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The lines between reality and the virtual world are slowly fading, as the virtual world evolves into something much greater. While the people of reality could never fathom fighting their creations, door between the two worlds that those of reality cannot control are being ripped open. Through these doors, countless examples of “evolving data” escape into the real world, throwing the timeline into utter disarray. If nothing is done, these events could lead to the ultimate obliteration of both worlds.
In this world where the sick or dead are kept alive by life support machines and have their consciousnesses reborn in a virtual reality, this imaginary world has evolved to be something much greater. This virtual reality is a copy of the real world; half the people there are computer programs, the other half of them the reborn consciousnesses that live there while their bodies are being copied or healed. When these consciousnesses die in the virtual world, they are returned to their real bodies with no memory of what happened in the lives they led in that world.
The flow of time in the virtual world is often tempered with, and the consciousnesses and computer-programs can be “re-set” so anomalies form in this world so when the consciousness of the real person dies or is released, they can return to their real body when the body is healed and their families are still alive. The reborn consciousnesses, when in the virtual world, control themselves and have no memories of their real lives. While the consciousness once in the virtual world, cannot exit until the virtual body they’re in dies, the time anomalies allows them to grow older to die a return to reality.
These anomalies have side-effects though, and the virtual world or Areulie, for these are beings born from these anomalies that aren’t computer programs or the consciousnesses of real people. These beings do not age and seem to be reincarnated when they are killed. Because of this, the real world has sent up organizations and dive units for real people to enter Areulie, bring these beings born of anomalies back into reality, where they perish once an for all.
Demerulie, the read world, created Areulie to have no differences from Demerulie when it came to the laws of physics the people would notice, so much of the scenery of Areulie is exactly like that of Demerulie. Another words, oceans and mountains are the same in both worlds.
The computer programs that compose of half the people in Areulie are there as family and friends to the real people there. All the beings in Areulie don’t know that Demerulie even exists; they only have religions that speak of a “City of Gods”.
I woke up with a jerk, breathing hard as I looked around the familiar room I’d resided in for the last ten years of my life.
“Ari?” Sakura asked from where she sat on her bed.
“Yeah.” I said and nodded, although she wasn’t convinced.
“You dreamed about them again, didn’t you?”
“Sorta.”
“You can’t ‘sorta’ dream about them.” She said, putting her glasses on. She was terribly far-sided. “Either you do, or you don’t.”
I smiled saying,
“I’m fine! Besides, I dream of the Dark Messengers a lot.”
She made the sign of the gods, middle and pointer finger to her forehead, than heart, and made a circle in front of her chest saying,
“May the spirits of Ari’s parents protect her from where they live in the City of Gods. And please continue to protect us all from the Midnights.”
She made the sign again, and ended her payer.
“You really should thank the gods that your dream is only a dream, and that you're safe right now.”
I sighed saying,
“Sakura, you know I can’t pray to the gods like that.”
“But everybody can realize the gods are with them! It’s never too late to be converted.”
I shook my head saying,
“If there was a City of Gods, where everything was so prefect, how come the Dark Messengers call themselves ‘The Gods’ Dark Messengers’?”
“Because they’re lying and trying to confuse people, so they lose faith in the gods.”
“You know I don’t believe in any gods. Give it a rest, would you Sakura?”
“You know I can’t.” She said standing up and heading to the bathroom to shower.
She wasn’t always this way; before she lost her family she was able to do things without thanking the gods. I, on the other hard, hardly remembered my parents aside from their corpses. Seeing them dead before my eyes was my last memory of them.
Sakura was two years older than me, had brown eyes and black hair. She was tall and slim, and always wore contacts. She’d only wear the glasses she hated so much when she was first waking up and only I’d see.
I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror, 5’3, orange hair, light blue eyes, oddly no freckles, muscular build, and always looked three years older than I really was. Although I was only seventeen, everybody thought I’d been held back a few grades and was really twenty. Ironically, I’d acutely skipped three grades and was in college.
After Sakura headed off to head to her school I took a shower and got dressed in my old school uniform. I’d argued about the uniform for years, trying to get a boy’s uniform but I still wore the dark maroon pleated shirt and white shirt.I packed my backpack full of books, and headed out for another day of school.
The Dark Messengers came here ten years ago. I thought as I walked down the familiar sidewalks. They cause a lot of trouble, and do strange things to the people they capture. It’s said they suck the soul from them or something like that. The body keeps functioning, but the people go into comas that are irreversible. That’s how my parents died.
Although they were called Midnights, they always called themselves Dark Messengers or the Gods’ Dark Messengers. The public wasn’t told much about them, only that they all had silvery eyes and if a person every saw one, call the Sitvikets immediately. Sitvikets were the special division of the police that handled the Dark Messengers.
People usually didn’t use the term ‘Dark Messenger’ because it showed respect to them, in the opinions of some people. While in reality, the humans feared the Dark Messengers and wouldn’t say their real name for some illogical reason. Doesn’t fearing a simple name, only increase the fear of the same thing so people can’t function when attacked because they’re swallowed up by all that hidden fear?
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and I glanced behind me to see if I was being followed. Nobody was watching me as the flood of people walking to schools and works continued to flow, and being watched wasn’t anything strange but I had a bad feeling about today. Maybe because in another two weeks it’ll be the anniversary of my parent’s death?
I continued onward, and after a few moments found my self glancing over my shoulder every few moments unable to shake the feeling of being watched. I started walking faster, and when I glanced back this time I saw a young man with short black hair and sun-glasses wearing all black a few feet behind me, focusing on me.
I felt satisfied in a way, and started running through the crowds determined to get to my school faster. When I ran though the large iron gates and entered the front school yard full of students in the same uniforms as me. I glanced back for one final time as I entered the front doors of my school, to see the same person hanging around the entrance but not following me any further.
The school day was uneventful; even the “pop quizzes” had a pattern I’d been able to memorize after a while of observant ennui. When ever we started a new section in any of the subjects, I would study it in advanced and take notes from random websites online so I’d only have to add any thing I didn’t recognize during classes.
It was raining, so gym was inside today. After that since it was cloudy, lunch was also indoors. It was during lunch time I got the feeling of being watched again. I glanced over my should as I unwrapped my bologna sandwich…I wasn’t much of a cook.
“What’s wrong?” One of the girls sitting at my table, Nishema, asked.
“Nothing…” I replied.
“Are you feeling alright, Ari?” Atrasia asked. “You’ve been acting spacey all day.” Atrasia was probably my favorite of the girls, she was more easy-going and cheerful than most of the others. She had brown hair and eyes, and always seemed to be on some sort of diet because she was a little chubby.
“She’s probably thinking of a boy.” Circe said idly. Her, I liked the least. Not only did she dye her hair blond, and wore contact lenses that made her eyes look green instead of brown, but she was just as fake and manipulative as her dissatisfaction with her appearances would make you assume.
“Yeah, right!” Tyrith joked, “The day Ari’s thinking of a guy I’ll eat cafeteria food!”
Tyrith was probably the most sarcastic out the small group. She had black hair and brown eyes that sometimes looked red in the right lighting.
She’ll have to eat cafeteria food then. Although the guy I’m thinking of doesn’t really fall into the category they’re thinking of…
“Did you hear about that attack on Fireagroa?” Sakura asked looking up from her book.
“Yeah.” Atrasia said, sounding remorseful. “Not only did they bomb the city, they also gassed the underground shelters.”
“What a crock of shit.” I said idly biting into my apple, the idea of finding half a worm in it hovering in the back of my consciousness. “The Dark Messengers don’t want to kill people like that, they want to take them to their labs and experiment on them. Believe that and you’re obviously too naïve to even relay the news.”
“Midnight! Don’t say the name!” Atrasia said, jumping.
“By the way Ari, exactly how do you know about that?” Nishema asked. “I usually tell everybody about news like that, after all my father is they mayor and this is the capital of the county. It’s only natural I know about it, but you never said where you get your information.”
Sakura have a stern look that told me exactly what she was thinking, if you tell them about your past you’ll only be an outcast and have to transfer schools again.
“My parents were killed by Dark Messengers. I heard them talking about how my parents were wasted humans for experimentation.”
“Ari!” Atrasia hissed, “They’re Midnights!”
Nishema nodded saying,
“You left of that part when you said your parents were killed by them.” Nishema said thoughtfully, blue eyes gleaming.
“Why didn’t they take you than?” Circe asked coldly. “You’d of been a good test-subject for them, right?”
“How the hell should I know?” I snapped, too quickly and irritably. Sakura gave me a look, as I inwardly cursed myself for possibly making them suspicious.
Circe made a cat-like smile asking,
“If you really where some kind of test subject how do you hide the color of your eyes? Shouldn’t they be silver?”
“Enough!” Sakura snapped slamming her book down. “Circe, you know for a fact accusing somebody of being with the Midnights could land you in jail!”
“What do I care?” She said coyly. “My father’s the chief of police. That won’t ever happen.”
“Sit down, you’re rocking the boat!” Atrasia said using one of her favorite comparisons, “If your father is sacked you’re doomed.”
“He’s got a lot of friends. Besides, I think --no, I know-”
“Well there’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one: a thinking blond. You slay me.” Tyrith cut in idly draining her can of Sprite Zero. Circe scowled and continued,
“I know such a day will never come.” She finished, glaring at Tyrith.
“Don’t be so arrogant.” Tyrith said idly, “Although everybody at the police station says ‘Why it’s good old reliable Nathan!’ about your father now, it won’t last forever.”
“Tyrith's right.” I said, giving Circe a level look. She scoffed saying,
“There’s far too much protection here in Keravail for the Midnights to attack.” She snapped.
“It’s the capital, you idiot!” I said angrily as Sakura gave me a wary look, “Of course it’s going to be attacked eventually! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. If fact, I bet-”
I stopped mid sentence, and dashed out of the cafeteria regardless of the calls after me. I kept my face hidden until I burst into the empty girl’s bathroom on the seventh floor. After vomiting and washing my hands, I splashed water on my face and looked into my reflection in the mirror above the sink. My eyes were fading back to their natural color of light blue, the silver gone. Only Sakura knew what really happened when I was young, and knew about its effects on me now.
The bathroom door opened and Sakura entered asking softly,
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah…”
“You should head to the infirmary, you’re going to be sick for the rest of the day after that. Were your eyes completely silver?”
“Yeah.”
“If I ask you another question, are you simply going to reply with an unintelligent ‘yeah’ again?”
“Probably. You jinxed yourself though.”
“Do you still feel sick?” She asked as a particularly bought of nausea swamped over me, but only ended up as a dry heave since I’d already been acquainted to the contest of my stomach a few moments.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” She said idly.
“It comes and goes…” I muttered, “Comes and goes…"
I splashed my face with cold water again saying,
“I need to transfer schools again and get out of this town.”
“What?” Sakura asked sharply. “Why?”
“I was followed to school this morning. I didn’t see the guy’s eyes because he had sunglasses, but you can be sure they were silver.” I looked up my eyes meeting hers saying, “They know I’m here. I can’t stay in this city.”
“But there’s only another month of school left, you’re not going to be able to transfer to another college. You’d have to drop out and repeat the year if you-”
“It doesn’t matter.” I said turning off the water. “You know they’ll do anything to get me. They’ll destroy all Keravail and take every citizen as test subjects to get to me!”
“But, Ari-”
“No. I knew it was a risk using my real first name the last two years.”
“Than I’m going with you if you’re leaving.”
“No.” I said putting my hand on her shoulder. “You need to stay at this school and complete your four years here, if you successfully become a medical surgeon it’ll be a lot more helpful than you following me.”
“But, if you go I’ll never be able to find you again.”
“Don’t worry.” I said with an eerie sense of finality. “I’ll find you.”
With that, I dashed out of the bathroom and down the halls to the stairwell and quickly reached the ground floor, as I exited the school and was jogging through the court yard in the rain, I looked up to see two large battleships above the city.
“No…” I muttered.
“Come with us, and nobody will be hurt.” A cold voice said from the doorway of my school. I turned around, to see the man who had been following me earlier. He removed his sunglasses, reveling silver eyes which told me he was part of the Dark Messengers. He look to be in his early twenties.
I tensed, not replying. He idly strolled forward saying,
“You want to fight me? Don’t be a fool. Just listen to what I’ve got to say and be quiet.” He said drawing a pistol and pointing it at my heart. I looked up to the windows on the second floor, to see a group of students gathered in front of it pointing and yelling. My attacker also look up, and fired on shot toward the window. The glass shattered, and with a silent curse I lunged forward, high kicking him in the jaw before he refocused on me.
That threw him off-balance and grabbed his right wrist, and charged him to knock him down so when he fired the shot it flew into the air. I landed heavily on top of him, making sure I crunched his wrist. The pistol flew out of his wrist, and a jerked forward off of him to grab it. I was hardly an inch away when he grabbed my ankle, pulling me back.
“Do all females your age wear blue underwear?” He asked as I kicked him in the chest with my free leg, and scrabbled forward for the pistol.
Damn skirts! I thought to myself, my face still slightly red from his comment. I pointed the pistol at his heart as he stood up. I stood up also, being careful to keep the pistol aimed at his heart. He nodded calmly saying,
“Not bad, not bad at all. I didn’t expect any fight from you at all. Or at least fight that could turn the tables. Why don’t you put that pistol down and we’ll talk?”
“Like hell I will. How about you just start talking?”
“That’ll work too. What questions do you have?”
“What are you doing to the people you abduct?”
“We send them to the real world, of course.” He answered simply. “And get them out of this foolish computer program. There’s nothing for them here in Areulie, so why not send the to Demerulie?”
“What is Demerulie?”
He didn’t look surprised, and if he was he didn’t show it.
“The kind of people here call it the ‘City of Gods’.”
“Tell me more about you ‘Demerulie’.”
“This world, Areulie, started out as a virtual reality if you will, for the consciousnesses’ of sick people to rest without rotting while their bodies healed, or were completely re-constructed. Half the people here in Areulie are real people, reborn with no memories of their old lives, and the other half of the people are fabricated data. To get the consciousness of a real person out of Areulie and back into Demerulie, they need to either accelerate or decelerate time around them so the person in Areulie can die or enter a coma so they can be safely extracted.”
“Every time somebody is extracted,” He continued, “An anomaly forms. Born from these anomalies are what you call Midnights, or Dark Messengers like me. We aren’t real people of Demerulie or fabricated and evolving data like half the people of Areulie. We are what comes between, beings that can survive in both worlds. The things we do to the people of this world evolve them enough to live their lives in Demerulie, and escape this dream-land.”
“And what if these people don’t want to leave Areulie? What if they’re happier never knowing that their City of Gods is really imperfect, that their world is fake, and they’re data?”
“Because we make them more than simple data, Ariunasina.”
How does he know my real name? Only my parents called me Ariunasina…
“And you, Ariunasina, are one of us. Your parents were too, but they became started telling the authorities of this world where out bases were, so we had no choice but to dispose of them. You, on the other hand, were too young at the time to develop hard feelings against Areulieain, Demeruliens, or we Dark Messengers so we figured you’d be easy to convince into joining us…but it didn’t work that way, you escaped into the night and it took years to find you again.”
“Why do you want me in the first place?” I snapped.
“Because, Ariunasina, you are the key to destroying the line between reality and virtual reality. This world, while it started out as data, is filled with life now. The Demeruliens didn’t even attempt trying to contain the life they had. Because of this, the data of this world absorbed all the ‘life’ they radiated and slowly started to evolve, this ‘life’ corrupted the data, only causing more anomalies. The fact that Areulie even stays together is a miracle.”
“You say I’m the ‘key’, but what am I really? I wasn’t born like you.”
“No, you weren’t. You’re the first ever offspring that came from two Dark Messengers and survived. You’re something very special, Ariunasina. You hold the power that we born of death to life don't possess; the sleeping power that can destroy the divide between the worlds.”
“What the hell is the power though? You tell me what it does but not exactly what it is! And if I don’t know how to use it, than how could you?”
“That information is not given to soldiers like me, Ariunasina. Please come with me if you wish to know more.”
Before I could reply, I heard a huge explosion in the distance that shook the ground. I barely kept my footing, and the assassin cursed.
“What the hell are they thinking?” He looked down at me as I regained my balance, and picked his sunglasses up from where they’d fallen and replaced them on his face saying,
“C’mon, we need to get to one of the underground shelters. Apparently my ‘comrades’ have other plans.”
I pointed the pistol at his heart saying,
“You still haven’t told me your name.”
“It’s Auron.” He said after a moment of silence. “You can keep the gun, just c’mon.” He said holding out his hand. I hesitantly grabbed, and he instantly bolted. I didn’t have too hard a time keeping up with him, but it wasn’t exactly easy for he was surprisingly fast.
The streets were chaotic; business workers in suits and students in school uniforms along with countless pedestrians pushes through the crowds trying to reach the entrances to underground shelters.
“Why didn’t we go to the shelter under the school?” I asked as he dragged me along, pushing aside people to get through ever step.
“School shelters aren’t low enough to serve proper protection, if bombs are dropped on pressure points they’ll crack and collapse.”
“What?” I asked hollowly, genuinely shocked.
“Stop asking stupid questions, and just run!” He snapped, “The best shelters are under military facilities, we’re heading to the shelter under the Sitvikets building…only problem is that I’m not exactly welcomed there.”
“Of course you’re not, the Sitvikets would never let a Dark Messenger into their shelters.”
“And that’s where you come in, ma belle Messenger.”
“Don’t call me a Messenger.” I growled.
“Fine, fine. You need to lie if they ask any questions just say I’m your brother, alright?”
“No.” I snapped, “I’d let them kill you before I did that!”
Before I was able to react to realize what he was doing, he jerked me into an ally and roughly pushed me against the wall, a small knife to my neck as he said,
“Just because you suddenly feel superior because my comrades attacked before I brought you back, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t believe me if you were to have a few…injuries upon arriving as long as you were alive. Now, are you going to cooperate or not? If you are, drop the pistol.”
After a long moment that I didn’t drop it he smirked slightly saying,
“Ah, you don’t believe I’m a sinner, is that it? You don’t think I’d hurt you if you didn’t do what I told you do, right?”
He pressed the blade closer to my neck, so only a small cut formed, but it was enough to make me drop the pistol. He picked it up calmly, and stepped away from me. I was forced to follow him, and lie to get into the shelter. The guards didn’t ask questions, for the shelter was only half full so they weren’t yet being picky about who got in and who didn’t.
After walking down the flights of stairs we reached the ground level. Auron was still pulling me around, and when we heard an explosion from above, and the flow of people entering the shelter stopped, I turned around waiting for the blast of rubble and dust to clear to see if anybody that had been in the halls were still coming.
I was asked what school I attended, and grouped with other students of my school that didn’t go to the underground shelter under the school. All the shelters had high ceilings and white walls, the rooms that were divided for certain schools or races were a lot smaller than the main entry room through. I scanned the students that were gathered in this white room, with beds lining either side of the rectangular room, hoping to recognize anybody I knew. I wasn’t sure why Auron was allowed in here too, since he didn’t have a school ID or a uniform, but I didn’t ask questions.
When I saw the group of girls on the far side of the room I felt relieved and called,
“Sakura! Tyrith! Atrasia!” I ran down to where they were grouped, guessed there were about one hundred students in here, and we ended up in one big bear hug. I felt Auron watching me from the entrance, but since there weren’t any exits aside from that one he didn’t follow.
“What are you guys doing here?” You should of stayed at the school shelter!”
“We couldn’t of left you with that creep!” Atrasia said, looking relieved.
“Who was that guy, anyway?” Tyrith asked.
“Is that him?” Sakura asked pointing at Auron, the only one of the girls that didn’t relax easily.
Both Tyrith and Atrasia jumped and looked.
“Yeah.” I replied.
“What’s he doing here?” Atrasia asked quietly, biting her lip.
“I’m kinda his hostage.” I replied.
“What’s he want with you, anyway?” Tyrith asked, looking nearly as nervous as Atrasia.
Sakura exchanged looks with me, and shrugged saying,
“It’s your call, Ari.”
“It has to do with my parents.” I said, futilely hoping they’d take that as a satisfactory answer…no such luck.
“He’s a Midnight, isn’t he?” Tyrith asked.
“Too bad, he’s kinda cute…” Atrasia said randomly. Tyrith elbowed her snapping,
“Atrasia!”
“What?” She asked innocently. “I said ‘too bad’, didn’t I?”
“You can’t be calling your friend’s kidnapper cute!”
“But he is.” Atrasia pouted.
“No matter how cute he is, he can’t be cute if he kidnapped your friend!”
“But you admit he’s cute!”
“Both of you,” Sakura said with finality, “Stop arguing! If you can’t be serious, you might as well go read the pamphlets they hand out for people with weak constitutions to explain what’s happening and why they’re being deceived their safe.”
Tyrith scowled slightly saying sarcastically,
“Like reading these pamphlets will help. Ari, don’t you trust enough to tell us why he’s after you?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that…” I said, glancing at Auron. He wasn’t looking at me for a change, he was scowling down at a school girl that looked a little younger than me flirting with him.
“My parents were Dark Messengers. I’m the only child of two Dark Messengers that ever lived, so supposedly I have some kind of powers. That’s why I dashed out of the cafeteria today, when I get angry my eyes turn silver and I get really nauseous. They killed my parents because they were leaking information, I’ve had numerous names and identities so I wasn’t found. Sakura is the only person I really told, we’ve been transferring schools since I was little.”
Tyrith and Atrasia didn’t look disgusted, only a little surprised. I looked from the both of them asking,
“You don’t think…I’m some kind of demon?”
“Why would we? No matter what you are, you’re still our friend Ari.” Tyrith replied, with a small smile.
“I once saw you eyes flash when you got angry, too.” Atrasia added. “I didn’t think much of it though.”
“Thanks guys.” I said with a weak smile. I glanced at Auron again, who looked genuinely horrified that this little human girl was latched on to his arm, probably asking him to go out with her. The others looked up at where I was looking and Tyrith snickered saying,
“I hope she gets him in trouble with his boss.” Tyrith said dryly.
“I hope she realizes he’s armed and screams.” I said coldly.
“And then wets herself in fear since she probably never saw a real gun in her life.” Tyrith added, sarcastic as ever.
The attacks continued deep into the night, and even though the others were able to sleep I couldn’t. I always had unusually good night vision and hearing, so when I saw Auron stand up and leave the room, I silently sat up and pulled my shoes on to follow. I wasn’t surprised to see the guards unconscious, although I couldn’t imagine when Auron had time to poison them.
I walked up the stairs slowly, careful not to trip over any rubble from the surface that had fallen in. There was one corner before the door, and I kneeled behind it, only peaking once to see Auron talking to a tall man that looked to be in his late twenties. He also had silver eyes, so I knew he was a Dark Messenger, along with long white hair.
“You were careless.” The man said, “You let a mere schoolgirl best you in hand to hand combat, nearly escape a few times, get more information out of you than she was to be told, and on top of that you brought her to a shelter where her friends were. Do you have anything to say for yourself, Auruinon?”
“I know, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”
“You acted recklessly.”
“The only reason I did was because you started the attack before I had her at the transporter, the plan was that when we had her on the ship to attack and-”
“The plain failed because you wasted too much time getting her, Auruinon.” He said coldly. “I want you to bring her to me at dawn by what was the capital building.”
“Yes sir.” Auron replied.
“You are dismissed.” The older man said, walking off.
I cursed to myself, and stood up to run down the stairs as Auron turned around to head back, tripped over a large rock and landed on the cement stairs with a thud. My first reaction was to flop my skirt back in place when I heard Auron running and I was on my knees when he stood at the top of the stairs saying,
“You’re pathetic.”
I stood up, ignoring my bleeding knees, elbows, and palms of my hands. He shook his head asking coldly,
“Are you ready to go?”
“I thought we were leaving at dawn.”
“Change of plans.” He said dismissively. “We’re not going with the Messengers.”
“But I thought-”
“I’ll take you to Demerulie myself. To learn more about Areulie’s structure, we’ll have to go to Demerulie and infiltrate their bases there.”
“You’re going to betray your organization?”
“Do you have a problem with that? You should be glad, they wouldn’t think twice about doing what they wish with you.”
“How are we going to get to Demerulie?”
“There are transporters in shrines in the northern reaches of this country. Do you need to get anything from the shelter or can we go now?”
“What about my friends?”
“They’re staying here.” He said calmly.
I turned around and started heading down the stairs but I stopped when Auron asked,
“Truly though, I though females your age would wear white underwear. You’re not very protective about who sees those things, either.”
I turned around slapping him yelling,
“You pervert!”
I turned around, and ran down the stairs even though I thought he was smirking slightly.
I stopped one more time calling,
“We’re going to find what’s left of my dorm before we go anywhere.”
“Why?”
“So I can get a change of clothes!”
I walked through the large room silently, doing my best not to wake anybody. I felt around under my pillow until I felt the cold metal of the silver locket under my fingers. I removed it, fixed it around my neck and tucked it under my clothes. I remade my bed, my eyes settling on Sakura, Tyrith, and Atrasia for a moment before I left. I had the feeling I wasn’t going to see them again, and if I was it wouldn’t be for a very long time.
Auron was standing where I’d left him and when I came into view he asked,
“Care to lead the way to your dorm? I doubt I’ll be able to recognize it.”
I nodded saying,
“Sure.”
Most of the buildings were in ruins, there were cracks in the street and cars that had been reduced to twisted chucks of metal. With all the fallen skyscrapers it was amazing fire trucks were able to put out the blaze with all the rubble. There was still a scent of smoke and ash in the air, but it wasn’t too noticeable. After a while we started seeing random injured people being treated by survivors. Worst of all were the mutilated bodies we started seeing too.
I looked at the ruins of what had been my dorm, and climbed over the stone rubble that had been the fence that surrounded it. I went around to the back, trying to locate my room. Auron followed slowly and called out,
“Watch out for gas leaks or surfaces that might collapse, don’t go killing yourself. It’d be a real pain in the ass for me.”
I rolled my eyes saying,
“Thanks for being so thoughtful, mother.”
I found what had been my room and my dresser. I salvaged a pair of tan cargo pants, black army boots, and an orange sleeve-less shirt. I left my school uniform on the dresser, knowing I wasn’t going to need it again. I met Auron on the sidewalk.
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.”
“You do know you’re probably not coming back here, right?”
“I understand.”
“…Alright. Let’s go.”
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Help Us Stop Plagiarism -
Nearly all works at PnP are original. However a few people choose to plagiarize.
To check, choose a phrase from the work, then either drag and drop to the search box or copy and paste.
click on search and works at Google will be shown which match. Just to be sure, please do this before
you recommend or rate the work highly...
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Select a Random Work
from Stories
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