Fear

Bang! Bang! Bang! "Let me in or I'm breaking the door!" Ethan could hear a voice shouting loudly. He walked down the stairs as he headed towards the door. His family was back. "Hey dad! Hi Estelle!" Ethan greeted them as he opened the door.

"Why'd you take so long to open the door," Estelle pouted. "Well, that's cause....I was sleeping." "Sleeping?" Ethan's father frowned. "It's almost 10:00 a.m. Why are you sleeping? Did you stay up late studying for that exam of yours?" Ethan gulped. Parents sure had terrifying predictive powers. "N-No dad," he smiled shakily.

"Anyways, how was Dragopolis? Did somebody threaten you with their father?" "No, thank God! But there was this one tall-ass kid with red eyes who looked like he was going to..." Estelle's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait a minute! Your eyes! Their not black anymore. Their blue! What the hell? Did you really become an awakener?"

"Huh?" Ethan was confused. "What do you mean? Haven't my eyes always been blue?" Suddenly, he stiffened. His eyes weren't blue, they were black. Blue was the colour of his eyes as the boy. "Wait, my eyes are blue?" "Congrats on becoming an awakener, Ethan!"

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Tap....tap....tap. Ethan walked down the cemented pathway as he headed towards his school. He was goin to his school after a month. With all kinds of entrance exams coming up, the school had given kids a month of vacation to study. He preferred this though. A month without Douglas was amazing, and he wished it wouldn't end. He sighed.

Ethan walked into the classroom as he stared at his surroundings. Everything felt so surreal. Going to school after unlocking his past life's memories felt....different. He shook his head. He resented this feeling. This school was a hellhole, and he had to stay strong. Showing weakness would be the worst possible thing he could do.

Ethan blurred through the day, engulfed in countless textbooks and classes. Briiiing! The bell finally rang, signifying the end of the day. "Mmmmph." He stretched his arms as he shook himself awake. The day would finally start now.

Ethan's school contained a training facility for gatekeeper enthusiasts. Though Centin was a small city, Douglas' presence had provided the school with a massive amount of funding which they did not hesitate to use to help their star student. He headed down a set of stairs as he made his way to a large room. A cold blast of air swept him as a set of automatic doors opened.

The entire room was split into several sections bordered by glass walls. Ethan could see a girl shooting at some moving targets with a composite bow. Paht! Paht! A loud sound echoed throughout the room as her arrows drilled into the targets. She lowered the bow as she at the targets with a smile on her face. Suddenly, she turned around. Her eyes met Ethan's as her face morphed into a look of disgust.

Ethan ignored her and looked into another room. A tall boy was gripping a sword with both of arms. A machine shot out tennis balls as he deflected them with his longsword. Swoosh! Hs swod moved through the air as a concentrated clump of mana shot through the air. Smash! The machine was torn apart as numerous balls spilled out. Beep! A couple of robots rushed out to repair the damage. He wiped the sweat of his forehead as he grinned. Suddenly, it hit Ethan. This guy ws James, Douglas' number 1 lackey.

Ethan moved away as he walked towards the registration desk. A lady sat behind the desk typing away at a computer. "Excuse me," said Ethan. "I'd like to go to the combat training centre." The woman looked up at Ethan. "Who are you," she asked with annoyed look. Anybody who wasn't a regular here was probably up to no good. "Ethan Miller. I'm a student here." "Ethan Miler....hm.....Oh! The H rank guy, right? What're you doing here?"

"I'd like to go to the combat training centre," he repeated. "What? Are you serious? Only awakeners are allowed to access those rooms. Plus, they have a pretty long wait. I can't squeeze someone like you in there." Ethan groaned inwardly. This was going to be tough. He pushed a card forward. "I'm not H rank anymore. I've advanced to G rank. Plus, the combat training rooms are free right now."

"I'm sorry," she smirked. "Douglas has booked the room today. I don't think you'll be able to use it." "You mean he's using the room for the entire day?" "No, idiot. He's gonna be in there for a couple of minutes. I don't want anybody spoiling the room before he gets here." The woman gave him an angry look.

"You've got to be kidding me! He's not even here. Plus, there are tons of extra rooms. Why can't you give me a room?" Ethan glared at the woman. He was sure that he'd be able to use the school's training facility today. But this damn woman was being a pain in the ass.

"Look, kid. You're not even an awakener. I don't know why you're coming here tryin to use gatekeeper facilities." She pushed her glasses up. "Plus, when Douglas trains here, he doesn't like noise. So you'd better scram before he gets here." "What do you mean? If Douglas doesn't like noise, that's his problem. Why do I have to go away? I...."

"Hey runt, I thought I told you to stay out of my way. What're you doing here?" Suddenly, Ethan heard a loud voice behind him. He turned around to see Douglas wearing a training outfit. He was walking with his arms wide open, as if he was trying to show off his muscles. "Kyaaaa....He's so handsome!" Ethan inwardly rolled his eyes as he imagine a couple of girls fainting of excitement.

"I..." Suddenly, Ethan froze. He felt an inexplicable fear gripping him. His gut sunk as his breathing became rough. What was happening? Why was he scared? Was it because of Douglas? Huff...huff. "What happened? Cat got your tongue? Hahaha." Douglas walked towards him. Was he always this tall? Tap...tap. Suddenly, Douglas was standing right in front of him.

Smash! Douglas smacked his face. Ethan stumbled as he walked a few steps behind. "Listen, idiot. Playtime's over. I need this room empty right now. And if I tell you to get out, you get out." Punch! Ethan bent down as Douglas punched him in the stomach.

"You...you..." "Say another word and your sister dies. Just like your whore of a mother did. You think Stella corp will give two shits about some random guy dying?" Punch! Smack! "Hey Douglas! Stop! Not now. Not here." James placed a hand on his shoulder. Douglas glared at him.

"My day was already going shit, and now I can't even beat up this weakling?" "Let's do it somewhere else. It's better if the school doesn't see us." "Alright. Kick him out. I'll deal with him after I'm done training." A couple of kids dragged Ethan by his shoulders. Bang! They threw him out of the room.

"Ow!" Ethan groaned as he lay on the floor. Again. He'd been beaten up by Douglas again. It was different this time though. This time, he'd been scared of Douglas. Why? Why was he suddenly afraid of that idiot?

Maybe it was the fact that he had recalled his past life. The way he'd lost Crookie had hurt him. Somewhere, deep down, he was still afraid. Afraid that Douglas might target his family. And his past life's memories had simply made him more aware of this feeling. He slowly got up.

One of Ethan's strongest points was that he always spoke up against bullied when thy beat him. He never gave up in front of them. Yet.....now he was scared. He resented Douglas, but he had lost the courage to fight against him.

Ba-dump....ba-dump....ba-dump. Ethan's heart thumped as he started walking towards his house. For the first time, he'd been truly defeated. He took a deep breath as he shuffled forward.