When we fell from Earth

Interlude 1: The One They Missed

For some reason, Mariam Ashraf felt that something was fundamentally wrong with her world, she just didn't know what. Since the day of the fake fire at uni, everyone has been acting stranger than usual. What made it even weirder for Mariam was the fact that no one remembered the fire to the extent that her best friends, Shams and Farida, had advised her to take few days off uni and that the stress she was under might have probably caused her delusions.

But that couldn't be the case, could it? Mariam was sure as hell that they all ran out of the building that day because a fire had started in the Pharmacy chemistry labs, and there was a locker that was thrown out of the window that day that almost killed her! How can this be a delusion?

Mariam stayed in her bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating if she really needed a day or two off, but then something bothered her. Back at the scene, when they were all forced out of the building, she could have sworn that she told them that they forgot someone inside. She remember her worrying about multiple people that might still be inside. Mariam tried to remember who they were, but whenever she was about to recall their names, the memory slipped away, and she could physically feel something pressing on her brain, causing her a headache whenever she tried to remember.

When the pain finally subsided for her to get out of bed, it was already 11:00 AM, which meant she already missed the first two tutorials, she might as well skip the whole day. She looked at her phone and found that Farida had texted her multiple times, asking where she was and if she was going to make it to uni. Mariam texted her, saying that she didn't feel well and that she wouldn't come that day.

Mariam was alone in the house, thank God. Her twin sister was at uni, her young triplets were at school, and her parents were off at work, which gave her the space and time to make herself a perfect breakfast: French Toast, Mushroom Omelet, and a big cup of Latte. She surfed through her Instagram, got bored and switched to TikTok, and got bored even more. She turned on Netflix and decided to watch Harry Potter for God-knows how many times. She thought the world of Harry Potter could put her out of any bad mood she was in, and indeed, the first two movies did.

It was 4:00 PM by the time Mariam decided to get up and do something with her day, and so she decided to take her laptop and study at the nearby Starbucks in CFC. She got dressed and was gathering her stuff when a note fell out of her notebook. It was a very bad drawing of the Parabati Rune from the Shadowhunter books. Underneath the rune was a weird name. She tried to read it, but her mind wouldn't register it. She blinked, trying intently to–

The name was suddenly gone, and when the thing she felt tried to press on her mind again, Mairam kept telling herself: I forgot what I saw.

The thing stopped pressing, and quickly, Mariam wrote the letters down on the note again and turned it face down.

Y

U

T

O

When she was done studying, Mariam contemplated getting the note out to try and remember who gave her this note and why, but she thought against it. She was out and alone, and if the headaches started, it wouldn't be good. Mariam left Starbucks with her half-drunk Caramel Macchiato, and decided to take a walk around the mall. Maybe Farida was right, and this was a result of her stress over uni and her grades. Maybe the–

Mariam walked by a bookstore called El-Shrouq and for some reason, she felt like she wants to go in. Of course, Mariam knew that whatever followed her suddenly wanting to do something was a huge amount of money spent on said thing. She walked right to the fantasy and fiction section and grinned. Throne of Glass, Mortal Instruments, Skyward, Mistbron, School for Good and Evil, A Darker Shade of Magic, Bone Crier's Moon, and damn she really needed to leave. If she stayed for a moment longer, she will buy all of these books and nothing will stop her. Mariam turned and noticed something weird.