It was an ordinary day, one in 365 of the year of my meaningless dull life. I left the house and trudged to the old train station. She was the only place where my soul could calm down even a little. Walking along the dilapidated road, I climbed onto the platform and sat down on a tin bench. There was nothing around but dull stands with timetables of trains that no longer went anywhere. It was a gray day, and the sun could barely break through the clouds.
Every time I came here, old memories came back to my head. Every time I dreamed of crying right here, at this old railway station, I couldn't cry.
Today I again remembered my dead parents. At some point, I suddenly realized that I did not remember exactly who they were. They seemed somehow alien to me.
I thought about those people who were once next to me and then disappeared. There was only one silhouette that was clearly displayed in my memory.
And I saw her again. Breathing was getting faster. I saw her falling to the ground, trying to get up, screaming, beating her hands against a stranger. Her hair is cutting the air in quick gusts.
Someone takes her by the neck. Gradually, her movements slow down, and her body freezes. She doesn't scream anymore. Her head slowly turns to the left, and her dead gaze pierces right into me. I can feel the pressure of her eyes. She opens her mouth to say something. But I can't, I don't want to know what she's saying. I close my eyes, turn and start to run away. The gray sky turns into a scarlet sunset. Her eyes are looking at me, although there is only a huge field in front of me.
Gradually, the vision disappears. My breathing is getting faster and faster. But I'm running. I'm running away. I'm nowhere to be found right now. I am only in running, but not at any physical point on the planet. Where I am? Do not know. Where have I been? I do not remember. Where am I now?
I stop on the train tracks and stare at the glowing moon. She wants to break into my inside, falls right down my throat, and begins to choke. I fall to my knees and grab the air with my hands. I can feel the vibration and my head falls next to my feet.
Train. The rails are knocking.
***
I opened my eyes and saw a long-forgotten ceiling. Rubbing my eyes, I sat down on the bed.
"What to do today?", I thought.
"Rei, maybe you'll hurry up", someone shouted from the next room. "You'll be late for sure."
"Will I be late? Where to?"
I got up and trudged to the door. I walked past the mirror, and without taking another two steps came back.
"My hair... Why are they long again? My face…", I said, touching my cheeks.
Suddenly something clicked in my head and I remembered how yesterday my head had been cut off by the train. Goosebumps ran through my body. I involuntarily touched my neck and felt phantom pain.
Did I dream of all this? No, no, no, no. It's impossible.
The door opened and I saw a face that I was not ready to meet.
"What are you doing? Stop admiring yourself in the mirror. The last class is no joke. Dress quickly."
Was it ... my brother?
"What day is it today?" I asked.
"April 6."
"And a year?"
"Did you collapse from an oak tree? 2015", Kai replied, looking sideways at me.
"No, It's just…"
"Breakfast on the table. Another 5 minutes, and you will definitely be late", he said and left my room.
What kind of game is going on?
I squatted down and started staring at the floor.
"School? 2015th year. It's impossible." But my hair and face told me otherwise. Moreover, Kai was at home.
A few minutes later I left the house and walked in the direction of my old school. Suddenly a shout was heard from the window.
"Where are you going, Rei? Not yourself at all? Your school is not there."
Not there? What? Okay, calm down. We need to get out of this situation.
"Oh, I'm sorry, brother. Can you remind me what school I'm going to?"
"Rei", Kai said thoughtfully, "Don't you accidentally have a fever?"
I touched my forehead, but there was no temperature.
"Everything is ok."
Kai looked at me incredulously.
"School number 13."
"Oh yes! How could I forget," I said, scratching my head and opened the map on my phone.
It was 8:14 am. While I was looking for how to pawn to school, a notification came to my phone:
[Meet as many girls as possible].
"What?" Rei blushed. "Who wrote that? Am I myself?
[Learn as much as possible about them]
"This is some kind of stalking. I didn't think I wanted to have a girlfriend at 17 so much."
I opened the notification in front of me. There was an extraordinary array of tables:
[First Name, Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Parents:
Friends:
Boyfriend:
How she spends her free time:
Favorite places in the city:
Additional classes:
Temper:
Attitude towards me:
Attitude towards death:
Add. information:]
The phone fell out of my hands.
"What the..? Did I do something like this?"
Suddenly the phone vibrated again.
[Do something]
At that moment I came to my senses, took the phone from the ground and decided to go to school anyway.
Another problem of mine was to understand in which class I study. The first couple of minutes I wandered through different corridors in search of the class. Suddenly someone called out to me:
"Rei! What are you waiting for, the teacher will come now. Come here!"
My soul rejoiced. It's good that at least people from my old school studied here. I quickly ran to the door, and as soon as I tried to enter it I bumped into something.
"Young man where are you going like that. Sometimes you don't have to rush to be on time."
I raised my head. A tall young man of about 30 years old stood before me, but I did not know him.
"Sorry."
He entered the classroom, followed by me. The face of my classmates was worried. One of the girls did not know what to do with herself.
"I have an announcement", said the teacher. "Given the current situation, I will ask you to stay as close to each other as possible. Walk to school and back home in pairs, or better yet, in groups. Boys, keep the girls' company and accompany them home. On weekends, don't stay outside until late. And be extremely careful".
He paused for a moment and continued.
"So. Do we have any missing?"
The agitated girl got up and said with a trembling voice:
"Teacher, Hayasaka didn't come today.
Her eyes darted from one corner of the room to another. She bit her lower lip and didn't know what to say next.
"Maybe she is sick?" the teacher asked.
"No. Yesterday she was fine, but today she did not come and did not call me."
"Don't worry, Lana, I'll call her home now. I'm sure she's just sleeping."
Lana sat back down in her seat but couldn't help her trembling.
"Teacher, do you mind if I take Lana to the infirmary, she doesn't seem to be well", I asked.
"Yes. Do it, Rei."
I went up to Lana, helped her up and we left the classroom.
"Forgive me for asking, but what was the teacher talking about?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Why did he tell us to walk in groups and everything else?"
"What's wrong with you Rei? Have you forgotten about the constant disappearances of schoolchildren lately? And about our friends?"