The sleepy children rubbed their eyes and said:
— Okay.
As soon as they got off the bus, they saw the camp. There were stairs on both sides and ramps nearby, with trees around them. The main building was two stories. On the first floor there was an assembly hall and a dining hall. On the second floor there was a library. Behind the building were cottages—white with windows, beautiful and neat—and several larger houses for the counselors. There was also a stadium, a basketball court, and a football field.
The children were surprised at how big the camp was.
At the entrance stood other counselors, and Kirill said:
— Don't worry, you don't need to memorize their names. You belong to the "awakening tulips," and they belong to the "beautiful roses." See? They have roses instead of tulips.
The children nodded.
They went inside. Everything was beautifully decorated—almost too perfect.
Elizabeth noticed something but decided to ignore it.
She stopped for a second.
The counselors were smiling.
All of them.
Too identical.
Too gentle.
Too… correct.
Their smiles didn't differ from one another, as if they had practiced them in front of a mirror.
She noticed something else.
Some children were moving strangely—not like robots, no… but too synchronized. Too calm. Too without doubt. As if they already knew everything here was right.
Elizabeth blinked.
— I'm probably just tired, — she thought.
And she continued walking with everyone so she wouldn't fall behind.
A counselor stopped and said:
— This is your cottage. Alex, Vlad, and Adalin will live here. Your luggage will be brought soon.
Esmeralda said:
— Kirill, Maksim, and Elizabeth will be together. Your things will also be brought soon.
Oleg said:
— Denis will be with Vaska and Sergey. Your luggage will arrive shortly.
The children went into their rooms and first saw other kids inside. They greeted each other.
Kirill said:
— What are you doing here? Aren't we supposed to be alone in this room?!
One of the girls, a blonde with long hair and gray eyes, said:
— No, of course not. Only three people in one room? That doesn't happen in camps, especially not in ours. There are six people per room—three girls and three boys.
Kirill just snorted and took the bed by the window. It was medium-sized. Nearby there was a desk with pens, many notebooks, and posters of singers. Kirill loved singing—he had real talent and could become a singer.
Elizabeth sat near the door so she could easily go to the library, which was close to the exit. Next to her bed was a shelf full of books by famous authors and all the writers she had mentioned in the bus.
Maksim took the bed between Kirill and Elizabeth. Everything there was similar, except instead of singers or writers, there were football players. He was good at football, loved it, and knew everything about it.
There was another girl in their room. She had brown eyes like the sea and very long straight hair. She was beautiful. Her name was Lilith.
The blonde girl was named Emil. There was also a boy with red curly hair and black eyes as dark as night with no stars. His name was Rio.
Meanwhile, in the room where Alex, Vlad, and Adalin were placed, they saw the same situation—other children already there.
There were two girls and one boy. One girl had red-dyed hair and green eyes like Esmeralda. The second girl had blue-dyed hair and beige eyes; she was tall. The boy had black hair and green eyes. His name was Estel.
The girl with red hair was Nina. The girl with blue hair was Naomi.
Adalin took the bed by the window. Nearby there were drawings of food—not real food—and many air conditioners. Adalin loved cooking and baking; she had real talent and made very tasty pastries.
Alex sat in the middle. Around him were posters of famous artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Aivazovsky. There were many drawing tools. Alex had a gift for drawing, which was exactly why he was creating his escape plan.
Vlad sat near the entrance so it would be easy to reach the library. Next to him were many books, notebooks, and pens. He loved writing; he was a literary prodigy and wrote very mature works.
When Denis, Vaska, and Sergey entered their room, they saw three girls inside. All of them had dyed hair: one bright yellow with brown eyes, one bright green with black eyes, and one bright pink with blue eyes.
The girl with yellow hair was named Kira, the one with pink hair was Mildred, and the one with green hair was Sasha.