"Where am I?" He awoke to the resonance of his own voice. His eyes opened and revealed a mysterious realm cloaked in an impenetrable shroud of darkness.
"What is this place?" Another echo resounded with the final reverberation preceding an eerie silence.
Keres' senses swirled all over the place as if a thunderstorm raged inside his skull. Caressing his throbbing crown, he pushed himself upright, his hands and feet still numb without sensation. Suddenly—
"Shhhhhhh!" A high pitched shush shattered his eardrums.
He flinched as a faint glimmer of light appeared in the direction from where it came.
"Who's there?" He questioned but his voice was too airy to reach anyone. The teenager swallowed hard in his mouth.
With tentative steps, he ventured towards the brightness.
A closer look revealed the silhouette of a man beaming under the elusive light. His hair was as blonde as beach sand on summer evenings. With brown, glacier-temparature eyes, he gazed forward, sporting an unnerving look.
"Umm, excuse me..." Keres spoke up again as he approached the figure ahead of him. However, there was no reaction from the man initially.
"What is... this pla..." Keres halted abruptly. Something was off. He couldn't understand why but the man's cold, contemptuous gaze was strangely familiar.
Somewhere in his memory, he had crossed paths with this man before, he just couldn't remember where no matter how hard he tried. It was then, the man's lips finally sprung open.
"You... how long do you intend to keep up this foolishness?" He inquired and Keres furrowed his brows, confused.
"Are you really trying to become something you're not?" Another inquiry was met with the teenager's muddled silence.
"..."
"Pathetic. I'm getting bored of all this. Hurry up and reveal your true colors, my treasured genetic mistake. " A sharp glint flickered in the man's eyes as he stretched his arm towards the teenager's direction.
When their gazes locked, an avalanche of memories assaulted Keres' mind— a relentless onslaught of moments, far more agonizing than they were joyous.
The teenager's eyes widened with shock as he found himself ensnared in a maelstrom of emotions. Pain, sorrow, remorse and abhorrence collided within him, leaving devastation in their wake.
"You bastard!" Keres flashed a malevolent glare that sliced through space like a sword of darkness. And in response, the blonde man lifted his brows in amusement.
"Bastard you say?" He asked.
"Well, I'll be damned." He gently shook his head sideways as he said with a smirk. Suddenly, the small glimmer of light responded to the man's gesture and then expanded, swallowing everything around it.
Before Keres could react, the surrounding landscape had undergone an extraordinary transformation. The previously enveloping darkness had become an apocalyptic nightmare.
Was he dreaming?— no that couldn't be the case as the rancid smell of blood was vivid in his nose. His hair and body soaked with sweat as his feet pressed against the warm ground beneath them. Moreover, he was livid at himself, as well as the man that sparked the flames to this unprecedented catastrophe; in no way could this be a dream.
The miserable cries of innocent citizens resonated with his own heavy breathing. And— looking around, they struggled to rescue what remained of their homes, friends, and families.
Surrounding him was; countless charred corpses, some others squashed into grotesque mushes of red liquid. Buildings, demolished unsparingly, as if God had descended to annihilate their existences from the face of the earth. And the distant cityscape, reduced into a horrific testament to overwhelming destruction.
Keres could not utter a single word as he was caught in the racket of emotions. His eyes blazed with a mix of anguish and fury and a sense of responsibility clung unto his spine. Even if it cost him his life, he had to get rid of this man by any means possible.
Meanwhile, the blonde man stood still amidst the chaos of the teenager's resurfaced memories.
"Not quite there yet, such a shame." His head fell into his palm, swaying from side to side.
"I guess it can't be helped..." He took a pause and turned around.
"Don't keep me waiting too long..." The man began walking away.
"Wait!" Keres yelled but the apathetic blonde ignored him. Extending his hand forward, he tried to go after the man, however, his trembling feet refused to cooperate.
"So long, my precious genetic mistake" The man's chilling voice filled his ears and a darkness erupted from the depths of the earth then began devouring everything within the landscape.
"GRAITH!!!" The teenager released a thunderous roar as the overwhelming darkness consumed him.
**
When he came to, his eyes revealed a ceiling fan rotating beneath a clean piece of white fiber ceiling sheet. The mattress beneath his back cradled him in a sterile, unfamiliar embrace. And while the silent ambiance was delightful, a gentle tuft of uneasiness erupted in the form of a question.
"Where am I?" He asked into open space. Naturally, he expected none, but much to his surprise, a response arrived almost immediately.
"The school infirmary" A pleasant, unfamiliar voice filled his ears.
"Fuuuu, I see." He released a breath beaming with sheer relief.
"You alright?" The voice inquired and in response, he slowly raised his upper half.
"I wouldn't be in the infirmary if I was..." He instantly froze stiff the moment he spotted the owner of the voice. Despite her angelic looks, an invisible shroud of uneasiness clenched him the instant he met her gaze.
"Who... are you?" He asked in a disoriented voice.
"Ummm..." She hesitated for a moment before proceeding.
"You can call me Ina, today's my first day at this school" She said, revealing an endearing smile.
Every detail of her appearance transcended mere pleasantness; she possessed an impeccable charm.
Starting from her silken ivory hair that ended just above her shoulders. It framed a pair of cute hazel eyes with striking eyebrows and delicate lashes.
With every word she spoke, her thin, rose-petal lips moved in a way that made her even more attractive.
Her skin was flawless, radiating a natural glow, and her slender figure exuded regal flair as she sat straight, cradling a book in a dignified manner.
Wearing black fingerless gloves and a beige sweater over her school uniform blouse, she remarkably merged comfort and sophistication.
Yet, her presence strangled Keres with an overwhelming sense of anxiety.
When he remembered the excruciating agony he experienced earlier today, a sudden chill traced its way down his spine. His breathing became laden with the weight of fear as if her very presence thickened and constricted around his lungs.
He soon understood that his earlier close encounter with death may have simply been induced by the dazzling young girl sitting at the other end of the room.
Noticing the grimace he had on his face, she called out to him.
"Um... Keres, are you hurting anywhere?" She asked politely but Keres remained silent.
Moments later, he steadied his breathing. Mustering up courage, he clenched his fists and spoke.
"So what business do you have with me?" He asked, doing his utmost best to conceal his apprehension.
"Oh, it's just..." Her lips parted slightly.
"Your condition seemed pretty bad when you collapsed. The nurse said you'd be fine but I was a bit worried so I came to check on you during the lunch break." She explained in a gentle voice.
In response, Keres furrowed his brows as her confirmed presence during his moment of collapse fortified his suspicions. When his heart began racing again, he released a calming breath and glanced at the digital bracelet on his right wrist.
"Lunch break should've ended about fifteen minutes ago though" He said and her eyes widened for a moment. Next, her lips formed a guilty smile.
"I'm sorry to burden you with my little secret but I tend to get carried away whenever I find a book this intriguing." She said, raising the book to a height where Keres could easily catch sight of it.
"Oh, and I'm not ditching classes or anything... we have a free period right now." She waved her hands hurriedly to dispel any misunderstandings.
"..." Keres' expression contorted. A free period right after Monday's lunch break; this was his class' schedule. Moreover, the mere thought of sharing a classroom with this enigma sent a ripple of unease through his heart.
In an attempt to break the awkward silence in the air, she spoke again.
"I may be overstepping my bounds here but..." She paused.
"Have you been using Aqua Ambien lately?" She inquired and Keres' eyes immediately widened, his heart seizing for a moment.
Her suspicion was right on the mark. Despite Lizzie nagging about the side effects, his sleep problems were so bad that he felt he had no other option. And for a few months now, he had been stealing a vial from each of the packs stashed in Andrew's home office cabinet.
As he stared at her, dumbstruck, she met his gaze, confident and composed.
"When I checked your pulse after you collapsed, I detected some irregularities in your blood cells and a level of physiological fatigue caused by sleep deprivation. Yet, it doesn't seem to affect your mind and appearance" She took a momentary pause and the seeds of panic within Keres began to sprout.
"AA only tricks the mind into a state of solace so while it may help with sleep at first, it loses that effect with subsequent usage. Even so, its cognitive reinforcement capabilities are great and with proper care, good genes, and a healthy diet, a sleep deprived habitual user may not suffer any negative changes in appearance."
"But once it loses its sleep inducing effects, fatigue, and the other consequences of the body functioning around the clock still remains. This disruption in the user's circadian rhythm would make them more susceptible to the medicine's strong hallucinatory side effects." When her words came to a final stop, a profusion of sweat descended Keres' forehead.
However, with a spark of determination, he forced his suppressed breathing to loosen up. More than anything, he was relieved she didn't have any definitive proof of his White Water consumption.
"Sounds scary as hell, but thankfully, I have no idea what you're talking about" He said.
"Is that so?"
"Yup. And by the way, I'm a little tired right now. You should leave."
"Alright, I'm sorry for bothering you" She said, shutting her eyes briefly with a sigh.
"If you're ever in need of help, please talk to me. I'm sure I could be of assistance in one way or the other." She added as she stood up to take her leave.
Relieved, Keres laid back on the infirmary bed. Somehow, he managed to survive this dinner with the grim reaper. He had to remain on guard the whole time, but now he could finally relax, he could finally breathe.
But his relief hit a brick wall as she spoke, reaching for the door handle.
"See you in class, Keres."
Those mere words sent a mocking shockwave through his senses. He was so naive, he almost assumed this would be his final encounter with her, but her words pulled him back to the cold reality. And when he thought about it, it was suspicious that she knew his name even though he never introduced himself to her.
"Wait... how... do you know my name?" He asked, stuttering.
"Oh... about that." She paused and glanced towards his direction for a moment.
"You're quite popular in class, you know." She spoke and then bravely stepped out, the door creaking shut.
'Nonsense.' His face contorted into a frown as her words replayed in his mind, sounding nonsensical. He wasn't buying any of it.
He tried to fathom what her motives were but soon gave up, tightening his fists, determination gleaming in his knuckles.
Regardless of her intentions, all he had to do was avoid her. This idea offered momentary relief, but the reality struck hard— she was his classmate. It was almost impossible to stay away from her.
He pressed both hands against his face, counting backwards from three, hoping for the actors and camera crew to walk in and say, 'It was all a prank.'
But unfortunately, the situation was as real it could get.
"Such a pain." He muttered, letting out a troubled sigh.
**