I stood frozen for a second, and then took off running towards the source of the scream.  It was short but it kept replaying in my head which helped guide me.  Mr. Young was right behind me, surprisingly quick for his size.  The scream replayed as distant, and definitely above our heads which meant it came from the second floor, where Dr. Kang was.

I picked up speed, I had seen an emergency staircase adjacent to the reception desk in the lobby which would hopefully take me upstairs.  I reached the staircase door right as Leo and Seungho were entering the lobby entrance.  They must have seen the frantic look on my face because they immediately started running towards me.  I didn’t wait, though, and pushed through the door, taking the stairs two at a time. 

The second floor hallway was still quite dark as there were no windows.  At first glance, there appeared to be 12 rooms on the floor.  I couldn’t pinpoint the scream but luckily one of the doors at the end of the hallways was still open.  I sprinted towards it, aware that Leo was right on my tail.  I had heard Mr. Young explaining the situation in the staircase so I didn’t bother explaining. 

We reached the doorway and I gasped.  Dr. Kang was lying on the bed, eyes closed.  Leo pushed past me to check on her, I stood frozen in the doorway.  I felt Seungho and Mr. Young catch up and it woke me up. I surveyed the room and was surprised to find Myungsoo nonchalantly pushing through hangers in the closet.

“What happen-?” I started to ask when Leo interrupted.

“Pulse present, she’s alive and breathing, just knocked out.”

I felt relieved and turned to Myungsoo, looking for an explanation.  He just shrugged and said, “There was a mouse, she saw it, screamed and fainted.  Dujun went to get her some water, so I stayed here…  He might be lost.”  Myungsoo went back to looking at the closet and I couldn’t help wondering if he was looking for the screw that came loose from his head.  How could he be so calm?

I went to stand by Dr. Kang, she was pale but was sleeping peacefully.

“Well that is good news,” Mr. Young said from behind, “Now if you don’t mind, I have to go do some work in my room.  I’ll be in room 1 which is right next to the emergency staircase, if anyone needs anything, feel free to knock.” 

With that he turned and walked down the hall.  Seungho stood in the hallway, fidgeting as if he was unsure of what to do.  Leo, I mean, Instructor Jung noticed and said, “Yang, you will be in room 2, it is right opposite the vice-dean’s room.  Kim Myungsoo, you are in room 6, and Kim Yongsun, you are in room 3.  Your clothing and other provisions are already in the room, please unpack and change into the tracksuit provided and wait in your rooms until we call.  There are intercoms in each room, I will be here until Dr. Kang wakes up and then we will start with lessons.”

The three of us were leaving to go to our rooms when Instructor Jung said, “Oh and if you see Dujun, let him know that he will be in room 7 which is right opposite this one.  His clothes are here but I will move them for him.”  I guess that was our cue to look for Dujun.

We didn’t have to look very far because he was coming out of the emergency staircase door with a glass of water in his hand.

“What’s going on?  Did she wake up?” He looked at the three of us, confused. 

“She’s fine, she’s still out but Instructor Jung is with her.  He wanted us to pass on that your room is room 7, your stuff is still in 8 but you can move it yourself, I guess.”  I said this somewhat crabbily and then walked past him towards my room.

I could hear the boys whispering, probably about my sudden attitude change, but the adrenaline was still pumping and I was feeling a little jittery.  My room was brighter than room 8, where Dr. Kang was still passed out.  The window overlooked the sloping forest and I could see the ocean in the horizon.  It was a small dorm-style room with a twin bed, office desk and chair, and a walk-in closet with a few empty hangers.  On the desk, there was a medium-sized box.  Inside was a new toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, a shampoo combined with face wash, lotion, deodorant and sunscreen.  After looking through the items I turned my attention to the bed.  There was a small light blue tracksuit on the bed, with a pair of white socks beside it.  There was a little wooden dresser by the bed with two drawers. I opened the first drawer looking for the rest of the clothes, curious about the underwear they had chosen.  I was a little disappointed, I half expected something crazy but there were only 7 pairs of white bikini and two white bras.  Then I felt a little creeped out because the bras were exactly my size…  Shaking it off, I opened the second drawer and there were four more of the same track suit as well as what looked like some PE outfits, consisting of simple white t-shirts and black shorts. 

There was a door at the end of the room and it led to a small bathroom with a shower.  I moved all the toiletries from the box and arranged them in the bathroom.

I then quickly changed into the tracksuit so that I would be ready in case the intercom buzzed, keeping my black tank top on under the zip-up top.  I wasn’t surprised that the clothes fit perfectly, this school was a little too good at what it did.

Folding my leggings, I placed them in the drawer with the underwear and sat on the bed.  I didn’t want to sleep, just to close my eyes so I could figure out what was bugging me about this island.

The intercom buzzed right as I was laying down.  Instructor Jung’s voice buzzed through.

“Students, we will meet in Conference room 1 on the first floor in five minutes, please make your way there immediately.  Bring the notebook and pen provided in the desk drawer.”  The intercom buzzed off after the short message.  I wondered if Dr. Kang was awake.

I hadn’t even seen the little drawer under the desk but there it was.   Inside were two notebooks and a pack of unopened pens.  I opened the pack and took a pen, testing it in the notebook.  Taking the notebook and pen, I shut the drawer and walked to the door.  I stepped out right as Dujun and Myungsoo were passing by, each carrying a notebook and pen.

“Oh good, let’s go together,” Dujun said.

“Okay,” I answered while smiling, making an effort to look friendly.  If we were going to be in the same class, I had to change my attitude.

Both of them looked a little surprised, I guess I must have been a total witch up till this point.  I had always been alone until now and preferred to do things by myself but I had a feeling that my relationship with them would be very important in the coming week.

“So this is a weird island right?” Dujun’s voice broke through my thoughts.  “I mean, there is something off.  Did you feel it as well?”

Before I could answer him, the staircase door opened and Seungho popped his head through.  He grinned and said, “I heard you guys through the door, hurry or we’ll be late!”

I noticed Myungsoo frown when he saw Seungho, up until now he had his usual dreamy look.  Did something happen between them, I wondered.  We sped up and followed Seungho down the stairs and back towards the kitchen.  Conference room 1 was the first room we walked past in the hallway to the kitchen.  Seungho pushed open the door and I got my first look inside.  Contrary to the rest of the hotel, this room was bright because of the artificial fluorescent lighting.  There was a long wooden table with rolling office chairs and a large projector screen on the wall adjacent to the door.  The room was empty.  I took a seat at the front of the room, right in front of the projector.  Dujun sat next to me which surprised me, Seungho and Myungsoo also seemed a little surprised.  Dujun leaned in towards me, gave a mischievous grin and whispered, “I like to keep Myungsoo guessing.” 

I couldn’t help it, I laughed.  And then laughed more when I saw Myungsoo’s irritated face.  Seungho also grinned and Myungsoo shoved him softly.  The office chair Seungho was sitting on rolled towards the projecting screen as Seungho laughed. 

We were all still smiling when the door opened and Instructor Jung walked in, with Mr. Young right behind.  Instantly sobered, I sat up straight and waited silently. 

Mr. Young cleared his throat and began to talk.  “Welcome to Athenai Island, this will be your home for the next week.  I’ll start by telling you a little about the history of this island and then Instructor Jung will talk to you about the schedule of the next week and will give you your first lesson.  By the end of the lesson, dinner will be ready.  Then you will have free time until light’s out at 10 pm.”  He coughed, and then started again, “Athenai Island, formerly known as Inmate’s Island, was discovered in the 1800s.  For the next 50 years, the texts say that prisoners of war were sent to this island to live out the rest of their lives.  They were tortured and enslaved and lived on this island for many years.  That all changed once the Spanish Flu pandemic started in 1900s, the living prisoners were killed and those afflicted with the disease were isolated on the island.  As you can imagine, this island has seen a lot of death.  It remained uninhabited after World War I ended until 10 years ago when a hotelier decided to build a resort on this island.  Unfortunately, he had a string of bad luck after this building was finished and went bankrupt.  That was when the Sterling Institute bought the island and converted it to become a training ground for our pupils.”  He coughed again after that long speech and excused himself, saying he was going to get a glass of water.

That was a lot of information to take in, like they were setting up for something.  I glanced at Myungsoo and he was frowning again.  I think he was feeling the same off feeling I was.  There was something they weren’t telling us about this island.

Instructor Jung didn’t skip a beat and started to talk.

“So, the schedule for the next week will be hard at first but you will get used to it.  The intercom will buzz at 6:00 am, you will have 30 minutes to get ready and breakfast will start from 6:30 to 7:00 am.  The kitchen staff has been told to lock the doors at 6:50 am so if you sleep in past then, you will not be getting breakfast.  First class will begin at 7:10 am.  Each class will be 50 minutes long.  You will have ten minutes between each class to go to the bathroom or stand up and stretch.  At 10 am, snacks and refreshments will be provided during the ten minute break.  You will have lunch at 12:00 pm, the lunch break will last 1 hour.  At 1:00 pm, we will go outside for a two hour PE class.  You will then have an hour to shower and get something to eat.  Classes will restart at 4:00 pm.  You will have one hour of instruction and then an hour of testing until dinner at 6:00 pm.  Dinner will last 1 hour.  After this you will have free time which will be a good time to finish the assignments I will give you during the lessons.  As Mr. Young mentioned earlier, lights off is at 10:00 pm, no exceptions.  I have a printout of the schedule for you, I will give it to you before we go for dinner.”

He looked down at his watch.  “It is now 5:15 pm.  I will start lecturing on the investigative records and resources available to us as detectives.  Dinner will still be at 6:00 pm.  You will have no tests or assignments tonight, I suggest that you go to bed early to prepare for the first day.”

He started lecturing and I tried very hard to pay attention, although the day was starting to wear me down.  The good thing was that I didn’t need to take notes, everything would be recorded in my memory.  I was ecstatic to hear his watch beep, signaling for the lecture to end and us to go for dinner.

“Okay,” he said, “Follow me to the dining area, the kitchen staff will have prepared dinner.”

I didn’t remember seeing any signs of kitchen staff when I was in the kitchen, I wondered where they had been while Mr. Young and I had done inventory.  We walked in a single line further down the hallway towards the kitchen.  We followed him through the last door in the hallway before the kitchen and stepped into a grand dining room.  It was enormous but there were only two large circular plastic tables, each with 6 plastic chairs.  Again the number 12. 

A small table was set up buffet-style at the side of the room.  There was a large bowl of undressed salad, what looked like baked chicken, wild rice and some boiled vegetables…  Hopefully it tasted better than it looked.

“Your meals will be carefully designed to give you optimal nutrition.  There is also tofu steak available for you Mr. Kim, I know you mentioned on your application that you were vegetarian.”  Instructor Jung, then went through the side door next to the buffet table which led into the kitchen.  Dujun and Seungho dived towards the food, filling their plates to the brim with the bland cuisine.  Their enthusiasm stimulated my own appetite and I took a chicken , some rice and boiled vegetables.  It tasted exactly like it looked, bland and healthy.  I looked up and saw Dujun pouring what looked like an avalanche of salt on his plate.  Seungho grabbed the salt shaker from him and did the same.  He then handed the salt to me but I shook my head, I didn’t think salt would help anything.  Myungsoo was still standing by the food, his plate filled with rice and vegetables.  Just then, Instructor Jung walked through the door with a pan-fried plain tofu steak.  I felt so bad for Myungsoo.

After dinner, we were told to return to our rooms for some free time.  I decided to visit Dr. Kang, to see how she was feeling.  Before leaving the dining area, I walked up to instructor Jung, who was still having dinner, and asked, “May I visit Dr. Kang before getting ready for bed?”

He nodded and went back to his food, but not before saying, “She’s in room 4 right now, right opposite yours.”

I thanked him and walked back upstairs.  The boys had left before me so I was alone for the first time in hours.  It was relaxing.  I got ready for bed and brushed my teeth.  We didn’t have pajamas so I decided to stay in my tracksuit for now.

I reached Dr. Kang’s door and knocked.  She answered to come in rather weakly.  I entered to find her sitting in her desk, doing some paperwork.

“How are you Dr. Kang?” I asked.

She smiled.  “I’m fine, just embarrassed, I wasn’t expecting to faint on the first day, and because of a rodent too.  Oh and by the way, I know this seems a little wrong but while you were unconscious, I checked your bra size to prepare for the trip.  I had meant to ask after the entrance exam but the circumstances were..,” she trailed off.  Oh good, that was much less creepy than the other scenarios I imagined.  I nodded, thinking back to our first meeting.  I had been the one unconscious at that time, it was a little ironic.  I was surprised by how much I liked her, I would have been a nervous wreck if she hadn’t come on this trip with us.  That reminded me, I wanted to hear a little more about the island and she would be the easiest person to ask.

“Dr. Kang, Mr. Young told us a little about the island and I found it fascinating.  Would you mind if I asked a few questions.”

She looked at her watch, and then answered, “Sorry, I still have a lot of work to finish tonight but maybe you can stop by tomorrow night after dinner.”

I tried not to look too disappointed but I nodded and said good night.  I went back to my room and sat on the bed.  I was debating on whether to shower tonight or tomorrow morning, and decided on tomorrow morning because I could barely keep my eyes open. Before I could lay down, someone quietly knocked on the door.  I stood up and asked who it was.

“It’s Dujun and Myungsoo,” came the whispered reply.

Sighing, I walked over and opened the door.  Dujun and Myungsoo were standing in the hallway, looking a little shifty.  I was surprised to see Seungho standing behind them, all three still in the same blue tracksuit I had on.

“Can we come in?” Dujun whispered, looking to the right quickly.  Something was going on.  I nodded and stepped aside and they all entered the room.  Seungho shut the door after he entered and I started to feel a little uncomfortable.  The room felt too small with the three of them in the room.

‘What’s going on?” I asked.

“There was a murder on this island,” Myungsoo answered calmly.

Wait, what?

Author note:  Long update, I know its a little bit boring but I just had to give some background information.  The fun will start soon, I promise.  And by fun, I mean murders?...  just kidding, I'm not crazy.