1 Chapter one

"Kevin, wake up or you'll be late for school," the loud and somewhat nagging sound of my mother yelling from down the stairs forced its way into my ears.

Okay! Time for school. A new school year. Only this year I would be getting into high school and everything was going to be different this year. Just like every other teenager my age.

I got up, took a shower and got dressed in a black and white striped t-shirt and a pair of denim jeans.

Approaching the dining table, the rest of the family which comprised my mother, Sarah, my father, Hank and my brother Gary. The Johnsons... an ordinary family at best.

"Ready for school, honey?" my mother asked over the sound of clattering cutlery against plates.

"Not really," I shuddered. I might have been excited to go back to school this year, but that did not mean I wasn't without fear. While there were upsides to going to high school, there were also downsides. And these 'downsides' were the cause of my instinctual fear.

"Don't worry about it, you will be fine," she encouraged, turning to her husband in search of an approving nod and smile or maybe more.

"Okay, mum... I hope, for my sake, that you're right..." We ate the rest of our breakfast without another mention of the topic. When we were done eating, we packed our backpacks (more like Gary and me... *sniffles) and got into the car.

The drive to school was quiet. In this silence, I got the chance to mentally dread my first day the whole way. On the bright side, I would get to see my friends again. Eventually, the car pulled into the school parking lot where my family bid me farewell before leaving me to face what would be my new school life. My father cast a reassuring gaze my way to which I flashed a tight-lipped smile.

My brother gave me a withering gaze... 'This boy doesn't mince words.' I thought to myself. "Good luck, bro." With that, they were gone.

'Why couldn't I just stay a kid and stop ageing...? Get stuck in time or something like that... Alas, that will be left for the movies,' I sighed, turning to face the school I was to be attending.

Our school was pretty big, bearing a stadium that could hold enough people during a football game 'Ah, football...' We had come here earlier that month for orientation and a tour of the high school section of the education facilities. The main building was a four-storey high building hosting all the laboratories on the first floor and the classes were left to the students to figure out. With the frequent changing of rooms during periods, only the classroom was important. The rest would come naturally. At least, that's what I told myself.

Classes and a medical bay were majorly on the second and third then a cafeteria, library, music room and a lot of others on the ground floor. The administration's block was a whole other building on its own. There were also two dormitory buildings for students who lived really far and couldn't keep travelling from home every day.

I sighed... The first day of high school is going to be a nightmare. 'Don't forget to try out for the football team,' my dad had told me the day before. Well, I guess I'll have to wait till then.

"The prodigal son returns," a familiar voice came from behind me and one of the few reasons I had to smile. My best friend Kendall, my hero, my crewmate... the one I was going to endure this hell with. At least he was one person I could count on to get through this day with me.

"I thought you were planning on getting rid of your school life," I told him.

"And trust me, dude, I almost did but my mom gave me that look, you know," he began, falling beside me as we started the walk to the main school building.

"Ouch, sorry... but look on the bright side, you are kinda stuck with me..."

"Me too, guys, are you trying to forget our entire clan? Besides, we all came back. Jacob is already on his way to class. He didn't want to admit his plans to move out of this town failed, so he's trying to delay this inevitable meeting," Isaac called from behind us, falling beside Kendall.

These are my dear friends Kendall, Isaac and Jacob. We'd been friends for as long as I could remember... Literally... My short memory had them occupying most of it. We'd been through a lot together.

"Have you guys..." the two of them held up yellow sheets of hard paper on which their schedules were printed before I could even answer the question.

"Traitors..." I narrowed my eyes at them and changed course. Kendall and Isaac merely laughed and waved me off.

"Try to come earlier next time, Johnson," Isaac mocked, vanishing behind the large double doors of the main entrance. 'Blast it...' I mentally screamed and changed course. It was the administration block for me first before getting to my first period. I got my schedule and went off to my first class.

..............

The first of the classes went fast without incident. Thankfully we were able to avoid running into what students used to call ;Purgers.' These were mean guys who hated freshmen. They usually roamed with the popular kids and basically acted like their bodyguards.

The popular kids on the other hand were looking for kids who had the spunk to keep their legacies and the status quo in check. My friends and I weren't in any of the preferred people so we had to steer clear or else it wouldn't be pretty. This is what made the first day utter hell for freshmen.

Finally, the time I had been waiting for was football tryouts and no matter how long the day dragged on, it came nonetheless. It was soon time. I got to the locker rooms and we were given uniforms whose sanitary condition I found highly suspicious.

"I am not going to let in any blockheads this year. We've got to crush the teams that come after us and there is no room for mistakes. So give this your best shot," the coach yelled at the top of his lungs as all coaches do... though I think this one was a tad bit louder.

"Good luck, man," Kendall tried, "At least now I am not alone. What position are you trying to get?"

"Wide receiver," I replied.

"Cool man. I am going for defence," he said though I wasn't so sure he was that happy about it.

"You'll do great." I told him before he held my hand and said, "We'll do great."

We jogged onto the football field to start our tryouts. I managed to win the coach's appreciation and accomplish my goal as a wide receiver. Kendall managed to prove his worth on the team's defence. Training then ended and as we were jogging to the locker rooms, Kendall stopped me, a weird look in his eye told me something was wrong.

"Hey, look at that guy up there," he pointed to a man in his mid-forties, seated on one of the benches watching us intensely. We went over to Thomas, the team captain to ask him about the old crone.

"Hey Thomas, what's the deal with that guy?" Kendall asked.

"What guy?" Thomas looked over to the guy as though he was staring at open space. His eyes darted around the bleachers in search of the person we were trying to show him. We looked back and could see a smirk on the old man's face right before he disappeared right before our eyes like he was never there.

"You did see that, right," Kendall drove a hand through his hair in bewilderment. Finally wearing a look of defeat, I groaned, "This is not my day."

"Okay. As long as you don't get weird during games, you're okay," Thomas warned before leaving us to ourselves.

"Kendall, we saw the same thing, but why didn't Thomas?"

We asked other few players if they saw anyone around during practice but none of them had seen a thing. "What is going on," I asked Kendall.

"Maybe he'll show up tomorrow then we'll ask him."

"Okay, dude," I replied. We bid our farewells and both headed home. Mum had said she would pick me up for the first few days. I got into the car to be greeted by both mum and dad.

"How was your first day of high school," mum asked.

"It was better than I hoped it would be," I replied.

"Did you get on the team, son?" Dad asked.

"Yes Dad, I'm a wide receiver," I replied.

"That's my boy," he said between chuckles.

This has been a weird first day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better and then we can get answers. The Purgers weren't done with us freshmen until the first week ended. My friends and were going to have to be careful if we didn't want to become the laughing stock of the school.

The rest of the ride went on in total comfortable silence. My life was normal... And yet, deep down, I knew that couldn't be right... Maybe I just wanted to be more or to have something more special, but I was happy with the way everything was...

.....

The next morning I woke to a start. The memories of the previous day came rushing into my mind.

"Wake up sleepy head." My brother Gary shrieked from downstairs.

I got out of bed and got myself ready for school. I headed downstairs and found the table set.

"Kevin is always the last to make it to the breakfast table," Gary exclaimed.

"That's not true," I argued though it was practically true.

"It is. I bet you can't wake up before all of us if you tried" Gary continued. The table was quiet now. Mom and Dad were looking between us.

"Let's make this interesting," my dad began, "if you manage to wake up early before us tomorrow. I'll buy you that bike you've always wanted."

"Okay deal," I agreed and get done with breakfast. These guys weren't going to know what hit them. We got into the car and started the journey to school. I got to school and bid my parents farewell.

I reached the front doors and got a creepy feeling but just brushed it off. I got in and moved to my locker stuffing the books I needed into my bag pack before heading to class. I entered an almost empty class only to find Kendall seated at his seat. I had forgotten we had our first-morning lesson together.

He looked at me with some worry painted across his face. I approached him and he looked back down.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I think I'm going nuts. I have been getting the creeps since yesterday. I feel like someone is watching my every move." he said. I felt sorry for him.

"Can't you just ignore it?" I asked him.

"No, you don't get it. I can't ignore it. It feels too real," Kendall replied. I started feeling a little uneasy but shrugged it off just as quickly as the feeling came. The teacher entered the class and I got seated next to Kendall. He seemed to notice the teacher and pulls out his notebook. We proceeded through the lesson. I wonder if that guy from yesterday got to him. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Lessons passed by boringly as we approached lunchtime. The bell rang and we got out of class heading for the cafeteria. I got my food and went over to our table. All my four friends were seated at the table. Kendall seemed to lighten up a bit though I still worried for him. "So you guys heard of this new transfer student called Ciara?"

Kendall looked up, "Oh yeah. Do you mean the one we met looking through the library last week? She said she was having a tour of the school."

"I bet she's a total nerd regarding her glasses and the interest she took in the school library," Isaac said. To my dismay, I did not know who they were talking about.

"Hey guys, why don't I know anything about this?" I asked them.

"You said you wanted to be alone that day during orientation. It was one of your off days. That day when all of your classes were all going the wrong way." Kendall explained.

"Oh, I remember. That day was the worst. So what happened to her?" I asked.

"We gave her a tour of the school and she was really excited to come here. She was really....Hey wasn't she supposed to arrive today?" Isaac's sudden change of subject caught me by surprise.

They all stood up abruptly and ran off towards the headmaster's office. Though I had trouble keeping and soon they are out sight. I stopped to catch my breath by the janitor's closet. 'I have never seen anyone run so fast. It's like they are being compelled.' I finally got to the headmaster's office and found them talking to a beautiful, blonde putting on glasses but something about her gave me chills, as in real chills, I was beginning to physically feel cold.

"Nice to see you guys again." She addressed the three of my friends. Kendall turned to me.

"Kevin, where were you man. Here she is. Ciara, meet Kevin and vice versa. He's a little cautious but you'll learn to love him. Anyway what lesson do you have next?" Kendall introduced and quickly changed the subject before I could even shake her hand. 'It's like I'm not even here,' I thought as the last of the laboured breaths left my system.

"History," she replied which is the same class I had with Jacob.

"Hey, so do I," Jacob replied almost immediately. 'What is going on, this is too weird even for me. What could have happened in one day to make these guys all chummy?

The bell rang and we went off to our classes. Ciara walked on with Jacob and completely ignored me though I wasn't that bothered by it. We entered the class and everyone looked at Ciara.

"Our new student Ciara Winters will be joining our class today. Everyone take a seat and get out your notebooks." The teacher said and we got seated. Ciara sat next to Jacob at the other side of the room away from me and I looked over to see Jacob's seat occupied by someone else.

I looked back and saw that Jacob had swapped seats with Ciara's neighbour. 'What's the deal with her?' I wondered but shrugged it off. The lesson passed as slow as possible. The next lessons go on but my friends seemed to be trying to help Ciara out with whatever they could and I left them to it. The time alone later pulled me into a flashback.

.....

'The first day of school had been a total nightmare. I was in fourth grade and didn't really have friends and for weeks I continued to seem invisible.

I decided I would stop trying too hard. It was only then that I realized I would have to really strive if I wanted to make it. I had decided to take extra effort and even made a timetable. Things were going on well and I soon got used to the idea of being a loner and had grown silent. It was an awkward evening when I met Kendall when his father had not picked him up.

I asked our parents to help him and that's how we became friends. He later introduced me to his friends Isaac and Jacob and that is how we became friends.

...end of flashback...

So now that I think of it. It was one of the misplaced memories I had of my friends. I can let Ciara have my friends for now, but something still felt off about all this.

.....

Classes ended and we went to the football field to begin training. I didn't find Kendall in the locker rooms or anywhere near the field. Figured he may be with Ciara. But I let it slide and five minutes into training he showed up.

"Where were you man.?" I asked him.

"Sorry man, I was with Ciara. She wanted to come to watch us train. So the other guys offered to come too." He beckoned towards the benches and saw Isaac, Jacob and Ciara watching us train.

"Okay," we proceeded with training until I noticed the man seated in the same position as he was the previous day. I walked over to Kendall, "Dude the guy from yesterday is there again."

Kendall looked there, "Yeah man. He's creepy but I think we best leave him alone."

"What? Dude, we had agreed to talk to him yesterday," I almost yelled.

"I know man, but I think we should back off on this one." He replied.

When training ended, I decided to find out what the deal with the guy was with or without Kendall. I approached him and he eyed me intensely as I got nearer to him that it took all my will to keep moving.

"You're tougher than I thought... Kevin," he allowed a smirk to cover his face.

"How do you know my name?" I asked him, my heart starting to beat faster.

"I know a lot about you but I wonder if you and your friends are ready for what awaits you. Just as a hint I'll tell you more tomorrow," he says and disappears in a swirl of blue smoke before I can even ask him a question.

.....