The Book Of Names

He gives me a look, and I roll my eyes. Under the weight of everyone's gaze, I walk forward with another girl. She's older than me but short with straight, uncombed brown hair and a roughly patched outfit. Her cloth shoes have several holes that make me look away to avoid making her feel more awful than I'm sure she already feels. She reeks of desolation and…despair.

Grief. She's in mourning. She lost them. She's lost. She's—

Why? Why do I know that?

A large, tattered book slams on the table, and I jump.

We're ushered forward to the table we're not tall enough to reach. At least the other girl's head is just below it. I'm nowhere near the top, and someone picks me up so I can reach the table.

I flail and try to maintain my balance.

Has she ever held a person before, because this is not how you do it. Ow!

I squirm, and she brings me closer to herself. In an attempt to help the process, I use my fingers to guide her hands to where it's most comfortable and turn a bit so I can see it. Lying on the table is an ancient-looking leather-bound book, a rusty knife, and a silver antique feather pen.

"..."

I stopped struggling and hiccuped.

No. They wouldn't, right? It's probably just a letter opener. I look around at the veiled faces. Why are they wearing veils?

The girl next to me wastes no time picking up the knife and slices through her index finger like it's nothing, and dips the pen directly into the wound. She writes out her name on the paper in blood, and I flail harder. Attempting to read it only makes my head hurt so I give up. Something holds me down and prevents me from getting too far.

Hypatia or one of the other old hags. Oh my god, I hate these people! You're all the worst.

The woman behind me commands softly from behind her veil. "Don't move. I'll help you."Husky from lack of sleep and cold to the bone.

My eyes widen, and I struggle harder. She sets me down and holds me there with a freakishly large palm. "No—"

She slices my finger and I whimper. She sticks the quill in my bloody finger and hands it to me. Oh my god. What is wrong with you people?

Sniffling, I sign my name in their cult book and hold my poor finger in my other hand. Disgusting. Do they have tetanus shots here? Probably not. I'm going to lose my finger.

The woman at the head of the table grabbed my finger, and it glowed green momentarily. She did the same thing with the other girl and nodded. "They have signed the book. Time will tell if they can earn a second name. Come forward."

Another girl quickly repeats the process with the bloody knife and pen. Her head is covered in these...cobwebs. She shies away from anyone's gaze, and her black hair helps her hide. The crowd moves around her and conceals her again until she's just gone.

The two other women look between us and then take us away. The shorter, younger voice picks me up, and I take a sniff. Remember pheromones. What do I smell? Female. Um…hairstuff? Like soap. Chocolate. Um…wine? Something metallic. She kinda smells like alcohol.

Yucky.

She brings me away while I'm held in her arms. I look amongst the crowd for my owner and wave at her. Hello! Help me! What are you doing?

She smiles in my direction like she's proud of me and nudges Meng Jialin. Who gives me a small smile that's still filled with fury. However, hidden in her smile is a promise.

Oh my god. She's going to make me pay one way or another.

"Monthly stamps will be given out immediately. I trust that you'll spend them wisely. Extra stamps will be allotted to Supervisory Officers on behalf of their initiates. Tomorrow, after lunch, report to us on their progress. May the Gods walk with you."

Several voices answered. "And guide you every step of the way."

The crowd turned into two lines, and the girl holding me lined up near the front. Sound filled the hall immediately, and everyone gossiped quietly with their comrades. Stamps? Like for postcards? Do they have a mailing system?

We got to the front, and the woman holding me took out a little booklet from her robes. 

"What's that?"

She moved her head as if to look at me and answered the question. "It's a passbook. You put stamps in it."

"What stamps? What are they for?"

She shifts me so I'm leaning on her shoulder, so she can open it. She points out little pictures in her book. "Bread, metal, clothes, meat, vegetables, medicine. There are other special tickets, but these are the ones you're getting."

Oh. So it's that kind of system. It really is like the military. Food and clothing stamps. I'm going to guess it's all based on workpoints, too. Makes sense that I'm getting an allowance for now. Since I'm a child. However, I'm guessing that one day I'm going to have to earn it.

How long am I going to be here?

She gets issued a new packet of stamps to keep in her passbook and leaves with me on her shoulder. Niathe waves me goodbye along with the rest of the traitorous family. Except. There are people missing. Eric, Lowell, Kissae, Nolan, and Lucian. Why weren't they invited?

"Where are we going?"

"My house."

I try to breathe."Why? I have a house and I've never met you before. Can't we slow down? What is a supervisory officer?"

She throws her head back and stops in her tracks. With her other hand, she takes off her veil and hood. Short black hair and bright red eyes appraise me. The corners of her lips lift in a cold smile, and she introduces herself. "Hello. My name is Cage. My birth name is…confidential. We're going to my house to get you some proper clothing, and then we're going to the mess hall. You can't go back to your house for a month. You'll be staying with me in the meantime. After that month, you're free to choose where you want to room. I'll be calling you Eira. Do not ever give me or anyone else your birth name. Those are a secret here. Understand?"

I nod and gulp. She's so intense, and she reminds me of Penguin in a bad way.

She smiles in satisfaction and makes her way to a dormitory on the opposite side of the valley. There are more people down here, and I realize I was definitely on the quiet side of everything.

Small but sturdy houses billow smoke in the air. Girls pat their hair down and get dressed in a hurry after their morning bath. Cage takes me deeper until we get to a shaded area where there are only two houses.

She takes me to the slightly bigger one with a garden on its left side. She casts a spell with one hand, and it makes a circle around the doorknob. I sit up straight. That looks like the circle from when I left the space. But smaller and less complex. The sound of something unlatching has her pushing the door open.

She walks in, and I notice how well-maintained it is. Especially for a dormitory with, I'm guessing, only teenage girls. Also…how many people live here?

I count the coat hangers by the door. Four. There are probably four. A woman darts out of a room and into the living room looking for her freshly laundered robe. She looks up, and recognition flashes across her face. White and blue hair brushes against metallic-looking skin. She looks cool like a robot, but a super one.

With golden eyes?