Dark Matter Unknown Origins Book 1

Episode 1

Sounds of chaos echoes everywhere; glasses breaking, women, children, and even full-grown men could be heard running for their lives as endless screams chases after them.

Suddenly, light lights up an empty warehouse dimly as a door opens up.

A lady gradually walks in, seemingly undisturbed by the chaos happening all around her. She is clothed in black with dark long hair, and a hood hung over her face.

** “Don't be scared.” ** she said

** “I'm really not the one you should be afraid of” **

The sounds of agony spike, still it gradually calms.

She slowly raises her head, revealing pitch-black scars that covered her eyes from her forehead down to her chin.

** “Your time is not yet due. But you should learn how to fly while it hasn't yet reached.” **

Bending her head to allow the hood to cover up her face, she stands still and lets the dim light reflect her shadowy body.

** " We were all once students, attending classes, camps and just having fun. Just like you”**

** " This is a story of love, a story of betrayal, a story of ignorance and fate~ a race against time.” **

Massive waves of black dust is seen moving upwards through the top windows of the warehouse.

** " I hope you learn that there are things money can't solve. Hold the ones you love dear because you don't know how much time they have left.” **

Part of her body gradually begins to fade into black dust.

** "Maybe there was a way all this would be avoided, maybe there wasn't. As you go deeper into the story, you will learn why you have to fly, but I hope you will never need to fly.” ** she said with a sad expression on her face.

** "The story begins with a boy,"*

She concludes as her face faded lastly. The dust circles round the warehouse for a few moments, before disappearing into the ground.

…

…

Jason, a sixteen-year-old boy walks back home as always in deep thought, tomorrow is another school camping trip that though necessary will take several months before he will come back home. Cool wind blew pass his ear as the scent of damp sand hits his nose. How he loved it, especially because it reminds him of the home he left years ago.

Pushing his thoughts away, he approached the door to the duplex his uncle built, where he now lived in. Swinging it open, warmer air greeted him as he landed on a sofa breathing heavily with the relief that he was away from society, the main reason why he didn't want to relocate to a new country. The house was quiet strangely in the evening because his uncle was surprisingly sleeping, and his aunt still at work. Back home he was never used to this quiet because of his siblings and the neighbourhood where generators for electricity was a constant noise. Finally, he now had electricity constantly along with fresh water, but he was still not happy. There, though they had access to them, they were not constant and weeks could go by without them. Perhaps, it's because he barely adapts to a new surrounding talk less of a new race that were extremely rare in Nigeria.

After the delicious dinner, Jason carried himself upstairs to his unkempt room where he shoved his cloths on the closet, leaving only his shorts on, and went fast into the deep pit of sleep.

The next day, Jason made his way to school after breakfast and was soon in a bus with other students getting ready for the journey ahead. Observing his surroundings as usual, his eyes soon caught sight of someone standing in front of the array of silver-blue suits as she enters the bus. Her hair was as golden brown as the soft soil, with heavenly brown eyes and brown skin–his crush and his age mate– May. As she goes to her sit a few seats in front of him, he suddenly remembered just how much the girl drove him crazy. He started his crush on her since the very first day she welcomed him to class, but of course wherever there's a beautiful princess, there's always an ugly Dragon that keeps a close eye on her. Mike, the bane of his life the white jerk have always bullied Jason to make things worse he is ALWAYS with May even right beside her in the bus, but Jason never understood why.

Soon the bus arrived at its destination, “The Asteria Woods” and the beautiful site the camp was in. After the long, boring rooming arrangements, the place was enough for each student to have a room for themselves.

Jason after packing went outside the camp as usual, enjoying the nature which he loved dearly, just outside the camp. He is dressed in a black PE (the uniform assigned to the students while in the camp, blue, black, pink, and red) and goes to sit down on a tree's enormous root tying up his shoe lace and dusting his trousers. He suddenly thought that his eyes were deceiving him. Was in a black PE too, was coming right at his direction. He then looked left and right to check whether there was anyone else, but they weren't, so he took a deep breath as she came closer.

“Hey Jason! “ She called.

“H-hi”

“We are going strolling, would you like to…ugh” May stopped as Jason just stared at her with his mouth semi-open?

*awkward what is wrong with this kid* May thought. It was if he couldn't hear her, and this wasn't the first time she caught him doing that.

“Ugh… go on”

“Oh, so would you like to jo …”?

“Yes”

“Oh” May giggled, “okay! We're waiting” May said before leaving.

Jason stood up and followed her, he could barely believe that he was walking with her, but before he could remember to think what she ment by “we” it was too late. Mike, who was in blue and as usual always with her, didn't look happy and his dark blue eyes proved it.

Jason stopped moving for a moment before deciding that running away will be cowardly, so he just kept moving with them. Mike, who was then waiting patiently until May, was a few blocks away, pushed Jason to a tree. Being a year older and more biult than he was, it was quite easy for him to intimidate him.

“Hey jerk”

“let me be Mike”

“listen, if I ever see you close to her again…” punching Jason supposedly, so his words will hit deeper “I'm going to make sure you regret it all your life you imbecile”

“guys quit it and come take a look over here” May interrupted while Jason was about to try to defend himself

Letting him go, Mike ran towards her

“what's up”

*imbecile me! I'm not even that ugly* Jason thought, he was right, his face looked innocent and adorable. Going there, Jason looked towards where May was pointing, and a few meters away was pitch-black sand that seemed to be moving in a semicircular pattern.

“Whoa !! What the heck is that ?” May asked in amazement.

“I don't know, hey jer… sorry Jason, go check it out "Mike said right when Jason was about to turn away.

“ No, it could be dangerous" “What? It's just sand, are you scared? “ May rebuked.

“Coward” Mike insulted then May hit his hand “sorry” Mike apologized to her.

*I'm not a coward * he thought as he went to the sand even though his mind kept warning him not to. He turned when he was right in the middle and said:

“It's nothing, just sa …” interrupted as something like a hand gripped his leg.

May, who was not expecting him to walk right into him, screamed in horror at the sight of an arm pulling his leg.

Jason looked down as several series of black, sandy hands grabbed him and pulled him to the sandy grave. May rushed to help him, but Mike grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Are you insane” he said, horror being written all over his face as he struggled and eventually dragged her back.

“Help me !! He…” hands covered his face and his last sight was of the bully and his crush running away.

They covered several miles running before they could stop to breathe properly

"I … I only told him” she managed to say while panting heavily “to check it out! Not to walk right into it.”

" Hey! … calm down it's not your fault” Mike said reassuringly.

"It's not my fault! Jason is dead Mike” May shouted at him, there was grief written all over her face and her heart kept pounding heavily as tears kept pouring out of her eyes. She was too sad to notice that Mike barely showed any emotion at all, but only heard his reassuring words. He managed to calm her down enough to walk to the female students lodge after several hours.

Later, Mike noiselessly entered his room and fell on his bed, exhausted. The room was light up and was painted white with the rest of the rooms in the camp.

He then picked up a magazine, about to dive in, when a knock interrupted him.

“ Who is that?”

“ It's me, Mike!” Liam, his childhood best friend and classmate, answered as he entered the room. He is still dressed in his normal uniform (white shirt, silver blue suit and trousers). Knowing his friend well, he expected him to be too lazy to get up.

“What's up”

“I should be asking you that question, Mike! What were you doing in the woods this late at night,” Liam asked, standing aside his bed and combing his hair backwards with his other hand in his pocket. He gives Mike a serious look, but he just keeps reading his magazine, uninterested. Mike has always had pride for his friend's cool fringe hairstyle that matched his golden brown straight hair and his spectacles with the same golden brown colour perfectly. Usually, he tried to imitate him, but his hair is too wavy, so he could never reach Liam's perfection.

“Nothing!" Mike responded sharply.

Liam kept silent for a few minutes before sitting down on Mike's bed, wearing a worried look on his face. He asked, “Where's Jason, Mike! “

“why are asking! I'm not his keeper, Liam!” Mike said, not surprised at the question at all, for he was well aware of his friend's cleverness.

“ This is the first night in two years that you did not come to complain to me about Jason.” “So we sorted things out"

“Sorted things out?” Liam said, raising his voice before remembering that it is ten'o'clock close to midnight, so he lowered it.

“If indeed you have sorted things out you should've told me first but, here you are lying on your bed reading a magazine… so I ask again Where is Jason? Mike!" Liam asked again, the redness growing in his white face told Mike that he was getting angry, so he decided to take his friend more seriously. Pulling himself of the bed, Mike opened the door and looked left and right of the hallway, making sure that there are no students around. Sure enough, there weren't because most were already fast asleep in their rooms.