Following a brief discussion with my good-for-nothing parents, I dressed for the occasion before heading to the bus station.
I was now waiting for the bus.
Apparently, they had signed me up for a college called Solstice Academy. I had done some quick research, but there was absolutely no information about it online. Even stranger, there wasn't a single listed location displayed on the map for any school with that name.
It was as if this so-called "Solstice Academy" didn't exist at all, yet somehow my parents had still managed to enroll me in it.
No matter how I looked at it, the whole thing was beyond suspicious.
However, when I tried to voice my concerns, my parents casually brushed them aside, mentioning they had already paid the tuition fee, so not attending would be a complete waste of money.
Just recalling that conversation was enough to irritate me all over again.
"Tsk. Those two are always treating me like a kid. For God's sake, I'm a twenty-year-old man. I can make my own choices!"
Come to think of it… wasn't the real reason they treated me like a child simply because I was a twenty-year-old guy still living under their roof? If I had my own place, none of this would have happened.
"What a pain."
Maybe I should really get a place of my own.
A few moments later, the bus arrived with a low rumble, its doors sliding open as if on cue. I climbed aboard, moved a little, finding a seat near the window, and watched as the familiar streets of my neighborhood blurred past. My mind, however, was far from the scenery.
Solstice Academy… the name alone gave me an uneasy feeling.
A school that didn't exist online, no trace on the map, yet my parents had somehow enrolled me there. It was almost too strange to ignore.
I shook my head and leaned back, trying to push the creeping unease away. Maybe I was overthinking it.
After all, college wasn't anything new. It was just another place to study, meet people, and maybe figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Except this wasn't "just another college."
The farther the bus drove from home, eventually entering a dark tunnel, the more I sensed that something was wrong.
An unexplainable, profound feeling of wrongness settled over me, pressing against my entire being.
It was completely alien and eerie, as if I were crossing into another world altogether.
'No, no. I'm probably imagining things… but why isn't anyone else on this bus?'
My eyes widened.
'Wait… there's no one else here? How am I only noticing this now?!'
'Could it be that I'm being kidnapped?'
'No, that makes no sense. Mom and Dad are far from what people called rich. They couldn't pay ransom even if someone demanded it.'
'Shit. Shit. Shit. What kind of godforsaken situation is this?'
My anxiety shot straight through the roof. My heart pounded wildly against my ribs, the rhythm growing faster and more erratic by the second.
At this rate, it felt like it might burst right out of my chest.
"Hehehe. What a nice expression you've got there, young lad."
A voice suddenly drifted from the front.
The driver was laughing.
"Even from here, I can guess what's running through your head. You're probably thinking you've been kidnapped, right?"
So it was that obvious…
"But aren't you full of yourself? What benefit would we get from kidnapping someone like you? No offense, but you look like the kind of guy who'll die single and can't hold a conversation with a girl."
Ouch. Did he really have to say it like that? And what did he mean I couldn't talk to girls?! That was completely ridiculous and untrue.
"…"
Alright… maybe it was slightly true…
"You don't have to worry though. The academy we're going to is completely normal. Well, I won't say completely normal. It's… 'unique' in its own way. I suppose you have a lot of questions, but you'll understand everything once we arrive."
Arrive? What do you mean by that? Where exactly is this so-called academy located?
Countless questions swirled in my mind, but I didn't voice a single one. Deep down, I knew this mysterious driver wouldn't answer all of them. Perhaps that was part of the "unique" experience.
Finally, the mysterious driver glanced back at me and added ominously, making me flinch in pure horror:
"As a form of goodwill, I'll give you a single piece of advice. Despite its name, Solstice Academy is a rather scary place."
"W-What…?"
"Once we come out of this tunnel, we'll arrive directly in front of the academy. In any case, you'd better prepare yourself. You'll experience something unimaginable and out of this world."
Those were the last words of the "darkness" known as the driver.
† †
Thirty minutes later, we finally exited the tunnel and came to a stop. At least, I presumed this was our destination.
Stepping out of the bus, I paused and surveyed my surroundings.
Before me stretched a world that felt wrong in ways I couldn't fully describe.
A chilling breeze swept across my skin the moment my feet touched the ground, carrying with it a faint, metallic scent like cold iron left out in the rain. The air was heavy, almost oppressive, making it difficult to breathe.
My eyes drifted forward.
What I saw could only be described as a landscape caught between night and twilight.
The sky overhead was an endless gradient of purples and deep blues, swirling together like an oil spill suspended in the heavens. Wisps of pale light, which couldn't be described as stars nor clouds, drifted lazily across it, illuminating nothing and casting no shadows.
The land itself was barren, yet not in any natural way.
Dark soil stretched for miles, cracked like shattered glass, glowing faintly with veins of dim crimson light that pulsed beneath the surface. It was as if the ground itself had a heartbeat.
Sparse trees jutted out of the earth — if they could even be called trees. Their trunks twisted unnaturally, bark blackened and charred, branches stretching like skeletal fingers grasping at the sky. There were no leaves or any indication of what could be called life.
In the distance, towering structures formed a jagged silhouette. At first, I thought they were mountains, but the more I looked, the clearer they became.
Buildings.
Massive, gothic structures, or perhaps, spires reaching so high they pierced the swirling sky. Sharp arches, dark stone, windows like empty eye sockets glowing faintly with azure light. The architecture was majestic yet unnerving, like a cathedral built by something that didn't quite understand humans.
And standing at the forefront of that ominous skyline was a colossal gate
engraved with symbols I didn't recognize.
A shiver crawled down my spine.
This was not a place for humans.
This was not a place for anyone for that matter.
And yet…
A large stone sign stood planted a few meters from the bus stop directly behind a scarecrow with a cracked porcelain mask. The words written there read:
[ SOLSTICE ACADEMY ]
I swallowed hard.
A gust of wind blew past me, carrying with it whispers drifting across the land like forbidden echoes.
"What… the hell is this place…?"
"Welcome to the Dark Lands, young lad," the driver replied casually from inside the bus. "Well, good luck. You'll need it. Now then, let me be on my way."
"Huh? Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! Are you actually going to leave me here? Where the hell is this place? Oi! OOOIIIII! COME BACK HERE!!"
Despite my frantic shouting, the driver didn't spare me a second glance. He shut the door with a cold hiss, shifted the bus into gear, and began rolling away as if abandoning newcomers in cursed realms was part of his daily routine.
The engine growled.
The tires kicked up that dark, cracked dust.
And just like that...
He was gone.
Left alone, I could only stand there powerlessly, staring after the fleeing bus as it shrank into the distance, swallowed by the purpling haze.
It felt like I might actually collapse. Maybe I should.
"Fuck."
In the end, only a curse escaped from my lips.