Daniel had gotten little sleep that night an endeavor that now felt foreign to his body as he slowly and reluctantly got ready for school, yet he felt his regret instantly melt away as he stared at the proud 4 that stood in his level space. Opening his blinds Daniel could see the rain beating down against the sidewalk which he could tell would be a feat upon itself especially now with the military standing with their arms at the ready their visors and vests darkened by water making them look like toy soldier empty and unfeeling. Putting on his thick black hoodie Daniel pulled on a t-shirt and a thermal shirt before going outside watching as Aya was guided by her parents to the new school rendezvous point, ever since the monsters started appearing busses became too dangerous due to their size and bright color which often made them mistaken for other monsters causing many fatalities within the first few weeks. Now children of all ages for their own safety had to walk to school, waving goodbye to Aya Daniel promised to give her some potions when he got home seeing as he'd just make them while he was at school.

Though as his thoughts turned to school he only felt unsure and conflicted he wanted to trust Jessica but from hearing what she said and reading her texts only filled him with doubt but those same texts filled him with the hope that he could trust her. It wasn't until Daniel felt a nudge from behind his legs that he realized that he'd been frozen in the doorway of his house, thankfully petting Kerberos Daniel slung his backpack over his shoulders and pulled on his hood and stepped into the rain. As he joined the grim procession of marching students he could feel groups of eyes set upon him like heat-seeking missiles, turning Daniel stared at the soldiers as he passed by. Their visors hid their eyes but Daniel knew they were tracking him or more accurately him and Kerberos, Daniel knew their stares targeted him he was in a weaker part of the crowd there were fewer around him and they were spaced out away from each other as if they had anthropophobia.

Stalking down the street Daniel could still feel the bruises on his body as he breathed and moved but powered through them proudly, he knew it would've been a risk but as he looked down at Kerberos she felt his heart swell with pride. Eyeing the crowd ahead Daniel could pick out a few faces from the crowd and instead of feeling sadness or regret all he got was a sour almost acidic taste in his mouth that felt like venom ready to be sprayed directly in each of their faces. Jason, Arron, Sydney, Marley and their newest stand-in for Daniel, they each had their own pet but the dynamic was once again obvious to determine.

Jason and Arron led with a pair of magma pups, while Sydney and Marley followed with fee-line on each shoulder leaving the stand-in to bring up the rear with a small mote of light and fuzz that was the wuff. Daniel almost felt bad for his stand-in until he realized that possibly like him it was his own fault for putting himself in such a position but he wasn't angry. Quite the opposite. Daniel only felt grateful for what he now had and felt a burning resolve to reach level 5 grow within him, it was bright and hot and it made him feel light to the point that it was almost as if the rain wasn't even there.

That is until it wasn't.

Strangely Daniel didn't feel the rain soaking the exterior of his hoodie and he was still a good ways away from the school which prompted the question 'what happened to the rain?" Staring up at the sky Daniel noticed something strange in the sky it was almost like a tinted filter as the once gray clouds now looked dark blue as he watched sparks of blue lightning stretch from the roof of the school. Daniel quickly recognized the color that had covered the clouds the thick blue was a dead giveaway, it was a shield. Following the arc Daniels eyes fell short of its landing as he heard a disturbing menagerie of sound emanate from behind him.

It was warm and sticky yet crisp and finite accented only by the almost deafening splash it created. Daniel could feel his body stiffen, he knew he shouldn't look every instinct told him to just run away but he couldn't help but turn to see the creeping pool of blood before him as the roughly bisected halves of other students laid before him. Their bodies crushed like soda cans while their intestines and bones lay scattered on the ground in some morose form of confetti. Daniel felt sick but nothing came up all he could do was dry heave as stomach acid burned the back of his throat.

Suddenly a notification popped up before him graciously blocking the gruesome view before him "<area secure. Dome secured. Localized biome has been created 119 residents accounted for enabling resident functions welcome to [ Safe Haven ]>" stunned by the words before him a rushing wave of students came to meet the exterior of the dome each looking more desperate than the last. Frightened beyond all belief Daniel ran around the crowd ridding the edge of the dome as he neared the school his heart pounding and his legs shaking images of Aya and the Henson’s' populated his mind he wondered if something similar happened at Ayas school. Fear filling his heart Daniel ran through the doors of the now deserted hallways and heard a voice, it was Mr. Margrove.

the announcement looped continuously engraving its message and its meaning deeply into Daniels mind like a chisel into stone " dear students we are the committee of school safety a coalition of parents and teachers who believe that the government has failed to protect us all, especially the youth so for your own protection we have deployed a barrier to protect you from the horrors of the outside world. Fret not ample food and water will be available so please stay calm and welcome to safe have your new home away from home". Daniel nearly collapsed to his knees then and there he was trapped with no way out and with deranged adults in charge. Fear had never gripped his body this tightly before not even on the brink of death had he felt fear rack his body so deeply. Kerberos with a low whine held his head against Daniels as panic surged through his veins 'what were they going to do' tears welled in his eyes as this thought overpowered all others.

Looking up Daniel stared into Kerberos eyes and saw the small flame within them burn with undying passion and Daniel came to the same conclusion he did 'survive'. Standing up Daniel read the expectant look Kerberos held essentially asking "what now?" To which Daniel could only think of one thing so as the torrent of angry and frightened students barreled through the corridor Daniel ran with Kerberos by his side searching for a safe place to hunker down for the time being, and it was this day that chaos and madness flooded the small campus of Rockmills high as well as the rest of the city.

“Welcome to channel 8 news I'm Peter Williams”

“And I'm Olivia Racine. Breaking news as large blue barrier has seemed to engulf the perimeter of Rockmills high with around 3 to 4 casualties and many more severely wounded let's go over to John live at the scene”

“Thanks Olivia, as you can clearly see behind me a large blue forcefield of sorts has erected around the school with its appearance harming multiple students and even killing them. As it appears now multiple children are desperately attacking the barrier to no avail while military personnel actively regroup to address the situation and defend the public from the increasingly growing threat of the mysterious invisible creatures back to you Olivia”

“Thanks, John please stay tuned as the situation unfolds”

After Rockmill high was essentially barricaded from the world people all over the country began to panic as the days went by with no change in the situation, protests formed each being suppressed with more and more military might until they broke down into days of riots and when the truth was exposed that the government had no means of protecting the people society fell into disarray. Quickly forum pages turned into encyclopedias of knowledge and information prisoners escaped due to the thin number of officers available on duty, and multiple gangs and small scale wars erupted across the city. Yet in the sea of this chaos, one comment sat among them, almost quiet and foreboding giving the presiding chaos a sense of grounded reality.

Aurgur_8: called it

~End of arc 1~