A Diamond in My Pocket (2 page)

I laid my head back to rest but my
jittery stomach prevented any relaxation. I tried to imagine how my
introduction to the other Olympic candidates might go. Something told me they
wouldn’t be too thrilled to meet me.

We made the connecting flight all
right and arrived in Bozeman at six o’clock. Mrs. Winter’s car had been brought
around to the front for us by a valet. Not surprisingly, it was a top model
sedan with posh leather interior. I wouldn’t expect anything less for a woman
of this caliber.

We navigated away from the airport
and turned on the two-lane highway. The monstrous Rocky Mountains blocked the
sun and cast a shadow across the valley. I stared out the window at the massive
peaks wondering how tall they were.

“Calli, would you tell me what your
body felt like as you ran the 100m?” Mrs. Winter asked without taking her eyes
off the road.

Definitely a strange question,
I thought. “Well, I don’t quite know how to explain it, but I wasn’t exhausted
when I finished.”

“Could you have run faster?” she
asked me with a touch of incredulity.

“Faster? Well, I guess, um, yes, I
could have.” I’m not sure why I was ashamed to be admitting this. Mrs. Winter
seemed relieved as if a heavy load suddenly removed itself from her shoulders.

Mrs. Winter slowed the car and
turned into a restaurant parking lot. “Let’s go in and eat. Dinner will have
already been served at the compound and I can’t have you going to bed hungry.”

My stomach had growled only moments
before and the thought of warm food sounded wonderful. As we entered the diner,
the hum of conversation ceased. Mrs. Winter didn’t seem fazed at all by the
stares of the locals in their overalls and plaid shirts and she acted as if
nothing was out of the ordinary. We seated ourselves and a young bubbly
waitress appeared instantly.

“Ladies, how are we today?” Barb,
her label-maker nametag stated, cracked her chewing gum annoyingly as she
scribbled on her pad.

Mrs. Winter smiled and answered
politely, “Wonderful, Barb.”

Barb handed us menus and left to
“grab us waters” and returned quickly while I glanced over the photocopied
sheet of paper. I just wanted a big burger and fries; the Big Sky burger
sounded like the one for me.

Mrs. Winter ordered first
requesting a detailed special order consisting of mostly fresh vegetables. The
waitress seemed to be a bit put out with the particulars and looked to me to
see what out-of-the-ordinary kind of order I would place.

“Big Sky burger plate and a Coke,”
I said casually. Barb smiled and jotted a couple words on her pad and then
excused herself.

Mrs. Winter took a sip of her ice
water. “Are you nervous, Calli?”

“Yes,” I admitted shyly.

“Understandable. Calli, there is so
much to explain to you; but we will do that tomorrow after breakfast. Tonight,
you’ll be located to your room with the direct orders of not venturing outside
the building. Do you understand?”

“No going outside?”

“Correct.”

“Alright. Who’s my roommate?”

“The female hall and living
arrangements are handled by Stella Woods. She handles the assignments and makes
sure everyone is getting along. I don’t know who you’ll be rooming with. However,
should you have any problems or if anyone is giving you a hard time, Stella is
the one to talk to. My door is always open, but I prefer that you take your
rooming issues to Stella first.”

“Why would anyone be giving me trouble?”
I asked, already knowing why; I’m faster than everyone else. Of course they
would view me as a threat.

“I’m not saying they will; only if
they do. Also, any and all phone calls will be made through my office and I
will be monitoring them until I am convinced you’ve grasped the workings of the
compound.”

My head reeled in all different
directions. Monitored phone calls? Workings of the compound? Am I headed to
prison?

Mrs. Winter continued, “You are
going to be a bit overwhelmed at first but I can tell that you will adjust to
everything easily and you’ll handle your own without any help. Remember this
important rule, no leaving the building after dark.”

“May I ask why?”

“I’ll
show
you why tomorrow
night, alright? This evening I have too many things to catch up on.”

Show me? What did she mean?

Our food arrived ending our line of
conversation. My burger and fries looked heavenly and tasted even better. Mrs.
Winter’s plate, on the other hand, contained primarily raw vegetables without
dip. Yuck.

We finished our food and Mrs.
Winter left a sizable tip before we left the diner to start the final leg of
our journey. The road took us higher in altitude to where pine and fir trees
grew. No more sage brush; only lush and thick forest with twisting roads. Due
to the pressure change, I had to pop my ears several times on the ascent. We
rounded a corner and the entire windshield filled with the view of the
compound. The huge building looked like an Alpine Chalet; designed similarly
with intricately cut eaves and trim. Many of the windows that lined the
exterior were illuminated from the interior lighting. The building could have
been mistaken for an immense three level hotel, but perhaps that was the idea. Standing
outside the tall windowed front doors which extended up two stories, four
adults waited to greet us.

We climbed out of the car and one
woman immediately pulled Mrs. Winter to the side and gave her a hushed message.
I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I read her lips and took in half of the
conversation due to the fact that Mrs. Winter’s back was to me.

“Clara, they never made it. Chris
is investigating their last known location with a Hunter to try to determine
who is responsible for this.” The woman paused as she listened to something
Mrs. Winter said, and then added, “As soon as you left, the Seers reported a
fog that remains fixed in place. The last time that happened, well, I don’t
need to remind you—” My attentions were pulled away by the remaining three
adults welcoming me to the compound.

I smiled and nodded to the others
not really hearing what they said. My eyes kept going over to Mrs. Winter. One
of the adults speaking to me was Stella Wood. She held her hand out in invitation,
“Let’s get inside.”

We entered the building and stood
facing a giant staircase. Mrs. Winter ended her mysterious conversation and
joined us leading the way up to the second floor. She made a swooping motion
with her arm, “Calli, this is the girls’ hall.”

Mrs. Wood went ahead of us,
knocking on each door. Girls were stepping out into the hallway; obviously
they’d been told a new athlete would be arriving. I made eye contact with the
nearest girl and smiled. She didn’t have a nice expression on her face, but
more of a sour one. The girl across the hall had the same look. Even more
shocking was the fact that these two were younger than me. Further down I noted
some girls closer to my age, some older, but most appeared to be younger.

“Come,” Mrs. Winter pulled me
forward. “Everyone, this is Calli Courtnae from Ohio.”

I greeted everyone in my best
cordial voice. “Hello.” No one said anything in return. Every girl, whether
twelve or twenty years of age, was beautiful, not just pretty, but gorgeous,
even with the disgusted expressions on their faces. My plain countenance didn’t
even begin to compare, not at all.

We made our way down the hall, with
Mrs. Winter introducing every girl to me. I smiled and greeted each one to no
avail. Some of the girls behind me were whispering but I couldn’t tell what
they were saying. As we arrived at the end, my eyes connected with a girl with
heavy black eyeliner and unnaturally black hair. She scrutinized my appearance,
looking me up and down, and then said to Mrs. Winter and Mrs. Wood, “No! No,
I’m not rooming with that … that human!”

“Calli, this is Beth Hammond, she
is your roommate,” Mrs. Wood informed me.

Beth said to me, “No, I’m not,” then
turned to Mrs. Winter and ordered, “find another room.” Beth flipped around and
strutted into her room.

Mrs. Winter rolled her eyes ever so
slightly and followed Beth into her room. Stella Wood placed her hand on my
forearm and said, “Just a moment, Calli. Wait here.”

Stella followed Mrs. Winter into
Beth’s room leaving me alone with the world’s most stuck up girls. I couldn’t
have cared less what the kids at my high school thought about me, but these
girls’ low opinion was undeserved. They didn’t even know me. I turned around wondering
how many were still staring. Everyone who remained in the hallway grouped
closer toward me.

One older girl asked, “How fast can
you run, Calli?”

I figured a vague answer might be
the best bet at the moment, so I answered with, “Fast enough to be invited to
come here.”

She persisted with a mega-snobbish
attitude, “What’s your time?”

“I’m sorry, what was your name?” I
asked trying to be polite.

Another girl stepped beside the
first and took over the drilling session, “She asked how fast you are.”

Some girls further down the hall
whispered to each other and I read their lips. I couldn’t make out the whole
conversation, but I picked up on a few words: ‘spy’, ‘lock your door tonight’
and ‘don’t talk to her’.

I shot the same question back at
the girl, “How fast are
you
?” From the stunned expression on her face, I
could tell she didn’t expect me to answer that way.

Mrs. Winter and Mrs. Wood came out
of Beth’s room and ushered me in. I heard them tell the other girls to “lighten
up on her” and “you know the rules.”

“Calli, we will go get your things
while you make yourself comfortable,” Mrs. Winter said, leaving me to fend for
myself against Attila the Hun.

I tried to offer, “I’ll help you,”
but she shook her head and closed the door.

Beth stared me down with her darkly
outlined eyes. I think her eye color was gray or perhaps watery light blue. It
was too hard to tell because her eyes were so narrowed. Her icy cold attitude
left my skin cold as she said, “I don’t want a roommate. Clara is losing her
mind.” Beth stood and stomped over to her dresser and brushed her hair while she
stared daggers at me through her mirror. She let out a huff of exasperated air
and slammed the brush down on the polished wood, “I finally move up in the
ranking order around here and I get stuck with the muck.”

“Thanks,” I muttered and walked
over to my bed and sat down.

She wagged her black-tipped pointer
finger at me. “Don’t be thinking I’m going to be your friend or anything. I
don’t like you! You’ve got human written all over your aura.” Her arms made a
sweeping circular motion. “Now, Clara brings you here exposing our location to
the world.”

I’d had enough. “You think I’m a
snitch? Sheez, you’re paranoid, but I guess that goes along with the hair.” A
rather daring comeback, I must admit.

“What does that mean?”

I imitated her circular motion with
my hands, “Isn’t that the look you’re going after? The hair, eyes, nails,
attitude; it’s a complete paranoia package. Anyone who dresses like you is
constantly aware of everyone around them. They’re positive others are looking
at them, judging them. Paranoid.” I took a breath and finished before she
interrupted, “Oh, and I’m not a snitch.”

Mrs. Winter entered the room
carrying my luggage. “Here you go, Calli.” She set my bags down and faced Beth,
“Beth, will you show her around?”

“No.”

“Alright,” Mrs. Winter said to Beth
with an exhausted tone. Then she turned to me and said, “Breakfast is at eight
sharp in the dining hall on the main floor. Good night, girls.” She closed the
door.

Beth stared at me for a few seconds
before asking, “How fast are you Calli?”

No way was I going to tell her
exactly how fast I timed out at, or the fact I could have run faster. “Probably
not as fast as you.”

“Well, we’ll find out how fast you
are soon enough. A word of advice … showing off around here will only get you
beat up.”

“So, I should run slowly?”

“Yep.”

“Would you beat me up?”

“Yep. I’ve worked and trained hard
to get to where I am and you won’t ruin that for me.” I realized she was afraid
of me and that calmed me, oddly enough. She continued, “This side of the room
is mine. Don’t touch anything!” She made a chopping motion with her arm to draw
an imaginary line.

I glanced up at the walls on “my
side” only to see her posters of all things dark and mysterious covering them. I
looked back at her hoping she’d say she’d remove them.

“Don’t touch those either.”

Fine!
“Where’s the
bathroom?” I stood itching to get out of there.

“Find it yourself,” she pointed to
the door.

I supposed a common bathroom would
be down the hall somewhere, and as I didn’t want to stay any longer in her
black cave of a bedroom, I left. Everyone had gone back into their bedrooms and
shut their doors, but it wasn’t like they would point me to the little girls’
room anyway. Maybe this was some sort of initiation rite for newcomers. Well,
that’s just fine. I prefer to do things all on my own anyway.

The interior of the compound had
such a masculine feel to it with its dark woodwork everywhere and jewel-toned
carpets and draperies. There were dim lights every couple of feet in the
ceiling, along with antique sconce lights on the walls next to every bedroom
door.

I walked the entire length of the
girls’ hall and still had not found the bathroom. I climbed the staircase at
the end of the corridor and rounded the corner at the top running right into a
half-naked, good looking guy with dark hair and deep set eyes. I guessed his
age to be about eighteen.

“What are you doing up here, muck?”
he squinted his eyes as spoke in a blunt, condescending tone.