Athanatos

Chapter 1

Regan
Jurisdiction A5
June 26, 3072

Huh? What's this?

When I came to, I'm on our school's rooftop. The dark sky loomed over land. The foul stench of death lingered; I was left perplexed. I looked far away, Jurisdiction A5 emitted smoke everywhere. The building's lights were out.

"W-What the hell is this!?"

I saw myself holding a long sword, with blood all over it, slowly dripping on the floor.

I looked around the rooftop for an exit. As I found one, I ran to it and hurriedly went down. The campus was filthy - blood covered the finely painted walls, as well as the trophy cabinet by the corridor. Students were lying on the floor, some with missing body parts. I continued to walk without any clue of what happened.

"Y-You did this."

A voice said. Out of curiosity, I turned towards the sound and found a student covering a part of his body where blood seemed to pool.

"What are you saying? I did not-"

"It's your fault!" He interrupted.

"I-It's your fault my friends died." He continued.

I was left even more perplexed. Is this why there were blood everywhere? Is this why the jurisdiction seemed lifeless? Is this why I was holding this sword?

I covered my face, trying to remember.

"It's your fault."

The next thing I saw was the boy's body lying on the floor, as a girl sat on it.

The girl had a strange glow, like of a spirit.

"The project should've ended on your turn." The girl said as it chuckled.

I was disturbed, not because of the looks of her, but because of what she said.

"W-What experiment?" I stuttered.

"Doesn't matter. Die." She said as she drew a symbol with her two fingers on thin air.

A triangular light appeared, and the next thing I know is that I'm falling in a bottomless pit, with her laughing as she looked down on me.

"Wait! I don't want to die!" I said as I stretched out my arms. But as soon as I did, the light disappeared.

"Wake up Regan!" Mother shouted.

It was just a dream.

I stared at the light brown ceiling of my room.

"Breakfast is ready, fix yourself." Mom said as she closed the door.

What a strange nightmare.

I hurriedly went off the bed and into the bathroom. I looked at myself as I fixed my hair.

"Snap out of it!" I said as I slapped my cheeks. I brushed my teeth, changed my clothes, and fixed the bed.

As I went downstairs, I was greeted by my parents' smile as they ate. I joined them after I opened the television.

"And for our breaking news, fifteen scientists of The Facility have passed away this morning. Facility President Harley Michaels refused to make a statement about these deaths, and have ordered the press to leave the place-"

"Lame." I said as I ate my food. It's the same news every week. Mass deaths, dead scientists, new trivial experiments. It's like blood became a normal thing for everyone to see, even the government didn't do anything about this.

As soon as I finished eating, I went upstairs to get ready and put on my school uniform. As I went to the bathroom, I felt a sudden pain on my left wrist, making me fall on my knees.

"F-Fuck!" I exclaimed.

When the pain stopped, I looked at my wrist to see why. As I rolled up my sweatshirt's sleeve, I saw the writings fading. 

"July 27..." I read.

I got up, and continued preparing for school. I wore the long-sleeved blue uniform, together with a checkered skirt. As I wore my knee-high socks and shoes, I blow dried my hair and fixed it. I got my bag and hurriedly went downstairs.

"Be safe sweetie! Don't let The Facility capture you!" Mom jokingly said.

"Whatever mom!" I said as I laughed. I went out of the house and started to walk. Usually, Wendy goes with me to school, but it seems like she went out early. I continued to walk, until I finally reached our school.

The class was in its usual self: noisy, crowded, and stressful. As soon as the continuous lessons started, I tried my best to listen but I still lost my attention. Well, it's not my fault. The teacher wasn't giving the class its motivational atmosphere. This went on for hours. Boring hours of talking, boring hours of learning. It was all boring until the bell rang.

"Yes!" I shouted in victory, leaving my classmates confused and laughing at my funny reaction. I immediately fixed my stuff, got my bag, and scurried out of the room.

My friends had somewhere to go after classes, so I had to walk alone. I passed multiple trees, and the sky was getting darker. As I reached the urban part, it was dark. Buildings lit up, the roads were crowded, the city was noisy. I continued walking, since I was used to the sudden change. One thing that was out of my routine was a lady. 

The lady wore a high school uniform, and was glowing as she stood beside the traffic light's post. Her appearance made me curious because it stood out among the others. Nobody seemed to mind her bizarre look, so I thought it might be a ghost or something. Few cars have passed, and she disappeared.

"Must be my imagination." I convinced myself.

As I neared out house, I noticed that it was starting to get darker and the neighborhood was in its calm and peaceful self, though one thing killed the peace.

"Regan." A voice called out.

I looked around, but I couldn't find out where the voice came, until I saw a glimpse of a woman.

"Who's there?" I shouted.

The leaves started to rustle, the wind blew hard, the moon was looking down on me.

"It's your fault." The voice said again.

"Okay, I don't get what you're trying to point out. So please stop meddling with my life." I irritably said.

When I was about to continue going home, I found myself in front of a saw a girl with yellow glowing eyes.

"W-Who are you?" I asked. The lady smirked and went closer. I took a step back every time she stepped forward.

"No use running, Regan. I'm everywhere. From the moment you wake up, until you start dreaming, I will always be there." She said, and then disappeared in thin air.

Weird.

That lady knows how to scare people, though I really was scared. Well, who wouldn't be scared if someone stalked them all the time? I would be. Shaking the thought off my head, I continued to walk.

As soon as I reached the house, I greeted my mother then went to my room. As soon as I fixed my things, I prepared to take a bath. As I whistled on my way to the bathroom, I felt a sharp pain in my wrist, leaving me lying on the floor as my body curled up. I couldn't shout, mother would be super worried and immediately rush me to the hospital. I remember one day when I fell down the stairs, the next thing I woke up to is the white hospital room, with her on my side. She's a real worrywart, and I love her because of that.

The pain won't stop, even after a few minutes have passed. I looked at my wrist and found a big bruise all over the time engraved on it. I continued to shower, and as soon as I finished doing so, the pain lessened. 

As I lie down on my bed, I recalled everything that happened today. The boring class, the glowing person by the street crossing, and the scary lady that I encountered on my way home.

"This day is definitely weird." I told myself as I tried to sleep.