this to please the teacher."
"I know this will surprise you, Alienora, but some of us possess something called empathy.'' Ese retorted, getting up from her seat.
''Not you.'' - Alienora called out as Ese walked towards the exit. She wished that Alienora was completely wrong, but the truth was that there was something to her words. Ese hated that.

That night, Ese and Melida were ready to meet the monster in their room. Well, Ese was. Melida stood by the door and refused to go near her bed.
''Ese, be careful'' She advised from across the room. Ese slowly walked over to the bed. To reassure Melida, she had picked up the knife she had illegally slipped in when she arrived at the academy. After all, what if somehow there really was something underneath. Ese had to admit that she was a little scared at that thought. Just a bit. She began to think about how to to outwit this nonexistent monster. But the monsters couldn't catch them here. They were safe. That was what Ese kept repeating to herself as she approached. But then images of the missing students appeared in her mind. She shooed them away.
She was safe
She was safe
She was safe
Ese pushed the bed with all the strength she had so that it would overturn. Beneath it was.. nothing. There was nothing. Ese laughed - a thunderous and sharp laugh. What was she even worried about? Of course there was no monster under the bed.
''Maybe we should look around some more... What if it's moved or...'' Melida began, but Ese didn't let her finish. She was really sick of this ridiculous story about a monster in her room.
''Mellidaaa'' Ese groaned, struggling to turn the bed back in its place, ''Enough. There is no monster! Everything is fine.'' She reassured her ''You know nothing can just pass through the protective field. Never has.'' She added.
''I guess... I guess you're right.'' Melida said hesitantly. Ese smiled at her. Melida looked at her for a few seconds, but finally couldn't resist and burst out laughing, "I can't believe I thought there was a monster under my bed!''
-Me neither!'' - Ese said through laughter herself.
Lost in the moment, neither of them paid attention to the creaking of the wardrobe, as if something too heavy was inside, hidden between the shelves.