Thea made it to her room carrying her rather substantial baggage, her room was different from others; next to the bed was a large garden bed where she could replenish and meditate.
Her eyes were drawn to her roommate; a strange girl sitting in a wheelchair by the other bed, looking far too young to be at Ravenhold, her brown skin had an unhealthy gray tint to it. The girl sat quietly with a book in her hands, only the whirling of a mechanical pump breaking the silence.
“Hi, there!” Thea said.
The girl barely looked up, “yeah,” she muttered.
Thea frowned and put down her stuff, “What are you reading?” She asked, hoping to make conversation.
The girl shrugged, lifting the book up slightly so Thea could read the title on the spine, some trashy sci-fi thing Thea had never heard of.
“Never heard of it,” Thea shrugged, she went to the window and looked out it, looking over the house’s backyard. “Hm, not bad sunlight, will be alright for plants.”
The girl finished the tiny book and sighed, tossing it aside without a care. Thea caught her staring at her directly.
“Can I help you?”
Hijack rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Thea shrugged it off, she’d been stared at before. She opened her bags and began sorting things out, organizing what would go in the drawers, what went in the closet, and what would go in the bed compartment.
The girl was still staring.
“Yes, I’m a plant.”
“I noticed.” the girl answered.
How rude, Thea thought, most had the decency to pretend they weren’t staring.”And you’re staring at me, and it’s uncomfortable.”
“I have eyes, it’s what you do with them.”
“Do you have a problem with me? And how I am?”
“Not particularly.” She shrugged.
Thea threw her hands up, with a loud frustrated sigh, “Whatever.” She went back to her organization. “How old are you anyway? You look way too young to be here.”
“Depends on how you think of age. Could be 4, could be 10 or 11, could be 14 or 15.”
Thea stopped. Had she heard correctly? She tilted her head back at the girl, “Four?”
“Four years ago three ten-to-eleven-years old girls died in the Tzari invasion and then a crazy man stitched them together and brought them to life.” She raised and spread out her hand, indicating her own body.
Thea gave her a good look for once, noticing the many scars, the way her legs were different colors from the rest of her upper body. The tank attached to her chair was actually connected to a metal plate behind her head.
“The fuck,” was all Thea could answer. What the hell had happened to this girl?
“My thoughts exactly.” She said in a bored tone
Thea went quiet having no idea what to even say to her. She went back to her things, and the girl didn’t seem to care to talk.
“Do you have a name?”
“Hijack.”
“That’s not a name.”
“That’s what they called me.”
Thea nodded. She looked back at Hijack, she was still staring. “Do you have nothing better to do?”
“I finished the book.”
Thea sighed, took out her phone, and gave it to Hijack, “There, play a game or something.” She paused, “If you look at my pictures or DMs I will kill you.”
There were things in there she didn’t want someone else to see, private things, things Thea wasn’t entirely proud of, but she needed money…
“I’m already dead.” Hijack said, tapping away.
Thea soon heard the music of Beat Mania so she let Hijack out of her mind.
The game music played quietly, only to be constantly interrupted by failure noises. Once Hijack ran out of lives in one game, she tried the next, and then the next.
“You’re out of lives, I’m buying more.”
“I don’t have a credit card.”
Hijack let out a scream of frustration and threw the phone, thankfully it hit the soft mattress of Thea’s bed before harmlessly bouncing to the ground.
“Hey!” Thea snapped, “That’s my phone, do you have any idea how expensive that is?”
Hijack crossed her arms angrily glaring at the phone. “Stupid game is impossible.” She muttered, rolling out of the room.
Thea retrieved her phone, the screen protector had held. “Fucking child,” she grumbled
Thea put down her phone and finished unpacking. About ten minutes later Hijack came back, carrying manga she’d retrieved somewhere in the house. Thea stared at her, hoping to maybe shame her into an apology, but Hijack just ignored her.
So Thea gave up, getting ready for the night, she took off her clothes, feeling no shame. It wasn’t like there was anything to see anymore; Thea no longer had human genitals or breasts. She sat down in the garden bed and closed her eyes.
Using her powers to extend roots into the earth, her body drawing in nutrients and sending its waste into the soil, Thea’s mind slowed down, when she was rooted she went into a trance of sorts, not too different to how she once slept as a human.
She was vaguely aware of Hijack putting down the manga after a time, closing the lights and going to bed, the strange tank of black fluid still connected to her.
Hijack was going to be a problem, Thea knew, but also maybe she needed a friendly hand?
Ravenhold Academy 