At End's Gate

UPHEAVAL

The next day the kids went to school determined to get answers when they arrived back home. Paige that day she couldn't make up the actual feeling she felt. She was confused by all the lies. She was angry at her parents. She was also keen to know more about this name they had discovered. The lesson that day actually annoyed her. She barely heard a thing. Erin took notice of this." Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"A guy can't even ask if his girlfriend is fine without being questioned." Erin said with an annoyed stare fixed on Paige.

"I'm great. I'm sorry Erin. I'm a bit tired so I get cranky a bit," she said with a light smile on her face.

Erin touched her cheek," Honey I'm worried about you."

"Paige, Erin are you still with us?"

The two looked at their annoyed teacher," Sorry sir," they said in unison. They continued paying attention to the lesson.

The lesson continued. At the end of the day she was in a hurry to leave. This caught Conner's attention. Paige was trying to get out of the room quickly but many people were by the door. Erin was talking to his teacher. Conner took this as an opportunity to talk to her because he knew that Erin disliked him." You must be in a hurry," he said laughing.

Paige looked at him," Yes." Paige was shocked that the quiet boy actually talked." So you do talk?"

"Yes. I do. I'm actually talkative. It's just that at school I try my best to pay attention," he said with a smile. He had a friendly smile which made Paige give a genuine smile.

" I met your father at the Art Museum. Isn't it weird that we barely know each other but we're neighbours?"

"I know right. It's strange. It seems like our lives operate on a tight schedule that hinders us from talking."

"Yeah," Paige agreed as she stared into the boys green eyes.

The door was finally unoccupied so Paige could pass." I guess you can now go then," Conner said pointing at the door." It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah. It was nice," Paige said removing the brown strands of hair on her face." Good bye. Let this not be our last time talking," she said as she was about to walk out."

"It won't be," the boy said with a smile.

Paige rushed home. That night dinner was so quiet to the extent that David turned on the television. James was very angry and he barely even looked at his father. Blake was just quiet. Paige kept hesitating to ask about the name and why their parents had lied to them. Claire was finally annoyed by the tense environment." Is everything okay?" she asked looking at her three children.

Paige said all was well hesitantly. James was finally annoyed." No mom. It's not. You both lied to us," he said with a bitter tone.

David was angered by the accusation." Young man I'm your father how dare you point your finger at me and accuse me of lies."

"Oh dad cut the act. We know you lied about the painting," Blake joined in.

"What lie?" Claire asked.

"The fact that it was painted a long time ago. We went to the archives. They told us that the painting was recent," Paige said with a disappointed look.

"Oh," Claire said with an alarmed stare.

"Mr Michaels told us that he found the painting by the museum door a couple of weeks ago," James added.

"How do you know all this? Weren't you in school?" their father asked with a cross look on his face.

"Don't try to pin the subject on us. You lied to us," Blake barked.

"Mom, dad who the hell is Dukilian Stone?" Paige asked with an angry stare.

At that moment their TV started making noise as if it was losing signal. This made everyone silent because it had never happened before. Their advanced technology didn't incur signal difficulties before. The Sanders thought it was a problem they were only facing little did they know that it was happening in every household. It was also happening on the city street screens.

After a while an unfamiliar face appeared on the television sets. The face seemed intimidating. The man had dark hair cut and brown eyes that made anyone feel uncomfortable by the way they seemed to stare at the people. He had a well cut beard. He was wearing a black and red robe. Claire and David stared at the screen looking afraid. The kids noticed. This made them more anxious. The man cleared his throat." People of Redstone. My name is Dukilian Stone. Don't think this is a peaceful message. I'm not your friend. I despise you. I hate you so much that I want to destroy your city. Don't worry I'm not totally heartless. A few of you will be spared but to make it interesting the people who will be spared are those who reach the Steel gate just beyond the city wall. The only problem is that the number of those who will receive mercy is limited. I'm sorry but you have to be selfish to survive because if you don't someone is going to take your chance of survival because if you don't get your hands dirty you'll die. Oh if you think you can just ignore me and try to help each other, think again. I'm not joking. You must fight for survival." The man viewed an image of the Archives building. The man pressed a button and the building suddenly disintegrated. The movement of the building as it went down was felt by many people. The man continued speaking, " Ahh. Don't worry. No one was in the building but the next building will have many people. I have bombs placed all over your city. I will destroy you. Fight for your survival. Many of you are wondering why I'm doing this. It's for fun," the man said with an evil grin. " Let the games begin."

The screens went back to their original stations. The terror on their parents faces made the siblings feel scared. Suddenly the atmosphere in the house shifted. "Call the others," David instructed Claire.

"Mom what the hell is going on?" Paige asked as she followed her mother.

"Wait sweetie," she said taking what seemed to be a burner phone. "Come. It's time," she said on the phone before hanging up.

"Time for what?" Paige asked with tears running down her lovely cheeks.

"Don't cry sweetheart. I need you to be strong," Claire said she wiped the tears off her daughter's face.

They returned to the living room where the boys were sitting on the table afraid." Where is dad?" Paige asked.

"He said he's taking supplies," James answered with his voice stammering.

David came back with a bag full of weapons." How do you have all those old guns? Our society doesn't have weapons?" Blake asked.

"We kept weapons from the past in case an event like this was to happen."

"What's going on?" James asked with a tone that seemed frustrated.

A knock was heard on the door." They are here," Claire said as she went to open the door.

"Who?" Paige asked.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried my best to depict a sudden rift in atmosphere from a calm one to a one filled with panic. Hope you sensed the upheaval :-) Feel free to comment and vote if you liked this chapter.