Unwrapped

Chapter 1: Echoes Of The Past 

"Your package from Secret Santa has arrived."

My eyelids fluttered open as water droplets splattered across my face. The sound of bell chimes reverberated—

Ding… Ding… Diiiiing.

It was the kind of tone that could summon a demon, deep and ominous, contrasting with the automated voice that reverberated in the back of my mind, seconds before. Another droplet hit squarely on my forehead, making me squint and furrow my brows. Grunting, I felt a sharp pain shoot up my spine as I shifted. My hands fumbled for support, gripping onto nearby water pipes. With effort, I hauled myself upright, wincing as the ache radiated through my body.

I glanced up at the source of the dripping water. Of course—it was a leaky pipe overhead. Typical. My body felt like it had aged decades overnight; even my grandma would probably move faster than I could right now.

I sat still for a moment disoriented and dazed, attempting to recollect who I was before piecing together how I ended up here. The lighting was dim, with only one flickering erratically above what appeared to be an ancient, rusted teacher’s desk. The air reeked of algae and decaying moss. The only sounds were the sporadic drops from the corroded pipes and my shallow breathing. Suddenly, I heard a cough nearby, and the realisation that I was not alone sent a surge of panic through me. I screamed, triggering a cacophony of chaotic shrieks. I recoiled against the damp, crumbling walls, hugging my knees to my chest, hands clamped over my ears.

"Okay, everyone! Stop screaming!" A gravelly voice cut through the dissonance. It was strained, possibly from dehydration, and sounded as though the speaker were choking, which somehow provided a strange sense of comfort. At least I wasn’t the only one in distress. Maybe that was selfish? Eh whatever. The room fell into a tense silence, filled only with laboured breathing. "Can we just… approach the desk and not panic?" he suggested, his tone unnervingly calm.

I dabbed at my neck and the side of my face with my sleeve, swallowing hard, and shakily stood. Clothes rustled and boots clattered as four figures slowly converged around the desk. I caught sight of one girl directly across from me.

I realised that everyone was eyeing each other warily, sizing one another up with guarded expressions. "Okay. Can someone explain what in the hell is going on here?" the girl demanded. Her eyes flickered nervously before locking with mine. Perhaps she was as startled to see another girl as I was. I shrugged and averted my gaze. Her face was partially obscured, but the shimmer in her eyes and the gloss on her lips didn’t escape my notice. She was striking. Everyone’s attention was fixated on the cardboard boxes, each marked with black cards bearing red stripes and white lettering that seemed to spell out initials—at least, that’s what I presumed.

"Are those… our initials?" I muttered, and it seemed I wasn’t the only one puzzled. A guy in a yellow Bugs Bunny t-shirt scratched at his dishevelled blonde hair.

Everyone appeared to be trying to decipher the situation. One individual stood out—he barely seemed tangible. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume he was nothing more than a shadow.

"I don’t know what’s going on, but… I suggest we check the boxes, see what’s inside," the gravelly voice from earlier proposed. So, we all picked up the boxes with our initials, some had to be swapped around before we all settled with one cardboard box each. The shadowed figure was the last to retrieve his.

"By the way, I’m Thorne," the guy in baggy jeans and a white t-shirt announced, clearly taking charge of the situation. He exuded a natural leadership, and judging by the muscles in his arms, I suspected he worked out. Not that I was paying attention to his physique.

"I’m Caius," said the Bugs Bunny guy.

"Selene," muttered the striking girl, now I noticed her hair was streaked with purple and blue, and her shoulder-length locks cascaded with a deliberate messiness. She had her arms crossed defensively.

That left just two of us. I glanced at the shadowed figure before shifting. "Lirael," I stated. My voice cracked awkwardly, and my throat burned. I cleared it, embarrassed. Everyone turned to the last person, though no one seemed overly interested. Out of what seemed like respect, he straightened and said, "Nyx." He wore a black coat and thin black glasses.

Thorne nodded. "Pleasure everyone. Let’s figure this out." We all tore into our boxes. Inside, we pulled out an assortment of strange items.

A shattered mirror huh? I could only see my eyes reflected in the jagged shard as I held it up to the flickering light. Selene was inspecting a vintage perfume bottle. Thorne examined a cracked shield, aged and tarnished, etched with intricate depictions of battles and death and perhaps someone trying to save an army. Nyx had a gold-stained locket, his gaze fixated on something within. If I hadn’t spent so much time observing people, I would’ve missed the subtle twitch of his eyebrow despite his otherwise composed demeanour. Caius, next to me, held a ticking clock without hands, his expression one of indifference.

Before anyone could speak, the bell chimes sounded once more. I gasped, almost dropping the shattered mirror. Panic surged, and everyone clutched their objects for comfort. Dust and concrete began falling from the ceiling. The entire room trembled. Selene dashed to the door, only to announce that it was locked. I don’t know what else she was expecting.

Suddenly, Nyx shouted, "Get down!" I barely had time to process his command before I threw myself to the floor. The room rocked violently. Crashing noises reverberated through the space, and I could feel the room collapsing in on itself. Selene and Caius huddled together, screaming, while Thorne raised his shield above us like a makeshift umbrella.

Minutes dragged on before the shaking ceased. "There!" Selene pointed toward a hole in the wall. She rushed toward it, Caius close behind. Thorne extended his hand to Nyx, but he brushed it off, rising slowly, shaking debris from his coat. Thorne glanced at him before turning to me. "You alright?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

I nodded, unsure if he even saw me. He started walking toward the hole, and I stood frozen for a moment longer, still processing everything. The desk had been reduced to a pile of shattered wood and concrete, and the room was thick with smoke and dust. The floor was littered with debris.

"Lirael?" Thorne called my name. I snapped out of my trance and bolted toward the hole, the last to make it through. The others barely acknowledged me before moving ahead.

We emerged into a hallway, which must have once been luxurious, judging by the designer rugs and realistic animal heads that decorated the walls beside each large portraits of rulers throughout British history. Six doors lined the corridor—three on each side. Above each peephole were our first names and corresponding numbers. The final door, however, bore a nameplate that had been scratched beyond recognition.

"What is this place?" Caius echoed, as we surveyed the details of the hallway. The dim lighting allowed me to observe everyone more closely. Selene, clad in a baby pink mini skirt and black leather jacket, radiated a popular aura. Caius wore casual clothes with Nike sneakers, suggesting affluence. Thorne sported a silver earring and chain, his black hair falling over the back of his neck. Nyx, the tallest, seemed almost ethereal, his black coat blending seamlessly into the shadows.

I was the only one dressed in a worn brown tracksuit, my hair tied up in a loose ponytail. I noticed my headphones were missing, and my phone had vanished as well.

A knot of dread twisted in my stomach. "None of us have our phones. How are you just realising that?" Selene shot me a look.

"Apologies, I must’ve forgotten to check while trying to avoid being crushed," I retorted. She smirked, but before she could respond, Caius’ door swung open, cold air rushing through. The silence that followed was thick as we all stared at it.

"Well, that looks like an invitation," Selene remarked with disdain. I attempted to peer inside, but all I could see was an impenetrable darkness.

"I’m not going in there. Are you insane?" Caius muttered, glaring at her. Just then, the water pipes burst open, spilling icy water into the hallway. It rose rapidly.

Panic gripped me. "Caius! You have to go in!" I shouted. He flinched at my voice, his gaze locking with Thorne.

Thorne grabbed his shoulders. "I think whatever’s happening right now wants you to go in. That’s how we’ll move forward," he said, shaking him.

"I don’t get it!" Caius yelled in frustration. The water was up to my knees, and my aqua phobia flared. I struggled to recall anything my father had taught me, but my mind failed me.

Without thinking, I seized Caius’ sleeve and dragged him toward the door. He attempted to swat my hand away, but it was too late. We were sucked inside.

I gasped, releasing Caius as we were drawn deeper into the void. My hair tie snapped, and my hair lashed at my face. Then, everything stopped. Silence. 

Suddenly, distant shrieking grew louder. Bodies collided with me, and I was thrown onto the cold, smooth ground.

"Lirael? Is that you?" Selene’s voice rang out.

"Yes! Get off!" I gasped. She scrambled off me.

"God…" muttered Thorne, grunting.

A fiery orange light flooded the room in that instant, forcing me to shield my eyes. Caius cried out in exhilaration. I squinted to see him running toward a red box labelled "Beware!" in yellow Comic Sans. He tore open the lid and pulled out prank items—clown masks, fake spiders, confetti poppers.

I slapped my forehead in disbelief.

"Seriously, Caius?" Thorne muttered. "This box used to house my treasures!" he exclaimed. "I used all these items to prank everyone, without fail!" Among the collection, I saw a clown mask, a water gun, rubber cockroaches, worms, snakes, and grasshoppers, a terrifying jack-in-the-box, a fake tongue, a fart trumpet, and several other objects I couldn't immediately identify.

"How can he retain these memories?" Selene murmured, her brow furrowing beside me. "I can't remember anything, except for my name."

"Same here?" I raised my eyebrows, before I could stop myself. She turned to face me. "You can't remember either?"

I shook my head in response.

"Why did you three come in?" I asked.

"We didn’t," she replied, face scrunching in confusion. "It sucked us in."

"We're supposed to be together in every room," Nyx muttered making me spin around. The motion made Nyx flinch, pulling his coat tighter around himself. From the look on his face, I gathered I wasn’t meant to have heard that. Before I could question him, however, the room filled with the sound of laughter, followed by the thunderous footsteps of a group of children racing toward Caius' prank box. Caius leapt aside as a blonde boy, dressed in a Spiderman costume, began rummaging through the items.

"That's me!" Caius exclaimed after a moment of silence, jabbing his finger at the Spiderman boy.

All our attention shifted as the children started fashioning a makeshift fishing rod, attaching a rubber spider to the end. The scene shimmered, and in the blink of an eye, we were transported to a park. A young girl, roughly the same age as little Caius, was hosting a tea party with her dolls beneath a tree.

As I observed, young Caius stealthily crept behind the tree separating them, extending his fishing rod slowly, inching it toward the girl's face. She gasped in alarm, scrambling backwards, her shrill screams filling the air. As she sprang to her feet, she attempted to move forward, but her foot caught on a pebble, sending her tumbling to the ground. Blood seeped from a scrape on her knee, trailing down her leg in a crimson stream.

Present-day Caius stood frozen, his eyes darting between the two figures, seemingly bewildered. The scene shifted again, this time showing him slightly older, dressed in a school uniform, flanked by two other boys of his age.

"Go! Go! Go!" Caius urged breathlessly, directing his attention to one of the boys, the smallest in the group, wearing oversized sky-blue spectacles that appeared too large for his face. His clothes were similarly ill-fitting, and he was visibly sweating.

"But Caius..." the boy hesitated, his voice trembling. "This is too risky!"

Caius’ impatience was palpable. "It’s fine, Rick! We’ll be out in no time! No one will find out!" His eyes gleamed with a wicked gleam, a grin spreading across his face, so wide I could count all his teeth—excluding the missing ones.

The boy, Rick, hesitated further, his expression one of palpable unease. Whatever they were about to do, it certainly did not seem like a small prank.

Slowly, Rick crept forward, entering the girls' restroom. My heart raced, bracing for what was to come. Moments later, Rick dashed out, and a cry of fury rang from within the restroom. Little Caius and the other boy erupted in laughter as Rick rejoined them, and the three of them bolted away. A girl emerged from the restroom, holding one of her shoes, which was now overflowing with what I presumed to be whipped cream. Her shirt was half-draped over her abdomen, her hair a wild tangle of disarray.

"Not cool, dude," Selene called out, her voice tinged with frustration. Caius, however, seemed lost in his own thoughts, oblivious to her words.

The next scene showed him alone, gazing contemplatively at the campus from a rooftop. The rickety iron door creaked open, and a girl entered, carrying a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a pink envelope. She stopped a few feet behind him, exuding a sense of determination.

Caius turned around, leaning against the railing, folding his arms across his chest as he regarded her with quiet curiosity.

"Today's Valentine's Day, and you don't have a date, so..." she stammered, presenting her gifts with a shy, uncertain smile.

Caius appeared to consider her words for a moment before a subtle smirk tugged at his lips. The same twisted gleam flickered in his eyes from the earlier scene. "Thank you," he said, accepting the gifts. "Would you like to grab a bite after school?" he asked casually, tilting his head.

She brightened immediately, her smile so radiant that for a moment, I could have sworn she was glowing white. "I'd love to," she replied. Something about her unnerved me, though, a strange sense of foreboding creeping over me.

The scene shifted once more, showing the same girl, now in an utterly bleak and dismal situation. She was huddled in a corner of her room, sounds of soft sobbing filled the air as she clutched her knees to her chest. A plaster was visible on her right ankle.

"Is it the same girl?" Selene asked, her voice laced with confusion.

"Yeah," I answered bluntly.

"How do you know?" she asked skeptically.

I rolled my eyes. "Pay attention to your surroundings," I said, pointing to a photo frame on the wall.

"Ohhhhhh!" she exclaimed, exaggerated as if she were a child. "Smart," she added, nodding approvingly.

I shook my head, the scene closing with an unsettling stillness.

"I don’t get it," Selene muttered in frustration, pacing. "Why are we seeing Caius' past? Does that mean we’ll all get to see ours too?" Thorne’s voice, low and uncertain, broke the silence too, though it was clear he hadn’t expected an answer.

Just then, an ear-splitting war horn sounded, followed by a deep, bone-rattling buzz that reverberated through my skull. Then, the bell chimes came again.

Ding... Ding... Diiiiing.