Young Writers Society

He faltered. "I guess we don't know if it was the same person," he admitted. He needed to calm down. Worrying about the situation wasn't going to help, and focusing on the impossible made it all the more difficult to determine what was truly happening.

Even more so, he needed to explain his train of thought. They needed to hear his logic and fix any wrong assumptions he had made. "It's just that the people who would choose the mark on my hand wouldn't be involved with people from Earth, unless they're part of...an...um..." He couldn't go and reveal the existence of a classified program, even if he was no longer living in America. "...select few. I don't think Auryon would part of them. And since no one else is wearing their uniform, I don't think any of you are. Which means whoever brought me here knows of something that they theoretically shouldn't, since knowledge of my...civilization is something far in the past. They would have to have been alive for countless centuries."

James just stared at Leo with a mix of concern and confusion. Earth? Where was that?

He looked at the faces of the other three. "Is there anything odd about this place for you? Like something that the person who brought you here knows, but theoretically shouldn't?"

James looked down at his hand again, his thoughts jumbled and unsure. "...I mean... maybe. I... I can't be sure."

"Perhaps," she mused.

He sighed in defeat. "We're not really getting anywhere, are we?" How long would it take for them to figure out some sort of connection? He didn't want to pry, but they weren't getting anywhere. Someone needed to share something useful soon, and he didn't want it to be him.

James tilted his head slightly, looking at Leo with a critical gaze. He agreed, but his desire to figure out why they were there did not exceed his natural instinct and trained habits to remain tight lipped about himself as a self preservation tactic.

"No," he admitted. "We're not."

He let out a sigh as well before he pulled ahead of the group, advancing down the hallway, but pausing to look back at them before leaving with or without them.

"But since it seems we'd all rather keep our lives to ourselves, we'll probably only find answers within the rooms, if we continue looking for them... and in them. That is, if any of the rooms any of you originally found yourselves in were as suggestive to your personal history as mine."

He nodded, catching up to where Peter was. "Mine was," he admitted. "If you're right, I think we might be able to find some clues in those rooms. We might even be able to find someone who knows what's going on."

This is going nowhere, thought Adamina. She followed the others back in the direction they came.

"So we can hope."

James continued down the hall, and caught sight of another door. As James hurried up to it, he saw - for the first time - a crown on the door. This one was for him to open.

He studied the marking on the door. It didn't match the one on his hand, but, from the way Peter was looking at it, it matched his. He glanced down at his pocket. Would he have to use his, too? He was certain that there was going to be something personal in the rooms with their markings, and the thought of having to share parts of his past made him feel deeply uncomfortable.

James lifted his hand over the marking on the door. They could hear a small click as it unlocked, and James pushed the door open.

Inside was a simple set up: a bed, a desk, and a chair. It looked rather ordinary - though the furniture would look dated to the modern eye, it looked like an average room in an inn.

Except James recognized this furniture. He’d been in this room - or rather, he’d been in the fact similie of one.

James did his best to conceal his surprise, confusion, and arising bit of panic. So he simply stepped into the room without looking at the others.

Auryon saunters in behind him, hands tucked into her pockets as she surveys the room with that analytical, reptilian gaze.

He has his back to you now.

She eyes Adamina who was still behind her. Was she enough of a threat to make this hard? But, then, even if she could, should she?

"Why, this seems like just a common room," remarked Adamina, but she noticed Auryon's furtive glances. What is she up to?