The Nocturnal Vol 1 : The Awakening

Chapter 1

- Remi -

Seated at the back of the classroom, I stared at the cheap plastic clock hanging above the board. Many of the numbers in this silver circle had come off and were only holding on by one end. The hands, stubbornly fixed at 12:12 p.m., were only giving the right time twice a day. Solely the second hand continued its rounds, tirelessly. The black slate of the board, damaged by years of use, revealed here and there like-scars, scratches made by the students. The apricot paints on the walls and ceiling were faded and chipped from all sides. School furniture creaked at the slightest touch and there was a smell of old and dust in the classroom, and even in the high school in general.

I heard the nasty and unpleasant voice of the teacher fidgeting in front of the board, my feverish hand tirelessly writing all the mathematical symbols, while my brain gave up the ghost, unable to decode the slightest information. With my head comfortably in the palm of my hand, I was nowhere near the scientific formulas and the numbers. I let myself be rocked by the jerky sound of the second hand, sinking ever deeper into my chair, my limbs inert and heavy, my movements slower and my eyelids barely open. I had neither the strength nor the desire to fight... I sank in successive stages... I was falling asleep... My mind then began to fill up with images, each one as furtive as the next, until a scenery appeared.

Lost in the middle of the ocean, on an islet of land one metre in diameter, I sit down to listen to the lapping of the waves. Suddenly, the sea starts to bubble, and then gushing out of it a large steel fountain with contemporary shapes, from which enormous bubbles with bright and coloured reflections, emerges. Suddenly I hear a very unpleasant sound that gets louder and hurts my ears. The image in front of my eyes begins to blur and merge with the image of the classroom.

The ringing of the bell had pulled me out of my dream. I jumped into my chair, reminded myself of reality. The first two hours of mathematics were finally over.

- 'Remi, are you coming?' asked the sweet voice from the corner of the door.

Vaness, a brilliant student, was waiting for me with a smile on her face. Rather discrete in nature, her knowledge seemed to have no limits. This beautiful hazel-eyed blonde was interested in everything and had always her head in a book: poetry, history, science, everything she could find. A real encyclopaedia. Often mocked by others who called her "Universalis", I admired her in secret. She wore a royal blue school uniform every day, akin to those of students in a prestigious private school. She was the only one to dress like that at a time when teenagers tended to want to assert their identity. As far as I was concerned, I had little interest in my image. I was quite far from fashion concepts, clothes fulfilling above all a single and unique function: covering my body.

- 'Have Eva and Erwan already gone out?' I asked, trying to stretch discreetly.

- 'Are you kidding? They were the first ones out there,' she laughed, with a book in her hand. 'You know them, always in the starting blocks when it comes to escaping on a break. That may be the only common point we can give them.'

I sometimes wondered if Vaness was collecting all this knowledge for pleasure, for fear of not knowing, or for something else. Eva was quite different from her both in her lioness character, although quite often "poorly licked bear", and in her more pronounced boyish wardrobe style. Jeans, sneakers, little V-neck top. Don't talk to her about dresses, blouses or high heels. This hot-headed Corsican brunette had dark eyes and mastered the art of not letting her feelings known. We actually shared this trait of character. I was more likely to bury and hide things, both from others and from myself.

My friend Erwan was a big-hearted whinger. He is famous for his nonsense and incessant criticism. When he sometimes entertained the audience, it's always at his expense. A sweet modern-day Casanova who took great care of himself. An expression that suited him perfectly considering his Italian heritage. Impeccable blonde hairstyle, appropriate perfume and always all dolled up. His grey-green gaze was his greatest asset of seduction. My dark brown eyes were obviously no match for them.