Renascence

Chapter 3: Nightmare

"No!" I sit up in my bed. I held my chest as tears flowed incessantly down on my cheeks. I scanned the room for anything, but I was in the confines of my own room. No guards, no tanks. I already escaped. Yet I still felt the danger like it was real.

A nightmare.

I just let my tears flow as I was stunned by the absence. I shook my head and took a deep breath before wiping the sweat off my forehead and tears on my cheeks. That was just a dream, I repeated inside my head. You're now free. They can't find you.

I stood up on my bed and put on my gray hoodie. I also put my AirPods on my ears and connected it to my watch before playing music. I need some fresh air to breathe. Some bad memories that should be buried in the ground are still haunting me and it's annoying. It’s annoying how those memories that I’ve been trying to forget are still bothering me a lot.

The glass door on my dorm balcony automatically opened as I walked toward the balcony. The calm surroundings immediately greeted me. I sat on the railing and let the cold breeze blow away my black butt-length straight hair. I look at the sky and witness the beautiful crescent two moons shine through the calm yet gloomy night. It somehow makes me calm. The moon has been my best friend since I was a child. The moon knows everything.

I took a deep breath before deciding to leave the dorm for a walk. I need to think. I need to pull myself together. When I got out of the elevator the ambiance of the place was still the same, it still remained quiet and uncrowded. Probably because it's already late and there are curfew hours. I guess they are all well-disciplined or just scared of Sagan? I don't mind though.

While walking down the long hallway I looked up when I noticed something from afar, behind the main building. There were trees or woods behind it and that’s what a perfect place is called to listen to music and to upwind a chaotic mind.

I walked quietly towards it, making sure I wouldn't trigger any security system that would cause me to be expelled early. There are a lot of security systems around and they are extremely sensitive. Apparently, I am good at hiding my presence, which is why I arrived peacefully in the woods.

I approached a tree with broad branches before looking around again to see if anyone was following or looking at me. But when I felt that there were no other people around, I jumped on the branches of the tree until I found the perfect spot to lay down and sleep. I prefer to sleep on this tree than on a soft mattress. I'm not used to it. For me, sleeping on this tree is way more comfortable than in my dorm. I don't feel safe there since I'm not really used to it. I’m used to lying on hard and cold cement so I can’t really sleep well in my bedroom right now but I know that I will get used to it as time goes by.

When familiar music started to play, I closed my eyes and felt it. It's a song that is always sung by my favorite person to me. Sadly, that person couldn't sing it for me anymore. I was interrupted by a familiar presence above me. I opened my eyes and saw Sagan also leaning there on a tree branch above me while doing something. Why didn't I see him earlier or feel him? What is he? Oh, I forgot that he's the one and only school government president.

“Why are you here? It's almost curfew time. You shouldn't be outside of your dorm. You know the rules,” he mumbled in his usual cold tone.

“You are even here too, so why not?” I objected and rolled my eyes in the air. It's unfair when we students are following the rules but the officials aren't even following them.

I heard him scoff in disbelief. “I still have a lot of things to do, that's why I'm still on the outside. You should go to your dorm already if you don't want to be punished on your first day if they found out that you just broke the rules. It's the first warning from me.”

“What if I don't want to?” I challenged him.

“Then see you in the headmaster's office. You might get expelled on your first day if that's will happen,” he threatened, not even looking back at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I'll go ahead, President.”

I jumped on the branches to get down like what I did earlier. After landing on the ground, I immediately fixed myself before placing both hands in the pocket of my black jogger pants and was about to start walking to go back to my dorm already when he spoke, making me stop from walking. “There's an Arcaster tryout tomorrow, you should join to improve your ability more.”

I turned around and with a confused face I asked, “Arcaster?”

“Yes. It is work. Everything in this university is not free so you need to work and earn your own money or mears. Arcasters are those who investigate "Casters'' or people who committed a crime, intentionally or not, using their abilities. This place is not just a simple university. Peculiar who do not know how to live alone and earn their own mears are not welcome here. There's also a place where other older people live. The Altera—A place where other peculiars live.You can easily earn a lot of mears if you become an Arcaster. Also, Arcasters control their time and schedule, they can also refuse offers if they want or receive a dangerous mission outside the University,” he elucidated before he passed on my side.

“Think about it,” he said and walked away leaving me alone in the woods thinking about what he had just said.

If there's a place where other Peculiar live, does this mean that this place is also like a city? I should have known better. I should have done my research earlier. I didn't know about that or maybe they really hid it from outsiders for their safety because of intruders. But, where that Altera located then? And where and what time the tryout started? That man! He should also have said the full details about the tryouts!