1 Chapter 1: Tragedy

"Lucas, what would you do if you were to wake up in a mysterious world where all you could see is a vast forest?"

"You read too much comics, brother."

"Just answer my question, jeez."

"Well, I would go on an adventure and discover more about that world, I guess."

"Woah, seems like someone play too many video games."

"What did you say!?"

"Haha, well, I wish I could explore that world with you, Lucas."

That was the last time I talked to my big brother. Not just my brother, but my friends as well.

Ever since then, my life has never been the same.

All because of that incident.

***

Lucas and Harry's parents are very strict when it comes to their safety, so they don't let them go anywhere else after school. But Harry didn't like this and would always go against his parents words.

Ever since Harry was 13 years old, he would go to places his parents never expected him to be in.

But Lucas was the opposite. He would always obediently follow his mom's and dad's strict rules.

But he doesn't really like it; he's just scared that his mom and dad will get mad at him. But if given the chance to go out somewhere, he wouldn't hesitate, but only with his parents permission, of course.

But sometimes, he would get asked out by his older brother, Harry, to go somewhere after school, but he would always decline his offer.

It was morning, and Lucas and Harry were walking together to go to school.

"Hey Lucas?" Harry called Lucas.

"What?" Lucas responded.

"Wanna hang out together after school?" Harry asked Lucas.

"No, you know, mom never lets us go out on our own." Lucas declined Harry's offer.

"You're such a boring person, Lucas; it's only for once, you know. At least you get to experience what it's like to hang out after school," Harry convinced Lucas.

"You are so annoying, big brother. What if mom finds out? What will we do then?" Lucas was annoyed.

"Hey, come on. Let's just tell mom there was an event at school and we had to go home late," Harry said.

"Are you being serious right now?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, obviously, come on now, Lucas. Don't you want to have fun at least once?" Harry responded.

"Of course I do, but mom and dad never let me go out on my own, not even with you," Lucas said while looking down.

"Then let's go; it's not like mom and dad have to know. Trust me, I'm good at this. I have been doing this since I was your age," Harry said, convincing Lucas.

"Really?" Lucas asked.

"Of course, so what do you say, huh?" Harry said.

"Well, I guess it's not really bad to have fun once in a while," Lucas said in a soft voice.

"That's my little brother! Then let's meet up later after school at the front gate, Lucas!" Harry said, running to go to his class and leaving Lucas on his own.

"Wait! I didn't agree yet!" Lucas said loudly.

"I can't hear you, hahaha," Harry said while laughing.

"Damn that guy! Sigh, whatever, I'll just go," Lucas said, annoyed.

Lucas then went to his class. As Lucas was walking to his class, he saw the girl he had a crush on ever since he was a child; her name is Alice.

This made Lucas stop walking and stare at her without realizing it.

Alice was talking to a friend, and her friend noticed that Lucas was staring at Alice, so her friend decided to tell her.

Alice saw him, and she realized that it was Lucas, her neighbor and her childhood friend.

This made Alice approach Lucas.

Lucas realized he was staring at Alice, and he felt embarrassed. But Alice was approaching him, so he acted like he wasn't looking and tried to hide his embarrassment.

"Hey Lucas?" Alice called Lucas.

"Yeah." Lucas was too embarrassed to speak.

"It's been such a long time; you rarely go out these days," Alice said in a soft tone.

"Uh yeah, I have actually been focusing on my studies these days," Lucas said, trying not to look into her eyes.

"That's good, Lucas; by the way, I heard you are coming with us later," Alice said.

"Wait, you are coming as well, Alice?" Lucas said, confused.

"Yeah, it's actually not just me. But Julian and Kenneth are actually coming as well," Alice said.

"What!? Big brother didn't tell me about that!" Lucas said.

"Haha, well, I gotta go now; it's almost time for class. I'll see you later," Alice said.

"Alright then, bye!" Lucas said as he was about to head into his classroom.

Lucas arrived in his classroom and did his usual things.

School was over, and Lucas was going out to his classroom when he remembered about their plan to hang out later.

Lucas was thinking if he should really go, well. He didn't really plan on going, but since Alice was going as well, he went along with his brother.

Lucas went to the front gate and saw Harry and the others.

"You are late, Lucas; everyone was waiting for you." Harry teased Lucas.

"No way! Lucas is actually coming with us?! Harry, you werent lying?" Julian asked shockingly.

"The guy who is always scared is actually coming with us?!" Kenneth said.

"I told y'all, haha," Harry said.

"Harry, what did you put on Lucas food to make him go with us?" Julian said, teasing Lucas.

"Shut up! Or I'm really not going!" Lucas said madly.

"Then don't go, bruh," Kenneth said.

"Kenneth, don't say that! Lucas actually came along with us this once, you know," Alice said.

"Well, let's go, guys!" Harry said excitedly.

"So, um, where are we going?" Lucas asked.

"We are going to a cinema; I already have tickets for us," Harry said excitedly.

After 20 minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the cinema.

They then took a seat and watched the movie while chatting.

"Woah! To be transported into a world like that would be so amazing," Harry said, amazed.

"Lucas, what would you do if you were to wake up in a mysterious world where all you could see is a vast forest?" Harry asked.

"You read too much comics, brother," Lucas answered.

"Just answer my question, jeez," Harry said.

"Well, I would go on an adventure and discover more about that world, I guess." Lucas responded.

"Woah, seems like someone play too many video games." Harry teased Lucas.

"What did you say!?" Lucas furiously asked.

"Haha, well, I wish I could explore that world with you, Lucas." Harry said with a smile.

Everything was going normally, and they were almost at the climax of the movie, but they ran out of snacks.

They decided who would go out and buy some snacks, but none of them would do it.

They kept arguing about who was going to buy the snacks.

"Lucas, come on, you can keep the change," Harry convinced Lucas.

"No! We are almost at the good part of the movie, and you are asking me to buy the snacks?!" Lucas said furiously.

"Well, none of them will do it," Harry said.

"I'm too lazy," Julian said.

"Same," Kenneth said.

"Lucas, can you buy snacks for us, please?" Alice said in a seductive and soft voice.

"Sure!" Lucas said excitedly.

"Bruh." Harry couldn't believe it.

I can't believe I fell for that. Lucas thought.

He went out and bought some snacks, but something unexpected happened.

*Boom*

"Huh?" Lucas was confused.

Suddenly, the fire alarm was ringing.

The guards were telling everyone to evacuate.

Lucas couldn't believe it; people are saying the room he left just now got bombed.

Lucas tried to go in again, but the guards stopped him.

"Please let me in; my friends are in there!" Lucas said in panic.

"Sorry, kid, but I can't let you do that; you need to evacuate now before the fire gets too strong; the firefighters will handle it," the guard said.

Left with no other choice, Lucas had to evacuate.

"Brother and everyone else, please be safe!" Lucas thought in panic.

Lucas ran outside.

After he got out, he didn't know what to do; he didn't want to just keep waiting there and do nothing.

So he called his parents.

"Mom!" Lucas said in panic.

"Lucas!? Why are you not home yet?!" Mary said furiously.

Lucas told her everything that had happened.

"What!? Is Harry and the others okay!?" Mary said, concerned.

"I don't know; I tried going back in again, but the guards didn't let me and told me to evacuate," Lucas said, trembling.

"Lucas, where are you right now? Me and Henry will go there," Mary said while trembling.

Lucas told her the location.

After 10 minutes, Mary and Henry arrived.

Lucas was sitting and looking down, hoping his brothers and his friends were okay.

Mary and Harry approached him.

"Lucas!" Henry calls Lucas loudly.

"Did the others get out yet!?" Mary said loudly.

"Mom, Dad! Sorry, there's still no sight of them yet," Lucas said sadly.

Mary and Henry didn't have time for scolding; they had to save their son.

"Are there firefighters already?!" Henry said in panic.

"Yes, they already went inside. I'm just waiting for my brother and the others to get rescued," Lucas said, looking down.

"I see, then we have no other choice. The guards won't let us in no matter what, so we need to wait," Henry said, worried about his son.

"Lucas, who else was with you other than your brother?" Mary asked.

"Alice, Julian, and Kenneth went with us," Lucas said while still looking down.

Mary couldn't hold it and cried.

Henry tried to comfort her, but deep down, he wanted to cry as well.

"Don't worry, everyone will be ok; I'm sure of it. Let's just calm down and wait for now," Henry said, looking down.

They waited for an hour.

Henry saw a firefighter walking out of the mall just now.

Henry approached him and showed him a picture of his son.

"Excuse me," Henry said, calling the firefighter.

"You need something, sir?" The firefighters responded.

"You see, my son and his friends are still inside there. Their names are Harry, Alice, Julian, and Kenneth," Henry said.

"Oh, we have listed down those who survived in the fire. Go ask that guy over there; he was the one handled to do it, the firefighter said.

Henry then rushed to the firefighter.

"Excuse me! I heard you listed all the names that survived," Henry said excitedly.

"Oh, yes, would you like me to check some names?" The firefighter asked.

"Yes, please. Their names are Harry, Alice, Julian, and Kenneth," Henry said, rushing.

"Alright, please sit down while I check the names; I will just tell you later on," the firefighter said.

Henry went back to Mary and Lucas.

Henry told Mary and Lucas about having their names checked.

Everyone tried to calm down.

After waiting for 10 minutes.

The firefighter approached them.

When everyone saw this, they couldn't help but have a smile on their faces.

But the firefighter didn't look too good; he looked like he was going to say bad news.

Everyone got worried at this point. Mary closed her eyes and prayed, hoping her son and the others were safe.

The firefighter was finally about to say something.

"I'm sorry. But the names you told me weren't on the list; the firefighters already searched the whole place twice, and I already listed all the survivors. But none of them were the names you mentioned.

Everyone burst into tears.

They couldn't hold it.

Four years have passed since then.

Lucas was sitting on a clean grass and on front of him was a lake. This place was so peaceful; it was clean, and there weren't that much people. This place was where Lucas would go after school.

"Brother, Alice, Julian, Kenneth, I can't believe it. Are you guys really dead?" Lucas said, staring up at the sky.

"Sigh, I'll just go home. Mom might get worried about me," Lucas said.

Lucas got up and walked.

Lucas was walking back home when suddenly something fell in front of him. Suddenly, there were smoke everywhere.

"What the hell was that!?" Lucas said, surprised.

Lucas tried to see what fell in front of him.

"Huh! Is that a vase?!" Lucas said.

This made Lucas even more confused; the vase looked so beautiful, and it looked so expensive.

Lucas thought it was such a waste to let it be, so he brought it with him.

"How did this vase not break? I swear this fell in front of me so hard. It looked so expensive too; what a waste," Lucas said.

"Maybe I should take it back with me?" Lucas said.

Lucas continued to walk back home.

Lucas arrived at his house and went inside.

"Mom, I'm home!" Lucas said, letting his mom know.

"Oh, my Lucas, you are back early!" Mary said with a smile.

"Yeah," Lucas said.

"Lucas, don't go home too late, alright. Im just scared something like before might happen again," Mary said in a sad face.

"Don't worry, mom," Lucas said.

"I hope you are okay now; what happened before must have traumatized you," Mary said, concerned.

"Yeah, mom, I'll go in my bedroom now," Lucas said.

"Wait, Lucas, is that a vase?! Where did you get something like that? Please don't tell me you're robbing someone now!! That looks so expensive, Lucas!" Mary said loudly.

"Mom! Of course not! I found this when I was walking back home!" Lucas said loudly.

"Oh, is that so? But why would such a beautiful vase be found while just walking back home?" Mary said, confused.

"I Don't know, sigh," Lucas said as he continued to walk in his bedroom.

He got to his bedroom and placed the vase on his table.

He then went to his bed to get some rest.

"Sigh, I'm sick of this. My life is so boring. It's just going to school and all it's going to reward me is to work until I die. Sigh," Lucas said.

"I wish my brother and my friends were still here. It wouldn't be this boring." Lucas said.

Lucas closed his eyes.

"I hope I wake up in a world where I can truly be free. I can do whatever I want, go everywhere and not having to pay for anything." Lucas said.

"I wish I could explore that world with everyone, just like in the novel I always read," Lucas said.

Lucas was about to go to sleep and turn off the lights when he saw the vase disappearing into dusts.

This made Lucas scared, leaving him shocked; he couldn't even move. Lucas tried to run outside, but something was pulling him back.

Suddenly, a black hole came out of nowhere.

When Lucas saw this, it made him even more panic, he called his mom and dad for help.

"Mom! Dad!" Lucas said in panic.

But as he continued to call for help, he didn't hear an answer.

"No way, am I going to die like this?" Lucas said in panic.

"If I die right now, what about mom and dad? They will be left all alone," Lucas said in a trembling voice.

Lucas tried as hard as he could to escape, but the black hole was too much for him. It was small, but it was too strong.

"Mom, Dad. I'm sorry." Lucas said he was getting pulled by the black hole.

The black hole eventually sucked him in.