Escapade

Chapter 2 (First Draft)

I was absolutely certain that the fear and the events that happened today did not get through my head until now. Now the panic and unsettling feelings were catching up on me. I drummed my fingers on the table, half impatient, half nervous as I waited for my turn to go "Escapade".

My brother was sitting nearby, chatting with some other guy who made it in the time limit. Did they know each other? Probably not. Dylan had a knack for making friends quickly.

"Who're you staring at? The blond boy? He looks cute."

I started and turned, somehow annoyed by the harmless comment. Or maybe I was just scolding myself for being scared of someone. I didn't know. That sudden impulse to survive this thing had drained again. My ordinary depressed self was back.

I glanced up and saw a girl looking at me. She sat down in a nearby chair and asked the question again.

She was obviously waiting for a reply. I pointed at Dylan and she nodded. He raised his eyebrows, and I turned away, wanting to puke. My brother? Cute? Seriously.

"He's my brother," I told her matter-of-factly. I had given her the most obvious way of saying leave me alone but she clearly was trying to make friends. For once, I went for it.

"Krystal. What your name?" She held out a hand for me to shake. I looked at it for a moment, and decided I was better of surviving with an ally than alone.

"My name's..." I faltered. For some reason I kind of wanted to survive again. To start a new life, perhaps on another planet where the muffins came from. We're all fighting for the same thing now, right?

"My name's Tash," I finally said, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you."

We stared at each other for a whole minute, and we studied each other. Her gaze was unnerving; blue eyes never blinking, never breaking eye contact. She looked like Dylan's sister more than I do.

"Krystal Gray." Someone yelled from the front. She turned towards the speaker, turned back, muttered see you later and ran. I watching her blond hair bobbing in the distance, as she ran to take the test.

I felt an impending sense of doom. I was not going to make it out alive the test. Probably. Most likely. I'm not afraid, I told myself, I'm going out strong and determined. And my brother will pass this thing while I'll give my place to him. That's the perfect plan. He's the older one, the wiser one, the one who was passionate about life and all that. I'm the one who was trying to find a brave way to get out of the world. Yeah right.

"Dylan Terrene," the announcer said. He stood up, not even glancing back to me, and walked into the testing room. My palms felt sweaty and my knuckles were turning white.

Keep calm, I chided, you're not dying in there, and why would you care even if you did?

"Natasha Terrene."

I stood up and started to walk towards the laboratory, trying to maintain the posture my brother had shown minutes ago. Oh, how I envy my brother now, his extroverted self, confident in the most hopeless situation!

Some woman took my hand and lead my down the room, where I got to sit on a chair. I adjusted myself to a comfortable position and the woman pushed my hair out of my eyes. I let it fall back in and she didn't try to push it again.

"Hello, dear. It occurred to me that you've just been in the most peculiar situation. Ignore what you heard just now and relax. Just drink this stuff and you'll be fine and ready to go. That guy's a madman. No aliens or whatsoever. Peace for all," She muttered something else that I couldn't catch, and handed me a vial.

Hands up warning to all. You might be wondering why I knew this happened if it drank that vial. The answer is: No I don't remember it, but they somehow stored all our memories up and I read it sometime in the future. Seriously, it seemed like a story even to me, so I don't expect you to believe it.

Back here: I studied the flask carefully, swinging to one side and the other, watching the liquid dance inside. It looked ordinary, human-like. The vial was shaped like a conical flask, the common ones used in schools, and the liquid looked something like water. Plain, cool water that runs in the oceans and rivers.

No. Plain, cool water that ran in the oceans and rivers, now disappeared into whatever exploded water goes.

Nevertheless, I took a swig and immediately I felt dizzy. I sank back into the chair and the vial rolled out of my hand. It was so peaceful, like a dream of happiness. For a moment I could imagine myself 5 years old, curled up into a blanket with my brother, a few months older than me, preparing for school.

My memories went flashing inside my brain, reviewing them and they came out, shattering like glass once contacted with the outside air. Such peace.

Surprisingly, my last thought was, how many vials did they have if each of us broke one? Millions? I don't see a million vials here.

The consciousness slipped away, and everything went black.

X${(R