The Rock's of Beauty by Meghan Escott (books for new readers TXT) 📕

was down the corridor behind it. We found the sheet that said ‘Samuel Jahd’ and went down it. There were sheets of paper with names on them in big, bold letters. We found Angela’s name and then walked down the rest of the corridor. Sam’s name was on the door at the end but neither my name nor my friends were in sight. I turned to Sam and he shrugged.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you. Lucy’s got her own block.” Nick said from beside Jane.
“What? I’ve got my own block?” I asked him, turning to meet his gaze.
“Yes. You’ve got one on the end of that corridor on the right. There opposite mine so I saw it on the way there.” Nick said, pointing back to the previous corridor. I raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged. “I’m not lying. Go and have a look for yourself.”
Sam shrugged at me again and nodded at Nick who led us out of Sam’s block and into the corridor. He led us all the way to the end and then pointed to the door on our right. I walked right up to it and looked at the paper. Sure enough it had my name on it and some information about me.
‘Lucy Claire Daniels. Currently 19 years of age. Currently in a relationship with Samuel Jahd and getting married in the near future.’
“How did they find out all this stuff about me?” I asked Sam. He shrugged and opened the door to my block. It looked like any other block and I found each of my friend’s names going down one side of the wall. There were blank pieces on the actual doors so that meant I had a lot of writing and drawing to do.
Sam had taken the paper off the door to my block and handed it to me. He looked at me sadly and took Kahn from me and went back to his own block. My friends went to their rooms with their boyfriends and left me in the corridor on my own. I checked my finger for my ring and my pocket for my turner bracelet and then left the corridor and went to explore.
Everything was in the same layout as the old school apart from the added blocks for people boarding. I looked in on all the classrooms and saw the same rooms but with different layout of the desks. As I looked in at each classroom, people’s names began appearing on the desks and by the time I got to the last classroom, every one’s names were on their desks apart from mine and my friends. I sighed and I walked to where the dance hall used to be.
When I got there, the first thing I saw was the huge portrait of all the marks in school. I walked up to it and saw seven spaces in the second year, and nineteen in the first year. I looked very closely at the white paper and looked at the bottom of all of them. They all had my name on.
When I drew the marks, Sam had written who had turned each student on the bottom so small, no one would see it unless they were purposely looking for it. When I looked at mine, I saw Sam’s name written in his neat handwriting. And when I looked at each of the blanks and I saw my name. That meant I would have to turn nineteen people because seven of the blanks in the second year were for my friends.
I shook my head and went back up to my block to draw on the names of my friends on their doors. As I went down to my room to get my drawing things, I counted the door which didn’t have names on them. There were nineteen spare doors. I shook my head again and went into my own room.
My things had been put just inside the door and there was a box of things that had been recovered from the rubble. I looked around the room and it was the same shade of purple as my old room and it was in the same layout as well. I moved my cases into my bedroom and riffled through them until I found my art things. I got them out and went to Sophie’s bedroom door.
I thought about Sophie and what she is like and then closed my eyes and drew. When I opened my eyes her paper was covered in Sophie like images. I smiled and then moved onto the next door. I did the same for all my friends and got amazing images on their doors. I knew that they would look at them and smile and every time they saw them on their desks, they would smile.
I walked to the end of the hall and went out of my door to draw my mark on it. I found a note on my door. It read:
‘Lucy, The Head asks you to draw each Turners mark on each of their doors. He had provided a picture of their mark so you can copy it accurately. He also requests to see you after you have completed this. Thank you.’
I sighed and started drawing my own mark on the door. Sam tapped me on the shoulder when he had seen that I had finished my mark. I quickly put The Head’s note in my pocket and smiled at him.
“How are you doing?” he said as he pulled me into a hug.
“Good. I just finished doing their doors and I thought I would do mine.” I said nodding my head to the door leading into my friend’s rooms. “Have you looked around yet?”
“Yes, and it’s exactly the same apart from the desk layouts. I’ve been in the dance hall as well. It looks like – “
“Lucy?” A voice came from the end of the corridor.
“Josh?” I turned to look at where the voice was coming from and Josh was standing there with a smile playing on his lips. He came striding over and I met him halfway in a hug. He sighed in relief and let me go. He nodded to Sam and looked back at me again.
“How are you? I couldn’t get hold of you after this place fell down.” He said.
“I am fine. Where did you go and how did you get blood?”
“Doesn’t matter. What about Joshua and Kahn? How are they?”
“Kahn is in Sam’s room. And Joshua got staked and impaled into me.” I said with no emotion in my voice. Sam smacked my arm and raised his eyebrows at me. “What?”
“So you were the one who had the worst injuries?”
“Yes, that was me.” I said my voice cold and flat. Sam gripped my wrists and pulled them down to my sides.
“Sorry, Josh. She’s got a long day ahead of her and she’s still getting over what happened.” Sam said, dragging me down my block and into my room, leaving Josh starring at me confused. Sam pulled me into my room and locked the door. “What’s up?” he asked me.
“Why would anything be up?”
“Then why did you try and hide this from me?” he said, pulled the note from the Head out of my pocket.
“As you said, I’ve got a long day ahead of me. What were you going to say before Josh came?”
“I was going to say that it looks like you’ve got a lot of work to do. You’re going to turn nineteen people today and tomorrow, you need to feed your friends and for god’s sake, everyone is going to be asking questions about Joshua and everything. I don’t have a clue how to help you.”
“That time, when I was in year one here, and you put the silver on my wrist. Why did you actually do it? We never got to find out because I got pregnant.” I asked randomly. “Someone asked me that a couple weeks ago but I can’t remember who asked me.”
“Eric asked you, that bastard. What a minute, Eric.” Sam took my hand and turned my palm upwards. His eyes widened at the lovely tattoo like he had never seen it before but he just blinked and cut an M into my palm. I tried to pull my hand away from him but he was gripping it too tightly. He leant across me and unlocked the door and seven people came in; Sophie, Jasmina, Allisa, Eliza, Katie, Hannah and Jane.
“Would you stop that? It’s horrible.” Sophie said nodding to my hand. Sam let go of it and I healed it. “Thank you. There is justice in the world.”
“Lucy didn’t call you, I did. Does anyone know Eric number, where he lives or anything like that?” Sam asked my friends.
“He left his number on Lucy’s bed side table last week. I picked it up before I got you.” Allisa said, giving Sam a piece of paper with a number scribbled on it. He let out a sigh and got out his phone. He quickly typed in the number and waited for Eric to pick up.
“Eric, no, I didn’t do it. She did it just after you left. No, just speak to her.” Sam said into the phone. He gave it to me and I raised it to my ear.
“Um, hello?”
“Hello Lucy. Remember me?” His low voice instantly reacted with my mind and a huge crack sounded in my head, releasing all the memories I thought I had destroyed. I leant against the wall and slid down it onto the floor.
“You left me. I was in pain and you left me. All because he had sucked my blood.” I said weakly. Sam snapped the phone shut but not before I had heard Eric laughing. I shook myself then got up off the floor. I picked up my drawing things again and started to walk out. “I’ve got a job to do then I’ve got to go and see the Head. I’m guessing you’ll have to go too so I’ll see you there.” I said then closed the door softly behind me.
I went to the all the doors and drew the different marks on each of them. I took down the photos and slipped them into my bag. I also took off all the named paper in all the corridors and slid them into my bag as well. So when I went down to the Heads office, my bag was full of photos, paper and my drawing things.
I knocked on the door and the Head called me in. I nodded at him and smiled kindly. I scanned the room and saw all the people in the photo’s there, including Sam. My smile dropped slightly when I saw him but I recovered myself and stood, leaning against the wall at the opposite side of the room from him.
“Ah, lovely. We have a couple who are mid argument in the room.” the Head said looking between me and Sam. I blushed red and looked down, letting my hair flow over my face and Sam gave the Head a dirty look. “This should be interesting then. Lucy, I am sure you’re aware that I have scheduled you to turn nineteen people in the next two days.”
“Yes. I found out this morning.”
“Can you still wear your Turner bracelet?”
“Sure.”
“Show me.” I took the bracelet out of my pocket and slid it on until the Head nodded and I took it off and slid it into my pocket again. “How many do you think you can do this afternoon?”
“Nine or ten maybe. But of course I’ll need blood straight afterwards.”
“Of course. Fresh or bottled?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Pure it is. I assume you have completed