Bucky Bennett woke to a strange energy that he wouldn't ever be able to describe. He lie in his queen sized bed alone as the drunken stupor from the night before began to slowly fade. His world seeped slowly to life. He wondered for a moment where his visitor had gone, and then realized his bedroom door was halfway open. Must've just left a bit ago, damn.
He stumbled out of bed and felt himself wide awake. The dizziness he expected hadn't come. Confused, he walked across the messy room and pulled open the armoire's doors and looked at himself in the mirror hanging on the side. Grizzled facial hair clung to his face like grease did to his sink when he let it sit for longer than he should.
Behind him he saw a glowing sort of light that floated ghostly. He turned on a dime and was face to face with a wolfish shape that was entirely white. There was a pulsing sensation that he could feel just from standing near the…whatever it was. He saw that its eyes were burning brightly, and then in a flash it was gone. He swore the light glided over toward him, but it could have just been his eyes playing tricks.
All at once a vivid light erupted in his mind and he saw flashes of Nasseu Middle School. At least…what should have been the school. The lot was engulfed by an orb of black almost like it were a solid material, but it shifted and swirled as if it were gaseous. Inside the darkness his mind's eye dived and he felt a sudden coldness it froze him to his core. Voices echoed as a small speck that grew to be the school approached.
"…she's dead."
"…killed…murdered…"
"Whoever did this is going to pay…"
Images of kids huddled in a circle in one of the classrooms flew by and after blinking he was back in his bedroom, a cold sweat running down the nape of his neck. He was staring at the figure again. It looked straight at him not as if it were about to pounce, but almost as if it were regarding him. The wolf brought its nose to the floor once and then vanished into streaks of light.
Bucky Bennett stood there for a moment fearing what would happen if he moved even the slightest inch. He gave the dream enough time to clear and allow him to wake with the pounding headache he expected before.
But no headache came. No waking up came. He wasn't dreaming. He had seen the wolf and the school, and something in the back of his mind forbade him from chalking it to an early insanity. Downstairs, he heard that his television had turned on. That couldn't be so, Bucky thought. I'm the only one here. He walked through the half-open door and peered over the railing toward his living room—the television was indeed on, and it was broadcasting the same black sphere that he had seen before. People were running away from the mass, but it didn't seem like it was getting any larger. The headline below read "Mysterious Blackness Covers Nasseu Middle School. Unknown How Many Students Trapped."
Without another second Bucky's feet were flying to his study—it was where from he worked. He was the lead editor on the Independent Statesmen, the local newspaper. He began typing furiously. He was going to get this news out, immediately. Somehow, he knew exactly what to write. He didn't, however, realize just how much it would terrify him.
Mysterious Circumstances at Nasseu Middle School
Twelve students at Nasseu Middle School are in serious danger. The entire school has disappeared inside the black mass currently standing where it once did. Inside the mass eleven students still survive—one of them has been murdered by another who still remains inside the building.
The mass itself shall burn the bodies of any it makes contact with. Any non-living object that makes contact disintegrates immediately. Physical rescue is impossible. Do not try, for I know you will. Those unrelated to the murder have been evacuated from the site without any injury. Those students are currently remaining inside the building are to begin an investigation and trial for the murder of the victim, identity currently being withheld.
Once the trial is completed and the murderer is brought to True Justice the school—and those trapped inside it—shall be returned.
Any of those who step up claiming to be the originator of this information is to be considered lying and publicly shunned for grasping for attention at the cost of an ongoing trial. The only information we shall receive on the subject shall be given out in this issue and this issue alone. Do not harass the author of this piece, for he is only the mouthpiece which I communicate. He knows nothing more than he has written here.
Do not harass each other. Enough blood has been spilled on this day. Wait patiently, and trust in your spawn. Justice shall prevail.
The news broke that day. There was no waiting until that Sunday—there wasn't even a wait for the nightly news. As soon as it was written down it just seemed to…spread. Bucky lost sight of the day as soon as he began typing. As soon as it had been done he passed out in his chair.
~…~
George Fae slept on the morning the dark orb appeared. He was still out even after his wife and foster-daughter on that fateful day. This was normal on his days off from work—as when he was on schedule he'd be up at the bright hour of 3am. He worked at Texo Lumber that was only just down the street from Nasseu Middle School. Those that were stumbling their way into work on this day would have been the first to notice that the school was enveloped from the darkness.
The window that hung low on the eastern wall of the ground floor gave a solid look at the school—this was where George's own station was setup. He didn't like it so much when he was first assigned because he always took to remembering his younger years when he had gone to that very school, but now that Allison was attending and he could have thought of her going through those very same times he smiled as he worked. Of course, now if he had been at work today he would have seen right as the orb of darkness overtook the school. He probably would have been working using the power saw to begin taking down yesterday's excess work like he did every morning before 9am hit.
He might have even stared at the school with the saw blade open, possibly could have caused an accident. If he hadn't done that then he would have been the first out of the building and running toward the campus. George would have done everything he could to breach the surface of the sphere and secure his foster daughter's safety. If he had then he would have burned alive in a torturous death that would have only left his dental records left to identify what remained. Such was the fate of living matter that made contact with the orb.
But today he slept with the pleasant thoughts of a rather nice dream where he was back at the Denborough Music Festival back in 1982. He thought of the day he met Jaclyn as they both danced to the Bee Gees and various Led Zeppelin songs. It was a weird mix, hell, it was a weird festival, but that was what made it so memorable. And he would never forget the smile they shared as they both turned as the breakdown to a song they both wouldn't be able to remember now came on. They weren't into the music, they were into each other. They partied like there wasn't any tomorrow—like that day back in 1982 was the only day that mattered. Days after did matter, and it was definitely a silly thought to be so careless. So then it was as if his mind had mentally prepared itself for the day that no other would truly match how much more this day mattered. He saw the news as he brewed his morning coffee and stared after taking his first sip when the morning news panned over to Nasseu Middle School. The black sphere encompassed everything in sight and in that moment he dropped his mug. It was a thick thing in his hands so it didn't smash, but the coffee went everywhere and splashed onto the inner of his legs. He yelped as it broke him from looking at the screen. He ran to the phone that hung up in the kitchen and found that it was already beginning to ring. He answered to Jaclyn, "Hello? Yeah are you seeing this?"
They met up outside the crowd that amassed on the grounds. It was a brisk morning altogether. The summers of early September had begun to fade into the autumn air. In any other situation Jaclyn would have scolded him for daring to go outside in what she called his skivvies, but now her mind was far from what he was wearing. From what they gathered by the other on-lookers seemed that it just appeared out of nowhere at about eight-thirty in the morning. That was when the majority of the students and teachers found themselves on the front lawn with the sphere behind them.
"It was just so…strange," a woman who introduced herself as Mrs. Fowler mentioned. "One second I was talking to the principal and the next I was out here…"
George turned to Jaclyn and held her hands tight, "It's going to be okay."
"We don't know that," she said, holding a tight breath inside her. She was scanning the sphere as if looking for any point of weakness. She couldn't get that good of a look due to the police barricades keeping the crowd at a safe distance. It was then an hour later when Bucky Bennett's paper began to circulate among the crowd.
Some went home, some stayed. George and Jaclyn Fae remained stationed with the paper gripped in their hands.