As I feel my feet sinking into the ground and stare into the black nothingness underneath my feet I feel a frail hand grip my forearm firmly. In the meantime, I hear a scream that becomes more distant by the second. (Was that Liam?) I immediately look around but all I see is a black mass, and the person I was with is nowhere to be found. "Aghh!" I hear a pained groan from above me and I jolt my head upwards to see Anette struggling to keep my body from falling into the unexplainable void. Woken up as I remember the urgency of our situation I grip her arm in response and try to grab the remaining piece of ground behind me with my other hand. Swiftly and in between muffled voices that I can't make out Max joins in too and due to mine and their efforts I get successfully pulled up and out of what could have been my deathbed. A wave of relief rushes over me as my feet rest on solid ground once again. (Phew that was close…) I think to myself as I see Max kneel in front of me and wrap her arms around my neck. “Jack!” She says in a way that almost makes me jump up. I tap her back reassuringly in response to her concerned actions. “Hey Thanks for pulling me… out?” I thank both Max and Anette for their efforts as I process what just happened and pause for a second. (Wait… The question is what DID actually happen?) As I remember the crumbling of the floor, I can’t help the urge to look back to the now destroyed classroom. Chloe is looking down at the seemingly neverending void where I and Liam fell… (LIAM!) His name gets stuck in my mind and I separate from the embrace I’m still wrapped around, quickly getting up from the somewhat kneeling position I was in. I take a good look inside the nothingness spreading right in front my eyes and I immediately prepare for the worst. Anette and Max follow suit as they get up and match mine and Chloe’s gaze. “Liam!” Chloe desperately calls out to him. “Where is Liam?!” She shouts as she turns to look at Anette. “Why didn’t you save him?!” Her shouting continues as she grabs the frail girl by the collar. “I couldn’t! He was already too far deep by the time I reached Jack!” She answers trying to justify her actions, but the blazing glare she gets from Chloe shows no sign of being retracted. “What do you mean you couldn’t?! Didn't those freaking powers of yours tell you anything about this classroom earlier?! Or did you intentionally let Liam fall while you took your sweet time grabbing HIM?!” Chloe furiously throws back, her rage burning as she points at me. “Yeah that’s it! You just wanted Liam out of the way because he didn’t fucking like you! WAS HIS LIFE SO MEANINGLESS TO YOU?!” Her shouting has reached its climax now as she raises her hand and curls it into a fist. “Hey stop that!” Max intervenes just in time separating the two, or separating Chloe from Anette more likely. As for me, I’m completely frozen in place as I look back down towards the location of the now crumbled classroom floor. (Did he really just die? Did I really just experience a classmate’s death?) Max’s firm and loud voice snaps me out of my trance. “It’s no one’s fault okay?! She may have some sort of ability that warns her for any potential danger but she’s not superhuman! She couldn’t have done anything more than she already did!” She logically explains her own point of view, trying to support Anette. “Of course you’d say that, since your best friend, is still alive and kicking!” Chloe's response comes quickly and without hesitation, her gaze now fixed at Max instead. “Look Chloe, I have no idea how you must be feeling right now although I’m pretty sure it hurts… But fighting won’t get us anywhere! We don’t even know what is going on or what caused this and we don’t even know what happened to Liam so let’s just all calm down, okay?” Max suggests a very logical and optimistic course of action, as she has regained her composure completely. (That’s so like her. I was kinda worried when I saw her so stressed out before but now she looks a lot better. And she’s right we need to get our act together. That, of course includes me.) I shake my head frantically as if to wake myself up and walk closer to the three girls bickering about. Chloe quickly separates and turns towards the void classroom. “Liam…” She spells out once again kneeling in front of the pitch black pit. Although I can’t see her face, I can hear her sobbing loud and clear. “Thanks… And I’m sorry.” Anette whispers so only I and Max can hear. “It’s okay no need to apologize.” Max replies without hesitation and then looks at both of us. “Let’s give her some time.” She says once again, giving Chloe the space she needs. "Hey, you really saved my ass back there. Thanks." I turn towards around flashing the most sincere smile I can muster, although my chesy still feels tight. "You're welcome..." She responds slightly nodding with a shy smile as we distance ourselves from Chloe.

After approximately 30 minutes, Chloe’s tears have dried up and we are now ready to roam around the school once again. “I’m sorry I said too much… to both of you.” Chloe comes right out and says as soon as she has regained her own composure. Max looked at Anette and with her approving nod she was quick to give a warm reply “It’s okay we totally get your outburst. What you’re going through is not easy at all and at the heat of the moment a lot can be said and done.” She said with a sincere smile and I quote. Although I still feel like Chloe is distancing herself from me in particular I can feel that her nerves have calmed down some. As we walk down the empty hallways of the school, I notice that the setting sun has been covered up by black clouds and the warm orange glow has replaced by a dark shade of grey. Not long after the sun vanishes from view, I can distinctly hear the sound of rain droplets gently hitting the windows. That and the sounds of our footsteps echoing through the hall make the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end. (This weather is not so bad actually.) It's nice when the outside world reflects on your feelings. Chloe lost her boyfriend, probably from the same mysterious power that keeps us imprisoned here. I may not have known him, but it's still pretty difficult accepting that I was talking to him just seconds before he fell. It fills my chest with a weirdly melancholic feeling. And I'm sure that even Max and Anette, who are in the same boat as me, feel that way too. We can't be sure he died, I know. But if I'm beign honest I don't see any way in him surviving that. (There's Rain outside...) I think as I take a good look at the clouded sky. (Maybe it's trying to match the rain inside our hearts.)


“Are you sure Davies is still here? Wouldn’t we have seen her by now?” Chloe asks as we walk up the stairs towards the student council room. “You have a point, but we might as well check. It’s not like we got anything else to do.” Max explains, as she’s the one in the lead once again. I hang in the back and try to piece things together, but as you’d expect, my efforts bare no fruit whatsoever. As Chloe agrees with her, and Anette and I follow silently behind them, we finally reach our destination. The four of us now standing in front of the student council room. As it has gotten visibly darker outside we can clearly make out the light shining from underneath the closed door, something that clearly gets our hopes up. The three girls look at each other and then Max turns at me with a somewhat pleading look. “Step aside. I’ll open it.” I almost immediately catch up to what she wants. I sigh while hanging my head and the girls clear a path between me and the door. (The guy opening the door… So cliché.) I playfully think to myself trying to relax my nerves. (The last time I did this I almost fell to my death…) I grab the doorknob and before I turn it I feel a slight but gentle touch on my shoulder. It’s Anette. I see her face as I turn around. “Don’t worry I don’t sense anything dangerous.” She says trying to reassure me. (Dude come on you’re a grown ass man and you need THAT much reassurance just to open a goddamn door?!) I mentally slap myself as I grip the doorknob tightly and swing the door open. As soon as I open the door I come face to face with the student council president, April Davies sprawled onto the floor, clearly unconscious. I freeze at the sight for a mere second but quickly take action rushing to her side right after. “Hey, April!” I say shaking her body, trying to wake her up. “Can you hear me?” I shake her shoulders once again and she jolts awake, almost like an electricity current ran through her. The others run inside too, circling us, as she turns to me with a somewhat terrified look, her breathing heavy. “Hey it’s okay. Calm down.” I say to her trying to reassure her. Her breathing slowly but surely starts stabilizing as she realizes the situation she's in. “Are you okay? Want me to help you up?" I ask sympathetically. “I-I’m fine. I’m okay.” She says slightly stuttering while not letting go of my forearm, which she grabbed while regaining consciousness. “Can you tell us what happened?” Max inquires in a soft tone. “I was here writing something down and suddenly… suddenly… She came in and...” April tries to explain as her eyes widen once again and her breathing becomes even heavier than before. “She?” Chloe repeats the word that bothered us all. April gasps in horror bringing her hand in front of her mouth and raising a trembling finger towards the entrance, which we all had our backs turned to. I spin my head around and what I see will probably stay with me until the day I die. A semi-transparent figure is hovering slightly over the floor. Her dark brown and unkempt hair basically cover her features. She slightly edges towards us and I try to get up but I'm frozen in place. I can't move a muscle... Every part of my body has ceased motion, save for my rapidly beating heart.  (Just what is happening in this school?)