The creaking of the floorboards, the sounds of chittering animals, the screaming-- but no one's screaming.
I closed my eyes, and I was back to where it started and ended again. I was in that jacket again. My stomach hurt again. "This is another dream, or nightmare for that matter" I said, "There's no way--" I was stopped by the hot air suffocating me. Bright blue flames surrounded my weak body. My lungs hurt, I was on my knees, my ears were ringing. The screaming came back.
"He's having another fit" "In his sleep?" "More common than you think.." Those familiar voices swirled in my head, I woke up in cold sweat, back in my dorm, back in my pyjamas. "Oh hey, you're okay." A girl said, more specifically Agnes said. "Heh, that rhymes" A boy responded, because he's Jack. "Another nightmare?" Jack said, slightly uneasy, "Agh- err-- mm---" I couldn't make up full sentences. The door creaked. "Agnes, hurry! Miss Holly's waiting!" It was Agnes' roommate, Lorelei. Lorelei had big eyes that would always look shocked whatever happened. It would mislead people into thinking something bad happened, and now I think she's using that to her advantage. Agnes followed her out of the room.
"Aren't you going too?" I asked Jack. Jack turned to me, "Err... can we talk?". I wasn't used to this slightly-serious Jack, but anything can happen I guess. "Sure what is it?" "I had a weird dream last night" He said, fidgeting, "I was on a wheelchair, there was a lady with seven eyes, and my uncle's blood was golden" Jack continued. Oh gee, it connects Of course, I decided talking about it would be a bad idea, "That's just a weird dream, nothing more.". Jack sighed, "Alright, let's eat".
Hm? You want an introduction? Fine, but only once. I'm Noel, and I'm your usual troubled 13-year-old boy, except I shouldn't be here. There.
By the time I got there, Agnes' usual messy blonde-bun-ponytail-idontknowwhatis-thing was transformed into a small braid in her big, wavy hair. Meanwhile, Jack's usually neat black hair was now messy with eggs, explains why Agnes is laughing. Come to think of it, they'd look like everybody else in the school if it weren't for two things: Agnes has a streak of violet in her mop of blonde hair (she was daring enough to dye it, despite it being a terrible decision) and Jack had bright purple eyes. Both things of course they hid, with either a hat or contact lenses. Because bad attention is not something you'd want. What confused me the most is the fact Agnes dyed her hair a streak of violet a year ago, and it hasn't been outgrown by the blonde.
"The man is back!" Jack yelled out. How did I become friends with this dude. "Jack is an actual egghead!" Agnes said, still laughing. The cafeteria was loud and active until a teacher slammed her table and screamed, "BE QUIET, KIDS!". Teachers at this school (Sunrise Boarding School for the Troubled) are very intimidating, I could say scary as well, I would avoid them if I could.
Our breakfast was a brown (Yes, it's probably overcooked) sunny-side-up egg with beans (looks weird and taste weird)(Yuck) and our other choice was probably 50-year-old cereal. Extra Yuck. "Ginger!" Jack called out to me. Gingie, Ginger, Carrot was some of the nicknames he would call me (which is odd, considering my hair is more of a blond-ginger-brown hybrid) "Get over here, potato" Agnes invited me (JUST BECAUSE I HAVE FRECKLES SHE CALLS ME A POTATO) "The food today is extra gross" Jack said, tugging his egg. "Isn't it always gross?" Agnes pointed out, Jack and I just groaned.
"Well, if it's so bad..." Agnes grinned, and opened her pocket enough for us to see inside. There were... candy. Jellybeans, BIG jellybeans, lollies, so many. "No way!" "You're crazy" "Finally!" "Guys--" Then Agnes interrupted me, "Let's get Koko back for throwing that egg at you!" How come he hasn't washed it? Anyways, Jack's smile widened. "Guys--" Whoops, too late. Jack got enthusiastic and threw some large jellybeans to the back of Koko's head. Yikes. Koko turned around and yelled "NOEL THREW BEANS AT ME!!" ... I was dumbfounded, this kid-- "NOEL, DETENTION!" Detention for throwing beans? I thought, And it wasn't even me! Jack and Agnes stepped in though, "Err... Miss... I threw the jellybeans, and Koko threw an egg at me first!" Jack said. "and it was my idea..." Agnes also said. The teacher (Miss Holly) reluctantly said, "Jack, Agnes, and Koko, detention for you too". Koko groaned.
"So Noel is free?"
"No."
I swear she hates my guts. "He encouraged you to do so, now you four go to the teacher's lounge"
Long story short, we had to clean the bathrooms, and once we were done, we'd have to go back to the teacher's lounge to do god-knows-what. "This sucks." Jack groaned, "Thanks a lot, Koko". "How is it my fault?!" "YOU threw that egg at ME!" "Oh yeah that was pretty funny". Agnes yelled from the girl's bathroom, "CLEAN YOUR CRAP!" (The walls are thin). This basically went on for forever. Jack and Koko bickering, Agnes cursing bathroom users, and me, just there.
Eventually, it was time to go back to the teacher's lounge. "Koko, you may leave now" Miss Holly said. Blatant favoritism. "Now you three rewrite this, twice" She gave us a notebook with.. notes, lots of them. Once Miss Holly left, we cursed collectively. "How come Koko gets a free pass?!" "I hate this" "UGHH" "These notes are useless!" "I--" AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! . . . . My ears rang. "Noel, you okay?" Agnes reached out. "Yeah... what was that scream?" I said. Jack looked at me confused, "What scream?". I realised it might just be me, again. "Nevermind". I tried writing the notes but most of the time it all ended up as doodles of.. my memories, my nightmares. Once I get out of here I thought, I'm punch LM. After hours of torture, we were finished and so was class. "Not sure to be sad or glad we skipped class" Jack said, "Meh, classes here suck anyways" Agnes added. We continued walking in the hallway until something caught my eye.
The janitor's closet.
Something eerie about it. I approached the door to it. "What are you up to--" "I'll help you with that." Agnes pulled out a hairclip we could use to open locks. i wasn't sure if going inside was a good choice, but... I unlocked the janitor's closet, and pushed the door open. Click.
Blood,
Koko,
and his ruined gut.
YOU ARE READING
Flame of the Universe
Mystery / Thriller(COVER/TITLE MAY OR MAY NOT CHANGE) The universe sucks but what if something was bigger than it? and what if you had to go across said bigger thing to save YOUR universe? and what if even so, you won't get noticed for your hard work? Noel is 13 and...
