"-In recent news tonight, reports of five high-school students going missing earlier this afternoon have circulated through all major social media outlets. The students were allegedly visiting their local cinema before being abducted in a bright flash of light. When questioned on the events, officials stated how possible acts of terror could not be ruled out at this point. Sceptics were quick to label this event as 'the most radical environmental awareness demonstration of the cent-"
With a shaking hand she switched the TV off, thumb pressed so firmly on the power button it would surely break. Letting out an equally strained sigh the woman tossed the object to the side and walked slowly outside, her husband was sitting alone in the sun staring off into blank space. She approached, placed a hand on his shoulder, and stood in silence. The mad did not turn back to face her, he couldn't, not with the tears welling up in his already red eyes. Instead, he placed his weak hand over hers. They stayed there for a long time, refused to bear much more than the deafening silence.
They didn't understand. Terrorism? Activism? Publicity stunts!? No. That wasn't their son, that wasn't Angus that would even consider doing things like that. Still, the public refused to understand. Tomorrow the pair would be called in for questioning on the disappearance of their son and four other children. But what would the already broken parents tell them? That their son had been erased from existence? Wiped from the face of the earth without a trace? They had all the same information as the rest of the populace and they had nothing new to bring to the table- making them the main suspects in the kidnapping of their own son- as far as anyone was concerned; Angus Clarke was dead.
Oh, Angus, where in the world are you?...
Across the city of Adelaide, four more families wondered the same thing.
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2 days earlier
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"Pleeeease Angus! You know if you don't go then Sam can't! Even if you don't wanna then at least do it for him."
"Actually, he can go without me, it would just be far more difficult to get past all of the boarding house regulations."
"You know that we'd all do it for you!"
Friday afternoon, lunchtime. The group spent any and all time out of the classroom in the library instead, save for the few times Adelaide's weather decided to throw a curve-ball and it was either cooler or warmer outside than in.
It was Tahlia speaking, the shortest of the gang (though not below average height), and the one everyone silently and unanimously agreed to be the group's mascot because of her strange ability to take any compliment as an insult. She was kind of like the glue that held them all together, ever since the initial formation of the gang.
"Don't be more of a party pooper than usual-" Daniel laughed beside Angus. "Anyway, without you there to fifth wheel it'll look like a double date, and I don't think Sam could handle the implications."
Sam looked up from his school laptop (which was used most for anything other than schoolwork). He was too immersed in his manga to notice much else.
"What? No, shuddup." He had no idea what the rest of them were talking about, he didn't really care either as long as it didn't take him too far away from anime or anything relating to it.
"It'll be like 3 or 4 hours. What would you be doing at that time anyway? Why not spend that time with your favourite people?" Said Chloe through an expression somehow bordering both happiness and confusion on equal terms.
"I'd be in bed, comfortable and playing games, maybe even take a nap who knows? Just not at the cinema watching... what was it again?"
"Skeleton War 2: Electric Boogaloo." Responded Dan in a heartbeat, Angus had no idea how he came up with this shit.
"Anyway, even if you were comfortable in the boarding house, you said that Sam would find his own way there, so you wouldn't have any games to play. Also didn't you once say that you' do anything to get out of the physical activity? And wasn't the compulsory boarder carnival over the weekend?"
Something snapped then. A hint of recognition in Angus' otherwise dead-fish expression. The annual Borders Carnival; a bubbling cesspit of some of his more athletically inclined dorm-mates running around after a ball for hours on end, and he'd be forced to watch.
Unless...
"Done. What cinema are we going to, and when? I have no idea where anything is in this city outside of this immediate area" He said after a moment lost in thought, gesturing to the library around them.
He had no need to journey further than the food store down the road, so anything after that would be uncharted territory. On top of that, if a boarder of the school wanted to go anywhere then they would need another student to go with them. Sam was within the tiny margin of boarders he could spend more than a few minutes with before feeling exhausted from the interaction.
"YES! Okay, uh... Sunday? Yeah, Sunday around lunchtime, like be there at like 1 pm." Said Tahlia excitedly.
Before anyone could object, the second lunch-bell rang obnoxiously, signalling their final lesson and subsequent end of the school day, the end of the week.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
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Sunday, that weekend
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Sam burst into Angus' room at 12:50 with a panicked expression. The helmet and hastily packed bag was all Angus needed to refresh his memory. Apparently, Sam had forgotten their plan too, both of them had slept in way too late after spending their Friday night playing games to some ungodly hour. They were going to be late.
"Wait so- where exactly are we going?" Sam and Angus had been forced to ride their bikes instead of catching a bus, they'd already missed that chance, along with the chance to get the head of boarding's permission to leave.
"Left." Replied Sam quickly as his bike swerved from the sidewalk and down an alley.
"Wait, wha-" Angus was about to question, but then saw what had Sam so spooked. A vehicle with the school crest plastered on every side of its otherwise white exterior rounding the corner ahead of them. Angus supposed the carnival had started and the school was already carting students to the event. Considering they were already 15 minutes late, a scolding from the head of boarding was the last thing they needed. Angus quickly followed down the side street.
Luckily, Sam's quick thinking had spared them, though now something else was on the duo's mind. They were going to be royally fucked when they got back to the school.
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Arriving at the cinema, the boarders rushed inside to meet the others.
"Hey!" Chloe called out above the crowd towards them, beckoning them over. "We thought maybe Angus backed out again."
"No...no, not that." Sam managed to say, they were both exhausted from the ride. Angus- since his favourite hobby is putting in the least amount of effort possible into everything, and Sam; since all he had to get there was a shitty little BMX... there were a lot of inclines. He was about to continue when Angus butted in.
"Sam slept in." He said, which earned him a too-tired-to-argue glare from the boy beside him. "We didn't even have time to call in for leave permission, they're probably gonna have out heads for it..."
Silence for a moment, some of the group had no idea what he meant by it, others couldn't hear him through his trying to get air back into his burning lungs.
"You're really out of shape aren't you?" Said Dan, only half-joking. "Built like a stick and the stamina to match."
Angus gave him a half-hearted punch to the shoulder in response, all said and done though, Dan wasn't wrong.
"Anyway." The newly dubbed stickman began. "What are we watching? I was dragged out of bed for this, so it better be good."
The rest of the group wore smiles that seemed to cut into his very soul.
"No."
"Yes." They all replied in unison. "Anime."
"Damn you guys." Not only had he been pressured into leaving the comfort of his mattress, but he had been pressured into watching a movie in another language. If he wanted to read subtitles, he would have just read a book, they knew this. He sighed. "well? What exactly is it? If I don't know it then It'll at least prepare me for a bad time."
"I don't remember what exactly it was called... Something from Ghibli I think?" Said Dan, stifling a laugh.
"No it wa-" Before Tahlia could finish, Angus cut in once more.
"Line's moving. C'mon Ghibli Gang. Let's get this over with..." He was sure he heard someone chuckle at the name behind him.
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All things considered, it wasn't that bad of a time. The two girls enjoyed the story, Sam and Dan had made fun of certain parts and made them all laugh, and Angus had eaten everyone's food.
The newly named Ghibli Gang (for some reason it stuck), consisting of Chloe, Tahlia, Daniel, Sam, and Angus had decided to spend another while around the mall before parting ways. Out of his funk over not getting in his planned 16 out of 24 hours of sleep, Angus was back to his less irritable self.
"I'm getting juice." He said as they passed the fruit smoothie bar. The one Angus had secretly been waiting to 'happen to walk by' for the past few hours'.
"Angus no."
"Angus yes." There was no stopping him, at this rate he was going full smoothie mode. The state in which Angus orders 5 drinks, finishes them all in the time it took to order them and then complains for the rest of the day that he shouldn't have made the decision.
The rest of the group conceded to his wishes, there was truly no halting the surprising amount force behind The Stick when sugary beverages were involved, it was best to leave him to his fate. In the meantime, the gang made their way over to a nearby lounge chair and sat. Sam whipped out a manga that he'd hidden somewhere, and Dan attempted to take up as much couch as he could before the girls could sit down.
Like always, it only took Angus the next 3 minutes to down the drinks which somehow never added to his dismal weight despite their contents. He began the last one before too long, still wearing a look of no regrets whatsoever. The others had no idea how he always forgot what came next. The number of times they'd sighed when he begged them to stop him the 'next time' was incalculable.
"I just wanna say thanks." Which quickly caught the attention of the rest of the group. "- For inviting me along. I know you didn't have to despite it being easier and I'm sure I was a bit of a pain to persuade, but still..."
The rest of the gang, shell-shocked by the sudden show of emotion, were about to reply in their respective ways when:
"...Is what Mum texted that she wanted me to say... Thanks, Mum?" He looked up from his phone to see the unimpressed gazes of the other four upon him. "What?".
They all sat there for some time, it was nearing 5 pm. The group had stayed there far longer than anticipated, though all for their own reasons. Tahlia said that she'd rather be anywhere other than home to get away from chores, Chloe just couldn't bother organizing a ride home seeing how she neglected to beforehand, Dan was 'already comfy', and the two boarders Sam and Angus knew that the moment their faces were shown back at school they'd be forced into a lecture on responsibilities or something. Nevertheless, the mall would be closing soon... back to the real world.
"I'd do anything to not have school tomorrow. Quick, someone make me sick." Pleaded Angus unenthusiastic-ally. He'd been denied more drinks after his initial five. He'd even felt the full repercussions of his choices since then but still insisted the store give him more. As of right now, he was savouring the last drops.
"I know right, I just got an email saying that I've got two assignments due and a test tomorrow... and no I haven't started the assignments." Said Tahlia with a pained face, Chloe nodded in silent agreement.
"Yeah. It's a shame really, that we can't just be whisked away into some parallel world like in 95% of Sam's fantasies." Said Dan in a bitter chuckle, equally dreading the week to come.
"Hey! That's not true, Its more like 98% thank you very much. Don't remind me of my... world's... shortcomings......"
Sam trailed off with his defiant statement, still clutching his favourite object in the universe. He was staring at the floor with wide eyes, the wide, excited eyes of a madman who just finished their masterpiece.
"YES!" He screamed suddenly, throwing his arms up in victory. He cheered with a face of pure joy. "FUCK YEAH!"
The others were up now, staring at Sam with fearful hearts.
"Sam? Is everything okay?" Asked Chloe, sitting up from her lazy position.
He didn't respond, though didn't lose that look of elation. He simply pointed down at the ground below them as an unnatural wind began to blow around them.
They all peered over the large pillows to look at the surface. What greeted them was-... well nobody really knew what to expect. Nevertheless, what they saw was a massive spiralling circle below them. Pitch black yet somehow glowing bright. Within the perfect shape were many smaller ones, more intricate a spinning faster with each passing moment. Lines scanned across their surfaces, runes, symbols, words in strange letters.
Sam was still screaming excitedly, though nobody could hear him over the now gale force winds coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.
They knew exactly what was happening, they'd seen it so many times before in fiction, though nobody had dared to dream it would be a reality in this bleak existence.
Angus knew exactly what this meant for him too...
His mattress...
His sweet sweet bed...
His promised warm embrace of blessed sleep...
It would have to wait.
"Fuck".
A bright flash of light engulfed the five students.
There were 3 witnesses to the event. One was a cat, the next a fake security camera, and the last an elderly man with difficulties in memory. Surely the timing was planned. As far as the rest of the world was concerned: the children had never existed.