A Brand New Beginning

Blood of Oxford, Part 1 -- The Calling

It was late at night. Andrew walked into his dormitory and waved the twins good night. Dean and Drake slipped into their beds as Andrew turned off the light, then got into bed. As he slowly started falling asleep, a voice like that of a siren sounded in his ear. His green eyes flung open as he stared around the room. "Dean! Drake!" he whispered. The twins woke up, groaning confused. "What's wrong, boss?" asked Drake. "You okay?" added Dean. "Didn't you two hear that?" Andrew replied. "Hear what, chief?" the twins asked. Andrew gasped when he heard the voice again. "T-That! It was like someone singing!" he shouted, "I just heard it!"

--"Maybe it was a dream," Drake said. "I swear it was not," Andrew replied, watching how the twins returned to their sleep. Perhaps they were right, it was all in his head. Andrew laid back, his brown locks resting on the pillow. As he started regaining sleep, Andrew heard the mysterious voice again. He decided to ignore it, pressing his pillow against his ears for the rest of the night. By the following morning, Andrew woke up feeling fatigued. Thick bags hung from his eyes as his eyelids struggled to stay open. "Morning, boss!" the twins waved. "Good morning, gentlemen," Andrew answered before letting out a deep yawn. "Did you even sleep last night, boss?" Dean asked. "Yeah, you look like you stayed up all night," added Drake. "I am fine, I just had a rough night," Andrew replied, "let's head to class." When he reached for the doorknob, he tried to open the door outwards instead of inwards. "What the hell? Why is it not opening?!" Andrew groaned angrily. "Um, chief? I think it opens inwards," Drake suggested. "Thank you," Andrew said as he walked to class. He suddenly came to his senses when he heard the mysterious voice, frantically looking around to identify where it came from. "Did you hear that?" he asked. The twins exchanged concerned looks with each other. Andrew shook his head, trying to wake up. The rest of the day, Andrew's concentration during classes became more and more clogged as the disembodied voice kept on ringing in his ear. Now and then, it will startle him when he least expected it, especially when he felt his eyes shutting due to his fatigue. "Hey, babe, are you okay?" Daisy asked during lunch. Andrew laid his head on his arms as he tried to fall asleep. "Andrew? Is everything alright?" Daisy asked again, slightly ruffling his hair. "He has been acting weird lately," Drake replied. "Yeah," added Dean, "Andy woke up at random times because he claims to hear a voice calling him!"

--"What? That's dumb!" Daisy scoffed. Andrew then lifted his head rapidly when he heard the voice again. "Welcome back to Earth, Andy!" Daisy said. "I heard the voice again!" Andrew shouted, "It keeps calling me! And how come only I can hear it?"

--"How do you want us to know?" Daisy scolded. "This is driving me insane," Andrew sighed. The rest of the day went on slowly. For Andrew and his lack of sleep, every second lasted an eternity. During most of his classes, he would feel his eyes closing. Words would not stick to his brain when he was reading, and his cursive writing turned into gibberish as he felt his hand give up. The disembodied voice would sing in his ear now and then, each time becoming more frequent. After classes ended, Andrew headed to the cafeteria and prepared himself some tea. As he poured hot tea into his cup, he fell asleep. "Andy? Andy! Wake up!" Daisy shook him violently. Andrew gasped in pain as he felt the hot tea fall into his hand. "You're worrying us," Akko cried, "you should go see your mom!"

Andrew gasped again when the voice rang in his ears again. "I probably should," he sighed, "this has been bothering me quite a lot." he then put the kettle down and headed towards Professor Oxford's office. As he walked, he overheard Lydia talking to Candice and Adelina. "I'm tellin' ya, mate!" she said, "I've been hearin' this weird voice! It's been drivin' me nuts!"

--"Voice?" Andrew gasped, making Lydia's blue eyes fall on him, "I apologize for eavesdropping, but I have been hearing a strange voice too. Could we be hearing the same thing?"

--"Does it sound like this?" Lydia then imitated the voice she had been hearing. "Yes! It sounds exactly like that!" Andrew exclaimed. "Mate! I'm so glad I'm not the only one!" Lydia sighed in relief. "I am going to go tell my mother about it," Andrew said, "would you like to come with me?"