Hollow Twilight - A LitRPG Novel

Chapter 1

Reid felt the bird hit the window before he heard it. It was a sickening thump. Every head in the classroom turned to look. One girl gasped. The teacher paused in her lecture at the front, turned away from the blackboard, chalk pinched between two fingers.

It was Reid who struggled with it the most though. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, his breathing was suddenly so much faster. But, then again, he sat right beside the window, where his goofy friends had set up camp when they had first come to the classroom and decided on their seating. And Reid had gotten the window seat. And now he was paying for it.

"Continuing," Miss Arnaut scratched out more words on the board. Only some of the heads turned back to her. Most of the students were still engrossed in the window. Reid had focused on the front of the class. He wouldn't dare glance out the window. What if he saw it? That just wasn't something he was ever interested in.

The rest of that class was a daze for him. It wasn't until he was halfway through his lunch in the cafeteria that he realized time had even passed.

"It was crazy, right?" Maple's voice was in his ear. She was right next to him, her leg was pressing against his because of the limited space on the bench-like seat. Sometimes, she smelled a little like vanilla. Today was one of those days. It was a welcome relief from the prior event. "Like, everyone was just so quiet."

"I've never heard of that happening," Issac said. "Like, there's so many windows here, right? I mean, there's a lot of windows in all the schools. But, like, that just never happens."

"Maybe people don't talk about it," Maple countered. "I mean, it's kind of scary, right Reid?"

"Hmm?" Reid stopped with his spoon of soup in the air in front of his mouth. His eyes swiveled between Maple and Issac across from him, and then over to his left, where some strangers were sitting having their own discussion of gossip. Then it was back to Issac, a pair of brown eyes intensely staring him down, waiting for the answer to help settle the debate. "Yeah, it was kind of shocking."

"So, you don't think we're the first to experience it then?" Issac asked, leaning forward over his sandwich, his red The Beats shirt pressed against the edge of the table, dangerously close to the mayonnaise creeping out the side of the sandwich. His lanky body had grown faster than he was accustomed to, and it was obvious in these kinds of moments to Reid. And suddenly, the fog of the event was lifting.

"We're not the first to experience anything in the world." Reid finally popped his spoonful of soup into his mouth after he finished the sentence before dipping into his thermos again. "It's just such a big world, right?"

"I guess so."

"But sometimes, it feels really small," Maple added. She wiggled a little in her seat. Reid felt every moment of it, squeezing his spoon tight as he did his best to ignore the emotions that came with being around her like this. "Like, is there anything else to see or do anymore? Isn't everything done?"

"Well," Issac mused, tapping his finger against his chin, "we're not about to discover another new continent anytime soon. Oh, but maybe it could be like a floating island!"

"Wouldn't we have seen that from space?" Reid countered, eyeing his friend over the rim of his thermos. He had lifted it to his mouth so he could drink down the remaining broth. It was faster that way.

"Oh right." Issac visibly deflated. "So it's another planet or bust right?"

"Is that why everyone is always so excited by space?" Maple perked up from the side again, leaning in between the pair. Reid could feel her body lift slightly from the seat as she tried to get her tiny frame closer to the action. "I just...don't get it. There's nothing out there. It's super empty."