- Tap… Tap… Tap… - Every few seconds, the sounds of wooden objects hitting each other tingled Alric’s ears. His body felt heavy, but fortunately, the horrible pain in his arms was gone.

“Queen to d5.” A familiar voice urged him to open his eyes. The light hurt, but he forced himself anyway.

“Michael?”

“Your move.”

It was one of the boys he used to play with. There was a chessboard between them, and they were inside his old classroom.

“I’m back?” he mumbled while frantically looking around.

“I hope so,” Michael chuckled. “Come on man, focus. I know you’ll mess up the regionals, but you should at least try.”

“Regionals?” ‘No, that’s not important.” Alric rose to his feet and shook his head. He stretched out his arms, and they were in perfect condition. Around him, there were his old friends, the desks they used to play at, and even his teacher who was looking at him strangely.

“I need to go to the bathroom.” He ran into the hallway.

‘What the hell is going on?’ According to his eyes, the youth was inside his old school building after hours. The corridor was empty and the tennis club was playing on the nearby field.

‘I’m back, but I shouldn’t be. If it were all a dream, then I should have woken up in my bed. Unless someone messed with my brain, that first round had definitely happened.’

Alric’s mind went in circles trying to figure out the situation. According to Amon, all contestants should've been sent to a place where they could train for the next round.

‘Is this it? If so, then how much time do I have?’

Suddenly, the boy realized his vision was a bit blurry. He took off his glasses and started wiping them only to be shocked even further.

“Why is my vision so good?” He couldn’t help but say it out loud. After directing his gaze at various objects and retrying his glasses several times, there was no doubt about it. ‘Either the government gave me laser eye surgery or Amon isn’t such a prick after all.’

Wondering what other ‘gifts’ the demon had given him Alric, examined his body more closely. Unfortunately, he hadn’t magically grown a six pack and his arms were just as skinny as ever. In fact, the only things that changed were his outfit.

Gone were the embarrassing pajamas; his normal school clothes took their place. ‘I’m wearing my old jeans for some reason and my old club T-shirt, but at least… Oh.’ Suddenly, realization hit him like a pile of bricks and he rushed back into the classroom.

“Mister Wilson, I may have missed an appointment. What day is today?”

“Wednesday,” the teacher answered matter of factly.

“Yes, but what day is it exactly? As in: day, month, and year?”

“Have you been watching too many Terminator films? If you’ve hit your head, then Miss Palmer is supposed to be doing checkups.” By now, the entire classroom was giving him weird looks. “And, call your mother. She sent me a message just now.”

“Oh... I’ll do just that. And, I’ll be going home sooner today, since… I have some work with… my mom?”

After an awkward goodbye, the teen ran out without even taking his backpack. Fortunately, his phone was always inside his pocket, and that was the only thing he required.

’03.03.2019.’ It was exactly one year before he had received the demon’s invitation. ‘Is this what the message meant by all the time I would need?’ While he was nervously tapping the floor, his phone started ringing.

“Answer your damn phone when I call you!” his mother’s voice burst from the other side. The youth’s already traumatized ears were sending protests to his brain. “Your brother got in trouble at school, and I’m supposed to be working today. Go pick him up.”

The call ended before he could get a word in. Ever since a possible pandemic was announced at the beginning of next year, his mother started putting in longer shifts at the hospital and was getting more and more irritable. However, for her to be acting this way in 2019 was a bit out of character.

Until he figured out the situation, Alric decided to pretend things were normal. He left the school and took a bus towards his brother’s school. Numerous thoughts plagued him all the way there along with a sense of unease.

‘Did Liam ever get into trouble?’ As far as anybody knew, his 12 year old brother was at the top of his class, though a bit introverted and shy. Alric was the same when younger, so he didn’t think anything of it.

“May I have your seat?” an old lady asked a girl in her 20s after getting on the bus.

“No,” the girl answered stiffly. “I believe I am upset at this time and would not give a seat under these circumstances.”

“But, I always get a seat,” said the grandma before stopping any and all movement. In Alric’s eyes, she looked frozen.

Unfortunately, the old woman noticed his stare, defrosted herself, and walked over. Before he could make up an excuse or look away, she began a tirade on how rude the first person was. The boy tried to give the grandma his seat several times, but she ignored him and kept talking.

Finally, his brother’s middle school was in sight, and Alric practically jumped off the bus. However, just when he was about to sigh in relief, something infinitely weirder appeared before his eyes.

……………………………………………………………………………….

During the Christmas break of 2019, the chemistry teacher of Lincoln Middle School got a bit too much into the holiday spirit. He tried to gift himself a Nobel Prize and created an explosion which destroyed the right side of the building instead.

Fortunately, there was only one casualty caused by this incident, the nutty professor himself. Unfortunately, the building became unusable for months, and Liam had to transfer schools soon after.

As for why this incident came to Alric’s mind, it was due to what he saw after leaving the bus. Despite it being only spring, his brother’s school building was missing a piece, specifically a large chunk out of its right side.

As if that wasn’t puzzling enough, there were still people walking within that area. There were chairs, furniture, and even bathroom stalls built out into the open.

Alric could see them both on the base floor as well as on the upper ones. It was like parts of the building’s walls were invisible, or the furniture and people were hanging in midair.

‘At least I found Liam,’ he thought while massaging his temples. On the second floor, sitting on a floating chair, his younger brother was waiting inside the principal’s non-existent office.

While making his way there, Alric organized his thoughts. ‘I’m still in the tournament inside some freaky simulation. The school was blown up 6 months from now, and they didn’t even bother recreating it.’

After pretending to knock on the office’s invisible door, the boy was perplexed on what to do next. In front of him, on a floating chair, his brother was looking at him with a relieved expression. Further away, behind a large desk, the principal was busy going through some paperwork.

Things looked normal except for the furniture, people, and even a couple of paintings which floated in midair. From where he stood, Alric could see all the way to the neighborhood park.

“I’m Liam’s brother,” he eventually introduced himself.

“Come in,” said the principle.

‘I’d rather not.’ However, since they weren’t falling to their deaths, the boy hoped he could walk on air too. To test the waters, he slowly extended a foot to the amusement of his brother.

“What are you doing?” asked the principle upon noticing his behavior.

“Just… nothing.” The invisible floor was holding Alric’s weight. While doing his best to mask his nervousness, the youth carefully walked amongst the birds.

“Your brother is in a lot of trouble, young man,” said the principal after putting her documents aside. “He punched his colleague and broke three of his teeth.”

“Self defense,” Liam added while shrugging.

“The first strike may have been so, but the third and fourth were certainly not! And, I haven’t even mentioned that kick at the end.”

‘Liam did this!?’ Alric’s eyes widened the more he listened. As if the accusations weren’t grave enough, his brother actually looked proud of his actions.

“This is unacceptable behaviour," the principle chided. "Now, I have to deal with him instead of going on a date with my boyfriend. Today is the day he proposes to me.”

‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ Alric didn’t know whether to apologize or get upset. Noticing his confusion, the once shy Liam took the lead and started speaking like a tiny gangster.

“Listen, Alric. The kid got in my face, called me stupid, and pushed me. I don’t know how you deal with a-holes around here, but where I come from, you don’t start a fight unless you’re willing to spill blood.”

“Blood?” The youth was struggling to make sense of everything while figuring out a way to bail him out.

“Nostrovia, partner,” his brother answered with a cheeky smile. “You didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you?”