The room I stepped into could have been in a magazine. Almost everything was sparkling white. The floor, the walls, the carpet on the staircases. A chandelier hung above my head, painted to match the wood of the staircases and the furniture, but still with white crystals hanging from it. Whoever owned this place sure wanted people to know that they had money. I glanced around one more time. And an interior decorator no doubt.

As I sat in silence, staring at how pretty the room was, Will walked in behind me. He continued on straight to the desk in the room behind the staircases, not even glancing at the rooms around him. You must get used to to all of it after you've lived here for a while like he has, I guess.

I walked through the staircases and over the circular design inset into the floor to get to the reception desk, following in Will's footsteps. I get there in time to hear the last few remarks of their conversation, before he turns to me with one of his goofy grins. "Ah here you are Kyla. I was just telling Shylene here that I thought you had gotten lost in one of the rooms." He gestures towards the pretty dark-skinned girl behind the counter. She smiles kindly at me. I don't return the smile, instead wondering why I feel so murderous.

"It can be confusing here can't it?" Her voice sounds like rushing water making its way through a brook. High, clear and melodious. I hate it. 

"Yeah, for sure." I mumble, immediately cursing how ordinary and plain my voice sounds next to her magical one. Are all the girls here going to be this gorgeous? I'll stick out like a sore thumb. A butt ugly sore thumb, that is. I don't even get a cute bandage.

Will doesn't seem to notice my sudden change in demeanor, and instead continues on with his commentary. "Shylene and I have known each other for years. She's the one who took me in when I first got here after my parents died." He shakes his head a little, his hair making its way into his eyes. "But you don't want to hear my tragic backstory. You want to know where Damien ran off to." 

I look up at him with grateful eyes. "Yeah, that'd be nice." I didn't want to stop him from talking, but I mean come on. My protector kind of disappeared here. 

He turns back to Shylene. "You mind looking on that fancy-shmancy computer of yours where Damien is? He's supposed to be looking after Kyla and he just took off." 

Her fingers are already flying over the keys.  Her mouth moves, making sounds only her mind can here. She suddenly cries out with joy. "Ah ha! Gotcha!" Shylene turns to face Will. "He's on a retrieval mission. They've figured out where another Alter lives." Then she turns to face me. "You might want to hear this though. Before he left, apparently he talked to the director and had another student admitted. Even though it's halfway through the year." 

Will's eyes open wide with shock beside me. "The last time they did that was 40 years ago...for an extremely powerful Alter." He shakes his head slowly. "The last person they did this for was powerful enough to be the leader of the institution. Who could be powerful enough to break tradition for now?"

"Kyla!" Shylene blurts, her face revealing that she couldn't listen to him mutter about possibilities any longer. "Kyla is the extremely powerful new Alter! They are breaking tradition for you!"

The last statement was directed towards me, but I barely hear it. Me? I'm supposed to be extremely powerful? Powerful enough to be the leader of this whole institution? I don't even know what this place is, but it's big and expensive-looking enough that I know I don't deserve it. What could have possibly made him think that? 

My head starts spinning, and the room comes along with it. My vision closes in and the last thing I see is Will's concerned face before everything goes black.

Yeah I know this was a short chapter, but I'm going to be time jumping in the next chapter, and I didn't want the previous chapter to get too long. So? You guys are stuck with a 533 word chapter...hope it doesn't irritate too many of you guys.

On a different note, I know this update was late, but I have a good reason for that. I just went to camp, and its a no electronics zone, so I couldn't update. I just got back, and I slept through almost all of yesterday, so I was in no state to write.

AND YES: I owe you guys a ridiculous amount of chapters. I promise that I will get them all up - plus weekly updates - before school starts in August.