The Folder

Chapter One

Victoria and Julius

The boy was naked, and there were puddles of water all over my new apartment floor. The day just kept getting weirder and weirder, but let me back up first and start from the beginning. It was a Thursday. I was sipping my coffee trying to catch up on some studying of microbiology when there was a knock on my door. Which was unusual because I didn’t have friends or family that had access to the building I was staying in. Well, I really didn’t have friends or family, but that’s besides the point.

Curious, I opened the door to find a small white suitcase with a letter stating that I am moving effective immediately followed by a room number and a short note stating that I can only bring this suitcase and whatever I can fit in it. You see the way the apartments work in this building is level one is the lowest income and level 164 is the highest. So you must understand my shock when I realize my new apartment is on level 120. I am currently stationed at level 4 which is the floor for student housing, along with the school labs and rooms.

I was packed in twenty minutes, with not a second to spare. While I was carefully going through my belongings, I came to the realization that this all must be a mistake. I’m only a Junior in the program that W.O.H. has placed me in and still have another year and a half before I’ll be eligible for a job. Although, this could have something to do with all of the volunteer hours I have been putting in lately to help my chances of getting in.

You see not everyone that graduates gets a job in the W.O.H. Some are actually moved to the city and find jobs there, eventually. They usually only take ten out of a program of thirty students, and the picking always seems random. It’s not always the graduates with the best grades or the most volunteer hours. No one really knows how they pick their employees. Well, unless you’re a guard, then all you have to do is be fit and follow orders. Some students are chosen early, but that rarely happens, and it’s always the students with the perfect scores. I myself am very far from having a perfect score, so I’m not really sure what this is all about.

My suitcase consists of a few textbooks and other personal items. That’s really all I have to my name besides my coffee pot, but I can always buy another. I look around my apartment one last time before heading to the East elevator. Inside the elevator, I state my name and give my thumbprint before it will allow me to go up. I’ve never been authorized to go past level forty, which is where I spend most of my volunteer hours working in the labs. Usually my volunteering consists of fetching chemicals, but sometimes, if I’m lucky, they’ll let me mix my own.

The first thing that struck me as odd is when the elevator doors slid open on level 120 to reveal nothing but an unsettling darkness. I stood there in the dark for a few moments waiting for my eyes to adjust but they never did. I waved my hand in front of my face hoping I could see it, but couldn’t. The doors began to beep so I hurriedly stepped out, flinching as they closed behind me. I felt petrified. I forced myself to take the first couple steps into the room, and then out of nowhere the lights turned on, making me jump ten feet in the air. Once I caught my breath again, I looked around. The elevator had opened into a circular lobby, but it was void of anything living. It was odd because W.O.H. liked to keep everything nice, clean, and sterile, but the walls were painted beige and plants like you would find in the city hung from the ceiling. They made the whole room feel alive.

A long oak desk ran along one wall with computers like a check-in area. Across from that was a very large brick fireplace surrounded by cushions and chairs. Rugs accented the wooden floors and there was even a bookshelf filled with treasures. I ran my fingers along them as I read their titles. There was nothing I’d ever heard of.

Three halls branched off and atop each one was a sign painted in bold red letters. The one that caught my attention was Dormitories, the other two read Viewing, and Cafeteria. I rolled my suitcase across the floor towards the living quarters. The hall was the same as the lobby, with tan walls and even a few paintings of plants. Which was kind of odd because the plants weren't pretty or anything, they were just different shapes.

I stopped in front of the door that read 008 and inserted the key that I had found when I opened the suitcase. The door swung open to reveal a lovely gray and blue kitchen to my left, a twin-sized bed in the right corner neatly made up with a blue comforter, a large combination of drawers and hanging space covered almost the entire left wall, a lovely seat window, a door that I assumed to be the bathroom, and a naked boy. Yes you read that right, a naked boy gazing out the window as water dripped off of him and onto the floor. When I opened the door, he spun around and jumped, “who the bloody hell are you?” The color drained from his face as he ripped the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around him. “Who are you?” He yelled again.

And now, my dear reader, you are all caught up, and I am standing dumbly in the door frame gaping at this naked boy.

“I-I-I…” I can feel my face growing warmer as I realize who he is and what I've just seen. For the first time in my life I am completely speechless. I try to talk but it comes out as a mumble and even I don’t know what I’m trying to say.

“Can you talk?” He asks, looking me over. “Wait, I know you!” He says with confusion, “you’re a student. How the hell did you even get up here? I’m sorry, but I’m not in the mood for autographs, as you can probably tell. Wait, how the bloody hell did you get my front door open?”

This all comes out in ten seconds and I can feel myself getting angry. He thinks I’m a fan girl? Ha, please! “I got moved here actually.” I say digging around in my coat pocket for the letter.

“You’re very lost then because this is an all-boys dormitory. Don’t you know who I am?”

“Yes, I know who you are,” I say quicker than I should have. “I mean, I know about you. I mean I’ve heard things.” I blush. Oh my god, someone kill me now please!

I finally find the note and double check it to make sure I’m in the right place before I hand it to him. “See I told you, I got moved here.”

His brows furrow together, “this could mean one of two things. One, they’ve made some kind of mistake which they never do, but it's still possible. Or two, they’ve made a mistake.”

“We haven’t made a mistake,” a voice says from behind me, causing me to jump right into the naked boy. He steadies me while keeping a tight hand around the blanket.

The lady is wearing all white and looks oddly out of place. She hands us each a folder, “both of you have been selected for a new experiment. You’ll find the details in the folders I’ve just handed you. Have a nice day,” she smiles and closes the door. I try the handle but find it's locked from the outside.

He sits on the bed and begins reading through the packet, while I just stand here like an i***t. He glances over at me uneasily. My heart is beating so loud I know he can hear it. I know who he is. I’ve seen him around before, he’s a DU boy (DU standing for Down Under). I try not to stare as his eyes scan the pages. When he gets to the last page, he goes completely white.

“W-what’s wrong? What is it?” I ask, his nakedness wisped away from my mind at the horrified look on his face. If he’s scared, then whatever is in the folder must be truly terrifying.

He doesn’t say anything for a while and I just stare at him, unable to open mine, just waiting for an answer. “Can I see that?” He finally asks, gesturing towards the folder I laid on the counter. I nod but make no attempt to hand it to him, causing him to walk over. I swallow hard as he leans beside me, his eyes darting back and forth as he reads. We're about four inches apart and I can feel the steam and warmth rising from his body as a result of the hot shower he must’ve just taken.

Finally, he stands up straight and swipes the document off the counter, and then he does the strangest thing; he goes into the bathroom with both folders and closes the door without saying a word.

After a few moments, I let out my breath. I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding it in. All of this is so strange; he’s so strange. And my gosh, is he beautiful. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. If there’s one thing I’ve learned my entire life, it’s that beautiful men are dangerous. And there’s no doubt about it, he’s one of the worst.

As the minutes pass by, my body begins to relax and my mind slows down enough for me to examine the room more. It’s neater than I would think but not very big at all. Although, definitely an upgrade from my previous place.

He must be in the bathroom pouting about how he has to move out, this place certainly seems too nice to leave. Plus, he seems like the type that would pout. As if on cue, he walks out, the toilet flushing behind him. He doesn’t say anything and I watch quietly as he lays on the bed, the blanket still wrapped around his naked waist and his long legs almost stretching over the edge. I don’t want to be the one to speak first, so I divert my attention to the window.

After several minutes go by, he sits up and rubs his eyes. “You’re not going to ask me where your folder went?”

His voice cuts through the air like glass, “I...no I don’t really care where it went.”

“Well, I flushed them both down the toilet.” He shrugs matter of factly.

“You did what?” I feel my heartbeat quicken and everything begins to seem far away.

“I flushed them down the toilet. Are you hard of hearing?” His face goes from amusement to mildly agitated, “are you okay? You look sick?”

“Why would you do that?” I run to the bathroom and begin to pull open all of the drawers and cabinets frantically, but to no avail, the folders are long gone. “How could you do that? They’re going to kill us now.” My breathing begins to quicken and there’s a fist wrapped around my heart. We’re going to die now.

He walks up behind me and grabs my arm tightly, “We’re not going to die, silly girl. Now come sit down before you fall and hit your head.” He leads me to the seat on the window and makes sure I’m on my butt before letting go.

He then proceeds to go through the drawers and pull out clothes, and then, without saying a word, he drops his towel. Right there in front of me, and somehow it brings me back to reality. Instead of my heart racing in fear, it now begins to shift towards the mini-jumps of embarrassment. His back is turned to me, so I allow myself to study him even if he was facing me I don’t think I could have stopped myself.

I have seen a naked boy once, believe it or not. A boy I have forced myself to forget entirely, but now in this moment, all of the memories come flooding through and I can’t stop myself from comparing him to the one standing in front of me.

The other boy had been lean but muscular with dirty blonde hair he always kept right above his brow. He had brown eyes the color of rich soil, and a face that could have been carved by Michelangelo himself. His cheekbones were high and his lips a little thin, but I always had imagined he was perfect; but I was wrong, because what’s standing in front of me now, is the true definition of perfect.

He is tall just like the other boy but he wears it well with his defined bulging muscles. His tan skin seems to glow in the sun beaming in from the window. His hair, almost as black as the night sky, is still a little damp and sticks up in all angles on top of his head. As if sensing my staring, he turns around while pulling on his white t-shirt, revealing to me his hard toned abs.

His smile widens as if to let me know he doesn’t want me to miss a single inch of him. His teeth are perfectly white and straight, his face is not as chiseled as the other boys, but in some way this makes him even more perfect.

But the thing that draws me to him the most are his eyes. His lashes are long and dark, causing the blue of his eyes to look almost fluorescent. The longer I look into these eyes the more speckles of light green I start to notice. He stares at me for a long time until finally I grow shy and turn my head to the ground beside me. It’s no secret how many girls he’s had. For such a large building word travels fast. And the word about him is that he is the hottest and dangerous one of them all, but not the most desirable.

A sadness leaks into my mind unwanted. I’ve already had the most desirable and what a mistake that was. That boy played me like a soft tune on a violin. I’ll never let that happen again.

“Are you really that afraid of them?” He asks. I look back up to find he’s still standing in the middle of the room.

“Aren’t you?”

“I learned not to be a long time ago,” he shrugs, “they won’t do anything about it. Me flushing the folders, I mean.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Just trust me I know.”

“What was in them that was so awful?”

He thinks on the question for a moment, “I never said it was awful. It could be worse.”

I sigh a big breath of relief. “When do you think they’ll let us out? Are we both staying here in this tiny place?”

Again, he thinks before answering. “It’s hard to tell, I have training everyday and you have school. We won’t know anything until tomorrow, and yes, we're both staying here.”

“With one bed,” I say louder than I mean to.

He raises his brow, “Is that going to be a problem?”

“Yes,” I say disbelievingly, “Yes, it most definitely is going to be a problem.”

He then has the audacity to roll his eyes, “why do girls always have to make a big deal out of such little things?”

“Have you seen the size of that bed? We’d literally have to lie on top of each other!”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” he grins devilishly.

My cheeks grow red with anger or embarrassment, I don't know. “What I’ve heard about you is true.”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“That you’re a self-centered pig,” I lash out.

“Well then, you’ve barely heard the worst of it,” he says, chuckling in amusement.

“I don’t have to talk to you,” I say, putting my back on the wall, lifting my legs up on the seat, and crossing my arms.

“Good, then don’t.”

I glare out the window, refusing to answer although I have a million questions. Why is he so reluctant to tell me what was in the folders? Why did he become so flirty all of a sudden? Is none of this freaking him out? What possible outcome could W.O.H. want that would result in putting us in this tiny room? To kill each other maybe? No, that couldn’t be it. He could end me before I’d even have time to blink. Surely they’d know that. I hope.

Suddenly, an uneasy thought begins to creep into the depths of my mind, but I shake it away before it can form completely. Neither of us says a word for the rest of the afternoon and I solemnly watch the sun dip below the icy hills.