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raido , which means the journey.”
    It looked like broken letter R.
    “Runes are the letter and symbolism of Nordic mythology. You’ll get your share of literature, don’t you worry.”
    We entered a spacious light-colored room with two large couches in an L shape, a huge TV, impressive stereo, glass tables, red sofa, zebra skin cushions and a fluffy white carpet. It seemed pleasant.
    “This is the common room. There is a kitchenette with a microwave and a coffee machine. As you can see, each has her own bedroom; yours is the one on the left.” She wished me goodnight and closed the door to her room, giving me time to get familiar with the place.
    My bedroom was big, bigger than the one I had been in when I arrived. Is it possible that was only a few hours ago? I had always wanted to have a huge bed. This one had pastel yellow covers, and the wallpaper was dark red with vintage thin stripes. To the right of the bed and right next to the windows was an enormous closet. There was a table with a laptop on it, two night-tables on each side of the bed, and a green sofa. I wasn’t particularly fond of that green, especially in the light of the night’s events. Again the dark green gaze. I frowned.
    The bookshelf facing the closet was filled with classics, but still had enough free space for me to fill in with personal touches. Byron, Elliot, Frost, Dostoyevsky, Shakespeare and many others milled around the shelves. I liked the choice and dragged the sofa next to it.
    The walls were empty. I assumed I could do with them what I wanted. On the bed, I found my clothes that I had left in the other room. They smelled nice and clean, and beside them was a cotton white nightgown. Sweet, my mom would love to see me in that. Mom—I took a deep breath.
    I found my cell phone and a folded piece of paper on one of the night tables. My week’s schedule was written in elegant handwriting, as well as a request for a list of people with whom I would like to stay in contact. Ha, not much to put there.
    According to the schedule, tomorrow at 10am I had a History class followed by Psychology. Then lunch and training at 4pm. Those were the only classes I’d get. Only their timetable changed. There were no professor names or information on where the classes would take place. I’d have to wake up early and ask Julia.
     
    The darkness of the forest stared through the windows at me in the cotton nightgown, cuddled under the comforter. It was cozy and I disappeared into the peace behind my eyes like a carefree lamb before the slaughter.
     

Chapter 3
    The First Day
     
     
    Following Lena to my first class, I thought about the previous night’s dream. In it, I was standing with my back against a mossy wall, barefoot, feeling the wetness of the dew on the grass. In front of me, an angry peasant crowed yelled in an unknown language while throwing dark green rocks at me! I had felt pain in my sleep, and now its symbolism was even more irritating.
    “This is the biggest building in the compound and most things are done here. Classes and training, and the cells are here too.”
    Lena’s words pulled me from my dream. We were on a vast lower floor. We walked through a steel door and on past glass-walled rooms that seemed to be offices and were, for the most part, empty. When we arrived at a metal staircase, she stopped.
    “Through that door,” she indicated the one on my right, “are your training classes.” We continued up the stairs. I followed nervously, glancing back at the dark door.
    I thought of the horrific images of her parents’ death that were now a part of her. Forever repeating the same terror over and over. At least that’s what I would do, and, from her serious look, I knew that her pillow was probably still tear-stained at night. I’ve always hated that animal-territorial-whatever primal instinct. I’d always thought about it in the context of human wars, but apparently untamed vampires share the same brutality. Violence is