Buried deep underground, a body was limply lying against an X-shaped device shining in ominous dark light. It was covered in scars, some old, some new, the lower part was hidden behind a tattered pair of pants covered in filth and coagulated fluids. The body took a sharp, painful breath, gritting its teeth to endure the pain of its broken ribs. Suddenly, a pair of bloodshot eyes opened, shining red in mad hatred. They slowly closed again. It wasn’t Time. Yet.

******

It was a moderately hot day of September, the school had its windows wide open to let in the more than welcome lingering breeze. The sun was starting to set, bringing with it the warm colors of dusk.

The high school was mostly empty, only some students and professors were staying for some late clean up after a particularly lively class. The room E-161 was in this case, seven people jovially speaking while cleaning the remains of the chemistry experiments of the day.

“Where do I put the erlenmeyers?” The one who spoke was Liam, a tall young man with blonde hair and a face radiating of a cool and kind hearted aura.

The one at which the question was directed was the physics and chemistry teacher. Her name was Miss Selenit, but she prefered her students to call her by her name, Helena, saying that she was too young to be addressed as if she was an old lady. Her abundant auburn hair tied in a loose bun lightly shook when she turned her head towards her student. “You need to put them in the drawer at the back of the room, with the other vials.”

Liam nodded before heading where he needed to, followed by his best friend, Cillian. He was a somewhat short and quiet fellow with grey cold eyes. Nobody really knew what was in his head, except for the fact that he held Liam in high esteem.

Two other students were rearranging the different types of vials and other kinds of ustensiles. They were quite silent but a bubble of love and affection was almost visible to the naked eye. The boy, Cathal, had clearly asian features, with his black hair and slightly slit eyes. However, his green irises denoted his mixed ascendance. The girl answered to the name of Aisling and was quite forgettable appearance-wise. Brown hair, and brown eyes were as common as they could be, but her round face and carefree complexion denoted a light hearted and bright personality.

Aisling and Cathal were positively famous in the high school and were known as the “nerdy love birds” since both of them shared a strong interest for high fantasy media and were together since their middle-school days, first as friends, then as lovers.

Finally, two more students were cleaning and wiping the glassware. “Ciaran, can you pass me the rag?” The girl who spoke was an introverted student with long blonde hair and strikingly blue eyes.

“Sure, here you go, Sive.” Ciaran was quite glanced toward Sive with his strangely coloured eyes before giving her the towel. Their skin brushed furtively in the process, making them awkwardly look away.

Ciaran continued his task. Distracting himself by thinking about his cute little sister who was waiting outside of the classroom for them to go back home together. He would make some homemade hamburgers and would call Sive over, and the three of them would eat while watching a new show, discussing of everything and nothing. The evening would be great-

A question asked by Aisling threw him out of his thoughts. “Miss Helena?”

“What is it Aisling?” The teacher asked back with a smile.

“Cathal and I were wondering. What’s the name of this number that can be found in a lot of natural animal and vegetal species? We can’t remember it.”

“Ah, are you speaking of the ‘Golden Rati-’” The words of Miss Helena were interrupted by a weird shockwave, unlike anything Ciaran had felt previously in his short life.

Then everything in Ciaran’s field of vision faded away and his consciousness left him, the remnants of a young girl’s scream echoing again and again in his ears.

*****

Today, Esper was happy. The setting sun was casting its beautiful lights in the hallways of the high school, she had friends who like her as much as she like them and a very loving brother.

Three years ago, she would have sworn that her world collapsed in the car crash that stole her parents’ lives, leaving her and her brother alone. That was what her, then, nine years old self thought while wallowing in a world devoid of colors.

But, her older brother rose, wiped his tears, and swore that he would live on. His gaze became steely yet warm, hiding pain and worries behind pride and love. He stood up and took her tiny hands in his.

That day, Esper realized that life had not ended, and that she would continue, moving forward, for her brother, for the ray of light in her life.

“Hey, hey! Esper!” A little smack on her forehead brought Esper back to reality. It was her friend. “Why are we here, we have nothing to do in the high school, we are too young to be here anyway.”

“I’m waiting for Ciaran, he promised me that we would eat homemade hamburgers tonight with his friend. Was it Sive?” She answered with a smile.

Her friend became excited at the thought of handmade food. “Woah, can I come too?”

Esper was taken aback. ‘Will Ciaran be okay with it? And it means less food for us! But… She is my friend and playing together after school sounds great.’ “If big brother and your parents are fine with it, yes!”

Suddenly, a wave shook the space surrounding them. It was like an earthquake, but not like it. There were no shaking buildings, no screams nor sounds of crumbling structures, no loss of her balance. The colors momentarily left her field of vision, before coming back half a second later, first red, then green and blue. An after sound close to one caused by tinnitus was ringing in her ears, making Esper extremely uneasy.

She opened her eyes wide, a bad feeling wringing her stomach, and rushed in the classroom where she new her brother was, only to be greeted by the sight of seven bodies lying limply on the ground, strands of bloods running out of all their orifices.

Esper shrieked with all the might of her young lungs. “CIARAN!”

That day, she cried all the tears in her body in the arms of her friend. The world was grey.

*****

Somewhere, in a room both full of nothing and everything, two beings looked at each other. “Darn, Uldritch fucked everything again.”