The Catacombs

Chapter 1- A Grand Entrance

 It was another day. Or, at least, I thought. According to my clock, the sun was supposed to rise around this time. But is it really a day if I was the one to make the sun set and stars come out?

16 years, four months, and 13 days. That's how long I had been stuck in this stupid mind-palace, stuck in my own head. 5,975 days. 143,400 hours. 8,604,000 minutes. And I had to be awake for every single one of them. Waiting. Learning. Surviving.

I didn't know if I was dead or not; if this was just some strange purgatory I was sent to, but I had been stuck here since I was critically injured on one of our missions.

Our. The term felt strange as the thought formed in my head. I had been alone for so long that a collective 'we' was an unfamiliar thought. I rose from my bed, not that I could fall asleep in it anyway, and checked the alarm clock next to me. If it was correct, it was 6:14 am.

I walked down the halls of my own design, slowing to see the pictures I had decorated the walls with. 7 familiar faces stared back at me. I used to get too upset by the sight of their faces, but the feeling of grief had lessened over time. Now it was just a dull, nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I continued down the hall and opened the wide, double doors to reveal my favorite room. It was a grand library, made with smooth marble and dark oak. The ornate windows let in light, but there was nothing to see past them. I positioned all the windows on the ceiling for that reason- I didn't want to be reminded that my whole world was just a figment of my imagination, nothing more.

I scanned the boundless shelves to find the book I was looking for. I was feeling a bit lonely today, so I wanted a comfort story. Something fictional. I knew I could just will the book I wanted into being, but I wanted to keep some aspect of real life. It made me feel a little more human again. So, I continued my search.

I found the book I was thinking of, Romeo and Juliet. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the classics. And it's oddly comforting that even though my life had certainly been tragic so far, at least it wasn't double-suicide tragic. I reached for the book, wiping the non-existent dust off the cover. That was just one of the many little things that were off about this place; no matter how long it had been since I touched that book, no dust. No dirt, no grime. None of those little floating particles in the air. I never knew why.

An hour later and I had finished the play, sending it flying back to its place on the shelf with the flick of my wrist. I strode over to the large blackboard positioned at the head of a long table, lined with seats that could never be filled. I found the books and papers strewn across the end of the table as I had left them a couple hours ago, and got back to work.

Focusing my mind onto the small piece of white chalk in front of me, I lifted it to the board, moving my hand accordingly. I scribbled equations and theories down on the board, turning away to flick through one of the thick textbooks lying on the table every now and then.

It was only after a couple hours that I started to realize something was... off. Not the sort of 'off' that everything usually was, but off-off. My brain wasn't as sharp as it usually was, my handwriting on the vast blackboard getting sloppy, my eyes drooping.

Could I be?

No, that's impossible.

But it seems so much like that feeling...

I haven't felt that way in years, I can't be-

Tired?

As the thought formed in my head, I quickly realized I was feeling dizzy. I started seeing spots in my vision, and I felt like my body couldn't hold up its own weight.

And then there was black.

Allison's POV

There were so many things that weren't ideal about this situation. Diego and Luther were fighting, it was dad's funeral, and it was raining- hard. Not to mention all the other things going on in my life that I had to deal with, of course.

Diego and Luther were still throwing punches as we tried to convince them to stop. Five had already turned and left , so it was just Pogo, Mom, Vanya, Klaus, and me.

"Boys, stop this instant!" I heard Pogo yell. I just sighed as they let out their anger and frustration.

I was only mildly distressed by their petty fight, but that was before Ben's statue was knocked over in the scuffle, breaking off his head. Now I was mad.

They really just crossed a line. Disappointed in their childish actions, I turned to walk away, but I heard a faint humming sound. I pivoted on my heel, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from, growing louder and louder by the second.

I looked around, not seeming to be able to find the source of it. That was when the shaking started. I was now able to pinpoint the commotion to a bedroom in the second floor.

"Hey, isn't that Zero's-" I starting saying before getting cut off.

"Great job Diego, we pissed off the ghosts," Luther growled.

Klaus looked behind him, talking to who we assumed to be Ben behind him. "Is that you? No? Weirddd," he hummed.

All of a sudden we heard the sound of glass shattering, making us all jump and cover our ears and faces. The roaring sound was now terribly loud.

"What's happening?!" I yelled over the din.

"Is that... Zero?" I heard Diego ask.

I looked up. There, floating in front of the broken glass window, was little Zero. Her hair was whipping around her face, debris was spinning around her small body, and her eyes were glowing white, but it was her for sure. I stood there, stunned, mouth agape as the wind blew around her, carrying her down to the floor. But before her feet could touch the ground, the wind and the sound ceased as quickly as it started, and she dropped to the floor with a thud.