Neo Chronicles: Nexus
Episode 41: Now I'm Caught Up
Table of Contents
As I make my way to class, I pass by a digital clock hanging from the ceiling that strikes two. I'm starving, but I don't think there's time for me to rush to the cafeteria to nab something, and the only vending machine I can think of is on the other side of the building, downstairs.
I feel my tummy twist and turn on itself. There's a war raging on, and I'm powerless to stop it. This sucks.
I, along with the last few remaining students, crowd in the door. Someone accidentally bumps their way into me. Is it bad that my initial reaction is to think of turning him into a pigeon? Probably. With a deep exhale, I hurry my pace so I don't get trampled by my overly excited peers.
I take my seat at the front of the room. It doesn't hit me until my cheeks touch the hard plastic. I am totally unprepared. I have no tablet, no smartsheet, no pen, no stylus. I throw my head back and moan in frustration. Then I hold my belly as I lay my head along my desk.
I'm startled by how loud its growl is, but neither my classmates nor the teacher seem to take notice. They probably can't hear it anyway with all the talking and talking over talking taking place.
The last tardy bell rings—or more accurately buzzes—and everyone's still settling in. Ms. Donahue takes to the front of the class and draws something on the board. It's a series of circles. She draws about six of them, and the final ones look like they're two circles splitting apart.
She then turns to the front of the class and excitedly states, “Mitosis!” The class's loud chatter dies down to a quiet murmur. “I trust you've all read ahead.” I wince at the statement. Reading ahead is something that I normally do. I'm normally getting on others for not doing it. I don't like this feeling.
Ms. Donahue is so enthusiastic with how she presents the material. Stepping out into the room, walking down the isles, using big hand gestures. On any other day, I'd be thoroughly engaged. I like her as a teacher. I like this class. But right now, I wouldn't mind if the whole room were to fall towards the bottom of the ocean. I hate this feeling.
I bury my head in my arms on top of my desk. I hear Ms. Donahue as she makes her way over to my section of the room. I hear her footsteps pause. She's about to call me out. I can feel it. This is the downside of sitting up front. Everything I do is screened. Everything I do is seen. I want to look up and feign interest, but I think I'm in too deep. I need to commit. I abhor this feeling.
The footsteps pick up, and her voice carries on. She's just as excited and enthusiastic as before.
I look back up to the front of the class, but doing so just makes me feel even worse. I turn my sights down to the floor and watch the shadows dance.
The lights flicker. Less than a second at a time, but they do every so often. I glance up at the ceiling and see it happening for myself. With each flicker, there's a quick sharp buzz to it, like the long fluorescent bulb is trying to give out. Or like some small, tiny insect is repeatedly flying into and bouncing off of it.
I turn my gaze back to the front of the room, trying desperately to latch on to Ms. Donahue's thrilling lecture. But I can't help but be distracted by the colors going dim. I look around the whole classroom, and slowly, gradually, everything's saturation dies down. There's still light, but without the intense colors of the wood-topped desks, brown and beige tiled linoleum flooring, the different colored backpacks and totebags next to people's desks, and different props of sciency stuff all around all seem mute.
The class seems to carry on as if nothing's happening. As if they don't see that now their shadows are more than shadows, but actual people. Dark, shadowy people with no definition. They're like living silhouettes. They follow Ms. Donahue as she walks down the isles again. They stand around, hover around, exist around the students in the back of the room. They crawl along the ceiling. They scale the walls. They block out the light coming in from the open windows.
I start hearing something, like an underlying buzz. A high pitch murmuring sound.
The flickering gets more intense. The sound gets louder.
The class carries on unbothered. How can they be so cool with this? This isn't normal. This isn't right.
It's like they don't know that demons are right here with us.
I hear a loud thud. This time the whole class hears.
“Oh my God, Alexis!” Ms Donahue calls out.
We all turn to the back of the class to see Alexis fallen out. Her long, straight, brunette hair is sprawled all along the floor, just like the rest of her. Ms. Donahue makes her way to the back, but I'm already beating her there. If she could see what I see, if she knew what was actually happening –
A whole group of shadowy silhouettes crowd around Alexis's motionless body. I kneel down and place my hand over her, then look up at the shadows. I'm sure my classmates think I'm looking up at them.
I'm not entirely sure what to do here. Something is clearly wrong. Demons in the school is wrong, but for no one but me to notice them? That doesn't make any sense. How is this happening?
Before I know it, the entire room fades to white. I'm alone, still kneeling down, still over her. Wait, Alexis is here, too? I guess.
I'm in the Axis Mundi. I think I brought us both here. I look around, but can only see white. I want to call out to the spirits, but before I do, I feel a hand touch down on my shoulder.
“Your perception of these creatures is rather crude.” I look up and see Akka, the spirit—or goddess if you're into that—of Earth. “They appear as shadows,” she goes on. “Their true form is much more telling, but your seeing of these creatures at all is a feat unto itself.”
“How do I stop them?” I ask. “They're hurting her!”
“Simply will it to be,” another voice answers. I look down at Alexis and see another woman kneeling down with me. The woman, known as the Morrigan—a goddess of war—has her hand placed on Alexis's shoulder. “We'll handle the rest.”
The Morrigan gives me an assuring smile. I look up to Akka and catch her giving the Morrigan a stern glance. Then turning to me, she nods her head in agreement. Soon after, she fades away into nothing. The Morrigan fades away as well.
Now it's just me and Alexis alone in this blank space. I place both my hands on her and close my eyes tightly. I'm thinking. I'm thinking really hard. I feel myself tense up. Then I feel a cold chill cover me. I open my eyes to find the shadowy figures have returned. They surround me. They surround us. I look at their featureless faces. Their piercing, red eyes gaze back at me. One of them lunges out to attack me with its hand outstretched. I don't flinch. That's a lie. I do flinch. I wince my eyes, but I stay put. I don't move. And the lunging shadow spontaneously combusts.
I don't think we're in the Axis anymore. If we are, it's a different part of it. Instead of being surrounded by a white nothing, I'm in the middle of an emotionless grey. As the shadow people try to attack me, they all burst into black, gaseous flames that instantly evaporate.
The room starts to form around us. The desks, the windows, the floor, the people. They're all frozen still. Still a few shadows remain. They're a bit wiser. Not as anxious. Keeping their distance. I want them gone, too. I think on it real hard. The thought of them leaving. The thought of them dying.
A pulse shoots out from me. It spreads like a shockwave, and all the shadows in the room are affected by it. Some try to run. Some try to meld into their surroundings. Some try to hide inside people, but the pulse hits them all the same. And all the same, they dissipate into the air.
The color in the room comes back, along with the light. Time picks up where it left off.
“Alexis!” I hear Ms. Donahue say as she rushes in. She stops just before getting here, and I see her place her hand on her forehead. She looks dizzy. After taking a moment to regain herself, she asks, “Alexis, are you alright?”
I look down at Alexis, and to my surprise, she's moving. She's definitely groggy, but she sits up on her own. “I think so,” she answers.
I look around at the rest of the class, and am surprised to see how beat up they act. It was expecting a more lively reaction. Like maybe some shocked looks, loud shouts, worried faces. But everyone around looks exhausted. Not mentally exhausted, but physically. Like they just got through running a mile.
“I think I may need to see a nurse,” Alexis quietly says.
I look back at her. She's shaken up, and looks just as exhausted as everyone else. I help her to her feet and tell Ms. Donahue, “I'll go with her.”
“Yes,” Ms. Donahue replies. “Please do.”
*/
Alexis and I walk down the empty halls in silence. Part of me feels like I need to let her know what just happened. The other part thinks it'd be best if I left it alone. She's better now, right? Why bother her with the other stuff?
But what if it happens again? What if I'm not around when it does?
“I don't know where that came from,” she starts out talking. “It was like I couldn't breathe, like something was holding my breath.” She places both her hands along her neck. “And then it stopped.”
“Well be thankful for that,” I say.
There's a small pause, and then she continues. “I wonder if it was a demon.”
“What?” I stop walking and look at her in disbelief. Apparently demons in the school is a normal thing now? How long has this been going on? Was it before Jabari came got us?
“Noah and Jamal were talking about that earlier.” She stops and looks back at me. “They said we're all doomed and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Or something. I'm not sure. They seemed really worried.”
“They told you this?”
“Oh yeah. I know it sounds crazy, but they were really adamant about it.”
“Did they actually see any demons? Here in the school?”
“I think they did. On the way to class, two girls got into a fight, and I think they said something about it there. Then they ran off.”
“Thanks Alexis. You good enough to get to the nurse on your own?”
“Yeah. I might just skip out on that and head back to class. I'm feeling fine.”
“Go there anyway, just to be safe. I'll catch up with you later.”
She heads on down the hall without me, and take out my phone. It's a small handheld device without much in the way of special markings or details. I thought about customizing it with some cool science stuff, but never got around to it. I press a button on it in the middle, and a holographic projection of an image pops up in front of me.
I see that I've got four missed messages. All of them are from Chris. Where you at? Demons Fight Dirty, Dwelling in the Shadows, and Worldstar are their subject lines. I can imagine what the messages say already.
I put my phone away and start walking down the hall with a hurried pace. I think I know what class he's in, and the others shouldn't be hard to find, either. We need to regroup and do something about this fast.
As I turn a corner, I find that I'm in a completely different place. The drastic change in environment causes me to jump in shock. There is no environment. Everything's completely black. It's like I'm the opposite of the Axis Mundi.
Darkness—and only darkness—is the only thing that surrounds me.
