My Roommate Has A Secret
My new roommate's first words to me were "leave."
The second thing he did was transform into a dragon. I wish I was joking, but that is exactly how my university experience began.
Three hours ago, I was standing outside Kitala University's dorm hall with one big suitcase, two overstuffed bags, and exactly three thousand francs in my wallet. Rain came down relentlessly in Buea, washing red filth down the tiled sidewalks.
Mount Cameroon had vanished behind the rain-slicked rooftops, obscured by a thick wall of gray clouds, as students dashed across the quad, heavy textbooks held aloft. I smiled despite the downpour. This was it, university. A brand new beginning in which no one knew who I was, what embarrassing blunders I would made in secondary school, and how strongly I wanted to leave home and be my own person. I pulled my squeaky suitcase into the residence office. The woman behind the counter looked up from her paperwork and accepted my accommodation letter.
"Room 214," she said, consulting the roster.
"Yes."
She gave a tiny pout and returned her gaze to the paper. "Block C."
"Yes."
She reached inside a wooden keybox and gave me a brass key. "Your flatmate has already moved in."
"Male or female?"
"I asked naturally. She gave me an odd look over her glasses. "Male?"
My smile disappeared abruptly. "Male?"
"It is a mixed resident floor," she explained nonchalantly.
I looked down at the official letter in my hand: "ROOM 214, MIRA NDEM / ARI KADE ".
I was expecting a calm female with whom I could trade clothing, share late-night snacks, and moan about tough lecturers. Not a dude. Despite having nowhere else to go, I climbed two flights of stairs to the end of the corridor.
I knocked twice on the door to Room 214. No response. I knocked again. Nothing. I twisted the key and pushed open the door. The room was faintly illuminated. One side was plainly occupied: black clothes hung in the open closet, a laptop sat next to a stack of hefty textbooks, and the bed appeared untouched. The opposite side was absolutely deserted.
"Hello?" I called out into the peaceful space.
"You should not be here," a voice replied from just behind me. I spun around. A youngster stood in the doorway frame. Tall, dark-skinned, with unruly black hair, a strong jawline, and eyes so startlingly golden that I briefly wondered whether the flickering corridor light was playing tricks on me. He looked down at my suitcase and then up at my face. "Are you Mira?"
"Yes," I answered. His jaw stiffened immediately. "Leave."
I looked at him in bewilderment. "Excuse me?" "You heard me," he continued, his tone flat and inflexible. I dropped my big suitcase on the tile floor. "No." His dark eyebrows rose slightly. "No?"
"This is my allotted room," I informed him, folding my arms. "If you wanted a private room just for yourself, you should have paid for one." Something resembling amusement flashed across his guarded visage before vanishing entirely. "You actually do not know."
"You know what?" He moved closer, the gold in his eyes shining brightly in the gloomy room.
"You are in danger." I gave out a breathless laugh. "That is a dreadful welcome."
"I was not joking," he replied calmly. I opened my mouth to respond with another caustic remark, when something caught me off guard. His right hand was clearly shaking against his side. "You are afraid," I said. His expression stiffened like stone. "Of you." I blinked. "Of me?"
Before he could respond, a massive impact broke the air outside his window. We both turned around. A large shadow moved over the glass, shutting off the gray afternoon light. Ari surged forward, grabbing my wrist. "Get down!"
"What?"
The window exploded inwards. As I shouted, glass splashed across the room, and Ari forcibly shoved me beneath the wooden desk. Outside, something massive slammed into the concrete ledge, its hefty claws scraping cruelly on the stone. Ari stood up. Right before my eyes, his body began to change. I watched in terror as shimmering black scales spread fast across his skin, his shoulders widened, his fingers grew into dangerous claws, and a brilliant golden light exploded from his eyes.
I could not breathe. He turned back to me over his shoulder, his voice no longer really human: "Mira... whatever you do... do not scream."
His body enlarged dramatically. Massive dark wings exploded from his back, crashing against the room's walls. I yelled at the top of my lungs as Ari turned into a massive black dragon with copper-gold markings scorching along his scales. His dazzling golden eyes fastened on mine. And at that horrifying second, I realized why he had asked me to leave. My new flatmate was not a boy. He was a dragon, and something awful had come out seeking for him.
