As the bus came to a stop, all the students stood up and started descending from it. Both Allan and Matthias stood up too and started following the rest of the students.
Eastgate High was enormous.
It consisted of multiple buildings that seemed to surround the main one. The buildings were constructed from dark grey concrete, reinforced steel, and smoked glass. It gave the impression of a severe institution without making it feel like an actual military installation.
The main building rose three stories above ground, its broad, rectangular structure broken by enormous windows and recessed concrete sections. Overall, the architecture followed a deliberate sense of order and symmetry.
As Allan and Matthias descended the bus, they couldn't help but notice the amount of security that day. It was normal to see soldiers patrolling the area, but today, it seemed that security had been doubled. Which was honestly reasonable, as the fourth-year students were about to go through the world's tribulation.
It was at this time that the veil weakened a bit, allowing creatures and veiled ones to invade. Allan couldn't help but think back on his second year, when the veil opened two blocks down the street from the school. It was chaos, as the number of people who lost their lives reached the hundreds. It was ultimately contained, and the amount of damage could be considered minimal in the grand scheme of things.
Reality was different, though, as all those who died that day had families waiting for them. Unfortunately, the cruelty of this world took them away from their loved ones.
As the duo moved through the campus, a familiar voice called their names. The voice belonged to one of their closest friends, not as close as Allan and Matthias were obviously, but still close enough to be called a friend.
"Yo! Allan, Matt!" The loud voice yelled from the other end of the hallway they were in.
"Yo! Jonah! What's good, man?" Matthias replied.
"Nothing much, I was just dealing with some irl stuff," Jonah answered.
Allan let out an inward sigh as he shook his head. He still couldn't figure out why his friends were always this loud.
They were still a few meters away from where Jonah was standing, so to Allan's dismay, the conversation happened as they moved closer. They were yelling at each other across the huge hallway as if it was the most normal thing to do.
They continued their conversation until Allan and Matthias reached him.
'Sigh, I'm telling you, extroverts are crazy,' Allan said to no one in his head.
The figure scoffed as he heard him. 'Maybe try getting out of your shell once in a while?'
Allan clearly heard him, but decided to just ignore it. He could feel the strange gazes directed at them from the nearby students and wasn't really in the mood to answer the figure.
They soon reached Jonah's location, and Jonah dapped up both of them.
"What's up, man? you look a little down," Matthias asked.
Allan simply raised an eyebrow at him from the side.
'Really, he looks down? He was just having a conversation across the hallway with you!' Allan thought, as he couldn't figure out how Matthias had reached that conclusion.
"Yeah…you know, just a few arguments with my old man and my mother," Jonah replied. "They feel like I'm just wasting my time studying here; both of them want me to get a profession and just live peacefully off it, instead of risking my life as an awakened," he continued.
"Oh, yeah, I get that…I had a conversation with both my parents about it a few months ago; we still have a year before we attempt the world's tribulation, so they asked me if this is what I really wanted to do." Matthias replied.
"They both feel that it's pointless, as not even the guardians have been able to contain the fissures that keep appearing across the world," Jonah said with a small sad smile as he looked down at his shoes.
"I mean, I get all that, but at the same time it feels like we're against the clock, you know?" Jonah continued. "How long would I be able to live "peacefully" nowadays? Even places as secure as this one can fall victim to these fissures."
A few seconds of silence passed, as neither one of them could answer that.
It was Matthias who broke that silence. "Look, I know how you feel, man, I do, but you have to see it from their perspective as well; you're their child, and all they want for you is to live a long, peaceful life."
Allan stayed silent through all of it, as he couldn't really find the right moment to jump into the conversation. He was a little socially awkward, since Matthias had been his only friend until recently.
The bell suddenly rang, snapping the trio out of their thoughts.
They soon started heading to their respective classes of the day. Allan and Matthias had history class while Jonah had P.E. as the first class for the day.
As Allan and Matthias walked through the hallways, after bidding Jonah goodbye and promising to see each other later, Allan noticed something weird. The lights in the hallway they were on started flickering, and the building suddenly got colder than usual. He also had a weird feeling, like someone…or something was watching him.
It was clear that Allan was the only one who could see the flickering, as no other student seemed to have noticed. Not even Matthias.
As they approached their classroom's door, the figure suddenly said, "Hey kid, keep an eye out for anything weird; there's something here that shouldn't be…and it's also capable enough to escape my senses." The figure stated in a cautious tone.