On The Other Side

Chapter 1: A Sudden Knock At The Door

Year: 666

The sky seemed as grey as the buildings; stiff as metal could be. Students wearing suits and hats were attending the "Future" class. But not all eyes were as dead as Mr. Harred's, "7 A" while turning the next page he asked Oistin "Briefly state a reason which hinders the route to a bright future"

"Sir,' he stood up "I've been thinking about this for a long time now," as he continued Mr. Harred kept his book on the table and bent forward but no one else dared to look at the seat '7 A'. "What is future if we do not know what happened before"

"I'm afraid, it's neither brief nor scientific, you can't change the past, so there's no point in wasting our time and energy on past, instead we should..." Mr. Harred sounded mechanical.

"But sir, if we don't learn from our past how can we build a new future?"

"Cyril," he barked "Don't you dare to cut me in the mid-sentence, and if you continue to argue on this matter I'll be bound to rusticate you."

Oistin sat down.

* * * * *

The gate opened even before Oistin could knock. His mother, Rebecca, had a traumatized face "What took you so long?"

"Nothing, I just dropped by the library"

"Come on in, everyone is waiting for you" Rebecca closed the door as he went into the drawing room. Ella; Eleanor, his sister and his father were sitting at the table. From Ella's face, it was crystal clear that she was trapped and had to sit there for long; on the other hand, his father had a firm gaze.

"What is it?" Oistin asked his mother took a seat beside him.

"Well, we would have discovered that by now, if you weren't late, dear brother."

"Oh you two, shut up. Father wants to say something." She looked at her husband.

Bartley cleared his throat and placed two application forms. "I had already filled up this forms, the only things left are your signs"

It was quite unusual for Bartley to stay at home that hour, Oistin thought before looking at the sheet of paper. He had drooping eyes, there wasn't any excitement in them. He tried to read the situation, but both the parents had dead expressions on their faces.

By then, Ella had already read her piece of paper "What? I don't understand" she was puzzled.

Oistin checked his one and had the same reaction "Why are you guys sending us to the army?" He demanded without raising his voice. Calm and composed as he always were.

"We have our reasons, honey" Rebecca had tears in her eyes yet she pretended to be strong "It's for your safety, you two are leaving tonight"

"But why...?" Ella asked.

"There's no time to answer, we already made a mistake." Bartley sighed and went to his study. The siblings were clueless and the mother cried.

***

There was a sudden knock on the door. It repeated, each time it was getting louder. Rebecca uplifted her head, horrified, her tears had stopped, Bartley rushed out from his study and hidden the wrapped package in the drawers. While the elders gulped the siblings had no idea what was going on.

Bartley went to open the door, and Rebecca followed him with a knife in her hand. "What's the need for that, mum?" Ella asked. Oistin's eyes widened as he noticed the tattoo on his mother's neck; it glowed.

"Has it always been there, Ella?" Oistin pointed it out. Bartley had already reached the doorknob, he twisted it to open. As the door opened, a man without a hat, with long brown hair, huffing heavily, almost fell over their father. After having his sight, the parents expressed a sigh of relief, but it didn't even last for few seconds. The man uttered "Poarta has opened."