A moonless night with an ocean breeze at play. It was a sort of cold that nipped like a little dog after finding a sneaky route through lighter layers of clothing. Alice checked her watch at the doors to the dorms, reading one-thirteen in the morning. She looked up and to the sides. There did not seem to be anything to tell the building apart from a ghost-house. No lights glowed from a window here or there. The only sign of humanity seemed to be the flapping fabric of her shredded tan cloak and the tiers of her long broomstick skirt. The first key opened the outer door, which felt heavy and expensive. From what little she had been able to see in the dark, the school had had some serious financial support in its creation.
There was light in the hall. She wanted to drop the large paper bag of clothes in her hand. The first few feet of the corridor were floored in black and white tile which turned to wood after a rise. It was a mudroom, a place for students to take their shoes and coats off in the case of muggy weather or muddy antics. The corridor was lit by fixtures on the wall, dim lights contained in fragmented glass globes. Alice didn't want to wager as to whether the fixtures' frames were gilded or were reflecting the veneer of actual gold. The way the dim yellow lights met the edges of the dark carved walls and floor created an array of small shadows. Alice felt like she was coming into a game of Clue.
I just hope somebody doesn't come out of nowhere with the candlestick. That sounds just plain painful, haha...I need sleep...god, so late...I'm never forgiving her for this...
Tired, grinning, she drew the note written to her that she found earlier that contained directions written in flowing calligraphy. Pulling away from her delight at the surroundings, she walked with the directions, making sure to step softly just in case the floor could creak. She passed doors with gold-colored number plates until she arrived at a door with a diamond-shaped window in the center that was made of diamond-shaped glass pieces, and pushed it aside — a staircase. Two floors up, with each small step whispering in echo throughout the room. At the third floor, she pulled another windowed door open. This hall used dim blue lights in egg-shaped fixtures that had the same five-star hotel frames, but which looked silvery now. It gave Alice the impression of being inside of a building sitting on the bottom of a sea.
She followed the artful lettering's directions until stopping at a door with a plate reading 312 in the metallic gray common to the floor. The second key, which she now noticed was silvery as well, turned the deadbolt with only a smooth metallic sliding sound, showing that the door had been made perfectly level with the frame. The heavy wooden door gave way with a tiny, brief creak into a room that was almost purely dark inside, the blue dim of the hall showing only the rounded edges of some wooden end-table.
Alice closed the door and felt for a light switch, realizing all too late that if she had a roommate, she would surely be waking them up. However, she couldn't find the switch. In the dark she could faintly see the curtains holding back the blue of the lawn lights from the courtyard. She moved as slow as she could, just in case. When she slid the curtains open, the blue light from outside gave only faint shape to the room to share with shadows. Alice realized that she was alone. Two beds, two dressers, two closets, two desks in the subtle opulence of the halls and just as straight. The covers of the beds as neat as unrolled tin-foil, with candles still showing their unburned wicks. Oddly, the candles sat next to electrical lamps. Then, looking to the sky in the blue glow, Alice let herself feel optimistic as well as tired. She chose to put the shopping bag with fresh clothes and supplies down on the left bed and touched the wick of the nearby candle. It was trying to do, but Alice managed to get the air to agitate enough around of the wick to make just enough heat to cause some small amount of smoke, then minutes later, a tiny flame. Winded, Alice took a long breath before pulling everything out of the bag to place in the proper drawers.
There was light in the hall. She wanted to drop the large paper bag of clothes in her hand. The first few feet of the corridor were floored in black and white tile which turned to wood after a rise. It was a mudroom, a place for students to take their shoes and coats off in the case of muggy weather or muddy antics. The corridor was lit by fixtures on the wall, dim lights contained in fragmented glass globes. Alice didn't want to wager as to whether the fixtures' frames were gilded or were reflecting the veneer of actual gold. The way the dim yellow lights met the edges of the dark carved walls and floor created an array of small shadows. Alice felt like she was coming into a game of Clue.
I just hope somebody doesn't come out of nowhere with the candlestick. That sounds just plain painful, haha...I need sleep...god, so late...I'm never forgiving her for this...
Tired, grinning, she drew the note written to her that she found earlier that contained directions written in flowing calligraphy. Pulling away from her delight at the surroundings, she walked with the directions, making sure to step softly just in case the floor could creak. She passed doors with gold-colored number plates until she arrived at a door with a diamond-shaped window in the center that was made of diamond-shaped glass pieces, and pushed it aside — a staircase. Two floors up, with each small step whispering in echo throughout the room. At the third floor, she pulled another windowed door open. This hall used dim blue lights in egg-shaped fixtures that had the same five-star hotel frames, but which looked silvery now. It gave Alice the impression of being inside of a building sitting on the bottom of a sea.
She followed the artful lettering's directions until stopping at a door with a plate reading 312 in the metallic gray common to the floor. The second key, which she now noticed was silvery as well, turned the deadbolt with only a smooth metallic sliding sound, showing that the door had been made perfectly level with the frame. The heavy wooden door gave way with a tiny, brief creak into a room that was almost purely dark inside, the blue dim of the hall showing only the rounded edges of some wooden end-table.
Alice closed the door and felt for a light switch, realizing all too late that if she had a roommate, she would surely be waking them up. However, she couldn't find the switch. In the dark she could faintly see the curtains holding back the blue of the lawn lights from the courtyard. She moved as slow as she could, just in case. When she slid the curtains open, the blue light from outside gave only faint shape to the room to share with shadows. Alice realized that she was alone. Two beds, two dressers, two closets, two desks in the subtle opulence of the halls and just as straight. The covers of the beds as neat as unrolled tin-foil, with candles still showing their unburned wicks. Oddly, the candles sat next to electrical lamps. Then, looking to the sky in the blue glow, Alice let herself feel optimistic as well as tired. She chose to put the shopping bag with fresh clothes and supplies down on the left bed and touched the wick of the nearby candle. It was trying to do, but Alice managed to get the air to agitate enough around of the wick to make just enough heat to cause some small amount of smoke, then minutes later, a tiny flame. Winded, Alice took a long breath before pulling everything out of the bag to place in the proper drawers.