It wasn't my alarm that woke that morning, but a consistent slam on my bedroom door. A groan escaped me as I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, blearily looking around my room. The plain off-white walls, with the cluttered desk, chaotically organized bookshelf, drawn curtains, and a plain dark brown dresser. Licking my lips, I grimaced and murmured tiredly to myself. Shrugging, I pulled my comforter back over my head to go back to sleep.
Another massive smack at my door caused my eyes to shoot open as I threw the blanket off me and threw a wild look at the digital clock on my bedside table. In glowing blue lights, it read 7:57. A hysterical gurgle escaped me as I grimaced at my dry mouth. I had overslept. I scrambled out bed, my foot got caught on my blanket, and I fell to the ground with an echoing thud. A faint groan escaped as I just laid there, the sheets wrapped haphazardly around my left ankle.
The door opened suddenly. "Joey, are you alright?!" A worried, feminine voice asked me. Lifting a shaky hand, I just let my face rest on the carpeted floor and gave the girl a thumbs up. A tired sigh escaped her. "You're…impossible. You're going to be late. You know that, right?"
"Yeah." My voice came out raspy and pained.
"What did you do, last night?"
With a faint groan, I extracted my leg from the blanket and pushed myself into a sitting position. The young girl that stood in my doorway wore a pair of light blue shorts and a black T-shirt. Her hair was black and long enough to fall past her shoulders. Eyes the color of a dark cloudy, blue sky regarded me with frustrated amusement. She crossed her arms as she arched a thin eyebrow. Shrugging my shoulders, I got to my feet with a grunt. "I nearly beat my record, Maggie."
My little sister rolled her eyes and turned around to leave my room. "Such a nerd, Joey. You shouldn't play video games so late before school."
I laughed as I stood up shakily. "Luke says the same thing."
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Maggie and I lived alone in this single floor apartment co-op; two bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, a kitchen/dining room, and a living room. It's a nice set-up for a pair of high school students. Our parents are still alive, of course. Absent and unseen for the past decade, but alive.
We're not former royalty on the run from a corrupt uncle trying to kill us to ensure his reign remains uncontested. Our parents aren't magical messiah, destined to uplift humanity. Maggie isn't suffering from amnesia regarding mystical cleansing powers that could change the entire world, and I'm not some secret Übermensch trying to live our lives away from the chaos of the supernatural world.
My sister and I, we're normal.
Well…for a measure of ‘normal' as we're currently living separately from the rest of our family. Us and everyone else who lives in the same…area. As for why? I suppose I'll get to that later.
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Maggie and I stepped out of our shared apartment as she locked it behind us. I was wearing a pair of brown khaki pants, a white T-shirt with a black and red, plaid, long-sleeve button-up shirt over it. Hanging over my shoulder was red, single strap book bag, which I lifted a bit to adjust its weight. My little sister was wearing a knee-length black skirt and a sleeveless blouse. Her long hair was done up into a ponytail, her bangs swept to the side and framing the left side of her face, held up by a white hair clip.
We stepped into a wide hallway with blue-white walls, peppered with doors along the walls. There were two corners on either side of us down the halls. On both ends, there were elevators and laundry rooms. Our door read ‘C-304'. We lived on the third floor, fourth room from the west side of the building.
I bit into an apple as we walked toward the elevator on our floor. "Have you heard back from Mom, yet?" Maggie asked as we reached our destination, pressing the call button.
Shaking my head, I chewed and swallowed my bite. "No. I know she got my e-mail, but she hasn't replied." I paused and frowned as I stared out the window. "The payments have gone through on our expenses, but neither she nor Dad have answered back."
Maggie hummed with discontent, the only evidence of that being the faint twist of her mouth. Then her shoulders dropped, and she smiled widely. "Hey, at least we've still got each other, right?" Her expression was tight, but hopeful.
I was about to bite into my apple again but paused at her expression. Tightening my grip on the apple, I matched her smile with a grin. "Yep. We're in this together, Maggie. Us against the world." A twisting sensation filled my heart, exacerbated by a sense of frustration I felt as I tried to loosen my grip on my apple.
Her smile softened for a moment as the doors slid open. As we walked inside, she said, "I don't think you'll be much help if you end up sleeping all day after playing video games all night, Joey." I stumbled in surprise at her words, giving her a playful glare as she pushed the button for the first floor.
"You're killing me, here, Maggie." She giggled at my deadpan, and we waited in relative silence in the elevator. It was a largish, silver box that was ten feet in height and eight feet in width — the different buttons for the eight floors of the apartment building and the emergency buttons. After a few moments of silence, my sister jerked in surprise. "Oh! I just remembered. My class has a production next week. It's an original play, loosely based on the original Brother's Grimm fairy tales." She sputtered, nervously, as she tapped the palm of her hand with her fingers sequentially. "We're all going to be a part of it, but we were allowed to audition for specific roles." Maggie grinned proudly, no longer nervous. "I got the lead part!"
Swallowing another bite of my apple, I wiped my mouth and leaned to the side and bumped her shoulder with mine. "You did? Awesome! I'm proud of you, Mags. Why didn't you say anything to me about it?"
Maggie shrugged a single shoulder, her grin not falling in the least. "I wanted to surprise you. You have your video games and your advanced classes, so I wanted something unique that I could show off to you and my friends."
I rolled my eyes, unable to hide my smile. "Believe me, Maggie. You're far more special than you've ever considered-" As I spoke, I felt sudden tightness in my chest. A little wheeze escaped me as my breath caught deep in my chest. I coughed wetly and tried to inhale, but I couldn't breathe properly.
My sister sucked in a breath and stepped over to me, gently grasping my shoulder and pulling it back. "You know what to do." She whispered to me supportively. Nodding to her, I straightened my posture and inhaled through my nose. My heart pounded as I heard a zip behind me. Attempting to calm my breaths, I closed my eyes and tried to loosen the tension in my body. There was a clicking sound, and a small burst of steam flew into my face, going through my nose as I inhaled. Air flowed freely, and I was able to breathe. Opening my eyes, I saw that Maggie was holding a silver thermos in front of my face. Taking it from her hands, I took a refreshing drink and began to feel my inability to breathe lessen just enough that I was no longer choking on air. "Did you not take your medicine?" The pleasant burn of the hot coffee not only clearing my airways but also giving me the push to fully wake up.
I grimaced as I took another swig of coffee. "I hate that stuff, Maggie. It makes me too damn sluggish throughout the day. I'd rather carry around an inhaler, then take those pills."
Maggie frowned severely, stepping back as she crossed her arms. "Do you at least have your inhaler, then?"
"In my pocket," I said faintly, holding my thermos out to her. When she took it, I used my free hand to reach into a pocket on my leg and pulled out a white inhaler with a black cover over the mouthpiece, giving it a good shake. Popping the lid off, I put the inhaler in my mouth and pressed down on the bottle. A burst of cold air shot through my mouth as I inhaled, allowing it to clear my airways fully. Pulling the inhaler away from my mouth, I held my breath for a few seconds, before exhaling carefully.
The elevator door opened as I opened my eyes, my sister and I stepped into the lobby. It was a large, comfortable looking area with a large smooth, wooden desk in front of the glass walls and a double-wide front door. There was a collection of leather cushions that lined the walls next to the elevator and an occasional desk with high-back chairs on opposing sides of them. There was a small sitting area off to the side with a large screen television, playing a news station. At the front desk stood a nondescript man in a business casual white shirt reading a magazine.
Tossing my apple core to the side, I watched as it flew into an open trash can. "When is your production in the day?" I asked my sister, casually shifting the subject back to what it was before my attack.
Maggie scowled, clearly seeing my deflection for what it was. "It's in the evening, after school. It'll be later since Ms. Hall wants to make sure we're prepared." She answered evenly, her gaze turning sharp as she narrowed her eyes at me.
"I'll make sure that I set aside time for it." I smiled at her. "Maybe I can convince Luke to give up a night to see it with me."
Maggie exhaled through her nose, a small smile growing on her face as we began to walk through the lobby. "I don't know. Luke does like his nights."
I snorted, rolling my eyes. "No worries, there. All it'll take it is a single word from me, and Luke'll be there." We reached the entrance and waved off the clerk at the front as we exited the building. Sunlight rained down on us as exited the apartment building, causing me to lift a hand to shade my gaze as I looked around the skyline. Tall buildings that reached into the sky as far as the eye could see gave the city an urban, modern feel. A plane flew silently above us, bringing a large shadow over the cityscape — all around us, other people making their way wherever this early in the morning. The streets were empty, save for the occasional bus, while people filled the sidewalks.
I hated the skyline. Steel and glass scraped the sky and broke apart the openness of the vast, bare skies. They reminded me of bars, a gilded, platinum cage, lined with velvet, leather, and steel. It was the first thing I remember seeing that last day I saw my mother and the last thing I see before going to bed. I don’t know how my sister felt about it, but…
I wouldn’t be surprised if she thought the same.
Maggie and I made our way through the sea of people, following along with the group. We walked relatively quickly, as did the people around us, going past the occasional ad on a wall, for a new store or an upcoming concert, or some such.
"Hey, have you heard? They're finally making progress on the Western Continent!"
"Really?! That's incredible. I've wanted to hear more about them for a while now."
"Yeah. They've made progress on speeding up the half-life of radiation. No word on how much and how fast, but the return time frame has been moved up."
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
"Why hasn't there been a declaration, then?"
As the people around us began to whisper frantically at the recent news, Maggie glanced over to me and whispered. "Do you think that's what Mom spoke of when she mentioned a ‘breakthrough' in her last message?"
I hummed faintly, grimacing at the tight squeeze on the sidewalk. "I think so. Mom seemed more excited about whatever that was than catching up with us." I murmured to her as I made sure to keep my body between Maggie and other pedestrians, while not crowding her too much.
"Did she say anything about Dad? I mean, ever since the Emergence, we haven't heard from him." She paused, nervously wringing her fingers together. "Do you…think he was one of the-"
"We've had this conversation before, Maggie. Dad couldn't have involved himself beyond keeping the peace." I shook my head as we reached our bus stop. It was a steel bench surrounded by an open, metal hut with a plastic poster of the bus schedule on the glass wall on the side.
"Bu-"
"Maggie, please." My voice came out a faint wheeze, and I pulled out my inhaler, shaking it. She gave me a concerned expression but looked down at my strained smile. Inhaling suddenly with the inhaler, I held my breath as my heartbeat slowed. The silver bus approached with a quiet rumble. It was a large rectangular vehicle with a rounded top. The windows showed a few people already inside; on the front right of the bus, the door popped forward and slid along the side of the wall. People milled onto the vehicle and my sister, and I entered the bus, swiping our bus cards as we found our seats near the middle of the bus.
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The Emergence. It's the name of a particular incident that occurred ten years ago.
Almost as if it was overnight, random people across the world gained Power. I do mean the capital ‘P.' It was just as sudden as it was unexplainable. The event wasn't gradual; no, things would have been far more manageable had things started slow and steadily escalated. All across the globe, in civilized nations, earth-shaking skirmishes began to spark.
Constant, nonstop conflict throughout an entire week, of people with abilities that looked like they came from movies, comic books, and fantasy novels, clashed across every country and within every continent.
Lands were ravaged, and countless innocent people died in the crossfire. Mountains were uprooted as if they were trees and oceans were parted like they were small rivers. The sky was torn asunder and rained fire and brimstone, and people were calling it the end of days. Well, if the end of the world were brought upon us by humanity's selfishness, then it'd be pretty damn poetic, right?
In the end, the casualties were morally incalculable. Far too many innocents died in the crossfire. Homes, national landmarks, businesses, schools; all of them were destroyed irreparably. Continents razed and countries torn in half. The fallout wracked the world, and it was only thanks to those who used their randomly granted power responsibly that even a fraction of human civilization survived their stupidity.
Each continent on Earth ended up uninhabitable, whether due to radiation, irrevocably destroyed the land, or if the continent was just sunk.
The number of people left alive, and unaffected, from the havoc, wrought, were forced to relocate to one of seven human-made islands. Seven islands created by a group to both save the remaining members of humanity and control those with far too much power to contain through indirectly holding their family's hostage.
How do I, a random teenager, know this specifically? Well…
I suppose I can get into that later…
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Our school is something a community school, where kids of all ages come to attend, from first grade to university. It's a pretty large school, resembling a very well-funded university. A combination of brick, something resembling steel and windows. Various wings branched off from a unique circular building. Each side encompassed a branch of schooling, elementary, middle, high school, and university. The surrounding area was a beautiful decoration of trees and shrubbery, along with different buildings for different functions.
As we walked off the bus stop, Maggie turned towards me. "Joey, I need to meet the others at the Theatre on the other side of campus. You'll be okay without me, yeah?"
I offered her a small smile. "Of course. I have my inhaler and a few replacements. No need to worry about your elder brother."
She grinned playfully at me. "You're my brother; I'll always worry." She leaned forward and pulled me into a tight hug, then turned and raced off.
I sighed as I took one more shot from my inhaler to further clear my airways and followed the stone path towards the high school wing to get to my classroom. It didn't take long for me to reach the rest of my year mates and underclassmen in the high school branch. There was a small stream of people all heading towards the same wing for classes, each dressed in a variety of clothes, in both brand and color, all talking with one another. The gentle breeze of the morning air sent my short bangs flapping in the wind as I stayed on the path, though I couldn't help but notice others straying onto the grass. Classes hadn't officially started yet, so people were still milling about. On days like this, where it wasn't too hot, or too cold, I could see my classmates hanging out near one of the white gazebos on campus; they would also be sitting on one of the benches beneath a large tree for shade.
The crunch of grass and the sound of a soft laugh caught my attention. "Wow, Joey, you must have been up all night if you're this spacy." I looked to the source of the voice to see a young man around my age, standing at a good few inches taller than me, at 6'3" to my 5'9", with golden honey blonde hair cut relatively short and dark green eyes narrowed in amusement. He wore a pair of tight, dark blue jeans, a black shirt under a white jacket that hugged his broad shoulders.
I offered my oldest friend a tired glare. "I was already given the ninth degree by Maggie, Luke. I don't need it from you."
"You still do, considering this isn't the first time you've done this." He said with a grin. Before I could respond, he turned and waved for me to follow. "C'mon, Mr. Lethe wanted to meet with all of us before the day officially starts. There are a few more examinations we need to go over." He didn't walk off immediately, glancing over to me patiently as I fell into step next to him.
I was confused for a moment before it finally dawned on me. "Oh…the Advanced Placement exams…" I let out a small, chagrined laugh, scratching the side of my head. "I remember promising myself to go to bed early the night before, but I decided to play one more level…"
Luke snorted, rolling his eyes at that. "It's always ‘one more level' with you." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a sideways hug. His arm tightened around my neck as he grinned. "C'mon, Joey. You'll never catch a girl's eye if you always focus on those games of yours."
"Yeah, says you?" I rolled my eyes, grunting as he squeezed gently. "Tell me, Luke, when's the last time you ever had a girlfriend?"
"Smartass." Luke snorted as he released me, shoving me forward with a laugh. I twisted around and returned his gesture with a backhanded smack against his more solid chest. He let out a small smile as we walked down the stone path in companionable silence. We reached the main high school wing in no time, approaching a dark steel door with an inwardly bending handle that was propped open by a built into mechanism at the top of the door. Entering the building proper, our shoes stepped onto the glistening, clean linoleum. On both sides of us as we walked down the hall were lines of black lockers, each of them five feet tall and a foot and a half wide. Resting above the lockers were panes of windows that trailed along the length of the string of lockers, only stopping when it reached the entrance to a classroom.
Luke and I came to a stop in front of a polished wooden door with the marking '12 – B' on the front at eye level. A translucent pane of glass rested on the left side, close to hinges, allowing me to see a few people already milling about inside. I grabbed the silver knob and twisted it, stepping inside.
The classroom had twelve grey desks and matching chairs, with four rows of three chairs, there already being ten other students in the room, all either at their desks or talking with one another. The walls held an assortment of posters with various academic sayings and notes that one could find in any school. In front of the desks were a smart board and a podium in front of that. In the back corner of the room, across from the doorway Luke and I entered, was a larger desk, with an assortment of books, papers, and a desktop computer.
"Well, well, well, it seems you managed to find our wayward, lost classmate, Luke." A girl with long dark red hair, tied into a tight plait, with her bangs swept to the side, and green-blue eyes smirked jokingly. She was wearing a pair of shin length jeans and a low-cut pale red shirt. She was a few inches shorter than me but stocky, her cheeks a little rounded compared her apparent age, her complexion a few shades lighter than most. Her expression was almost painfully dry as she regarded me with an arched brow. "Honestly, Joey, I shouldn't be as surprised as I am."
Before I could respond, Luke clasped me on the shoulder. "Don't be so tough on him, Amber. Joey's one of the hardest working ones here." He nudged me with a grin. "We all have to decompress somehow."
Amber rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and poor Maggie has to put up with him."
"Oi," I said to her with a half-hearted glare, only getting a playful smile from my classmate.
"Ah, Joseph, have you started our final term paper yet?" I glanced to see another girl walking over to me. Her expression was stern but curious, light brown eyes studying me through a pair of thick-framed glasses. Her waist-length and wavy hair had bangs held back by a hairband. She had a naturally tanned skin tone. She stood an inch or two taller than me, dressed in a loose-fitting dark blue blouse and a knee-length skirt, her frame willowy, but still feminine in a way that one couldn't ignore.
I nodded. "Yeah, I have Kacee. I've got about a page and a half done. I didn't want to burn out too quickly before it was due, so I decided to take a break."
Kacee hummed, frowning faintly, but nodded regardless. "I see." Her narrowed behind her glasses as she turned her gaze towards Amber and Luke. "I wish these two had said the same. Considering that Luke and Amber have been putting theirs off, it's almost frustrating."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, calm down, Kacee. We're not savants like Joseph or natural writers like you." Amber snorted in amusement, not bothering to respond as she looked away from Kacee's searching gaze.
"Savant?!" I grumbled at him.
Kacee narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could reply, a clapping sound caught our attention.
A man standing at the front of the classroom, dressed in black dress pants, a long-sleeve blue, button-up shirt, and a white and blue tie gave us all an amused look in his dark brown eyes. His black hair was close-cropped and cut short on the sides, with the beginning of curls; there was a small, faded scar on his left cheek. "Alright, now that we're all here, I believe we should start a bit early. There is quite a bit we must get through for today to be as productive as possible." His gaze rolled over to me, his lips curling in a knowing amusement. "Hopefully, we're all fully awake now."
I let out a small laugh. "I hope so, too, Mr. Lethe." Our teacher, Patrick Lethe’s smile widened ever so slightly before he turned to his podium. Luke, Amber, Kacee, and I all broke apart and went to our seats. My seat was the second seat in the leftmost row, with Amber sitting behind me. Sitting down, I nodded to my classmate to my immediate right. His dirty blonde, almost more of a light brown, hair was cut short, save for his bangs, which managed to reach just below his brow. He wore a pair of dark green cargo pants and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. "Rudy." I murmured in greeting.
Dark grey eyes met mine for a moment, acknowledging my response with an almost imperceptible nod. "Joseph." He said, nearly inaudible, seeming to appear far too tired to care about anything.
"Alright everyone, we're nearly at the time for your graduation." Mr. Lethe started us off, clapping his hands to bring all of our attention to him. "Just four months until you're all high school graduates, ready to move onto university, or into the workforce." He smiled widely at each of us. "After working with you as long as I have, I have no doubts that all of you are going to go far." He tapped a few things on the podium, causing the smart board to power on and brighten.
I grimaced as a faint light appeared in my periphery, an uncomfortable pull deep in my gut like a chain had hooked onto it.
"Within these next four months, all of you will have a limited number of opportunities to take advantage of the Advanced Placement classes you've taken and potentially remove a few necessary courses you'll have to take in university." He brought up a few pages on the screen, showing us a tentative schedule of the next few weeks.
A wave of nausea hit me, causing me to grimace and look away from the front; the light from the projector gave me a headache. "Joey?" Amber's concerned murmur caused me to silently wave her off as I ignored a pull at my navel.
…all for you once mo…
Mr. Lethe continued to explain our schedule, underlining a few specific dates and motioning to others with an electronic pen. His words seemed to swim around me, going in one ear and out the other as my nausea refused to abate, merely getting worse.
"Joseph?" Rudy's soft, but concerned, voice caused me to glance over to him and shake my head.
…ttle that only you und…
Bile rose through my throat, and I tried to stand up so I could race to the restroom. As I pushed the chair back, my legs suddenly buckled beneath me. Before I could hit the ground, a pair of strong hands had caught me at both of my arms.
Voices all around me swam in the air, all asking if I was well, but I couldn't do anything but shake my now pounding head. "I don't know." I gave an answer that I hoped answered one of their questions.
…eg of you, answer this call and come to our aid!
Just as clarity and relief came flooding back to me, my lungs seized as I sucked in a sudden breath. A sudden bright light blinded me, cries escaping from us. I fell forward, bracing myself for the impact of the hard, unforgiving linoleum.
…Only to feel the gentle give of soft grass and the light caress of a springtime breeze.