Gone, all of it. Every noise and smell that normally filled my nostrils as I entered that old broken gymnasium was gone. It had only been three days since the rain started, yet some how, the rain had entered even here, my sanctum, my sanctuary. My sneakers squeaked, sloshed and splattered as the sticky hot residue of the strange opaque rain adhered the bright red rubber soles of the shoes to the oak floor. The metal doors echoed the thunder as they slammed shut behind me, the lights buzzing to life with the familiar click of the switch. He had to be here. If anywhere, that mangy, annoying, hyper active little runt I called my brother had to be here. When our parents fought, we'd come here; when there was a storm, we'd come here; when things were rough, we'd come here.
Well, here could be one of three locations. A willow tree outside the mall, already washed out by the strange storm, the local comic store, closed today, or here: the school gymnasium. The more I called his name, the more fear sunk into my soul.
"PJ?!"
"PJ?!"
It wasn't a large gym, but each shudder of the lights momentarily made me hope that the door slamming was him, and not the wind. However, before I could call for the seventeenth time, a loud buzzing filled my ears, and I saw nothing more.
When I regained consensus, my mind was instantly overtaken by the thought of 'BAD TOUCH' as
someone's hand rested uncomfortably close to my hip. I could feel duct tape on my wrists and mouth, too many poorly made bracelets had sealed the feeling in my memory. At first, the thought that filled every teenage girl or her mother's mind during a situation like this echoed into my own I'm going to get killed. Yet then I heard their voices, and recognized one of them as that of someone I trust.. who should have been on the other side of the world doing some secret government military deal. I chose to listen, instead of licking the duct tape till it came off my lips.
"How long ago did it begin?" Asked Genrick, the voice I recognized, every wave of his words being just as strong and comforting as they had been when he taught me archery while I was still under 5'8.
"About three days ago, just after the prince came of age."
There was a prince? Ok, hold up now, this whatever it is is supposedly driving down the dirt and dust roads of South Dakota. The only prince here belongs to the few Indian Tribes that stick around.
"Do you know what this is?" Asked a female voice with worry, but sounding rather regal, and kinda old, the 'prince's' mother perhaps? At least someone was finally asking sensible questions. A thick, steaming liquid about the color and consistency of white house paint had been falling from the sky for three days, whatever it touched just kinda got sticky or the paint-rain absorbed into, turning grey, and eventually black, then crusting over and falling away, leaving behind no color. Surprisingly, though a lot of people had been effected by the situation, some of us, including myself, were left unscathed. Honestly I was disappointed, I'd been begging my parents to let me bleach my hair for ages and this was the perfect opportunity.
"I've only heard stories, but it is called Uniora, whe-" Generick was interupted by Mrs. Queen person
"I know of it, without knowing anything of Ataris, the prince has nothing to base his control off of, and thus his sorrows rain down upon the world he is in in reflection of the world he does not know. In essence, he's unknowingly erasing this world." Her voice had turned sad and stiff, and thus I knew she had to be connected to the prince somehow. For some odd reason, I'd been filled with sympathy for this prince. Some birthday present, ending the world without even knowing it. Strangely enough also, I no longer cared that I was tied up in the back of who knows what going who knows where. The conversation, however, came to an end, and I didn't know why I was in my position, until of course, we stopped and they told me.
"Alright, untie the guardian, she should be safe now." Queen person ordered as the brakes squealed.
As the light blinded me I discovered myself to be in a dark, damp basement filled with the skeletons of previous girls who had been kidnapped during anomalies.
I'm kidding, I was at McDonald's, and now the only white goop that concerned me was a McFlury.
However there was something I should have noticed that I hadn't, three days ago was the actual birthday of my adopted brother. And she called me a guardian.
End of Part 1: Please Comment or favorite for more!
