W

Chapter 4: The Voice

Kira's POV
"GEEZ, YOU'RE FAST!" I yelled at the wendigo gaining on me from behind. I was running from it in what looked like a dark forest. 

I don't know why, but my surroundings were familiar to me. I can't say the same about the wendigo. I threw a fireball at the monster's feet, watching as it caught onto both feet, the wendigo tripping and falling to the ground. As I continued running, I saw it jump back up and stomp on the ground, putting out the fire that had nearly consumed its feet.

"Dang it! I guess a flamethrower will get the job done. I'll do it again once it catches up to me."

As I kept running and the wendigo still roared behind me, a white light came into view ahead of me. As I picked up speed, everything around me stretched and quickly began flying behind me, including the monster. Even its roars and screeches grew softer once I ran through the light. 

Once my eyes adjusted to the brightness, it didn't take me long to figure out where I was.

"Wait....I know this place!"

My eyes opening, I woke up from my dream. I sat up in my bed. Despite still feeling kinda groggy, of course that dream was the first thing that went through my head. 

"Did that mean something? This whole w thing is really doing messin' with my head..." I muttered, hunching over in bed and resting my right hand on my forehead.

Getting off my bed, I looked at my phone laying on my desk and saw there was a message on the password screen. I picked up my phone and looked through the texts that Yuki and Kori sent last night.

"So they smelled something weird too, huh....something fishy's going on. We had to mess with something we didn't understand. I think it's out to get us now." I muttered, looking over the texts again.

"You think a w is out to get us?"

Looking up from my phone, I saw Neon standing in my doorway.

"Something like that, yeah." I said, putting my phone down on my bed and walking over to her.

"I saw the texts a few minutes ago. It's weird how you and Yuki smelled something weird but Kori and I didn't."

"To be fair, you were farther away from us, and a week ago you had a cold. Yuki said he was already on the porch when he smelled it, and for Kori, he was behind us."

"So I see."

Picking up my backpack, both of us walked out of my room together.

"We have English at 11, so let's not be late." Said Neon, walking to her room to retrieve her backpack.

"Yeah, I know. Wait, what time is it?"

"10:27." Neon said, walking out of her room and back over to me.

"Really? We gotta get going now, then! It's a 20 minute walk to the campus!" I said, walking quickly down the stairs, Neon following behind me.

"You're not gonna grab a quick snack before we head out?" Neon asked, making me shake my head.

"There's no time. We gotta go now." I said, already having reached the front door. I pulled it open and stepped outside, Neon following after me.
********
With a few minutes left to spare, we arrived on campus. Walking inside, I looked to the left of me and saw the clock on the hallway's wall. Getting closer to it, I saw it read 10:50.

"Looks like we were later than usual." I thought, turning around to Neon and noticing Yuki come up behind her.

"Come on, guys. Let's head to class." I said.

"That's why we're here." Said Yuki, walking up to me. I slung my arms around his shoulders.

"C'mon, man. You're here for me."

That made him chuckle.

"To an extent, but I also have to be here."

Neon, raising a brow, walked closer to us and pointed a finger to us both.

"Are you guys a-"

"No." I said quickly, making her put her finger down.

"At least not yet." I muttered, which made her give me a weird look again.

"Ooooohhh. When are we gonna be an item, then?" Yuki asked, giving me some weird looking smirk.

"I don't know. Maybe after this W thing is sorted out or even during it. Who knows?"

"Yeah. It's probably best we get this sorted out if not most of it before anything happens with us." Yuki said, taking his arm off my shoulder.

"I see your point." Neon said, then began walking past us, presumably to class.

"Oh yeah? What about you and Kori?"

I saw Neon flinch when I asked her that. She paused for a good second or two, and then began walking again.

"Guess that means she likes him." I muttered, looking at Yuki, who shrugged.

"We might never know." He said. Both of us began following behind Neon.

He might be right about that, too.
********
We finally got to class. Sitting down at our desks, our professor greeted us with a smile and reminded us of what we were doing. When class started, all of us took out the assignment we had been working on. Not long after the class fell silent, with not even a word from our professor or anyone else.

"Hhhmm....what to write next..." 

Someone said, which sounded exactly like my voice. Deep, boyish sounding, yet distinctly mine....no one else in class has a voice like that. I would recognize my own voice.

I'm aware others can have a voice like mine, but that was definitely my voice even though I didn't say anything, and it wasn't a thought, either. I'm sure of that.

I immediately began looking around the room. I scanned the front of the room, looking at my classmates and my teacher, all focusing on their work and my professor focusing on her computer at her desk. Probably grading assignments us.

I looked behind me. Nothing seemed different there. I zoomed in on both Yuki, then Neon, but neither of them looked deterred from their papers.

"Maybe I imagined it, but then why did it sound so real? Maybe it really was an auditory hallucination. I was tired when I woke up today, so I guess I'm still not fully awake yet."
********
After what seemed like 30 minutes, my professor got up from her seat and clapped her hands. We all looked up from our papers and at her.

"I'm ending the class here for today. Thanks for coming, guys. Next class your papers will be due."

Everyone put their papers in their backpacks. After zipping mine back up, I walked out of the room with Neon and Yuki. As we started walking home, once we were out of the school's sight and it was just us three, what happened in class flew threw my head again.

I stopped walking and they walked ahead of me, talking to each other about something I couldn't hear the farther they were. As they continued walking farther from me, Neon turned her head to me. Noticing how far she and Yuki were from me, she began to speak, but I cut her off.

"Kira, why are you-"

"Neon, Yuki, answer me this." I said, walking closer to them.

"Did either of you speak in class today using my own voice?" I asked, my eyes darting from Yuki to Neon.

"Huh?" Asked Yuki, my eyes darting to him again.

"Back in class I heard someone using my exact voice. Did one of you do it?"

"Are you sure it was your voice?" Neon asked, making my eyes dart to her now.

"It sounded exactly like me."

Slowly, Neon raised her hand as she opened her mouth to speak again.

End chapter