Beyond the Veil

Chapter 1

February 2013

It was the suffocating odor of smoke filling her apartment that caressed Sera into consciousness, pulling her out of bed this morning. She was insurmountably pleased to discover that the acrid stench was coming from her own kitchen, in which an unwelcome guest was overcooking 3 eggs from her fridge. She shuffled down the stairs to face her intruder.

"Quinn. That smells terrible."

Quinn turned around and pulled her hair behind her head, struggling to do so while still holding the spatula. "You're awake! I was going to bring you breakfast in bed. I know you like eggs." Sera was very grateful Quinn did not bring that into her bed.

Sera observes the presented situation, her best friend with a more than obvious culinary deficit, her cluttered kitchen sink, and her expensive carbon steel pan with a now singed black bottom. She shook her head and zeroed in on the coffee machine.

"Those aren't eggs anymore, they're too far gone. Do you want a coffee?"

Quinn laughed, "I'll do a coffee. Should I open a window?"

"Please do."

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Sera made a quick meal, one that was much more aromatically pleasing than the former. She listened to Quinn rattle off everything she did this weekend, while attempting to stuff bites in her mouth between sentences.

"You're still going to help me with the camping trip, right?" Quinn tried to make her eyes as large as possible, she knew that if there was anyone who could persuade Sera to do something she didn't want to do, it was her.

"Are you sure you want my help?" Sera asked shortly, sprinkling a bit of pepper onto her sausage.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Sera took another sip of her coffee, "I'm going to have trouble recruiting people, because I don't even want to go."

Quinn rolled her eyes and put down her fork, "You promised! You're going to have fun."

Sera looked up at her with a frank expression, "I did not promise, but you know I can't say no to you."

With a victorious grin Quinn winked deviously and placed a stack of fliers on the counter. "These are for you!"

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Sera was feeling the heat as she hung up the fliers on campus, her clothes were sticking to her skin and she was running low on tape. Sera thought about what a waste of paper this was, as she had never seen anyone stop to read a flier on their way to class. If anything, pamphlets would have been more useful, but she wasn't about to create more work for herself.

Despite the heat, Sera felt like a small breeze had come over her. Strangely enough it sent goosebumps up her arm in a delightful shiver. It was strange, but not entirely unpleasant, and very much welcome after standing in the beating sun.

She looked in the direction of the gust of wind, and to her surprise she noticed that a man had in fact stopped to read the flier.

He had a mysterious air about him, his dark clothing and sunglasses made him stand out amongst the students in their typical college attire. The man was tall, with a still calmness in his demeanor.

He seemed to be deep in thought as he read the flier. Without hesitation, he took the flier off the wall and walked away with it crumpled in his hand. Sera couldn't help but wonder why a student would be on campus without a school bag or anywhere to hold his papers, but she dismissed the thought and hung up a new flier to replace the one that was removed.