Dead Apple 2 1: Alice In Ravenlan

CHAPTER 1

ALICE IN RAVENLAN

Her room is almost empty, only the made up bed and few furnitures and pictures hanging around the walls remained. Her clothes and other things are already packed up and put inside the car trunk. She will be leaving for a while and the huge house will be left for only one person-- her father.

"Bye, dad." Alice whispered, hugging her dad.

"Bye, sweetheart. Remember to take care of yourself, kay?"

She nodded and slid down the service car going to Ravenlan Academy. It has been weeks since she talked about it with her father, the transferring to a boarding school. At first, her dad was hesitant but he gave up at the end knowing that he can't change her daughter's mind anymore.

The black car roared to life then left, and Alice did not even spare her father a single glance. This is what we need in order to move on. She thought. It has been a year when her sister died and everything has changed that they almost became a stranger at the house.

"How far is Ravenlan?" She asked at the driver.

One of the good things in the academy is that they have their own drivers to pick up their students. The area is also secluded that no one knows where on Earth it is located.

"Two hours." Replied the driver.

Alice slept the whole time and was only awoken with a slight tap on her shoulder. She shrugged the hand that keeps on tapping her and fluttered her eyes open.

"Welcome, Ms Alice Ludenburg to Ravenlan Academy."

She narrowed her eyes at the old man. He has this graying hair that was combed back, a silver rimmed gla.s.ses that's sliding down his crooked nose and a freckled cheeks. He wore a three piece suit and a long black cane indicated the power he has at the academy.

The old man smiled at her.

"Good morning, sir."

"I am Mr George Falon, the headmaster. Please follow me, Ms Ludenburg." She followed the headmaster when he started walking, following behind them are the two men carrying her luggages. "Students are allowed to go outside during weekends only. No one is allowed to loiter when the clock strikes by 9pm, lights-off. Another rule is do not wander into the woods behind the academic building. It is forbidden."

Silently following Mr Falon she roamed her eyes around the big academy while listening to the rules and regulations, which already slipped out of her mind.

Mr Falon stopped. "Your room is on third floor, 315. Left wing is boys' dormitory, right wing are for girls." He said, then they entered a wide building-- the students' dormitory.

There are a few students at the corridor who eyed her up and down, sizing up the new girl, so she just gave them a small smile which they returned with a snort.

"This is your room. Here is your key." The headmaster told her. "You can get your schedule, uniforms, and ID at the registrar."

"Thank you, sir." She reached for the black key, and then they left leaving her things behind.

Alice enters the room with her bag hanging limp on her shoulder and luggage. The room is large enough with two beds in white and pink blankets, two pink pillows, and a lamp drawer on either side. There is a small window at the far end of the wall, just beside the bed, and the curtain dances along the wind from outside. Beside the door is another entrance for the bathroom. Pink and white, the room screams innocence and love.

She walked towards the bed beside the window where the blankets are unused, and the drawers are empty. The headmaster has mentioned that she will be sharing a room with someone, but that person is nowhere to be seen.

She plunged at the bed face first, the mattress queaking from underneath, when the door opened and closed with a soft thud. Just in time for the other person to see Alice she sat down at the bed. The girl is wearing a red and gold fitted sleeveless dress that stops on her mid thigh, and a white shoes with white ankle socks. Her blond hair a high ponytail, so tight that it her forehead seems to stretch.

The get up convinced her that blondie is a cheerleader.

"Oh hi! You must be the new girl, my room mate!" The cheerleader exclaimed, a wide smile plastered on her face. "By the way, I am Chloe."

She smiled back. "I'm Alice, nice to meet you."

"Everyone's been talking about you. Would you like me to walk you around the academy?"

"Ahm... Don't bother, I think you're tired. You should rest. Why's everyone talking about me?"

Chloe sat down at her bed, crossing her skinny legs. "I just finished my practice, but I won't mind accompanying you since we will be room mates for two years, besides I like to know more about you."

Alice nodded while the other pulled down her ponytail in a swift movement.

"Mr Falon announced yesterday that there is a new girl. Everyone's giving a fuss why would you transfer in such an unusual time. The term will end in three months, you know. Were you expelled in your previous school or something?"

"Uhm... No." She answered, lying down at her bed again she caressed the smooth cover with the back of her hand.

"Then why did you transfer? You should have wait for the term to end to start another year."

"I just want to leave home for a while." Her voice is too low, but Chloe heard it and realized that there is more to that.

"Why? When I first came here I used to cry every night because I want to go back." Her room mate asked, staring at her with worry in her wide blue eyes.

Picking up the pillow beside her Alice used it to cover her face. "Six months after my sister dies my mother died. Dad and I have been leaving in the house like nothing happened, but things changed and we both know that we are trying to move on while pretending like everything is fine."

"I'm sorry about what happened."

She shook her head. "It's okay. I just-- being at home always reminds me what I lost and what I missed."

"That must be too hard for the both of you. You both needed s.p.a.ce."

After a moment of silence, Chloe offered her again for a tour around the accompany which she accepted. They walked down the corridors while ignoring the stares of the few students. The cheerleader brought her to the gymnasium building where there is a basketball court on the second floor, a swimming pool and changing room at the first floor. The academy is very wide. Blanket of gra.s.s covered the field with a number of bushes and flowers of red, yellow, and orange. There are also three buildings-- academic building, dormitory, and the building for clubs, meetings, and other purposes which she can't remember anymore.

They went to the registrar next to get what she needed before they came back at their room.

"So, what can you say about the academy?" Chloe grinned. "It is amazing, right? I always lose my way around here before, but you'll get used to it after a week."

"It's really huge and there are a lots of facilities."

"You might want to join a club. It will keep you busy."

Alice busied herself on her things, putting the neatly folded clothes at her pink closet, the shoes under her bed, and some of her things inside a small box. Chloe let her fix her things in silence and left after saying that she has a cla.s.s at 3:30 pm.

Remembering her phone she read the messages her friends and her dad have sent her just a while ago, asking if she's already at the academy and doing fine. After replying at them she put her phone at the drawer only to find a black folded paper lying still inside.

"What's this?" She asked more to herself than to anybody.

Since curiosity got her she opened the small paper without hesitation. It smells sweet-- something addictive and familiar. Like a fruit or a candy. The scent is too strong but she cannot grasp what king of sweet smell it is.

Inside, a message in cursive is written below an intrisic design of spiral like faded gold leaves. It is written elegantly, with a pointed pen and white ink. The words, confusing as they are, made Alice curious.

Alice,

Why did you let yourself wander into the rabbit hole?