The summer breeze pushed the floating hammock back and forth in an even rhythm, steady and unhurried, as if the day itself had decided that nothing important was going to happen. It was the kind of warm, careless afternoon that made people forget their worries and let the world feel temporarily harmless.
Lily spent the afternoon there, completely alone, suspended in a fragile peace, like a sleeping child who did not yet know the cost of waking up.
She could finally rest.
Not just lie down.
Not just close her eyes.
Rest.
Of course, Lily didn't intend to spent the entire day there dozing off. She had plans to visit the bakery down the street when she finally felt relaxed enough. Of course, there was no bakery down the street.
But that didn't matter. Dreams never needed to make sense.
She went back into idling thought, not thinking too much about anything at all, because for once, the afternoon was quiet. The sun continued to shine for what felt like an eternity and she felt warm wind brush past her cheek.
For once, nothing was expected of her. A rare opportunity she had longed for, for way too long.
If only it could last forever…
*ring ring — ring ring*
Her phone.
*ring ring — ring ring*
Lily sighed, answering without opening her eyes.
"Yes?"
—
But only silence answered.
"Hello?"
A distorted voice.
"Lily."
Lilys fingers tightened around her phone. The voice. Familiar. Like it came from somewhere deep within.
She narrowed her eyebrows without glancing.
"How do you know my name?"
The voice chuckled lightly in an uneven rythm.
"Silly child. Wake up."
She froze.
"I am awake."
A pause.
The voice sighed mid sentence.
"You forgot."
Her breathing was getting heavier.
"Forgot what?"
"Look behind you,"
'Lily—'
Her eyes snapped open.
—The sun was gone—
No hammock.
No wind.
No afternoon.
—She looked down—
Her hands were red again
Not smeared.
Not stained.
Covered.
Her voice sounded wrong.
Too loud.
Too close.
She caught her collapse in the pile of sticky redness.
"No..."
Sirens grew closer.
"...not... again—"
Lily clutched the straps of her bag tightly, not breaking stride. Her nails dug into the fabric, denting it inward.
Her gaze observed the floor, tracing cracks in the tiles as she moved through the corridor. Her gaze didn't lift once.
She passed a group of students discussing some of the newest trends in weaponry. Recoil-less weapons, motorized bombs, blades sharper than scalpels. She paid them no attention. Eyes never loosing focus.
From one of the training facilities, the dull thud of muffled gunshots bled into the academy hallways. Inside, routine exercises were underway. Basic monster prevention protocol. Everyone had to take it.
The sound followed her for a moment. She, walked past it and after making a few turns, headed straight for the half-open door at the end of the corridor.
The classroom smelled like disinfectant and old paper. Chairs scraped the ground as she walked in, students settling. Some looked, some didn't.
The usual.
Lily sat down quietly at her desk and put her bag beneath the table. Her hands soon found themselves folded tightly in her lap. Too tight.
She paid no attention to the murmurs and laughter, locking her eyes on the wooden desk. The wood grain on the desk starred back as usual. She traced the same line again and again, merging and separating a few times at random. The more she looked at the wooden grain, the more it stopped looking like anything at all.
The bell rang.
Lily flinched in shock. She covered her ears.
*ring — ring*
The bell stopped.
Lily exhaled and slowly put her hands down. Like letting go too fast might make something spill.
A voice came through the door. Distant, but attention grabbing.
The class settled down.
The door swung open and Mister Garcia strode in like the room had been waiting for him all along.
"GOOD MORNING!"
He hung his green leather jacket over his office chair and smiled carefree.
"Sit, sit, sit."
He waved the class back down eagerly, already grinning like this was the best part of his day.
Mister Garcia clapped his hands once. Loud, sharp, like he was trying to wake the room by force.
"Come on, people, it's a beautiful morning! Liven up a little, will ya'?
Someone yawned.
Mister Garcia glanced at him for just a moment. "Alright," he said, tone shifting just enough to matter. "Before we start..."
He turned toward the board, grabbing a black marker.
🐲MONSTER PREVENTION
Big, blocky letters stood on the board. He underlined it and put a little face next to it for good measure.
"Now," he said, spinning back around, energy still dialed way too high for this early in the day, "before we get to today's fun stuff, evacuation drills, weak-point diagrams, and why running in a straight line is still a terrible idea…"
A few groans.
"…I want to warm us up a bit."
Mister Garcia eyed down every single one of his students. His gaze didn't linger on nobody. Not until he found the target.
"You. Back row. Blue hoodie," he pointed at the boy.
Leon straightened. "Uh… me?
"Yes. You. Congratulations."
Mister Garcia smiled.
"Say it"
The boy scratched his head.
"Say what?"
Garcia smiled wider.
"The rule."
A pause.
Leon sighed.
"The Monsters Rule's goal is to kill all humans."
"Louder."
Leon repeated it, already having silently finished writing the day off in his mind. A few students mouthed the words with him.
Mister Garcia nodded satisfied.
He turned around and made an adjustment to the board.
The Monsters Rule = Kill all Humans
He capped the marker and tapped on the board. "We all know it. Brutal creatures," he said, pretending to villainize the face he drew. "They don't negotiate and they won't stop."
He drew another face on the board while talking to his class.
"Nothing can stop them... which is why," he turned around, his smile widened just a little, "you will."
He pointed the marker at no one in particular.
His gaze flicked. Just once. Toward her desk.
She hadn't moved.
Her hands were still folded tightly in her lap.
Mister Garcia turned his head back toward the board and wrote the second line.
The Human Rule = Kill all Monsters
He turned around.
"See?" he said, spreading his arms. "That's the problem with rules! Everyone gets one."
Some students nodded.
Lily didn't.
"Monsters have theirs," he continued. "So we should have ours. Straightforward and efficient. Very… human."
A cough rippled through the room. It died just as quickly.
"Let me tell you something. I, as a human, have a… let's just say... personal problem here."
He paused for a few moments.
"I really don't want to get killed by monsters."—
—
—
"I don't either." a boy came to a realization.
"Yes! That's the energy people," he jubilated. "Now, what do we do about that?"
The boy nested his face in his arms again, going back to sleep.
"I don't know sir."
Mister Garcia smiled. He uncapped the marker and turned back toward the board.
He hesitated for just a fraction of a second, then wrote one final word beneath the two lines.
Lily finally raised an eyebrow.
Outcome =
This time, he left it blank.
For a moment, he didn't say anything. He just stood there, hands on his hips, staring at the empty space like he was waiting for it to fill itself.
Someone cleared their throat. A chair creaked. No one spoke.
Mister Garcia finally turned around.
"That," he said, tapping the empty space with his marker, "is where we come in."
The marker clicked shut.
Lily observed the board.
Silence. Again. Then agreement. Chitter filled the classroom, confirming nods were thrown around.
Mister Garcia crossed his arms on the table.
"We don't know how this ends," he continued. "If we did, we wouldn't be here."
He gestured at the board behind him.
"That empty space?" he said. "That's the part we don't just get handed to ourselves."
Some students felt scared, some didn't.
Some felt motivated, some didn't.
Some felt tired, some didn't.
But Lily was feeling nothing at all.
Her eyes were still fixed on the board.
On the space next to Outcome. Because, for a split second, she had the strange sensation that something had been written there once.
Something messy.
She looked down at her hands.
Perfectly Clean.
Mister Garcia straightened.
He clapped once, loud enough to snap them back into the room.
"Alright everybody, looks like we're all mostly awake now, "he gazed at the boy nesting his head in his arms rest, "so lets get to it!
He picked up his lecture book and put on reading glasses.
"Behavioral study! Open books! Page twelve!"
Pages rustled.
NIGHTSTALKER REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM & PREVENTION
All capitalized.
Groans filled the room.
Lily still didn't move. Not right away.
Because even as the class shifted and settled, that empty space on the board lingered in her mind like a word that she knew, but couldn't quite remember how to spell out.
🐲MONSTER PREVENTION👹
The Monsters Rule = Kill all Humans
The Human Rule = Kill all Monsters
OUTCOME =