Chapter 1:
Unexpected Visitors

A buzzing sound then a thud, and I was groaning two feet under my bed with hands trying on reaching the alarm clock. It kept screaming ear shattering noises yet I couldn’t put enough energy from yesterdays chores.

My body still aches a bit, and my eyes were still heavy.

Apparently, the house was far too abandoned for just a mere simple dusting, especially my room in the attic who had been already infested by a lot of things that kept me all night from cleaning. And the alarm went too early by default as the sky outside was still dark.

“I’m coming in-” she suddenly cracked up, bursting into laughter. “What are you doing hanging out like that for?”

“...”

“Come on, buddy. Your breakfast is already downstairs.” she claimed before disappearing at the doorstep all dressed in her uniform, leaving the door open while the bright light enters this dark room.

Four hundred thirty hours, the time stated in the alarm clock and but I still can’t put enough strength to get up and my eyes had shut into darkness.

And in the darkness, I saw a memory. A curly haired boy in glasses, drinking coffee while pulling an all-nighter typing numerous series of code. He’s building a program for his thesis and I could perfectly remember who it was.

It was me. Before I became Euclid.

Everything was in right places, starting from the few clothes I had neatly arranged in the cabinet, the bed covers folded in the corner, and the dishes all cleaned. Every was there as far as I could remember.

Except for one.

A shadowy figure, staring at my other self from the corner of the room. And I didn’t even noticed it.

I waited what was about to unfold next, however the more I wait, the more this scene blurs and darkens. And as the figure began to approach, something sounded from behind.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

Once again, the buzzing sound of alarm sounded at six hundred forty five hours, and miraculously, all my fatigue had disappeared. No soreness nor aching. It was as if my body had rejuvenated itself.

But there’s something sounding other than the loud alarm in my bedroom. A music was playing and voices of people partying downstairs could be heard. And the moment I got down, strangers were conversing with my guardian and the table were filled with sorts of meals. Above was a welcome balloon, floating at the ceiling.

“Oh, look! The little lad’s awake!” a guy dressed in police uniform exclaimed, pointing at me while having a glass of wine in his hand. He placed his drink into the table and grabbed my hand for a firm shake. “You must be Euclid. I’m officer Kyle Crawford, I live next door with my son, Tyler.”

“Nice to meet you” I replied, don’t know how to respond.

“And a humble one too. Emilia’s lucky to have such a kind kid.” he said, making the face of my foster parent blush out of embarrassment. “So, you like our welcome party?”

“Y-yeah…”

“I hope you could be friends with my son. He’s just the same age as you do.” he said.

“Hey, don’t leave out my little sister.” from the kitchen, a lady walked in carrying a tray of glass filled with orange juice. “She might be a little shy but my sister is really friendly once you get to know her.”

“I-I’ll do my best” I bowed, but somehow it made everyone laughed.

“Don’t be too formal. And we’re not obligating you if you don’t want to…” the officer claimed. “But those two… aren’t the perfect match on being friends…”

The officer shook his head while pressing at his temples.

“Well, a shy type and a quirky one. Not really mixing like oil and water” the lady said. “Maybe you can be the mediator for the two.”

“Yeah, and speaking of them. Where are they?” Emilia asked.

“She’s probably in her room again, playing with her teddy bears.” the lady replied.

“My son too. He’s always in his room and even I am not allowed in there…” the officer replied with a sigh. “Say, why don’t you fetch them for us?”

“Seriously? You’re asking the kid?” the lady asked.

“Come on, it will be a good reason for them to be friends. Plus, it’s a good errand to get to know the place!” the officer replied with confidence. “Invite them over. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see another playmate.”

“S-sure…” It’s not like I have choice, do I? If I reject the offer, It will only bring me bad image to them.

I walked outside, and felt like rain would pour any second. But I shrugged it and went into the house to my left, then knocked. It took a while before someone answer then the creak open while a boy peak from the small opening.

“What?” the boy asked.

“Ahh, hi! I’m Euclid. Your father sent me to pick you up for the-” before I could even finish my sentence, he shut the door into my face.

“Don’t wanna. Tell him I’m busy” he replied, then his footsteps fade as he leaves.

“Okay… That didn’t went well…” I spoke under breath, then went into the other house next to us.

Lightly, I knocked into their door and waited, until a gentle voice spoke from behind the door “W-who’s there?”

“Hi, I’m Euclid, from next door.” I greeted with a kind gesture of hello. “Your sister is in our house and wants you to come over…”

The door finally opened, then she came out, dressed in pink dress while carrying a familiar looking teddy bear on her hands and a toy stethoscope around her neck.

“C-can I not come? I-I have something important to do…”

I was mesmerized for a second, making me feel weird. I think my young body is smitten over the little girl however my adult mind keep my composure. “Oh, sure! I’ll tell her. Have a nice day!”

“S-same to you.” she replied then gently closed the door.

Such a shame but I can’t force them, and went back but upon opening the front door of our house, a shadowy figure went inside the open windows of the girl’s house, and by the looks of it, it wasn’t a guest as no guest would enter such entrance.

Silently, I went and took a peak inside of one of the windows and saw four people wearing orange shirt arguing with each other and the girl being tied up in a chair and mouth covered in duck tape.

And from the looks of logo in their shirts, I could already tell they were bad news. It’s from the foundation’s insignia.

The D-class personnel.

Chapter 2:
Party of D-class

D - class personnel. Also in known as the expendable personnel.

In other words, the kind of people the foundation doesn’t really care to waste just for the sake of research and data about the anomalies the could find. The death row inmates.

But seeing how they escaped a tight security only means that they’re either smart to bypass such high secured facility or something had gone wrong in such place.

“What should I do?”

“You mean, what should We do?” the kid from earlier caught me by surprise, and like me, was he was also peaking from the other window.

“Gosh! You scared!”

“So, what should we do?” he asked.

“This is too much for us to handle. We better-” before I could even finish my sentence, the boy had already sneaked inside and gesturing a thumbs up, as if getting in was a success. “That idiot…”

Lucky for him, the fat guy wasn’t able to see him as he creep into the second floor. He signaled a thumbs up and a idiotic smile as if it was an achievement while glancing back and fort.

“I said, release her! She has nothing to do with us!” the female D-class shouted.

“She’s a witness!” the man claimed. “Sorry, Kid”

“N-no!” she shouted, but just my luck, I accidentally tripped one of the pots of plants by the window alerting them. Although it did stop her execution, it got me on trouble.

“Hey, you! Look what’s going on there.” the man ordered, but before they could even get into me, I sneak my way back into our front yard. But bad news for us, a vehicle from our house drove away before I could even get into them, leaving the house guarded by only one adult.

“Hello, Euclid. You look exhausted, did you run? Where are they?”

“Where’s Emily? No, never mind that, we need to call the cops! Someone barged into your house and held your sister in captive!” I panted, then the door in the kitchen slams open, revealing a tall D-class carrying a switch blade.

“I knew there was someone watching us-AGH!” three holes in quick consecutive shots, and I saw our neighbor holding a handgun.

“Euclid, stay here and hide! I’ll deal with it.” she assured and all I could do was nod and hid within the walls of our home as she dashes to her sister’s rescue.

And gunfire were exchanged.

I can’t see who was winning but I knew she was too outnumbered to survive alone. And as I figured, she returned wounded.

“W-what happened!? Are you alright?”

“It’s not lethal so don’t worry, but you need to get out of here! Now!” she screamed then fired ones more from the window. “On my signal, run fast into the forest.”

She fired another shot then yelled “Now!”

As fast as I could, I ran without looking back. But I knew someone was trying to chase me, judging by their footsteps.

It was getting foggier as I venture more into the woods, and the footsteps had gone silent. The trees around were so similar to each other, it was as if I was circling around until I found a place, rather a hut in the middle of this nowhere.

Cautiously, I entered, and to my surprise, the two kids were staying here in hiding. The cop’s son waves a stick while the lass was hiding from behind.

“Oh, it’s just you.” the kid sighed.

“Y-yeah, it’s just me. Good thing Emi’s sister here bought us a chance to flee. But we don’t know if when they’ll catch up.”

“About that…” before I could finish my sentence, a curse was heard from outside, indicating they’re already here. “Quickly, find a place to hide somewhere. I’ll deal with them.”

“Are you an idiot!? All by yourself?” he scowled.

“SHH! They’ll hear us! Just hide, for god sake!” I replied, quickly peeking into the hut’s windows. There were just one of them, assuming the others got lost in the woods. And judging the way he moved, he’s wounded in his right arm. “Let me borrow this”

“Hey, that’s my stick!”

“Hey you! Over here!” I shouted, then once again ran into forest and hid within the fog.

“You’re not going anywhere, boy!” the D-class claimed but couldn’t see me sneaking from behind and attacking him in one of his weakest part, his groin before knocking him unconsciously with the stick.

“He’s there!” the rest of the D-class had caught up and I had to divert their attention toward me, in order for the two to stay hidden. And so, the chase once again commence as I went deeper into the fog.