The Realm Of The Abyss

Chapter 1: The Principal's Announcement

Quinn’s POV.

I walked slowly down the main highway of the campus in the early morning. The air was cool, gently stroking my face and my hair, letting me relax wholeheartedly.

“Quinn!”

I looked around, trying to figure out where the familiar voice had come from. I saw Pracy, my best friend, waving her hands in the air and standing by the school’s gate, waiting for me. My mouth curled into a smile. I approached her and greeted her with a warm hug.

“Where have you been?” Pracy asked as soon as we separated from the hug.

“Am I late? I didn’t notice I’d left my bag, so I went back to the house and got it,” I explained as I lifted my bag to show her.

“Our professor has been looking for you since earlier. All of the students are gathered in the stadium,” she added, causing my brow to arch.

“Why? They should’ve informed us beforehand.”

“I don’t know. Perhaps Ms. Principal has an important announcement?” She shrugged, uncertain. “Let’s go to find out!” 

She grabbed my arm and we shouldered our way to the stadium of Mystica Elementa High.

As expected, there were a bunch of students everywhere and it was only half of the population of the learners in our campus. I didn’t know where the others were, but I’m sure they were doing their business since everyone was busy, including the teachers. It was a good thing we spotted the seats of our classmates right away.

“Oh, Quinn! We’ve been looking for you the whole time! Where did you go?” one of my classmates, Alora, asked when she noticed us coming.

“She left her bag at their house,” Pracy replied on my behalf.

“So, you went back home to get it? Why did you bother at all? You shouldn’t take back what you once left,” Joco, our class’ dramatic and goofy jokester, nagged at me,

I winced and ignored him. I focused my full attention in front, guessing the matter to be discussed. It didn’t take long for the principal to come and stand at the center stage.

“Good morning, students.”

All of the students greeted her back, except for Pracy and me. I glanced at Alora, who was on my left side, when she elbowed us and pointed in the direction of our professor. She eyed the three of us sharply, delivering her warning. We immediately complied and straightened up before facing the front again.

“If you’re wondering why I summoned you here, I have an important announcement to discuss with you,” Ms. Principal started her speech. “Today is the 10th death anniversary of Ms. Varri Carter. To those who are unfamiliar with her, she’s a former student of Mystica Elementa High.”

“We will be having a celebration party tonight, here at the school’s grounds. The party will start at nine o’clock in the evening until twelve at midnight. That’s all to announce. You can go back to your classes now. See you all later.” Then, she left straight away after her short notice.

While wrapping up and preparing to go, I overheard the complaints of the students behind me.

“What?! That’s it? Why is the announcement so short? I didn’t even understand a single thing!” one of them complained.

“I thought we’re going to stay here a bit longer. I got excited for nothing. I don’t want to enter our first class!”

“Why? What’s your first subject?”

“Mathematics,” another student responded. “It’s a never-ending problem solving! Darn! Why are they always asking us to find the value of x? Can’t they move on?!”

“No way! Why would I solve mathematics? I can’t even solve problems on my own!”

I secretly chuckled after hearing their rants. I glanced at my classmates who were also whining because our History class is too boring. Our professor is so lady-like and gentle everytime she discusses in our class, making each of us always sleepy and lazy.

“Come on, guys! Let’s ditch our first class,” Kori, one of my classmates who loves cutting and the bad influence, said.

“Shut up, Kori. We have to fill up the attendance.” Rika, our class president, restrained him.

He slammed his face because he knew he couldn’t do anything but join and stay for the entire class. We laughed at him because of how hilarious he is.

When we headed back inside the classroom, the boys in our section gathered together and created a plan to skip the class. Well, of course, Kori is the mastermind because our professor at the moment is absent and he’s dying to go home to play computer games.

“Are you coming to the party later?” Pracy asked me as soon as I sat in my chair.

“I haven’t decided yet. How about you?”

“I’ll be at the party because for sure, I’ll only be bored at the house,” she answered. “I have nothing to do there but to sleep, take a bath, and eat the whole day. Then, repeat. It’s my everyday routine and it’s a bit sickening.”

I nodded and beamed in response. While she was browsing through her phone, I began writing in the back of my notebook. Later on, I stopped and looked at her again when a thought occurred to me. 

“Pracy…”

She raised an eyebrow, waiting for the next words I’d say. I took a deep breath and brought up the principal’s announcement to our conversation.

“Aren’t you feeling strange?” I asked out of nowhere. 

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What do you mean? Why would I feel strange?”

“Remember the announcement of our principal earlier?” I started and leaned closer to her, making sure that no one would hear our conversation. “Didn’t she say today marks the tenth anniversary of the death of a former student from our school ten years ago?”

“Yes, why? What’s wrong?”

“The matter is, I don’t understand why we need a celebration party. What’s the point of celebrating? Isn’t it an insult to the late student that we seem to be mocking her death? What do you say?”

“Oh, come on, Quinn!” Pracy laughed and hit me. “Perhaps it’s a party to commemorate the achievements and good deeds done by Ms. Carter for our school.”

“For us to remember and commemorate? We don’t even know who she is. I know nothing about her. What did she do to make the students at our school remember her existence? If she has done much, why can’t we find a single recognition? One more thing, why do we have to celebrate? We can light up a candle and honor her instead. Throwing a party is disrespectful. Don’t you think so?”

“You have a point. I also haven’t seen her photos even once. I’m clueless about her identity.”

I leaned back in my chair and drew my arms over my chest. “Exactly.”

She guffawed once more. “You’re acting funny, Quinn! Don’t give another meaning nor take the principal’s announcement in a negative way. You’re way too skeptical!”

“I feel like something is wrong. I feel like they are hiding something from us.”

“Such as what?”

“It’s hard to explain…”

“See? You can’t explain it either,” she countered, shaking her head in disbelief. “Seriously, stop overreacting. It’s nothing. Why don’t you take a nap? You didn’t get enough sleep every time, that’s why you’re imagining things way too far.”

I gasped for air when she returned to her phone and turned her back on me. She didn’t believe me. I had a strong suspicion there was something strange, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. 

I stretched my arms in the air, and before I knew it, I was yawning. Pracy could be correct. Perhaps I was just lacking in sleep to the extent of my imagination.