Chapter 4

"This is your room," Derek tells me. Since I am a special case, I have a room all to myself. When I open the door, I am shocked. "This whole room is mine?" I say in awe. I try to confirm to make sure he is not pulling my leg. This room is gigantic. "No, we are going to split the room in half and give it to somebody else." Derek rolls his eyes. I ignore his sarcastic remark and enter the room.

It has to be as big as the apartment I was staying in before Derek took me. There is a queen-size bed in the middle of the room and to the left of it there is a 42-inch tv that has a wine-red couch in front of it.

To the right of the bed was the bathroom. I enter it and it was half the size of the room. It has a tub and a shower with two sinks along with a mirror that reflects my entire life. The tub even has settings on it. Even the toilet has an entire section of its own. I walk out of the bathroom and into another room that is to the left of the entrance and across from the bed. I open the door to find a walk-in closet.

The clothes I have would not take up even a quarter of it. It was not saying a lot since I did not have many clothes, but it said enough. There are even shelves for shoes and a layered circle shelf in the middle for more shoes. I walk back to Derek who was watching me with a bored expression.

"You should have kidnapped me sooner!" I smile. Once again, he rolls his eyes. "I did not kidnap you; you willingly came along." I cock an eyebrow at him. "You threatened to take me by force." He shrugs his shoulders. "You still came willingly." Willingly is an overstatement.

"Now I know this room was not created just for me so whose was it?" I ask, curious why the school would go through so much effort to make one person feel comfortable. Derek pauses for a minute, hesitant to tell me. "Someone very important." If that particularly important person is not here now, then where are they?

I decide to keep the question to myself. Derek was clearly reluctant to tell me such a small detail. I don't want to pry. My stomach growls, making me realize just how hungry I am.

As if he already knew what I was about to say, which he probably did, the rumble was not discreet, Derek speaks up and says, "The cafeteria is this way." I hurry after him. When I step out, I see that there is a wall in front of the room where a hallway used to be. Holly mole rat, this place really does shift!

Snapping out of my daze I rush over to Derek who was quickly leaving me behind. The hallways are empty with kids either in class or at lunch. Wait, that meant-"There is not by any chance a private cafeteria?" I ask in hopes I would not have to eat with a bunch of strange creatures.

"Don't push it, princess." I am not a princess. I am an introvert. There is a difference. He did not say there was not a private eating room though.

"Since you brought me here, I am going to eat with you," I tell him. He immediately shoots me down. "I have other business besides you." I feel my distress level rise. There is no way I am going to eat lunch with these people or whatever they were. I would opt to go back to my room and eat there but something told me Derek would not take his time to chaperone me to my room and I had no clue how to get around this place.

Especially not with the changing halls. "So, am I just business to you? You take me away from my normal life, tell me I have powers, then stick me in a room filled with fairy tale creatures?!" I exaggerate my words and make my eyes water. Maybe crocodile tears would work.

"Yep." I do not know why I even tried. This man was evil. I pout and continue walking in silence.

We enter a hallway with double doors. I could already hear the chatter coming from inside. Suddenly I am not so hungry anymore. "Now that I think about it, I am not that hungry anyway. I am just going to go back." I awkwardly chuckle. Before I can make my escape, Derek grabs me by the collar of my shirt and drags me in.

He continues to drag me to the lunch line. This place is deafening. A few heads turn our way but most people, I mean creatures, kept to their own and continue to talk. "You can let me go now," I tell Derek. He was starting to choke me. He yanks me to my feet. I let out a few coughs.

"Asshole." I let out after I finish my coughing fit. The dickhead simply grins. I look at the board that had 'menu' written in bold. I cannot understand half of the things that are written. Eyeballs with crabs, fishtail and mold, raw bird, and cat?!

"You are screwing with me, right?" I ask Derek but don't look at him. I see him smile from my peripheral view. "Not at all, chose your snack, Darlin." My face turns green with the thought of these 'snacks'.

I look at the food being served, and it is not nearly as vile as the menu, but it certainly was not suitable for a human, and until proved otherwise, that is what I consider myself.

There is raw meat, weird desserts, and suspicious-looking fish. "Do you have any fruit?"

"Not any that aren't alive." I glance at Derek. The smug grin on his face was something I want to slap off him. He is enjoying this too much for my liking. "Alive? Do you people hold nothing sacred?" I cry. This is where I die. Not a single Mcdonald's in the vicinity. What is a pretty room for when I cannot eat in it?

Derek laughs. "Just try some, you might like what you taste." I highly doubt that. "I didn't know indigestion was a flavor." He turns to the lunch lady.

"Can I get a well-done steak and mash potatoes with fruit on the side?" The lady who I now realize has tentacles, grins, and nods.

"You could have done that this entire time?!" He winks at me. I roll my eyes and scoff. I sense a pair of eyes on me but refuse to look in that direction. I do not want to make eye contact with any of these people in case I trigger a fight response.

Derek gets the tray with everything he ordered plus a rather large juice box and gives it to me. "Thank you, that was cooked rather fast." Derek starts to walk out, and I follow, not wanting to be here alone if I did not have to.

"I order the same thing at the same time every day." He replies. Before we completely leave the cafeteria curiosity gets the better of me and I look in the direction that I feel the gaze coming from. I turn to see Logan and his crew with the addition of a few other guys. His gaze stays on me until we leave the cafeteria.

What was that about? I look ahead of me to ask Derek but end up coming face to a noticeably big chest. I bump into it before I can stop and all I could think about was my food splattered across the floor and going hungry for the night.

Before my body reached the ground, a strong pair of hands wrap around my back. I see that same pair grab my food just in time before it became part of the floor.

"Are you okay?" A low and gruff voice asks me. It instantly sends chills through my spine. I look away from my food and up at the stranger who is currently putting me back on my feet. He is huge. I mean crank my neck to see his face huge. His width is twice the size of mine and even on my tippy toes, I can barely reach his chin.

I do not identify as tall, but I am not short either. I was about 5'5. Maybe 5'6 it has been a while since I last checked.

I continue to gawk at him. His eyes are a stunning yellow, almost gold and he has a wicked dark tan on him. His brown skin is soft, but he is buff. Normally guys with too much muscle creep me out, it simply was not natural, but he makes it look sexy.

His black hair slightly hangs over his eyes. While the hairs on the back of his head appear to be short. He is wearing a hoodie and jeans which I am sure are masking the amount of muscle beneath them. He starts to look concerned. "Are you okay?" I shake my head to snap myself out of my thoughts. "Um, yes. Thank you for saving my food."

"Of course." He gives me my food back. I look around to find that we are alone. Wait, alone? That son of a bitch left me! I feel my body heat up in rage.

How in the world was I supposed to find my way back now?