Him

Chapter One

The bell clanged loudly, the course of time had worn it to the point where it's sound was no longer a pleasant ring, but more like three cars colliding at once. My school was an... "antique" school, dusty, old, red brick buildings, windows broken here and there, only being fixed by cardboard and duct tape. The teachers were seemingly just as old, each of them with skin like wrinkled tissue paper and strands of white hair resembling cobwebs, that was, if they had any hair at all. Most of their voices were, similar to the bell, either faded or rasped by age. 

The rooms they taught in were no prize either. Old broken chalkboards, creaky floorboards which seemed on the precipice of breaking under our weight. The desks were ancient, some students sat at desks with rotting wood and the legs were crooked, and the chairs were no different. It was almost as if no one here cared.

Well, that would probably be because they didn't. The students were just as dull and lifeless as the rest of Saint Miltons Boarding School. Everyone walked around with their heads down, purely focused on their phones and ignoring everyone and everything around them. Classes were silent other than the droning voices of the teachers and occasional educational videos which were probably made in the 1980's, played on a VCR which was reasonably even older than the videos themselves. I often thought to myself that this school was more like a prison for the blind, deaf and dumb. Of course, I would never have expressed this opinion out loud for fear that I would receive corporal punishment, which was for some only-known-by-god reason allowed here, and for such a minor phrase. But that's just how it was. 

Anyone who walked these halls of whom had never done so previously may have thought the students here were zombies. Even when they peered up from their mindless droning of social media usage, their eyes were dull and seemed to lost all light. Not that I would blame them, this school leaked an atmosphere of depression and disappointment.

I always liked to think that there was something missing in this school. Something that was within reach, that could make this place more lively. Something there that maybe I just wasn't seeing. But no matter what I did, what I thought, I couldn't find whatever it was I was looking for. That is, of course, until he arrived. 

A loud crash echoed through the corridors of the math department building, where my algebra class was being held. Yelling, the voice of a male. One I hadn't previously heard. Out of curiosity, I wandered out of the class - the teacher didn't seem to care, he just stared down at his desk, piled with unmarked papers. As I did, the yelling became far more audible. Stuttering, too. Apologies, from a weaker sounding voice. I edged towards the wall opposite my class and peered around the corner to see what was going on. I saw a boy, one I had never seen before, picking up books and telling a younger looking boy off. I'd never seen the younger guy, either. These must be two new students, I thought. I walked over feeling wary but tried to retain an air of confidence. 

"Hey there, can I help?" I offered, picking up one of the books and handing it to the older boy. As soon as he saw me, he seemed to force himself to calm down and smile. His deep blue eyes seemed to light up pleasantly when he smiled, and his mid-length black hair seemed to sweep perfectly around his face. He was pale, but not a sickly pale. He almost seemed... enchanting.

"Oh, thank you, but I'm good." This broke my concentration on him somewhat as he said this, and he gave a sideways glance at the boy next to him, who was still picking up books and pens from the floor. The look on his face disappeared almost as quickly as it crossed his face, though, and he returned his attention to me.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Ethan. Ethan Springs."

And that's how it started. Those few words we had spoken to each other began the real excitement. The fun. The adventure...

The danger.