Underneath The Hidden Stars

Chapter II

The next morning both Mira and everyone else on Level 4 got woken up by the same morning announcement – except, unlike everyone else, Mira had a second alarm, that being a pillow to the face, thrown by none other than Terra. Just like every day, they got up, got dressed and went to the kitchen for breakfast. They were met, yet again, by their father, reading the newspaper and then rushing off 'late' without eating. "He still doesn't have a watch, why does he keep looking at his wrist!?" Terra questioned out loud, but Mira replied only with a shrug. The sisters ate their rice, washed the dishes, and went to school.

Mira sat down in her usual spot in the back of the class. She rested her head on her palm and watched people rushing to the coal mines. She saw people of various ages - women in their 20s, men in their 80s - hurrying towards that one entrance at the end of the stone wall. Hundreds of people striding across the dull cobblestone flooring, terrified of being late. She saw a familiar silhouette of a woman with silky dark hair that was neatly tied in a bun. The woman, although clearly poor, wore her clothes neatly and carried around a tiny purse with her at all times. Mira followed the woman's silhouette rapidly moving through the hordes of people. The woman walked very fast, almost to the extent that it seemed she's running and then-

"Hello everyone, I know it's your first lesson today, but please have your books out before the class begins, alright? I won't be this lenient next time."

Mira immediately looked back out the window to look for the woman, but she was gone.

"I knew it. Of course she wasn't real. There's no way she'd possibly be here." Mira whispered to herself quietly, but clearly not quiet enough.

"Miss Fader if you'd like to say something to the class, here's your time to shine." The teacher said so loudly and suddenly, that the whole class went completely quiet. Mira turned and saw that the teacher was standing right in front of her. She was standing so close, that the obscene amounts of perfume that she had put on made Mira gag. She raised her eyes up to meet her teacher's.

"I am very sorry Mrs. Muth. I swear by all means it will not happen again."

"Make sure it doesn't Miss Fader, or you will serve consequences." She said with a smile so fake, it made everyone extremely uncomfortable and terrified. She made a quick u-turn and walked back to the front of the class, making sure to make eye contact with every single student in class. "Well today, we will learn some history," she smiled, "it is history class after all, isn't it Mr. Shedden?"

"Yes Ma'am." answered a boy with dark brown hair and freckles that marked his face like stars would the night sky.

"Well, today we will go right back to the beginning. The world we know today is far different than it used to be. It used to be full of wonderful things and yet our ancestors thought it would be a brilliant idea to declare nuclear war on each other! Years after the war ended, Aurthur the Great, the man of many strengths, saw Vetos, our amazing goddess, in a dream. According to the books he had left behind, she told him to build a tower and gather people from all around to it, as it is the only way they would be safe from the polluted air which stained the planet's surface." She picked up a book from her desk and opened it where a bright red bookmark was placed. "Open your books on page 498 and finish reading the story as I'm well aware you must already know it by heart. Once you're done with that, answer all the questions on pages 505-518. And don't interrupt me." She said in a voice that greatly contrasted her own from a few moments ago, when she was talking about history.

All the people in the class opened their books and started reading when the door slammed open and a red haired girl looked in, apologized, slammed the door closed and ran through the hall. Everyone looked around in confusion and collectively looked at the teacher who seemed as slack-jawed as everyone else. She stood up, glared at the whole class as an indicator to stay quiet and hurried out the door. Moments after, Mira grabbed her bag and started rummaging through it. She pulled out a small piece of paper the same girl had given her the previous day. With her hands shaking, she unfolded the paper and read the short note that was written on it.

"Our primary is next, tomorrow at 8am," Mira read to herself and stared at the note blankly for a moment. "Wait, what does she mean our primary is next...? Does she mean the school or...?" After a pause of realization she froze. She looked up to the clock. 7:56. She slowly stood up, crumpled the note and walked out of the class, leaving her bags and the note behind. She ran through her school's seemingly endless hallways, pushed the exit doors with both hands and kept running. She ran through the abandoned streets as fast as she could when she heard a loud explosion. Mira stopped for a moment and started running again, this time even faster. She felt a disruptive ringing in her ears but she didn't stop, she couldn't stop. The speakers turned on, but instead of the regular daily announcements, it was sirens. Sirens so loud, any normal person would want to close their ears and run away from the noise.

Mira reached a familiar spot. If she ran right through the park, her sister's primary school would be to the right. It was a rather beautiful place, really. The dark pine trees and the old buildings looked amazing on a normal day. But today, it was different. The previously magical looking place was covered in smoke. Mira ran through the smoke, covering her mouth and nose with her jacket sleeve, and stopped in front of the school. She walked towards it slowly, carefully placing her steps, when her foot landed on what seemed like rocks. She bended down and looked at the rocks carefully and realized it was rubble. She walked forward and noticed that wherever she stepped, her feet landed on fallen debris. She started running through it, tripping on the building parts on every second step while shouting her sisters name. After what Mira swore sounded like her sister's scream, she ran to its direction, only to fall after a few steps. She shouted her little sister's name out a few more times and tried to lift herself up. After she finally managed to stand up, a sharp pain bolted through her head and her sight went dark.

"Where did you say you found her?" a man with oval glasses and a white coat inquired.

"She was in the rubble, sir. We found her while we were looking for survivors." answered a man, who looked like he was in his mid-thirties, completely covered in dirt and dust.

"Wait, wasn't it a primary school? What in the world was a teenager doing there?"

"We're not sure yet, sir. We'll try to find that out."

"Uh, sorry to interrupt you gentlemen, but isn't that Fader's daughter?" A woman asked almost rhetorically, while chewing on a toothpick. "The older of the two, how's she called, uh, Maya? Mara? Oh right, it's Mira. Mira Fader, sir. M-I-R-A F-A-D-E-R."

"Do you know why this Mira Fader could've been in the primary school's rubble then?" the first man inquired.

"Well, uh, if I had to guess, sir, I'd say she went there because of her sister. Her sister Terra was like, uh, around 10?"

"Terra Fader, was it? Michael, could you check if she's on the list?"

"On it, sir."

"Jennifer, could you contact their father for me? You seem to be acquainted with the Faders."

"Uh, sure thing, Carl." she replied with a wink, still chewing on her tooth pick.

Carl sat back in his office chair and rubbed his face. The situation was getting out of hand. First, there have been attacks on all levels below 9, and they all targeted primary schools. Only one primary school per level though, not more. In addition, the schools they targeted were the smallest schools in the level. But still, over 120 casualties just today, it was too many. In his head, there was only one reason anyone would do this, however, it was a reason only those from level 8 and above would know about. So what in the world-?

"Mr. Newfield, it checks out. Terra Fader is on the casualty list, sir." Michael said after running in through the office door. Moments later, the door opened again, this time even faster, and a nurse bolted in.

"Uhm Doc, the girl that was brought in earlier? Shewoke up."