"Revaan"
"Revaan"
"That voice again."
My dreams usually start with a strange girl's voice as I'm falling asleep. Despite the fact that we are not close, her face seems quite familiar. However, the unsettling reality that I am completely aware of is that I have never even met this girl before.
She's nothing more than a stranger.
Her constant strange questions are another sign of how odd she is. Indeed, it is challenging to even respond to them.
"Do you understand the purpose of leading a self-sufficient existence, Revaan?"
It is another peculiar one, hehe.
"Does our current way of life even require a reason?" Her look softened into a grin as I raised my own questions over hers.
"As anticipated, you are unaware that you are just seeing a tiny portion of this entire world."
Beep, beep, beep! I opened my eyes to the grating sound of my cheap alarm clock, and at the conclusion of my dream, her voice went away as well.
It is true that her last remarks and grin give me the creeps, but after giving it some serious thought, it's not surprising that her statements had some sinister, hidden meaning. Well, I do not find it bothersome anymore, though, because it has been a while since I started having these kinds of dreams. After all, it's only a dream.
As soon as I woke up, I recalled that today was my best buddy Nathan's birthday. I began following my usual routine, brushing my teeth, having breakfast, and eventually left for school with my bag.
I'm a first-year high school student. I live in Zenthara,an island with rolling hills and golden beaches. My academic performance is average in all aspects of my studies, including tests and extracurricular activities.
It is not that I can not score well, but I never considered it necessary. However, things were different when I passed my junior school final test with a 97%, since I needed to get admitted to a superior high school at that point. I can still clearly recall the funniest reaction I have ever witnessed from my friends, neighbors, and family when they saw my marksheet after receiving my results. Though I know that they did not anticipate an irregular student like me to receive the "First Position" in my class—apart from my father—I am not surprised to see such reactions. My father was a stationery shop owner. He is well familiar with my personality. Well, seeing their reactions was entertaining and unusual.
However, I think doing well in every area merely draws attention that is not needed. I thus just demonstrated my ability when it was required.
On my walk, I heard a recognizable voice from behind me.
"Rivaaaan! Hold on"
Nathan was on his bicycle. I immediately wished him as he came to a stop beside me. "Happy birthday my Buddy".
"Thank You!"
"Hff! I wonder if I'll be the star of the class today."
"Are you not throwing a party today?"
"Why not? We are hosting a big party tonight. And of course, I am inviting you too."
In the midst of our chat, we noticed a little boy standing on the roadside. He was glancing at the path that leads to an abandoned building. We walked up to the boy and asked —
"Hey kid! What type of object did you see that caused you to stand still like a tree?"
As we asked him why he was standing like that, he started responding to us with his own question.
"Brother! That was formerly a government building, right?"
"Yeah! But that fact has nothing to do with you. You shouldn't be here."
"Brother, my father often thinks that it is getting more and more dangerous to work for the government these days. Instead of protecting people from natural calamities, the government sometimes conceals information from them."
We realized that the youngster and his father must be going through some sort of torment when we heard such remarks from the boy.
"I am certain that you are not feeling well, but I do not know what type of thoughts had entered your head to cause you to utter such uncomfortable things—and I do not even want to know. You ought to return home immediately, in my opinion."
"I guess you are right, Brother; I have to go back for the time being."
The boy immediately fled to the opposite side of the street as he finished speaking.
"That kid seems mentally unwell, don't you think?"
"Yeah!" A typical human child cannot easily comprehend such scary facts. That kid doesn't seem normal.
"He's staring at this building. He appears to have had some past with the building."
My spooky history is often brought back to me by this structure. "About the kid, I am not sure, but I had a terrible history with this building."
"What?" Nathan looked at me with a skeptical expression.
"This 25-year-old structure was constructed specifically to conduct study on the mysterious huge spiral 250 meters from our island, Zenthara. The government provided funding to support this research."
"Okkk! But what do you mean by the terrible history?"
"Ahh! That's a complicated story, so forget it."
"Let's go! We are getting late."
All the students approached us with a smile as soon as we got to school, but not for me rather, for the birthday boy.
Hehe! It appears Nathan's ambition of becoming a star has come true.
After a little while, the Principal led Nathan to the Auditorium stage. As Nathan stood in front of hundreds of students on the auditorium stage to deliver a thank-you speech, the attention ignited a spark of confidence in him.
"Thank you! Thank you everyone. I stand before you today, filled with immense gratitude and joy, as I express my heartfelt thanks for the outpouring of love and warmth that has enveloped me on this special day. Your birthday wishes have made this day even more memorable and cherished than I could have ever imagined. And....."
I never thought the school would honor Nathan's birthday in such a manner. But that is hardly unexpected, given that he is the son of our island's mayor.
"Ouch!" While listening to Nathan's thank-you speech, I felt a kick in the back from someplace. Leah was standing in front of me, chewing bubble gum, when I turned around.
Leah is my friend, but she is more than a friend to Nathan.
"I hope Nathan has invited you to his party tonight."
"Of Course! Well, what will you offer him as a birthday present?"
"I considered presenting him with a cake that I baked myself. What about you?"
"Hmm! I'm still thinking."
"What? Still thinking?"
"I mean he is already wealthy and in possession of everything he could ever desire. Therefore, I am at a loss for ideas for a birthday present that would actually be beneficial to him."
"OK! Then let me help you."
Leah persisted in helping me to get Nathan's birthday present ready. Really, friends are so beneficial.
At around 7:30 p.m., Leah and I showed up at the M. Norris's Mansion carrying a huge three-layered strawberry cake.
Yes, I cooperated with Leah's idea of gifting Nathan a self-baked cake. In addition to the cake, we also gave him a colorful scrapbook, a box of chocolates, and some roses. The book was the most precious since Leah and I wrote our best wishes for him in it, as well as embellished it with stickers and some memorial images that depict our friendship. Although this present may come out as a little too childish, we are aware that he would prefer gifts that may offer him love and support over costly watches, shoes, clothing, etc.
Setting aside the gift part, we discovered that many individuals attended the party, including a few celebrities and influencers. It was also expected, considering that Nathan's father is not just our island's mayor but also a renowned business executive.
Nathan greeted us with a pleasant voice from behind us as we were mingling in the crowd. He was dressed in a white shirt, a black coat, black trousers, and black shoes. He really looks like a very wealthy gentleman. And honestly speaking, such expensive clothes are out of my league.
Along with a couple of our classmates and other acquaintances, we also got to meet Mr. Matthew Norris, Nathan's father.
————
«Weather Station: South Coast Area of the Island»
"Sir, the sensors are receiving some strong signals. Even the barometer data indicated that there is a very low pressure in the atmosphere. It appears like the weather is about to change for the worse."
"Which direction are we receiving the signals from?"
"Sir, the radar indicates that the signals originate from 250 meters north of the ocean where the spiral is located."
"From the Spiral? Please display the spiral's current satellite image."
"Done Sir. Please take a look at the monitor."
"Wait! Underneath the spiral, what is that blue light sparking?"
Another meteorologist happened to glance out the window in the middle of all of this, and what he saw shocked him greatly.
"Sir, I know you are busy, but please have a look outside the window."
"What happened???"
The head had a look outside and what he saw was unbelievable. A glimmer of blue light came from the north in the middle of the ocean. It was a massive light that reached the heavens.
"It was the same light we observed from satellite view."
An earthquake started out of nowhere.
"Woooh! A strong earthquake at a time like this?"
"It feels as if something dreadful is about to happen."
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