Lorraine's POV
We woke before the siren did.
The academy was still cloaked in darkness, the halls silent and cold, like a tomb holding its breath. Felix and I had slept in one of the empty classrooms since the Feral dorm was now closed to us. The floor was hard, the air freezing, and neither of us had really slept, but the quiet before dawn was the only time we could move without being watched.
We found open bathrooms in one of the unused school buildings
The water was ice cold, but we didn't complain. We just scrubbed the grime of the night off our skin like we were peeling back a layer of exhaustion and fear, even though we both knew it would never come off completely.
I pulled on the stiff academy uniform again
By the time we stepped outside, the first rays of sunlight were cutting across the sky, painting everything in cold gold. Then the siren finally screamed through the academy, shrill and demanding, dragging the rest of the students out of their beds
