Nanny And Her Four Alpha Bullies: Read Chapters 1-5

“You lucky little bitch! Your mom actually married our city's billionaire! You're getting out of this shithole for good, aren't you?”

My best friend, Navis, sounded a little bitter. We grew up together in the slums until my rich new dad made me change schools.

“Don't be jealous, Navis. You know how beautiful my mom is.” I said with tears in my eyes. “I'm transferring to MoonRiver, so write to me often.”

Navis hugged me even though she pretended to be reluctant. She slipped something secretly into my hand.

"A gift for the beginning of the school year." She said. "Don't let anyone find out. Be safe."

It was a cloth-covered dagger?!

I smiled. Only I knew the significance of the dagger.

Moonriver Boarding School is one of the most elusive schools in the country. I’m hoping Moonriver will help accomplish my dream. I want to be the first female warrior.

I aspire to have status and dignity on my own. Becoming a warrior is the only thing I can fight for with my own hands. No woman has yet passed the warrior training test, but I believe I will be the first.

In our slums, there was crisis everywhere. In the past, my mom would bring home some messed up men. I hated them. They harassed me then, and I had to learn self-defense from an early age. This enhanced my love of warrior training. That's why I receive a dagger as a transfer gift.

Although I now have the opportunity to come to Moon River to study, who knows when my stepfather will change his mind. I must take advantage of this opportunity.

I look back at the car and see my stepbrother, Wyatt.

“Ready?” he says. I shrug. I guess I’m ready. He nods once then goes around the other side of the car.

There isn’t a handle. I wave my hand around the side of the car and nothing happens.

I slam the heel of my boot into the car. The driver sighs behind me and the door opens on it’s own. It’s followed by Wyatt’s cackles from inside the car.

“It's automatic,” Wyatt drawls. He pats my knee. “Here we go to Moonriver!”

……

“You’ll find your first day guide in the student center over there,” Wyatt says. His raises his eyebrows and his smile gets a bit more wolfish. “Good luck.”

I roll my eyes. “Thanks.”

I slam the door to the car shut the walk into the castle. There’s a tall, blonde woman standing smack in the middle of the hallway. I watch as her eyes skim over my entire body from my mud-caked boots to my vintage band tee. They widen slightly. I catch a tremor in her lip.

“Miss, are you sure you’re in the right place?” she says.

I look around and hold my hands out. “My brother said this is the student center.”

The woman’s eyes twitch ever-so slightly. She sticks out a perfectly-manicured hand. “Kathy,” she says. “And you are?”

I stick out my own hand, nails coated in chipped black nail polish.

“Chloe,” I say with all the fake sugary sweetness I can muster.

“Chloe,” she repeats like maple syrup laced with rat poison. “You’re from Greendale, right? I didn’t know fashion was so—” Another once over, lingering on the holes of my tee. “– Interesting there.”

My face heats up despite every bit of rage bubbling deep within me. I drop her hand.

“So how’d you end up at Moonriver?” she goes on.

“My step-father just enrolled me. Figured it’d help me get out of Greendale,” I cock my head. “Isaac Jones?”

Kathy’s eyebrow flies up. Her sneer drops into a malicious smirk. Fuck, this isn’t what I expected. “

“Oh, so you’re Camila’s daughter?” she says. “Camila Martin. Lowly caretaker to the rich’s kids? Tell me, did your mom drug Isaac? Is that why he got rid of his wife?”

She cocks her head in a mocking manor to the way I just did. “I heard he lost most of his fortune in the divorce. Surprised he can even afford to send two kids here.”

“He didn’t,” I snap. “And my mom didn’t give Isaac shit. He pursued her, well after he and the former Mrs. Jones split. They may have gotten quickly married but, I assure you, their relationship was all natural.”

“Interesting,” Kathy drawls. I’m two seconds away from bashing her perfectly white veneers into her skull. She waves a hand. “Well, I’m sure you’ll find your father to be a hot topic in town. Everyone loves the gossip associated with the billionaire and his gold-digging mistress.”

She brushes past me. Her heels click on the floor as she walks to the front door. I can’t help but see red. The dagger feels like a hot weight in my pocket.

But this was Moonriver. This was a whole new territory with new dynamics to learn. With a crack of my fingers, I turn and put on the fakest smile I can muster. Kathy’s waiting for me by the door. I turn to follow her.

She winds me around campus and blathers on about things I truthfully could not give a shit about. I’m about to speak up and tell her to skip all the bullshit when we pass a building so unlike the rest of them.

It’s a large pyramid, seeming like it was plucked out of Egypt and smacked in the middle of the forest. The only thing that makes it feel more of this century is the obsidian it’s made of. The light hits it and it shimmers slightly.

“What’s that?” I ask Kathy.

“Oh,” she laughs. “That’s the Hayes Pyramid. Home of the Hayes brothers.”

“Hayes brothers?” I say.

Kathy rolls her eyes. “Theodore Hayes runs the school,” she goes on. “He is in the running for the next Alpha King. The Hayes brothers are his sons. Four of them. They’re wickedly attractive and smart and funny. ”

“Sounds like they’re all winners,” I dead pan.

“The only winners,” Kathy corrects. She tips her head towards the pyramid. “Are whomever they choose as their mates.”

I look around the pyramid and see a bunch of women frolicking about. Some are singing, some are sparring. They all seem to trying to put on some sort of show. For fuck’s sake, one of the girls is doing splits in the lawn and throwing her head back as if she’s in some sort of pornographic films.

Suddenly, I hear a cry. All of the women in the yard, myself and Kathy all turn towards it. A girl comes out from the backside of the pyramid. Another group of girls immediately go up to console her. Kathy fakes concern in a coo.

“Poor girl,” she says. “Probably another reject for mother.”

“Mother?” I whip my head towards Kathy. “Aren’t we, like, under twenty?”

Kathy hums. “Yes, yes. The peak age of mating is twenty but sometimes strange things happen,” She says. “A baby was left on the front door of the pyramid yesterday. A girl. No one can seem to find her mother. The Hayes brothers, as generous as they were, took her into their house. Now, they’re trying to find a girl to help them raise her.”

“Raise her?!” I gasp. “We’re all students with full time class schedules. No one has the time to raise a baby!”

It seems that Moonriver is even more complicated than I anticipated.

“So who’s the mom?”

“What?” Kathy says over her shoulder.

“Of the baby that the Hayes brothers have?” I add. “Seems like an angry mistress just dropped it there out of spite.”

Kathy stops and turns back to sneer at me. “She,” Kathy emphasizes. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Has unknown parentage. No one knows where or why she came to be. All we know is that she exists and has been adopted by the biggest, most powerful house on campus. Even the inner ring of the brothers knows nothing beyond that.”

I snort. “They don’t have girlfriends of their own to take care of her?”

“They do,” Kathy drawls. “But that seemed inappropriate. So they expanded the search to the whole school.” She stops and cocks her head, eyebrow flying into her blonde hair. “Though with your mother’s childcare history, maybe you’d be a good fit.”

“Isaac didn’t pay to tuition for me to babysit,” I say, sharply.

“Suit yourself,” Kathy says. “As lovely as it’s been showing you around, my own interview for caretaker is coming up. Too-da-loo.”

Without even a second glance, she turns on her heel and marches back towards the ominous looking pyramid and it’s gaggle of hysteric women. I watch in disbelief. This school is full of crazy people! I can’t imagine I will do anything else here besides study, train and try and become an even better candidate for warrior. Speaking of which, I should scope out the training facilities and see what they look like here. I start towards a building marked “Combat Center.”

I go for the doors then stop short when I realize I can’t get in. There’s a card reader. I frown and turn around to head back to the student center. I run into something wide and hard and “oof” slightly as my face collides with it.

“Sorry,” I mumble, swiping a hand over my face.

“No worries,” the voice chuckles. It’s low and deep and lights a sort of spark in my gut. I snap my eyes open.

In front of me is a tree of a man. He’s strikingly handsome, wavy brown hair and yellowed eyes. He rakes over my entire figure and I’m immediately self-conscious of the ratty shirt I put on that morning.

“I haven’t seen you before,” the man goes on. “Freshman?”

“Yeah,” I find my voice, lodged in my throat. I motion over my shoulder slightly. “Trying to check out the combat facilities but my guide didn’t give me my ID. Do you think you can let me in?”

The man’s eyes do another skim over me, lingering on my breasts and hips. His gaze feels like lightning and I’m immediately twitchy. I cross my arms over my chest. He snickers.

“You want to go to the combat facilities?” he says. “Shouldn’t someone like you be more interested in flirting with boys and making a home?”

“I have no interest in flirting,” I snap. I’m completely over this man’s shit and this fucking school’s nonsense. “I’m here to become a warrior.”

The man stares at me for a moment. He blinks a few more times, eyes locked with my mine before he arches an eyebrow and speaks, low and soft.

“You want to be a warrior?”

“As I just said, yes,” I say.

He looks over my shoulder then back to me. Another sweep of my body, this time lingering on my arms and legs. Finally, he pushes past me and taps his wrist against the card reader.

“Thanks,” I mumble.

We walk inside. He sticks a hand towards me.

“Archer.”

“Chloe,” I say slowly. I ignore his hand.

“Chloe,” he repeats. He pulls his hand back and clears his throat. “That name sounds familiar.”

I freeze. I close my eyes and breathe slowly. Here we go again. “Yeah,” I say. “My brother Wyatt goes here. I’m Isaac Jones’s stepdaughter.”

Archer raises an eyebrow. The rest of his face is set in a hardline. “Oh so I’ve just let the most infamous transfer into my gym?”

Fuck.

I bite my lip. I look up at Archer and see no malice, just curiosity.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about our campus’s new little bundle of joy,” he says. “Maybe you should try and apply for the mother role. Maybe those nanny skills of your whore mother are transferable. It’s be a far better use of time than coming here to train to be a warrior you’ll never become.”

Rage seethes across my body.

How dare he?!

“Fuck you!” I spit. I jab my finger at his chest. “Where do you get off?!”

He holds his hands up and laughs a little. “Ooh, what’re you going to do warrior girl? Poke me to death?”

I shove my palm against his chest. He barely moves, a hulking mass of dick-ish muscle. Instead, he looks shocked I touched him.

“Everyone at this goddamn school is obsessed with this stupid fucking baby!” I shove him again. “Just because my mother was a nanny does not mean I am one! Nor does it mean I should be the one to take care of the fucking brat!” I shove him once more. This time he steps back a bit. More shock comes across his face.

At the end of my tirade, we’re nose to nose. I’m heaving breaths that send my chest further up against his. The rubbing against each other is making my nipples pebble. That, coupled with the fact that Archer is looking at me like I’m prey is making my stomach feel like lightning has rippled through it. He tips his chin higher before he wraps his hands around my biceps.

In one second, he’s whipped us around and pinned my back to the wall. His leg slots between mine and he uses his hips to pin me into place. I try and fight back against him but I’m barely able to move against his grasp.

“Let me –” I wriggle again. “Go!”

“No,” he roars. “Listen to me, little girl.”

He pulls me away from the wall and slams me back against it. My head bounces and my vision goes slightly blurry. Archer shakes me and the two of him I’m seeing become one again. He looks enraged. His nostrils flare and the honey I saw in his eyes turns into a fire.

“You’re new, I get it,” he snaps. “But you have no idea who you’re dealing with. You have picked the wrong asshole to fuck with. I get what I want at this school and I do what I want. People like you don’t so it’s best you start to learn that.”

I get one arm free and shove his massive chest. He barely moves and continues to glare down at me before snatching my wrist in his massive hand. I whine as he twists his hand and the skin on skin burns.

“This school isn’t for little sluts like you who come in looking for someone’s money to spend,” Archer hisses. “I don’t know how your mother seduced Isaac but I do know I won’t let you get your claws into any of the people here. I’ll let you off with a warning, but if I ever see you in my gym again, I’ll tear you to shreds.”

He drops my wrist and pulls away from the way. My body staggered and I almost slide to the floor. Every cell in my body is aching. Archer glares down at me.

“Got it?” he snaps.

I nod once, trying hard to not whimper. My arm feels numb and I rub at my red wrist. I watch Archer storm off into the gym. His fists are balled at his sides and his spine is arched in contempt. I look down at my aching hand and flex my fingers. They’re stiff but nothing seems broken. I look back up and Archer is gone. I’m left in the entryway of the combat facilities with a throbbing wrist and a bruised ego. I let my head rest against the wall and close my eyes.

Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. Sure, life in Greendale wasn’t great. But at least rich assholes wouldn’t spend their days making my life miserable.

After being beat up by that Archer guy, I dart from the gym and try and find a place to shelter. I wind up in the dining hall eating something lavish called “ceviche.” It tastes like vinegar and feels like raw chicken. I’ve managed to down a few bites of it when my phone goes off. A message from Wyatt blinks on my screen.

Wyatt (1:45 PM) : Meet me at 450 E Peak Hwy @ 2:00 PM. Don’t b l8.

It’s ominous as ever but it’s also very Wyatt. He’s always been short with me. It may be his disdain towards my mother and I for ruining his daddy’s perfect marriage or maybe it’s just because that’s who he is. Despite how vague and odd the message is, I keep Isaac’s promise in the back of my mind. He told me that Wyatt would watch after me at Moonriver. Make sure I fit in and all that. So far, I’ve done anything but fit in. Then again, Wyatt and I parted ways the moment I stepped in this Gods-forsaken place. Maybe he genuinely would watch after me.

Or maybe this was a trap.

Regardless, I dump my ceviche and start across campus. My phone tells me it’s a ten minute walk meaning I’ll show up right on time if I don’t get lost.

The campus is gorgeous, I’ll give it that. The greenery is in full bloom at this point of year. Large willows arch and hug the pathways that weave through the buildings. The halls and dorms look like gothic castles, dark stone with looming black gargoyles hanging over the eaves of the roofs.

My phone directs me to a smaller building. It’s slightly off campus and looks nicer and newer than the other buildings. The black marble is much like that of the Hayes pyramid but seems to look more like a church than a misplaced Egyptian pyramid. I look around and seem to find that everyone has abandoned this part of campus.

I slowly edge toward the door. I try calling out for Wyatt but hear nothing. I step inside and call his name again.

“Wyatt? Hello?”

The door slams behind me. I hear a series of clicking and I immediately panic. I go to try and wrench the door open but it’s locked. Great. I continue to slowly walk through the church. It’s so dark inside that I can barely see where I’m walking. I hear muffled noises around a corner and tentatively poke my head around to see if it’s Wyatt.

A young couple is entangled against a wall. Her head is tossed back in ecstasy. Her long brown hair is cascading down her shoulders and draped over her chest. Her shirt is hike high up and bunched under her chin. The man’s hand is working at her tits with fervor, all while he sucks on her exposed next. His own shirt is tossed on the floor and his back muscles are rippling in the low candle light.

I am immediately embarrassed and pinned to my place, watching as his hand moves against her skin. He slides it lower and her full chest is bared to the wind. I feel heat flush my cheeks. His hand moves in between her legs and the girl lets out a wanton moan. I slap my hand over my mouth and stare at them, frozen. The man spins the girl around so his back is against the wall, all while keeping their lips locked together. She leans into him as his hand continues to work under her skirt. The leg closest to me is wraps around his hip. He moves from her mouth to suckle on her neck again and that’s when we make eye contact.

“What the fucks?” he hisses.

“Keep going,” the girl whines as she gyrates her hips against his hand. “Please, baby.”

“Who are you?” the man snaps. “This is a private building!”

The girl finally turns to face me. She yelps and immediately flies from the boy. She yanks her shirt down and darts out the other side of the room. The man, still shirtless, starts towards me.

I scrambled backwards. “I’m sorry – my – I – my brother—”

“I’m not asking again,” he snaps. “Who. The fuck. Are you?”

The man looks eerily familiar. He has honey gold eyes and wavy brown hair. It hits me like a bullet train that he looks exactly like Archer. I step back again, raising my hands in defense.

“I’m so sorry – I didn’t – “

“You must be new,” the man snaps. “This property is Hayes property. Exclusive to the Hayes brothers and Hayes brothers only.”

“Fuck,” I breathe. “I was told to come here. The door was open and—”

“By a brother?” he rakes his eyes over me and scoffs. “Don’t know which of my brothers would ever mess with someone as disgusting as you.”

“No, no!” I shout.

I immediately realize I’m utterly screwed. This man is a Hayes brother, an alpha king in training. And I have just barged in on his secret space and ruined his tryst with some girl. He seethes at me and I back up again. My back hits the wall and I’m cornered.

“Wyatt!” I yell. “My step brother Wyatt told me to come here!”

The man stops. He furrows his brow. “Wyatt? Wyatt Jones?”

“Y-yes!” I stutter. “He’s my step brother. I’m Chloe Jones!”

The man turns over his shoulder. “Jones!” he barks. My step-brother emerges from the shadows. He looks confused by my presence.

“Chloe?”

“Wyatt!” I shout. “Tell them you told me to come here. I didn’t – I didn’t mean to intrude!”

“What are you talking about?” Wyatt says slowly. He looks at the other man. “This is the Hayes temple. I’d never tell you to come here.”

I feel my stomach sink to my toes. It was a trick. I knew it.

“Beau, I’m so sorry,” Wyatt says and shakes his head. He looks back at me incredulously. “She’s not used to this sort of luxury. She must’ve come in here because it looked nice. I apologize.”

“Classic gold-digger, huh?” The Hayes brother, Beau, remarks with a chuckle. “Putting yourself in places you don’t belong.”

“Just like her mother, really,” Wyatt says still shaking his head. He pauses and looks back at me. I want to tear his eyes out. “I told my father it was a bad idea to send her here. She’d just make trouble.”

I whip my head to see Beau walking towards me. I’m utterly speechless as he takes my chin is his hands. His touch is gentle, despite the malice in which he spoke to me with. He turns my face towards the dim candlelight then turns it back to look him in the eyes. They’re the same honey-drenched fire as Archer’s. I swallow thickly.

“Now, now,” he tuts. “I love me a little trouble. Usually tastes the sweetest.”

His tongue darts out and wets his bottoms lip. Despite myself, I whimper. Beau’s mouth curls up like the Chesiree cat. I look over his shoulder at Wyatt, who’s lips are stretched into a smirk. My blood boils but I’m still frozen in place. Beau runs his thumb over my lips and my eyes jerk back to him.

“Boys,” he yells. “Come see the little rabbit I’ve caught us to play with.”

Three other figures emerge in the doorway.

The four hulking figures stand in front of me. I know immediately that they are the Hayes brothers by the fact that they look like fucking Gods. Rippling muscle, sharp jawlines and eyes that seem to glow.

They’re all slightly different, however. There are two identical men, albeit opposite in the expressions of their faces. One is Beau, still smirking as he grips my chin. The other is glaring down at me. I recognize him as the man I met earlier, Archer. He still holds the same anger I left him with.

The third is chewing on his lip. He stands behind Archer and looks timid. He darting his eyes back and forth between the twins. He’s just as beautiful as the twins but has a different nose and shocking, glowing grey eyes.

The fourth stands next to the Archer wearing the same sneer on his face. He’s slimmer than the other three and his hair is long enough that it’s curling around his ears. His freckles are much more prominent than the other brothers.

Beau drops his hand and motions towards me. Archer darts out. He moves like light, so fast I can barely see him. Next thing I know, his arms are wrapped around me, bolting me to my place. I wriggle slightly but there’s no give. I’m not going anywhere.

The other angry brother pulls out a pile of photos. He flips through them, arching an eyebrow before handing them off to the long-haired brother.

“That conniving bitch,” Beau says. He shakes his head, hands on his hips. “She really thought this through, huh? Marry Jones. Get her kid into Moonriver and then repeat the whole process.”

The long-haired brother pauses in his review on the photos to rake his eyes over me. It’s the same skin-crawling look Kathy gave me on day one. He looks back down at the photos once more.

“At least her mother had looks,” he says before passing the photos off to the next brother. “This chick looks like she just crawled out of a sewer.”

“Oh fuck you!” I shout, finally regaining my voice.

Archer snickers. His breath is hot on the shell of my ear. It lights a fire across my body.

“What?” he says. “You mad we caught you before you were able to entrap a golden boy just like mommy?”

“My mother didn’t trap anyone!” I spit back. “She and Isaac actually love each other.”

“Maybe she’s right,” the fourth brother says. The timid one. He’s finally received the pictures. “Maybe Jones did really fall in love with the local nanny.”

Beau scoffs. “Please,” he says. “Jones is not dumb enough to do that. You really think he can’t sniff out a gold digging whore?”

The last word resonates in my ears and I see red. “Fuck you!” I shout again. “You rich assholes all think money is the only thing that matters!”

Over the whole situation, I wriggle again. The arms locked around me barely move so I decide to use other options. I sink my teeth into the arm belted around my chest. Metal floods my mouth and I hear a yelp from behind me. The arm drops immediately.

I drop to the floor with a gasp. I scramble backwards, keeping my enemies in front of me. They’re all looking at me with a mix of shock and disgusting. The long haired brother scoffs.

“Careful, Archie,” he says. “She may have infected you with her nasty scavenger disease.”

Archer shakes his arm and curses. The blood has stopped dripping and the only thing that remains is a sight imprint of my teeth in his skin. He growls at me.

“To think I was going to let this lunatic watch the child,” he sneers.

He stands up straight and glares down at me. My heart stutters in my chest. Despite all of the assholes I’ve endured in my life, this one is the most menacing. He looks back at his brothers.

“Boys,” he says. “I think we’ve got ourselves another Untouchable.”

The brothers laugh amongst themselves. I look at all of them with an indescribable level of disgust. “The fuck is an untouchable?” I scowl.

“The lowliest of the school population,” Beau says. “Anyone who’s anyone will refuse to talk to you. Also, you get to live in the basement.” His lips stretch into a menacing smile. “Hope you enjoy the cold.”

“Oh come on,” I throw back at them. “You can’t possibly expect me to go along to that. You think just because daddy owns the school you can get what you want?”

“We don’t think,” Archer says. “We know.”

I shake my head and scoff. This entire situation is preposterous. I’m sick and tired of men. I’ve been dealing with assholes since I was seven. A whole eleven years of complete and utter male bullshit. At least everyone in Greendale knew not to mess with me after I slashed that one guys arm open with my dagger.

My dagger.

My hand immediately goes to my pocket. The iron dagger sits under my palm and feels like my savior in that moment. Slowly, I get to my feet. I make sure to stagger a bit to make them think I’m weak. Then, I strike.

I yank the dagger out of my pocket and lunge at Archer. I’m quick but he’s quicker. He jumps out of the way as I slash through the air. The other brothers immediately start growling in my peripheral. I flip the blade in my hand and take up an offensive stance. I throw my arm through the air again. Archer pedals backwards out of my reach. He’s dangerously close to the wall. I know I have him pinned.

I go to deliver my final blow and my wrist is caught. Before I can even register what’s happening, I’m flying through the air. My back hits the ground and pain shoots up my spine. Archer’s full weight pins me to the ground. I feel cold against my neck. My hand is empty and I immediately know he’s got my dagger.

Hot air hits my ear again and the fire is back across my skin. My nipples pebble and I struggle against him. Is it not embarrassing enough that we just got bested? We have to be aroused now too?

Archie laughs in my ear. “You’re so young,” he coos. A shiver scales down my bruised spine and beats at my bruised ego. “You haven’t learned that it’s not a weapon that makes you a hunter. It’s skill. Something that you clearly lack.”

His weight leaves my chest and I huff out all the air within my lungs. I am confronted, for the first time, with a sense of not being enough. The power that I pride myself so deeply on, cannot overcome the strength that is embedded in the Alpha blood of the Hayes brothers.

“Oh sweetheart,” Beau coos from my side. “We haven’t even give you a taste of what it is to live on our campus and you already look this pathetic. You’re ruined.”

I look at him and try to keep the tears from welling in the corner of my eyes. I turn it into rage and spit at his feet. It only makes him laugh more. Someone else drags me to my feet. They throw a grey vest at me and force me to put it on, all while laughing.

Archer positions me against the wall and takes out his phone. He snaps a picture of me as the brothers cackle behind him. He turns the phone and shows me the picture. I look positively awful, disheveled and muddy. Below my picture the caption reads “SAVAGE WOMAN. BEWARE OF THIS UNTOUCHABLE!!!!” Archie pulls his phone back and I can see him smirking as he uploads the picture to Instagram.

"Welcome to the world of the Untouchables." He says and smiles with malice.

I look up and make eye contact with Wyatt, who’s been watching all of this. He tuts and breaks into a smile so devious, it sent a shudder down my back.

Archer and Beau literally threw me out of their temple. I landed in the dirt with a thud and immediately turned on my back to curse out my assailants. Fortunately for them, they’d already shut the door and were hidden from my view.

I stood up and brushed myself off. I’d had enough of this new school for today and was ready to retire to sleep. I marched back over to the student center. One of the guards gave me my ID and pointed to the dorm I was supposed to be in. I thanked him and got a wary nod before he buried himself back in his work.

Weird.

This whole place was fucking weird.

I walked all the way across campus to my dorm. Apparently my luggage had been brought there by some of the other guides. There was a pit in my stomach slowly sinking down into my toes. Something about it didn’t feel right.

Esther Hall was one of the smaller dorms on campus. Nevertheless, it was still just as beautiful as the rest of the buildings. I held my ID in my hand and pushed into the building. There was a small turnstile waiting for me. I pressed my ID into it and held my breath.

DENIED.

Right. Of course.

I tried again, almost out of disbelief. This could not be happening. How was this happening?

DENIED.

I tried again and again and each time, a bright red word appeared and a sour buzzing noise that made me want to sink my fist into the key card reader.

DENIED.

DENIED.

DENIED.

“It’s not going to change,” a voice says.

I snap my head towards the sound of it. A guard is sitting behind a desk to the right of me that I missed when I walked in. His legs are up on desk and crossed at the ankle. He’s slightly overweight and completely disheveled.

“What?” I say.

He taps his finger on the desk out of my line of sight. “Chloe Kissimet, right?” he says. “Just got your name on the newest Untouchables list.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake—” I mumble under my breath. I suck in a lungful of air. “Look, my shit is upstairs in the dorm that was assigned to me. If you’re not going to let me up can you please go get it?”

There was a clattering outside the dorm. I look out the window and see a bunch of fabric swaying in the wind. It increases in capacity until a suitcase comes barreling out of the sky and thuds on the ground. My eyes widen in horror when I notice the bright green luggage tag with my initials on it. I look back at the guard, absolutely aghast. He smirks at me and lazily points out the window.

“That yours?”

I bust out of the dorm and into the madness. My things are everywhere. They’re all stained with some blotchy grey ink. Even the new Chanel suit that Isaac got for me. All grey. I crumble to the floor and begin sifting through the wreckage, hopeful to find something that’s not grey. I find no such thing.

For the first time since arriving on this campus, I’m unsure of what to do next. Utter despair creeps up into my brain like a parasite. I hold the shreds of my favorite tee and feel tears pricking in my eyes. Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I whirl around and immediately take an offensive stance.

To my surprise, the girl in front of me is small and poses no threat. Her eyes are big behind large framed glasses. Her ears are slightly too big for her head, making her look a bit like a frightened mouse.

“Excuse me?” she squeaks.

“Yes?” I say back, still unsure of everyone.

“I’m supposed to take you to your new room,” she says. Her voice shakes slightly.

“Oh,” I drop my stance and look at the mess of a suitcase surrounding me. “Let me just—” I start to collect all my belongings and throw them in the suitcase. One of the wheels is busted so it’s going to be a pain to tote it wherever this girl is taking me. I pack up all my tattered things and look back at the girl. She nods once before scurrying off into the campus.

She winds me through the school to the other side of the property. I feel a shred of hope when we reach a larger building than Ester Hall. The hope is destroyed when she brings me around the side of the building to a cellar door. She pulls the door open and walks down dimly lit steps.

I feel like I’m entering a prisoner-of-war camp as I walk into the room. It’s a dirt shell with a few cots scattered throughout it. Everyone in the room is wearing grey and looks absolutely miserable. It’s a sickening sight to see.

“Well,” the small girls says and shoves her glasses up her nose. “Welcome to the Cave.”

I look around again in awe. “Are you all—”

“Untouchable, yes,” the girl says. She motions me towards an empty cot and we both sit down on it. I drop my suitcase on the floor. It feels so out of place in a setting like this.

“The Hayes brothers all marked us as Untouchable in some way or another,” the girl continues. “They all tend to do the same thing to our belongings after we’ve wronged them in one way or another.” She gives me a sad smile. “Unfortunately the sight of your clothes flying through the air is one I’ve seen a lot.” She sighs. “For all intensive purposes, we’re still students here. We still attend all of our classes and get to graduate at the end of it all. But no one talks to us. The only people who can even address us are the Untouchables themselves. Even professors tend to ignore us in class.”

“Gods damned,” I breath. “That’s inhumane.”

The girl shrugs. “It’s kind of nice to be ignored. Better than being picked on. Oh, I’m FA by the way.”

“FA?” I question. “Is that short for something?”

She immediately turns pink in the face and gives me an awkward laugh. She adjusts her glasses again. “Yes, unfortunately. Fat Ass.”

“Fat Ass?!” I gasp. “That’s your name?!”

She tips her head. “Not, governmentally, per say but, yes. Here it is.”

“It’s those fucking brothers, isn’t it?” I snap. “They’re such assholes.”

“They’re in charge,” FA sighs. “What’d they call you?”

“Savage Woman,” I hiss. “I tried to put that Archer guy in his place and he over powered me. How is no one doing anything about this?”

“It’s not too bad,” Another girl says. She’s broader than FA and has rippling shoulder muscles. Her long hair is braided down her back. She has a slight accent. “We get food. We get our education. Sure the cave sucks but no one really bothers us down here.”

“That’s Peacey,” FA says. “Short for Pretentious Cunt.”

I immediately grimace and look at Peacey. She smiles back at me.

“I told Neil his recreation of Starry Night was shite the second day of classes. He told me I was a pretentious cunt and now I’m here.”

“So you’ve all had issues with the Hayes brothers?” I say as I look around. Everyone nods at me. “Why don’t you fight back?”

“The Hayes brothers run the school,” A dark skinned girl says as she shakes her head. “Even the staff is eating out of their palms in order to get in the good graces of Alpha Hayes, their dad. Anyone who even attempts to fight them is beaten down.”

“So you’re just complacent?!” I say, frantically.

“We have each other,” Peacey says. “We take care of one another and we make sure anyone who does face the Hayes wrath feels like their part of our family. You included.”

I sigh. I don’t know what else to say at this point. The day was exhausting enough as it was but adding in the political nonsense was even more draining. I let my suitcase fall to the floor and slump into the bed next to FA. She rubs my shoulders.

“It’ll be okay!” she said. “You’ll still get your education and become a functioning lady of society.”

But I don’t want to be a lady. I want to be a warrior. I’m half tempted to tell FA that but I just smile at her sadly. She smiles back.

“Lights out in twenty. Do you need anything?”

I shake my head. FA pats me on the back once more before stepping away. Twenty minutes later, the lights are out but I’m still wide awake. My mind is churning with the events of the day. I can’t even process them at that moment. It takes me a good three hours to finally start to fall asleep.

Just when my eyelids are fluttering shut, I feel something warm and soft between my arms. I try and brush it off but then I hear a giggly coo. My eyes fly open and I look down into the bright blue eyes of a baby.