Note: Hello to everyone reading this! J
This chapter is sort of a prologue to the series I’ll be writing. This series will take place in modern times, and most of the characters will probably be around ages 14-15. It should be pretty lengthy. I hope to keep it running for a while. Just a warning, I’m not sure exactly how intense the violence will be throughout the story. Most likely it won’t be too terrible.

Thank you very much for reading!! Please feel free to review when you’re done. I really would like to continue improving my writing and create great stories someday, so constructive criticism is more than welcome!

Now onto the story~

 

This was NOT a school.

I repeated that sentence continuously with each step that I took. There was no way the dump I was in was a school. It was more like a rat-hole with walls, and even that was a generous statement considering the condition it was in. It appeared as though it hadn’t even been dusted off in decades, more than that even.

My mother had told me a few days prior that she had gotten a call from a “fantastic school” only a few minutes away from our house in a beautiful area of town. At my old school I had been bullied to the extent where my family’s only option was to find me somewhere else to go. I had been eager to visit this new school, hoping that it would give me a fresh start on my life. Immediately, I asked my mother if we could schedule a time for me to take a look at the place.

Well, here I was, and it was nowhere near what I had expected.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t had my suspicions from the beginning, though. It was very strange… two men had come to our door claiming to be from the school and saying that they had come to pick me up for the tour of the place. Being the gullible and overly-trusting person that she is, my mother quickly pushed me out the door and wished me a good time. Without any hesitation what-so-ever, the men practically shoved me into their pitch-black car (complete with tinted windows and everything) and drove us off to the place they called a “school”, which, in reality, was an incredibly odd looking building in the middle of nowhere.

Once inside, I quickly realized that it was even worse than it looked. The walls were stained, falling apart in places and completely dull. The floor had obviously not been cleaned, ever. Finally, the smell was putrid. To be honest, it was almost unbearable.

At this point, it was obvious that something was up. Things started getting awfully suspicious. The men guiding me through the “school” hadn’t said a word since we had entered, and I noticed their grip on me had gradually grown tighter. Was it possible… that I was in danger? Could these men be criminals?

The thought couldn’t escape my mind. I mean, there was without a doubt something incredibly fishy about the mess of a school I was in, as well as the men who were walking me through it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Could I really be a victim of a kidnapping? It wasn’t unlikely; in fact, it was more than possible that these men had kidnapped me. It was no secret that I, Tatsuya Amane, held the power of levitation.

It wasn’t an amazing ability or anything, I was really only capable of lifting small objects off the ground, like small stones or sticks. I couldn’t lift anything big, not even myself! I figured my power was pretty cool and definitely unique, but I never would have thought it was worth kidnapping me over.

Wait, wait, wait! I’m jumping to conclusions again, aren’t I?

I sighed, realizing my fears had gotten the best of me. Sure, the whole situation seemed a bit off, but that didn’t mean it was some kind of crazy kidnapping conspiracy.

Well, I still hadn’t completely reassured myself. Slowly, I opened my mouth to speak to the men guiding me, but before I could utter even a single word, something stopped me.

Blood.

A large splatter of red littered the floor as if someone had spilled paint, but I was positive that this was not paint. This was blood… for sure. No doubt about it. My jaw opened even wider and I froze right in my tracks. The men holding me stared into my eyes with cruel faces. There was no doubt that they knew exactly why that blood was spilled on the floor, and as I gazed further down the dreary black and gray hallways, I found that there was far more blood to come. The men’s faces twisted, and they violently tugged me along before I could even resist.

Struggling to regain my voice, I whispered, “This is no school.”

The men instantly skidded to a halt. Both turned around with terrible smiles on their pale, muscular faces. I had never seen anybody make a face so utterly horrifying. The man holding my right arm even laughed as his chilling grin grew wider. Their grip on me was now so tight that my arms were suffocating. Escape was impossible. This was it; I was going to die without a fight. Though, what was the point in fighting when my fate was inevitable? It was like trying to prevent yourself from aging. You can use as much makeup as you want, but you’ll still grow older anyway, so why even bother?

I managed to look up at them as they walked further into the building and ask, “Please at least tell me what you plan on doing with me.” my voice was shaky and unstable.

Both men continued walking without even muttering one word. Even though I couldn’t see their terrible faces, I knew that they were decorated with that awful grin. Thinking about it caused a tremendous shiver to run down my spine. Averting my eyes from my kidnappers, I turned my head to the bloodstained wall beside me. The red splatters seemed to be getting more frequent. Shivering once again, I closed my eyes. I couldn’t bear to look at that horrible sight anymore. It was all too much.

After what seemed like a lifetime of walking down that dusty hallway, we were at our destination. Sensing that we had come to a stop, my eyes shot open, unaware of what they were about to view. Surrounding us were jail cells. Jail cells with teens in them.  Teens that were suffering and bleeding, moaning and wailing, crying out for help. Then, I realized that there were not just teens. There were children even, kids from ages four to about twelve.

“What….” my sentence stopped there. There were so many things to say, so many words that needed to be spoken, yet none of them would even come out of my mouth. Was I really this pathetic?

The two men stared at me, seeming confused. Seeming to wonder why I was so shocked.

“Don’t you get it?” They asked me in unison.

I stared right back at them, my legs trembling relentlessly. Don’t I get it? Don’t I get it!? Of course I didn’t get it! I didn’t get it at all! I was supposed to be taking a tour of a school, not some psychopath’s kidnapping lair! The fact that these men had even asked me such a question astonished me more than anything else had.

“Of course I don’t get it!” I shouted back, acquiring the attention of the whole room.

“In that case, you will soon.” They replied with smiles on their faces. Quickly, the two of them unlocked one of the cell doors and shoved me inside. With a small thud, I fell to the filthy ground, my back now throbbing in pain.

“This is your new home.” One man bellowed. The other laughed hysterically, as if someone had told the funniest joke on the face of the earth. After about five minutes of laughing, my ears started ringing.

“My family will come looking for me!” I shouted, hoping to end the jeering laughter. It reminded me too much of my tormentors at my former school. The laughing did not cease. Instead, the second man answered me.

“We’ve already taken care of that, don’t worry you’re stupid little head off, kid.” He replied as if there was nothing wrong with his statement.

My anger was at the boiling point, and it was about to explode.

“Don’t mess with me!” I yelled “What do you mean you’ve taken care of it!? What is that supposed to mean!? Do you take me for some kind of idiot!? What have you done with my mom, and what do you plan on doing with all of these people in here!?”

The men only smirked, tipped their brown top hats, and vanished into the shadows.

This whole thing... it was unimaginable. It was unbearable. It was completely insane, and I was more confused than I ever was in my entire life. Finally, I broke down. Tears streamed down my face like tiny waterfalls. I couldn’t imagine what they had done with my family. The thought was so horrifying that I could scarcely breathe, but as my tears fell to the ground, I could hear a small voice talking to me.

“Hey, don’t cry.” It spoke softly.

The voice sounded so refreshing, so soothing, and so gentle. I turned around, seeking the source of the voice. What I found was a girl. She looked about my age, but her expression was so mature. One of her lilac eyes was completely covered by her pitch-black hair and not visible at all, but the other was in clear sight. That eye looked incredibly sad, and surrounded by a dark, stress-related circle.

“Don’t cry.” She repeated, wiping a tear off of my face.

I gazed intently into that lilac orb, trying to find the words to answer her. She was very pretty, I noticed, and the dress she wore was beautiful and flawless despite the filthy prison she was in.

She looked back at me, the sad expression did not fade. “I can… tell you about this place if you’d like to know something.” She whispered. “I’ve been here ever since I was a little girl. I know all about it.” her gaze drifted down to the floor. I could see an overwhelming sadness come over her.

“What is your name?” I asked, trying my best to smile. My mother had always said that my smile could bring people joy. That was my power, not levitation. I had a sudden need to lift this girl’s sadness.

“Mika.” She replied softly, “What is yours?”

“Amane Tatsuya.” I answered with a small smile. To my disappointment, her look of despair did not falter. I considered asking her about her family, but immediately ruled that option out. That would only cause her greater sadness, I was sure. “Can you tell me exactly what this place is?” I whispered to her.

“Yes.” She nodded to me, preparing to explain, “This place is called the Yamamoto Academy of Success, and they trick families into handing over their gifted children for these people to use as weapons. That is why people who attend this school call it the Yamamoto Killer’s Academy. None of us really know the exact purpose of this school. It has always been quite the mystery.” She paused, adjusting her position so that she sat a bit closer to me. “The people running this place are mysterious. They kidnap kids with abilities and powers and use them as killing machines, then they claim that this is our reason for being alive. If we even try to disobey them, they torture us without any guilt at all.” She paused once again, narrowing her eye. “They do not let us outside, ever.”

“What did those men mean when they said they had “taken care of” my family?”

“Do not worry.” Mika whispered in her soothing voice, “They have not harmed your family. I don’t know how they do it, nobody does, but somehow they send out an exact copy of you to your home. That copy lives your life, thinks he is you, and at the same time he fools everyone else along with himself. It’s as if you never left your home.”

“I… I can’t….” I stuttered, eyes widening.

“Do you believe me, Tatsuya-kun?” Mika asked, looking up at me.

“Yes, I believe you. It’s just a little hard to believe.” I answered, hands shaking. “My life was so normal until now, how could it spiral into chaos so quickly?”

Mika did not answer. She only tilted her head towards the ground.

“Uh, one more thing.” I said to her, blushing. “Isn’t it kind of, um, weird for them to put me in a cell with a girl when, um, I’m a guy?”

She looked up at me, eye wide and surprised, “I-I supposed they didn’t think about that.” She stammered, “Or they just don’t care.”

I gave her a sheepish look as I got up onto my feet and stretched.

 

That night I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened. The shock was overwhelming. They’re going to turn me into a killing machine, I thought, all because I can levitate objects? That just made no sense to me. There were so many questions running through my mind, so many questions that would go unanswered until I could solve this mystery.

Then, I remembered what Mika had told me… that everyone in the Yamamoto Killer’s Academy had a special ability. I wonder what Mika’s is.

 

That night was only the start of my second life.