In a small apartment, Allen tugged at the straps of his backpack and paused to glance at his reflection in the cracked bathroom mirror. His messy black hair framed dark eyes, and the scars on his face were imperfections he had long ago stopped perceiving.
He took a deep breath and slipped the backpack over his shoulder. Breakfast was a silent affair, burnt toast and old coffee, more bitter than warm. He sat in silence, the slurred yells from the room next door into his ears.
Allen had learned years before that there were battles that it wasn't worth fighting. He had developed a type of armor, a protective reserve that enabled him to make it through life and have no one ever truly notice.
The streets were cold as he walked to school. Then a group of older kids on the street opposite laughed really loudly, gesturing at something or someone, but Allen did not glance up. He knew their eyes were on him anyway, so he kept his head down and hurried past.
At school, he snuck into the library at break time, sitting in the back corner. It was his haven. The smell of paper and silence pushed the world away, at least for a moment or two. Pulling a novel off the shelf, he opened it and let the story carry him away, imagining he was somewhere else, someone brave and clever.
When Allen had finished reading, he laid the book aside and searched for another engaging one to read.
Across the range of shelves, one book caught Allen's attention. It was an old one, with its cover hidden beneath a heavy layer of dust.
The title, "What If Someone Planned Your Life Before You Did?"
"Huh… this is interesting," Allen said to himself, opening the book.
When he opened the book, every page was blank except for a single one near the middle, where something had been handwritten.
"I have been watching you. I will continue to watch you. I am the one who made your life miserable. I will watch as you grow stronger and stronger until the day we meet face-to-face. And on that day, your death or mine shall be wonderful, my friend."
"What the… fuck is this?" he muttered, his voice shaky with confusion.
Allen put the book back, picked up another one, and read until the lunch break ended.
Time went by unnoticed until the bell rang. The lunch break was over, and the hallways were filled with the noise of shouting students. Allen closed the book and made an effort to put it back into its place on the shelf.
He went back to his classroom and sat at his desk, he worked quietly, his mind sharp, calculating problems that left his peers confused.
The whole school day passed without disruption, but Allen could not shake the feeling that someone was staring at him.
He looked around, turning to the left and right, trying to locate where the gaze was emanating from, but no one seemed to be staring at him.
Brushing aside the strange feeling, he went to the school library to do his homework, as he was not able to do so in the house with his parents around.
When he was in the middle of writing, suddenly there was a commotion which echoed in the library, causing the books on the shelves to shake.
Allen looked out the window and saw a construction vehicle slowly moving across the school grounds.
"What the…?" he muttered, confused, then he remembered.
𝘖𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳.
So Allen returned to his desk and plugged in his headphones, hoping to block out the noise.
Two hours passed, and he had finished his homework and exited the library, still wearing his headphones on his way to the school grounds.
Halfway to the school exit, he heard a muffled scream.
He took off his headphones. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, KID!" the old man shouted, trembling with fear.
Before he could do anything, a heavy shadow was cast over him.
He raised his eyes, and Allen's eyes widened in horror as a huge piano was coming down on him.
BOOM!!
The piano came crashing down, trapping Allen beneath it. Pain exploded through him, so intense that he couldn't even scream. His vision blurred, and everything went black.
𝘐 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 hunger, 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘶𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯.
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵… 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥.
𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳.
𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦.
As Allen went further and further into his own mind, he caught a sudden glimpse of someone staring at him. He looked up.
Standing there, in the darkness, was a shadowy figure, its presence unmistakable. Even in the dark, Allen could feel the weight of its stare upon him, cold and unwavering.
What is that? Allen thought, a shiver down his spine.
The figure smiled, and a flash of light hit Allen's face, banishing the darkness immediately.
Then Allen woke up, gasping for air.
"What the… where am I?" he cried out, confusion and fear flooding through him.