A chance to start over

This will be the first step to changing my life.

Your mind slips into memories as you run, subconsciously remembering where to go. Your uncle's **** destroyed your aunt. If you can save him you can save them both, your cousin wouldn't have to abandon the family and you won't fail your course and have to drop out because you were too focused on helping your aunt. You can start your actual life this time.

You reach the doors for the exit and push through into a blinding sunlight. The sudden heat presses down on you like a physical presence, snapping you out off your wandering thoughts and causing you to realise your natural weakness. Even in your younger body you still have little athleticism. You make for the stairs a little too closely to the hand rail which snags on the outer pocket of your unbuttoned blazer, the momentum swinging your side into the railing and winding you in the process. You fall backwards onto the hot concrete slabs of the steps. You let out a heated hiss of air. "Crap-" You gasp aloud. "I forgot... I'm so... unfit at this age as well..." With a deep breath you hoist yourself to your feet once more, a bit more slowly proceeding down the stairs and towards the university car park.

If you remember correctly, which you're confident you do, you make your way to the bike rack and to where your first moped bike is locked up. After fiddling with the bike lock you unchain your bike, your mind drifts back to the news of what happened today- last time. The report was that a faulty valve caused a gas leak into the research dome which ignited before anybody could evacuate. The Emergence happens very shortly after, allegedly having no effect on the situation. Considering this fairy chose you to come back to this very moment you doubt that claim. This thought brings you out off your reminiscence.

You wheel your bike onto the car park. The rough handle sends another nostalgic wave of vivid memories through your mind. The bike always pulled to the left slightly, which is more noticeable when turning and happened to be the cause for losing the first moped you owned. A quick glance at your watch reads 9:32am. The first report came in at 10 o'clock on the dot. Your chest tightens in fear. You won't fail him. You can't.

"I need him." You mutter, voice wavering, threatening to start crying. Taking a deep breath in with your eyes closed you squash all those thoughts and take your seat, starting the ignition. You open your eyes and hit the gas, revving your little bike as the wheels screech out off the car park and onto the busy double lane road. The bike skids and narrowly avoids colliding into the door off an expensive looking Mercedes which blares it's horn as you weave through the centre of the double lane and squeeze through between a truck and another family car you're not really paying attention to as you mentally map the shortest possible route.

This moped was a congratulatory gift from your uncle and aunt for starting your business studies and being accepted into Ravenwood. It was also a better deal than having you get a place closer to the campus to travel into the big city from your home town up north. The journey in meant you had to wake up earlier but also gave you plenty of practice riding a dodgy bike. You shake your head in the howling wind and skid past more horns as you take a rapid turn onto a quieter road. Since coming back in the short space of time your mind has been on fire with memories that had been completely erased from your long dull life without a second for you to fully process what is going on. The rest of the drive is just as stressful even while attempting to quell the lingering doubt of success. Eventually you cut out off the edge of the city and onto the forest-surrounded road for a short while before you see a sign next to a turn in for Vortex Solutions. Your uncle's work.

You drive up as fast as you can before coming out to a clearing with a three-story tall plain white building towers over a half full car park and a plain black van that hurtles towards you. You swing to the left as hard as you can which sends your bike scrapping down the road and you rolling across the rough asphalt. The speeding van crashes into a black and yellow safety barrier, barely having had enough time to stop. You roll over onto your knees and glance up with lingering pain from the cuts on your face and a dizziness that begins to settle. Half scrambling, half stumbling you stagger over to the van. Peering in through the passenger side window you see the driver holding the side of his bleeding head while groaning in pain. You open your mouth to speak before a glimmer of red light shimmers from the back of the van, in the same way the other fairy's golden light shone.

You move on auto-pilot with painful steps to the van's rear doors. Yanking them open you see small metal cages lining the walls with some strange symbols etched into the front of the metal doors. The light originates from the only occupied cage with a tiny, bleeding red-winged fairy. Spotting the keys hung on the back wall you instinctively get to work on unlocking the caged fairy and pulling her out with a shaky hand. She wears a dirty looking light blue medical gown. Her bright red eyes stare up at you as you take her out into the sun light. Without a word the little creature shoots up into the sky and dives into the forest leaving you speechless and full of more questions.

"You stupid kid!" An angry voice booms from behind. The driver clutches his side with a wince. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" You don't turn to face him instead staring at the massive research dome behind the building. The place your uncle should be. The place where everything will begin.

"How was a fairy here already?" You grunt through a sharp pain in your stomach. "The Emergence happens after the explosion..."

"Shit." The driver mutters before hurriedly getting back into his van and taking it out of the car park in a slightly slower pace than before.

"How is a fairy here already?" With a deep, ragged breath you squash the questions down and take a pained staggering step forwards.