A Nexus Series Book 1: Anathema

1. Anathema

Have you ever been in two places at the same time? As if you were living in the same moment, in the same hour, breathing the same air and in the same location but in two totally different worlds?

I have.

I've always been able to feel unusual things; I hear voices and feel strange coldness. For years, I have been seeing things --spirits, ghosts, odd-looking monsters, angels, and demons. I have had dreams of being watched and surrounded by people with hollow eyes.

I paused as I felt a cold chill when I glanced out of the corner of my eye at the chair beside me. An entity in smoke form scribbled something on its notebook.

The entity suddenly turned its smoky head and our eyes met for a quick second before I snatched my eyes away from its gaze.

The rustling noises that came from all directions told me that we were not alone. I was in the same room but in a totally different realm.

My gaze jumped from the creature who clicked its jaw and looked in my direction with its enormous one eye to a human-like boy who had an eerily long fangs. His orange eyes made me nervous but it didn't seem to be hostile.

I diverted my attention back to my professor but when I looked in front of the class I saw an angel instead. She gently flapped her wings which caused a light breeze. She had long, brilliant, knee-length silvery white hair with golden specks. Her entire being seemed to shine in an ethereal glow.

"Ms. Woodthorpe."

The voice of my teacher, Ms. Ediesca, seemed to come from a distance.

I savored the peaceful emerald green of the angel's eyes. When she spoke, her voice was the most beautiful tone I heard. The class listened attentively to her.

"Ms. Woodthorpe."

The angel smiled at me and I felt myself relax.

"Anathema Woodthorpe!"

I jolted out of my alternate universe. With a blink of an eye, they were gone. The room went back to its original appearance.

Ms. Ediesca was standing behind her desk, her hand on her waist. Her look indicated that she was waiting for something from me. Apparently, my answer to the question I didn't hear.

I stood from my chair and exhaled, my face relaxed into a placid calmness before I stiffened when something or someone whispered in my ear.

"Could you repeat the question?" I asked, glancing sideways. The class erupted into a fit of giggles.

They had been constantly teasing me since fifth grade but I was never the one to back down. They call me names such as freak show, illuminati, weirdo, and limbo – neither here, nor there.

"The answer is 307," A voice whispered in my ear. "The question was in a particular school, the school choir has 45 members, and the school orchestra has 32 members. Five students joined in both the choir and the orchestra, and 235 students are neither members of the choir nor the orchestra. How many students are in this particular school?" The voice murmured rapidly.

"For the benefit of Ms. Woodthorpe, Alex, repeat the questi—"

"No," I interjected. "I-I know the question."

Ms. Ediesca gave me a pointed look, she expected I didn't know anything because I was always daydreaming. But I always got the answer.

Voices like this inside my head always tell me the answer. There are times that the voices are clear, sometimes horrifying, child-like, angel-like and demon-like. Sometimes, the voices come with a face. They were sunken, pale, bloody, and most of the times distorted.