Chapter 3: The Wand in the Shadows
Voulgrim wandered the hallways of the school, his thoughts distant as he avoided the busy crowds. He didn't need to look at his phone to know he had a bit of time before the next class began, but what he craved more than punctuality was solitude. The day had already worn him thin-another round of detention, the burden of carrying buckets, and the constant murmurs of judgment from his classmates. He didn't care for their laughter, but it grated on his nerves all the same.
As he turned a corner near the gym, the sudden sound of shattering glass ripped through the air.
Voulgrim barely had time to register the impact before a baseball came crashing through the window beside him. The ball hit him square in the shoulder, but he didn't react beyond a brief glance at the jagged remains of the windowpane. The ball rolled across the floor before coming to a stop near his feet.
He stared at it for a second before bending down to pick it up.
Moments later, a group of students came running toward him, their baseball uniforms marked with their team's insignia. The one leading the charge was the team's ace, his face flushed with embarrassment.
"I'm really sorry!" the ace player panted, his eyes wide with concern. "Are you alright? We didn't mean to-"
Voulgrim cut him off with a simple wave of his hand. "It's fine," he muttered, examining the ball in his hand briefly before tossing it back to the player. The ace caught it, relief washing over his face.
Before anyone could say anything further, the heavy footsteps of a teacher approached, followed by an irritated voice. "What in the world is going on here?"
A stout, balding man appeared, his face red with agitation. He scanned the scene quickly, eyes falling on Voulgrim first. There was an immediate look of suspicion in his gaze, as if the broken glass was somehow Voulgrim's fault.
The ace player quickly stepped in. "It's my fault, sir. I hit the ball. It went through the window."
The teacher's expression softened instantly. "Ah, I see. Just an accident, then. No harm done!" He chuckled, patting the ace on the back with exaggerated friendliness. But as the teacher turned to leave, he gave Voulgrim a hard, judgmental stare, as if to say you're still trouble.
Voulgrim paid him no mind. He simply turned away, his search for peace unbroken by the brief encounter.
---
After a while, Voulgrim found himself in the school's backyard. The area was quiet, almost serene compared to the bustling chaos of the main building. A few trees shaded the path, and the place seemed largely forgotten by most of the students-exactly the kind of spot Voulgrim liked.
But his attention was drawn to a small figure crouched in the grass. It was a girl, likely a freshman, intently focused on something hidden in the dirt. She barely noticed him approach, so engrossed was she in her search.
"You lose something?" Voulgrim asked, his voice low but not unkind.
The girl looked up at him for a brief moment, her eyes wide and startled, but she quickly returned to her task, her fingers scraping through the grass. She didn't answer, too focused on whatever it was she sought.
Voulgrim sighed, glancing around the yard. After a few moments of watching her struggle, he knelt down and began searching as well, his movements slow and deliberate. The two of them worked in silence for a few minutes, and eventually, Voulgrim's hand brushed against something small and wooden.
He lifted it to inspect it-a thin, intricately carved wand.
"Is this what you're looking for?" he asked, holding it up.
The girl's head shot up, her eyes gleaming with recognition. She quickly stood and rushed over, taking the wand from his hand with almost reverent care. "Yes! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, her voice full of relief.
Voulgrim stood as well, brushing off the dirt from his pants. "Don't lose it again," he said simply, already turning to leave. He checked his phone, noting with frustration the time. He was definitely going to be late-again.
As he walked away, the girl clutched the wand to her chest and watched him go. Her demeanor shifted slightly, her previously youthful voice lowering into something far more serious. "It's time to begin."
---
Voulgrim was halfway up the steps to the main building when something strange caught his attention. He stopped mid-stride, a sharp tingle running down his spine as a soft glow began to spread beneath his feet. The ground itself seemed to pulse with light, starting as a faint shimmer before quickly brightening.
He turned his head, his eyes narrowing as the light spread across the entire school campus. It wasn't just the ground-the walls, the trees, the very air seemed to hum with energy, and the glow grew stronger with every second.
"What the...?" Voulgrim muttered under his breath. He raised his hand to shield his eyes as the light became blinding, radiating outward like an explosion without sound. The brilliance consumed everything in its path.
Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the light vanished.
Voulgrim blinked, disoriented. He slowly lowered his arm and looked around, his vision adjusting to the sudden absence of light. Everything seemed unchanged-at first. The school buildings still stood, the trees swayed gently in the breeze, and the air was still.
But then the silence hit him. It was unnatural.
Voulgrim scanned the area, his unease growing with every passing second. The once-busy courtyard was now deserted. No students filled the halls, no teachers patrolled the grounds. The laughter, the shouts, the casual chatter-all of it was gone.
He was alone.
He took a step forward, but a cold realization settled over him. It wasn't just the students or the teachers that had vanished. He looked down at his own hands and saw the same fading light trailing from his fingers. His body felt weightless, as if he were slowly dissolving into the air itself.
The last thing he saw before everything went dark was the distant figure of the girl with the wand, standing at the edge of the schoolyard, her eyes glowing with power as she completed her ritual.
And then, like everyone else, Voulgrim vanished.