Beyond

ᑕᕼᗩᑭ丅ᗴᖇ 丅ᗯᗝ

𝓢𝔂𝓵𝓿𝓲𝓪 𝓖𝓸𝓽𝓱 ✶༄ ‧₊˚

Further south, in the deserts of Arizona, Sylvia Goth's test was interrupted by an announcement going over the loudspeakers.

"Attention, students, school is dismissed early. Please return to your residence."

Confused, she stood up, she hated math and wasn't complaining that the test was interrupted, but she was still relatively puzzled. She grabbed her stuff, exited the classroom, and opened up into the hallway.

She walked through the contemporary white hallways, the bright white lights lining the ceiling and reflecting off the sleek white lockers, the glowing blue keypads off to the side of a large screen that contained advertisements from the other students.

As she walked, she saw a familiar blonde in front of her, Kiana Graves. She jogged lightly to catch up to her.

"Hey, Ki!" She said happily, readjusting her bag strap.

"Oh hey, girl!" She responded, still walking forward, Sylvia next to her.

"School was dismissed early. I am definitely not complaining."

"Oh my god, same!" Ki replied, and Sylvia laughed.

"Girl, I was dismissed right at the beginning of my algebra test."

"Lucky! I was already halfway through when we were dismissed."

You see, Kiana was a Junior because she was 17, and Sylvia was a Freshman because she was 15, so they had different schedules.

A sudden robotic voice sounded over the speakers.

'Please, any remaining students, return to your residence immediately.'

"I should probably get going," Sylvia said, running slightly. "See you tomorrow!"

"Bye," Kiana replied with a lazy wave.

Sylvia ran lightly out of the large doors and into the deserts of Arizona. She pulled a small box out of her pocket and clicked the top, she set it on the ground, and it unfolded into a normal-sized skateboard.

She clicked a red button on her wrist, and a hologram appeared. A song started to play.

< Going Down Fighting - Unleash the Archers >

"Oh yeah," quickly popping in some red earbuds, she started nodding her head to the familiar beat.

She hopped on and started down the road at a steady speed. She eventually made it to her neighborhood. She slickly got off of the skateboard, and it folded back up into the palm-sized box.

She walked up the front steps that led to her front door, placing her hand on the middle of the door is opened.

"I'm home, guys! Thanks for the greeting, by the way," she said as she kicked off her shoes, not bothering to put them away. She took off her bag and hung it up on their coat tree.

On her way to the kitchen, she felt a small force run into her and little arms wrapped around her waist. She laughed slightly and picked up her six-year-old sister.

"Hey, Vali!" She laughed and moved some of her light hair off her face.

"Silvie, I missed you!" She said, wrapping her arms around Sylvia's neck.

"I missed you too, Vali,"

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

If anyone looked up to Sylvia, it was Vali. At one point, one year ago, when Sylvia was fourteen, Sylvia had cut herself some bangs. Soon as Vali saw, she insisted she wanted bangs to be like her older sister. Sylvia was never annoyed by this. She thought it was adorable how Vali wanted to be like her.

"Wanna go raid the kitchen?" Sylvia asked her sister, setting her on the ground.

"Yeah!" Vali replied over-enthusiastically.

"Shhh," Sylvia said, holding a finger in front of her mouth. Vali nodded, and they crept up behind the kitchen island. Sylvia grabbed Vali's tiny hand and led her to the pantry while crouching.

"You ready?" Sylvia whispered, and Vali nodded. "Okay, one, two, three!" With that, they jumped up and quickly sprinted to the pantry.

When they opened the pantry door, Sylvia started grabbing her favorite top-shelf snacks, and Vali grabbed a few bags of fruit snacks off the bottom shelf.

"Okay, let's go," Sylvia said. They ran out of the pantry, Sylvia closing the door behind them, and ran upstairs. Once they were in the hallway, they reviewed their loot.

"Good job Vali," Sylvia said, looking at the many packets of fruit snacks that Vali dropped on the ground. "Now-" A shout cut her off from downstairs.

"Girls! I'm home!" Her mom had just gotten home from work.

"Cr- I mean, shoot, let's hide." Sylvia scooped the food and put it under a rouge blanket.

"Hi, mom!" Sylvia shouted at the same time Vali screamed. "MAMA!"

Vali sprinted down the stairs, and Sylvia ran to catch up to her.

"Sylvia, your already home?"

Sylvia smiled and hugged her mom. "Yup, we were dismissed thirty minutes early."

"That's strange. . ." Her mom trailed off when Vali jumped up and hugged her mom.

"Hi, mama!" Her young eyes were sparkling with happiness.

"Hi, angel!" Her mom hugged her back, and Sylvia watched happily from the staircase landing. "Who wants dinner? I made loaded tuna salads!"

"Yes!" Sylvia said happily. That was her favorite, though her younger sister was not as enthusiastic.

"Mama," She stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms. "I want chicken."

"I can make some just for you," Her mom replied, tapping her little nose. Vali giggled and ran off to play.

Sylvia did a small half-smile before going to her room.

Fifteen minutes later, dinner was ready. They enjoyed their meal and went to watch some tv.

They went to their living room, and Vali jumped on Sylvia's lap, she hugged Vali from behind, and Vali giggled.

Their mom laughed and turned the tv on. Immediately the tv automatically switched to an emergency broadcast.

"Attention, all United States of America residents," There was a pause.

"Mama, what does that mean-" Vali was cut off by a soft 'shh' from her mom.

"As some are aware, there is a black hole in our galaxy. It will reach our solar system in a matter of five months. As a result, our officials have devised a plan to neutralize or check the safety and stability of it possibly."

Sylvia raised an eyebrow and looked at her mom, her mom shrugged, and Sylvia looked down at Vali, who was playing with Sylvia's long hair.

"The youth of our country is our future, and if the black hole reaches earth, there is not enough time to evacuate everyone. That being said, we have chosen to ensure humankind doesn't go extinct."

What the heck, are they sacrificing children? Sylvia thought questionably.

"So, we will pick, at random, ten girls and ten boys between the ages of ten and eighteen to be sent into an elite training program before being sent through and report back to the headquarters of its safety. Don't worry, with our advanced technology, the safety of your child is most certainly of the utmost importance."

Sylvia thought scornfully. This girl is so fake. She glanced down, feeling a tug on her hair. Vali was still playing with it. Sylvia scanned everyone's faces. Her mom looked scared, Vali was oblivious, and she knew she looked confused.

"Without further ado, let's announce the names, ladies, first."