PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 6

Back to school troubles

When I woke up this morning, I saw Alex sleeping there next to me.

'It wasn't a dream...' I smiled. I rose from my bed and cooked breakfast. The aroma stirred in the air, waking everyone in the house almost simultaneously.

"Good morning," Alex smiled.

"Ooh, something smells good!" Mei exclaimed.

"How's breakfast, Michael?" mom asked.

"It will be ready in 5 minutes," I told them. "You can use the time to get ready."

...

After breakfast, Mei, Alex, and I walked to school. It felt like months since I've been there. As we entered the vicinity, everyone stared at us. More like, they were staring at Alex and me. They were stunned to see two of me walking down the halls. It hurts like searing hot knives. We brought Alex to the Administrators’ Office and got him registered.

“We’re going to have a series of tests for you, okay Alex?” said Mrs. Beezley, the Administrator.

“Tests?” Alex gulped.

“Not like the ones in the hospital,” I chuckled. “Now we’re going to go to our classes, okay?”

“See you, Alex!” Mei waved as we left the room. We went our separate ways to our classes. From what I say, school’s pretty much, boring. I would’ve dozed off if the teacher hadn’t yelled on top of his lungs every two sentences. Time flies slowly until lunch break. I went in the cafeteria and sat down on an empty round table.

‘Glad that’s over,’ I sighed deeply. I opened my lunch bag and took out my salmon sandwich I made this morning. I bit one of the halves and took a look around the cafeteria. It seems like everyone is still staring.

“Oh, there you are!”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Mei and Alex.

“Hey! Care to sit down?” I asked them. They joined in and dig into my sandwiches.

“So how’re your classes?” Alex asked us.

“Ugh, terrible,” I groaned. “I could die of boredom. The only thing that kept me alive was Home Ec.”

“Well, mine’s exciting,” Mei smiled.

“Really…” I turned away. Mei grumbled and threw the empty paper bag on me.

“So how’s your tests?” I asked Alex.

“Well, I dunno if I did that well,” he rubbed his head. “But I hope I get to be in the same class as you guys.”

“Let’s hope so,” I smiled. We chatted about other stuff until lunch break was almost over.

“I gotta go to the gym,” I slowly got up. “Catch you guys later.” I walked to the locker room in the gym and got changed. I drew even more stares from everyone because of the scar across my back. I sighed and ignored thm all. As I was about to put on my gym shirt, I felt a pat on my back. I looked up and saw Nick and Tony standing there.

“Hey!” Nick smiled. “What a coincidence!”

“You guys!?” I jumped back. "You go to school here!?"

"Yeah," Tony answered. "I guess we didn't bump into each other last Monday."

"Don't worry, I won't bite," Nick chuckled. I heard Tony muttered something but couldn’t get the words.

"What?"

"Nothing," Tony looked away. "So what's with the long scars on the front and back?"

"I can't say," I looked down. "It's a painful memory to remember."

"Oh, sorry..."

"It's okay. I don't remember much of it anyways."

"Well, that aside, ready to get physical?" Nick tugged me.

"Wait!" I resisted. "I haven't put on my shirt yet!"

"Well, hurry!" Nick smiled mischeviously. I pulled my shirt down all the way and joined them. We played basketball through the period. Tony's physique and talent abled him to play exellently. I was completely speechless as he continued to make 3-pointers from the centerline. When the time was over, Tony has scored more than 150 points.

"That was amazing!" I congratulated him.

"It was nothing," Tony smiled back.

"I can't believe you're talented at basketball. I mean, you don’t look like an athlete at all."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he chuckled. "Come on, let's take a shower."

After gym was really over, I head to my last two classes. I meet up with Mei and Alex on the school gate. After telling them about meeting Nick and Tony, we decided to wait for them to walk together. After around 10 minutes, they showed up and we went to our homes by foot. Just as I was about to take a step from the gate, a sudden chill rose from my back. I quickly looked around my areas.

"What's wrong?" Mei asked me.

"I dunno, but I feel weird..."

"Stomach ache?"

"No..." I looked down on the floor. I noticed the shadow below us is unusual. I looked up and saw something dropping in at a high velocity.

"Look out!" I pushed everyone out of the way before doing a back flip. The object crashed on the spot where I stood. It looked like a giant cannonball.

"What the..." I gasped.

"What is this?" Mei got closer. Suddenly, a pair of yellow eyes appeared in front of her, startling her.

"Get back!" Nick ordered us. The black ball creature unfolded, showing its appearance. It looked like a giant bat with 3 pairs of wings. Mei hid behind the tree she was near as the bat flew in the air. Each of us hid in different locations as it circles the air.

"Mei! Are you okay?" Alex called.

"I'm fine!" she replied. "How are we supposed to get out of here?"

"I dunno!" I answered her. I took a peek from my hiding spot. Nick and Tony were out of their hiding spots. Just as I was about to yell at them, they took a card out of their pockets.

"Hey, ugly!" Nick taunted the beast. "Come and get us!" The bat swooped towards them. As it was about to hit them, the cards they were holding shone a bright light, making the creature flinch. I couldn't see what's going on, but in a split second, I heard what sounded like a hacking of a sharp weapon. The bat flew away from the light in pain. One of the wings was cut off. The light stopped and I saw a tiger holding a shining one-handed sword and a lion with a brown mane. What surprises me most was they were standing upright, like humans. The Bengal tiger held the sword up towards the creature.

"Come on!" his deep voice rang. "Let's finsh this!"

The bat tried to fly away from the two anthro-felines. The lion hit the pavement hard and a circular object, what looked like a ball of stone, flew next to him. He kicked the ball, landing on the middle right wing. The bat dropped towards the ground once again. The tiger dashed and cut the bat into pieces.

"That's done," the tiger huffed.

"Nick! Tony! Are you guys okay?" Mei yelled as the rest of us got close. The two creatures gulped in unison.

"H-how'd you..." the tiger stammered.

"Come on, Tony," Mei smiled. "Don't underestimate a detective."

Both cats stared at each other in defeat before they returned to normal.

"So what's that thing? Do you know it?"

"Well, for starters," Nick rubbed the back of his head. "It's a..."

While we're talking, we didn't notice the bat was about to shoot a fireball from its mouth.

"Look out!" Alex got behind them. The bat fired its shot towards us. Alex waved his left hand a little and a magical barrier appeared around us. While we were staring at the glass protection, Alex thrusts his right arm forward, summoning a giant icicle spike forward. The bat was skewered and was about to crawl away. Alex then snapped his fingers, creating a magical circle beneath it and let it explode into nothingness.

"Now we can say it's killed," Alex panted.

"Nice one!" Nick grinned.

"Thanks," he smiled back before giving a confused look. "Wait, what did I just do?"

"I dunno, you tell me!" I replied.

"Is it magic?" Mei asked.

"Yeah, it is," Tony answered.

"Since when is he able to do this?" I asked him.

"Way long before we stayed in Louis' house."

"All right! I think it's time for Louis to explain what's going on," I complained. "Let's go to his house now."

...

When we entered the green house again, Lionel was reading a newspaper in the dining room. He was sipping a cup of black coffee.

"Welcome home," he said.

"Lionel," I called him, "we need to talk."

He turned his head around towards us.

"Whoa, what's with the group huddle?" his eyes shot wide open.

"We need you to tell us everything you know about Alex and the giant bat thing that appeared out of nowhere and tried to kill us," I said under one breath.

"Giant bat thing?" He raised an eyebrow.

"We encountered a fiend on the way home," Tony explained. "And at the same time, Alex remembered how to cast some magic."

"You did?" Lionel stared at Alex. He was responded by a nod.

"Tell us everything you know," Alex pleaded.

"Why not Louis? He's upstairs, getting ready for work."

"Alright, I'll explain everything," Louis' voice appeared from the spiral staircase.

"I'll start with your past, okay?" Louis said as he decended down. We all sat down on the dining table and recollect Alex's and my memory.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 5

Conflicts

"W-who are you?" Alex stared at us.

"Alex, it's me. Michael," I held him. "Don't you remember?"

Alex just held his bandaged head and thought hard.

"Sorry..." he hung his head. "I don't remember anything."

My world just shatter at that moment. I had been searching him for 13 years. Now here he is, in front of us, with no memories of us. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. My parents walked out of the room and tried to find a doctor. Meanwhile, I was left alone with my amnesiatic brother. I calmed myself and began to speak.

"Your name is Alexander Stone, my twin brother," I began to tell him what I knew about him. "You were born at 31 October in Chartor City. When we were 5, we go separated and you live in Lightwood City now.
Ever since then, I've been searching for you for 13 years. I also found you by accident. But still, I'm so happy to find you even if you don't remember me."

My eyes started to form tears. I began to cry silently. Alex hugged me and whispered in my ear.

"Sorry..." Alex held me close.

"No, I'm sorry. You got caught up in my problem. I was lucky my friend knew what was going to happen. If she didn't, you'd probably be..."

"It's okay," Alex broke the hug. "I forgive you, um..."

"Michael," I smiled gently at him. I wiped the tears in my eyes and looked at him. "We have to start remembering things, don't we?" We both laughed like we used to. I started to tell him the places I've been to and he listened to every one of them. He looked like he was experiencing it first hand. Just moments before finishing the first town, the door was opened and mom, dad, and a doctor went in.

"Looks like you're getting better quickly, Alex," dad smiled at him.

"Yes, sir."

"Um... Alex," I whispered, "that's dad."

"Oh, sorry dad," Alex started blushing. His cheeks turned bright red under the flourecent light.

"It's okay," dad patted him on the shoulder. "I'm just happy your healthy. Well, physically of course."

Alex chuckled and stared at mom.

"You must be our mother,"

"That's right sweetie," mom hugged him tightly. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Well, my memories are still gone, but I think I can manage."

The doctor cleared his throat and opened his files.

"Well, Alex, because your injuries have been completly healed, I'll say you can leave the hospital immedietly."

"And you're not surprised at all?" I asked him.

"No, not one bit," the blonde doctor chuckled. "What I'm surprised of is the family isn't surprised."

"After 13 years ago, nothing surprises us," said dad.

'13 years ago?' I thought to my self. I don't remember anything that has to do with this sort of event.

The door was opened once again and Louis' head appeared from behind it.

"Can we come in?"

"Sure thing, Louis," the doctor gestured. The door opened widely, revealing Louis and Lionel carrying a boquet of lilies, Alex's favourite flower.

"Thanks for saving our kids again," dad shook Louis' hand.

"No problem," Louis responded.

"Wait! Again?" Alex and I questioned them at the same time. The adults turned their heads towards us.

"Well," mom started to speak out, "it's a long story."

"We have plenty of time," Alex responded. "I know I do."

"Not now, okay?" dad stopped us. "We'll tell you when the time's right."

"Fine..." we sighed in a big disappointment.

"So, you have an amnesia, huh Alex?" Louis asked him.

"Yes, um..."

"It's okay. Don't strain yourself trying to remember us," Lionel stopped him. "This is Louis, your mentor, as well as my cousin. I'm Lionel."

"Louis and Lionel..."

"Got that memorised?" Louis asked him. Alex nodded and tried to get out of bed. He wobbled a little before he managed to stand up straight.

"Now, for your attackers," Lionel smiled, "we managed to arrest all 74 of them, including Lloyd Stellar."

"What's impressive is the battle talent Michael has," Louis also smiled. "He managed to beat all of them single handedly without any weapons."

"That's my boy!" dad rubbed my head.

"Don't worry about them. They'll be locked up for a looong time," Louis assured us. I sighed in relief.

'No more danger for now...'

"As for your school, Michael," said Louis, "I've talked this over with the school board. They agreed the same thing and you'll be back at school starting tomorrow."

"What about Alex's school?" I asked him.

"Oh, Alex? He was home schooled when he lived with us. If he wants to, he can go to school with you."

"Of course I do!" Alex yelled at him.

"Okay, I'll notify the school board again," Louis took out his cellphone and walked outside.

"So where do you wanna go?" I asked Alex.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, where do you wanna go home? You can stay with Louis, or you can come home with us."

"I'll pick you, of course!" Alex pouted. "Why would I live with Louis?"

"Want me to tell you the reason you told me?" Lionel asked him. Alex made a worried look before he nodded. "You told me you wanted to become as strong as Louis and me so that the event 13 years wouldn't repeat itself."

"Just what happened 13 years ago?" I asked everyone.

"I'll tell you when the time's right," dad told me. I sighed again in defeat.

"Fine..." I looked down in disappointment, again.

"Um... can I change?" Alex asked us.

"Oh! Sure!" we responded and walked outside. Our parents, Louis, and Lionel went immedietly to the lobby and I waited in front of the door. After around 10 minutes Alex, who was out of his hospital gown and in his everyday clothing, walked outside. He wore a blue T-shirt with black baggies and sneakers.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

"Not yet," I took off my locket and pulled his hand.

"Here," I placed my locket to his hand, " I want you to have it."

He opened it and smiled at the picture.

"It was taken before our 5'th birthday. It kept me going when I tried to find you. I just hope it will help you remember everything."

Alex wore it and hugged me tightly.

"Thank you..."

"Just keep it safe, okay?"

We joined the adults and went to Louis' house. We grabbed all of Alex's stuff and brought it with us. As we drove back to our apartment, I picked up one of the books in the box. When I opened the book, instead of letters, there are some strange symbols in it that I’ve never seen before.

“Alex, what language is this?” I pointed at the paper. Alex took a glance and took the book from my hand.

“I dunno,” he began to read it. “I think it’s Magus Runic.”

“What’s that?”

“Dunno. Just popped up in my head.”

“Can you read it?”

“I think I can…” Alex began to read the symbols slowly. As he was about to flip the page, the car stopped and we looked up. Apparently, time flied so fast, we already arrived at our destination, home.

“I haven’t finished it. Sorry,” Alex looked down.

“Don’t worry,” I patted his back. “You can take your time reading it. Now can you help me bring your stuff up?”

We brought all the boxes to our and placed them in my room. As I was about to leave the room again, I noticed my computer screen is still on.

‘Did I left it on yesterday?’ I thought. I opened my mailbox. Turns out, there are two new messages from an unknown person. Yesterday’s was 2, and today’s is 1.

‘I knew it… A ticking time bomb,’ I sighed. 'What kind of big prank is gonna happen tomorrow?' I shook the idea and started to cook dinner. Luckily, I bought the supplies two days ago. As I finish the steak, I heard mom got out of her room.

"Michael, what are these bras doing in our room?" she held up a pair of pink bra. As I was about to answer, the front door was opened and Mei came in.

"I'm back," she told me before she saw mom holding her underwear. "Oh, sorry Mrs. Stone."

"Is this yours?" mom handed her the bra.

"Yes. I had a sleepover here since Tuesday."

"I see..." said mom before she glared at me. I just gulped, thinking of what she could do. After Mei introduced herself to the family and vice versa, we had dinner together. Mom started to tell Mei and Alex my embarrasing childhood memories. Everyone laughed out loud except for me, who was blushing hard. Dinner hasn't been this lively since Alex went away.

"Can I stay here for another night?" Mei asked us.

"No problem!" dad smiled. "I wanted to know more about Michael's friend."

"Does he have any other friends?"

"No, you're the first in 13 years," said mom. "He was always too serious on finding Alex that he never made any friends."

"Oh..." Mei looked at me.

"Forget what I said," mom interrupted us. "Just make yourself at home."

"Thank you Mrs. Stone," Mei smiled.

"Please, call me Marsha,"

"All right, Marsha," Mei chuckled. We started to clean up the dishes and prepared an extra bed for Mei. I flipped the couch into a bed and prepared it for my bed. As I was ready for bed, Alex went to the living room. He was wearing a white polo shirt with grey pants.

"Michael," he looked at me, "can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Sure," I waved my hand, gesturing to tell him to get close. We both hopped in the sofa bed and slept in each other's arms.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 4

Meeting

As the hours count down, I paced around the living room, waiting for Mei to return home. I was already dressed up to go and see my brother, but I patiently wait for Mei. We already promised to go to Louis' house together, but I couldn't hold my patience. It's been 13 years since he went missing. I really want to meet him face to face.

'She's late,' I thought to myself. I peeked my watch and it read 3:10 PM. 'I remembered that she went home at around 3 yesterday, but what's taking her?'

At that moment, like magic, the door opened and Mei entered as she panted for air. Her sweat was rolling down her cheeks and fell to the wooden floor.

"Sorr I'm late," she apologized as she wiped her face with a tissue. "The class meeting is a little longer than I expected."

"What kind of meeting?"

"A discussion about the fight at school last Monday. Every witness I asked all said it was an act of self defence, so we're going to inform this to the school board."

"Really!?"

"Well, we only need to cover the flaws or else they won't..."

"Okay, I think I pretty much get the idea. Now let's go!" I pushed Mei back outside again and went to Louis' house. Surprisingly, Mei told me that she lives just 3 blocks away. What are the chances of that!? Anyways, I rang the doorbell and Louis opened it. He was already dressed up in a black suit with a grey tie.

"Oh, Michael! Welcome!" He greeted us with a smile. Mei was speechless whe she saw him.

"Mr. Timberwolf!?"

"Yes Mei?"

"Wait! You guys know each other!?" I interrupted them.

"Yeah. He took a part time job as a physics teacher at our school every Friday."

"That, and the fact we're neighbours," Louis laughed.

"Is the wage as a law enforcer really that bad?" I asked Louis.

"Well, not if you have to feed 3 teens and 2 adults," he chuckled. We were a little confused of what he meant. When I was about to ask, he interrupted me.
"Come on! I'll show you!" He opened the door wide enough for us to enter.

We went in to find two new people in the dining room. The nearest to me is a blonde teen with emerald eyes. He wore a green jacket with yellow stripes. He was the first to stand up and greet us.

"This is Nicolas Hartcourt," Louis introduced him to us. "The other one is Tony Rigger." Nicolas shook our hands firmly. Judging by his well built physique and sports jacket with a football emblem on the left side, I'll say he's part of the school football team.

Tony, on the other hand, isn't as muscular as Nicolas. He's slim, but has some pretty well toned muscles. He's around the same age as him with brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a simple polo T-shirt and blue jeans.

"I'm Michael Stone," I introduced ourselves. "This is Mei Shou."

"Nice to meet you," Mei smiled.

"Nice to meet you too," Tony respond her.

"You really look like Alex," Nicolas told me.

"Thanks Nicolas!"

"Just call me Nick, okay?"

"Okay Nick!" the five of us just laughed and sat down at the dining table.

"Where's Alex?" I eagerly asked them. They stopped and looked at each other before they turned their head to me.

"That's just it. We don't know." Louis scratched his head.

"What do you mean?"

"An hour ago, before Lionel went to work, he asked Alex to get some supplies in China town. He's probably running late."

"Why don't you call him? I mean, he has a cell phone, right?"

"Actually," Nick interupted, "he left it in his room to charge."

"So, no ways of connections? At all?"

The three of them just shook their head and the room became silent. Mei, on the other hand, was mumbling something that I couldn't comprehend.

"When you say China town, did you mean the one at Floriday avenue?" Mei asked them.

"Yeah, why?" Tony raised an eyebrow on her.

"This is bad..." Mei began to show some worry.

"What is it?" Louis asked the young detective.

"We have to find him! Quick!" Mei got up and ran towards the door. The rest of us followed and finally caught up with her.

"What's the problem?" I asked her.

"You remember Bryan, right?" Mei asked back. "His house is close to there."

"Does he want payback for getting him suspended too?"

"No, I know him that well. He wouldn't do something like that."

"Then what's the rush?"

"His older brother, Lloyd, is far worse than him. If something happened to Bryan, he'll call his gang to erase the cause."

"When you say 'erase', does that mean 'kill'?" Tony spoke out. Mei just nodded and now I became more worried. Bryan got suspendded because of me. Now his brother called a gang to 'erase' me. They mistook Alex as me because we're identical twins. As we approach our destination, we saw a group of thugs carrying different types of weapons like bats and pipes. They surrounded what looked like a teen and started beating him with it.

"There he is!" Nick pointed at the group. My instinct as an older brother kicked in and I dashed to the large group.

"Hands off my brother!" I yelled at them. They stopped hitting Alex and turned their heads towards me. In a split second, I already knocked one of them out with a flying kick. As the others turned their heads towards their downed ally, I made a spinning kick, hitting 4 heads in one strike. The rest of them started to swing their weapons at me. I simply evaded their attempts and struck them quick enough that no one could see. I lost count at how many people I hit until there's only one person remaning. His features are similar to Bryan, so I know he's Lloyd.

"You're gonna pay for what you did!" I glared at him furiously. My eyes burned with anger. As I took another step, he pulled a glock from under his jacket.

"Don't move!" Lloyd threatened me. "Or I'll..."

"Or what? Are you gonna shoot me like the other people you killed?"

The gun clicked and was ready to be fired.

"I'm warning you!" Lloyd pointed it towards my head. I don't know why, but I chuckled at him.

"You're going down before you got the chance to use that," I grinned at the potential danger I was facing. In another split second, I kicked the gun in his hand, making it fly high above us. As he stared upwards at his gun, I hit him with a right backhand, sending him to the ground. I caught the gun and pointed it at him.

"Not so tough now, huh?" I smiled at him.

"P-please..." Lloyd shivered in fear.

"I'll say it again, stay away from my brother," after the last sentence, I hit him with the handgun, knocking him unconsious. I handed the gun to Louis and run towards Alex. He was unconcious and covered in blood. There are bruises and cuts all over his body.

"We need to take him to a hospital!" Mei told us. Louis stepped up and drew some sort of circle on the floor.

"Mei, step back," he told her. Mei followed his order, a little confused of what he's doing. A flash of white light appeared from the circle and engulf Alex. Slowly, his wounds healed and he was scratchless. Mei and I was startled by this. Louis picked Alex up and turned his head to us.

"Come on!" He yelled at us. "We still need to take him to the hospital!"

We ran back to his house and drove to the nearest hospital.

...

As I waited until the doctor allowed us to enter, I used the pay phone to call my parents. After a few rings, somebody picked up the other line.

"P & M Jewelries, how can I help you?" a woman answered me.

"Yes, I need to talk to Peter and Marsha Stone please."

"I'm sorry, but they're busy. Can I take a message?"

"No! This is an emergency! I'm Michael Stone, their son! I need to talk to them immedietely!" I started to raise my voice.

"Oh, sorry Michael. I'll get them right away. Please hold."

After what seemed like a minute, the other line picked up.

"This has better be good, Michael," a male voice answered me.

"Dad! I found Alex!"

"Really!?" dad's voice began to sound happy. "Where are you two?"

"Lightwood County Hospital."

A long pause sounded on the line.

"What?" dad's voice began to fade.

"We're in the County Hospital. Alex is in the ICU as we speak."

A thump was heard on the other side.

"Dad? Are you there? Answer me!"

The line between us got cut off.

"Dad!?"

I got worried and tried to call again. The woman from before answered me again.

"P & M Jewelry, how can I..."

"What happened to dad?" I asked the woman desperately.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stone said they needed to go to the hospital. Is something wrong?"

"Yes, my brother's in the hospital!"

"Don't worry. They're on their way. Sit tight, Michael."

"Thanks, Dorthy." I hung up and waited for them near Alex's room. Mei sat on the chair next to the door with Nick and Tony.

"How is he?" I asked them.

"He doesn't seem to have any sort of injuries," Mei told me. "What worries me is the concussion he's having. He's still passed out.

I sighed and turned my head around. I didn't see any signs of Louis at all.

"Louis is at the enterance, waiting for your parents. He'll take them here."

We waited what seemed like hours, until the doctor said it's okay to visit him. I slowly opened the door and walked to the bed. He seemed to be in a peaceful sleep. I sat down in a chair next to the bed and waited for him to wake up. Moments later, my parents and Louis entered the room and saw Alex. Mom was in tears when she saw my brother in bed. Dad just held her in his arms, comforting him as best as he could.

"I'm gonna leave you guys alone, okay?" said Louis as he walked out the door. The three of us just stared at Alex, hoping he'll wake up sooner than later.

...

I woke up again from an uncomfortable position. The hospital chair was hard, so I couldn't rest well. I turned my head around and saw the beautiful woman sitting there with near my brother. Her silky black hair rolls on her back and revealed a pair of light brown eyes that turned red after a long period of crying. She hasn't changed from her violet office suit. I got up from the chair and walk towards her.

"Get some rest mom," I told her. "I don't want you to collapse too."

"I'm fine, sweetie," she smiled at me. It's been a while since I've seen her smile like this.

"So what happened to him?" dad asked me as he entered the room. I decided to tell what happened from monday until today. The silence around us was heavy. Only the beeping noise of the machine covers it. Dad just sighed and scratched the back of his hair. His brown hair moved like a river and went down again as he crossed his arms.

"Trouble always follow you, don't they son?" dad smiled. We just chuckled together and heard a groan. We turned our heads towards Alex, who apparently has woken up.

"Alex! Are you okay?" I asked him.

He just stared at the three of us. He was a little scared from us.

"Alex?"

"W-who are you?".

PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 3

Excitement

When I opened my eyes, I noticed I was in a living room of a small house. I was standing there in the middle wondering where I am. Suddenly, it snapped to me. It's my grandparents' house. I wondered how I managed to get there till I saw a young boy of around 5 standing next to me. Across us is a hooded figure carrying a scythe. The blade shimmered as he began to swing it. I tried to yell at the kid to run away, but nothing came out from my throat. With a clean sweep, the figure beheaded the small child. Blood spattered everywhere. I was stunned as the figure faced my direction and raised his bloody scythe. I tried to move, but my body couldn't respond. He threw the scythe towards me and it stabbed me through my chest. It was extremely painful. I cried out in pain and opened my eyes once again. I was back in my room, covered in sweat. My shirt, bed, and blanket were completly soaked. I panted and held my scar. It stung a little even though it has fully healed. My door opened and Mei's head appeared from behind. Her eyes were wide awake and stared at me.

"Are you okay?" she asked me with a concerned voice as she slowly entered the room.

"Yeah..." I responded. "Just a nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"N-no... It's okay. Sorry to wake you..."

"It's alright," she smiled softly. "I'm gonna go back to sleep. Good night." Mei left my room and went back to hers. But after that, I couldn't sleep afterwards. This nightmare haunted me for the last 13 years, after that incident. I shook my head and walked to the bathroom. I decided to take a shower, trying to forget those horrible memories. The stream of hot water cleansed my mind and I was able to relax for a little while. I changed my clothes and start to clean up my apartment, sweeping, wiping, that sort of stuff. When I finish, the time read 5:21 AM, just enough time to fix breakfast. I started to take out some ingredients, not knowing what to cook.

'Hmmm...' I thought to my self, 'Mei likes bacons, so...' I paused for a moment.

"Wait a minute!" I spoke as softly as I can. "How did I know this info?" I thought for a while and took it out of my head. Relying on the info that popped out of nowhere, I decided to cook some bacon with sunny-side-ups. I placed some bread in the toaster and set it on light brown, just the way she likes it. I dunno where that one came from too... As I poured some OJ, a door opened and Mei walked out with her pink pajama on. Her hair was completely messed up, and her eyes are very sleepy.

"Good morning," I smiled at her. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," she smiled and sat down on the dining table. "That is, until your scream woke me up and made me restless."

"Oh, sorry..." I felt really bad about what I did.

"It's okay. So what's for breakfast?"

I placed her breakfast in front of her and she began to act like a 10 year old.

"My favorite dish! Thank you!" Mei smiled happily as she began to eat the meal happily. She even left a small burp of satisfaction in the end of her meal. The both of us laughed for quite a while.

"Come on, dress up and be ready for school," I told her as I began to clean the dishes. She walked back to her room and took her clothing with her. As I place the dishes in the sink, I heard the shower in her room turned on. I took inventory of the amount of ingredients I had left. Turns out, I only had enough to last for one day.

'Shopping time...' I told myself. I closed the fridge and took my wallet from my room. At the same time, Mei has exited her room and closed it.

"Oh..." Mei stared at me, "are you leaving too?"

"Yeah, gotta go buy some ingredients or else we'll starve."

We both stepped out and I locked my apartment door. I placed the key in my wallet and walked to the elevator.

"If you left anything, there's a spare key under the fire hydrant, okay?" I told her. She just nodded and we parted our ways.


Lightwood city

A peaceful little city near the Northern Pacific. According to the locals, the survivors of the war 200 years ago came together and founded this city. It's currently one of the most environmental-friendly cities in the country. I went to Mighty Mart, the closest food store around my neighborhood. It felt a lot like a mall rather than a market. As I toured around the isles, I accidentally bumped into another customer, dropping all his basket to the floor.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" I apologized and picked up his stuff. "I wasn't paying attention!"

"It's okay," the man responded. I looked up to his face and observed his features. His eyes are silver like his long hair and his black shirt is covered by a tan overcoat. The black pants and jeans covered the lower parts of his body.

"Sorry about the crash," I apologized once again as I returned his groceries.

"No prob," he replied to me. He picked up his basket and faced me once again. "You know, you should've paid attention to where you're going, Alex."

"My name isn't Alex. It's Michael."

"Oh," the man paused, realizing his mistakes. "Sorry Mike." We both paused for a moment, eyes wide opened, realizing something important.

"Hey!" we both yelled and pointed at each other at the same time.

"Are you referring to Alexander Stone?" I asked him.

"Are you Alex's twin brother, Michael?" He asked back. The two information fits together perfectly. He is acquainted with my brother.

"You know my brother?!" I smiled happily.

"Yeah, he's my apprentice. I'm Louis. Nice to meet you again, Michael," he raised his hand towards me.

"Again?" I questioned him when I shook his hand.

"Oh yeah, you were dea- I mean unconscious when I saved you."

I was puzzled by what he meant. I let it slip off my head and continued to chat with him.

"So where does he live? Does he live nearby? I started.

"Well, he lives with me at Oakwood Street. I'll show you the place if you want to."

"Yes! Of course!" I replied without any hesitations. I wouldn't want to miss my chance on meeting my brother whom I've searched for in years. We paid our groceries separately and stepped out the market. We chatted on a few topics on the way.

"So you're a police officer, huh," I stared at him.

"More like chief of the Lightwood Police Department," he smiled back. "You'd be surprised how old I was when I became the Chief." He stopped for a moment and stared at the alley near us. When I looked, some shadowy figure ran further in.

"Can you watch this for me?" Louis handed me his grocery bags. Before I had the chance to respond, he ran towards the alley and disappeared into the shadows. I sighed and stared to the ground. I noticed a piece of paper was slipped in his grocery bag. Since I had nothing else to do, I took a peek and read it.

Walk forward 3 more blocks until you see a green house.

Louis

'Well, that's simple and direct,' I thought to myself. 'I wonder when did he wrote this...'

I followed the note and ended up in front of a two stories building with a floral garden. I didn't expect a police chief to live in such an, uh..., elaborate house. I thought I was in front of a wrong house, but I didn't see any other houses nearby that are green. I stepped up to the porch and pressed the doorbell. The door was opened by another man with a beautiful golden hair. His eyes were light blue and his black athletic outfit buldge on his toned mucles.
His height of 7"6' looked down on me like Bryan. His face was as surprised as mine.

"Alex?" his eyes stared at me, "I thought you were upstairs a moment ago."

"Um... hi," I answered shyly. "I'm Michael, Alex's twin brother." I handed him Louis' groceries. "Louis asked me to drop this off for him."

"Oh, so you're his brother, huh. Nice to meet you kiddo!" The man smiled at me. "I'm Lionel, Louis' cousin. Come on in!"

I entered the house and took a look around. The two storied house looked smaller inside. There are 3 doors in the hallway in front of the enterance, possibly a bathroom with two rooms. The short wall on the right side separates it from the dining room and kitchen. I dunno why the dining table design looks more of a restoraunt seat. Anyways, close to me in the dining room, a spiral staircase leading either the second floor, or the basement. I placed the grocery bag on the table and waited on the seat. Lionel already went up and voices could be heard from there.

"Alex," Lionel's soft voice could be heard, "you have a special guest here!"

"Who is it?" A teen's voice could be heard, "I'm in the middle of studying here."

"Someone special for you."

"Lionel, I don't have time for your riddles. I still have to study you know."

"Oh, so you don't want to spend some time with your brother?"

"Come on! Michael doesn't even live in the city! How am I supposed to fall for that?"

After that, Lionel came down the stairs and shook his head.

"No good," he sighed. "He didn't believe me. Wanna go up there and meet him yourself?"

"Nah, it's fine," I turned down the offer. "It's kinda disappointing, but he seemed busy. I'll just leave now."

"Alright. Want me to drive you back?"

"No thanks, I'll walk." I said goodbye to Lionel and walked back home. I took one last look at the house and smiled. Now I know for sure that my brother's alright. I turned my head and stroll down the street with a grocery bag on my left arm. I remembered that I had some frozen food and dashed quickly to my apartment.

As I placed the groceries in the refrigirator, Mei entered the door and placed her bags.

"I'm home!" she smiled at me.

"Welcome back!" I replied and closed the door. She stopped for a while and observed me for a moment.

"What?" I tilted my head a little to my left.

"You seem different from this morning. Did you find some kind of trace af your brother while we're apart?"

'Whoa! Right on the money!' My excitement couldn't be held back anymore. I grinned widely and was responded by a smile.

"Really!?" Mei jumped in glee. "Where is he!?"

"I dunno the street name, but I can take you there tommorow."

"After school, okay?"

"Deal!"

We both had dinner and went to bed early. As I said goodnight, I noticed my computer screen's still on. A new message was in my inbox. Like yesterday night, the sender remained anonymous. Not wanting to disturb Mei, I opened the mail and read the content.

3

"3?" I said to my self. "Is it like a time bomb?" Even though it's a prank, it's still very freaky. I decided to let it slide and went to bed.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 2

THE LOCKET OF MEMORY

The doorbell rang loudly, waking me up instantly from my peaceful rest. I stared at the digital clock and it read 3:15 PM.

'Whoa, I slept through a day...' I thought to my self. I got out of bed and rubbed my head. I went to the front door and opened it. Mei was standing out of the door, carrying her school bag on her back and a few books on her arms. Her brown eyes stared at my head for a moment before she broke the silence.

"Wow, you looked like you've slept through the whole day," she told me with a concerned face.

"I did," I smiled back. "I slept at around 8 last night and woke up by the doorbell."

"Wow! You must've slept like a log," she chuckled. I can't help but to laugh also. And then, it hit me.

"Wait a minute! How'd you know I live here?"

"I'll tell you if you let me in," she smiled at me. I opened the door wider, allowing her to enter my small place. I noticed my apartment is a total wreack.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I was looking for something important last night."

"You mean this?" Mei took out a silver locket with an angelic design engraved on it and placed it on my hand. My eyes were shot opened.

"My locket!" I exclaimed with a note of happiness on my voice. "How did you get this?!"

"Remember when you dodged Bryan's tackle with an air flip? The tree branch nearby caught it and it was there until school's over. I noticed the glint of light it reflected and took it home with me. The only person that was near the tree was the three of us, but you were the only one who reached the branch that was 10 feet high."

"I jumped that high?!" I was startled by the last statement.

"You should join the athletics club!" Mei suggested. "So anyways, this morning, I asked the administrator where's your adress. And that's how I got here."

"I'm very impressed!" I clapped my hands, applauding her deduction. "Where did you learn how to analyze like that?"

"My uncle is a police investigator," she smiled at me. "He taught me on how to become a detective."

"That's so cool!" my face began to brighten.

"So where's my thank you present?" she asked me sarcastically.

"What's your favorite dish?"

"Huh?" she was dumbfounded by my question.

"I said, what's your favourite dish?" I repeated my question.

"Well..." Mei thought for a moment, "I do like the spaghetti from downtown, why?"

"Gimme 30 minutes, okay?" I dashed to the kitchen and took out my cooking utensils. I grabbed some ingredients from inside the fridge and the cabinet. I began to boil some pasta and cooked some tomato sauce with minced beef. The savoury aroma hangs in the air, making Mei to drool a little, but just enough for me to see. I chuckled and pointed below the left part of my lips, trying to tell her to hold her drool. She noticed, wiped her mouth, and began to blush. As the pasta was drained and cooled, I turned off the stove and prepared a plate. I mplaced the pasta on the plate and poured the tomato over it. To finish it, I garnished it with enough cheese and oregano.

"It's ready!" I called Mei to the dining table. "And in the nick of tume too! I heard your stomach's grumbling."

"S-shut up!" Mei sat down and ate the spaghetti. Her eyes were immedietely shot opened. "It's amazing! The savoury taste of the tomato and beef blended perfectly with the pasta!"

"Glad you like it," I smiled at her while cleaning up the pile of mess around the floor. "My dream is to build a restaurant of my own."

"So, " Mei continued her spaghetti, "where's your parents?"

"Not here," I picked up the schoolbag on the floor and inserted the books on the floor. "They always stay in their company's rest area during the weekdays and go home only for the weekends. I always do the household chores like cleaning, cooking, and shopping."

"Which brings me into another question," Mei stopped eating and faced me. "If you could do all these things, why didn't you just stay in your hometown?"

I joined her on the dining table and stared down on the floor. It really wasn't a good topic for me to discuss. I sighed and told her the reason. "My parents wouldn't let me. They said they didn't want to lose me again and wanted me to be at least in tbe same city with them."

"Lose you again?" Mei raised an eyebrow, really confused onf that part of the statement.

"It's a long story," I just stared back. "All I could tell you is it's a painful memory."

"Oh..." Mei stopped for a moment. The silence in the room is heavy.

"Um..." Mei started to break the silence, "what's in the locket? I really curious of why it's so important."

I took out my locket from under my shirt and opened it. It contained a small picture of two identical twins, holding eachother on the shoulder. Their smiles were big and very cheerful. I showed the picture to her.

"Your twin brother?" Mei studied the features on the picture carefully.

"Yeah, it was taken 13 years ago, the day before I got seperated from him," I stared back at her.

"Oh... did your parents got divorced?"

"No, no," I chuckled. "They're doing just fine."

"So what's the reason?"

I sighed heavily and took the locket back. "It... involves that long story..."

"Oh... I'm sorry..."

"No need to apologize. It actually inspires me to go with my parents too. You see, every time I move to another city, I always find a part time job at a restaurant. I thought, maybe I can finally find him there. But it turns ouit, I was wrong. There's no data about him for the last 13 years."

"Oh... You must've cared a lot."

"Yeah. I once saved his life, but he disappeared the day I woke up..."

"Look, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I'm really sorry I'm being such a pest." Mei tried to comfort me.

"It's okay," I smiled back. "You know, you're the first person in the last 13 years that was able to make me talk this much."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she chuckled. We started to chat about a lot of things, unknowing of the time.

"Say, can I stay here tonight?" Mei asked me. "I wanted to find out more about you."

"Well, I guess it's fine," I scratched my head. "But, won't your parents get worried?"

"They're out of town today. They'll return later on Thursday."

"Okay then, you can use my parents' room over there," I pointed on the door far behind me with my thumb. "As for you clothings, I hope you don't mind wearing my mother's clothing."

"Actually, I brought my own set of clothing," she opened her bag, showing some neatly folded set of clothing inside.

"Wow, you came prepared."

"A detective must came prepared," she smiled back.

I took her to the empty room. It has a king sized bed located just in front of the door. The wardrobe to its left is made from mahogany and the flat screen TV is hung just next to the door.

“Well, I hope you’re comfortable,” I smiled. “The bathroom’s over there,” I pointed at another door inside the room. “I’ll serve breakfast at 6, okay?”

“Boy, you sound like a mother!” Mei chuckled. I hate to admit it, but she’s right. I joined her with a soft laughter.

“Why don’t you slip into something more comfortable, okay?” I slowly closed the door and walked to my other bathroom. I took a quick shower and change into my white polo t-shirt and brown pants. I stepped outside and saw Mei already in her pajamas. She sat down on the couch with her head turned towards me.

“So, what do you wanna talk about, Ms. Detective?” I joined her, bringing a tea set to the coffee table. I started to brew some herbal tea when she decided on a topic.

“I wanted to know if you had any kind of relationships with girls,” she chuckled.

“Wow!" I smiled. "Ms. Detective here loves gossips! Well, I traveled every year. I haven’t even met a girl I like!”

“Not even me?”

“Well, you’re charming, that’s for sure. But still, I can’t get rid of the feeling I’ve known you somewhere before.”

“Again, what’s with the flirt?” she became a little annoyed.

“I’m not flirting! It’s just the feeling I had!” I finished the brew and handed her a cup.

“Whatever…” Mei rolled her eyes and took a sip from the tea. “Again, your culinary skills impressed me. Even though this is just some instant tea, you managed to create such wonderful taste!”

“Thanks,” I smiled back. We decided to talk about other topics since the one we talked about is far too awkward.

“Say, mind if I see your room?” Mei asked me. “I’m curious about how much stuff you bring every year.”

“Sure, go right ahead,” I led her to my room and showed some of my stuff. I approached my laptop and noticed I received an E-mail.

“Oh, hold on a sec,” I told her. I opened my e-mail account and locate the new E-mail. Strangely enough, the mail didn’t have any information about the sender. What’s even weirder is that the E-mail was completely empty. No attachments, nothing.

“That’s weird…” I murmured. Unfortunately, Mei overheard and checked the mysterious E-mail as well.

“Hey, who is it from?”

“I dunno…” I shrugged. Suddenly, the white E-mail address began to write in the color of blood:

DEATH APPROACHES THEE. THOU SHALL ONLY HAVE A WEEK TO LIVE IN THIS WORLD.

The both of us were startled at the sudden and horrific change in the screen. We yelled in terror and jumped back, landing on our bottoms. We panted for air and checked the mail again. It was blank white once again. I turned my head back to Mei who was holding her chest.

“Did you see what I just saw?” I gasped for air. I was responded by a nod.

“Some prank that was," Mei rubbed her chest. "It was ultimately scary!”

“I think I lost a year of lifespan somewhere.”

“If I find it, can I keep it?" she tried to joke around. We chuckled once again before turning off my laptop. We finally regained our breath and calmed down a bit. I looked at the alarm clock and it read 11:04 PM.

“Well, let’s get some sleep,” I suggested. “You probably don’t want to be late for school.”

“Geez! You sound like a father already!” Mei smiled back at me. She turned around and walked towards my parents’ bedroom.

“Well, goodnight, ‘Dad’!” she emphasized the last word. The both of us laughed and I just responded with another smile.

“Goodnight ‘sweetie’! Sweet dreams!” we smiled at each other before closing our doors and went straight to bed.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE CHAPTER 1

The Transfer

Parallel universe. Alternate dimension. Other realm. All of these terms are connected with each other, which are dimensions. The 4 dimensions we see are length, area, volume, and time. The other 6 dimensions are still unknown to us. When all 10 strings are combined, these strings will cause major changes in our lives.

My parents own the P&M Gems, which excavates and cleans gems and crystals that are used to make jewelries. The mines are spread all across the world, which is one of the reasons why I travel from school to school. They need to observe the mines, making sure if they are working well or not.

Sometimes, they need to improve the area to make better profit. That’s why they never pay much attention to the homes we stayed. In fact, I did all the home chores, like cooking, cleaning, laundry, and stuffs alike.

Because they were never at home, one year, I told them I could rent my own place. They were hesitant at first, but they finally agreed. From that day on, I had my own apartment every year. Even though I could live alone, my parents forced me to come with them, though I never really asked the reason.

This routine goes on and on without stopping. This year, however, changes a lot of this routine.
As usual, I got transferred to a new area. This year, I got transferred to Rockwood Academy, one of the most popular schools in the area. I felt very reluctant to go there, because the popularity causes plenty of rich students to go there. The rich students there are famous for quoting “Money Solves Problems”, one of the “my most hated personality list”.

I wanted to complain to my parents, but they said that there are no other schools around the vicinity. So apparently, I had no choice. I started to think that this year, I wouldn’t make it till the end.

I arrived in front of the faculty office, meeting my new homeroom teacher. She’s probably in her mid 30’s with short brown hair and blue eyes. Her height is around 6’4”, which is similar to me.

“Hi, you must be Michael,” she greeted me. ”Welcome to Rockwood Academy. I’m your homeroom teacher, Ms. Elijah.”

“Nice to meet you,” I shook her hand.

“You look really different from our students,” she commented. I guess it can’t be helped. This school usually has students who are neat and well dressed. My messy black hair, dark T-Shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers really made me stood out.

“Now then, shall we get you to your new class?”

I nodded and followed her to my new classroom. As she said, I really stood out from the rest of the crowd. I caught the attention of everybody at the small room. They kept staring on my very casual appearance.

“Please introduce yourself,” Ms. Elijah ordered me.

I stepped forward a little and cleared my throat. My light blue eyes stared towards the huge crowd. “My name is Michael Stone. It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Now then, why don’t you sit right over there?” Ms. Elijah pointed to an empty seat down at the back. I just nodded and sat there. As I sat down, I heard some of the girls in front of me started gossiping.

“He looks very laid back.” “Why does he go to a school like this?” “Does he even know where he is now?”

“All right class, that’s enough!” Ms. Elijah interrupted. “We have to be more welcoming to our fellow student, understand?”

Time ticked slowly as I waited. This is gonna be the most boring places I’ve ever been, I thought.

The first period bell rang and I sighed in relief that it’s over.

“Michael, can you come here please?” Ms. Elijah called me. I stood up in front of her desk.

“Since this is your first week here, why don’t you take a look around the campus?” she suggested. “Want me to accompany you?”

“That’s alright, ma’am,” I declined. “I can look around by myself.”

“All right then,” she smiled. “Your locker number is 09675, which is next to the culinary class. Here’s the key for the lock,” She handed me a small silver key with a tag attached to it. “Try not to cause any trouble, okay?

I nodded and exited the room. I followed the rows of lockers and found mine next to the Culinary Class. I opened the lock with the key and placed most of my belongings in there. As I closed the locker door, I noticed a Chinese girl walking out of the class. Her long twin pig-tailed hair and fancy beige skirt jumped up and down as she walked past the doorway. Her deep brown eyes match the sweater she’s wearing. I know that I haven’t met her before, but I felt like I have known her before.

“Hey!” she called me with an Asian accent. “You must be the new transfer student. My name’s Mei Shou.”

“Michael Stone, nice to meet you,” I shook her hand.

“Hey, they’re right,” she commented.” You do stand out of everyone else.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, your clothes really don’t match with the rest of us.”

I sighed of disappointment. Even she talked about my fashion sense.

“So, have you toured the campus yet?” she asked me.

“No, I was about to.”

“Let me give you the tour,” she tugged my arm really hard. ”I’ll give you the 4-1-1 about this place. Come on!”

I unwillingly got the tour around. We started our tour in the main building, which contains dozens of classes and thousands of lockers. To the left of it is the gymnasium. She said that it is mainly used for basketball and athletic practice. Behind it, a massive football field stands there with benches for the meet.

We passed another building to the right of the main building. It contains the cafeteria and library. I’m amazed of the amount of books contained in there. There must’ve been millions of them. Next to that building is the campus park. She said students usually go there to have some relaxation.

As we’re passing the campus park, I still can’t shake the feeling of knowing her a long time ago. I know I have only met her for a few minutes, but I felt like we’ve met each other for years. I finally stopped thinking about it and asked her straight out.

“Mei, have we met somewhere before?”

“No,” she told me. “Why?”

“I think I’ve seen you before, somewhere”

“Are you trying to hit on me?”

“No, I’m being serious. I feel like…”

Before I could finish my sentence, a booming voice echoed towards us. “Hey! New Guy!”

We turned around and saw a towering giant standing in front of us. His height of 7’2’’ literally beats mine. His blue eyes are full of anger and stared at me like I’m his worst enemy. His football jersey didn’t do a very well job on hiding his very toned muscle.

“What are you doing with my girlfriend!?” He shouted on my face.

“Cool it Bryan!” Mei yelled back. “I’m not your girlfriend anymore!”

“Why are you going with this messed up guy!?”

“I’m just showing him around campus that’s all!”

The both of them drew a huge crowd around us. I felt very uneasy about it as they continue to bicker like a couple.

“You’re coming with me, right now!” Bryan grabbed Mei’s arm forcefully. I knew she was in pain because her face winched at that moment. I knew I had to stop this now. I quickly grabbed Bryan’s wrist and held it in place. He stared daggers towards me.

“It’s very impolite to crush a lady’s arm, Bryan,” I coldly stared back as I forcefully made him let go of Mei’s arm.

“Why you…!” Bryan can’t control his rage any longer. He started to punch me towards my face. Fortunately, due to years of martial arts, I skillfully evaded the attack while tossing my books to Mei. The crowd surrounding us started to chant “Fight! Fight!” as Bryan gave me more punches that I could evade easily.

“What’s the meaning of this!?” another voice looms above us. We turned and saw Ms. Elijah with a furious look on her face.

“You! My Office! Now!” she pointed at the three of us.

‘Hooo boy…’ I thought and sighed.

In her office, the three of us were standing in front of her mahogany desk. She sat on the chair on the other side, tapping right forefinger on the desk.

“What’s wrong with you?” she scolded us with a very stern, yet gentle, voice. “First day in the campus and what happened? A fight happening in the middle of the school grounds.”

“He started it,” Bryan pointed at me. Mei and I turned our heads in an instant.

“What!?” we shouted together.

“That’s low, even for you!” Mei yelled back.

“It doesn’t matter who started it!” Ms. Elijah shouted. “All I know is that you three broke the school code in campus ground. Mr. Stone, Mr. Stellar, I have no choice but to suspend you for two weeks.”

“That’s not fair!” Mei tried to fight back. “Michael didn’t do anything wrong!”

I stopped her from continuing, not wanting her to be involved. “It’s okay Mei, I’m fine with this.” I turned my attention towards my homeroom teacher and bowed down. “Excuse me…” I said as I exited the campus. To make matters worse, the weather started to change and the rain started to pour like a waterfall.

'Greaaat...' I thought to myself. Since I didn't bring any umbrella that day, I had to walk down to my apartment in the soaking rain. I arrived at my pretty cheap apartment down the street. I immedietely ran up the stairs, not wanting to use the elevator, and entered my room, which is room 413. Because some people believes that this room is haunted, cursed, or bad luck, I got it at a very low price.

The small apartment is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, a living room, a kitchen and a diningroom. The floor is covered with wooden planks and the maroon wallpaper covers the walls. I tossed my bag to the floor beside my sofa and went to the bathroom. I filled the bathtub with hot water as I began to strip my clothes. I stared at my toned body in the mirror and rubbed the scar across my torso. It reminded my horrible childhood experience. I got that out of my mind and took a relaxing dip in the tub. I began to relax my tensed body in the cozy water. I was careful enough not to fall asleep in it and began to coat myself with soap and shampoo. After a good clean bath, I went out of the room and rummaged my bag. I noticed something was out of place.

"My locket! It's gone!" I ransacked the bag, hoping it was still in there. But as it turns out, it's really missing. The most important object in my life, disappeared into thin air. I groaned and went straight to bed.

"This is the worst first day ever..." I told myself as I began to close my eyes, hoping this day would end quickly.