VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 58

James stood in the center of the auditorium, most of the football team gathered around him, including Rian. Theatre students and some of the nerds were there as well. "Hell yeah!" James cheered, lifting up an audition sheet. "I'm playing Bender!"

"I'm playing a rock," another student stated, eyeing the paper.

Sadie stood nearby at the entrance to the auditorium, watching as Rian got his turn to look over the paper, before he came jogging up to her. "I'm playing Alejandro the Dummy!" He informed her proudly.

"How fitting," she teased. With football season over for the remainder of the semester, plenty of jocks had turned toward theatre, looking for a moment to shine in some proverbial spotlight. Sadie noticed somebody stride by her and Rian, who she recognized immediately. It was Stain, wearing an unusually large coat today, storming by her and marching toward the large group of students. She caught a glimpse of his face, and for some reason, she felt her blood run cold. He'd looked livid, almost . . . inhumanly so. "Uh . . . Rian?" she whispered, nodding to Stain as he made his way into the crowd, making a beeline for James. Rian followed her gaze, and his face fell.

"Here we go again," he muttered.

Stain approached James, immediately stopping behind the towering boy, glaring up. His face was so red and bunched up that even James looked a little startled when he turned around. "Can I help you, Lame Stain?" the taller boy chortled, and was immediately punched in the nose from below. James didn't stumble, but his nose started bleeding. "Why you little—"

Some people started grabbing at Stain, but nobody was prepared for what happened next.

A small, black box about the size of a brick clattered to the ground next to Stain. It was covered in wires of various colors, and electrical tape. Sadie opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The next few seconds seemed to move in slow motion; Rian grabbed Sadie and ran for his life, faster than he'd ever run on the football field, scooping the girl up in his arms as best he could. A torrent of shouts roared behind him.

And then he felt a blast of heat.

Rian shot up on his cot, body drenched in cold sweat. He was breathing heavily, heart thundering a mile a minute in his chest. Taking a few seconds to calm down, he turned to look at Sadie, who was leaning against the wall as she sat on her bed, staring at him. "Same dream?" She asked quietly.

He gulped, before slowly nodding. "Yeah . . ." he breathed, his breath shuddering slightly. "I'm . . ." he closed his eyes, but didn't finish his sentence, unable to translate his thoughts into words at the moment.

Sadie seemed to understand, however, and nodded slightly, staring up at the ceiling. "Maybe we should like . . . I dunno . . . talk about it more? I felt better last night after we talked about it," she offered.

"Yeah . . . maybe," Rian huffed.

"Get up here," Sadie said, patting the spot next to her on the bed. Rian stood up and took a seat beside his best friend, wiping away the cold sweat that was beaded on his forehead.

"I just . . . I still can't believe it happened," Rian panted. "It's one of those things you hear about all the time, and you never think it'll happen to you, but . . ." he buried his face in his hands. "It did happen, Sadie. Stain bombed the . . ."

They were silent for a long moment as Sadie leaned against him, feeling him shivering slightly. "Nothing'll change that, too," she said quietly. "James, the team, our friends, and so many other people we never even met . . . gone . . ."

"I've been trying to, you know, not think about it. Ever since we got to Voxis. I keep putting the thoughts away, try to ignore them . . . and it's been easy, especially with our new friends, but . . . being back . . . I forgot how much it hurts."