Prologue | Lights Out

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•Put your lights out, hit the pavement, that's what I call entertainment, all the violence makes a statement.•

•••

It was a sunny afternoon, 20xx. What a perfect day it was, really, right up until the end.

Monsters had been released from Ebott for a month, a whole new rights campaign launched and it was going off without a hitch, monsters were getting homes, jobs, even new friends in form of the humans.

The Ebott town school even took in some monster students.

Things were going great.

Micheal, Vi and Pluto were all just at the end of 8th grade, going on to become freshman, semi-eager to meet new people, maybe even some monsters.

Middle of December, right before Christmas break.

That's when it happened.

78 reported casualties, an almost uncountable number of injuries. All orchestrated from four different people all across town. Four different Monsters.

People didn't even know for sure they were monsters, they just jumped the gun on riding the blame train straight into the nearest minority.

Months and months of work getting monsters better living conditions ruined, and it took years for that to build back up to what it is.

Riots broke out a week after the incident and ended two years afterwards.

Many children were orphaned, an even larger number spending the rest of their existence six feet under.

The town was practically a ghost after the event, only winter's chilly breeze blew through, countless people left town, for funerals or for good.

Something that the rioters don't bring up is that monsters were killed too.

13 of those casualties were monsters.

Two of them were children.

It wasn't even confirmed that the murderers were monsters at all.

All Micheal knew was that he would never get the sound of the schools alarm out of his head. The cold automated announcement of a code red, the teacher ushering the students to hide in corner, huddled together, quivering with fear.

This was no drill, and you could hear the shouts.

The alarm went off quickly, yet so did the sound of an explosion.

When the students were rounded up in front of the church, the nearest safe building, they started counting.

People were missing, even some from Micheal's class, and they weren't in the building either, gone.

Later their bodies would be found, but for now the teachers and staff started calling parents, and started counting orphans.

This was a small town at the time, home to around 200 humans and only 90 monsters who had houses.

Many children were declared orphans.

Many children like them.

•••

Micheal sucked in a breath, standing in the front of the class, about to give a presentation on Einstein's theory of multiple dimensions, a less popular theory but still later proven correct. Albeit with no arbitrary knowledge of the multiverse.

"Today, I'd like to talk to you about my one true fe-," he was interrupted, the code red sound blaring quite loudly in everyone's ears, he almost jumped, the sound enough to startle some paranoia into him. 

He stumbled over thoughts a moment, before he realized his classmates were scrambling for the back wall, he grabbed Vi and Pluto, worried more-so for them, as he almost threw himself against the back wall.

Trembling.

For a while of just sitting in silence he started trembling.

Not knowing what was going on was scarier than knowing there was a soon to be serial killer prowling the halls, waiting for their next victims.

He felt Vi clasp his hand and he calmed a bit. Glancing at Pluto to check on him, he seemed completely out of it, likely something of a dissociation episode kicked in really hard to help him never remember this event ever. Save him the extra trauma.

Micheal was glad, though he couldn't stop the salty wetness pouring down his cheeks, as he trembled. He couldn't help but think that he was too young to die, and with these thoughts he gripped Vi's hand harder, wondering if it would be okay to grab Pluto's hand too.

Micheal couldn't stop trembling even if he wanted too. His eyes were blown wide and he was glancing around the room to every point of entry, trying to make sure everything would be okay.

Vi was quietly sobbing beside him, nothing more than the sounds of his classmates breaths permeated the room.

The teacher lying in wait with nothing but a pair of scissors to defend ten scared out of their mind teenagers.

Somewhere along the way the building began trembling too, and various loud wall breaking noises were heard.

Eventually it went chillingly silent, and Micheal felt a tingle go down his spine before half the ceiling caved in.

Once the smoke cleared kids were coughing.

Thankfully the other side of the classroom collapsed, but the smoke was enough to get the students coughing, and that wasn't good for when your trying to be quiet.

Finally when people quieted down, everything went back to being eerily silent.

The alarm was gone, but Micheal knew it wasn't safe. He just had a gut feeling in his soul. Something was wrong and everything was dangerous. The walls had eyes and the building was breathing with him. Hyperventilating.

He heard footsteps outside the door and he cried a little quieter, gripping Vi's hand like his life depended on it, and he ended up holding Pluto's hand too, worried for them both, and himself.

After what seemed like hours passed, the intercom turned on. Playing what was barely static for quite a while, a broken and horrible sound, likely due to the blasted state of the front office, but a voice could be heard through it.

"All remaining students and staff evacuate to the church for a role call," the voice of the superintendent. Micheal breathed out a sigh, interrupted by a loud boom going off, something rushing, like wind but louder.

Micheal glanced up with cloudy crying eyes at the teacher as they opened a side door and started ushering students out.

He was in the middle of the line next to Pluto and Vi. Yet, by the time they made it stumbling out of the woods, the three were second to last. Yet no one heard a scream. Nothing sounded out in those five minutes in the woods.

Five minutes in hell.

Five minutes being hunted.

Like rats locked in a maze to be examined and watched as they made their march towards salvation.

Micheal, Pluto and Vi made it out.

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