My name is Ash.
I'm a 12th-grade student. Just a normal human.
Normal family. No sad story to share.
I'm not a front-bencher. Not a back-bencher either. I'm average—perfectly forgettable.
Our teacher was lecturing about something I wasn't interested in. What caught my attention was Jace and Theo—both had taken sick leave, yet were now posting stories of themselves cruising in Jace's car.
Typical.
I wasn't rich. I wasn't good at communication either. But somehow, I was part of a strange friend group. Some were rich, some were insanely good at sports, others just... cool.
They teased me often—but never once made me feel like I didn't belong.
I scrolled casually through my phone and stumbled upon something odd—images of people collapsing, blood pouring from their mouths, eyes, noses, and ears.
The headlines read:
"Mysterious outbreak spreading rapidly across major cities."
I chuckled. Probably fake news. I wrapped my phone in a handkerchief, dropped it in my bag, and leaned back.
Bored. Sleepy. I let my eyelids fall.
—
Someone started shaking me—hard.
"Ash! Wake up!"
I blinked. Everything was dark. The classroom lights were off.
Outside, through the windows, the sky was pitch black. No sun. No light. Just… darkness.
"What's going on?" I whispered.
The one who'd woken me was Theo.
"No time to explain. Jace is waiting downstairs. We need to leave—now."
We rushed to the ground floor. A crowd had gathered near the main gate.
"How is it already night?" I asked.
Theo's face darkened. "Humanity... might have come to an end."
I stood there, stunned, as I saw Jace—torn clothes, bloodstained, holding a pistol. Students were surrounding him, begging to be taken along.
"Ash, get in the car," Jace said firmly, locking eyes with me. "We've got a driver following us in the school bus."
The more they avoided explaining things, the more terrified I became.
As I approached the car, I noticed a massive dent on the front. The school gate ahead was shattered.
What the hell happened?
Just as I climbed in, a furious student stormed toward us from the bus, cursing.
"Why the hell am I stuck in the bus while this loser Ash gets a seat in the car?!" he yelled, eyes burning.
Jace sighed. "So we can throw you out first if the shapeshifters start chasing us."
Theo scowled. "You should be grateful. When everyone else was panicking, Jace found the bus keys. You were too busy pissing yourself."
The car started. In the distance, the bus followed.
From the car window, I could see students in the dark, waving flashlights to find each other. Some looked injured. Others were crying.
I took a breath. "Look, guys… I'm trying not to panic, but at least tell me what's going on."
Silence.
Then, after a moment, Theo spoke.
—
Two hours earlier (Theo's POV)
"Hey Jace, maybe we should've called Ash," I said casually. "He doesn't know how to drive, and he'd be mad jealous seeing our photos."
Jace smirked, but before he could reply, the sky outside turned black. Daylight vanished in an instant.
"What the hell?"
Jace pulled out his phone—dozens of news notifications were blowing up. A strange disease was spreading. People were bleeding from every hole in their face. The sky was turning black everywhere.
I called my parents. They had no clue what was happening. Jace tried his parents—no answer.
"We need to go home," he said.
As we reached his house, Jace tossed me the car keys. "Get the flashlight. It's in the second drawer."
I entered the house.
What I saw next chilled me.
Jace had a servant by the collar, yelling.
"What do you mean my parents left?! Left me and Lumi behind?!"
I pulled him off. "Calm down, bro."
"What did they say before leaving?" I asked the servant.
"Sir and Madam kept saying they needed a 'safe place.' They're still young. They said... they could always have more children later. Being safe was more important."
Jace fell to his knees.
"Did they get a call or something?" I asked.
"Yes, sir. That's when they left."
Jace was shaking. "Bullshit…"
And then—something wasn't right.
In the reflection of the window behind the servant… I saw a corpse. His corpse. Split vertically—head cleaved in half.
My blood ran cold.
"Hey Jace," I whispered.
"If my parents left… what are you still doing here?" Jace asked him.
A voice echoed behind us.
"I want to see your sister's face when you tell her mommy and daddy abandoned you!"
The servant turned. His smile twisted.
His arm stretched—like rubber.
"Run!" I kicked Jace out of the way, using the recoil to throw myself backward too.
"What the hell are you?!" Jace shouted.
"I'm a Shapeshifter."
The creature transformed into Jace.
Without hesitation, I grabbed the shotgun Jace kept on the wall. Same place it always was. Loaded.
I fired.
Jace finished the job—smashing its head with a metal rod and stabbing its chest.
No chances.
We gathered supplies. And we drove. We knew Ash would be at school.
—
Present (Ash's POV)
Theo scooted a little farther from me.
"Don't bring up Jace's parents in front of him," he whispered. "Or Lumi. He'll tell her himself."
"First, we pick up Lumi from her school," he continued. "Then we head to your house. Our parents will meet us there. After that, we'll find somewhere safe."
I looked out the window. Only the car's headlights lit the road.
Endless darkness surrounded us.
My chest tightened.
I wanted to cry.
But something bigger than tears held me still.