Fall Is Beautiful

Chapter 1: It all ended in the matter of a song

Every day's the weekend playing 0:03

Click.

The air was chipped cool from the past winter, leaving the streets and houses damp. Not that I minded, actually. I slipped on my socks with ease, pulling myself up to grab my jacket. There was already racket going on downstairs, to which I almost thought dad had tried to cook breakfast again.

Every day's the weekend playing 0:59

It was almost too easy pulling on my jeans, as if the world felt right. Which, it wasn't. I almost chuckled. The world was an awful place. That's what mom said. She'd seen more death than she could count, dad too. Who could blame them for hating the world? I know I didn't, and neither did my brother.

Every day's the weekend playing 1:30

As I plugged my earphones to my ears, there was a knock on the door. I made a hum of assurance, and the door opened. It creaked a little, but the floorboards didn't. I smiled to myself, knowing exactly who it was without looking.

"Whatcha doing, Jafar?" I asked, folding up the end of my shirt a little. I had to add my style to my outfit. Today felt right, even if it wasn't. Jafar didn't respond verbally, instead staring at my earbuds. "You wanna listen?" I pulled out on earbud, handing it to him. The latter sighed and took it, but didn't put it in his ear.

Every day's the weekend playing 1:45

"Papa and mama aren't here." His voice was shallow, as if he hadn't drank anything in days. I stared at him, blankly, until he turned to the door. "I called Hina and Rurumu... they told us to stay put and don't go anywhere, and that they'd be there in 5 minutes." I froze. Was he serious? Was this situation that serious? Mom and dad could've just gone out for fresh air or something. Then, something caught my vision. I was sure it was a tear running down my brothers cheek.

Every day's the weekend playing 1:59

It felt like an eternity before Hina and Rurumu arrived, right after mom and dad. It was hard to swallow, but mom and dad glared at me and Jafar. They said nothing for a minute, until they lashed out. I held my hand protectively in front of Jafar when dad tried grabbing him. What happened next stung into my heart.

"Who are you two." Mom was pressing her temples together, as if trying to remember something. Dad was still trying to lunge at us, a viscous look in his eyes. It scared Jafar to death, I could tell. He was crying. Full on sobs.

"Mama papa, stop it!" He had yelled. There was crashing before Hina had dad in a chokehold, saving us both from getting a face full of fist. Rurumu was directing mom to the kitchen, where soon enough Hina pulled dad there. I couldn't hear them talking over my brothers crying.

Every day's the weekend playing 2:20

I had curled up next to Jafar, cuddling him the best ways I could. But how could I comfort him when I too needed comfort. Thankfully, my brother seemed to understand, and starting holding me as well. It was a warm touch, but enough for me to calm down a little. It wasn't until a hand grabbed my arm and dragged me from my place on the couch that Jafar screamed.

"Papa! Give Sin back!" It was at that point I realized dad had gotten away from Hina, somehow. His grip was harder than it had ever been, like he was mad in the head. That didn't make sense, though. He had been fine the night before, so what happened? "Papa!" Jafar grabbed my arm, pulling me back from being dragged. Hina had to literally pry dad off of me before Rurumu could tackle him. I didn't know she could do that.

Every day's the weekend playing 2:47

The next thing I knew, me and Jafar were in the back seats of Hina's old truck, driving far away from the P1 base.

Every day's the weekend playing 3:08

Every day's the weekend stopped playing 3:11

...

The first time I had seen the CAD (children's acid disease) was in my 4th period class. I had been sitting next to this girl, I think her name was Lilith or something, and she suddenly start spazzing. It took her dropping to the floor, falling out of her chair, a cold hand touching my ankle, that I knew she was dead. In less of a song, she was dead.

That's all it took. In a matter of a song, you'll be fine, and the next you will be laying on the floor, being carried away by PSI workers. They'd assumed it was a regular disease, a virus, but only children seemed to get effected. That's what got the PSI and government caught onto the case. Eventually, everywhere was on high lockdown, especially P1 base. It took a long time before things went back to normal. Then again, it never did. Kids were still dying left and right, but things went back to normal.

I started going back to my freshman year of high school, Jafar going to 5th grade. It seemed to actually be normal for a while, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The day I got called home early, hearing that my brother collapsed, was the scariest day of my life. He was alive, but sick. Alive, but sick. Unconscious constantly, only ever waking up to not know who he was or where he was.

After the PSI learned about this, they all but stormed up to our house, almost knocking down our front door. Dad had told them that he didn't have a son named Jafar, and even though it stung, I knew he had to lie. 'Lie to keep someone you love safe,' I had told myself. The PSI workers had left without checking our house, thank the gods. But that didn't mean they were done. They were probably leaving to give us closer, or to gain information or something.

The next days were the hardest. I watched as trucks grabbed children, literally, from their parents off the streets. No kid was safe. Dad forced me to stay inside with Jafar, who had recovered remarkably fast. It was almost frightening. Mom and dad often left the house to do work, but they stopped after the PSI guys started taking kids. They always had Rurumu or Hina do their chores for the day, not trusting us to be left alone. They were afraid, and so was I. What would've happened if dad wasn't there that day Jafar was sick? Would my little brother been taken away too? ...

Then, this all happened, and now we were driving somewhere I didn't know where, Jafar holding tightly to my arm.

What was happening with this world!?