Rowan was leaning against the bus window, the morning sun hitting the glass directly and warming the right side of his face.
The world outside passed by like a silent movie, but he wasn't paying attention.
With his phone in hand, he stared at the chat stuck at the top of the screen.
It was a girl's number.
He had never talked to her before, but he had checked her profile.
Pretty backgrounds, stylish captions, and tons of likes. She had a bunch of followers , she looked popular.
Ethan had told him: "Trust me, she likes introspective guys." Whatever that meant.
Rowan took a deep breath and started typing, glancing at his reflection in the bus window while thinking about what to say.
Rowan: "Hey... so, my name is Rowan. Sorry if it's kinda weird texting out of nowhere like this, but a mutual friend gave me your number and..."
He stopped. Deleted half the sentence.
'Damn, this sounds like one of those creepy old guy messages.'
Tried again, more direct.
Rowan: "Hey! I'm Rowan, Ethan's friend. He said we might get along. :)"
Thought about it for a second.
'Nope. Way too dry.'
Deleted it again.
Rowan: "Hey! I'm Rowan, the guy who apparently got kidnapped by his own parents and thrown into a mysterious bus heading to a school I've never even heard of. But aside from that, I'm cool. I think."
He read what he wrote and chuckled softly.
'Okay... better. Sounds like me.'
He stared at the screen for a few seconds. Maybe he should add something more. A quick description , she probably didn't even know what he looked like.
Rowan: "I'm 17, messy brown hair, brown eyes, and a face that always looks kinda lost. Like right now. Heading to a new school , thanks to my amazing parents who made that decision without even asking me."
"Crap, why am I describing myself??"
Before he could hit delete, his phone buzzed.
Pling!
Message from Ethan.
Ethan: "Yo Rowan, heard you switched schools! What happened? Expelled, cursed, or did you win a scholarship to a nerd academy? Haha."
Rowan: "No idea, man. My parents just said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Ethan: "Yikes... sounds like a disguised kidnapping. If the driver turns around and says 'Ever heard of Area 51?', jump out the window and run."
Rowan: "If I disappear, delete my search history."
Ethan: "For sure. But I'm screenshotting everything first."
Rowan: "Traitor."
He laughed quietly to himself. Talking to Ethan somehow made everything feel less weird, even in a situation this messed up.
Rowan went back to the chat with the girl. The message he almost deleted was still there.
He read it again, thought for half a second...
"Screw it... sending it like this."
He tapped the send button.
Nothing happened.
The loading icon just spun, and spun...
"Did my internet just die?"
He checked the signal.
Zero bars.
Weird. He was sure he'd topped up the plan earlier that week. He even tried switching airplane mode on and off. Still nothing.
Sigh...
He looked out the window , and what he saw made his stomach drop.
"...What the hell?!"
The bus was now driving down a road in the middle of a creepy forest. Dry trees, twisted branches, like someone had sketched a nightmare.
The sky, which had been bright and clear, was now grayish, with a thin fog blanketing the horizon.
"That bastard... is he trying to sell my organs?"
He stood up slowly and made his way to the driver.
"Excuse me, sir. I think there's been a mistake. I'm supposed to be heading to Meridiana Academy."
The man turned his head calmly, flashing a gentle smile.
"Exactly, young man. That's where we're going."
"Huh? This looks more like the road to Silent Hill's cemetery!"
"Don't worry, we're almost there."
Rowan stood still for a moment, staring at the man. He seemed way too calm... almost too good to be true.
'Damn, he's not even listening to me.'
Rowan went back to his seat, now a bit more tense. He tried checking his phone again. Still nothing.
He looked out the window. Just forest. No houses, no cars. Not even a sign. And now he noticed something he hadn't before — since boarding the bus, he hadn't seen anyone else. No other students. No stops.
'No way... this place probably doesn't even exist on Google Maps.'
He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.
The seat now felt more uncomfortable. The air inside the bus was weird, humid, almost suffocating.
'Alright. If there's a bunch of people in black waiting where this bus stops, I'm jumping out the window and running through the woods without looking back.'
He glanced out one last time. Deep in the forest, between the trees... he thought he saw something move.
Or someone.
"Shit... Maybe the forest isn't such a great idea either..."
So Rowan leaned back against the seat and let out a deep sigh.
"Haaah..."
'Whatever this is... I guess I just have to wait now.'
****
And so time passed.
5 minutes.
10 minutes.
25 minutes.
An hour.
Rowan started sweating cold.
'What kind of school is this far out? This is totally messed up.'
How could anyone take a bus to school and be on the road this long? It made no sense.
"Wait... don't tell me..."
He tried to shake off the thought, but it stuck to his brain like gum on a sneaker.
He stood up, determined to confront the driver.
'That's enough!'
But as soon as he stood...
The bus came to a sudden stop.
THUMP!
"Argh!"
Rowan was thrown forward and smacked his face on one of the seats.
"What the hell..."
"Young man... we have arrived."
Rowan stood up, rubbing his nose.
"Finally."
He took a deep breath and pointed at the driver with an accusatory finger.
"Sir, I have a lot of complaints, and also a few questions!"
"First of all, I think I should be going back home..."
The driver stood up, ignoring everything Rowan said, and started pulling some bags down from above the seats.
"This makes no sense. I'm already super late for the first day!"
Rowan kept complaining.
"And how am I supposed to go back and forth to a school this far away every day? This is insane."
The driver then turned to him with a strange smile.
"Haha... young man."
Rowan stepped back a little.
He could've sworn the man's mouth had way too many teeth... way more than a normal human.
"You misunderstood that part."
"What do you mean by that?"
"These are your bags. Your mother gave them to me ahead of time."
Rowan stared at the bags. They were familiar. The same ones they used for family trips.
"Huh?? What do you mean? Why are my bags here?"
The driver handed him one of the bags and carried the other as he stepped off the bus.
"Well, like you said yourself... it wouldn't make sense to come back every day."
As Rowan stepped off the bus, he froze.
There was absolutely nothing around.
The dirt road was old, full of cracks and potholes. On both sides, twisted, dried-out trees loomed, wrapped in a heavy fog. The mist was thick, carrying a damp and strange smell, like rotting wood and rusted metal.
Silence.
No birds. No wind.
Nothing.
"Ha... driver, wait! THIS IS WRONG! Where's the academy?!"
The driver had already returned to the bus and shut the door.
"Good luck, young man..."
"Good luck, my ass. WAIT!!"
The bus started moving slowly, then sped up.
"HEY, YOU BASTARD!"
Rowan shouted, running a few steps after it. But it was too late.
The bus disappeared into the fog.
"~Shit...!"
He looked back. His two suitcases were on the ground.
And the only sign of civilization was a crooked wooden sign stuck into the dirt, nearly swallowed by the mist.
He cautiously walked up to it.
The letters, half-erased and carved with something sharp, read:
WELCOME TO MERIDIANA ACADEMY
Nothing else.
No building. No gate. Not a single soul.
Rowan swallowed hard.
"...This is gonna be a shitshow."