Darkness surrounded Ferain, who was standing alone within its clutches. There were no visible barriers around her, no signs of life or habitation, and no sounds to speak of except for her own ragged breathing. When she stepped forward, or shifted her feet in any way, it sounded like she was dragging herself through ankle-deep water, but the ground was only black, just like the void that went on forever in all directions around her. Her heart rate was accelerated, and a dim buzzing filled not just her ears, but her entire body. It was alive inside of her, the currents of powerful electricity that ran through her veins and coursed just beneath her skin.
It was the monster that always slept dormant within her soul, the beast that killed her mother, and had almost killed Copper the day of his murder, and had maimed the now crippled boy who was once her neighbor before the incident. Even her grandmother was once a victim of her abilities, or ‘gifts’ as some people like to call them. To her, for the longest time, it had been nothing but a curse, a blight on her existence that robbed her of everything she held dear. Ferain looked around in the darkness, realizing then that she was naked. Her body wasn’t completely visible, but she did not wear any clothing. Standing in for the uniform she had been wearing moments before were shadows. Black streaks covered her small breasts and the place below her waist.
Blue currents arced out at times, but their light did not illuminate the darkness like it normally did. Instead, they seemed weak, despite the rising volume of the electrical humming, and with that weakness came a flickering, pathetic crack of energy before fizzing out and vanishing entirely. Ferain walked forward, feeling vulnerable, lost, scared and confused. She did not look back, knowing that there was nothing there to see, and instead decided to keep taking one step at a time. She had to have some sort of hope that an exit would be nearby, if she could only keep moving forward. However, even this task was growing harder. A dripping played in the distance, like a single droplet falling from the end of a leaky pipe, timed to a slow, equally spaced rhythm.
“One. Two.” she murmured, counting them as they grew louder, but never faster. “Three. Four. Five.”
For some reason, this was the only thing present in her mind. She felt like it was important. She felt like these miniscule, worthless drops were all that existed besides for her own bare body, as small and frail as it always appeared. Eventually, near the fiftieth drip, a light appeared, and the droplets sounded so close now, like it was just around the corner. The light was dim, extremely dim, and it was terrifying, but like a moth to a flame, she continued towards it, continuing her counting all the while. The small dot of light that seemed to float just ahead of where she was did not move, did not grow brighter, but instead, it started to flicker. Finally, near the hundredth drop of what she presumed to be water, a glowing, cascading beam fell from the orb, revealing a light post that belongs on the side of a road, not this dark landscape.
Even though it terrified her, she did not question the darkness, but she did question the light’s existence when she neared it. Her eyes then followed the beam, and when they reached the end, her golden irises, usually so bright and illuminated, dulled and went blank. All life drained from them and terror replaced everything that remained. Giana Singer was slouched there, her back propped up against black, solid smoke, and her head leaning slightly, as if she had simply fallen asleep. Had it not been for the giant hole where her heart should be and the blackened blood that oozed out of it, perhaps Ferain could have believed that’s all it was. Her rapid breathing ceased, stopping completely to leave her in a suffocating state. Her lungs refused to work, and that was when her body seemed to start fighting back. Her legs were the next things to defy her will. She tried to move, only making it a few steps back before collapsing to her knees. Her head was growing hazy from a lack of oxygen, and her chest ached from its inability to draw in air, but her eyes still worked perfectly.
Giana’s head looked up, and for a moment, she thought she saw her mother’s face, but it was back to the young student’s in an instant. The eyes that met her own were hollowed out, appearing as nothing more than black voids that somehow managed to speak louder than anything else in the vicinity. They made no real sound, but Ferain could almost hear them begging her to save the girl, to help in any way she could. Ferain shook her head, slowly at first, and then frantically as Giana’s body started to move. The fingers creaked and twitched, the right arm lifted and reached out for her, and the torso shifted as it tried to lean closer. Giana fell forward, and out spilled a torrent of black blood from the cavity between her breasts. It sounded like a bucket of raw meat splashing against the ground, and this, accompanied by the horrible sight, made Fera throw up a little in her mouth. She clutched a hand over it in disgust and started forcing herself to move backwards, which only got her as far as falling onto her rear.
Her retreat had failed, and there would be no more escape attempts. Giana’s arms reached out, her dingy, blood-stained nails dug into the black void and pulled the body behind them forward, growing closer to Fera with each struggling motion. The drops continued somewhere in the distance, and without knowing it, Ferain was certain it was almost up to two hundred now. Somewhere in her mind, she was still keeping count, as if this actually mattered.
“He… lp… me…” the body groaned, begged, and cried.
The voice sounded strained, broken… dead, causing a petrifying shiver to run up Fera’s spine. Her lifeless eyes quivered, her lips trembled, her heart throbbed, and her body pulsed. She felt like she was going mad, like all of the regret, guilt, and hatred was going to swallow her up and consume her entirely.
“He… Me…” the voice said again.
Ferain’s pulse was through the roof and she was covered in sweat as a result. Finally, she was able to move. It was out of pure instinct to survive, a natural reaction that felt ingrained in her body. Her arm raised, her hand held out in front of her, and she screamed as a bright blue pulse exploded from her palm.
“Ah!” a scream echoed in the darkness. It did not sound like the dead groans of Giana. Instead, it sounded like… “What the hell, Fera?” came Maple’s nasally, and quite furious tone. This was paired with a sharp, painful slam against her head, causing her eyes to shoot open and her body to rocket up.
Ferain looked around, certain that she would only see blackness still, but instead, she was met with her classroom, bright and full of students that were all staring directly at her. Unlike at the end of her nightmare, she was breathing again, and it was as heavy as it had been upon first awakening in that never-ending abyss. Maple was sitting in front of her, cupping her right arm with her left hand, and wearing a pained, almost betrayed expression. For a moment, reality was blurred for her. She didn’t know if she actually was back or if this was only an addition to the dream.
“Fera?” asked Victor, drawing her attention to her right.
“S-sorry.” she breathed, sounding shaky and fearful. The effects of the nightmare had not left her yet. Her adrenaline was flowing heavily in her veins, and her blood was racing just as rapidly. Everything felt simultaneously real and not all at once. “Sorry.” she whispered again, falling back into her seat and burying her face in her hands.
“Fera, are you okay?” Victor questioned, and she felt a giant hand lightly touch her shoulder.
“You should be asking me that.” hissed Maple. “She burned my arm.”
“It’s just a little red.” Victor said. “Hey, lightning bug, answer my question.” he continued, softly nudging her.
“A nightmare. Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” she cried, and when she looked up, tears were rolling down her cheeks, running over the dark circles under her eyes.
The look on Victor’s face caused her heart to ache, and that was because she knew his heart felt the same when he looked at her. He was a caring friend, and a better person than she deserved to be around all the time. She took a calming breath and gave a grim sort of smile.
“I’m okay, really.” she said, before looking at Maple.
“Yeah, really believable when you look like that.” said the girl. “Here.” She pulled a rag of some kind from her bag and wiped Fera’s face, clearing it of the wet trails. After a smile, she nodded. “All better, and I forgive you.”
“I’m sorry.” Fera apologized again.
“Has this been happening often?” asked Victor.
“Not too much, no.” lied Ferain, casting a sideways glance at him. “It’s just really bad when it does.”
“What are they about? Must be pretty horrible to get you so riled up.” Maple interjected.
“The last victim.” Fera admitted.
“I heard about it on the news this morning before school.” Victor said.
“Another murder?” Maple questioned.
“A few days ago, yeah. They found the body Saturday morning but nothing was shared about the scene. How is it bothering you so much?” Victor inquired, glancing at Ferain with a curious gleam in his dark eyes.
“A friend of mine saw what happened. She… told me about it.” Fera said, partially lying again, as much as it bothered her.
She had talked to Mana one time since that day at the crime scene, and what was shared between them was a promise to not tell another person that either one of them was there. Fera wasn’t planning on telling anybody but Anita, who already knew anyway, so she refrained from handing over this information to any other friend. The most she would divulge is what she just told Victor, and that was all she was willing to share. No names, no specifics, just those few words.
“That wasn’t very fair of your friend.” Victor snapped.
“Yeah, look what it's doing to you. Have you slept at all since then?” Maple asked.
“A bit. Like I said, it comes and goes. I–”
Ferain was interrupted by the door to the classroom sliding open, and a familiar face appearing from behind it. A tall, thin man with black hair stepped inside, the white streak within his slicked back locks appearing as clearly as it always did. His golden eyes, the ones that were so similar to Ferain’s that it was almost uncanny, shone wonderfully in the lighting of the classroom. His black suit, the one he always wore, was as perfect as it had ever been, and the golden phoenix pin at the collar was in prime condition. Per usual, the headmaster’s face was chipper and full of glee as he stepped towards Professor Haris, who did not even have the decency to look his boss in the eyes.
“Headmaster Hakamura, what can I do for you, sir?” asked Haris, turning a page in the book that Ferain knew to be a dirty magazine hidden behind the false cover of a novel.
“I’m here to borrow one of your students, if you would be so generous to spare her for a short time.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Take whoever you want, I don’t personally care.” Haris told him, turning another page after licking the thumb he used to grip the corners of them.
“Wonderful.” said Guji, who then looked directly at Ferain. “Ms. Hirigaya, if you wouldn’t mind?”
Fera gave a short nod, collected her school bag, and rose unsteadily from her seat. The dream was still affecting her a bit, and she suspected it might for a while still.
“Bye, Fera. Talk to you later?” asked Maple.
“Yeah, later.” agreed Ferain, before smiling at Victor. “See you tomorrow, Victor.”
“Tomorrow, lightning bug.” he said while smiling, though it was more of a concerned expression than a friendly one.
Fera slung her bag over her body and adjusted the strap to a more comfortable position over her chest, all while walking towards the awaiting headmaster.
“I am sorry to intrude, Ms. Hirigaya, I know you were deep into your studies.” said Guji, grinning positively, as he always did.
Ferain remained unusually silent. She was a quiet person most of the time, but throughout her year here, she found herself opening up to Guji almost as much as she did with Anita, and sometimes even more. He was easy to talk to, was an excellent listener, and always seemed to know what to say to depart her with some sort of wisdom or to help raise her spirits when it was needed. This time, however, she didn’t want to talk, not to anybody. Sunday night, after Anita had kissed her but before she tried going to bed, that was the last time she felt like talking to anyone. Since then, since the nightmares started up again, she was even distant with her closest friend. She was reverting back to who she was before coming here, which was nothing more than a reclusive, scared, and mentally scarred little girl.
This particular notion frightened her beyond belief. She was finally starting to get a normal life again, or as normal as it could be, but now, it all was threatening to crumble away once more. It was a fragile armor she created around herself, and it was easily starting to chip and crack, revealing the thing that was beneath it. This thing was something she never wanted to let out again, but it was happening, and she now felt like it was unstoppable at this point. Guji, possibly using his abilities on her, seemed to pick up on this feeling within her. He put a hand on her shoulder, catching Fera’s attention, and looked down into her eyes with the most serious expression she’d ever seen him wear.
“That night, I want to discuss it with you.” he said, causing her heart to thump rapidly again. Anymore of this and she was afraid it would overwork itself, or just simply explode in her ribcage.
“Why?” she asked.
“I’ll explain it in my office. I feel that you should be made aware of it sooner rather than later, for safety reasons.”
This did not leave her with a good, fuzzy feeling in her stomach. This, if even possible, left her in a worse state. If Guji Hakamura was taking something this seriously, if he had gone out of his way to tell her something she probably shouldn’t know, it could only mean she would not like what she was about to hear. Now, feeling more terrified than before, she followed him quietly to his office. It was a pleasant place, usually, with pictures of random things, personal things, and odd things hanging up on the walls. He even had a picture from his time at the academy, one that he’d taken the time out to show her during one of her visits. It was of himself as a first-year at the academy, as well as Professor Autumn Willow, his partner at the time.
Fera sat in a leather-backed chair on the opposite side of Guji’s desk, while he took the spot behind it. He clasped his hands over the center of the surface, leaning forward in his chair slightly. She was not prepared for this, whatever it was going to be, she knew that. She, like Mana, was already breaking down from the events of a few days ago. Her armor was falling to pieces, and all of her progress throughout the year was shedding with it. Anything else added on top of all that was already there might be what finally breaks her completely. Still, she sat there and was going to listen. She didn’t have much of a choice anyhow, so she might as well let it happen.
“Ms. Hir… Ferain,” the headmaster said, shifting his speech to a more familiar one in place of his ‘headmaster’ way of speaking. “Agent Key has told me about what happened on Sunday, and as I am the headmaster of Olirian Academy, and am responsible for the attending students, I have been made privy to more information besides just that day’s worth.”
“I imagine Mr. Key would not want me to know it.” Fera murmured. “Why tell me anything more?” she questioned, and she hoped the pleading in her voice and glossy eyes would be enough to dissuade him from continuing. She didn’t want to know more, she was done, and doubted she was up to the task of handling this knowledge. As a mark of her ever-consistent misfortune, he continued on, as she knew he would.
“Because, it has the possibility of harming you, if you’re not careful. You are not the only lightning-user in our school’s registry, I assume you know that?”
“I know that.” she affirmed.
“Indeed. There are three others besides yourself, and the only other one to not have any alibis for any of the murders is Yarin Olira.”
Ferain’s heart sank, her breaths caught in her throat, and her eyes went wide from shock and disbelief. “That’s impossible.” she muttered.
“Cross is not so sure, not anymore.” said Guji.
“Why now and not any other time? I thought I was the only suspect.”
“He did not disclose his other suspects to you for an obvious reason, Ferain. You’re a student, and your involvement in the case has only been as much as it was because of unfortunate happenstance. Unlike Mana Key, you are not assigned to the case under the protection and legality of any sort of agency. Your knowledge of its ongoing progress was to be kept to a need-to-know basis, as in as little as possible.”
“What about Lilipa? She never leaves his side.” stated Ferain.
“He has questioned Ms. Nierro multiple times. According to her, Mr. Olira has been vanishing quite frequently since the time of the first murder. During the times of the attacks, nobody seems to know where he was, and the cause of death for every victim places him as much of a suspect as you were.”
“Were? Meaning that I no longer am one?”
“Sharp as ever, I see. No, he does not believe it was you, never has. According to him, you’re not capable of it. He’s shifting his focus from you to Mr. Olira. You can calm down a tad. Cross has not decided to arrest him just yet. The evidence points to him, just as it did you, but he is not willing to condemn him yet.”
Ferain was about to argue, was about to claim it was impossible, but she then remembered the night of Copper’s death. It was the night that she had officially met him, and the night where he left her outside of District-A’s checkpoint. He had said then that he was going to meet somebody, and left her alone when he shouldn’t have. She was under the restriction of having to be around somebody at all times. Had he really left her to go kill Copper? She couldn’t believe it, would not believe it. Yarin was cold at times, and could be pretty distant from people on a bad day, but he was not a murderer… Was he? Ferain shook her head, took fistfuls of her hair in her hands, and leaned on the desk with her elbows. Her chest was rising rapidly and her heart, well, that was a lost cause already. The second she heard Yarin’s name it had only gotten faster, and now, it felt like it had reached its limit.
She felt faint and like she couldn’t breath, no matter how fast or hard she tried to suck in air, nothing seemed to fill her lungs.
“Ferain. Ferain!” Guji shouted, finally pulling her out of her terror. He had never raised his voice before, not like this, and definitely not at her. She stared at him, lost and confused and probably not even able to speak. “I tell you this because I want you to be careful around him. You understand that, right?” She could not muster the breath or the words to respond verbally. Instead, she simply nodded, and that appeared to be enough for Guji. “I’m sorry for telling you this, but the likelihood that it is him is high. The others all have alibis, and you… Agent Key has cleared you already.”
“Why?” Fera cried, staring down at the hands she had just put in her lap to steady them. “Why is this happening?”
“Have you been keeping up with the news lately, Ferain?” he asked her, taking her by surprise.
“N-no. Why?”
“A hint to the answer you’re looking for might be found there, if you bother to look. I can’t share any more information with you. I am only doing this out of concern for your safety, but the rest of the details are to be kept to those most involved. Take heed of your surroundings and always remain in the company of a trusted friend. That is all I was wanting to discuss so you are dismissed. If you want, I will have Ms. Caswell brought up and she can accompany you home. If you think you can stay the rest of the day, I will allow you to continue, but I do advise you to take the day off.”
“I’ll be fine.” Ferain said, staring up at him. “Bye, Headmaster. Thanks for the… the warning.” she said, sounding grim and defeated and completely exhausted. Fera rose from her seat and made for the door, grabbing her bag on the way, when the headmaster called out her name. She stopped and turned her head back to see him at his desk, staring at her. “Yes, Headmaster?”
“Are you… feeling okay?” he inquired. It almost made her laugh. He, who could see inside people’s heads, should know perfectly well how not-okay she was. She was on the edge of collapsing, and this man was going to ask her such a stupid question that had such an obvious answer that even normal humans would be able to see it.
“No.” she found herself responding. “No, I’m not. Bye, Headmaster.” she repeated, and without a second look back, she left, allowing the door to close behind her.
The bell rang, releasing the students from their morning classes. The halls filled with people as they began moving to lunch, but Fera was not going with them to the cafeteria. She didn’t want to see anybody she knew. Yarin, Lilipa, Maple and Victor, and even Anita. She wanted to be as far away from everyone as she could possibly get. To accomplish this, she headed for the roof. It was quiet up there, and even if some other students planned on nesting there for the duration of the break, she could find somewhere to tuck herself away, possibly a corner or something. As was to be expected on a cool autumn day, the weather was beautiful. A vast ocean of light blue shades, white puffy clouds that drifted across the expanse, and a bright, comfortably warm sun that graced everything beneath it with light.
There were only a handful of other students already up there, people who had apparently packed their lunches and had scurried up to marvel at the view and enjoy the fine atmosphere. Neither she nor them paid each other any mind. They were busy with their conversations and Ferain simply didn’t care enough to even look their way. There were some overly large AC units in several places, some sitting arrangements for any visitors to occupy, and a blue metal railing that encompassed the entirety of the roof’s perimeter. It only went up to waist height on her, but it was sufficient enough protection against accidentally falling over the edge. From the roof, she could smell the ocean in the air, even if she could not see it at this height, and the faintly chilled wind rustled her pleated skirt and flowing, messy hair.
She approached the metal railing and leaned into it, crossing her arms atop the round metal bar for support. Beneath her were the school grounds, ahead was one of the checkpoints into District-B, and beyond that was where her home resided. Even further was where the many murders over the year had been taking place, a thought that unwillingly crept up on her. The nightmare was still too fresh in her mind, both the one she dreamed and the one she lived through, and her mood was much too sour to conjure any sort of positivity. Even thoughts of Anita couldn’t spare her from this strange sort of agony. Fera looked down, over the railing and to the concrete walkway below. For the briefest of moments, a thought reared its ugly head. She imagined herself climbing over and just letting go. It was only a split second and the smallest amount of seriousness, but it had been there.
“Stupid.” she muttered, hanging her head and shutting her eyes. “Too stupid.”
While looking down, she reached under her shirt and pulled out the silver chain and the beautiful crystal that swung at the end of it. She imagined her mother standing in this exact spot, wearing this same necklace, and looking out at the same exact view. She felt ashamed of herself then. Her life was owed to her mother, her purpose was to prove that her mother’s sacrifice was not wasted, and here she was, indulging in the faintest, most cowardice thoughts of escape. It was all too stupid, even for her standards, especially for something like this. After all that she’d suffered in her life, and seeing a few more dead bodies breaks her down to dust? Not even ‘bodies’, since Copper’s had not even affected her in this way. For some reason, the situation with Mana and the state of Giana’s body all combined to make it an undeniably heart wrenching scene.
Copper’s murder hurt, and she felt terrible about the rest of the murders, obviously, but somehow, this last one made it feel so much more real than it had ever been before, and it was like a stone had hit her walls of glass, cracking them in every possible direction. But, despite all of this, suicide was not the answer. She didn’t know what the actual answer was or how she was going to find it, but she knew that dying was not the right one to choose. With her darkening thoughts and shameful, flustered confusion, she almost failed to notice a small, quiet beep that rang out from the band around her left wrist. Fera looked down at the illuminated screen and saw something that once again caused her heart to race. This was due to multiple reasons; fear and anger being a couple of them. Without responding to the message, she swiped away the notification and stared out at the sky again, her eyes taking on the hue of the burning, golden sun above. After calming her racing heart and finding the ability to breathe and think again, she turned and started for the door that would lead back into the school.