This school day can't possibly get any worse! Not only did I wake up late, but I had to park my car a block away from the school, which only made my tardiness even worse. Then, I learned I had missed my entire first hour, and we had a test, one of which I had studied for. At least I studied.

Now, sitting in my third class of this miserable day, I am being handed a pop quiz, the paper still warm from the printer. I take the quiz with reluctance, Calculus was never my good subject. But then again, who actually enjoys math?

Before I start working, I glance over my shoulder to spot Winston a few chairs behind me. He smiles reassuringly, mouthing, "Good luck."

I mouth words of encouragement back, then turn around to start the quiz. Alright, this isn't that bad. It's just like the notes we took yesterday. You got this, I hope.

Just as I stand up to go turn in my paper, my leg begins to burn with such a heat that I gasp as I stumble into the teacher's desk. I grimace, fighting off a scream since my leg is being consumed by a mysterious fire.

"Are you alright Bella?" I can barely hear my teacher, Mr. Price speak to me, my ears feel like I'm on an airplane that's rapidly falling. A quick glance behind me allows me to see that the entire class is now staring at me. Winston's head is tilted to the side a bit, like a puppy's. His eyebrows are furrowed together with confusion, and I realize that I disturbed the class, as we were taking a quiz.

With shaking legs, I barely manage to stand fully. But as I do, I hear a collective intake of breath from the front row of students. I follow their gazes to my leg, where my SAN is embedded in skin on my ankle.

It's sickening, how my SAN jumped from its usual 139, to an infinity symbol. Strange, I think to myself. No one's had that before. The highest anyone's SAN has reached was 2,736. And that was a world record that was established so long ago, hardly anyone remembers who it was. My ankle burns bright orange in front of my class, like a fire in the darkest night.

Winston is by my side immediately, crushing me ferociously to his chest. I can feel more than hear his sobs, each one creating a jolt throughout his body. My eyes water as I try to stay the strong one in this situation. I fail in moments, my hard mask crumbling to the ground around us as I cry into Winston's compact chest.

Winston eventually calms down once he realizes the whole class just witnessed him crying. He tries to pull away, but I don't let him. He may care about his reputation, but I was about to be sent to an unspeakable horror, a place in a scary story you would tell your friends late at night on Halloween. Only this isn't a made up place to spook your friends; Spiritan is a real place, a dark, dark place that no one has returned from.

"I should have seen this coming with Brad porting. I should've helped you, or gotten you help or spent more time with you or I even could of... Christ, this can't happen, not to you! You aren't ready for all of the dangers in Spir—"

"Winston, I'll be fine, and you'll be fine too, don't worry about me," I murmur, cutting Winston off from his nervous rambling. He relaxes slightly, but not fully. I'm not sure he'll ever do that, now that his best friend was pretty much going to war and being sent off to imminent death.

Winston cracks a half smile, a more teasing tone in his voice as he says, "Yeah, you'll totally be fine, Miss 'I Passed Anomaly 101 With Perfect Grades'. You got this," He pulls back slightly to hold up two thumbs.

At the age of 10, everyone learns the do's and don'ts of Spiritan, and trains in basic combat and defense in case they have to fight. This class is called Anomaly 101. If no one fought the anomalies, they would find a way into the real realm, or real life, and torture us all. They lived for torture. But no one knows that for sure, since any communication between realms doesn't work. Everyone has tried it. Phones, satellites, the kinds of things they would send to Mars or the Moon. Nothing works, sadly.

I almost laugh, but I refrain, thinking it's uncharacteristic for this situation. I couldn't even believe it. I, Bellona Grace, was being sent to Spiratan, with a task that I'm still unsure about. Why was my SAN infinity, and not an actual number? Since infinity technically isn't a real number, do I really have to do anything? I mean, my SAN is a bright, neon orange, indicating action is to be taken immediately. But maybe it's a glitch, or a malfunction with the system.

Realizing that I have somewhere to be, I reluctantly pull away from Winston's warm embrace. I try to smile encouragingly at him, mostly to gather the courage to leave. Winston studies me intently, trying to memorize every little detail about me before I leave him, presumably forever.

"Goodbye, Winston," I say, not wanting to delay the class any longer.

"Bella, you will come out of this alive, I don't know how, but you'll find a way, I know you will."

I nod, before turning to the rest of the class and offering a small, timid wave.

In order to get to Spiritan, there are numerous portals around Veronium, one conveniently in this classroom. Entering the code to activate the portal, I allow myself one last look at Winston as I step through the now active portal.

His face is one of unmasked sorrow, and a few tears catch the light just enough for me to notice. I barely register the words as he mouths "I love you, Bellona" 

~~~~~~~~~

Hey fellow followers!! I really enjoyed writing this, and if you enjoyed reading, give me a gold star and comment your appreciation. I think I'm going to try to write every day, and post chapters on weekends. Of course, this isn't set into stone, since life always throws you off balance when you least expect it. 

A song I listened to while writing this chapter: Mr. Brightside by The Killers

Stay awesome guys!

Over and Out!