February 29

Chapter 1

It came on February 29, 2020, during school at 1300 hours. A Friday. If that little indicator of 'Friday' and '13' doesn't set the alarms ringing in your mind, I don't know what will. It was one o' clock in the afternoon, meaning that me, my friend Dean and every other student at Suncove High School still had another hour and a half before the school had mercy on us and let us go. Friday. The last day.

We were sitting blandly in class, staring at the board with parched and glassy eyes. Mrs. Hock droned on and on about the ways a polynomial could help you find the missing side of a triangle, but Dean and I were zoning her out. My gaze was searching up and down the projector. Messy wires seemed to squirm on the floor like worms, connecting to Mrs. Hock's computer. What an old model it was, from the older times. Our school had yet to raise the money to buy the newer ones, the ones that didn't need any wires.

12:56.

Dean nudges me and grins, pointing at Jessica as she bent over to pick up a pencil she'd dropped. I smile back and shake my head at his dirty-mindedness. He writes the word 'nice' on his worksheet and pushes it towards me so I can read.

12:57.

I look at the clock and notice Beatrice Luckett staring at me with google-eyes. I look at her and flash a friendly smile, sending her out of her trance. She turns a bright pink and averts her gaze to the board once again, the edges of her fingers squeezing the desk so I hard that I wonder how she didn't break it.

12:58.

Mrs. Hock's stout form spins. She places her hands on her hips and scowls at Mark Hardly, her lips pursed. I smirk. Mark casts a nervous glance at her, then slowly stands up to solve the mind-boggling equation on the board. He stares at it for a while, shrugs, and begins to write slowly.

12:59.

I stand up to solve the next question, already processing it in my mind. By the time my hand reaches the chalk, I have the answer right there in my head. I follow the steps and solve it in less than fifteen seconds, much to Mrs. Hock's liking. She explains to the class that this is the way that the problem should be solved, and congratulates me. Mark throws a glower my way.

The clock struck one.

I didn't even make it to my seat before there was bright burst of light from the window. I only managed one glimpse, and I saw that it was behind the big water tank. After that, I shied away, scrunching my eyes shut, but the light was so bright that it penetrated that thin layer of skin. I fell to the ground and curled into a ball, burying my head in my arms to abolish the harsh light. I felt two more shapes fall down next to me, girls by the feel of their hair brushing my shoulders. Mrs. Hock groaned, and someone screamed "What the hell?" in the back.

It wasn't long before the light was gone, not a trace of it left. No one was brave enough to open his or her eyes and report whether or not the light was gone. I let my eyes open to one slit, and seeing that it truly was gone, opened the other.

"It's okay," I said out loud, my voice traveling throughout the class. "It's gone." One by one, everyone opened his or her eyes, slowly at first. I looked around me.

Darkness. That's the only word I can give you, the only word I can use to describe the scene. The lights on the ceiling were out. The projector was still on, but dimmer, inferior. I looked up, and noticed the bulbs were all broken, busted. There was even a small coating of glass on one desk. But that didn't explain why it was so dark outside. My eyes slid to the large rectangular window, the one that always gave me the prettiest views in the morning. My mouth fell open. I heard Samantha gasp in the back, then scream.

It looked like a solar eclipse. The sun seemed to be hiding, recoiling behind this giant black figure. It was circular, but not like the moon. It was not that friendly. The black figure moved across the sun, blotting the light it gave. The sun weakly gave its last golden rays before it was swallowed by the thing. It reminded strangely of an eye.

I expected it to slowly pass, to fade away along with the day. But somewhere, deep inside me, I knew that this thing was much too unusual to just pass without leaving us a nasty present. I bit my lip nervously, wondering what the hell it was doing there, what business it had there. My body erupted in gooseflesh as a cold breeze, one that was even more frigid than the winter air, came in through the window. It seemed like the temperature was just sucked out of the place. What was going on? Rubbing my arms to conserve warmth, I turned to the scared faces of everyone. I shrugged helplessly.

Suddenly, a sound, a sound so loud, resonated in each of our ears. It sounded like a smack, but was equipped with so much strength and sound energy that we had to cringe again, back to the floor. Our hands were pressed closely to our ears, our eyes shut so tight. As if that would help at all. I opened my eyes and saw a desk that seemed to get a life of its own. It literally levitated, and threw itself against the wall. Two more desks followed, jumping high over our heads and hitting the opposite wall. Then three more. There were more screams as desks hit the wall, the windows shattered from the force, and bricks from the outside of the building flew inward.

The noise continued, that constant smacking noise. Shockwaves of power devastated our classroom. I saw the projector fly and crash into the wall in a mesh of sparks. For a moment I was scared that it would catch fire. A brick flew in through the window and smashed someone in the head. He fell in a heap of himself. Soon, there seemed to be a whole army, a storm of bricks and plaster, concrete flying in through the window, hitting everyone in sight. Blood spilled messily onto the carpeted ground. People screamed and fell silent quickly afterwards. I even saw Mrs. Hock get hit, a brick striking her right under between the eyes. She was on the ground immediately.

"Get down!" I screamed to anyone remaining. People shrank down and pushed their heads into their arms, shielding themselves. Only a couple of us left. Everyone was either already unconscious from the flying objects or...or something else. I army crawled to Dean, who had been on the ground the whole time. I tapped his shoulder frantically. "What's going on?" I screamed through the noise, which had only toned down in the slightest.

"I have no idea!" he shouted. He poked his head out for just a moment, before another object went hurtling at him. "This place is going to fall apart!"

"I know!" I screamed at him.

Movement caught the corner of my eye. I glanced back, only to see Jessica standing up, walking over to Mrs. Hock. She seemed to be shocked beyond repair.

"Jessica!" I hissed. "Get down! It's dangerous!"

"She's dead," I managed to hear her murmur.

"These things could probably kill you!" I said frantically. I didn't know Jessica that well, but I sure as hell didn't want to see her get hit.

"She's dead," she repeated. She turned towards me, tears staining her eyes. Mascara ran down her face, along with the blush she must have applied that morning. "SHE'S DEAD!" she screamed. Her cry converged with the loud smacking noise, making it even more unbearable.

Without thinking, I rushed over to her, disregarding the flying bricks, desks, everything that could hit her. I almost reached her. I could feel my arm around her waist. But not before another thing, maybe a brick, hit me in the back of my head.

For the slightest in instant of time, the world swam. I couldn't see much through the undulating ripples of reality. I could barely hear Dean calling my name. I barely even felt myself fall onto the ground, or the blood running between my hair. Then everything swirled into a funnel of time, leaving nothing but black.