As Adrian opened his eyes, his gaze fell upon the plain white ceiling above his twin-sized bed. Just next to him, his alarm clock rang with fury and rage- as if attempting to drive a nail straight through the tubes of his ears.
Adrian groaned as he pushed his shoulders away from his mattress. Then, he turned towards his alarm clock before calmly pressing the 'off' button. Adrian looked to the other end of the room and saw an empty bed. Adrian's roommate, Mark, had already left for early morning hockey practice.
Adrian jumped off the bed and landed on his carpeted ground with ease before he quickly grabbed the tower hanging off of his wall and moved into the bathroom. Half an hour later, Adrian was walking out of his dorm room wearing a new set of clothes. His white t-shirt barely poked through the bottom of his black hoodie, but was otherwise hidden. Adrian's blue jeans, which once fit him perfectly, were now a little too big on him- a fact he was rather proud of. In his hand was Adrian's bag. His bag was light as it only contained a laptop and one notebook.
Today, Adrian only had one class- it wasn't even long. As Adrian walked down his hallway, another student on the other end approached him. She had long black hair and wore a red set of jeans and a black leather top. Her bag, which was more of a fanny pack, was strapped around her shoulders.
"Amber! Hey," Adrian muttered as she approached. Amber nodded back as she readjusted the strap on her shoulder. The two of them soon met near where the elevator doors waited. Adrian looked over at Amber and stared into her deep red eyes- a trait he shared.
The two of them were twins, after all. Often, they were compared as two sides of the same coin. Their dark black hair was often remarked as the fabric of the midnight sky itself. Their red eyes, which were the color of blood in the dark, often scared away other children when they were younger.
"Mom called," Amber told him as the two of them stood next to each other to wait for the elevator. Adrian turned his gaze as his eyebrow rose, curious, "She's invited us for Thanksgiving."
"Rich, coming from her. Are you going?" Adrian asked in turn. Amber slowly shook her head. The elevator opened, revealing the dark red interior behind the steel doors. One other student was waiting for them. He was leaning against the back wall as he scrolled tirelessly through his social media apps.
The student, whom Adrian recognized as a theater major from upstairs, had brown hair and green eyes. His glasses were large, but not large enough to make his eyes magnified in the light.
Adrian and Amber both stepped inside as Adrian pressed the button to direct the elevator to the ground floor. The theater student ignored them as he continued to scroll through his phone.
"I wouldn't bother," Adrian said as he and Amber turned toward the door, "The last time she invited us to any of the family holidays, she made fun of you in front of the rest of the family."
"Not necessarily," Amber began, but Adrian raised his hand and shook his head.
"She may have been subtle, but the intent was clear. That woman doesn't care about our feelings, not after this long. We'll always be two little freaks in her eyes," Adrian muttered as he sighed. He looked up and watched as the display above his head slowly counted down. The display, which previously showed a '5' had just now turned into a '3', "There's a reason she called you and not me."
"I see," Amber sighed. The display above Adrian's head turned from a '3' into a '2'. Suddenly, the lights above Adrian flickered, swallowing the elevator in darkness. Only a moment later, though, the lights came back on. Adrian ignored the strange occurrence as he continued.
"Don't think too much of it, Amber. We'll spend Thanksgiving with friends, instead," Adrian spoke as he tried to reassure his sister. As Adrian spoke, his mind reminisced through his memories. To onlookers, Adrian often became the one known as the 'older' brother, despite being the same age as Amber. He was the one who made the decisions, defended his sister from injustice and bullying, as well as the one who would reassure his sister whenever she felt down.
'If only they knew the truth,' Adrian chuckled within. He looked back to the display above him, which had now turned to a '1'. The elevator would open any moment now, but he didn't feel it slow down. The boy behind them felt the strangeness as well, for he soon turned back to the display in confusion.
"What the hell?" The boy muttered. Adrian looked back at the display, then watched as it turned into '-1'.
"The basement? Does this building have a basement? Adrian, what button did you press?" Amber asked as she turned to look at the range of buttons in front of them. Adrian turned his gaze as well. His eyes settled on the button he had chosen earlier. For a moment, Adrian wondered if he had chosen the wrong button. Out of all of them, it was the only one that was blinking. However, this button was the correct one. There was a '1' just next to it.
Adrian looked back up, but the display had already changed once more.
'-15'
"What the hell?" Adrian muttered. A strange feeling began to rise in his chest as he watched the display continue to count further into the negatives. He clutched his chest with his hand as he recognized this feeling.
"Something is wrong," The theater boy said with a panic. He stepped forward, pushing Adrian aside, as he quickly began to fumble with the dashboard. He slammed the Emergency button numerous times, but the display continued to drop without a care in the world. Soon, the number on the display showed '-50'. Then it jumped to '-75', then finally '-100'.
Suddenly, Adrian felt as the elevator itself began to shake. The boy tending to the dashboard yelped in surprise as he stumbled to his side. Adrian put his hand on the wall to stabilize himself and felt the cool metal turn hot. He looked to his side to watch as the wall itself began to glow bright orange, like the surface of a hot iron. He quickly recalled his hand and looked up.
Then, the ceiling began to lift from the walls themselves, revealing a vast space beyond. The walls fell away from the floor soon after, crumpling into dust and scrap metal as they disappeared into the blackness waiting for them. The vastness beyond was decorated with legions of stars, each descending in the same way that Adrian and the others were.