Skilled

(c) KES

It was one hell of a dress; she had to give him that. She probably would have gone with ivory instead of white, maybe something a little spunkier because this dress was elegant in a way she never was. But it was beautiful. She fingered the beading near the neckline one more time before heading towards the door, picking up her duffel bag on the way out.

Chapter One

Ellie Inwood had driven around the campus twice already, but didn't feel any closer to wanting to stop. The air was crisp on the late summer morning, something she hadn't adjusted to yet. Summers in the southeast stretched well beyond late August, but this morning was in the mild and Ellie's small bag of belongings hadn't prepared her for weather in the north.

Deciding to make one more loop of the campus, she drove past the building she'd been avoiding, a large brick structure surrounded by perfectly pruned bushes. She wouldn't have known it was the administrative building if she hadn't looked it up on the school's website.

The campus wasn't big and being that it was still two weeks from the beginning of the semester, it was mostly deserted. Her last loop took only ten minutes, but she stayed true to her word and pulled into the empty parking lot in front of the admissions building. She adjusted her skirt and blouse, the only well put-together outfit she brought with her, checked her makeup and hair in the mirror, and headed into the building.

Like the parking lot, the waiting area in the building was empty. Ellie chose the admissions window and was happy to see the woman at the window was hardly older than she was. "Is the dean of admissions available?"

The young woman was happy to pass Ellie on to someone else. "I'll call him to double check. What's your name?"

"Ellie Teller," she responded after only a split second of hesitation. He'd never expect her to use his name—not now. She gave herself a slight pat on the back as she waited for the woman to make the call.

It only took a second and she was ushered back into the dean's office. She had done her homework on him before this meeting. She knew he had been working for the school since he'd graduated from it, moving from advisor to professor to dean in his thirty years with the school. His family lived in the area and the eldest of his children would be attending the school as a freshman in the next few weeks, and Ellie intended to join her.

"Dean Watkins, thank you for taking the time to meet with me," she said, shaking his hand. The most important thing she learned about him she had found out very recently—he brought in a lot of money to the school through donations, but he himself could not be bought.

"Absolutely," he said, sounding sincere enough. Ellie had long since learned the ability to control her expressions, but she fought a smile. She knew personally how quickly sincerity could change. "What can I help you with, Miss Teller?"

"I'm looking to enroll for courses beginning in the fall." Now she did smile because she knew exactly how this conversation was going to go.

"Miss Teller, the term begins in under two weeks," Dean Watkins gave her his best smile. "You must know how late this is, especially here."

"I do, yes. I hadn't intended to start my studies until next year, but I had a bit of a life-changing event, and decided now's as good a time as any. Dean, I was hoping you'd be able to work with me."

"Miss Teller, if you know of our school, then you know of the rigorous testing that must be done before admission can be granted. It would be nearly impossible to complete the tests during that time." Watkins was tugging on his tie, a tell, but Ellie didn't need it to read how uncomfortable he was.

"Nearly impossible, yes. It turns out that I have a completely open schedule until classes begin. I would be able to submit to any tests you deem necessary during that time."

"Miss Teller, I'm just not sure…"

Ellie hoped it wouldn't come to this, but she pulled her trump card from her bag. "Dean Watkins, my grandmother is an alumnus to this university and is prepared to make a significant donation to this school, whether you are able to work with me or not." She slid the check across his desk and watched as he stared in disbelief, not just at the amount, which was astronomical, but the name of the signer.

"Your grandmother is—"

"Ellen Inwood, yes. That means you no doubt know who I am."

"Miss Inwood, I apologize." Disbelief was still the strongest emotion he was projecting, but he was moving quickly into damage control mode. Whether he believed her or not, he knew he had to treat her as Elena Inwood until he could confirm or deny her story.

"I will still go through whatever testing you insist upon, but I require one thing from you," Ellie told him. She could feel his disbelief fading. She may not look like her grandmother, but Ellie knew she could act like her. "Dean, it is crucial that my identity is not outed here. As long as the wards around this campus ensure my safety, the university will be rewarded. I will enroll under the name of Ellie Teller and will receive no special treatment from the university. Is that something you see as being possible?"

She met his gaze briefly before settling deeper into her chair. She could feel the emotions rush through him. Doubt. Hope. Disbelief. The money was the deciding factor, that she knew. It wasn't what she wanted, but it would work for now. "Yes, Miss Inwood, I believe we can make this work."

"Please, Dean. Let's stick with Teller. I don't want to confuse anyone."

"Of course, Miss Teller," he agreed. He was feeling completely unsure of himself, but he turned to his computer and opened a couple files. "Give me a minute to put together a testing schedule for you. What did you say your skill was?"

"Same as my grandmother's," she replied, fighting another smile as indignant embarrassment flooded through him. "I'm a Reader."

He pushed pleasant thoughts forward, but it was easy for Ellie to see how uncomfortable he still was. She waited in patient silence until he printed off a list of tests and testing areas, which was less thorough than she'd expected. He explained that she would need to go to the student housing office if she intended to live on campus, as well as sign up for courses as soon as she finished her testing. She offered her hand and he shook it and Ellie could feel the weariness coming off him in waves. "Welcome to Inwood University, Miss Teller."

Ellie took Dean Watkins's advice and stopped at the student housing office to see if any dorm rooms were available. Being so close to the start of the semester, Ellie figured she would be out of luck, but Dean Watkins had clearly called the housing office before she got there because they had no trouble locating a room for her. So much for no special treatment, she thought, but she knew that the dean had not given her identity away. She didn't need her ability to read people to know that the woman had no idea why she was going to get a room that clearly wasn't supposed to be available.

The dean had gone one step further, ensuring she'd be able to use the room immediately. She hadn't expected that, but was grateful. The motel she was staying in a couple towns over was gross and Ellie was looking forward to having a cleaner space. After receiving her keys and directions to the single dormitory building, she drove to the other end of campus.

Unlike the rest of the buildings on campus, which were mostly made of brick in simple two story formations, the dormitory was clearly new, all glass and steel, surrounded by ash trees, planted for their ability to grow quickly. Ellie waved her electronic key in front of the pad next to the door, which unlatched for her. She pulled it open, a wry smile on her face at the name on the door—Elwood Dormitory, named for the original branch of her family.

Her room was located on the first floor, just past an expansive common area with brand new couches, tables and flat screen televisions. The walls were floor to ceiling glass, facing a large wooded area behind the building. Ellie shook her head as she passed, thinking the school was outdoing itself so far.

She stopped at room one sixteen and used her other key to open the door. She grinned as she looked around. The school was outdoing itself. The room was a double, meaning she would end up with a roommate, unless Dean Watkins had arranged that too. There were two twin beds on each side of the room, along with a dresser, desk and closet, all clearly from IKEA. The floors were a rich mahogany hardwood, glossy and free from scratches. The walls were painted slate gray and maroon, the school colors, with the words Inwood and University stenciled above the beds. Unable to resist, Ellie dumped her bag on the bed with Inwood above it.

It was the sheer size of the room that impressed her. Two standard college dorms would easily fit in her new home. She couldn't stop her small squeal of surprise when she opened a door that she assumed was extra storage space and it turned out to be a small bathroom, shower included. She looked at it longingly, having not had a lengthy shower in weeks, but without bath towels, it was going to have to wait.

She needed to shop, which she'd been avoiding. Besides gas and food, Ellie had only made a couple other purchases and one was at a salon halfway through her trip. Her honey blonde hair had been to her elbows, but she'd had it cut short and dyed a deep chocolate brown. Her hair had always had a slight curl, but cutting it above her shoulders had given it a significant bounce, so she had it chemically straightened, and asked for bangs for the first time since she was a child. The combination of the new hair and loss of her favorite vintage frames for contacts made her do a double take when she caught her reflection. She looked nothing like Elena Inwood, and though it was bittersweet, she knew it was necessary. It was going to be a lot harder to find her this way.

She knew she couldn't put off shopping any longer, not if she wanted to live comfortably, so she decided to head back towards her motel, check out, and pick some things up. She glanced at her single bag of belongings, fighting an urge to bring it with her. Even if nothing in the bag would give her identity away, it was all she had left of Elena Inwood, and it felt strange leaving it here. She shook her head and moved purposefully towards the door, leaving the bag on the bed.

Just before Ellie left home, Ellen Inwood had given her a debit card with no name on it from a bank she had never heard of. When Ellie was far enough from home to feel safe, she contacted the bank to determine the balance of the account and almost veered off the road when it was given. She had no idea how long her grandmother had been putting money into the account, but she essentially had unlimited funds. It had so far made her journey considerably easier.

After checking out of the motel, she stopped at a mall to stock up, starting with the basic dorm needs before moving onto school supplies and clothing. The Inwood name had always come with a lot of money and even though she still had access to that, if she was going to blend in, she had to spend less and buy cheaper. It wasn't something she'd thought of when she started, so she had to empty her cart at the home goods store to start again, only splurging on high thread count sheets.

Normally excellent at being able to tune out the emotions of others, she struggled as she shopped, feeling absolutely exhausted when she was finished several hours later. Her car was overflowing with bags and she was glad it was dark when she brought them all into the dorm in what amounted to nearly twenty trips. There was no way it would look normal for a student to bring in nothing but brand new items and though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she pulled everything out of the boxes, ripped the tags off of all of her new clothes, and brought all the garbage to the dumpster located behind the building.

It was after midnight when she finally got back to her dorm and as much as she'd wanted a shower before, she could do nothing but crawl into bed. She fell asleep in seconds.

Ellie woke up early the next morning. She wanted to just roll over and go back to sleep, but she had the first of her tests in the afternoon and she still had a lot to do to make the room look normal.

She started the day with a long shower and it did a lot to improve her mood. She dressed quickly in her new clothes, smiling slightly as she took in her appearance. She was so used to having to dress nicely that throwing on a pair of skinny jeans and a plain black tee shirt made her feel rebellious. She opened a box of Poptarts and ate two cold as she pulled her laptop from her duffel bag, one of the few things she brought with her that she would use here. Following the directions Dean Watkins had given her, she accessed her new school email account, surprised to see she had a few emails waiting in her inbox. The first was from another school account, which she opened.

To: etell1015 (at) inwood. edu

CC: lcart7256 (at) inwood. edu

From: jmart5646 (at) inwood. edu

Subject: testing

We need to move your first practical exam to right after the written test. Email me back if it works. Thanks.

- Jackson Martinez

Shrugging, Ellie shot off an email back, saying that was fine. This wasn't the first time she was going to go through practical exams, and though she knew they could be tiring, it didn't matter to her when they were completed. She opened the next email, which looked like spam.

To: etell1015 (at) inwood. edu

From: 16304i7881 (at) gmail. com

Subject:

Call me. 336-542-1568.

Ellie stared at this email for a long time. She knew if someone was around to read her emotions, her fear would be palpable. How had she been found so fast? The only giveaway in the email was the area code, which was from her hometown area of northwestern North Carolina.

Her eyes strayed to the sender's address, which had at first looked like a bunch of random numbers, but were stirring something up in her memory. She dug her wallet out of her purse and grabbed the debit card her grandmother had given her, glancing at the last four numbers of the card. 7881. It only took her a second after that to recognize the first set of numbers as her grandparents' wedding anniversary, backwards.

She fumbled in her bag for the pay as you go phone she purchased halfway through her drive north. She hadn't made any calls yet, but felt safer having the option if she needed it. She punched the numbers in and waited impatiently as the phone rang. Her heart was pounding in a way she hadn't expected, but she realized she hadn't had an honest conversation with anyone since she'd left home. "Hello?" her grandmother picked up the phone.

Relief rushed through her. "Can you talk now?" she asked.

"Yes," Ellen Inwood let out a huge sigh on the other end of the line. "Oh, Ellie. How are you?"

"I'm okay. I'm safe. How did you find me so fast?"

"Joe Watkins called me last night—"

"He did what?" Ellie replied incredulously. "I made it quite clear how important it was that he didn't give me away."

"He was smart about it, El. He didn't use his office or home lines, and all he did was ask if I knew what had just shown up. I told him you were who you said you were and that was all he needed."

"Is Henry onto you?" Ellie asked after a moment's silence. She didn't want to bring her fiancé up at all, but she needed to know.

Ellen laughed softly. "He doesn't have a clue, sweetie. He's spinning this like you're a scared little bride, but that you'll be back before the wedding date. Most of the time, he believes it. So you've got about two weeks before he'll start looking for you, I think."

Ellie took that in with less emotion than she expected. She knew he'd start looking for her eventually. The two weeks would be a nice reprieve. "And Mom and Dad? What do they think?"

"They think whatever Henry tells them to think, Elena," her grandmother said sharply. Ellie winced at her tone. "Don't you ever forget that."

There was a long pause while Ellie fought back several biting remarks. It didn't serve anyone well for her to lose her temper. "I know," she said finally. "I left everyone and everything behind. Believe me, I know."

"I'm sorry, Ellie. Being inside his head all the time is sickening. You did the best thing for everyone doing this, but it's not easy," she let out another long sigh. "I don't have a lot of time, but I wanted to arrange some things for you. It's a brilliant idea using his last name. He'll never expect it, just like he'll never expect you to show up at Inwood. He doesn't think of you as clever, which will only slow him down. When we're done here, I'm going to send you directions via email for a few things I'll need to create Ellie Teller an identity."

Ellie half smiled, knowing that without her grandmother's resources, she'd likely be found immediately after Henry started looking for her. She owed her so much. "Thank you," Ellie said, putting as much emotion into the two words as she could.

"You're welcome, El. Take care of yourself. I'll call you when I can, to keep you apprised of what's happening here. If I sense he's getting close, I'll let you know immediately. I love you."

"Love you too." They said their goodbyes and hung up. Moments later, another email appeared in her inbox. Ellie took note of what her grandmother needed and filed it away to do before she left for her testing. She turned to the pile of stuff she had unboxed and untagged the night before and set to work.

Author's Note: Well, I'm back. I started this right after I finished Suicide Squeeze, but I literally got through that prologue there before completely losing my focus. It's come back recently and I'm trying to gauge what people think of this. It's a little unusual... So... let me know. (Ignore the silly coding on the site that doesn't allow me to use at signs. Really, how stupid.)