Umærium: A Parallel World | ✔

Chapter Four

Anointed - Miguel

2 weeks later...

~Allison~

"I'm leaving!" I peeked out the window. My older sister, Karen bounded down the stairs, across the lawn, and into the waiting car. As I peeked out my bedroom window, I noticed Séres run past her and into the house. Karen eyed her then turned around and looked up to the window where I stood. "Don't do anything stupid." She waved, entered the car and drove off. She was leaving for a trip to Poland with her friends. I knew she'd stay out longer than she anticipated. 

Karen enjoyed travelling and being in the United Kingdom wouldn't be enough to quench her adventurous thirst.

I shut the window and turned just in time to spot Séres taking a sit near my computer desk. 

"You didn't tell me you were coming over," I said as I plopped on my bed. Séres had her tawny hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail, some black leggings, and a huge plain white t-shirt.

"Yeah, I didn't know I was coming over." She pursed her lips as she held up a red flash drive in one hand. "Until I found this." I frowned and slid further off the bed to get a closer look. 

"Wow, what is this? Some sort of magical device?" I asked mockingly whilst waving my hands around for dramatic effect. Séres rolled her eyes.

"No!" She connected it to my laptop. "Now, I know I said I would leave it alone, but I couldn't." My eyes narrowed to slits as I crossed my arms over my chest. I knew where this was going. 

"What did you do?"

"I dug up on my theory from the library," she said. "And right when I'd given up hope," she continued, typing away. "Something interesting popped up." I wasn't the least earnest. Sighing, I reached for a chocolate bar I'd brought up to my room earlier. I was halfway through with it when Séres turned, her amber eyes filled with determination.

"What?"

"Here it is." She pointed at a scanned copy of a newspaper article on my laptop screen. I leaned in. The title read, The Findings of Albert Nortstoff. I cocked my head. "Keep reading." My eyes shifted further down: On the 9th of November 1968, Nortstoff conducted a series of experiments at Oak River High-school. He claimed to have found that there were some serious electromagnetic activities occurring there. However, once another group of scientists joined him to further investigate, his claims seemed false. "That's our school," she stated once she was sure I was done reading.

"Séres," I began. She held up a finger to silence me. 

"Guess who cancelled the investigations." I merely shrugged. "Devin Royer." She wiggled her brows. "Jacob's last name is Royer. He has some explaining to do." I pressed my lips into a thin line, a tad annoyed. I mean, we just went to the movies with him and Javier. They were the least interested in her electromagnetic shit.

"That's a rather popular surname in our town. You're just digging around uselessly."

"I want to go check it out." She tilted her head.

"It's a Friday evening." I pointed at a pile of books on the desk she sat next to. "And we have lots of work to complete with actual research.

"It won't take much time." She got up. "The sooner we leave, the earlier we come back." I ran a hand through my umber hair. I would have done anything to get her to shut up about all this electromagnetic nonsense, but going back to the school on a Friday... This was supposed to be everyone's time off! "Tick tock," she reminded. 

***

Our steps echoed off the walls as we walked through the halls. The ceiling lights were on all throughout the day. But they were starting to get more noticeable as the sun was setting outside. 

The school wasn't entirely empty. Some janitors were still around doing some last minute cleaning, and I was certain that some teachers were still in their offices grading papers.

Séres made a beeline for the library with me on her heels.

"In there?" I asked. She nodded as she held up her phone. 

"The article said most of the activity came from here. Your favourite place." She smiled. We walked through the doors where surprisingly, three students sat spaced out. 

I leaned on a desk and scanned the books. Most of their colours were dull brown and olive shades which contributed to the antique display of the shelves. It chased shallow readers away; those who literally brought the phrase 'judge a book by its cover' to life. 

I watched as Séres walked around.

"Hey," I called after what seemed like an hour. "There's obviously nothing here. Can we leave now?" Séres joined me near the desk, seeming a bit somber. "Maybe next time, something will pop up." I tried to sound concerned with a slight touch of dismay. She gazed at me pensively. 

"You don't mean that," she blatantly stated. I smiled.

"You're right. I don't. Now let's go." I grabbed her hand and headed for the door. 

We had already taken two steps when a change in the atmosphere made the hairs on my skin stand up. I didn't have time to react as a wave of motion swept over us. I wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but the sudden roaring sound in my ears made it impossible to hear anything. Time seemed to slow down as the ground vanished from underneath us. I thought we were falling, when in fact we were floating like gravity didn't exist.

I managed to look up and witnessed as piece by piece, the wooden structure of the library's roof started to break apart and float towards the now purple sky along with some of the books and furniture until all that was left, was a huge opening in the ceiling. 

I still had a firm grip on Séres' hand, but I couldn't control a muscle in my body. It felt like some sort of sleep paralysis. From my line of sight, I could see one of the students in midair, eyes wide with fear. I wasn't sure where the other two were.

And without warning, we were falling. My grip released as we collided with the floor beneath us; pieces of wood and furniture falling around us. 

It was literally raining books. 

I was scrambling towards Séres since we landed in with some distance between us. She was on her stomach, staring wide-eyed at something behind me. I shielded my eyes from the falling debris as I peered at the huge hole in the ceiling and into the evening sky.

"What the hell was that?" I asked breathlessly. Séres was rendered speechless for a minute or two. "What is it?" I asked. I was picking the wood pieces out from my hair. My scalp ached as I tried to untangle the strands.

"S-she... she looks just like you." My brows knitted together in confusion. Soon enough I turned to see for myself, and surely there stood an almost pale figure in comparison with my tan skin with long hair as white as snow, pewter almost where my wheaten strands stood no chance and shrewd amethyst eyes. I blinked.

She seemed to notice our similarity as she took precise steps towards Séres and me. We both immediately backed up. Her eyes swiftly followed our movements, not missing a beat. I knew we were trapped once our backs came into contact with the door which was jammed shut from all the commotion. How convenient. 

We had nowhere to run.

***

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Taja D'amore.