Dawn of A New Age - Roleplay Thread

Blake didn't notice the static at first as he didn't have a phone - his last one got smashed up when he fell down some stairs a few months ago, which wasn't his proudest moment, and he hadn't been able to afford a new one yet- and his patents didn't care where he was anyway.

Although internally he was panicking too, he didn't show it. Instead he just sat back down on the table and took another sip of his cola, spilling some down his shirt as his hands shaked slightly.

"Oh, shut up. Stop embarrassing yourselves."

Brad was one of the first to try and use his phone, he was already holding it anyway. He started out slightly amused once the static started, 'maybe this is just the vampire's prepping us for their rave party', but that quickly changed to annoyed once that song started playing. Even though he was a self-proclaimed music lover, he wasn't exactly well versed in musical history. He'd never even listened to The Wall yet, but if he told Zia that she'd probably kill him. He knew this song though, and he knew he hated it's guts.

And then it started looping. 'Oh Christ', he muttered. He would've snarked a lot more if he wasn't completely terrified. Zia was gone, he heard her screaming, but he was so disoriented he'd completely lost her. He didn't see her friend either, he seemed like a nice guy but upon meeting him Brad was already a tad distracted so he'd forgotten his name. Chino? Chico? Chiro? It doesn't really really matter anyway, all that matters is that that fucking song stops and it'd be nice if everybody could calm down. 'Though with the bunch of fucked up personalities stuck in here together, that seems unlikely.'

Zia swore a few more times for good measure under her breath and slumped into a half sitting position on the table, "Fucking fuck trying to bloody help stupid cunt-sucking dickbags..." She muttered to herself under her breath, screwing her eyes shut and clamping her hands over her ears in a feeble attempt to ignore the cacophony of panic. She felt a panic attack coming on - she hadn't had one in years but the current situation and everyone's reactions were making her mind race.

Trying to maintain a facade of not freaking out Zia made for the nearest dark corner, fingers fidgeting compulsively. She deliberately avoided getting anywhere near the arguments revolving around Cornelius and ended up running into Brad with a start, "Christ - Brad! Uh, hi!" She tried to act vaguely normal - or her usual approximation of it. "Fun times, yes? I'm waiting for the twilight theme to start playing." Zia's voice still had a slight quiver but she did her best to cover it up with her normal breezy sarcasm.

Ciro blew a sigh of relief, glad that Terry was easier to calm down than he'd been expecting. "Hey, it's cool. Happens to the best of us. Used to be afraid of the dark myself, truth be told."

His foot tapped nervously against the ground as he assessed the situation again. Some of the other kids were taking this in their stride, which was good, but he was worried about the ones who weren't. And about the ones who only seemed to be making the situation worse.

He ran a hand through his hair; maybe it was because he looked after younger kids so often, but he felt like he was obligated to stay calm. "Well, whatever this is- prank, malfunction, I don't know, we should keep our heads about us. The teachers should be back here soon, and right now the only dangerous thing is the kids that are lashing out."

The doors wouldn't open, the T Vs wouldn't turn off, nothing would work. And the song would drone on, the singer getting into a particularly long section, holding some impressive notes... although his accomplishments were diminished by his incessant droning of the phrase 'prove yourself' without end. But then, a glitch in the system. The T Vs turned off. The cafeteria drowned in silence.

Silence which was soon interrupted by Jerry banging on the door to the cafeteria. "Kids! Open up!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, sweat covering his face, fear over his eyes as he looked at something on the other end of the hall way too often. The children couldn't see what it was, but from Jerry's look, and from how his banging got faster and stronger after every glance, they could easily discern it meant something bad.

But the door just wouldn't budge. Objects that should break through it harmlessly bounced back, defying even the most basic laws of physics. And outside, a faint, very, very faint green light started to bathe Jerry's scared look.

By now, he knew what was going to happen.

Jerry started taking steps back from the door, admitting defeat to whatever fate had in store for him. His eyes cried, even though no tears fell from them, as the green light started getting stronger and stronger. "Kids." Jerry breathed out. "Don't open the door... stay away from the windows... stick together— this is gonna end soon. It's all gonna be fine, alright? It's all—"

A sudden wave of green fire engulfed the corridors outside of the cafeteria, and for those near the door, they got to witness as Jerry's body burned out in a matter of seconds: his skin was gone in 2 miliseconds, and his skeleton, black as coal, writhed a little in the green fire before being turned to dust as well. The green fire burned through lockers, creating a pool of instant molten metal at its feet, but it didn't enter the cafeteria.

Not yet, anyways.

The distinct noise of glass about to break rang in the kids' ears. Children backed away as the green fire seemingly banged on the door. The window began to crack. Tiny cracks at first, but suddenly, it was clear: this thing would not last for any longer. Jessica Hawkins was on the floor, bawling her eyes out, banging her fist against her phone in the hopes of calling her dad before she died. Other kids were hugging each other, crying. One of them stared at the fire, a tiny smile on his face.

Death was knocking at their door. Or maybe, rebirth.

Blake's table was near the door and he'd turned to see the hilarious failures of those trying to open it so he had a good view of Jerry's demise. As the man died painfully he just sat there, watching with the same blank expression on his face, the green fire eerily reflected in his glasses. As it started lapping at the door his stress manifested in how own unique way; he stood up and walked closer towards the impending danger. It wasn't out of any great bravery but rather a total lack of self-preservation.

"Do your fucking worst!"

Tim was glad Amy was calming down. It was a great shame it didn't last very long.

He heard the growing cries of dismay from his fellow students. He heard the glass beginning to break and shatter.

He heard Old Jim's death scream.

And saw the onrushing green flash, feeling the bow wave of ravening heat start to punch towards them.

Tim Carillo, 16, did the only thing his body told him to do. With his blue eyes shut tight, He threw himself, all 150 pounds of him, at his closest friend. Bearing her to the ground in hopes of shielding her from the rush of green flame.

While she was at first distracted by Cornelious, hunger of power. Luna Black opened her eyes widelly after Jerry's death... Sure shew knew she was going to die young. But not like this.

Unlike the others she had no family to call or anybody that would miss her if she would die, so she didn't bother trying to call her family.

"Are you insane?" she reacted to Blake's rampage. "I am NOT going to die here!" she stood abruptly from her chair, on her table.

edited 27th Apr '15 8:07:59 AM by RPGLegend

One would think watching a man, one that was well known and respected here, would finally get Cornelius to be freaking out. Instead Cornelius kept his face turned away from the cinema club, a little smile on his face as he stared at the flames. "Even if this be death, I will finally learn what's next. Delightful."

Composing himself and taking a more scared stance, Cornelius shouts out "Everyone! If we get high enough, perhaps we'll be able to avoid the flames! We've got nothing to lose by trying, Jerry would want us to survive!" With that said Cornelius begins putting chairs onto his table, climbing onto one once done.

The shouts of anger; the crying. It made Michal look up; it made him look at all of the people around him trying to survive, it made him question everything. Death was coming, and yet they struggle, they cry at the sky in anger at imagined gods. They make plans to survive something that we can't comprehend, something we don't know.

They lash out in anger, and for what? Michal didn't understand, they were going to die, and yet they wouldn't give in and accept their fate. "The human struggle." Michal sighed, content, no longer shaking. "I'm glad it's over, I won't have to worry about anything anymore, forevermore," Michal had been tired most of his life, he would welcome his eternal rest. He had been scared at first, yes. But he was ready now.

edited 27th Apr '15 8:33:33 AM by OhBoyTime

Brad remembered how he had come to school this evening. He was optimistic, cheerfully humming along to this. He had to wait for a red light without any cars passing by for about a minute, but he kept on waiting. Now he wishes that he hadn't, it would've been nice for this day to have some sort of overall importance in his life. That, apart from the day of his death, this would also be the day he overcame one of his personal struggles. The day he finally stopped following the rules. Unless you count living as a rule, because he would definitely stop following that one.

Zia was making snappy remarks again, but he didn't feel able to respond. He just silently nodded, while singing along to "Theme From Turnpike" in his head again. The returning line of 'no more loud music' had never felt quite so apt.

Terry ran for the door when Jerry opened it...just in time to watch the poor old man die painfully, right in front of his eyes. That he was unable to do anything further compounded just how helpless...how powerless he felt in this situation. Was this the end? Evil green fire...dammit!

He looked over at the enrapt looking Cornelius and belted out, "Screw you!"

The tall young man positioned himself right there, ironically near Blake, and gave a similar sentiment, "I am not gonna die sitting down, huddling in a corner!"

If he could, he would let this flame scorch him as long as it left the others alone.

For a moment, it felt like Ciro's heart had stopped. He hadn't been close enough to see Jerry die, but it didn't take a genius to figure that he wouldn't survive. The flames were too vicious, smashing against the doors like a feral animal out for blood.

He's dead. Ciro had never seen anyone pass away before- certainly never this like. Jerry's dead. And here they still were, trapped in by an inferno just waiting to snatch their lives away.

I'm dead.

His mind went into full-on lockdown, deciding to face imminent death with a stone wall of denial; he wasn't going to die here. That was ridiculous. How would he take care of his family if he was horribly burnt to a crisp?

It was probably the shock- of this situation, of Jerry's death- that made him giggle weakly at his own stupid question. Were his hands shaking? Probably.

Ciro stood like that, frozen, until he noticed some of the students walking towards the blaze. Call it instinct, or maybe just insanity, but his thought process suddenly took a leap from "I'm not going to die" to "We're not going to die". He dashed forward, trainers squeaking against the floor, to put himself between Blake, Terry, and the door. "What are you doing?!" he yelled, more panicked than his numb mind felt. "Get back!"

edited 27th Apr '15 2:57:09 PM by whizzerd

Jerry’s final breath rang out as a scream across the cafeteria and Zia was rendered silent. She hadn’t seen him consumed by the green inferno but the cries of those near the door and to terror in the scream were enough. That unnatural fire killed him, and soon them as well. Her mouth opened and closed a few times but little more than incoherent stutters escaped. She gripped Brad’s shoulder for a moment, mind filled with thoughts of her mother – alone and heartbroken.

“No.” Zia said, finally – she saw Ciro at the door trying to push others away. His sentiment shook her out of her own stupor and ran to join him. She grabbed Blake and Terry by their arms, pulling them away with the best strength she could muster. “Are you insane! Get behind the tables!” She urged, looking Ciro in the eye, “Come on!”

Zia knew they were dead but she'd be damned if she was gonna let death take her without some kicking and screaming.

As he saw Jerry die, Benedict could only think one thing.

Fuck.

Well, they were all dead. This was no prank. That green fire was most assuredly real. Should he cry? Scream? Crawl up into a ball and rock back and forth? No. No, that wouldn't do. If he was going to die... if he was going to die, perhaps he had finally snapped, but he was going to go out calmly and peacefully. Like any gentleman.

Can't be helped I suppose. At least I don't die alone.

To that end, Benedict grabbed a chair, sat down, and continued reading his paper, humming "Rule Britannia" to himself, awaiting his impending doom with grace and civility. He pointedly ignored the madness that had overcome everyone else. He almost considered saying 'keep calm and carry on', but that would be rather morbid given the historical context. He settled for glaring at the other students and hoping they'd shut up.

Anna snorted under her breath as her screen started glitching and warping before her. How silly. She tried to restart it, pressing down on the button... nothing. She frustratedly flipped it over, a tad harder than manufacturer's recommendations, already tired of the weebly woobly glitching screen. If the vice president was frightened, then she did not show it. She sat down in the darkness, knuckles rhythmically rapping the table. "Don't worry. Just wait for Jerry," Anna had called out, only to be ignored. She glanced out the window. Benedict was right. Too dark for-

Then the music started. From the TV, the phones... even Anna's muffled tablet. The hauntingly eerie song wafted through the air, causing her to lean to attention, hands stilled. "Hmmh," Anna muttered as she slowly rose, bemusement running through her mind. Calm yourself, she told herself. Jerry will get to the bottom of this. No need to panic.

As if on cue, the janitor's voice, filtered through the door, fear and worry etched in it. "Kids! Open up!" He grew quiet, as if accepting his fate. Jerry spoke more words, but Anna could not hear them. No, she looked out the windows, eyes wide. The same green hellfire that would engulf Jerry howled against the windows, pressing against the glass. Anna stood frozen, shocked into sheer inaction.

edited 27th Apr '15 2:48:41 PM by HazzyHaz

Brad had reached the final notes of "Theme From Turnpike" in his head and closed his eyes. When he opened them he was surprised that he wasn't dead yet. He saw Zia scrambling some students to the tables and felt inclined to join her. He put his hand on her shoulder and said 'you didn't think I'd let you do this alone, didn't you?'. Now, if he was indeed going to die, at least it wasn't while standing in a corner, humming a 90's alt-rock song from fucking Belgium.

Terry looked Zia in the eye and said, "Stop - maybe if we just step up like this, it won't take anyone else. I...don't mind the thought of going out like that."

Alright, he thought as he kept his position there despite Zia's grabbing, Give me your worst, you two bit Maleficent.

Despite his defiant attitude, Blake was fairly light and as a result pretty immediately sprawled backwards as Zia pulled, losing his balance and ending up on the floor.

"Yes, tables will totally protect us from the weird fire. Amazing idea there."

He sat up to get a better view of the encroaching flames but remained sitting on the floor, still defiantly apathetic.

7:02PM

David was still petrified when all of a sudden a wave of green fire engulfed the corridors outside the cafeteria. David was witness of how Jerry's body began to burn almost instantly.

"Fuck!" David quickly took several steps backwards. He found himself able to move again.

But that was not all, the fire burned through lockers, creating a pool of instant molten metal at its feet. The noise of glass about to break was the last thing David wanted to hear. This couldn't be real, it just couldn't. David wanted so badly to wake up in his bed, he wanted for all this to be a nightmare. But he didn't, David didn't wake up. This... this was real. With horror, David began to think this would be his last moments alive...

edited 27th Apr '15 3:21:04 PM by zsax

Having Zia and Brad help him out managed to rouse Ciro out of his stupor, at least by a little. "R-right!" He realised that his throat was choked up, and not from the smoke. Was he about to cry? That'd be embarrassing.

"Fire doesn't work like that, buddy! Please, come with us!" he said to Terry, trying not to let the waver in his voice show. If he acted calm, then he could keep himself calm, at least until they were away from here. Focus, Ciro.

Instead of going to Terry, however, he grabbed Blake by the arm and tried to pull him back to his feet. Normally he wouldn't be so aggressive, but this wasn't exactly a normal situation. "It's better to try and live than just accept your death so easily! Come on!"

Luna- helping Ciro

I am not letting you die, you idiot! Luna shouted as she pulled Blake's other arm, helping Ciro to try save the rebel teen. As she was unimpressed with his suicidal tendencies.

edited 27th Apr '15 4:00:15 PM by RPGLegend

Travis watched as the box bounced harmlessly off the TV and fall to the ground, it's content scattering over the floor and the two coins rolling off in different directions. Without a word to her, he pulled his arm free from Barbara and stepped closer to the fallen papers. Then, Jerry. Fire. Screaming, pain, death. Danger. It was too much in the short span of time. Travis' mind snapped momentarily.

He trudged forward, bending to collect the newspapers and shuffle them back into their box, which he had placed upright. "Gotta clean up, Jerry can't, he died, we're all dead, my mom'll kill me, can't litter, paperspaperspapers-" He had begun to mutter to himself in an absent tone, eyes unfocused. Once the mess had been picked up he merely lifted the box again and strolled over to a nearby table, where he placed the container and casually sat down at, head down and mumbles fading into the background chaos.

Bit of a rough day for him, most would say.

The whistling coming from the cracking glass increases, as the doors start to buckle underneath all that pressure. It's all a matter of seconds before the glass explodes. It cracks... into a thousand pieces, all of them still held together by pure chance. The glass itself is slightly orange, a sign of just how much heat is trying to get through. Black dust leaks from underneath the door... Jerry's remains.

It whistles. It cracks. It breaks and—

Jessica Hawkins stared at the figure in front of her, narrowing her yellow eyes as she used one hand to scratch her purple-colored wrist.

"We were young. We were dumb. We didn't know what was about to happen."

"Didn't know what?" The figure leaned in, asking in a garbled voice, a singular light swinging back and forth in the ceiling, but it always remained hidden.

Jessica laughs. She pulls her hair back, caressing the injures on her purple skin. "That we were about to change the world." She touches the bandaged wound on her cheek, and when the figure raises a hand, she tuts... quietly... before ripping out the bandages, revealing a clean cheek. "Regenerative factor."

"... that's not in your file."

"That's right. We didn't know it... but it started then." Jessica leaned over, tapping the metal table, gritting her teeth as the shackles pulled on her wrists. "That fire didn't turn us into... superheroes."

The figure tilted its head. Jessica smiled.

"It turned us into gods."

The glass broke, sending shards flying everywhere, into the skin of nearby students, throwing them to the ground as the fire invaded the cafeteria, the smell, the heat invading every pore of their skins, forcing them to deal with the clear and immediate danger. It took one second, enough for them to process what had happened, before the fire started making its effect on them.

They burned. They burned. They burned.

The fire took over every cell on their skin, and they felt the heat eating them up, entering their bodies, consuming them from the inside. They burned, but like the bush that burned and burned without end, they didn't die. The fire entered their eyes, their saliva, their tears turning into steam as it surrounded them, burning down the cafeteria, transforming the area around them into nothing but fire...

It burned them, but they could still see. They could still understand what was going on around them... what was happening to them...

... David Miller's hair burned, and in the middle of the fire, he started to vibrate. As if someone was waving him at impossible speed, his entire body moved faster and faster whilst standing still. He seemed to be everywhere at once, his skin spreading impossibly thin, his body being spread over space as his cells operated at a much faster rate- ten times faster, twenty times fsater, thirty times faster, a hundred times faster, a million times faster- and David got to watch as he could see through his own body, moving so fast that everything was at high speed and slow motion at the same time, every sound sped up or drowned out, every movement taking miliseconds and eons to accomplish...

... Terry Bramford's body burned, and as he stood on the floor, the tiles of the cafeteria, the ones that Principal Shooter had spent so much money buying cracked, as if he was suddenly ten times heavier than what he normally was. Not just that but light seemed to separate in front of him, the green of the fire splitting into a thousand colors, all of them flying around his eyes and dancing, overpowering his vision as his cells were stretched and empowered and growing too big for his clothes, for his own skin, trying to break free, it burned, it burned...

... it burned like Luna Black's insides burned as electricity coursed through her, busting up her veins and regenerating them, as her mind split open, figuratively and literally, her skull ripping in half as bolts of lightning struck her, forcing her own body to grow, to adapt to new changes as knowledges and thoughts unheard of putrefied her mind, and it could not understand, it could not process, it burned and burned and the shock was unbearable as Lune's stomach burst into pieces and regenerated over and over...

... Blake Sullivan's body burned as well, as a rainbow of colors pierced right through his heart, stabbing into his skin, leaving behind not a wound- at least not physically, for Blake's mind would be bombarded by energies he'd never seen or felt before, strengthened by force, thrown against the wall and forced to adapt, dissected and upgraded from the inside, by something completely inhuman, something impossible to understand by human's mind, and Blake's own brain was forced to go through centuries of concepts in the span of a second, an effect similar to trying to fill a box the size of a finger with all the water in the world...

... Ciro Meyer burned, and the fire burned right through his skin, but it was there, it was there, that was all he could tell himself as the fire made his skin disappear, made his muscles disappear, made his veins disappear, made his bones disappear, until Ciro couldn't even see himself, losing all sense of balance and direction, the human mind not capable to understand being but not seeing, the fire swirling around Ciro like a field, protecting him, but burning him at the same time...

... Travis Murray's throat burned, and he tried to yell, but all that came out was a squawk, a squawk that grew louder and louder until it popped both of Travis' own ears, bleed dripping out of his ears, nose and eyes as objects were not just thrown around, they were destroyed, as the range of Travis' scream grew so powerful that wood turned into small shards just by being near him, his own bones rattling at the noise like a damaged amplifier...

... Michael Harvins burned, but his back burned the most, a hole in the behind of his shirt appearing as his own spine was ripped out, protruding from his skin, an object attaching- nay, grafting itself onto his skin with such strength that the pain threatened to turn him paraplegic, the body trying to fight back against this invisible force gluing the object to his spine before painfully forcing the spine back into his body, healing his back, but it burned...

... Amy Bang burned, and her teeth hurt, and her mouth hurt, and she just wanted to scream as her tongue flopped out of her mouth, growing so much- it just wouldn't stop growing, stretching her own mouth, pulling at her insides like a rope tied to her digestive system- her cheeks puffed up so that it resembled a caricature of a swollen individual, as her clothes stuck to her body, wet, but not wet, sticking to her frame as she started to sweat something that wasn't sweat, the tongue grew and burned at her throat...

... Timothy Carillo burned, but it wouldn't stop burning- he could see himself, on a reflection of blood from a nearby kid going through a similar transformation, her skin melting off to turn into a clay mixture- his own skin seemed to dissipate before his eyes as the fire ate his hair, his eyes, his teeth, his nose, his ears, it ate everything, it wouldn't stop eating until Timothy was nothing but bones, but the burning wouldn't stop...

... Benedict Tudor burned— well, at least that is what HE wanted Benedict to believe. He or she, Benedict couldn't tell. But he could see it now, clear as day. Just outside of his reach. An invisible being, sitting in front of a typewriter, clacking at the keys, a sick grin on his or her face, writing of the pain his friends felt. Benedict could see the words being typed, and he could see poor Barbra Dixon's body turning into a crystalline statue, following the typewriter's every command. And it burned, because HE let Benedict see the truth, but only he, only he could see what was behind the burning...

... Anna Fell's body burned, and her finger burned as something etched onto her ring finger, burning her, but she could burn the world as well- her blood, her spit, her tears could burn everything around her, turn everything into ashes, and there would be no limitations. If the world wanted to burn Anna, she could burn it right back, make it writhe on her rage, make it beg for mercy as it saw what true anger felt like, what it was to burn and be burned...

... Cornelius Hawking burned, and he could hear the clamoring of his fellow students, begging for help, but he could also hear the clamoring of the objects he once thought lifeless- the plastic of the tables, the metal of the televisions, they cried, they talked to Cornelius, their voices filled his mind, and he could convince them to do what he asked, he could save them from their burning if he just lifted an index finger, but it wouldn't stop burning, it was just too much...

... Zia Brayne burned on the outside, but her biggest pain was on the inside. She couldn't just hear her fellow students begging for help, she could hear them crying in their minds, asking for Mom, Dad, a family member, a loved one, thinking of the life they would never have as life knocked on the door, unaware that Zia could reach into their minds and read everything like an open book, if only the burning would just stop...

... Brad Walker burned, but the walls burned with him, and they disappeared, the wind from outside hitting him as he could see everything, the people outside, the city, the state, the world, there were no walls for him, no privacy, no moments of intimacy as his eyes burned, burned with the ability to see everything without limitations...

... and the students burned along with them, they burned, they burned, they burned—

Jessica Hawkins gasped for air, gasped for help as the burning disappeared in an instant, and she looked around herself. She wasn't on the cafeteria, thank God. She wasn't burning, thank God. She wasn't about to die, THANK GOD. She was alive, it was all just a bad dream. Jessica practically fell out of her bed, kissing the carpet next to her bed, clutching her pajamas, oh she would never make fun of them again, hugging herself—

... what was that.

Jessica lost her breath. She stumbled to her feet and gingerly walked to the mirror on the wall of her closet. Her eyes filled with tears, but they weren't tears of joy- they were tears of pain. Because although Jessica was healthy and... not-dead... she wasn't quite herself. Her eyes were completely yellow... and her skin, dear god, her skin, it was completely purple, nothing but the color purple as far as the eye can see.

She poked herself, she bit her lower lip, she looked inside her clothes, tugged at her (now also purple) hair and then...

Jessica Hawkins screamed.

At the same time, the other kids would be waking up in their beds, no memory of what happened after the green fire. But they would notice that they had woken up different. Some woke up with changes to their bodies... some even woke up with no bodies at all. Some woke up with different bodies, but their minds had changed. They had changed. Things on the outside might still look the same.

The fire was gone... but they were still burning. And they would burn forevermore.

Zia gripped her head as she burned, knocked back by the blast and convulsing on the ground in quiet agony. She couldn’t scream – everyone else was doing it for her, ‘’within’’ her own mind and pushing out any of her own thoughts. She couldn’t even picture her own mother’s face with all the others burning into her brain. It was like she was a hundred people at once but none at the same time and it replaced her brain with fire. She waited for her skull to burst, to go insane and then-

“Get out of my head!” Zia sat up and cried, hot tears running down her cheeks as she felt the fire had disappeared. She was in her room, the cafeteria, the screaming thoughts, the fire – all gone. She was alive which, on reflection, was a nice surprise. Her room was as she left it the morning before sans a few stray pieces of clothing her mum had obviously picked up. But there was something different. She felt like she wasn’t alone, even though no one else was in her room. Zia felt her mother driving to work and reflecting on a nightmare about her husband’s suicide that made Zia grip her skull as she tried to push it out. The next door neighbours were doing their morning business, worrying about this and that. She could hear it all. “What is this?”

Zia closed her eyes and held her fingers to her forehead, feeling her perception spread to the whole town. She felt that she wasn’t alone in this rude awakening – teenagers with dreams of fire and waking in screams. The purple haired hipster concentrated and managed to dull the voices and images enough to hear her own thoughts. ‘’This is insane. Was the fire real? What was it? Christ, what am I?’’ Her hazel eyes wandered to her bedside clock – 7:28AM. She was late for the pool and nearly for school too. “Ah fuck!” Zia sprung out of bed and into a fresh pair of clothes, jeans, a band T (The Brains), purple suspenders and green sneakers. She’d have to squeeze in a swim after classes and her lessons.

Zia grabbed her bag, headphones and sheet music lying on the desk and burst out the door. She snatched an apple and muesli bar then into the garage to mount her bike. She pedalled as fast as possible to the High School which was a decent pace for your average motorbike. She had her headphones playing a Creepshow album on full blast in a feeble attempt to block out the voices.

edited 27th Apr '15 11:16:50 PM by Lt.BGob