A Fleeting Utopia

Chapter 5

    Tsumi looked at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand doubtingly, shoving it back into the pocket of the hoodie. Apparently Juno, Ikuu and Nova were off doing their own things, not specified by Nova. Nova had left her an ancient looking blue phone on the bed sometime this morning. She had probably wiped the phone before, since there was no password. The phone had no apps on it, and Nova had added her own number, Ikuu's, and Juno's on there, the only explanation being a text reading, "you can use this old phone i found in my dresser if you need to contact us. also neither me, Juno or Ikuu are at the headquarters, so do whatever you want, i guess."
    How very helpful. She couldn't even be bothered to explain where they were. Disregarding that, shortly after finding the phone, she had also discovered that the bunny was back in the room.
    She had completely forgotten about what Nova said last night, so that was certainly a scare. At least she didn't have to feed it, or clean its droppings that littered the floor of the cramped cage.
    Now she stood in the blusting city park, trying to find the first place Roka had recommended she went. Clusters of people crowded Tsumi's vision. It was hard to believe all of these people were also not from here, and completely oblivious to the fact they were. She watched the people's faces, various emotions flashing among many of their faces, some somber, some gleeful. If this universe was fake, did that make any emotion anyone experienced here fake? If Tsumi did find a way to get out, what would happen to all of these people?
    Tsumi brushed the thoughts off as she turned herself around, still searching for the place. She needed to worry about her own situation first before she was even in the state to try to help others.    
     Spotting the polished gray school from across the park's perfect green lawn, Tsumi began to jog lightly as she breathed in the fresh air. This morning was a bit chilly; she'd had to borrow some more of Juno's clothes and her clunky boots. It must have rained a bit last night, because as she passed the stretch of grass and walked onto the concrete, she noticed muddy splotches on the boots. Oh, well. I'll have to deal with cleaning these later.
    As she became closer to the school, walking through the empty parking lot, she read the name on the top of the building. Horizon Academy. She must have gone here, right? There was no way Roka would send her to a random school, it wouldn't be the slightest bit helpful. But the name didn't ring a bell.
    For no reason, Tsumi felt like she wanted to cry.
    But as another thought came into her mind, she was distracted from her momental breakdown. How was she going to get in? It was pretty obvious school wasn't in session today, so she couldn't just slip behind some unsuspecting teachers. The front doors were no doubt locked, so there was no point of even trying that. There were some windows fairly high up that were probably unlocked, but even if she did have a way to get up there people from nearby would probably notice. If the people here found out what Tsumi knew, chaos would probably break out.
    Tsumi redirected herself to walk around the school. If there was any way of getting in, it would probably be from the back. There didn't seem to be any other opening at first glance, but she did notice the curve of a dull, grey brick wall that had something red peeking from behind it. Tsumi turned to see it was a door, probably a janitor's closet of some sorts. Her heart pounded in fear that someone would see her. There was already a door leading out, so if there was any way into the school, that would mean there would have to be a door leading both in and out. She grabbed the handle with her left hand, the smooth silver slipping across her hands and she pulled. She had briefly caught sight of the hole for a key earlier, but it didn't fully register in her mind; the door was locked. Now the only thing left to try was to look in the most anticipated spot for a key, under the doormat. She lifted the rough, light brown square of fabric, expecting the worst. Oh well. Maybe she could just take a rest for today, think about how she was going to get out of this mess. No, mess was an understatement. This was more like a-
    Tsumi almost dropped it in surprise when she felt the cold metal of the key slide onto her hand. She felt a little more annoyed than grateful it was here. But the key being here didn't necessarily mean she had a way in, anyways.
    She carefully inserted the key into the hole, making sure it was the right way up. The door opened with a click. Tsumi stuck the key back into her pocket as she peered into the room. At first all she would see was the outline of some cleaning supplies in the dark room, but when she stuck her head in a little further she noticed there was a door leading into the school, and this time it was unlocked. Tsumi sighed as she opened the new door and closed the one leading out.
    Well, hopefully this would lead to some answers. She stepped through the second door and a wave of cold air washed over her. On the piece of paper Roka gave her, she didn't specify where to go in the school. I guess I'll just walk around for a little bit, and if I don't see anything I'll check the other place Roka mentioned in her note, and then I'll go back to the headquarters and go back to sleep. But Tsumi knew that when she got back, she wouldn't be sleeping, she would be laying in her bed in Nova's room thinking of what she could do. She stopped by a sign in the middle of the empty, windowed hall. It showed a map that indicated there were 4 floors in this building, one for each grade. She was 15, right? Maybe if anything about this place would come back to her, it would be on the second floor, since according to the map, she would be in 10th grade.
    She spun around to see a silvery metal staircase. The complete silence, the deafening cold of this school made Tsumi uncomfortable, but she continued walking upward, the clank of her boots on the stairs providing some relief to the quiet.
    As she emerged from the staircase she saw...another hall, numbered doors lining each side of the hall. What more did she expect?
    At once, a thought passed through her mind, almost too fast to grasp it. The school was so quiet, so empty and untouched now, on a weekend day in this wrong, fake place. But maybe, back on Earth before they were put here, the school was different.
    Even the small second of thought was able to trigger something in Tsumi's mind. Suddenly, she could see flashes of things in the halls, things that were not there a second ago. The whole left side of the wall was broken open, a gaping hole in the middle of it. Tsumi could see students running in fear, and she could see...herself, holding a long, silver spear, dragging it through the Aloi. The red liquid was smeared all over her face.
    Tsumi felt a horrific sensation wash over her. The school? The Aloi had attacked the school? Obviously, she had survived, or at least she seemed to be alive, but this was a chance to see if any of her other friends were already dead. She didn't know Juno or Ikuu's age, but she did know Nova was probably in the 11th grade. She began to rush up the next set of stairs that led upwards to the next grade's hall, but when she arrived the vision wasn't there, just the same unbroken, smooth walls she had seen on the first floor.
    Defeated, Tsumi trudged back down both flights of stairs, back to the bottom of the school. There was no point in wasting the space in her brain with more complaints about her memories' return-it would come back when it wanted to, she guessed. The only thing she could do was the other thing that Roka had recommended on her little list.