Chapter 1

ring ring ring

An alarm blares on for a few seconds. Begrudgingly, Ryza opens his eyes to see a dimly lit darkness surrounding him. After dismissing the alarm, he stumbles out of bed and makes his way to the light switch. He hits the button, and the room illuminates, allowing him to change into some clothes for school.

Wobbling downstairs, still half asleep, Ryza heads into the kitchen and opens the fridge. He grabs the milk and bacon, then closes the door and notices a sticky note on the door:

"Good morning, sweetie. Have a good day at school." -Love Mom

He smiles as he puts the bacon in the microwave. Taking the cereal out of the pantry, he makes himself a bowl of cereal.

After he finishes eating, he goes upstairs to the bathroom. He runs his hand through the mess that is his head of brown hair, wets it, and runs a brush through it. He grabs his phone and wallet off his nightstand in his room and goes outside. Locking the door, he casually strolls up to the street to meet his friends who are waiting for him.

"I've told you to wake up sooner, Ryza!" Katherine scolds with her arms crossed, her red eyes beating down on him.

"Sheesh, I'm never late, am I?" Replies Ryza, casually strolling down the steps.

"Yeah, but it's better to get there early, so we don't have to rush."

"Yeah, yeah." He smirks, rolling his eyes with a bit of sass. The group starts making their way to school.

Ryza and his four friends, Katherine, Justin, Kai, and Nina, are in high school. Ryza, Katherine, Justin, and Kai are juniors, and Nina is a sophomore. Kai and Nina are siblings and grew up with Ryza. Katherine, they met in middle school, and Justin in freshman year of high school.

They make their way to school, taking their usual route, A small street. How little foot traffic. Their school is a K-12, and there are three massive buildings on the campus.

"Don't forget that after school, we are going to watch the meteor shower." Ryza reminds them before they all separate to go to their classes upon arriving at the massive three-story structure.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We are meeting up at the ice cream shop down the street from the school, right?" Asks Justin.

"Yup, that's the one," Ryza answers with a grin. "Then after, we'll head to my house and take the truck so we can get away from the lights."

"Sounds good to me." States Katherine. The group splits to head to their classes.

Many hours pass and long boring classes come and go, and the sun is starting to set. Ryza steps into the shop, ordering ice cream and french fries, then goes and sits at a booth. Within several minutes his friends trickle into the store. After ordering, they take their seats at the booth, and a minute later, all the ice cream arrives at the table.

"So when is it supposed to start?" Asks Justin.

"The peak is about 7:27 PM. The best part is that, since it's winter, we'll be able to see it because there is less daylight." Answers Ryza.

"I don't see what's so special about some flying rocks," Kai states, not seeming to be enjoying this.

"Wait, it will be worth it. Not to mention that it is rare to see an event like this in our region!" Ryza says excitedly.

"Yeah, whatever." Kai shrugs, crossing his arms.

Ryza looks at his watch and sees that it says 5:18, "We gotta go, it's going to take us about an hour and a quarter to get there. Then we need to set up our little camp." The group shimmies out of the booth. They rush over to Ryza's house, hop into the truck, and head out of town.

After about an hour of driving through the countryside, they come to the spot to set up camp. Ryza researched this area; it is public land, though not populated so that they wouldn't see the city's lights.

They set up the blanket and the basket Ryza's mom had prepared for them. They are about 200, maybe 250 feet away from the truck. He glances at his watch and sees that it is 7:19.

"Okay, it's about to start." As he finished his sentence, the first comet streaked through the sky, followed by countless more.

"Wow!" The group gasps with utter astonishment. A broad spectrum of color beams down as the light refracts through the ice and dust, making a small rainbow.

"It is better than you thought?" Ryza asks Kai smugly.

"Yeah, you were right," Kai says, pretending to be a little defeated.

"Is it supposed to look like that?" Nina asks, pointing to the sky at a giant ball of light.

Ryza follows where she's pointing, and a rugged look washes over his face. Everyone looks at him, disturbed. Seeing the light get brighter and brighter, he says, "No."

"Huh." They all say.

His eyes widen, and he collects himself, "Run!" They get up and start sprinting away. "This way." Instead of running away from it, they run to the side.

Ryza looks back up at the meteor, sees it seconds away from making contact, and yells, "Hit the deck!" They all drop to the ground, lying on their stomachs, and a few seconds later, a massive burst of pressurized air blasts over them.

They stand up, stiff from the pressure caused by the gust. Ryza looks back at the crashed meteor and sees an almost transparent rainbow-colored ball coated in dust. He walks up to the meteor with his friends' several feet behind him.

He wipes the dust off the crystalline meteor. He sees a figure inside and strains to make it out. After squinting, he can tell that it is a girl in a silky white dress.

Without realizing it, the meteor starts pulsing, and it begins to speed up rapidly. Ryza then notices the vibration, but by then, it is too late. The meteor releases an energy wave knocking the five of them on their backs.

The group is unconscious for about a minute, with Ryza being the first to awaken. Disoriented, he feels a strange feeling coursing through him. He stands up straight and looks down, and sees electricity crackling from his body like a tesla coil.

He looks behind at where friends are, and wondrous things are occurring. The ground is shifting around Justin like he is lying on a water bed. Kai is lying unconscious in a blistering flame. Orbs of water surround Nina. The grass around Katherine there is bright green and growing around her.

Confused and anxious, he takes a deep breath and calms himself. The electricity wanes, and he calls out, "Wake up!"

They awaken, and the water orbs drop and extinguish the fire. The ground around Justin stiffens, and the grass releases Katherine. After helping everyone to their feet, Ryza glances back to the meteor to see it is no longer there.

He walks over to it and sees the girl he saw inside the meteor, unable to see her in the dark. His friends stand behind him. He looks back at them, "We can just leave her here."

"We should call the police." Says Nina.

"And say what 'Hey, we found a girl in a meteor!'" Justin jokes, freaking out a bit.

"He's right. Have you ever seen those movies? If we turn this girl over to the government, who knows what they might do to her?" Kai says.

"Yeah, I guess you two have a point." States Nina.

Ryza looks around and sees small pieces of the meteor that broke off. "I'll take her to the truck. You guys grab as many of the small meteor chunks as possible." He says, picking the girl up in his arms.

"Yes, Mister Knight," Justin says sarcastically.

The four of them pick up all the stones, and Ryza puts the girl in the extra middle seat in the front next to him and buckles her up. Everyone hops in the truck, and for an hour, there is nothing but silence.

When they arrive at Ryza's house, Ryza picks up the girl, takes her to the guest room, and lays her on the bed. The boys head to Ryza's room and the girls in the guest room.

After some idle chatter, Ryza, Justin, and Kai pass out, exhausted.