A young boy lay upon a cold metal bench, his head resting on folded arms, eyes shut. His pale grey hair stirred slightly in the breeze as he breathed in the thick, crisp summer air—as if he had forgotten the world.
Disturbing the peace, a voice broke the peaceful silence.
"Alphael, get your ass up! You'll be late if you stay any longer."
"A little longer? The bench feels sooooo good right now. And I can get there in a couple minutes anyway," the boy lazily responded.
Alphael was speaking to his mother, a beautiful middle-aged woman who bore striking crimson hair and was holding a variety of plastic bags.
She scowled. "Fine, just be safe to and from school."
Smiling, Alphael created a circle with his index finger and thumb. Whilst the annoyed woman was walking away, he sat up and reached into a pocket. He fought against the fabric and pulled out an item. A Rubik's cube.
He leaned back onto the bench, and gazed up at the sky whilst solving his device simultaneously. His eyes narrowed and he sighed.
"What's even the point of going it's not like I'm gonna do anything special. No no… mom said not to think like that."
Dejected, the boy stood up and began walking.
The walk wasn't that long, thankfully. He did not live in a particularly large city but it definitely was not small by any means.
The city itself was sprawling with happy faces, unlike his own which was taciturn and stiff. Albeit the warmth and joy of the city was poisonous and made him smile a bit.
Shortly after, he had arrived. The school was bigger than most of the buildings around. The exterior consisted mostly of bricks and tiles for the roof. The structure itself was huge in area, after all it was a very revered high school so not surprise there.
He entered the building, walked through the halls and entered the classroom. The class was full, as usual, and he slipped into his assigned seat. On his left was a window viewing the city he had just escaped from.
Alphael looked forward waiting for his teacher to arrive and blanked. His mind had blanked. He was fiercely gazing at the back of a student's head yet, he wasn't really looking at it. Alphael was kinda just there, just existing in his comfortable solitude.
"Time to begin class!" A charming voice interrupted.
He blinked twice, escaping his enthralling trance and glanced to the front of the classroom.
The owner of that soothing voice was a tall, average looking man with a lab coat and boxy glasses. He spoke again.
"You're all at the age when you start deciding on your goals and who you want to become. I urge for you and only you to make that decision. Do not let others affect your choices, it'll only put you at a disadvantage."
As the teacher continued on his speech, Alphael yawned and drifted back into his trance.
In a blur the school day had ended. This wasn't uncommon for him to zone out in classes but this was unprecedented. In the long run it didn't matter. He was just kid with barely passing grades, so the teachers just gave up on him. And Alphael did the same.
His day had been a little too boring so he decided to take a more adventurous route on his trek back home. It was through a small forest but dense forest, he had never been there so he thought it might spice up his day.
On his way there, a majority of people were discussing the same topic. The topic being that today was July 2nd, the halfway point of the year.
Allegedly every 6 months 10,000 people would quite literally disappear from sight at the same time and none have ever been found which is the main issue.
This whole ordeal began 5 decades ago and not a single person has been found.
The only reason anyone knows its the same time was because a group of 5 unlucky adults had disappeared in a public area and of course due to the media, reports of similar things happening people pieced things together.
The first few times started as a horrific tragedy and everyone was terrified for themselves and family. But eventually this perpetual tragedy became statistic and people stopped caring as much. Alphael was no different.
He had arrived at the forest and entered it. He hadn't really been in forests much so he was expecting anything to happen despite it being a controlled one.
He stepped over the vines and shrubbery and met with a particular tree which was noticeably larger than the rest of the trees.
He dismissed it and walked around it and the forest was gone. The area was vast with an abundance of hills and even some mountains relatively close by.
"Bro, what?"
He turned and looked around. His eyes were met with the largest concentration of people he had ever seen.
There were thousands just as confused as him. Some were in beach wear, cosplays, uniforms or wearing nothing at all.
"Dang it!… Mom?!" He desperately yelled.
It then had hit him like a truck.
A strange new location he's never been, thousands of people just as confused as him.
He was one of the unlucky few to get transported. He had become a statistic.