VESSELS: Clenched Fists

Bel woke up with the most aching bodily of his life. Was I… dreaming? Monsters, weird glow-y powers… and that guy, why was he in it? As he got out of bed, and got ready for his day, the thought of the strange dream kept intruding upon his peaceful routine. It was so life-like, and felt so real, but the contents of it were too fantastical for Bel to even entertain as reality. It would, however, explain why his body felt so sore, but upon examining himself in the bathroom mirror, he could not find a single scratch. Just a dream… just a dream then… he kept muttering to himself.

As the morning flew by, Bel headed over to the cafeteria to have his much-needed lunch. He picked up a tray, filled it with as many proteins as he could, and looked for a seat. He saw an empty spot in the corner, right beside the clear glass wall where you could admire the outdoor areas of the campus. However, as he headed over there, he was stopped in his tracks by a tall figure, and nearly dropped his tray in surprise. As Bel was about to apologize, he suddenly couldn’t find the words as he looked up and saw who he bumped into. Tanned skin and golden hair. “Hey, that’s a pretty hearty lunch! All I got is a baloney sandwich!” Alexzander interrupted, with a bright grin plastered on his face. “No, no, no, this can’t be happening” Bel repeatedly muttered to himself as he walked right around Alexzander, ignoring him, and continued to make his way to his newfound lunch spot.

“It wasn’t a dream you know. I know how much you wanted it to be but trust me, it wasn’t a dream” said Alexzander, this time in a much more serious yet empathetic tone than the bubbly and charismatic one that Bel was used to hearing, which shocked him, despite their limited interactions in the past. Upon hearing what he said, however, Bel stopped walking and simply stood still while gripping his tray in frustration.

“Come see me after you’ve had your lunch. I’ll be waiting in th- “

“Ah forget it, I’ve lost my appetite!” Bel crudely interrupted, as he set his tray down and walked back towards Alexzander.

“Alright then, follow me, I’ll take ya to the Occult Club!” Alexzander said, accompanied with a wide smile, returning to his cheerful persona.

***

Styx River College was unusually large for being situated in a seemingly small town. It did not boast any famous alumni, nor had any remarkable employment guarantees for graduates, however, it had garnered a decent amount of good reputation for its well-equipped facilities across many different majors and fields of studies, especially its old library which still had antique décor. The college is also the largest building (or set of buildings) that Styx River town had, and this included dormitories. This meant that students rarely visited the town itself, as most essentials such as food and entertainment can be provided by the campus, so there was a lack of incentive in interacting with the tight-knit community outside.

Bel quietly tagged along behind Alexzander as he made his way out of the cafeteria and headed for the Anthropology building. The building looked plain and rectangular, five stories in height, and is taller than it is wide, a gray cuboid that stuck out like a sore thumb. An unconventional sculpture was displayed outside of the building; it depicted the evolution of man, starting from the Australopithecus afarensis, all the way to the Homo sapiens, however, it did not end there, as a small sculpture could be seen afterwards, depicting a pile of ashes. In front of the sculptures lays a small plaque that read Here lies Ozymandias, King of Kings.

The inside of the building was gray and dull. A few students could be seen either lazing around on the sofas or busily typing away on their laptops. Bel and Alexzander made their way into the elevator, where Alexzander promptly pressed the button marked for the 4th floor. “So… did you call your mom?” Alexzander awkwardly asked, in order to break the awkward elevator silence.

“No…”

***

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Alexzander wasted no time, and hastily made his way across the hallways to reach the doors of the Occult Club room. Bel didn’t quite understand what the rush was all about, and had trouble keeping up with Alexzander’s pace, but was still able to catch up.

“Hey, you still got the pin right?” Alexzander asked, showing a pin of his own between his fingers. Bel ruffled through his cargo pants and luckily found his pin and showed it right back to Alexzander.

“Okay, that’s good. I mean, it’s fine if you didn’t have it, but it’s good to know that you didn’t lose it. Now, watch and learn.” Alexzander opens the door, revealing an ordinary-looking classroom. Bel was confused at what he was supposed to be looking at, until Alexzander grips the pin in his palm, walks through the door, and seemingly disappears. He could not be seen inside the classroom at all, it looked as if the air around him rippled as he stepped inside and disappeared. Bel was stunned, what the hell just happened? He thought to himself, but not long after, Alexzander’s head popped out of thin air and asked him “Well? Just walk on through!”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Bel decided to go in, one foot first, and observed his own leg disappear into thin air. After wiggling his leg around for a bit, he felt safe and comfortable enough to walk through the door and was greeted with a room much larger than he saw when he was on the other side, along with some familiar faces.

As the door behind him closed, Rita Orchid had just made it in time to see Bel walking inside and the door closing. She had been tailing them for a while but lost track due to Alexzander’s pace. She sneakily made her way towards the door, composed herself, and opened it, only to be met with an empty classroom.

***

The room looked rather old-timey, with fancy antique wooden furniture lying around, oak bookshelves filled to completion lined up along the walls next to the fireplace, along with old renaissance era styled oil paintings that perfected the overall vintage look of the place. Some of the décor choices, however, seemed out of place, such as a blue beanbag in upper corner of the room that was laid on the carpet, which was surrounded by colorful paint split all over and multiple canvases with unfinished abstract art. One side of the room also had an assortment of musical instruments, both acoustic and electronic, but opposite it, all the way on the other edge, laid a rather modest collection of barbells and dumbbells neatly arranged.

There was one moderately long desk placed in the corner of the room, and it was stacked with a pile of books and paperwork. A raven-haired lady wearing thin silver-rimmed glasses stood up from behind the cluttered pile and introduced herself towards Bel.

“Hello there, my name is Sylvia Blanc, but you can call me Sylvia, we’re all friends here”, she greeted Bel with a warm smile. Her fancy pantsuit and tie made Bel nervous. It was not only her attire that made her look boyish, but her hair was cut short in the length of a pixie cut. Bel was not good at handling overly formal approaches and tried his best to introduce himself.

Bel’s eyes quickly shifted to the other two people in the back. He recognized them almost immediately; it was the pink-haired woman and brooding guy from the Occult Club’s stand during club recruitment day.

“Ah yes, of course. I believe all of us should introduce ourselves to dear Bel here.” Sylvia said sternly to the other two in the back.

Previously, the pink-haired girl had been fiddling with an acoustic guitar, practicing a somber, Spanish-sounding tune. The command from Sylvia made her stop strumming and introduce herself to Bel, “The name’s Hayley, but you can just call me Lee”. Her introduction sounded cool and aloof, and a slight smile could be seen on her face.

The brooding guy followed up in an annoyed tone, “I’m Isaac”. He was lying in the beanbag and was covered in paint. He scowled at Bel when introducing himself, and simply continued to lay his head back and stare at the ceiling afterwards.

“Oh, and you know me already, right? I’m Alexzander, but you can just call me Zander for short, not Alex though… never Alex…” Zander weirdly explained, which was his attempt at sounding humorous.

Sylvia looked pleased with everyone’s introductions, and decided to make an announcement, “Well, I believe that’s all for introductions. It’s about time we finally started our meeting and-“

“Wait, wait, wait, what are you talking about? I came here for some answers, not to join your weird, ridiculous club. I just want to know what happened, I almost died last night you know!” Bel yelled out in frustration. The room fell into awkward silence, Lee could be seen hiding her snickering, and Isaac was still staring into the ceiling, but Sylvia and Zander looked empathetic to Bel’s sudden outburst.

“Listen, Bel” Sylvia placed a hand on Bel’s shoulder, “I know the situation you are faced with right now must seem very confusing, but I assure you it’s all going to be okay now. We believe that when the Fisherman attacked you last night, the same thing that had awoken in us, had awoken in you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Zander saw how you tanked the blow from the Fisherman’s hook. No ordinary human could have done that, do you understand what I am trying to say?”

Bel also faintly recalled the strange event that saved him from the hook the first time, how a blue double of him seemed to emerge from his body and stop the hook from slamming down on him.

“No, no I don’t. That hook hurt like hell, and so what if I survived it? Why should I change how I live? My life is the same, and there’s nothing you can tell me to convince me otherwise!”

Bel shrugged off Sylvia’s hand from his shoulder and was about to storm out in frustration. Sylvia looked slightly disappointed, but Zander decided to speak up and called out to Bel in the same serious demeanor as he did back at the cafeteria.

“I heard you; you know? Last night, while you were on the ground”

Bel stopped in his tracks, his back still turned against all of them. He knew exactly what Zander was talking about.

“So what, was that all just bullshit then?” Zander continued, “Everyone in this room one day decided that they didn’t want to take the backseat in life and let people get hurt, especially when they know that they’re the only ones that could help, and that day for you was last night! So, you can walk out of that door right now if you want to, but I know deep down that isn’t what you want, so why don’t we save the theatrics and get to the part where you clench your fists in resolve and turn around already?!”

Upon hearing Zander’s heartfelt speech, Bel, frustrated at how easily he was being read, clenched his fist and turned around with his head hung low, and could only mutter one word under his breath,

“Dammit…”