13 Troubled

A pounding headache greeted her the next time she woke up. She winced in pain and felt the back of her head. A welt could be felt under her fingertips, and her hair felt matted from the blood that had been left to dry there.

Confusion soon took over when she looked about her and saw that she was in an unfamiliar room. Then she looked down and saw she was wearing the most unflattering black trousers and a matching shirt. When had she changed into them? She was certain she wasn't wearing them last night.

With unstable legs, she somehow got to her feet, and she crept towards the door.

She stopped just before the door and studied the room she had woken up in. It was bare, except for the bed, and the desk that was placed under a barred window. The walls were pale green and faded in most parts. The floor was dusty, and grime stood out on the wooden surface.

She turned towards the door once more and peered out the little window that was embedded in it. A stark-white hallway was all she could see, and at least it looked cleaner than the room she was kept in. The only downside was that it was dark and eerie.

Suddenly, a face appeared in the window, startling Ali. The face smirked at the look of fear on Ali's own face, and the person lowered their gaze. Then Ali heard a key turn in a lock, and the door swung open to reveal a man about her age.

He seemed less scary when she was actually standing in front of him. His dark eyes roamed over Ali's entire body.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Ali swallowed her fear and snapped at the man in annoyance.

"Sorry, it's just been a while since we've had any fresh meat around here." He eyed her once again and continued, "seeing the same faces day after day gets tedious, you know?"

As the guy rambled on about the people living wherever this place was, Ali noticed that he was wearing the same as she was. Her confusion deepened, and she asked, "what is this place exactly? Where am I?"

He was now looking at her oddly, and he questioned, "did you lose your memory when you hit your head? This is Mistlyn, the home for troubled young adults."

At the mention of memory loss, Seonghwa appeared in her mind, and a splitting headache started up once again.

It soon became unbearable, and she fell to her knees, her hands clutching her head. She screamed out, and even thoughts of Seonghwa couldn't ease the pain she felt - they only made it worse.

Before everything went black, she heard the guy shouting for help.