9 Days Before

Vem, in his fast-moving vehicle, brushes along the road, slowing down to a halt before getting forcefully detoured to another street.

"This area isn't safe for civilians!" The worker says, signing Vem to turn around to take a detour if he must cross the town.

"Follow those signs. It'll lead you in the right direction if you wanna get out of the city!" Vem turns to the point seeing yellow flashing signs leading him to a different path. He nods and continues down that route for a while before stopping near the edge of the foggy wall.

"Sorry, I know you're doing your job, but someone's waiting for me in there that needs our help."

"She should be in this area, that's the last time I saw her," Meir says in the car, holding up notes and information about Clysita and Vems representative, the concerned note bringer from before, Among other notes the detective had gathered were details about a yellow house.

Mier had convinced him to tag along, with the help of information about the whereabouts of one of his leads.

Mier had seen some details while waiting for him in the car and took that as an advantage in hopes to persuade Vem to tail with.

Minding that what he was doing was a rough way to go about following a vision and this wasn't the first time he appeared before Vem, he had sought him out regarding the storm's peculiarities and by regulations Vem was already investigating the oddities.

At first Vem was reluctant, but in the end he was successful.

Vem parked his car alongside a sidewalk, leading towards the park, he looked at the window, gauging the thick wall of fog that he'll have to adventure in.

Vem stepped out of the vehicle, fixing his hat before grabbing his flashlight from the dash, the car door remaining open as he exited, a rush of wet foliage sparks his senses.

"You're not coming with me?" He turns to Meir. The boy silently shakes his head, flipping through notes, landing back on the intel regarding the two story house, sparking a tugging feeling inside Miers chest, Mier wonders to himself that there might be a sign waiting for him there.

"Can't, I have to stay 'hidden' from them," Mier takes his gaze off of the paper, looking up at Vem, who's hunched over - his hand resting on the top portion of the vehicle.

"There's that word again," Vem mumbles to himself, thinking that he had said the same thing when he was detailing about his lead. Vem looks up, taking a mental note of the fog's stature.

"Interesting in how it's doing that - I'll meet up with you later, take care of Clancy," the investigator looks back at Meir.

The boy nodded, rolling up his window and locking the doors. Grabbing one of Vem’s knives from the safety hatch within the car. Examining the blade with intrigue.

"Be careful with that thing," Meir looks at Vem as he points towards the knife. He nods in approval once again, going back to his study.

".. got it," Vem mumbles, closing the driver's door, then takes a stride towards the wall.

Mier sits in the car, watching Vem's retreating figure go through the thick fog. Leaving him to defend the car alone.

He places the knife down to scan his surroundings, seeing any clues to line with the vivid image, rearranging himself as he does.

Although he wants to vanish, a tugging aura tells him to stay put, nearly making him contemplate the ‘vision,' he puts the thought to the back and decides to listen to the pulling sensation.

With more curiosity gravitating to him, he shuffles through the paperwork that Vem had stored up, seeing any additional information.

Vem had told him before that he shouldn't be digging through his findings, but Vem eventually gave up after Mier hypnotically shuffled between them.

Remembering how he used to be in his early days of investigating, even though it wasn't real work, but more of a stepping stone towards his detective career.

Vem shambled in the obscure fog, having a guiding light stretched out, the ground beneath him changing as he inches closer to the other side.

Snow inside the board of the fog, slowly reached outside, petaling down on Vem's car.

{●}

Crowley walked on guard, his right arm guiding the way and with the left acting as a shield.

Scents of earthy wood linger in the air as he pushes through the snowfall.

Zip-bits or electricity spread throughout, inching closer to him as he pressed on. Snowflakes building onto his clothing

"Surprisingly comfy," muttering as he looks around, feeling some warmth in the air, but cold flutters flourish on his face.

How is that even probable...Crowley reflects on the warm fronts.

Red flashes snake their way near, and an echoing distortion comes from above.

[ "Better hurry, you don't want it to awaken..do you?"

Crowley stiffens, and a scene plays within his mind. The school, the structure, then somebody—the visions stop, and the distortion continues.

"Don't want to spoil that part." ]

Crowley stumbles forward, his face meeting the ground after a trip. The snow build-up floats from the impact. He gets up quickly to brush himself off to continue down the road.

[ "What are you going to do when everything aligns?" Its distorted voice spreads within a circle above him.

Leave me alone,' he thought. His mind gets intruded with secondary visions. He shakes them off as he picks up the pace. bolting for the school.

"You're heading the wrong way," the distortion echoes in the muffled snow. Following the pattern of sparks within the flowing snow crystals, connecting with them as it moves. Hissing by him repeating the words. ]

Crowley tones out the hissing voices, trying to lead him astray. He bolts across streets and snow ramps, sliding down them as he vaults them. Catching more speed to slide on the sleet-wrapped concrete.

"Whaoo" relieving built-up joy. He slowly loses his balance to make his arms flail to regain it.

The charged arches roll throughout, zapping a cluster of snow, making the Crystals evaporate rapidly to explode them with tinier branches reaching their fingers towards the exposed water vapor, the cold freezing it perfectly. Shaping a baseball-sized crystal.

Crowley finches from the vapor, blinding his vision, tripping and trembling down an alleyway, hitting a loose piece of house trimming. Knocking him out.

The snow gently piled on top of him.

{●}

Dense fog settles at the orphanage, the yard is a white vacant portrait.

Everyone is indoors by the fireplace as the house Hen tells a comforting story to dwindle any discomfort about the news. One of the children has turned off the radio for getting stomach cramps from hearing such a storm.

"Hey, it's okay." She kneels to the one who silenced the radio.

"It'll all be okay. Guards are going to protect those caught in that scary storm. " Octavia held out her arm, touching the frightened child. Giving it a firm grip of empathy.

"Plus, there's Korith and I. I'm training to be those very guards that'll for sure rescue any civilians that need help." The reinsurance stuck.

Sue calls for them both. "Time for another story! This one's about an 'ancient' story passed down. Surprisingly, it lasted this long" Sue looks down at the book, dusting off any particles that were sheeting the book.

Sprouting curiosity among the hooked listeners. Octavia comfortably guides the child into the living space. She takes a plop on Sue's lap, Her son next to them, sitting by the fire - kindling it.

Sue begins the story, "Long ago~" she looks down at the book, then reverting her gaze to the audience, however she had changed the beginning section of the story to make it more memorizing for the young audience.

"In the distant past, the world was a stranger to the present" Sue continued, reading a small section before peering back up, guiding her hand in an arch, catching the eyes of an eager listener.

"People had abnormal mannerisms, those - being that out of fictional books and comics you've all read" Sue points towards the crowd during her last sentence, she looks at the listener, their eyes sparkled as their imagination takes ahold of them.

"Although, having these abnormalities, people like..." Sue pauses, seeing the name, she looks up, seeing the crowd waiting.

Octavia peers over the hallway entrance, seeing Korith standing by the window - her right hand placed within the square window frame. Her pose was stiff as a statue, mystified by the dancing fog outside the yard. Egging her on to explore outside, blurry lettering formulated within it.

[ "Find him." ]

Korith takes a deep inhale. Her exhale coagulates on the glass, the lingering heat from the fireplace making it fold water droplets - Korith while deep in a trance rubs the glass, making a smiley face on the window.

Octavia's interest peaks as she sees her friend robotically moving her arm, then flopping it down when she's done.

" Doodling, I guess?" She mumbled, Sue, pausing the story, seeing if everything was alright with her. She nods, and the house mother continues the storytelling, having Octavia listening in this time.

"A heroine, assembling a group from those she deemed strong enough" Sue looks over at Octavia, then back towards the intense listeners.

"They fought endlessly, day and night, trying to bring the person they once knew back into light."

Korith's attention gets absorbed by the fog outside, shaping and melding into letters she can't describe. Other than the occasional few that she does get - it's like a far-off memory, slowly transforming the letters into intelligible words for her to understand.

[ "Help him. "

"We'll help you,"

"With what?" She questions it within her mind. The fog shaped again. This time, a floating half-figure takes the letter's place. ]

It beckons.

A surge moves through her veins - leading up to the nape.

[ "Find him." The figure communicated through a series of light vibrations, simultaneously Korith's nape of the neck twitches.

"I know you want to catch up with her.." ]

Faint voices gathered at the fireplace, Korith is out in sea to have the voices intelligible.

It beckons once more, Korith's hand slowly reaching the handle of the window. The clouded figure grows more in shape, this time with nearly an entire leg.

Another one forms next to the tomato garden, snow covering it.

The blush red is barely visible - reaching for it, plucking it on the spot, snow flows down as it does, and then it looks up at Korith.

[ "If you find him, you could go back to growing your "toms" - isn't that what you called them?" The other shape says, forming an entire body. concert another into existence - plucking into reality.

"We can show you where to go,"

"Follow us."

"We'll give you the strength you desire. Wouldn't you want..fire?" To Korith's surprise, the fog entity summons a fireball, Will-o-wipsing within its mimicking hands.

"Or maybe -" ]

"Korith!" Octavia yells for her. Breaking the spell, she jerks her head towards Octavia's direction. Seeing her peek through the hallway, she makes a gesture of 'Come join the family' while giving her the stare down.

The humanoids disperse into the layer of fog, vanishing any traces of them.

"Where'd you get that tomato from?"

Korith looks at her hands, noticing the freshly plucked tomato that the figure picked themselves in her palms.

"Guess I like Tom's so much, I naturally have one in my hands." Korith jokes with Octavia. They both slightly chuckle at it, but Korith has an underlying tone in mind. She stores it away and joins her knit-pick family.

The moisture from the window drips down, spelling out.

'The Queen will rise once more - we have found you.' The hallway door closes, leaving the letters to themselves, waiting for anyone to stumble upon it.

{●}

The school is boarded by a wall of fog, hidden from any unwanted observers, and those who played witness were engulfed by the horrifying pitches the monolith creates when lightning tumbles around the fingers of the structure.

Wrapping around and flailing to another outlet in the middle.

The smell of electrified materials swept over the other classrooms.

Lin, inhaling the thick Ionized air, begins to cough with each inhale. Unable to get the appropriate amount of breathable air into his lungs. Xiel tries to fight it - lightning strikes near, and the wave of the sound rattles them.

Snow piles up in the air and falls with each strike. Covering the ground at a faster pace.

The school corridors were filled with pulled snow, and lockers were unable to be seen.

Arches of the hallway form an extra width to it as the snow falls.

Lightning convulsing in the middle, colliding with the cemented ground. The ground spikes up, getting frozen with electrification.

Creating arching fingers circulating the middle and off to the edges, the surrounding tinier versions shaped a complex hexagonal pattern with circles intertwined.

Kel shakes. His dad was fully unconscious, unable to rescue him. Kellic's body twitched within intervals of rolling thunder.

Opel replicates - his unconscious body swings up, convulsing with the rhythm. His eyelids shot open, eyes rolled back, displaying thriving dark veins thrashing about.

The rolling lightning releases, snapping towards the classroom, opening it up from the roof. The rubble flies, scattering electricity catches falling debris, molding it into the ground, forming sharp edges.

Booming thunder reanimates unconscious students within classrooms. The students within 102 thrash, their ghoulish bodies attempting to stand. Knocking into desks and each other, bringing them back down to repeat the process.

Lin is trying to take notice, but his vision is nearly out - he doesn't want to go under in fear of what will happen, slowly losing his conscious vision.

Xiel tries to hold down one of the students, but getting tossed himself, the bodies around him react. Crawling to Xiel in a surprisingly fast motion, resembling possession. He lets out a yelp as they crawl on top of him. Throwing fists to get them off,

Lin's struggle envelopes him.

Xiel looks around the classroom for any weapons, but the only thing he can find is leftover pieces of bags. Grabbing a lone strap, trying to do a choke hold. It goes nowhere as more pile on top of him, their hands clawing his skin.. scratching pieces of him off. Another gripping his face, pulling it down to the floor. His garbled screams fall silently from the lifeless surroundings.

Kel begins to float into the air, continuing to convulse, his bones pop from pressure, and his stomach sinks into his rib-cage, showing bone.

Opel followed closely behind. His coated eyes spewed dark tendrils—mouth opening wide letting out distorted pillars of particles.

His veins fracturing, pieces of the dark fragments, transported blood along with, getting swallowed into the abyssal cloud forming into thundersnow clouds.

Citizens around the school were yanked from their hiding spots. Their arms and legs pulled from an unknown force, their bodies forming around the structure—suspending above it. Kel's body rapidly convulsed, his eyeballs and eyelids shudder, matching the lightning's turmoil.

Opel's body plummets to the ground, crackling of bones answers the air, meeting the ground in front of Lin.

The floating bodies hung there like apparitions being shocked continuously. Bodies that couldn't handle the torment follow Opel's example. Figures that remained, opened up from an unknown force, manifesting their bones.

Lightning converges on the failing bodies, molding them with the now-materialized fangs aligning with the middle. Pieces of bone still noticeable within the 'Fulgurite' serrations.

Kellic's body gets slightly tugged by another force, pushing him towards the very middle. Lightning spiders across the darkened background, as he gets closer to the middle, Kel's sclera veins erupt dark particles, congealing together, coating his sockets.

the congealment created tendrils out of chasm branches, reaching for the skies out-of abyssal sockets.

The skies orchestrated a screech.