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“Don’t tempt me” A harmless line that didn’t evoke much, but would later set the stage for the rest of their lives. Even Ivy herself knew not the gravity that word carried from Jack’s, of all people, lungs. The reception to her toast was a medley of reactions that did not surprise her in the least. Well that was a lie, Lucas, the ever trodding dark horse came from out under the searing lights to ease Ivy’s misplaced blame. Something that sent a shiver up her spine and down her skin, leaving bumps that read like braille on the tops of her mocha skin. A coy smile etched on her face wondering if she had been too quick to judge and file their once great friendship somewhere far away. “That bureaucratic circle has been following me since the day I left babe. It’s a whirlpool that looks to consume me at every turn and corner, appearing in my coffee, in the curls of hair of people I work with and even now in this swirling mystery of what’s in the capsule. I almost feel like Brad Pitt” ensuring pop culture had not been wasted on the prissy president, surely she was not wrath though, that role seemed to be reserved for CJ. The jokes and negging from Jack and CJ was a refresher from the doom and gloom from PJ’s even if they were slightly sardonic. There was a strange air of competition or discomfort between the two she kept feeling from the table to the bathroom. Cigarettes and empty liquor bottles ushered in a wave of nostalgia, reverting the circle of alumni back to their appearances from their first day of freshman year. “Are you implying you wrote some of your own? Or maybe you received many a letter from a secret admirer? Most of Hanna’s would be hate mail so we’re safe on that end” she shot a wink at the recovering actress still relishing in her friends impromptu speech. “Kick it and end up on our backs like Charlie Brown? Be my guest CJ, I think it would be good for you I’ll even hold it for you. But lets save the kicking for after we crack it open” before she could put the quip to rest the thought of burning Ritman and Delton to the ground sounded oddly refreshing but the pair would not make an arsonist out of her, “Like a Pheonix they would just rise from the ashes CJ, you know that.” Anni failed to chime in and Ivy sensed a new invisible membrane of anxiety and reluctance form from the pores on her skin. She failed her in high school, but she wouldn’t fail her now. Instead she clapped her hands twice snapping the attention to her. She strutted towards Lucas and snatched the capsule out of his hands. The cool touch of the steel felt good against her palms. It was finally the moment of truth, they could finally put their memories to rest. Hanna undoubtedly would have started a dramatic drum roll with either her hands or mouth. Ivy’s fingers found the crevice that kept a small door hinged to the rest of the capsule caked in dirt. “Okay everybody here we go. I haven’t been this nervous in a minute” she said between hurried breathing and a smile. She pulled the container open letting the lights above flood the depths of darkness within. Her expression of authentic curiosity turned sour in a matter of seconds. Wrinkles formed around her eyes and clung from the middle of her forehead. This was wrong, it was all wrong. “No no no no no, this can’t be it, this isn’t happening right now. Oh Ivy why didn’t you open the fucking capsule before you got here. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ughhh no no no” Ivy’s arm had completely sunk into the void of the capsule appearing as if it had no start nor end. She fished around viciously with sounds of her fingers and nails scratching and swiping against the metal. Coming up with nothing but a singular item in the capsule. A loud thud echoed through to both end zones at the drop of the capsule. Ivy’s eyes began to sting and she could feel the saliva in her mouth starting to get hot and cling to the pockets of her cheeks. “Don’t cry, don’t’ cry, they’ll understand right? Right?” Fighting against the inevitable welling of tears she made no movement to turn to Hanna despite wanting to find comfort in her best friend. Looking at her would only hasten her untimely end. “I don’t know what this is! It’s all wrong! This isn’t our capsule…I’m…I’m sorry guys..show’s over” her nails dug into the leather backing of the book that was tattered and stained from years of wear and tear. No author was transcribed on the spine and the cover was blank with no title. She wished the lights overhead would have gone out and left them all in the dark, but she wouldn’t be so lucky. Wiping away some loose tears she opened the book to see who had played such a vicious joke on her, it was probably the bureaucratic circle Hanna mentioned. Except when she opened it there was no table of contents nor a sleeve with a check out ticket. The pages were stained with indelible lettering that was no written alphabet she had ever seen. She tore through page after page and it was all the same until it ran blank. More perplexed than she started, Ivy sprang to the last page to see if there was a hint or clue to what this was. One word, centered in the middle of the page, that shifted from the illegible text into english language. “Oblivion” she whispered to the group. The pages fluttered and the book shook violently in her hands like a ship at sea during a swelling storm. Her grip was cemented on the book against her will. The letters from the pages bridged from the paper up into her hands, quickly wrapping themselves around her arms and across the rest of her skin. Fear tinged with desperation attacked Ivy sending her into shock, her mouth formed the words for help but found them stuck, unable to leave the creases of her lips. Her tongue and mouth went limp and the whites of her eyes became clouded in smoke that swallowed any perceivable sclera. The earth began to shake below them sending the bleachers into a panic of uncontrollable tremors. The lights above them flickered in and out and a gale wind swept through the football field, lifting Ivy into the air. Her limbs and head went limp as if someone was reeling her up by string. A violent shake occurred in her body that immediately went still not a second later. Oppressive light shined out of her eyes as her eyelids shot up like a curtain, a piercing howl left her mouth, punishing the eardrums of those around her. Her mouth closed and she fell to the ground sending a massive kinetic explosion out of her body that traveled through the bodies of her classmates and instantly knocking them unconscious. All movement and wind ceased around them immediately and the lights shut off leaving the group in total darkness. Her wish, granted. ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ | █ #1.01 WAY DOWN WE GO blackout —turnstile ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ |