Chapter 5 : A Lone in the World

Nero :

I just finished with the competition. I was so exhausted. It felt like I hadn't slept for days. I just wanted to go home & sleep. I thought to go home & tell mom how I did today. Today was one of the best days of my life. I defeated Vixxon. His friends expected him to win. Even though he didn't have any animal or power except martial arts. The rest of the competition was going on. Since I was tired, I walked home. The results were going to be announced tomorrow at school of Day 1 of the Duels. I was selected but I was curious as to who my opponent would be.

If you guys didn't know, Vixxon doesn't have an animal or a specific power/ability, he is a brilliant martial arts person. People are strong in their own ways. Vixxon was strong in the martial art section. But if you know martial arts & you are competing with a animal user, the chances of you winning is 0%. Why? Martial arts is a very tough technique to combat. Only some people of this technique can compete & win over with animal users.

Vixxon wasn't one. He was just a beginner, so he lost the battle. I'm happy that I won though. The reason why I hate Vixxon is because he gives me the vibes of a snake. I don't want to hate him but my mind tells me to & it happens automatically. Like we were meant to hate each other from the beginning. Since my animal is a mongoose, I am supposed to hate snakes. So I hate Vixxon typically.

I liked Vanessa, his friend. She has orange curly hair with blue eyes. She was my first crush. I felt that maybe it was too early to have crushes but as I dug deeper into the topic, I understood that love never had to do with a particular age to begin with. I always sat next to Vanessa although she didn't like it. Love is a disease that no one can never get a cure of.

A day had passed since the competition. It seemed like any regular day at school. No one was talking about anything. People just minded their own business. The results for The Duels wasn't announced yet. It was Day 2. I was supposed to fight today. But since it was a regular day at school, something seemed off.

I felt weird for some reason. The Duels was after school. So I had to attend the classes. The other thing that was weird was that Vixxon, Vanessa, Genesis & Stevven hadn't come to school. It was weird because, they never missed any class. The class began & just with the blink of an eye, the classes got over. The Duels began. I went to the stadium but just at that moment, someone threw a paper ball at me.

I opened it & read a message saying, "Come to the library". I wondered who it was, so I went upstairs in a hurry as the Duels could start any moment. As I opened the door, no one was there. I thought to look inside, but I couldn't see anyone. Maybe it was a prank. I thought to go downstairs & just as I was about to go, cold freezing air starting flooding the room. The sunlight enchanting the room started to fade.

It started to become dark. The silence adding a perfect spot for fear. I turned back to run but the door was already closed & so did the sun. It was now dark & eerie. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I screamed for help but no one responded back. I was all alone. Just then, I saw someone like I felt the presence of someone,

"Hey is anyone there?", I asked my body heavily shaking with fear.

I was nyctophobic, I had the fear of darkness. As I waited for a response, I heard nothing but a cry in the distance. I went near the voice. It was of a woman's. As I came nearer to the voice, it stopped. The faded sunlight now came & showed the woman like a spotlight. She stared at me. A face I could never forget in my life. Her face was burnt, her skin peeling off, blood all over her dress, she came running to me. In shock, I ran towards the door, hoping for it to open.

I was near to the door but some force pulled me & put me down. The force was powerful. In a state of shock, I couldn't fight back. The door wasn't opening as well. She was now in front of me, but it was not her anymore. It was someone else. The person wore a black robe & he/she had a pale white skin. They lifted their hand & pointed their finger towards me. Just at that moment, books from the shelves starting floating & picked up a momentum & flew towards me. I knelt down & covered my head.

The person stood in front of me & chanted, "You will be under a spell that will make you lonely & unknown. It will last forever until a voice comes alone." After saying that the person disappeared.

Just then a golden book hit me & I fainted. After some minutes, I regained my consciousness. I was still at the library. Everything was normal. The sun was still there in the library, the books were at their places. It seemed like nothing ever happened. It felt real, all of it. The woman, the flying books, all of it. I walked towards the door, the sunlight shining over me. I opened the door & walked out of the library.

As soon as I exited the library, the atmosphere was silent & eerie. No one was playing around, the classroom doors were closed. Maybe I was in for a long time & they probably closed the doors. I couldn't see a single soul. I thought to take my bag & go back home. As I reached the class, I saw the class board. It was 11 - N! Basically our classes are arranged with the age number & the 1st letter of the last person's name.

Which meant that there was only 1 person having a name starting with the letter N. I realized that it was me! Maybe what the person told was true. Maybe I was all alone. I was in fact Alone in the world.