Chapter 1: Invitation to the Unknown

The opposite of love is not hate.

The opposite of hate is not love.

No, the opposite is neither.

It is apathy.

* Unknown

Felix

The clouds in the sky slowly inched their way across. That one looked like… a cloud? A marshmallow? A pillow? I didn’t really have much imagination.

I was lying down the grass, looking up at the blue skies. I got up. Or at least I tried to. A foot kicked me in the chest, sending me crashing back to the ground.

Before I could catch my breath, another foot came and kicked me in the ribs. Pain shot up, making curl up instinctively.

How bout you fucking stop?

“Hey, Sean, let’s just leave him already. I got a fucking project I got to work on. Ugh. We had a week to do it, and I haven’t done any work on it.” I heard a voice complain. It belonged to…

I think it was Daniel. I didn’t really remember. The boy who Daniel was talking to was Sean. Sean and his friends seemed to be pretty frustrated these days. Why else would they be giving me a heavy beating?

“Tch. Whatever. It’s like a punching bag. Doesn’t even cry out or whimper.” Sean spat on the ground. “Let’s ditch this loser.”

The other boys left me lying on the ground. I heard their voices slowly fade away. I let out a sigh. I felt a cold breeze touch my face. The pain in my body dulled a little. I closed my eyes.

I listened to the wind’s gentle sounds. To the sounds of footsteps. Who was it this time?

“Hey, Felix.” A girl’s voice called out to me. I kept my eyes closed.

“...”

“Hey, answer me.” She nudged me with her foot.

“What do you want?”

She let out a sigh. “Are you a masochist or something? Why are you always getting beat up?” I heard the grass give way. She must have sat down.

“I don’t know. Sean seems to enjoy it. Why don’t you ask him?”

“Don’t you hate this? Always getting picked on? Always getting beat up?”

“...”

“...”

“Not really. I don’t dislike it.”

“Eh!” She exclaimed. Her voice was filled with disgust. “No way, do you actually like getting beat on?”

Bitch, would you like getting beat on?

“No. Not really.”

“Eh...do you even care about it…”

“No. Not really.”

“Eh…”

There was a pause. A silence. The conversation stopped. If you could even call it that. It felt more like an interrogation right now.

“I’m leaving.”

“...”

“I got an invitation.”

“...”

“I’m sure you heard about it, Felix.” I heard her get up.

“It’s reopened! It’s refurbished! It’s-”

New Future Academy.

“New Future Academy.”

“Eh? So you have heard of it. So yeah, I bet you must feeling pretty jealous. I mean, only the best and brightest students get invitations, you know. My grades are pretty top notch. It looks like they really knew how to choose their students. But don’t worry, Felix. I’ll make sure to send you postcards. And I’ll also-”

“I got one too.”

“Huh?”

“An invitation. I got one too.”

“...”

“...”

“...I guess I’ll see you there then, Felix…”

“Sure.”

I heard her walk away.

That girl… She always seemed to pop up after Sean and his friends left me. She always found something to brag about to me. And this time it was the invitation.

I’ll see you there? I sighed. I didn’t even know your name, girl.

Stupid.

* * *

The lights were off when I entered my house. Not surprising. They always were when I got back. I walked into the kitchen and turned on the lights.

I went to the refrigerator to get something to eat. As I did, my phone buzzed. Only one person had my phone as a contact. I opened up my phone.

“Felix,

I heard about your invitation to New Future Academy. Congratulations. Truly impressive. I’ve always been proud of your grades. I’ve sent some help to assist with packing and moving. Good luck.

Sincerely,

Your Father” 

I see. It was a message from my dad. Who else would write this formally to their own son? He even put “Sincerely” at the end. It’s like he was writing a formal letter to me. I was surprised he didn’t put a return address on it.

I started a new message. I began writing my reply. This was how my dad and I talked to each other. We hadn’t talked face to face in forever. When I told other people about it, they told me that it wasn’t normal at all. I guess it wasn’t.

We haven’t seen each other in a long time. Months. I tried to think of the last time I saw him. Nothing really came to mind. I didn’t really care that we never saw each other. His work kept him busy and constantly traveling. I didn’t mind. He didn’t seem to either.

I sent the message and put my phone back in my pocket. I looked back into the fridge. What should I eat? I saw a fresh tomato. I grabbed it and closed the fridge door.

I washed the tomato in the sink. Then I brought the tomato with me to my room. As I sat down at my desk, I raised the tomato up. I took a bite out of it, like you would an apple.

In my opinion, tomatoes were superior to apples. Apples were kind of a hassle to eat. You had to eat around the core. The skin was tough. You couldn’t eat the stem. You had to spit out the seeds. You had to throw out the core. All around, just a hassle. Tomatoes, on the other hand, you could eat every part. It was soft and tasty. Nothing to throw out. No hassle at all. Superior in every aspect.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Other than the sounds of munching on my tomato, the house was silent. It always was. I was practically the only person living in here. Siblings? None. Father? Always working. Mother? Never knew her.

I never met my mom. I didn’t know who she was. I’ve asked my dad about her, but he never gave me a straight answer. Did she leave? Did she die? Did she divorce? I didn’t know any of these things. But if I was to be honest…

It’s not like I really wanted to know. It’s not like I didn’t want to know.

It’s more like…

You don’t care.

I don’t care. How many times have I said those words? More than I can count.

Why am I like this? Where did this apathy come from? I don’t know. I don’t care. From the very beginning, there was no one I cared about. My emotions, my feelings. I can’t express them at all. Probably because I don’t have any. Am I empty? Am I just a body that walks and eats? That talks and breathes? Am I living? Am I dying?

I don’t care about most things. But. When it comes to living. When it comes to the ability to “live.” I think I care. I think I want. I want to live.

How strange these words sounded in my head. Live? When have I ever done such a thing? My whole life… could that really be called living?

Not once, have I ever made a friend. Not once, have I connected with someone. Not even my own father. Not once, have I ever shared my own feelings. Not Once, has someone ever shared their feelings with me.

Who am I?

What am I?

Is there anyone who would be sad if I was to disappear? Is there anyone who would mourn my passing? Is there anyone who would share a part of themselves with me?

Could I really be called living? Is what I’m doing living? Isn’t living beyond just bodily functions?

Isn’t living supposed to be something precious? Isn’t living supposed to be connecting with others? To make new friends? To make precious memories?

To spread laughter and joy. To find new experiences. To learn new things. To find a passion. To find true friends. To find true love. To feel new emotions. To think. To spread thoughts.

To follow a religion. To lose faith. To hope. To despair. To love. To hate. To share. To hoard. To find. To lose. To laugh. To cry. To stand tall. To break down.

To care.

Isn’t that what living is?

Isn’t that what I’m missing?

I clenched my fist. The remains of the tomato were squished. Red liquid flowed down my wrist. Red matter dropped from my hand.

I made a promise. To myself. To live.

This is an opportunity. To change myself. To experience what it means to live.

I looked at my desk. On it lay a letter. It was my invitation to New Future Academy. They only had written a few sentences. But they were enough.

“Felix Fehr,

You, who wish to experience what is called living.

Rejoice, for you are invited to New Future Academy.” 

* * *

Pierre

“Hey, Pierre, you doing anything after school today?” Emily asked me with a bright smile on her face.

“Sorry, I’m not really in the mood.” I apologized.

“Aww, come on, you never hang out with us anymore.” Emily pouted at me.

Well, that’s because I’m quite busy. Or at least, I was.

“Leave him alone, Emily. I heard about your father, Pierre. I’m sorry.” A boy sitting next to me nodded his head at me. His name was Jack.

“Huh? What happened?” Emily tilted her head.

“I’m not really sure, to be honest. My dad might have gotten in a lot of trouble.” I said weakly. I didn’t meet her eyes; I looked down at my desk.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope things get better.” Emily quickly tried to console me.

I nodded weakly at her.

And just like that, school ended. Since I didn’t really have any plans, I went straight back home.

* * *

The house was completely silent when I entered. This was not a normal occurrence. I smiled. But it was a welcome one.

I walked into my father’s study. Pulling out a key, I unlocked his drawer.

“Ah, here they are.” I picked up my father’s credit cards and spare money. Of course, I already knew my father’s pin numbers. No need to worry about that.

“It’s all mine. This entire house.” I laughed to myself. My father was finally out of my life. To be honest, I didn’t harbor any negative feelings towards him. He was always a kind and thoughtful guardian. But that’s not what I needed. That sort of thoughtfulness becomes a pest.

So I got rid of him. I smiled. My own father arrested for the possession of child pornography. I still remembered how Jack looked at me with pity.

“Pity? I don’t need your pity.” I spat out.

Everything went according to plan. Everything went as I had planned. A simple malware installed onto my father’s computer. My father sent his computer to the tech help at his company. And behold, they found evidence of child pornography. Without hesitation, they arrested him.

Oh how perfect, it all went. I couldn’t stop my smile. The search history was the first sign that alerted them. From there, it was a simple step to look into his pictures folder and find the evidence. Of course, the evidence was scattered among his computer in multiple folders just in case they couldn’t find it.

My father was deeply confused when he was arrested. How could this have happened? I never did anything of the sort. No doubt he was saying those sort of things. But who could he blame?

Surely not me. Not me, his perfect son, that followed his every command. That performed a perfect act. How could he blame me, when only he knew the password to his computer?

I looked back behind me. I reached up and grabbed the camera hiding behind the books.

Good job. You’ve done your work well. I complimented the camera.

I leaned back in my father’s chair. It’s all mine. Everything that belonged to my father was now mine. No siblings. No mother. Just me. Of course, I was a minor. Thus, I needed a guardian to take care of me. My uncle was going to take up that position. Whether he wanted to or not. I had enough dirt on him to send him to jail like my father.

While I lay back in the chair, I noticed something on my father’s desk.

“Hmm. What’s this? I don’t remember seeing this before.”

I picked it up. It was a letter. I opened it.

“Pierre Paramor,

Congratulations twofold.

Firstly, you succeeded in throwing off your paternal chains.

Secondly, you have been invited to New Future Academy.

We will see you next term.”

I crumpled the letter, and threw it away from me. Shit. It was supposed to be perfect. How did they know?

I got up from my chair and started pacing. What do I do? Should I just run? Leave everything behind?

New Future Academy? I’ve heard of it. Some nonsense about recruiting the best students across the country. How the hell did they find out about my plan?

“We will see you next term.”

Ha. They didn’t say, “We hope to see you.” No, they said “We will see you.” They’re not even being subtle. I don’t have a choice. They’ve made their intentions clear. Enter New Future Academy or have everything fall apart.

It looked like I was going to have to switch schools.

* * *

Reynold

“Master Reynold.” A maid called out my name while bowing. A perfect bow, I might add. A perfect 90 degrees. I would expect no less from my subordinates. She held out a letter in her outstretched hand.

I took the letter. “You are dismissed.”

Keeping her perfect bow, she walked backwards to the door. Only when she reached the door, did she break her bow and leave.

I tucked the letter in my pocket. I had more pressing matters to deal with right now.

I got up from my chair and walked up the window. Endless green stretched out below me. It would all be mine.

I am Reynold Reginheraht. And I am the sole heir to the Reginheraht inheritance. Or at least soon to be. Just a year ago, there were six other heirs. Three of them my sisters and three of them my brothers. Each one were older than me. And thus, each were more entitled to the inheritance than I was. From the moment that each of us were born, our father made one thing clear. Only the oldest would receive the inheritance. The rest would get nothing.

I smiled. My father was certainly a cold man. To set his own children against each other. Despicable. And what did that make me? A person who was willing to eliminate his own brothers and sisters. I walked towards the door. I had one last thing to take care of.

* * *

“Reynold. You bastard.” My brother Reichen glared at me. He was tied up in a chair. I didn’t worry if he could break free. He had been drugged heavily.

I chuckled. “Did you expect me to sit back and let you just take everything, Reichen?”

Reichen was the eldest out of us seven children. He was the one most entitled to the inheritance.

“To kill me so suddenly, do you think our brothers and sisters will just watch?” Reichen sneered at me.

I shook my head. “I’m afraid that our dear brothers and sisters will not be able to watch us any more.”

Reichen’s eyes widened. “W-what? No, I saw them last night, there’s no-”

“Oh brother of mine.” I interrupted. “Do you really think that I would just take you out one by one?”

The seven of us had been locked in a stalemate for far too long. We had been constantly monitoring each other, making sure the others could not move. Well, not anymore.

“I know that the others would have teamed up against me the instant I took out one of you. So I just took out all of you at the same time.” I smiled at Reichen.

“Y-you…” Reichen’s voice trailed off weakly.

“It’s over, Reichen. I expected you to put up more of a fight, but I guess I shouldn’t have expected that much out of you.” I shook my head.

“Well, I’ll guess I’ll leave it to you.” I nodded at a servant in the corner.

“Wouldn’t want to get my hands dirty.”

And with that, I became the last heir to the Reginheraht family.

* * *

I began walking to my father’s office. It was time to tell him who the winner was. I still remembered what he had told me when I was five.

“You are without a doubt the smartest out of all my children. If I were to leave you alone, I know you would take the inheritance. Which is why I will make it fair for the others. Until you have turned 15, none of my children may die. I do not care if they die by your hand or not. Until you are 15, all my heirs must be alive. If any one of them dies, then the inheritance will not be yours.”

Well, father. It’s my 15th birthday. And each of my siblings are now dead. For the first time in my life, I think I am looking forward to my birthday present.

As I walked down the hallway, I remembered the letter in my pocket. Still in a good mood, I decided to take it out and read it.

“Reynold Reginheraht,

You missed one.

You are invited to New Future Academy.”

I dropped the letter and ran to my father’s room. I opened the door, not even bothering to knock.

“Is it true? Is there one more?” I asked, breathing heavily from my rush here.

My father looked up from the papers on his desk.

With a cold smile, he answered,

“Happy Birthday.”