The bus rolled along the asphalt as it trucked along the road, the morning sun glinting within the clear windows as it arrived at its final destination: Riverwood Academy. The gleaming academy stands tall with the sun's rays glazing over it in the cool autumn morning.
The bus grinded to a stop just outside the academy with students piling out, eager to get to classes and start the day right. However, Lewis wasn't as eager to leave the bus as the rest, staring at the towering monument of his college as if in a trance. Yet as he stared, the sun suddenly fizzled out and the college took an almost hellish and demonic tone with fog filling the air, the shuffling of students leaving the bus echoed and crackled into silence.
"What the-?" Lewis spoke within the silent and echoing world, the only sound in this hellscape was his own words...his own breathing...and his own footsteps. The academy seemed almost infinite in the endless void, the rising monolith seemed to echo the infinite world around Lewis.
Then suddenly, the world flickered as if controlled by some static, the scene shifting to a sprawling apartment complex. Before Lewis could utter a word, he watched as the whole building exploded, the hellish fire blooming around the brick walls and wooden floors and roofs like a raging inferno from hell itself.
"NO!" Lewis called out, his words echoing in the void, the only other sound coming from the crackling fire. Yet a reply echoed from all around him...screams of agony and the stench of burning flesh from within the flames as Lewis caught a glimpse of four burning figures trapped within.
Three of the four figures were only made out by outlines. A tall red figure hidden within the orange and red flames of the inferno. A shorter figure silhouetted with dark grey features. And finally, a pale white and red figure which had red eyes which almost seemed to glow in the blaze and pierced Lewis's very soul as all 3 looked at him from the window, unmoving and unphased by the carnage of the fire.
Yet it was the fourth figure within the blaze which was the most bone chilling...a younger version of himself. Seemingly calling his own name yet its voice was muffled and barely hearable: "Lewis! Wake up!" as his voice sounded wrong as if swallowed by the inferno of the building.
Then the scene shifted once more to the same building now derelict and in ruins, seemingly abandoned after the flames ravaged the complex and tore through it like a hot knife through butter.
As Lewis found the courage to wander the ruins, the rotten and ash soaked wood cracking and splintering under his black boots, he saw decay everywhere with 3 skeletons trapped under some rubble in one bad spot of the complex.
Yet just as suddenly as the vision appears, a voice pulled him back, its tone flat and almost monotone yet calm and chilling in its intensity. "It's your fault you know friend...but don't worry...I'm here to guide you"
Lewis spun around on his heel, the wood cracking underfoot as he stood staring at something he couldn't make out despite it being right in front of him. The pale figure looked blurry with a featureless face that shuddered and shook within a blur of movement despite standing perfectly still.
"It was NOT my fault!" Lewis shouts to the pale figure however his shout was cut off by a simple "Do you really believe that?" which stunned Lewis in his tracks. Lewis stayed silent for what felt like an eternity before finally replying "No"
"That's what I thought" the voice echoed within the ruined building before replying with an almost eerie tone that seemed to punctuate itself with its coldness "But don't worry...I'm your friend...the only one you'll ever need"
The figure then suddenly spins Lewis around as he faces...himself...within the bus as it rolls down the highway with cliffs and mountains in the background. The Lewis within the bus looked identical to his own form...or rather it did...as within the reflection of the bus's window, Lewis catches a flicker of himself.
Pale white with blotches of red and flickering red eyes, his face a blurry mess despite not moving at all. However, just as he was about to place what was happening...
"LEWIS! WAKE UP!" The yell was jarring and echoed within the void for a moment as Lewis suddenly jerked up from his seat, the scene melting away to show the academy, untouched and with the morning sun shining just as it had been before.
"The hell?" Lewis replied, looking over his shoulder towards Skye and Tom who were standing over him. Skye replies quickly with slight concern lacing her voice "You had another episode Lewis...you okay?"
Lewis slowly looked back to the academy for a moment, his gaze landing on the sky above, looking to the icy blue of the atmosphere and the puffy white clouds above "Yeah..." Lewis slowly replies, his tone confused and hesitating before he stands up quickly and exits the bus leaving Skye and Tom reeling in confusion for a heartbeat before quickly rushing out to join Lewis.
"You sure-" Tom begins only for Lewis to quickly look over his shoulder, a weak smile on his face "I'm sure Tom...I don't need a baby sitter ya know" Lewis lets out a small laugh, clearly trying to lighten the mood even if the concern within his friends faces ate him from the inside out like a plague.
"Oh look...the schizo, the twink and the guardian angel" A deep masculine voice rang out from the sidelines "CATCH!" Before any of the trio could even react, a brown and white football flew through the air, sailing and whistling until it slams into the side of Lewis's head, sending him crashing to the floor onto the soft grass.
"GAH!" Lewis attempted to catch himself with his hands even as tears pricked his eyes and pain throbbed within the side of his skull from where the football had landed.
"Guess he couldn't catch huh?" Another voice rang out, softer and delicate yet laced with a toxic tone which stung more than the football did, clearly a female's.
"Hey assholes! You think you can just hit my friend and insult us three and get away with it!?" Tom's voice echoed out even in the haze of pain and blurry vision. "Usually yeah" The first voice spoke out followed by what feels like hundreds of voices laughing, their cruel and mocking tones showcasing no remorse.
Yet even through the laughter, Lewis knew exactly who this was...Tracy and Eric...the infamous college bullies and judging from the echoing laughter, easily followed by the popular girl group of cheerleaders and the jock group of footballers and baseball players.
"C-can you not j-just leave us alone?" Lewis asks, his tone bordering on tears yet it bordered on a whimper more than anything. The cruel laughter, however, only seems to increase until it drowned out any other noise.
"Aww...is the little schizo going to cry? Get over yourself!" Eric's voice echoes around Lewis, the form of the tall and muscular male leered over Lewis's prone form, his hands instinctively wrapping around his head "Aww! Curling up like a fetus...just like you should be you crybaby!"
Without missing a heartbeat, Lewis suddenly stood up and sprinted towards the college doors, his heart pounding against his ribs so heavily and so loud, he swore it was going to burst through his chest. "S-stay back!"
Yet Lewis could clearly see Eric and Tracy's forms, surrounded by the football team with the cheerleading team next to them walking after him "Aww! Is the baby running away like always?" Tracy's voice practically screams out as Lewis sprinted down the hall in a panic, looking left and right as the hallway seemed to stretch endlessly.
Yet within the locker lined walls, Lewis makes out a figure within his own reflection, walking casually with a stride that seemed to move faster than his body movements did. The figure draped in red uttered only 3 words in a harsh and chilling tone "Shut them up"
However, just as Lewis was about to speak back, a voice echoed from behind him which stunned him dead in his tracks "Maybe you should have died in that fire like your parents did!"
Lewis stood perfectly still now, breathing heavily as he slowly looked over his shoulder, his gaze filled with anger and hatred "Excuse me?" was all he said yet the tone of his voice gave the chasers pause, stunning Eric and Tracy alongside Tom and Skye who had been behind the crowd, attempting and failing to push through to reach Lewis before he had a panic attack.
"You heard her! She said you're a baby and your parents would be ashamed of who you became" Eric smugly spoke out, his gaze slightly confused but any confusion was changed into smugness and mocking, speaking in that tone once more "Tried off running? Good...I don't like to chase for too long, nerd!"
Yet Lewis just stood in the center of the hallway before his gaze slowly drifted to the right where...a fire axe was sitting inside its case, Lewis's reflection within the glint of the glass and the blade an almost demonic red as if beckoning him...to shut them up. Just like he was told too.
And as Eric and Tracy followed his gaze and saw the axe, their gazes quickly wiped, now filled with confusion and a tiny hint of fear as Eric spoke out, his voice now concerned and confused yet he only utters 2 words to Lewis, even taking a slight step back, followed quickly by Tracy "You wouldn't"
Lewis, for the most part, didn't even seem to hear what Eric had said as his gaze was simply locked onto the fire axe, his body moving subconsciously yet with purpose as he takes one step towards the fire axe's case...then another...then another...while his right hand extends towards the case slightly, his ring catching the light from the hallway and glinting. Lewis's voice speaks out to Eric and Tracy, taking a small glance towards them both as he speaks "Repeat...what you just said to me"
Eric and Tracy instantly look at each other, locking eyes and before anyone can mutter a word more, both turn on their heels and sprint down the corridor, followed swiftly by both groups as Eric yells over his shoulder "YOUR CRAZY MAN! STAY AWAY FROM US YOU MONSTER!" until only Skye and Tom were left with Lewis.
Skye, without even missing a beat, sprinted towards Lewis and quickly grabbed his wrist, shoving it downwards "Lewis no! There are better ways to deal with things! You are not a monster!" Skye practically yelled out as his hand quivers slightly whilst holding Lewis's wrist.
"Skye!" Tom quickly runs towards the duo, slowing down only once Lewis looks towards Skye, seemingly not even remembering what had just happened "Uhh...guys? What...just happened?"
"Oh thank god!" Skye quickly pulled Lewis into a deep hug, nuzzling his face into the crook of Lewis's neck whilst releasing his wrist, just holding him in the hug tightly. "I thought you were gonna..." Skye trailed off as he looked towards the fire axe before replying quickly "Don't you EVER do that to me again, you hear!?"
"Oh shit! Did I almost...?" Lewis began as his gaze followed Skye's gaze towards the fire axe within the glass case, the light above flickering and flashing in an unusual pattern which Lewis saw as morse code.
"What the?" Lewis began, counting the flashes and the shorter ones to spell out "Don't" and "Stay Safe" which confuses Lewis but he shakes his head, looking towards Skye and softly smiling "I...promise...I won't try murder anyone with a fire axe" which strikes chuckles from both Skye and Tom.
"You better not mister! I won't be there to bail you out...probably…and don't worry about the lights, you know this college is cheap and haven't got the funding to fix the lights yet" Skye replies with a teasing smile upon his face yet suddenly, Skye kisses Lewis's lips for a brief moment before his face lights up as red as a tomato, Lewis's face doing the same yet expressing more confusion than Skye's as he stammers out "S-Skye?"
Tom burst out laughing, even slapping his knee as Skye replies, clearly dodging what he had just done "C-come on! I-it's time for class!" Skye manages to stammer out just as the bell rings, forcing the trio into their classrooms for the first period of Tuesday.