"Psst! Whore's boy, catch this!" A rough voice whispered loudly, chucking a crumpled can.
From behind, a long, thin hand whipped above the chair at its front, directly slapping a seated boy.
Alric rubbed his head in pain, remaining quiet as he endured his classmates' provocations. His face was mostly stoic, despite the constant noise and desperate lashes.
He was seated near the back of the room, yet that didn't stop everyone from witnessing the apparent abuse. Most looked towards their teacher with utter disregard, not at all minding the disturbance at the back. Some shifted in their seats every now and then, glancing back in discomfort.
But regardless, whether pitying or indifferent, no one interfered.
Ring...Ring...Ring
With the bell's call, a tide of noise erupted. Conversations broke out, bags were swiftly packed, and chairs scraped against the old flooring. It was the final period of the day, and a much-awaited weekend was ahead.
Alric grabbed his small ruptured bag and flung it over his shoulders. Getting up, he was blocked at the exit of the classroom.
"And where do you think you're going?" A round teen smirked as he used his body as a barricade. At his sides, two more students remained—each carrying shared expressions of anticipation.
They were met with a cold gaze, void of interest. Seeing such a sight did nothing but fan the flames within them.
"Hold him down," the tallest of them spoke, his bulky frame casting a shadow on the struggling boy.
The fat one remained as both the doorway and a scout, whilst his friends grouped up against the malnourished teen on the ground.
PAH!
Alric's vision blurred. Pain throbbed behind his eyes, each punch leaving a new ringing in his skull. He could taste iron in his mouth, and his cheek felt a warm liquid heating up the once cold floor.
The sounds faded away, and gradually things turned dark. He could make out one or two faint whispers every now and then, but that was it.
"Crap! Let's dip!"
Was that the door he heard open? Did they leave? Alric couldn't bring himself to look.
His thoughts turned deluded, as though descending into a fever dream. His eyes were no longer felt, but if they were, he was sure they would be heavy.
Drowsiness and fatigue overtook him, and before long, he was fully unconscious.
***
Time passed, and the next week was here.
Alric stared at the tall gates in front of him. He almost frowned, but a wince replaced it. His face was bruised, and his body was broken in one or two spots.
He'd gone to a clinic he could afford, spending most of his weekend there. Not that a normal weekend would have been any better.
His home, a small apartment shared with two more people, was worse than even the school. He had no siblings, he didn't know his father, and his mother gave him up to continue being a prostitute.
This weekend was considered a colorful change.
"How's George doing? I heard he's going to school today!" Voices overlapped, each with a common topic.
George Nova, son of Fredrick Nova—mayor of the city. He got into a minor car accident a few days ago, so he took a weeklong break.
Alric saw him when it happened, dragged by the rich kid's group—the same people who regularly beat him. George suffered nothing more than a few bruises and some scrapes; that was it.
It was actually another student that suffered the most. He was hit by their car and is still in the hospital to this day, unlike George, who never even saw a doctor in the first place.
This world was cursed, almost comedically so, but he was used to it by now.
With a scoff, Alric continued forward.
These people would never know struggle. They would never understand the hardships that came with being entirely dependent on an uncaring government, having no guardian to provide for them. Being nothing more than an insignificant speck amongst billions.
Ring...Ring...Ring
The morning bells resounded, marking the start of the school day. Seated at the back of his classroom again, Alric focused on the period's topic.
"Now, using the formula, you will derive…"
The lesson passed on without any inconvenience. With the bell's call, Alric lifted his bag and walked out.
Strolling through the chlorine-stenched hallways, he couldn't help but admire a beautiful cloud formation beyond the school windows. He sometimes wondered what life would be like if he were born in a different place or form. Would things be easier? Would his life be more enjoyable?
It was these moments that fueled his will, keeping him consistently patient.
"Hm?" Alric paused his steps, noticing an oddity amongst the clouds. He wasn't sure if it was the glass or if he was hallucinating a small crack in the sky.
Approaching the wide window, he felt a wave of goosebumps wash over him. His heart increased its pace, and his hair strands rose firmly.
The crack…it was expanding.
Before long, even the sky directly above had faint rifts, each expanding in size and accelerating in speed—as though quartz snakes slithering across a vast blue fabric.
Gasps and screams echoed in the hallways, the school descending into immediate madness.
"God!"
"Help! No, please NO!! W-We're going to die!"
"I-I'm seeing cracks in the sky…No! I d-didn't take any goddamned drug!..Yes, Nova High—quick!!"
There were many that took out their phones, filming the scene and posting it online. Some collapsed on their knees, raising their hands in prayer. And some, like Alric, stood still—an instinctual fear gripping them by their very necks.
By now, more than a thousand thin lines decorated the atmosphere, forming an intricate cobweb pattern.
Seconds passed, and the cobweb grew more and more interconnected. The clouds were dispersed, and the sun vanished behind the fissures.
At once, enough for a blinking eye to miss, it shattered.
Darkness descended below, the sky reduced to nothing. The school campus was entirely surrounded by it, like an obsidian bubble.
No moon graced the sky, nor stars of any size. Emptiness, a terrible nothingness that encompassed the school grounds and everything within, was all that was.
Alric didn't move. His eyes remained glued on the surreal sight, refusing to rest for even a single moment.
CRACK!
Golden ruptures spread throughout the darkness, mirroring the effect seen before. In the abyssal emptiness, the golden radiance brought comfort and deep contemplation to the bugs below—plunging them in awe of its grandiosity.
With a final crack, it shattered.
Fragments of darkness rained down like gentle snowflakes, dissolving into nothing. Above, a sky returned tall and proud, familiar yet foreign in some strange way.
The panic turned silent, and nothing but faint winds and distant calls echoed in the open air.
Beyond the campus, extending for as far as the eye could see…there was no longer a city, streets, and tall buildings. Everything had changed.
Not only that, but even the very building Alric was in, with all its long halls, thick walls, and artificial odors, was now gone. He, along with everyone else, was alone in a vast field—not a single remnant of the school campus remained
Pine trees as thick as a bus pierced the skies, casting long shadows on the soil below. Blades of grass moved gently in the winds, unfamiliar insects taking them as their roofs.
Far, far ahead, beyond the vast forest, colossal mountains stood. They were chained together, encompassing the area with a grip stronger than that of the shattered bubble.
Everything about this place, from the distant bird calls to the giant trees—all of it…was off. Besides the fact that the school was certainly not situated in such a landscape, the environment was strangely Earth-like, yet somehow alien in an eerie way.
Alric could not recall ever viewing such trees, nor recall mountains being as large as the ones on the horizon.
Before anyone could adjust to this bizarreness, another change occurred.
Everyone, whether old or young, shocked or unperturbed, student or teacher, heard a sudden sound. It was like a bell echoing in their minds, marking the start of a grand event.
Ding!
A holographic screen manifested in Alric's sight.