Rein opened his eyes, breath ragged and chest tightening. For the first time in a few months, he felt a true pain in the real world. Nothing severe as in his dream, but more than a pinch. ”Hahahaha.” Never thinking he could feel something like this ever again, joy filled his heart as tears and laughter flowed without stop. But he was soon reminded that pain wasn’t something he should celebrate. Pain was, well, painful.

Rein took off his shirt to look at the source, the same place where Iris touched him in the dream. A strange mark appeared on his chest where his heart was. As if someone carved a symbol on his skin with a hot knife. And he thought he had experienced everything his cursed life offered.

“What the-?” No matter how crazy his hallucination or dream was, it never caused a physical reaction. He might bump into his surrounding and hurt himself, but that wasn’t directly caused by his vision. This mark, however, just appeared on its own. Unless he carved it himself, but the scar already healed which made it unlikely.

He realized something. Maybe the mark was just part of his hallucination. The pain, the shape, and the texture could all be the product of his deteriorating sanity. But that presented another problem. If the mark was a product of his mind, he could not confirm it by himself. His five senses told him it was real and there.

Soon enough, the pain subsided, and the numbness came creeping back in.

He walked to and opened the window, letting the cold air in.

The downtown was as busy at night as it was during the day with lights and screens that never died out. There were cars and trams and trains and pedestrian walking around, shopping, drinking, working. He always wondered what kind of person he would be like if he lived a normal life. Would he be the outgoing kind, having many friends and invited to every party on the blocks, or would he be the kind that spent most of his times locked in his room playing games and watching movies all day and night, or maybe he’d be the one obsessed with studies, maybe the sporty kind, maybe something else entirely. He used to amuse himself with this line of thought, but now all it gave him was sadness. He was not normal, and would never be normal. It was a fact.

Moving away from the window, he checked the clock. It was still four, and he had nothing to do until the exam at nine. And sleeping was too much of an effort he didn’t want to do it.

He took his phones and checked the chat. There weren’t much, mostly class groups that only got active when there’s homework or exam. There were a few exceptions, however, namely three pinned chats, two females, Iris and Friede, and one male, Albert. The three people he met and befriended during his childhood. But now, even those three chats rarely had any new messages. They were busy with their lives, Iris with work, Friede with university, and Albert with his last year in high school. And Rein wasn’t the type to start a conversation. It wasn’t his forte.

With nothing else to do, he took a photo of the mark on his chest, sent it to Albert, and asked him about it. But at this hour it was too early to expect a reply soon. To wait, he cleaned the house, ate breakfast that tasted like water, and watched the news to kill time.

Other than the kidnapping, there was gang violence in the city. Police also cracked down an illegal fighting ring and uncovered a human trafficking activity.

He didn’t remember this city being a den of criminals, but maybe the criminals were just that good at hiding back then. Now the police were catching up.

When the clock hit seven, he turned off the tv instantly and changed into a more appropriate clothing. Lately, he felt no attachment or curiosity to TVs or games or books, and each day his interest decreased, giving him even less thing to do.

In normal days, he took the subway to the campus, but he decided not to do it today. Thinking back, he didn't move much this week. Even if he couldn’t feel it, his body must have been stiff. There was still two hours before the exam, and he hadn’t used his bike in a long time. It was a red bike his father bought after he adopted him. He was fourteen at that time, not the age where he would get excited for a new bike, but he was happy nonetheless. And father Constantine wasn’t the most up-to-date person, not the type to know what teens would like.

But before he could do anything, his phone rang. The name Friede appeared on the screen. There was some mixed feeling in his heart. There must be something urgent if she called.

“Rein! Where are you?!” The girl on the other side shouted before he said anything.

“Still at home, why?” He did not understand why Friede was so agitated. He didn’t remember doing anything that would make her mad. And even if there was a problem with something, there were many better people to contact other than him.

“Why? The exam, it’s about to start!”

“What?” he stopped and turned to look at the clock on the wall. It was still seven, but his phone told him it was eight thirty.

He hit the pedals with all his might, not even slowing down at a turn or intersection. He couldn’t feel tired, but his body can and will get worn out. But this time he didn’t put much thought to that. Looking at the time, he could still make it if he goes all out but- HONK!

He squeezed the brake hard, but the remnant of ice and snow on the road rendered his effort futile. The wheel glided on the road and the car rammed him with full force, sending him flying and crashing into the rough cold asphalt.

He immediately stood up, there was no pain to stop him from doing that. “Hey kid, you all right?” The owner of the car asked him, worried and in fear.

The driver was a nice person, or else he would shout and blame Rein for not being careful. “I’m fine.” Rein moved his limbs around to show the man he was telling the truth. It was a lie. Something was wrong with his left arm. Fractured maybe, or even broken. But he was right-handed, and with the pain not being a factor, it didn’t bother him.

“Uh, about the bike.”

The bike lay on the road. The wheels bent and body crumpled. “It’s fine. It’s my fault for not being careful.” He ran to the campus. Time didn’t allow him to chat around or think about his bike.

He took no rest until he reached the class. His heart was beating like a drum and as long as he didn’t consciously control it, he was breathing like crazy. The distance between his house and the campus wasn’t that far, but it would still take time if he walked. He was still late. The exam already started when he arrived. Luckily, the assistant didn’t mind as long as he finished on time.

He sat on his usual desk, in the front of the class where no one else would sit. He chose that place for many reasons, not having someone besides him was one. Not that he disliked people–in fact, he wanted to have friends–but not knowing when the anomaly would just play a prank or took the life of people close to him, it’d be better to be alone. And making friends was difficult when you looked like you sleep in a morgue.

The thermodynamic exam ended with the class in a sour mood, except for Rein. He put a lot of effort into studying since he had nothing else to do, and in the last few months, the pressure and anxiety didn’t bother him as much. Here, it was a blessing, but he dreaded the future. Still, it couldn’t fix his carelessness which, through many experiences, he knew will be the end of him academically.

As he went out of the class, he saw a girl waiting for him, a girl he knew very well. “So, how is it, arriving fifteen, what, twenty minutes late?” Her brown hair reached her neck as she leaned on the corridor wall.

“Please don’t ask.” Friede was the kind of person to complain about how much she didn’t understand the subject and rant about how she couldn’t answer the question but ended up with an A by the end of the semester.

“Rein, what happened this morning?” Her chestnut brown eyes showed genuine concern as her usual playfulness disappeared.

“It’s nothing, you don’t have to worry about it.” He told no one about the anomalies, no reason to. Especially his friends. There’s no way he’d drag them with him to this hellhole.

“Bullshit!” Her shout echoed in the entire hallway, drawing the attention of everyone . Though from the fierce look in her eyes, she didn’t mind it one bit. “You’ve never been late before. You deliberately not using your left hand. And hell, your face is pale as hell, even more so than usual.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. “Rein, I know when you’re hiding something. I know you don’t want to make us worry, but ... Me, Albert, sister, we’re your friends. Please tell us if you need anything, if there’s something that’s troubling you.”

He averted his gaze. He could not see her in the eyes and not break. He squeezed his mind for a convincing excuse.

“Excuse me.” A cold voice came from his right, making them turn. A woman stood with an annoyed expression. Her long and straight auburn-colored hair was a novelty for the two of them. “I don’t know and honestly don’t care what’s going on between you, but this is a public place. If you want to argue, please take it somewhere private, or turn your volume down. Excuse me.”

She then passed between the two without another word. Their eyes followed her back until she turned to the next corridor A normal person would have reservation when interrupting other people’s argument, but she didn’t appear bothered at all.

“That’s ... Rose, right?” Rein asked. ”Arcturus.”

Rose Arcturus, everyone knew that name. Not just in this college, everyone in this city from its beggars to its mayor to tourists who spends a few minutes in this city. Where did they get her name? Where have they seen her? How did they connect the two? The knowledge of her name and face just popped up in everyone’s head as soon as they entered the city limit. There were dozens of strange rumors and urban legends about her and her family circulating on the internet. Including one speculating that she was a sorceress, or she was connected with the Illuminati, or she was part of an organization that controlled the world. Typical conspiracy theory.

“Wait, don’t change the subject!” Friede moved her body so she stood in his sight.

“Wait ... your sister ... AH! It’s Iris’ birthday, I have a promise with her, I forget about it.” Forcing a smile on his face and thanking Rose in his heart for the brief moment she provided, he ran away from Friede. Running away from this won’t solve anything, she’d follow him to the end of the earth to get her much-desired answer, but it should give him enough time to come up with a good excuse. And he had a plan with Iris today, so that wasn’t a lie.

“Rein wait!” Friede tried to stop him, but her outstretched arm grasped only thin air.

Holding her chest, she could only watch he got farther and farther away.