The ride to Mr. Miller’s was awkward to say the absolute least. A deep feeling of unease permeated the still air of the car but Jamison chose not to focus on that, and instead he focused on the surrounding outdoors.

Snow- or rather ash was falling all around. Staining the world around, and the minivan itself, a dull gray. The sky hung above them all, coughing out further gouts of ash. It seemed that the world was changing around him. And from what Jamison could see strange growths were beginning to form all over the place. Crystalline growths composed of a dark, ashlike lattice. Light reflected from those crystals and Jamison couldn’t help but see the beauty in it, but several questions were raised due to the growths and the events of twenty minutes prior… In the cafeteria.

The sight of the creature raised quite a few questions.

Firstly- What was it?

Secondly- What did it want?

Thirdly- How was it connected to the events of the cafeteria? Did it cause it or was it trying to stop it?

Three questions, no answers.

What an absolute pain in the ass that was.

‘House of Mirrors’ by Hollywood Undead started to play over the boy’s headset as he drew a notebook and pencil from his backpack. Jamison then began to scribble out loose notes about the scenario he was in. His writing was hurried and messy, but then again there seemed to be more pressing issues going on. Like- What in the ever loving name of God was going on. As the town he lived in was supposed to be a safe, little town in the middle of texas. Thirty miles from anything important, like Dallas.

Notes

1. Trumpets meant something. Bad things followed them.

2. Strange creatures in the dark have some interest in me.

3. Ash is falling from the sky and crystals are forming all over the place.

4. Stuck with Valentine, Eris, and Ceres in Mr. Miller’s car.

5. Mom won’t be back for another week, she might be stranded somewhere.

Pros

1. With a group.

Yeah… That wasn’t very promising.

Cons

1. Don’t know where mom is.

2. Stuck in the car with strangers.

3. Don’t know where I’m going, I might get ax murdered in a minivan.

4. World is changing, nothing good comes from that.

5. Need supplies.

6. Probably need a weapon.

Not very promising indeed, but Eris felt the need to vocalize her lack of confidence in the current chain of events, “Well… I think this is the sketchiest thing I’ve ever done. Which is saying something because I’ve done some shit.

Ceres chuckled but there was no mirth. Valentine yawned, they had been in the car for the past thirty minutes but hadn’t gone anywhere. But no one had said anything about needing to get back. Which led Jamison to conclude that his uneasy compatriots had nowhere else to go. A dark prospect- but a sensible one. It was easy to single them out, they were a target by virtue of being odd. It led Jamison to believe that there were ulterior motives to Mr. Miller’s kindness.

After all, there was always a catch to things.

“Just where exactly are we going?” Eris piped up.

Ceres hummed in support.

Valentine remained silent, pressed up against the window in the rearmost row.

Geoffrey Day’s cover of ‘Trava u Doma’ started to play. Leading to Jamison tapping his fingers on the front passenger seat’s windowsill placidly. His neutral expression betrayed no feelings as he gazed to the outdoors with his list of problems sitting on his lap.

There was a moment of pause before Mr. Miller straightened his posture and responded in a dull rasp of a voice, “My family home… I take it you all are suspicious of me. Yet you blindly followed along with my plan. Quite the conundrum.”

Quite the conundrum indeed. Silence reigned for a few more moments as the twins stiffened up.

“You live with anyone?” Jamison asked, not even sparing a glance to the driver in question.

“My brother and his adoptive daughter. We live on the edges of Dallas…” Mr. Miller drolly stated.

“Going towards a big city is probably a bad idea. People are gonna be an issue.” Jamison countered.

“Do you have anywhere better to go? I’ll bring you.” There was a threadbare hint of hostility in the older man’s question.

“Nope. Just curious ‘bout your plan is all.” Jamison said, looking over to Mr. Miller with a thin frown drawn across his face. His neutrality was slowly breaking down.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

‘Black Hole Sun’ by Soundgarden started to play, its dulcetly ghostly tones carried out of Jamison’s earbuds into the stiffly silent cab of the minivan. Sleepiness tugged on the edge of the boy’s vision as the surroundings whizzed by in a blur of green and brown. But he couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t safe. He had to protect his own hide and probably the skin of his unwilling companions as well.

Something ran its hands across the back of the boy’s neck, causing him to suddenly bolt upright. Barely withholding a stream of vehement curses.

“One…” Valentine began, looking pensive in the reflection of the review mirror, “One hell of a first day… Am I right?”

The twins hummed in response, Jamison was left scratching the back of his neck. A grimace spread across his face- unable to really speak due to the shock of the hallucinations.

“Things are looking quite grim, and the surrounding environment seems to be changing quite dramatically… I wonder if it happens to be connected to the trumpets we heard in the cafeteria.” Ceres spoke, propping her head against the window and closing her eyes.

No one responded, leaving the car in an awkward silence as time continued on. But eventually the minivan turned into a gravel road off of the main highway. It seemed like they were close to Mr. Miller’s house. And after around ten minutes of driving in silence Mr. Miller turned into a dirt driveway right as ‘Dani California’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers started to play.

If there was one thing that Jamison was grateful for it would be his music which came from a small music player in the boy’s right pocket. He even had a solar charger for it and everything so that he could listen to it at any given time… Jamison knew that his seeming obsession with sound was a bit odd.

“Home sweet home,” Mr. Miller said as a rather large, white clapboard house came into view… A house with a driveway surrounded by towering oak trees…

Though it was still partially stained by the falling ash Jamison had to admit that it was still a beautiful piece of architecture. With its stark white doric pillars and red shingled roof. The house looked like it was ripped right out of Gone With the Wind… A book that Jamison loathed but one he could appreciate for its quality and message. If you could say that Gone With the Wind even had a message.

“Last chance, I can take you all somewhere else if need be.” Mr. Miller rasped.

“We’ve no problem with this.” Ceres said, speaking for her sister and herself.

“I’m good.” Jamison stated.

“Not like home’s any better…” Valentine mumbled, raising several questions on Jamison’s end.

“Verywell…”

Jamison sighed as the car pulled in front of the white house. And in a singular swift motion Mr. Miller rolled the car to a stop before taking the key from the ignition and cracking the door. Jamison stepped out a half moment later after grabbing his notebook, followed by the twins and finally Valentine. The group moseyed on to the house where a man who looked somewhat like Mr. Miller and a little girl stood waiting.

The man, who Jamison supposed was Mr. Miller’s brother was rather striking. Not because of his features, which were less hardened than Mr. Miller’s, but because of his clothing. The brother wore the liturgical vestments of a Catholic priest. It didn’t help that he also had an old school hunting shotgun slung across his shoulder on an old leather sling.

“When you said you were bringing in strays I wasn’t expecting four children…” The brother called out, earning a grimace from the limping Mr. Miller.

“Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to shelter the unwanted?” Mr. Miller retorted, making his way up the staircase and standing before the brother, “You heard the trumpets, didn’t you Tom?”

“I did. I’ve taken a sample of the ‘ash’ that appears to be falling from the sky… It’s highly flammable… And it smells like blood.” Tom said outstretching a hand which Mr. Miller grasped and shook twice.

“That leaves us with a third of the plant life being destroyed… Do you believe that those crystals which seem to be forming everywhere- are it?” Mr. Miller released his brother’s hand and looked back to the four teens who stood in a loose row.

“Maybe, kids get inside. We’ve got warm food and clothes that should fit somewhat… And razors, you really ought to shave, boy.” Tom said, turning and ambled inside.

Jamison couldn’t help but run a hand over his face. Feeling his bristly stubble that seemed to be ever present. He had shaved the day before… But that didn’t stop him from walking up the steps without a look back to his companions.

‘Numb’ by Linkin Park started to play as the floorboards creaked beneath Jamison’s heavy boots.

The other four teens scampered behind him, leading to Valentine returning to clinging to his arm like he was some sort of safety blanket… Jamison didn’t know why Valentine had chosen him to cling to… But he minded it a lot… Though the boy didn’t voice his disgust as he began to be racked by the feeling of centipedes tracing all the nerves in his arm. But he couldn’t hide the pained expression that spread across his face.

“Sorry… I’m a little too used to clinging to Eris.” Valentine apologized.

Jamison saw no issue in that, as Eris was around his size. Standing at what was probably six feet tall she was only a finger shorter than Jamison but was a degree narrower. Mainly because Jamison was broad by virtue of hard labor and good genetics.

Valentine then backstepped and proceeded to cling onto Eris, who was glaring balefully at Jamison’s back… He didn’t know why he was being glared at, but he couldn’t care less. Some people just had resting bitch face.

“Miller…” Jamison began, speeding up slightly until he reached the older man, “We need to talk.”

Miller stopped and looked back, “Upstairs.” He said before motioning to a spiral staircase just beyond the threshold of the house’s front parlor. A moment later the man began to limp up the stairs, leaving Jamison to follow him.

Along the way Jamison paused a few times for a scant few moments. Admiring the beautiful landscape portraits that lined the hallways. Each was entirely unique to itself and seemed to be done by traditional oil paints. Something Jamison could appreciate, because while he wasn’t an artist himself he could see the time and painstaking labor that it took to create such works. It was something he couldn’t not admire. The paintings seemed to be a labor of love, done by an artisan of incredible skill

Miller looked back to Jamison and smiled ever so slightly, “The paintings were done by my niece. She can’t speak but her work makes up for that, no?”

“Yeah… Haven’t seen anything like them. Not even in museums- but then again I don’t make a habit of visiting those.” Jamison replied, returning the smile with a small grin of his own.

Once upstairs Miller led Jamison to a sitting room filled with plush, red, velvety decor and more paintings. He gestured to a rather grandiose looking chair, which Jamison promptly took.

“Your notes… What do you have down so far?” Miller asked, his thick brow furrowing in contemplation.

Jamison offered up the notebook which Miller took before taking a seat directly across from the boy. Propping his seemingly damaged leg up onto an ottoman as he read… Time dripped on from there but not for very long before Miller took out a pen of his own and flipped a page. The teacher then began to jot down a few things before offering the notebook back up to Jamison.

The boy took it and began to read. It was only a few new lines- but the text burned its way into his mind.

Objectives

1. Establish what is going on.

2. Gather Supplies(Food, Medicine, Clothing, Ammunition).

3. Find Paris Miller, retrieve him and his work.

Jamison quirked his brow upwards, “I take it Paris is your other brother?”

“Yes. I believe having him around would be for the best… He was always interested in what if scenarios like this. And while I can practically hear his ‘I told you so’” Miller made air quotes, “I would like to have him around. He’s resourceful in more ways than one.”

“Got it… Where is he?” Jamison asked.

“Denton… And we’re around two miles out of Pilot Point. I’ve talked to him recently, he’s safe and sound. So in the coming weeks I would like you and Tom to go and get him. That is the price for staying with us- the price that will cover all of you.” Miller leaned forward slightly. His expression was like steel, hard set and seemingly immutable

“Deal.” Came Jamison’s resounding response.