For once, I had a restful sleep. No discombobulated voices. No fiery demons. Just a calm and restful slumber. I awoke before the ringing of my first alarm and managed to quickly rinse, dress up, and come downstairs to the kitchen in record time. Dad and Apple were still in bed, rolling around beneath the curtains before reluctantly getting up and going about with their day. I had a quick bite to eat: a raspberry Poptart along with a glass of chocolate milk.

The drive to school was the usual: moderate traffic with the occasional ghost left and right. I arrived at school forty minutes early before Chemistry began. I sat a good while in the car pondering about the past day. I felt the weight of all the crazy events that transpired, the added info I gained, and the offer I declined. I opened the car door, expecting Terry to appear asking for at least an extra penny for the period in exchange for answering an American history question. To my surprise, Terry was nowhere to be found. That was unusual. Terry always appeared in front of me each day regardless of whether he wanted some coins. It was rare for him ever to miss teasing me before the start of class.

I thought back to what Terry said to me yesterday about the strange occurrences happening in the spirit realm and to be careful around unknown ghosts. He was right too, given that my encounter with Barry nearly cost my life. Hopefully both of them were okay.

As I walked towards Wilson Academy’s front door, I encountered Oliver. He stared at a phone in the right hand with a worried expression on his dimpled face.

“Hey Oliver, are you okay?” He looked up from his phone. In noticing me, he shoved his phone into his side pocket.

“Yeah, I’m fine dude? How about you?”

“It's been alright,” I said, knowing I couldn’t tell him about what truly happened yesterday. “I spent a long time studying last time.”

“Good for you I suppose. You're getting more studious by the minute. Speaking of which, how did your tutoring session go with Gigi.”

“Fine. She’s a greater teacher. I learned a lot. She’s certainly something.” Whenever I thought of Gigi, I kept reminding myself of the fight in the Burger King and the promise she made with me. I wondered how I could ever continue tutoring with her after all of that. Awkward wouldn’t begin to describe it.

“Nice,” Olive responded, smiling with all his teeth. He reached into the pocket that did not contain his phone and grabbed a health bar. He unwrapped the packing and gave a good bite of oats before continuing. “Maybe you can help tutor me for the upcoming Calculus Exam.”

“Who knows? I wouldn’t advise it though.”

“You underestimate yourself, Xavier. Anyhow, I’m heading to class today. Coming?” He took another bite of his health bar.

“Sorry, but I’ll have to pass. I’ll meet you in class later.”

“Sure man. See you then.”

We waved bye to each other. As he left to go to Chemistry, I went to the cafeteria to see if I could find Gigi. I didn’t want to talk to her, but I felt like I needed to talk to her about the whole tutoring situation. I didn’t feel comfortable with her as my tutor anymore due to what we went through. I knew it was a silly reason, but I knew I could not study with her. All I would be thinking about was how I declined her offer.

I searched the aisles of the cafeteria trying to find her, but she was nowhere in sight. Instead, I saw the blond dimpled girl I saw at the Calculus tutoring desk. She sat alone although I sensed that she anticipated some of her friends to come over. Her eyes were fixed on pieces of paper on the desk, likely her homework. I came up to her, waving my hand as I approached. She lifted her head and gave me a quick questionable glance before responding in kind.

“Hey,” I said. “How’s it going?”

“Good Bryson. How are you today?”

“Sorry, my name’s not Bryson.”

“Wait really!” Her face blushed. “Sorry about that, but you look just like him. Wait, then do I know you?”

“I’m Xavier. I talked to you briefly during the Calculus tutoring session if you could remember.’

“Sorry, but I can’t say I do. The name is Tyana by the way..”

“Nice to meet you, Tanya. Anyhow, do you know a girl named Gigi.”

“Yeah, me and Gigi are pretty good friends.”

“Well, me and Gigi are...well, we're acquaintances now. She’s my tutor, and I planned to meet her this morning to talk about the homework. Do you know where she is?”

“She’s told me that she’s not coming to school today.”

“Oh really,” I said with a sigh. “That’s too bad.”

‘Yeah, it’s strange, isn’t she? She’s never missed a day of class since I met her. She’s always been punctual with a capital P, but things happen.”

“I see. Anyway, thanks for telling me. I’ll just study on my own today.”

“Good luck. I would help you if I had the time, but the amount of homework I received yesterday was impossible.”

“No problem, I’ll make it. Good luck with your studies.” Tanya nodded and gave me a thumbs up as I sat up from the table and left.

I exited the cafeteria and took the stairs leading towards the Chemistry room. I entered the room. Oliver and some other students were there but overall, the room was barren. I sat in my usual seat and took out my Chemistry notes as I prepared for another boring lecture.

Two minutes before class began and no other students entered the building. I guess everyone was rushing to finish their homework. One minute before class began and I started to feel uneasy. I looked to Oliver, and he gave me a confused look that confirmed my suspicion--this wasn’t natural. The class bell rang and neither the students nor the teacher were there. It was just me, Oliver, and two other students. Did I miss something? Was today a no-Chemistry-day?

I stood up to my seat to refill my water bottle. I planned to wait for around five minutes before leaving the class. I reached for the doorknob and as I opened the door a surge of pain passed throughout my body. I felt like I was being electrocuted: my hairs stood on end; my body plummeted to the floor. My muscles convulsed as I yelled in agony.

I heard the collective gasped of Oliver and other students. “Xavier, what in the world!” Oliver ran towards me, but before he could reach me the front door burst open and a cloud of dense red vapor billowed in. I managed to rise and before the smoke could envelop us completely. I dragged Oliver by the arm out of the smoke. We both fell backwards towards the back of the room, Oliver coughing up a storm. The other students compared to the back of the room to avoid the incoming smoke. The gaseous substance submerged the entire front half of the room. As I tried to get Oliver to stand, I saw the blood mist condense further until the outlines of two humanoid creatures could be discerned. One was tall with short frayed white hair and a narrow face. He wore a white jacket over what one could consider his bare chest. Instead of ears, dark red horns grew from the sides of his head. He walked barefoot, his feet covered in dimples and boils. He clasped his hands together as if he was about to pray.

“ I am Callous van Allienhiemr, representing the Dominion of Separation. Pleasure to make your acquaintance”

The other humanoid creature was far smaller, only slightly taller than Apple. His face appeared gaunt with red scars covering his cheeks. His hair was a black long mane that obscured his left eye. His red right eye shined vehemently. In his right hand, he held a split blade dagger that dripped a greenish substance. When he opened his mouth, I saw a set of razor-sharp teeth.

“And I am Gratos, representing the Dominion of Autonomy.” His voice sounded like a cheese grater. He eyed us four students like we were meat on a stick. “Callous can I eat them now?”

“Patience Gratos. You mustn't forgo the mission. Father’s plans always come first.”

“Come on Callous. Father said that we only needed that visionary kid. Can’t I eat the rest?”

“Not until we get the information we needed.” Callous turned to us. “Now, which of you is the visionary?”

My body felt ice cold. The creatures before me appeared in just the same way the beast did at the Burger King. They must be liches, and yet they give off a completely different aura than the previous one--more sinister and terrifying. Additionally, these appeared much more cognizant than the previous lich, able to hold a conversation with one another and talk to others. More so than that, they seemed to know more about me than I did about them. Obviously, I was the visionary they were talking about. I knew I had to do something. All the other kids were shaking in fear, backing to the end of the wall. Oliver was shaking. His face had turned a light blue and his glasses had fallen off. I got up and approached the two lichs.

“So, you’re the one Father keeps hammering about, eh.” Gratos said. “Interesting. You do seem to give off an impressive aura, and yet seem so weak.”

“He’s only human after all,” Callous responded. “However, he remains an asset for the other side. We can’t just let him roam around freely regardless of how little of a threat he may be now.”

“So should I eat him?”

“You imbecile. We were tasked with taking him alive. Honestly, is food all you think about?”

“Is there a problem with that?” Callous raked his hand over his pale face.

“Simple things for simple minds. Now visionary, come here. We have a couple of questions to ask you.”

The other students looked at me with a mixture of confusion and sympathy. Oliver tried to reach out his hand towards me but retracted as he saw me move forward to the lichs.

“What do you want from me? Is this some type of payback for the death of the other lich. Callous laughed.

“You mean that insignificant rodent. I’m ashamed you put us in the same league with that failure. No, visionary, we’re here to know more about you. You're quite the special case around these parts. You could say that we are the greatest fans.”

“Biggest fans, huh. If that’s the case, leave the rest of those students along. They’re not involved in this.”

“Oh, but they are,” Callous said. He raised his index finger and the cloud of smoke rushed to cover the entire room. The students began to cough, writhing on the floor.

“Leave them along,” I yelled.

“I don’t think you're in quite the position to make such demands, visionary, but don’t worry, we won’t kill them.”

“Seriously?” Gratos said.

“Yes, you dolt. I just need to get them out of the way for a moment so that we can have a proper discussion. Say night-night.” He snapped his fingers, and in an instant all the students around us disappeared.

“What did you do to them?”

“Who knows?” Callous said with a grin. “But now that the school is clear, I think it's time we got down to the brass tacks. “You're able to enter the dreamscape aren’t you? That sure is a troublesome ability.”

The dreamscape. He must mean…

“Now ordinarily only those higher powers should be able to reach it. You're certainly a stronger esper than most, but even then, that gift should only be available to higher beings. How are you able to go to and from such a location, seer?”

“I don’t know. I’m not even sure what you're talking about.”

“Are you playing the fool or are you simply an idiot.”

“Callous, if he doesn’t cooperate, can I eat him.”

“Only an arm or a leg, I suppose. Just make sure he doesn’t die of blood loss.”

“No seriously,” I said. “I only have the faintest idea of what you’re talking about. I have strange dreams. I’m guessing that’s what you’re talking about.”

“I can’t believe Father considered you dangerous enough to send us. You're so hopelessly ignorant of what’s going on that I believe it's futile to even question you further. Maybe you should just be fed to Gratos.”

“That sounds like a promising idea, Callous.”

“Who's your father anyway? What business does he have with me?” Callous hawk eyes narrowed.

“What Father wants is none of your business. Now, enough with the idle chit-chat. Your conscious brain might be that of a dullard, but I’m certain a little probing my Hermia will show us what you really know, even if your body doesn’t make it. Gratos attack!”

The small demon charged at me, his double-sided axe barreling straight towards my head. I barely managed to sidestep the blow, rolling towards the right side of the room, but before I could stand, Gratos kicked me in the chest launching me straight in the wall. The pain was almost enough to knock me out, but I managed to get up to my knees. Gratos licked his lips as he swung his axe left and right.

I was not planning to die today. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the key that Gigi gave me back when I was at her house. The key certainly did not appear to compare to the weapon of destruction wielded by Gratos, but I knew by this point those appearances were deceiving.

Gratos launched at me again, his axe held outwards to strike me down, his mouth wide open to taste human flesh. I held the key up high. Strength flowed through me. I heard voices, young warriors from a time long past, call to me to vanquish the evil before me. The key shined like a ray from heaven, nearly blinding me due to its luminescence. Before Gratos strike could rip open my chest, goldish chains emerged from the shining artifact. The chains wrapped around Gratos arms and pulled him to the ground, causing him to drop his axe.

“What is this?” Gratos remarked.

“Fabulous,” Callus said, clapping so hard that I thought his fingers would fall off. You’re able to use artifact corpse parts. How interesting. I suppose there’s more to you after all.” Gratos continued to write on the floor, his mouth reaching out to bite the chains that held him down.

“Your next,” I said pointing the shining key in his direction

“How scary. Looks like the little pup finally got some bite.” He raised his hand, pointing his palm towards me. “And yet, I much rather have my dogs respect their masters.” He pushed forward his palm. I felt a strong wind blowing behind me. Before I could react, the key that I held flew out from my hand and towards the outreach grasp of Callus. My face dropped.

“Oh my, what happened to all the spunk you had earlier. You think the connections you build would just last forever. Foolish humans. Everything in this world is destined to leave you. It's only a matter of time. Friends. Families. Even the things you believe and cherish in. All things that tie you mortals together are so easily rendered apart just through the simple flow of time. That’s what you get for being so incredibly weak; yes, it’s so hard to feel sorry for pathetic creatures such as yourself.”

“Give it back.” I yelled, but before I could say more, I felt a strong slash to my back. I fell hard on the floor. My shirt was drenched in a pool of my own blood. I tried to move my legs, then my arms, then my fingers. No response. My body was completely paralyzed. I couldn’t even close my eyelids

“Took you long enough, Gratos,” I could barely hear Callous say. “Now, make sure to leave the brain fully intact. If you can do that, the rest of his body is yours for the taking.”

My eyes remained open, but vision started to fade regardless. Soon enough, I laid in pitch darkness, soon to be subject to the meal of an inpatient demon brat. I can’t believe I was about to die. No, I couldn’t die now. Not yet. I had my family to live for: my little sister Apple needed me, and I refused to leave her or my dad alone. Not after Mom. I won’t ever allow a scenario like that to happen to my family.

“You look like you’re in a bit of a pinch,” the voice of a lady said. “Come here. It’s almost supper time.”