Ryn of Avonside

“This wind is nuts!” I yelled as I struggled with the umbrella. Not that it was doing much good. The three of us were already sodden and miserable, so the flimsy plastic and metal wasn't even good as moral support.

We were trying to get to our next class, but a storm had rolled in over Avonside University out of nowhere, and we were trapped, huddled behind some modernist steel monstrosity in a vain attempt to get out of the wind.

Bray looked miserable in his thin T-shirt, huddling up against the metal sculpture, while his friend—whose name I still hadn’t gotten—looked slightly more comfortable in her similar getup.

“Here, let me take it,” she called over the wind, her hands already reaching for the rebellious umbrella.

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded and carefully passed it to her. She looked like she could probably lift me over her head with a little effort. That wasn’t to say she was all muscle or anything, but there was enough definition in her arms to let me know I’d get my ass beat if it came to that. Which it wouldn’t, because conflict is scary.

“You boys ready to make a run for it?” she yelled, grinning with amusement and a note of challenge.

“No,” Bray groaned loudly, but the determined look in his eyes said otherwise.

“And you? Lanky dude, whatever your name is?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

Lanky dude? I mean, fair, but ouch. I nodded, taking a few deep breaths to try and psych myself up for the sprint. It looked like about forty metres to our destination, a glass atrium that seemed far too fragile to stand against the raging storm and its sideways rain.

“Go!” called the girl, and we ran.

Even considering my earlier appraisal of her, it was impressive to see her run and hold the umbrella over all three of us like it was nothing. Damn, girl!

Our feet splashed through growing puddles as we bolted across the concrete tiles of the Patten Memorial Courtyard. My feet squished uncomfortably as my shoes filled with rain faster than a cup under a ruptured faucet. Everything below mid thigh was soaked— the umbrella could only keep the three of us covered up to a point.

Regardless, we made it into the atrium, bursting through the doors in a spray of water and screeching wind. The door mechanism was failing to shut it automatically, so Bray’s friend tossed the umbrella back to me and leaned her shoulder into it until the latch clicked closed.

“Holy shit,” she laughed, her chest heaving with the effort. We were all soaked, her most of all. Her clothing clung to her frame in a very revealing way. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her abs—how the hell did those things even get like that? Smooth and toned at the same time.

“How did you even keep this thing upright, let alone covering us from the rain?” I asked, wrenching my eyes back to my umbrella.

I hadn’t been able to get it out before we’d all been drenched—that’s how fast the storm had rolled in—and now the thing was smashed and bent beyond hope. I’d need to get a new one.

“Yeah, look at you! You’re, like, buff! Are you one of those chicks that deadlift or something?” Bray asked, openly staring at her.

“Yeah, I work out, I guess. I lift and shit, but not a ton of the time or anything. I’m not interested in being a huge tanky chick or whatever. Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re hot as hell, but I don’t want to be one.” She shrugged, looking a little self-conscious over the way her top was clinging. She wrapped her arms around her chest and stared  awkwardly back at Bray.

“So you’re into buff girls, then?” Bray teased, his eyes taking on a mischievous glint.

“I guess, but I’m into girls. I like short, pretty, petite girls, I like tall willowy girls, or thick cuddly girls, and yeah … I like buff girls too.” She shrugged. I could see her becoming more uncomfortable by the second.

Bray wasn't very good at knowing when to stop. “Bray, knock it off,” I said with as much casual good nature as I could manage. “We wouldn’t want the topic of conversation to turn on you, would we?”

There wasn’t actually anything wrong with his tastes—Bray could like who he liked—but I knew the topic embarrassed him. I’d absolutely use playful teasing to save her from any more discomfort, though. Bray could deal.

Wait, had I gotten her name yet? She might have told me, but I’d probably been spacing out, so to speak. It was a thing that happened sometimes—my brain just stopped processing speech as actual information, and suddenly I was listening to English like it was a foreign language.

Looking at her now, I struggled to keep from ogling her outright. The way she rode the balance between soft and strong was incredible. I couldn’t speak for everyone else, but I thought she was gorgeous. Then again, this was college. It seemed like every girl was pretty.

Other than her abs, there was another of her features that I’d noticed with some appreciation. Her hair was short and pale blond, with these fascinating faded red and blue streaks through it. It wasn’t sun faded or anything, though—it looked like she’d had it dyed by someone incredibly skilled, and with top-notch product to boot.

While Bray struggled with his blush, I asked her, “Who did your hair? It looks incredible, despite how soaked it is now.”

“Oh.” She blinked, expression widening in surprise. “Uh, it was me. I’m training to be a hairstylist.”

“Nice, I really like it,” I said, then ran my hand through my very wet and very short military-style haircut with a grin. “Think I should dye mine?”

“There isn’t much there to dye,” she said with a chuckle, eyeing me over. “And plus, you don’t actually seem like the type of guy who dyes his hair.”

I laughed off her words, but for reasons that would baffle most people, they hurt like hell. I wished I had longer hair, but that was only part of it.

Then she squinted at me, like she’d had a sudden realisation. “You aren’t hitting on me, are you? I just said that I like girls, but to be clear, I’m not into guys.” Her eyes flicked to Bray. “Especially ones that stare.”

“He doesn’t hit on anyone, guys or girls,” Bray grumbled, clearly a little put out from the teasing and rebukes. “Never even seen him eye up a girl.”

That, Bray, was because you were not currently paying attention. Not that I was sure if I was attracted to this girl.

“Doesn’t mean I’m not attracted to them,” I replied, a little sharply.

In reality, I wasn’t entirely sure who I was attracted to. I didn’t really like the concept of relationships, casual or otherwise. At least not while I was like … this. I didn’t want to be attracted to anyone right now, regardless of gender.

To avoid meeting the eyes of the other two, I turned back to the courtyard we’d just come from. Avonside University was gorgeous, despite the terrible weather that had turned afternoon into the darkest of nights.

We were standing in what people called the Pyramid, an atrium that was pressed up against the side of the tallest building on campus. The atrium had a proper name and designation, but no one used those. It got its nickname because the roof was one big glass pyramid. Covered and indoors, it was used as a student social and study space, with the nearby Oak Cafe always available if you wanted overpriced food or coffee.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling glass was the courtyard, its neatly manicured shrubs and trees being whipped within an inch of their lives by the storm. The rain was coming down so hard that it was almost opaque.

“Sorry. That was rude,” I said, giving them both an apologetic expression. “I guess I’ve just never really been one for relationships. Can we change the subject? They seem like so much work. I can barely look after myself, how would I manage another person?”

“Sure,” said the girl. Then she smiled and walked over to slump into a nearby couch. “What’s your name?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I followed her lead and sat down in a chair opposite. Yeah, we had totally skipped over the whole introduction part. We were classmates—had been for two years now, off and on—but Avonside was huge. Classes and year groups could get into the high hundreds. Bray, my best friend, was apparently friends with her, although I hadn’t spoken to her much before today.

“Elias,” I said finally, leaning over to offer her a hand, which she took in a grip far firmer than mine. I raised an eyebrow. “You?”

“Grace,” she replied, giving me an even, amicable stare, like she was challenging me to remember it. I would. My memory was scary good.

“Nice name.”

She gave a shrug, looking slightly uncomfortable. “It’s a name, like everyone else's.”

“Great, you know each other’s names now,” Bray said, rolling his eyes before turning them on me. “We still haven’t figured out how we’re getting back to the dorm, though, Eli. This storm is—”

A flash lit the room, followed quickly by a thundering shockwave. My vision blurred, pain flashed through my body, and the whole world took on a strange dizzying spin. Dazed, I tried to make sense of what had just happened. The chair I had been sitting on was on its back and I’d been thrown clear. Glass was everywhere, and the rain and wind had invaded the safety of the Pyramid.

“What the fuck,” Grace groaned from a metre away as she pushed herself up off the ground.

“Eli! Are you okay?” Bray called from somewhere, and I let out a grunt to let him know I was fine. I wasn’t sure I could talk at that exact moment.

“Was it a bomb?” asked Grace, her eyes staring out into the heavy grey sky. Then they narrowed for a moment before flying wide in confusion and awe. “What the fuck is that?”

My eyes tracked out past the debris and into the black where she was staring, taking a moment to adjust and find whatever she was looking for. When I saw it, I wondered how the hell I had missed it.

Standing in the centre of the courtyard, having apparently obliterated the fountain that used to be there, was a massive black monolith. It was so dark that I couldn’t tell if it was cylindrical or rectangular, but it was definitely there, and so tall that the tip scraped the bottom of the clouds.

Other students who’d been in the Pyramid were taking notice now too, crowding forward as far as they dared to get a look. I could see people out there in the rain, picking themselves up off the ground. Someone, a security guard, maybe, stepped out of the atrium and shone a high-powered flashlight on the massive object. The light gave clarity where the dusk would not.

It was perfectly cylindrical—so smooth, in fact, that my eyes had trouble staying focused on it, like the very light bouncing off it was wrong somehow. I could feel my vision growing tired and strained just trying to comprehend it. The rain was having trouble with it too, sluicing off it like the surface was hydrophobic.

Then another flash lit up the university. This one was much more gentle and infinitely more strange. A pulse of light rippled out from the monolith, passing through everything and everyone like none of us were here. Two more pulsed out in rapid succession and I crawled forward to take cover behind the upturned couch. The other two joined me quickly, and we all shared a nervous glance. Fear pooled in my stomach. What was happening?

“This is like something straight out of a movie,” Bray said with a low but audible gulp. “One of those sci-fi thrillers where the aliens come pouring out of that thing to eat us.”

“Shut up, Bray,” Grace hissed, sending him a scalding look. “Don’t need your dumb, overactive imagination right now. We have crazy shit going on right in front of us.”

“Well, it’s better than waiting for whatever horror that thing is about to set on us,” he shot back.

Clearly, my companions were stressed. I waved a placating hand. “Hey, both of you, come on. No need to get grumpy, we’re all nervous here. Well, except for the big thing outside. I don’t think it’s nervous.”

Bray didn’t reply, rolling his eyes instead, his mouth pressed into a thin line. Grace, on the other hand, gave me a quick sidelong glance and a weak smile. Phew. Bray never appreciated my jokes. But really, whatever was happening was bad enough without these two going at each other.

“Everyone please stay calm!” a shrill, anything-but-calm voice called out through the large room, and we all turned to see an elderly woman in a high-visibility vest walking into the Pyramid. “The decision has been made to evacuate the building. Please move in a calm and orderly fashion towards your designated evacuation points.”

Almost immediately, I coughed and raised my hand. “Ma’am, that’s out there with the scary … uh, monolith thing. I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

I almost called it a dildo, but managed to stop myself just before the word left my mouth. Now was not the time to be making dumb nervous jokes in front of the university staff.

“Ah … the alternative evacuation point, then,” she said, sounding less than reassuring. I couldn’t blame her, really. Things had gone from normal to bizarre in a heartbeat.

We slowly did as the terrified woman asked, retreating from the smashed window and the monolith beyond. I couldn’t stop checking on Bray and Grace as we walked, my thoughts beginning to cycle worriedly between wondering what was happening and wanting to keep track of them. Familiar faces were important in times like this. I felt safer with them around.

We all flinched as another pulse of light shot out from the object behind us. Every time the light ran through me it felt like every energy drink I’d ever consumed was pumping through my bloodstream at once. It was a uniquely uncomfortable sensation.

I only made it a few more steps before a rapid series of pulses rushed through us and everyone staggered, eyes wild as we all sought out the source of our discomfort. The monolith was lighting up, crackling with energy, arcs of the stuff smashing into anything in the courtyard that could conduct electricity. My gaze met Grace’s, the confusion and fear I felt were mirrored in her eyes. They were grey-green and shining with the light from the obelisk. Oddly pretty, actually.

The weirdness wasn’t done with us yet, though, not by a long shot. A sound rose about us, sounding like a steel cable being stretched past its limits. Then everything stretched. My whole body felt like it was being contorted at a base, atomic level, every cell screaming in fear and pain.

All I knew was the twisting and stretching, my mind wild and animalistic as it tried to make sense out of what was happening. At some point it stopped, but I felt strange, like my mind was spinning in my head, just constantly spinning. It wanted me to turn left, just turn left, just turn left. When I tried to satisfy it, when I turned my head left, it just wanted more. More rotation, always rotate, always rotate. I screamed, or I thought I did, I wasn’t sure, I was trapped in—

Crack.

Reality snapped jarringly back into focus. What the hell had just happened? My forehead stung and the rest of me felt like someone had shaken the atoms of my body like they were making a cocktail. Tentatively, I opened my eyes and looked around.

“What the fuck was that?” I heard Bray call, his voice shrill with pain.

I lay on the floor, as did everyone else. They were all caught in their own worlds, blinking and confused.

Distantly, I heard the high-vis woman speaking urgently into her radio, and we all turned when she staggered to her feet and cleared her throat loudly. “Everyone is to move to 4A100 and wait. The staff will be getting a handle on the situation while everyone is safe there.”

“Isn’t that the main gym hall?” Grace asked.

I’d never had any reason to go there, but Bray nodded. “It is, probably to keep us all safe in one place.”

“Well, let's follow the safety vest’s orders, then,” I groaned, pushing myself up, wobbling, onto my feet.

Everyone slowly began to follow the staff member out the back, and as I did the same, I noticed something strange. The storm was already gone, and with the sky no longer obscured I was shocked to see an unfamiliar starscape.