I woke up, made my bed, brushed my teeth. what can I tell you? A normal, normal routine, as far as I could tell... at the time, that is.

I had arranged to meet my best friend to go to the woods after school. It was the old local forest, where a young man was said to have disappeared years ago. We liked adventures and wanted to find out the truth.

No one ever came back from that forest. There was a sign that warned about it, but you know what? It was probably a lie. Do you really think that professionals wouldn't have found any clues when looking for him? So we were prepared for anything.

It wasn't easy. We thought it would be just another one of our escapades, but we ran into military camps that were active 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Those guys never slept. But did they really think no one could get through? All it took was time and cunning to find their weak points.

...

...

...

The truth is that we didn't get anywhere. It made sense, times were hard. The world was being held by a thread. And to top it all off, I got sick again eventually.

—Hey Michael, are you better? —My mum asked when she came into my room.

—Well, I've been worse, Mom. Did you by any chance make tea? —I said with some harshness in my throat.

—Of course, I left it on the table, I'll bring it to you now.

After my mother brought me the tea, I was about to try to get out of bed and get some fresh air, or at least one less polluted than that of a locked room, when someone knocked at the door.

—Who is it, and what can I do for you? —said my mother near the door.

—I'm Chloe, I've come to see how Michael is doing this week, Miss Josselin —She answered with some impatience.

—Ah Chloe! Come in, come in. How have you been? How are your parents?.

—With your permission —She said as She set foot in our home—. We have been doing well despite the troubles of the war and for me that is quite enough. In fact, I managed to bake Michael some biscuits here, they are his favourite but you can have some too if you like.

—I'm glad you're all right, but sweetheart, you didn't need the biscuits, those resources would have been needed —Josselin said with concern.

—Don't worry, I got the ingredients myself for this specific thing, no problem at all.

—Well, thank you very much. Michael is in his room, I'm sure he'll be hungry so he'll like them twice as much.

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—Okay, thank you —she nodded as she headed for my room impatiently.

Of course, who else is it going to be, it's her. Not a day goes by that she doesn't come in during the week, she's really worried. She comes whenever she can and helps me with my classwork. I don't really remember how long we've been friends, but I'm sure we've been friends since we were kids.

—Hey, how are you today Michael? Right, I brought you the biscuits you like —She said as she happily handed me the bag of biscuits.

—Oh, thank you so much. I've been worse, although I've had this pain in the back of my head that won't stop —I had my hand on my head as we talked.

—I see, you can put this on —She handed me a heating pad as she sat down next to me—, hopefully it'll hurt less —He paused for a second to think and then said—, Hey I have a lot of things to tell you. Half of it, if not most of it, is bad.

—What did you do now, Chloe? —Michael asked in a hoarse voice—. I told you not to do anything unusual until I was in better health.

—But I didn't do anything! —Chloe replied, her tone of voice betraying her surprise—. Well... sort of. But if I hadn't, we'd all be in the ground. So you'd better listen to me, the situation is worse than you think.

Michael thought it would be nothing to worry about, but Chloe's face said more than he could imagine. She wasn't usually nervous, so he paid close attention. After all, she cared about all of them.

—Well, it's true that lately things around the globe have become not only difficult, but also unfamiliar, strange and abnormal. The news is saying the same thing, and the tension, pressure and insecurity is being felt more and more. In addition, there are power outages, blackouts, missing persons and supernatural occurrences. Recently, there are more military people who simply do not leave room for any place we have wanted to investigate because they are to "protect the nation". However, later on it is they themselves who, for "confidential reasons", take people in only to then not know their whereabouts —said Chloe with a myriad of sentiments.

—I take your point, but this is nothing new for us. It's already our bread and butter, and we have no certain indication of anything beyond our understanding —Michael replied in a calm tone of voice.

—And for that very reason I am telling you all this. I'm tired, I'm tired of waiting —her voice cracked as she clenched his fist—. There's not a day that goes by that I don't sleep a wink without thinking about how you're doing, about how they're killing each other on the other side for reasons we may know but don't understand, about someone getting sick for unknown reasons again like you and if you're lucky, you get well, and if you don't?.....then what? Working is not easy anymore, it's even better for me to go out with you as usual in search of "treasures" that at least we managed to sell at a decent price and thus help our families —After letting go of everything that had overwhelmed her, she took a breath to calm down a little.

"So I made a decision, I went out on my own to look for answers and I didn't like what I found. I thought it was just me, but my head keeps spinning and I feel like I'm going crazy, but I know I'm not. It's what I saw, the place, that moment. I found things that shouldn't have been found and that's why I think I know why the world is changing. I want to save you, save them and I think I know how."

To be frank at the time I didn't understand what she meant. In fact my head was spinning, the back of my neck was aching and I just felt like I was going to faint at any moment, but I couldn't let myself do that. Out of nowhere that smile turned to one of dread, tears that only hid fear and pain. Eyes that were lost in the ground looking for something to see, until I stood up and said:

—Hey, hey, what's wrong? —I asked as I proceeded to hug her to comfort her, to calm her down—. It's okay, you're in my home, our home. It's all right, look at me, wake up, open your eyes.

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.

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Two minutes passed when she finally regained consciousness. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself while she searched for something in her bag. Before doing so, she put on some gloves, although it was unclear why.

-I don't understand —I said with a confused expression—, What are the gloves for, is it dangerous to touch him or something?

Hearing my words, I saw her face fill with anger at my lack of understanding. She ordered me to just take it and then I would understand the rest.

—Okay, I'll take it if that's what you want.

Suddenly, everything became a blur. I couldn't see anything, there was nothing. I felt trapped in my own mind, surrounded by darkness and a growing point of light. At first, it was unrecognisable, but then it took shape.

I saw her, Chloe, running away from someone or something, somewhere unknown. She kept running. She tripped over a branch and hid in a cave she found on her way.

Chloe watched every chance she got to go outside, hoping those green robes that were looking for her weren't there.

Finally, she decided to go through everything she had found and what she read made her shudder. However, her goal was interrupted by one of them, and in her attempt to find a way out... she disappeared. Disappeared? No, she entered a void from which she was able to emerge after a while, wakin up in a tree on the other side of the cave. But what happened to him? His gaze was different, expectant. His eyes were white and reflected a great gleam across the city for no apparent reason.

...

—I don't understand —I said, startled, after waking up. An hour had passed, but the experience had been like a whole day.