It was a bright and sunny day like no other on this third of April. The sun's rays pierced through the fuzzy, wispy clouds, streaming through Aiden's window with a warmth that seemed almost divine, as if a beam of light had descended from the heavens and touched his soul. His entire being was filled with energy on this eventful day. In the afternoon, it was decided that Aiden would play bowling with his friends.
But before the fun could start, Aiden would have to go on with his usual school day. Being a second-year high school student in one of the most prestigious schools in America would surely make the wait agonizing. Global Economics and Policy classes were already the embodiment of boredom, but his Cultural Anthropology and Ethnography classes were straight-up suicidal thoughts-inducing!
And he had both of those classes today...
So needless to say, Aiden took his sweet time this morning, spending almost half an hour washing and dressing up. He slipped on a gray New York brand T-shirt tucked casually into slim-fit beige cargo pants. He layered it with a dark gray zip-up sweatshirt, its silver zipper reflecting the morning light as he adjusted it. Finally, he laced up his black sneakers to complete his outfit. Their sleek and distinguished design added a touch of edge and authority to the otherwise relaxed attire.
Admiring himself in the mirror, Aiden couldn't help but revel in joy and surprise. He was simply too good-looking!
His long, wavy black hair coupled masterfully with his iridescent golden eyes. They were an odd, alien specificity that only he possessed. However, this abnormal condition only served to better his already handsome looks. 'That's me?' He thought proudly, despite his confusion.
Once Aiden had finished admiring himself, he began searching for his phone, which he had forgotten to take. Yet, no matter how much he searched, he didn't find it.
Frustrated and short on time, Aiden scoured every corner of the house in a blitz of speed, but to no avail. He quickly gave up after checking the time on the clock in the living room: It was 7:52 a.m.
Late again... I don't even have time for breakfast...
After brushing his teeth at Mach one speed, he quickly packed his bag and burst out of his home in a flash, nearly forgetting to close the door in his rush. As he hurried to his bus stop, he bathed in all the warmth and energy in the ambient air, breathing in pure vapors of delight. Why would it matter if he didn't have his phone? The morning glow was sufficient to satisfy him!
At this moment, Aiden could only think about the good things in his life: how perfect his parents were and how grateful he was for the education they had given him, the laughter and memories he'd shared with his friends, and, of course, his two chubby, adorable pets waiting for him at home.
It was truly a good life he led.
If only every day could be like this...
Aiden kept walking toward his bus stop, taking the shortest route possible. This meant going through the graveyard next door, which led directly to his bus stop's street. However, as he neared his destination, Aiden realized something quite curious. He didn't remember seeing any car in his street while walking to the graveyard. There had been no one but him in the streets he'd passed.
It was all too empty and silent for a place usually so crowded. Even the usual cluster of college students taking the bus opposite Aiden's bus stop was nowhere to be seen. There were no adults, no cars, and no sound outside. All that was left was an eerie and oppressive quietness, like a second heartbeat compressing his ribcage.
Suddenly, Aiden felt a knot form in his stomach; extreme anxiety washed over him from nowhere as if it were trying to strangle him. Nausea surged in his belly, like a tidal wave ripping through his insides. The sudden burst of discomfort and pain had taken him by surprise, almost making him fall.
However, the surprise did not last. Aiden knew what this was. He'd always known. This feeling of anxiety was a warning, something that came whenever something either extremely good or horrendously bad was about to happen.
When this happened, Aiden could usually tell whether the future event—or events—would be positive or negative, like a superpower. What was initially just a gut feeling had been turned into a divine power—a foreseeing ability bordering the miracle! But sometimes, it was just like a coin flip. There was a fifty percent chance it would land on hell's side and a fifty percent chance it would land on heaven's, and the result would be inevitable.
Judging by the severity of the pain, he quickly understood which side the coin had landed on...
Having reached his bus stop, Aiden's anxiety slightly decreased as he gradually regained his composure. But even if he had calmed down, this didn't change the fact that something was wrong right now.
After waiting for over fifteen minutes—ten minutes past the time his bus was supposed to arrive—Aiden still hadn't seen a single car pass on this dangerous road usually so packed with traffic.
But despite all these unusual and abnormal occurrences, Aiden knew he'd be in huge trouble if he were late for his morning class. Mr. Clarence was viciously cruel and unfair to late students, so perhaps this was what his earlier anxiety tried to foreshadow—his bus not being here.
So, letting his cool gaze linger on the lone road that seemed to beckon him, Aiden began walking to his school.
...
Aiden spent a long time fast-walking and jogging before he could finally see a glimpse of his high school's structure from afar. Yet, all this running amounted to nothing since he was still ten minutes late. At least, he wouldn't have to feel embarrassed about being seen running—since it felt like he was the only human present on Earth. It was as if Aiden had crossed over to the upside-down.
But soon he'd cross back into the real world.
When Aiden neared his school's parking lot, he heard a cacophony of muffled conversations in the distance. The sounds were erratic and distorted in the wind breeze, losing their tone amongst each other as each distant vibration collided.
But he knew. He knew those were voices.
''Fuck, if only I had my phone! I could have texted Kal and all the others!'' Aiden thought aloud, anxiety threatening to take over. His worry only increased upon hearing other humanoid sounds that were not his.
Approaching the crosswalk that led to his high school's main entrance, the sound grew loud and strident, as if an entire stadium's worth of people were talking over each other. But then Aiden saw it.
The crowd.
Up until now, Aiden had had no way to see anyone from where he was since he had arrived from behind his school, but now he could acutely see the huge armada of students—perhaps thousands of them—gathered in groups that covered the whole area in front of the school entrance. Aiden was so astounded by the scene that his bewilderment completely replaced his feeling of anxiety, shunning away all his fears with questions and doubts.
Was the reason why no one had been on the roads or paths I took because of those people? Could that mean my parents are here too? If so, perhaps even my neighbors could be here. And my friends, right?
Aiden's thoughts became an erratic chain of individual reflections, each distorted by his maddening unwillingness to accept the sight that so blatantly stood before him. How did any of this make sense?
Being a sensible, hyper-vigilant person due to past traumas, Aiden was scarily fragile to unexpected, unknown, and illogical situations. The overload of stress and information was another danger he had to be wary of.
Lost at the seams of his mind, Aiden stood there, blankly staring at the countless students. Some groups were trying to break in by force into the school, whose doors were closed. A couple of dozen others, thirty meters ahead of Aiden, at the left of the vandals, were yelling—voicing their inquietude and fear about their current situation. Aiden nearly drowned while scanning through this endless sea of students, each tending to their affairs.
What's happening? Why's everyone gathered here? What the hell are they doing?
Paranoia clawed at his insides as he let his thoughts take over. Each distrustful reflection was agonizing, and their weight would have been enough to crush him six feet under had his will not been strong enough to resist the tremor. His panic was like iron boulders attached to his feet; it brought him down into the cold abyss of angst.
''Hey!'' a voice yelled to Aiden's left, lightening the weight of his worry.
It sounded crystal clear even from here, down in the abyss.
"Hm, pal. You're fixed to the ground or something?" The voice repeated, now only meters away from him, his figure almost visible. The voice cast a light in the abyss, lighting the way to the surface.
The silhouette advanced, his grunty voice calling out to Aiden once more. "Whatcha doing out there frozen in place and daydreaming, old Aiden?"
The familiar voice sent a jolt down Aiden's spine, snapping him out of his daze, and he successfully escaped the void. "Hey, what—huh, wait? Benjamin!"
The person, now visible, was Benjamin, one of his best friends.
He had been observing Aiden with an amused grin, one eye brimming with laughter, the other shadowed by unease. His jade-green irises gleamed as if they could pierce the darkness, while his dark-brown hair cascaded over most of his features. Yet, through the strands, his sharp, pointed ears stood out distinctly, their angular lines adding a flowering charm to his visage.
Aiden greeted him after rapidly recovering from his downward spiral of anxiety and internal chaos, the primal fear leaving his mind and body with Benjamin's grounding presence.
Twenty meters behind Benjamin, Aiden's two other friends—Arthur and Kal—were tearing through clusters of students to reach them. They were quick to arrive in a succession of jostles.
"Man, we've been waiting for you for ages! What took so long? Oh, wait, no bus, right?"
Arthur asked, his tone mild and playful. His wavy red hair, fiery like hot lava, made him look even more amusing—especially when paired with his favorite navy blue pants. The contrast of color was comic on its own.
''Spot on, no buses. Well, there was nothing at all, actually... aside from the road.''
"That's right; everyone reported the same problem. It seems not even the wise Aiden has been spared! By the way, why were you stupidly standing in the middle of the road?" asked Kal, his somewhat degrading remark too goofy and unserious to sound insulting. His messy, curly black hair matched his stoic build perfectly. The fierce gray eyes that orbited his irises added to his charisma, despite his coarse-sounding words.
"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to look weird or anything, really. I was just too busy watching the protesting students out there. Couldn't you tell how amazed I was by their performance?" Aiden casually joked, his mood brightened by the presence of his friends.
Laughing at Aiden's witty comeback, Kal replied, "Oh well, now that you mention it... I do have to agree that protesting students is quite a fitting title for those bums. Look at them yelling at the top of their lungs, as if that would open the school's doors or bring the teachers here. Truly foolish!"
Kal left the road and began to walk toward the center of the school's exterior area, waving for the others to follow him.
"Yeah, I mean, I kinda understand them. We're all in the same boat here. We have no idea what's happening, and panic will be the least of our problems if we eventually discover that humanity is coming to an end. Doomsday might already be upon us! So they might as well try that... whatever they think they're doing," Benjamin countered Kal, his sense of justice never failing to shut him down whenever he went too far.
"Why do you always have to say the darkest, most depressive shit—"
Kal and Benjamin began to quarrel as they made their way toward the middle of the crowd, settling at a not-too-crowded place. Arthur quickly stopped their not-so-serious argument when he realized Aiden wanted to speak.
"Guys, stop the useless argument. We have to talk seriously now," Aiden directly requested, his tone barren of any naivety and playfulness. Instead, his voice now carried an authority and charisma that surprised them. "I woke up late, so do any of you three mind explaining what in heaven's doom is happening? For example, why are there no cars and no buses? Why were the roads so silent and empty? Why is everyone waiting outside when classes should have started fifteen minutes ago?"
Kal was the one who replied, his voice conveying a bitter sense of loss that worried Aiden.
"Truthfully, we probably don't know much more than you do. We all woke up to the same strange events: no phones to be found, no parents at home, and no cars outside. Elementary school and middle school students are also in the same situation as us. It's just worse for them because they're younger."
''Wait, so it wasn't just me? Everyone else's parents are also nowhere to be found?'' Aiden blurted out in shock. ''This doesn't make any sense. What about those younger than us? Are they all at their respective schools?'' He asked, his tone softer, worry edged at the corner of his lips.
Kal nodded, then replied, "Well, most of the youngest—elementary school students—are with us. Their older siblings brought them along. As for the middle school students, they usually make their way to school on their own, so they're probably fine." He confirmed, but a lingering, noxious doubt still hung in the heavy air.
As Aiden was about to reply, a first-year student interrupted their discussion. "Are you saying there are no adults anywhere? Are we really alone...? Where are our parents? Did they abandon us?" Her voice trembled, each word punctuated by muffled sobs.
Kal approached the woman and tried to reassure her, ''We don't know that for sure. For now, you should calm down. Things might not be as bad as they—''
BOOM!
Suddenly, the ground shook, each earthly shudder a catastrophe. The air exploded, a stream of dense, invisible currents sweeping through the crowd like an unrelenting tidal wave. Everyone was forced to their knees as a deafening sound reverberated in the distance, rippling through the air like erratic wind bullets, shredding space. It was as if an omnipotent, unseen, and godly pressure had replaced the air with venom, draining oxygen within everyone's systems with millions of microscopic needles.
Everyone's ears started to bleed, some puked, and others were on the verge of losing consciousness. But Aiden never went to his knees. The unknown pressure weighed heavily on him as if huge rocks had been shackled to his back, yet he never bent. His eyes flickered with a mix of dread, anger, and joy.
Now, he had all his answers. His former fragile self was useless in this situation, and all that was left was excitement.
After less than a minute, the pressure lightened, and a mighty and domineering voice erupted from all directions, saturating the air with its overwhelming presence.
The sound seemed to resonate through the very fabric of existence, carrying a transcendental aspect that demanded attention. It echoed across the world, reaching every human ear, imbued with a divine aura that compelled instinctive reverence.
As heads weakly tilted upward, eyes fixed to the sky, the voice spoke, its tone calm yet infinitely commanding.
"Hello, Humans. I am here to announce a series of drastic changes that will soon transform this world and all its living creatures. In fact, there will be many such changes. But before we proceed, allow me to introduce myself."
"I am God."