Resting his head on his desk, Eli was flicking a pencil back and forth on the table to let it slide. He was contemplating on what his father had said to him, he was also stern on him but something was different though after the box had touched his family they had all changed something about them had changed.
Nothing was the same, it was like they had died and someone else had taken there place.
He knew he couldn't win against his father, he just had to endure what was thrown at him next.
After all he was the cool person that everyone hated or at least that what he told himself.
Eli started to yawn before getting up from his chair to chair, he wanted to get food for the night so he headed downstairs to the kitchen to see what was available, Eli had started cooking for himself as he wanted to separate himself from his family but found he hadn't kept his part of the cupboard stocked.
Eli freaked out but calmed himself noting his anxieties were coming from the news. And not to forget his fathers threats.
He checked the time on his flip phone and noted it was nearing seven thirty, heading to the store and back might take awhile.
But he didn't want to join the table with his family; he felt as if something's clearly wrong about them.
"I will be heading out so I will be back in half an hour," Eli yelled hoping his parents would hear him before closing the cupboard only to have his youngest sister surprise him.
"You scared me!" Eli said jumping up from the ground.
"Why won't you join us for dinner? It's like you never do that anymore?" Rosey asked.
"Well I'm nearly eighteen so I need my independence you won't understand your still only ten," Eli replied acting tough.
Eli blinked as he watched Rosey look at him all weird before giggling.
"That's strange," Eli heard her say before she eventually walked off.
Eli sighed and headed for the front door.
"Just in and out," Eli said to himself knowing all he had to do was head to the local cafe.
When he headed to the front door he saw Rory was now sitting on the couch with the tv turned on.
"Heading out are we?" Rory asked.
"Yeah I need to get cooking supplies so it won't be long," Eli replied before grabbing his hands on the door handle.
"Alright then just stay out of trouble got it?" Rory asked.
Eli gulped wonder now if he did know about the rebel girl.
"I will," Eli finally responded before stepping out the front of the house.
Eli walked down the pebbled road from his house, not far from his house there was a small shopping block which had a grocery store and a few cafes that sat next to a highway.
Walking down the road Eli checked his flip phone for any notifications but nothing popped up so he tucked the phone into his pants pockets.
Seeing the sun was beginning to tuck its way beyond the sky.
Eli began to pick up his pace, he didn't want to stick around during the night or his parents would get mad at him.
After a several minutes of walking he saw the small shopping block in sight and picked up his pace.
He saw the lights had begun to turn on as the stars flashed above the sky and the dark sky replaced the bright blue.
Once he made it to the front of the shops he headed inside of the grocery store and took out a plastic bag from the front entrance and began looking for food supplies for the night.
Eli avoided any and all conversations from the other shoppers as best he could not wanting to interact with anyone he picked up some fish from the freezers, and some pasta from the fridge sections of the store before getting the sauces he needed and walked towards the cashiers to pay for his food he grabbed some cash he had in pocket and payed the cashier at the front once his food had been paid for and took to the exit.
When outside Eli saw that the moon was now rising in the sky, Eli looked at his phone and it was now seven thirty.
Eli picked up his pace and ran for home.
Though Eli kept looking about his surroundings thinking he was being followed but the moment he got home no incident had occurred.
Eli opened the front door and headed inside, to see the family had found themselves sitting in the lounge room all talking to each other.
"I'm back, sorry I didn't think it would take me that long," Eli spoke while closing the door.
"It's fine, you came back but not late which is what I asked," Rory spoke, turning his attention to Eli.
"Eli in trouble, Eli in trouble," Eli heard Rosey say while she was spinning around in the lounge room.
Eli shrugged his shoulders before heading to the kitchen. He put the fish from the boxes and began heating up the ovens before cooking all his food.
Eli went back and forth prepping his food and the plate he was going to put the food on.
Once he finished cooking he put both the fish and pasta on his plate and headed upstairs for where he will eat his food.
After finding a spot to sit, Eli turned on the TV while he ate he switched between channels like his usual routine,
After eating his food the news reporter had come up again when he switched to the news channel.
"We have found reports of the rebels they appear to be heading west side of the city here a few photos of the sighting," Eli heard, he then jumped from his seat almost choking on his last bite before taking a drink of water.
"She alive I thought those wounds would have killed her let alone being able to walk?" Eli yelled before shutting himself up not wanting to let his family downstairs hear him.
He began to shiver, but he slapped his hands across face knowing why would the rebels want to deal with you in the first place?
Eli grabbed his remote and shut off the TV and allowed his room to engulf in darkness.
Eli got up from his bed and went downstairs to where he put his plate and other cutlery he was finished in the sink and began to clean it before he would put it away.
Once Eli was finished he went past the lounge to say goodnight to his parents.
"Good night Dad, good night mum," Eli said as he noticed his younger siblings had already gone to bed.
"I have a change of plans for you tomorrow Eli when you wake up I will have driven to school to grab your stuff then we're sending you off to a military school your attitude and laziness does not look good for us," Rory said.
Eli hearing those words sent chills down his spine.
"You will be taught discipline and your attitude will be fixed," Rory explained.
"Are you kidding me, why would I never need that?" Eli laughed not letting his father get to him.
"Just listen to your father Eli, this for the best," Eli heard his mother say.
Eli shrugged his shoulders before deciding to head back upstairs.
"Just remember don't forget your stuff tomorrow when the driver drops you to the school okay?" Rory asked in a stern tone.
"I will," Eli replied.
With that he headed back upstairs to sleep for the night.
However sleep wouldn't come easy, Eli rolled back and forth on his bed feeling the anxiety sweep over him.
He wasn't afraid of his night terrors as he grew used to them, but he couldn't help but wonder if those rebels would find him.
As the hours ticked by Eli finally fell asleep from exhaustion.
When the next day arrived Eli woke up to the sound of his father calling for his name, Eli got up suddenly and ran downstairs knowing he didn't want to keep his father waiting.
Eli stopped by the front entrance where his father was waiting for him. Eli gulped knowing what his father would say to him.
"I will have to make sure you know don't waste any time getting your bag. You will need all your stuff when you head to the military base. After all I need to keep tabs with you," Rory said.
Eli grabbed his phone out showing him that he had his phone with him.
He watched his father just scowl at him.
"The point I'm making is I want you to value your own stuff just get to the school and grab your bag and go," Rory replied sounding even more frustrated at Eli.
Eli sighed and headed out the front door where his driver was waiting.
"Just get it over with," Eli said to the driver, skipping any and all conversations with the driver.
Eli slumped down on his seat once he got inside the car sighing loudly.
Once the car got going Eli stared outside the car window wondering how the rest of his life would go when he was sent to the military school.
After half an hour of driving he finally made it to the school, still stuck in his school uniform Eli got out of his car and headed for the main building ignoring the other students before making it to his locker in the hallways.
He opened his locker, grabbed his bag, and any books he believed he needed before closing the locker shut and leaving the school behind.
When he came back to the car he showed the bag to the driver and the driver waited for him to enter the car before he drove away from the school.
"Don't worry, the school you're going to go to will be like a second home, you'll enjoy it there," the driver said, however Eli begged to differ.
He enjoyed nothing.
"Yeah sure just shut up and drive okay?" Eli replied as the driver nodded and left Eli in silence.
Staring outside the car windows Eli felt his anxieties heighten. He wondered if being a part of the military in any shape or form will eventually have him face that girl, that enemy soldier that he should have killed on the spot.
He just hoped that nothing would ever come about from it.
Nothing at all.
***
It had been two hours since Eli was in the car with the driver he was now in front of the school. Outside the boundaries of the big city, facing the open country Eli saw broken ships and torn down rebel bases scattered across the fields. The military school had been built on a graveyard.
"This is going to be shit," Eli said to himself, noticing all the students wearing grey uniform conversing with one another at the front of the building, Eli stared at the ground knowing he was not dressed for this situation.
"So driver…." Eli tried to say but the driver had already left him.
"Well I guess all my family is leaving me," Eli said before stretching.
He did look back down the road wondering if he could make a run for it, seeing as the other students likely wouldn't care. But after giving it some thought Eli soon wondered where exactly would he go?
Reluctantly Eli trudged towards the main entrance of the school.
The biggest of all the buildings was at the front, being fifteen stories high, he also saw three other buildings surrounding the center one and possible others behind them.
He counted ten all together.
Eli wondered which of them were the dorms, since his driver described them as his second home.
He shrugged off thinking someone would explain it to him when he ended up inside.
Walking down the front entrance and passing all the students, none of them eyed him or gave him any attention which was just what Eli needed; he didn't want to speak to any of them.
When he reached the front door, he looked up at the towering building which almost looked like a giant cylinder but stretched out in a rectangle-like shape.
The doors in front of him were made of metal, and he saw two cameras facing side by side of him, he shrugged it off before entering the building only to be welcomed by the schools headmaster.
A man who looked to be in his late thirties, gruff and had long thick beard, his eyes drained of color and his hands dirtied while his clothes were immaculate he gave off a rather strange odour.
"I believe you must be Eli?" the man said coughing between each sentence.
Eli nodded looking at the man oddly.
"Sorry I'm feeling unwell today I'm just about to head home when I got word that you would be heading here I needed to introduce myself," the man said.
Eli gulped, feeling a very eerie vibe about the guy.
"The name is Vincent, I will be your headmaster for the year, and every other year you decide to stay," Vincent explained.
Eli scoffed at the word stay knowing full well he'd make it his mission to get expelled.
"Don't worry I know full well the mind games you play so I'm fully prepared and equipped, let's make it fair shall we?" Vincent explained before heading out the front door coughing on his way out.
Eli let out a sigh of relief.
"Make it fair?" Eli asked himself.
"What the hell is his deal?!" Eli shouted before getting awkward glances thrown at him in the hallway.
Eli waved the students before heading off to the reception desk across from him.
"Hi, my name's Eli Willson. I'd like to sign or meet whoever is supposed to show me around?" Eli asked, standing at the front of the reception desk while getting out his ID from his backpack.
The woman who was working at the reception desk gave Eli a smile and pressed a button on a phone and spoke through.
"Mis Lasso, Eli has made it here. Would you be able to show him around and to his quarters?" the receptionist saidl.
Eli stood there shifting his body back and forth while both of them stared at each other waiting.
Eli then saw a teacher but she was wearing a military uniform, the familiar orange outfit fitted with badges on her right side, along with a soldier's hat though Eli hated that uniform, she walked closer to Eli before finally being face to face with him.
"Well hello Eli," Mis Lasso spoke.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Eli said, trying his best to mask his feelings of frustration.
"Yes it is," Mis lasso replied.
Eli followed Mis lasso down the hallway until they started seeing doors to classrooms, Mis lasso turned to the left, Eli saw rows of lockers in between classrooms, until he saw a staircase that led to the second floor.
"These will be the classrooms you will be studying at for your lectures, you'll also have your books in the lockers if there left in your dorms though if you lectures are held in these rooms I'd suggest keeping them here for easy access until you head to the dorm for the night," Eli heard Mis lasso explain.
Eli nodded, he watched the other students walking around before getting into the classrooms and gathering there stuff from their lockers.
"Until we have your classes set up, but I will show you where the second building is for your other subjects," Mis lasso explained, heading out of the building, Eli followed her after watching the other students.
He felt as if he recognized one of them, a girl with the same brown hair but no longer covered in blood but he decided to ignore it he was certain it was just the trauma throwing flashbacks.
Once they were outside Eli saw the other building which had two stories as well, behind it he could see the graveyard of broken ships and other vehicles of war.
"Now I will show you to the dorms," Mis Lasso explained heading to the far back of the school where a giant mansion was shown.
Eli leaned to her side to see another three buildings which were the same size of this one.
"For now we only have three buildings set up one for the first years and the second for the second years and the third for the third years, once we got more people filling up the school we will have more dorms built," Mis lasso explained.
Eli nodded as he followed her to the far off dorm, he couldn't but think he was being watched at that time but again ignored it. He had one goal, that was to get kicked out of this school.
***
Eli stared at the front door, it towered over him the door handle resembled a dragon's head, a metal beast that was engineered to fight in the wars.
"Why a dragon we never had dragons in our history," Eli said rolling his eyes.
"Well we found that dragons had brought fear or potential fear so we built dragons even if they never existed it was why we won the war the dragons completely wiped out the playing field," Mis lasso complained as if praising the victory.
Eli shrugged his shoulder as he was let inside the dorm.
The first floor he was welcomed in was an open room with a chandelier attached to the ceiling, on his right was an open room with couches and tables with board games. Paintings of people he didn't recognize but resembled famous people of those his race had exterminated.
"Well make yourself at home I will come back once I have your classes set up, ask for me if you need any help," Mis lassos said.
"Also here's your room key," Mis lasso added while giving Eli his room key before leaving.
Eli took the room key before Mis lasso left him alone. Eli looked around at the wooden walls, and the clean brick mixed with the oak leaving him with a different feeling than the technologically buildings he lived in.
Eli checked the room card to see his number was room twenty seven on floor two.
Eli headed up to the second floor and ignored the chatter of other students walking about to greet him when he reached the second floor the hallways were filled with paintings and rooms bunched next to each other.
Eli looked for his room which was down the far corner of the hallway, after shrugging his shoulders at the frustrated students Eli headed off to his room and swiped the room key at the doors lock.
Once the room opened he closed the door behind him.
His room about the same size as his own bedroom though smaller, Eli placed his bag beside the bottom of his bed facing the back of the room.
Eli also saw the wooden desk on the right side of the room and the cupboard where clothes had already been placed in them.
"I guess my father had been preparing for this already?" Eli asked himself before closing the doors.
Eli feeling exhausted sat on his bed before laying down, he sighed in frustration not having his desktop or tv but ignored the thought anyway, he was certain he could get himself kicked out within a week.
No matter what they threw at him.
Eli pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his social media feeds, he may have had connections to everyone in his school but he muted anyone who would speak with him.
Before the war happened it was different, he missed those days where he could trust people.
Now he just feels like an empty soul.
"Well I guess this will be fun?" Eli said to himself seeing all the stuff his classmates were posting from photos to images.
Eli stretched his arms out before getting up and out of the room wanting to explore the open graveyard.
Eli shoved his hands in his pockets and kept his head down as he passed the students who wanted to speak with him but rushed outside to ignore him.
Once he made his way he opened the front door and made a full sprint to the graveyard of the vehicles of war.
Eli staring at all the ships and tanks and quite possibly a skeleton of one of the war dragons, Eli walked closer to them staring at the hunks of broken metal.
Gears and wires left on the ground to rust away.
Eli felt at peace, this graveyard calmed him.
He decided to let himself fall to the ground on his back to feel the wind against his face, he stared at the blue sky while his memories flashed before him of the war.
Nothing but red skies that had tarnished there lands, nothing but the sound of screaming.
Eli closed his eyes wanting it to all go away…
"Hello?" Eli heard a voice, he woke up to see the group from the dorm he had just left.
What appeared to be the leader of the group was a male with short blonde hair, he too wore the same grey uniform as the rest of them but he was more built with broad shoulders and muscles then the others.
Eli closed his eyes and rolled to the other side ignoring him.
Ignoring his kind gesture.
"We just wanted to make sure you were doing okay my name Benjamin what's yours?" Eli heard him ask.
"It's Eli and I wish to be alone okay?" Eli replied, staring at the head of one of the dragons. It black eyes, and silver metal teeth stared at him.
"Alright well we will be in the dorm if you need us," Benjamin asked.
"Trust me I won't need any of you," Eli repliedl.
Eli waited for them to leave before getting up.
He saw the figure of the girl with the same brown hair and the image of the blood covering her had flashed before his eyes once again.
Eli ignored it, he was certain he was seeing things.
"Hey I was wanting to know why you were staring at me?" the girl asked.
Eli looked over to her and he was certain that she looked that rebel but instead looked away.
"I thought you were someone else," Eli replied.
"Hmm?" the girl replied.
However he couldn't help but hear some familiarity in her voice as if the girl had recognized him
Eli stared at the girl, before shrugging his shoulders and walked to the dorm.
Once Eli made it to the dorm room he opened the door and walked back up the stairway to his room ignoring the other students again.
Eli knew he needed to head back to the reception desk to get his class information and school routine decided to sleep on it.
Eli closed eyes and ignored the students calling out his name from the other side of the door.