A bright fresh morning. How wonderful.
Sort of.
The alarm beeped mercilessly, as the sleeping figure groaned and rolled over.
Sophie's eyes slowly opened as she yawned, stretching her hand out and switching off the alarm. She quickly resumed her light snoring, but was awakened when her door was shoved open with a loud 'WHAM'.
She already knew what was going to happen. "Get up you lazy joke! Mum has been yelling for 10 minutes straight and it's getting very irritating," yelled the furious brother of hers. "5 more minutes..." hissed Sophie as she pulled the pillow over her head. "You do this every morning!" bellowed her brother. "Weekday morning," corrected Sophie quietly, only to get her pillow tugged off her head. "Shawn, please," she groaned as her brother pulled over off the bed.
She let out a tired yawn as she stumbled out of her room and into the living room, where the dining table was. Her father gave her a hard stare as she slumped onto her wooden chair. "We feed you and put a roof over you, not for you to just sleep in all day. You have school!" he scolded as she placed her head on her hands. "What does that have to do with my morning?" muttered Sophie softly. "My point is, I expect you to do well. It's a kill or be killed world," he continued, before rambling about politics to her brother.
Sophie grunted as she heard a 'thunk' sound. Her mother placed their breakfast on the table. Bread with milk and oats. Same as always.
Sophie felt her stomach rumble as she devoured the warm meal before her and grabbed her schoolbag. "Uh...bye," she mumbled before opening the door, instantly regretting her decision. It was so horribly bright, and not just because of the sun, but because of the girl standing outside her door.
"Sumedha what the heck?" she screamed in surprise as Sumedha bounced over to her. "We go to school together. Did you happen to forget?" she questioned as Sophie shook her head hesitantly. As her palpitating heart calmed down, she walked with the cheerful Sumedha to school.
School.
Usually a rather miserable place for students, except when they could hang out with their friends. The issue was that Sophie had only 2 close friends. Sumedha, a cheerful girl with a bubbly personality much loved by her classmates, and Hanlu, who was a friendly girl who always tried to remain calm but ended up being insane. She could only pray that their classes would eventually become the same.
Upon reaching school, Sumedha headed for her class while Sophie walked into her own classroom. It was a stuffy place, since the windows were barred ever since a student managed to break it with a baseball bat.
Sophie never cared. Her class was called Class Shine, which was nothing like the actual name. And the school had a strange tradition of placing a maximum of 9 students per class, stating that it was for 'good development'.
Sophie wondered why she was even surprised when she found out each class only had 9 students. This school didn't have good admission, which was why there were so little students.
Sophie didn't ever care though. She never found a reason for it.
She was feeling rather tired too.
"Sophie."
Sophie turned to look at her only friend in the class, Brayden. She had to admit she might just have the smallest of feelings for him. Just a small bit, hopefully. He was friendly and the only guy she spoke to other than the teachers.
"Everything alright?" he hummed softly and she shrugged. He just smiled at her before class began and ended. Everything went so fast.
"See you tomorrow?" he asked. "You mean during CCA. We have CCA today," she reminded him, rolling her eyes. Co-curricular activities. A miserable bunch of sports or clubs that teachers wanted the students to attend. It was only enjoyable if you truly had passion for the CCA you took.
Sophie took badminton. It was fun and the feeling of smacking a shuttle felt amazing. When you sprinted from one end of the court to the other, you felt like a bird, soaring across the court to save a shuttle.
"Sophie!!!"
Sophie was snapped out of her thoughts when heard Hanlu, her good friend's familiar voice.
"Eh? Yeah?" she turned to return Hanlu's whisper-shouting. "Come on! We found something cool," Sumedha called as Sophie turned in confusion. "What...? This school has interesting stuff?" she muttered in confusion before charging out of the classroom.
"What did you find?" Sophie asked in bewilderment. "Trust me it is cool," Hanlu whispered before she ran into the dense overgrowth behind the school. "What the heck?" Sophie followed, trying not to lose her two friends in the midst of branches and brambles. Finally, she arrived at..,9 doors???
It seemed to them that the dense overgrowth had covered the door with moss and layers of dust. "What in the world...?" she hissed.
"What do you mean? Isn't it cool?" Sumedha chirped excitedly. Sophie studied the 9 doors that closed in an arc in the clearing. The clearing looked like it had been undisturbed for quite some time, possibly even centuries. And yet here she was. Exploring this mythical yet quizzical looking clearing that remained untouched until now. Brushing off some of the dust and moss, she discovered that each door had a symbol to it, like a fierce looking creature undiscovered. She took a quick glance around again before noticing an ancient looking stone tablet lying on the ground. "Uh, guys?" Sophie yelped. "There are keys in the locks! Ah darn, there's only 3 left. Just enough for us. Let's explore separately to cover more ground!" suggested Hanlu. Sumedha grabbed her by the wrist before she could move a step further. "What if... there's some kind of ghost awaiting us?" Sumedha croaked with fear in her eyes.
Sophie nodded in agreement. "Aw, damn. Okay, maybe we come back after CCA, but keep the keys with you," Hanlu grunted in disappointment. "I guess it is a compromise or something," Sophie muttered.
CCA was the same as always.
That bubbling feeling of anger just pulsing inside of her. "Come on Sophie you can do this!" yelled Regina, her teammate. Yes, one should feel happy that their teammates were cheering for them. But Sophie knew this was all just a facade.
During the match, Sophie felt sweat trickle down her skin. Her muscles were stiff and she could feel the strain of her arms as she lifted it up.
"Sophie, you're such a burden while playing," commented Regina stiffly. Sophie sighed. "Run some more!" yelled another teammate.
"Sprint faster!"
"Whack harder!"
The match ended. 21-10. Sophie stared at her points, feeling rather miserable on the inside. She was. "We did very well!" Chirped Regina. Sophie could just hear the 'resentful but gotta act nice' tone filling the girl's voice, irritating Sophie.
'Was it so hard to tell me the truth?' She thought.
Halfway during the training, she could hear whispers fill her ears. They were all commenting on how she played, and their words began bugging her. She didn't feel put down. No, not at all. She felt resentful. The truth was really just something her teammates could never tell her. It was such a difficult thing to tell her. "She always acts like she tries, but I don't believe it," scoffed Regina.
"OI!" She bellowed, flinging the shuttle in her hand onto the ground. It was the final straw for her. The building frustration couldn't be pushed back down. They all stopped their muttering as the whole hall turned to face her. The anger blinded her judgement and she let out a furious scream.
"Do you think I am deaf or something?" She yelled, clenching her racket, holding back her growing urge to hurl it on the floor. "We were just talking about how you could improve..." trailed Regina, her voice filled with mock terror.
"OH FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE JUST TELL IT STRAIGHT TO ME! What you're doing is awfully similar to badmouthing me!" She roared, stamping her foot down and storming out of the hall.
The moment she reached the exit of the school, her anger faded and was replaced with guilt and embarrassment. She would be the new talk of the school. And how was she going to face Brayden? She'd even lose a spot on the school team. She wouldn't hear the end of it from her family either.
She couldn't go home just yet. She wasn't willing to face the wrath of her father.
The 9 strange doors behind the dense overgrowth flashed in her mind. Well it was a possible place to relax, she hoped.
Fortunately, she had the keys on her. Which was strange, because Sophie remembered placing it in her satchel.
Shrugging off the confusion, she walked over to the doors. Her key only opened the door which was painted with fire red paint and had a bird drawn on it. The bird reminded her of her CCA yet again, and the embarrassment came swarming back. She shook her head from side to side, snapping her out of the terrible memory.
She placed the key in and opened it. A small breeze blew past her face as she furrowed her brow. "Ancient looking building right behind the school? Why did I ever agree to the compromise. No thanks. Too creepy for me," she hissed as she began to close the door.
Suddenly, she heard a snicker from behind. "How did you manage to find this creepy looking building?" Cackled the voice. Before Sophie could react, she was shoved into the building and had the door shut behind her.
Sophie spotted the key lying next to her and tried to open the door, but the key strangely didn't work. The cold voice of Regina rang out again.
"See you tomorrow!"
Sophie slammed the door multiple times, her fear giving way to anger. "Bloody hell," she spat as she slumped against the door.
"Someone please help me," she grunted in frustration. Her blood began to boil as many methods of revenge came flowing through her mind. Then she noticed a light. "Is that the exit? Or a ghost luring me to my death?" She hissed as she scrambled to her feet, holding her arms in a defensive position. "Might as well try. At least I'll die knowing ghosts exist," she prattled.
She slowly plodded down the path, her eyes wary and her feet sore. She squinted, trying to peer through the grim darkness. She did not like being alone, especially in a dark, constricted place.
"I can help you escape," stated a firm voice from behind. Whirling around, she screamed as a bright orange bird popped into view. It was majestic, large and had a trail of feathers for a fan-like tail.
"WHAT THE HELL! BACK OFF!" She cried out as sweat began forming on her hands. The bird shook its beak. "I am truly sorry, but I am your only means of escape. Do you really think the girl that pushed you in would actually bother releasing you? Her heart is made of stone. Your death wouldn't matter to her," cawed the bird.
"I'm sure she uh...has some morals inside of her, you giant parrot," she retorted, taking another step back. "What," the bird's eyes widened as it ruffled its feathers furiously. "I am a Phoenix! The mighty bird which rises from the ashes and brought light and warmth to crops and people. I was a blessing to even look at!" It squawked indignantly.
"You're lying. Phoenixes aren't real. When I was a kid I used to believe in all these sorts of things. Dragons, kitsunes, trolls, and many other creatures and especially you. I did everything I could to prove you were real. But nothing ever happened. You expect me to believe you?" She replied, her eyes narrowing into a freezing glare.
The bird paused, looking at her hesitantly.
"Then I can't get you out," it cawed nonchalantly. Sophie hesitated, considering her course of action. "Darn it, fine. How are you supposedly going to get me out of here?" She questioned.
The bird smirked at her and she controlled her urge to roll her eyes and then roll the bird's head. "You have to believe. Believe that Phoenixes and all the other mythical beasts exist," it responded and Sophie let out a loud curse.
"Sorry, I do not actually curse that often, but your words are horribly unbelievable. Believing will get me out of here? Really? You sound like you're from some other fantasy legend of the past or something," she snapped. The bird eyed her curiously. "What's even holding you back?" It asked. Sophie looked at her watch and gasped. She had to be home in ten minutes. How much time had she wasted in this miserable building?
"Okay! I believe!" She forced out. However, on the inside, she felt like her little kid self again.
The light swirled around her and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground, unable to move a single muscle in her limp body.