Waking up in a cold sweat, Vincent jolted up from his bed. He quickly looked around the room in a panic and when he realized where he was he calmed down. As he moved over and sat on the edge of his bed, he tried to recall what caused him to wake up so suddenly, but he couldn’t remember.

He looked over at his nightstand, turned on his cell phone, and looked at the time. His eyes weren’t fully adjusted yet, so he had to squint in order to see the time. It was already 7:00 a.m.! He only had about thirty minutes to make it to school before the assembly started. Vincent jumped out of his bed and rushed around to get ready. He put on his normal clothing choice, rushed downstairs, grabbed a granola bar, and began to make his way towards the school.

When he got to the school he hesitantly made his way to the auditorium. Every time the school had an assembly or some sort of mass gathering for the students it was held in the auditorium. Walking into the auditorium, he found Zander and Eliot sitting towards the very back. Eliot looked like he was sleeping and Zander was intensely writing something in his notebook.

Vincent sat down in the seat that was immediately to the right of Zander. “Yo, whatcha doin’, Zander?”

Zander didn’t reply or even seem to acknowledge Vincent’s presence; he just continued to feverishly write. Curiosity got the better of Vincent, as it tends to, and he glanced over to see what Zander was so focused on writing. There was nothing but shapes and strange geometric patterns all over the paper.

“Zander, what’re those shapes for?” Vincent asked curiously. There was still no response from Zander. Annoyed, Vincent stuck his hand in front of Zander’s face. Zander then snapped back as if he was taken out of a trance.

“Get your hand out of my face, please,” Zander flatly said.

“What are those shapes for, dude?”

“I’m not entirely sure…” Zander’s face made it look like he was in deep thought and reflection. “I’ve just had some things rattling around in my head for a while now and it was annoying me so much today that I decided just to write it down.” He then looked down at what he was drawing and his head turned in a way that looked like he was confused by what he saw. “I don’t recall thinking about something like th—”

Suddenly, there was a loud yawn and movement from the other side of Zander. Eliot was stirring awake and he rubbed his eyes as he yawned a second time. His eyes then darted around the room until they landed on Vincent. Instead of his usual smile, Eliot just had a tired and grumpy expression on his face.

Vincent didn’t want to waste time questioning it, after all, he could just be having a rough day. Whenever he wears long sleeves he tends to be a little grumpier than usual, which he was wearing today. Although, a grumpy day for Eliot is the equivalent to some people’s best days—he was always smiling or at least in a positive mood.

As Vincent sat in his seat, more stragglers began to make their way in—the usual late arrivals. He didn’t recognize most of the people that were coming in, although that wasn’t really much of a shock for him because he hardly ever came to school.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the principal then walked on stage and began to address the crowd with a familiar opening statement. Vincent hardly paid any attention to what the principal was saying, not just because he didn’t care—which he honestly didn’t—but because a familiar, dull pain was throbbing at the back of his head. When the pain started to grow he looked around and saw that both Zander and Eliot seemed to be on edge about something too.

“Hey guys, something's not right,” Vincent whispered. “I can’t really describe it, but I’m feeling the same thing that I felt when we saw that big guy.”

Before Zander and Eliot had time to reply, a strange scent filled Vincent’s nostrils. As he thought about what he was smelling some more, the scent became more familiar to him. A feeling of dread and worry coursed through his body.

“Methane,” both Vincent and Zander said at the same time. When they said this they looked at each other.

Normally, methane, in its purest form, is colorless and odorless. However, when the gas is used in the most settings, ethyl mercaptan is usually added to give the dangerous and flammable gas its distinct smell.

“We gotta get out here,” Vincent said quietly, already getting out of his seat. He looked back at Zander and Eliot, and while Zander appeared to be following him, Eliot was sitting still with his hands on his head.

Slowly, more and more voices began to pop up as the smell got worse and worse. With each new voice, the overall sound of the room increased more. Even the principal stopped his speech in response to the commotion.

“El, what are you doing? We need to go!” Vincent said, more insistent.

“It’s all so stupid,” Eliot replied coldly. He was still holding his head like he was in pain.

Irritated, Vincent grabbed Eliot by the arm and thrusted him upwards to his feet. He then began to run out of the auditorium, almost dragging Eliot behind him.

“I hate it,” Eliot mumbled as he was being dragged out of the auditorium.

Looking behind him, Vincent saw a confused Zander watch them leave and then hurry along to catch up. When Vincent opened the door the nauseous smell hit him like a tidal wave…a tidal wave of flammable gas.

“Where are we going?” Zander asked, a little out of breath.

“We’re gonna shut off the methane in the science labs,” Vincent replied.

The science classrooms were on the second floor of the school, halfway between the two staircases that lead to that section of the school. The group had just left the auditorium and began making their way down the hallway to the right. The hallway continued for about thirty feet before coming to a sharp left turn. The group just rounded the corner when they heard a loud explosion come from behind them.

Looking back as he turned the corner, all Vincent could see were roaring flames coming from the hallway on the other side of the auditorium. The flames looked almost unnatural in the way they continually engulfed the hallway, shattering the glass and consuming any person in its way. The roaring and crackling of the flames sounded like muffled screams of terror.

Vincent began to run even faster, with the rest of the group following suit. After a few seconds, they made it to the stairs and continued upwards to the second floor. There were no words exchanged—there was no time—Vincent just continued up the stairs wordlessly and thoughtlessly, eventually making it to the second floor.

Looking around, he saw that nothing seemed any different than usual, besides the panicked screaming of the people on the first floor. The science classrooms were in the middle of the hall to his left, which is where a lot of the chemicals and gas were stored, like methane. On the other side of the hallway, past the science classrooms, were stairs that lead to the other hallway on the other side of the auditorium, which emitted light at the bottom of them.

Determined, Vincent began to run in that direction. As he ran, students began to come from the stairs that were emitting light, running in a panic. This caused the group to slow because they had to fight their way through a horde of people running against them.

When Vincent, Eliot, and Zander got about halfway to the nearest science classroom, a figure emerged dressed in dark clothes, wearing a hoodie with the hood up, and had something slung on its back. None of the other students seemed to pay this figure any mind, whether that was because they didn’t see it or because they were in such a blind panic that they didn't pay attention to their surroundings, Vincent couldn’t tell, and quite frankly, didn't care.

He stopped when he saw the figure and when he was about to yell something at it, the figure turned to face them and stuck its arm and hand out towards him. When that happened, a huge wave of methane and foul-smelling gas filled Vincent’s nose, causing him to keel over for a second.

When Vincent looked back up the figure held something in its hand. It was small, but it emitted a small light that seemed to flicker a bit. Realization of what that light was struck him like a bolt of lightning, paralyzing him in place. He could do nothing as he watched that little spark of light erupt and ignite into a howling inferno, barreling its way towards him. Instinctually, he reached both hands back towards his friends in a protective manner—one hand on each friend.

The flames approached him before any normal person could ever react, their heated tendrils whipping back and forth, seemingly slashing at anything in their way. Right before the screaming heat reached him, Vincent sank into a dark and empty place in his mind, but one that seemed so familiar to him. He uttered the word devoid and created two voids at the ends of his hands. Then everything went black.