The Cursed: Legend of Neil

Episode One-Part I: Nightmare’s Grip

A dark calm plain with no entry or exit only echoes of water dripping from an unknown source, a body was laid on the floor with his eyes closed and facing upward; His eyes opened as he sat upright abruptly then sighed as though he was acquainted with the place.

“This place again?” He asks no one in particular.

He looked ahead of himself to see a giant face of stone with its eyes closed, every other detail about the statue was enveloped by the dark space leaving only the face. The young lad kept looking at the face as the statue opened its eyes, showing powerful and dominating purple eyes with a black spiral circling around the pupil to the end of the sclera; then a black petal-like drawing appeared on top the spirals like an iris. It looked down at the young lad as cold chill ran down his spine as his body vibrated rigorously, the air pressure became so dense that he gasped for breath as he felt his bone cracking due to the vibration.

“Neil….”

The name echoed like thunderous waves on the plane as the lad managed to cover his ears after much difficulties, he opened his mouth and tried to shout but no sound came out from his mouth.

“Somebody…. Anybody.” He thought. “Help me.”

He felt a grip on his shoulder as he sprouted only to find out he was in a dream, sweat trickling down his chin as he gasped for breath.

“Neil..”

He looked towards the boy closest to him in the bus, the boy braided his hair leaving two braids falling on the forehead. His eyes was golden brown and his complexion matched the eye color with a brown skin, his nose slightly bigger than normal and his lips were flirtive and pinkish that went along with his unintentional dimples. His uniform looked stylish as though he was a playboy and a thug, he had a black gloves on his fingers alongside a file case filled with credentials in it.

“Are you okay?” He asked again.

Neil exhaled heavily before smiling back at his friend.

“I’m fine Sandy.” He said. “Just having nightmares again.”

“The usual one?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Was the reply. “But this one felt more powerful than the old ones, it was as though I was being crushed in its presence.”

“Hmmm.” Sandy sighed.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Neil assured him. “Besides, nothing could go wrong.”

“Right…?” Sandy replied suspiciously.

The journey continued in silence as they arrived at their destination, both of them descended the bus along with many others almost the same age group.

“Pleiades Academy.” Sandy mutters

“May the best win.”

Sandy snickered as Neil shook his head in disbelief, he ran his hand through his hair and looked around before spotting a mirror not too far from where he stood. He walked towards the mirror to see a brown skin boy with dark brown iris, his short shady hair matching his well arranged black outfits; He smiled at himself as he admired his own appearance before feeling a hand on his shoulders.

“Dude, I have told you several times to get a nice haircut.” Sandy glared at Neil. “Instead, you look like a reverend father.”

“Leave me and my hair ooo.” Neil laughed. “I like it like that.”

“Ya hopeless.” Sandy grumbled as he dragged Neil along. “Let’s get this over with before any funny thing takes more of our time.”

“Yes boss.”

<>

“Well that didn’t take much.” Neil stretched as he allowed the evening wind to caress his face. “Hope you did well….?”

He turned to see an exhausted expression on Sandy’s face, taking him aback a little as he watched his friend slowly walk past him before tapping his shoulders.

“What’s happened to you?” Neil asked as he choked back his laughter.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t feel the pressure and hardness of that written section of the exam?” Sandy gasped.

“Seems normal to me.” Neil answered almost instantly.

wouldn’t

“It’s not a problem for you huh!?” Sandy replied after a while of silence. “You were always smarter when it came to studies.”

“What about the practical section?”

“That?…. I aced it man.” Sandy flexed his muscles.

“That’s what I thought.” Neil smirked. “For our trouble, why don’t we feast.”

He pointed towards the canteen not too far from where they stood, they walked towards an empty table before Neil excused himself towards the caravan to make order and bumped into a lady. He quickly grabbed her by the waist to avoid her falling down before realizing what he did, he let go of her as she regained balance before bowing in apology.

“I’m sorry Miss.” He apologized. “I didn’t see you coming.”

She stood looking stunned as Neil looked at her with her mouth agape as though she had suddenly shut down, Neil waved his hands over her face which brought her back to reality as he apologized with his hand scratching the back of his head before making his way to the canteen to get what he craved for. He returned to his seat only to see Sandy joking and flirting with the ladies that were sitting not too far from where they were, he scoffed as he shook his head in disbelief as his friend continued his flirtive conversation with the ladies. He looked up from his meal to see the lady he bumped into earlier was being bullied by another set of boys that also took the exam with them, he paid no heed and continued his meal; her refusal became louder as they pressured her the more but it all suddenly went quiet.

Neil lifted his head to see Sandy had already gone over to her aid and rescued her from the boys leaving Neil in more disbelief and awe, he made his way towards them when he suddenly felt migraines. His vision expanded to three hundred and sixty degrees which gave him the danger signal coming towards them really fast, he flung the nearest chair towards Sandy who quickly bent over to avoid being hit by the chair.

“What tha’ hell man?” Sandy bellows. “You almost took off my head in a clean swoop.”

“I was saving your life.” Neil replied as he pointed to the chair as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

Sandy looked at the chair and it appeared to be frozen all around with a spike sticking out from the edge, he looked at Neil who pointed towards the end of the canteen to see a pale looking white girl with a scarf around her neck approaching the scene.

“Oh no.”