Chapter one: Something more than ordinary

 

It was raining in Belgium as most of the days in the year. You would say that rain is hated by all people but some do like it. Val is someone like that, she likes to watch the raindrops fall somehow it calms her down. Other than rain she has always loved snow, the reason for that is cliché, she just finds snow beautiful. Val is someone that likes to stay inside, her room is like a holy place to her with a cozy bed and all the things she needs which are her laptop, her pencils and her books. As you can guess her hobbies don't consist of any sports or outside activities. Instead she enjoys to watch movies and to read books, she often just listens to music and makes sketches of what are called anime characters. Yes, Val is an otaku, which means japanese cartoons entertain her, but she is not addicted to them, at least that's what she likes to think of herself. Eventhough she believes in what she says, she also has a dream about another world where all her anime related dreams come true, Emina. Her imagination makes her see things that are not real and will never be real but she still likes to think of how it would be if her imaginative world wouldn't be just a fantasy.

"People could have special abilities maybe even the animals. Yeah that would be really cool. Though you already have a special power, right Miku? The divine power of ultra kawaiiness!" Val exclaimed as she smiled at her cat who was laying down next to her on the bed. Val had called her cat Miku because as any other otaku would've chosen Miku was a japanese term for meat which her cat was very fond of. "Do you think you would be able to change into a human Miku? I'm sure you would be a very charming girl. Wait a bit I'll make a sketch." She said as she took one of her books. It had a flower pattern which was a mix of green and pink colours. Val never liked those two colours but she loved her sketchbook, it was cute in her opinion. She started drawing something that looked like a human girl but as she was drawing she gave the girl whiskers and a tail. The girl had black hair that reached her shoulders the tips of her hair had a white shade. Her eyes were hazel brown and had a little glim of green. Her body was that of a teenage girl and wore clothes that perfectly fit her. She wore a white tanktop and black jeans, her shoes matched with her top which were white Converse All-Stars. After finishing the details she proudly showed her cat the drawing and said: "Look Miku, do you like it? It is you but then as a human girl." Miku came closer to the piece of paper and sniffed the odor as if she was looking at food. Then she stared at Val and trippled over to her lap only to lay down and be loved and pet by her owner.

 

"Val, come downstairs! Dinner is ready!" Val's mom called from the kitchen while she was setting the table. "I'm coming in a minute mom." Val answered as Miku left her lap. The lazy cat had already been downstairs when Val was at the staircase. "Oh call your brother too." Her mom added way too late. "Seriously mom, I just came down. I'll just call him with my phone." She sighed while she was calling him. " Fraser, come eat!" Val yelled through her phone. She heard a soft answer back and knew he had been sleeping. " Such a sleepyhead." She said being certain not to be heard and hung up.

Later that day Val was chatting with a few friends on her laptop, she was back in her room together with her cat who was now laying on the edge of her bed. Val's friends were the same as her otakus except for one who was like the opposite of her, her name was Lena. Val met Lena at school, they had a click the moment they spoke to each other like in the movies. Since that moment they had been the best of friends, it had been a year since then but it felt like they knew each other in their previous lifes. So Val was chatting with Lena and a few other friends such as Aella and Ji, who were from her otaku group. On her phone she was also texting a friend called Drake, who she met through the internet. She had met Drake through a chatsite two years ago. Not like all the others she had met , she kept her friendship with Drake alive. He was different in some way.

As usual Val was having a weird conversation with all of her friends because that's what they all had in common. She was telling her friends about her imaginative world and they were all laughing, not like they were trying to mock her but they already accepted that fantasies are just fantasies unlike Val. After her friends finally found a way to shut her up, Val went to bed but she didn't fall asleep untill hours later. Her thoughts kept her awake a lot of the time. Not only her fantasy world but also her future because her mom started pressuring about what she would do after highschool. She still didn't know exactly what she wanted in her life and it troubled her that she couldn't find an answer.

 The next day Val's mom asked her to go to the store and buy drinks for her and her brother. Her mother was not someone you could say 'no' to so she just lifted up her lazy butt and went outside for once. Her brother was still sleeping so she didn't have the chance to trick him into going and besides a little stroll would do good considering that she hadn't had fresh air for almost a week. When she was picking up the drinks in the store she felt as if someone was watching her. There was a familiar shadow following her but she didn't see anything when she turned around and she did this five times which would also mean she walked through the store like a crazy person looking for someone who wasn't there. Val thought of her situation and how stupid she was for thinking that  someone would follow her. She wasn't interesting enough to follow and besides it was daytime so no person would be crazy enough to try something at that time. Val payed for the drink and exited the store, she decided to pass through a nearby park and sat down on one of the benches in the park. She closed her eyes and relaxed for a bit unlike the day before, it was a sunny day with a nice summer breeze. While she was enjoying the weather she heard a recognizable tone when she thought about it more clearly it hit her. It was her ringtone. Val quickly took her phone and answered: " Hello?". She heard a little noise in the background but she couldn't make out what it was. " Hello, could you please speak up I can't hear you?" She repeated politely. "Oh sorry hey it's Aella here." A happy voice answered on the other side of the call. " Oh I didn't hear you at first, so why are you calling Aella, you know I like texting more." Val asked. " Well I wanted to ask you to hang out and callling is faster as you know." Aella said while grinning. " Well if you are near Spicepark then that would be useful because I'm there." Val said. " Oh wait a minute." Val heard Aella say and shortly after she noticed Aella had hung up. " I'm here!" Val turned around and saw Aella waving as she walked towards her. " Hey, I was wondering why you hung up out of a sudden, so you already were here." Val said as she gave Aella a friendly hug. "So do you want to go get a smoothie? I have a lot to tell you." Aella said with excitement in her eyes. Val nodded and started walking while Aella told her all the gossip about their group. The two girls laughed as they enjoyed their conversation. They talked about the animes that they were watching and also about the drawings that they had recently made. " I showed you my sketch of Miku right? I think she would look like that if she was a human. Maybe in Emina .." Val giggled as she spoke. " I'm sure that would be how she looked in a different life. But how did you come up with the look." Aella asked wit a hint of curiousity. " Well.." Val started not certain whether she should proceed " You can't tell anyone about this, but I had this weird dream. I was at a school with a lot of people that I didn't know but you and the others of the group were there too. Then everything turned silent and I saw this girl and I could only think of Miku.". Aella stared at Val for a moment then started laughing. " You have crazy dreams girl." She said as her laughter faded. " That aside how are things going with Drake?". Val's cheeks suddenly became red and looked away. " Why do you ask that all of a sudden? It's like it always had been, we are good friends.". "Yeah sure." Aella said but her voice said otherwise. " I know you don't believe me but I know him from an online chat and I have never seen him in real life so it will never become something." Val tried to confince her. Aella shook her head and sighed. " First of all you should go outside more often. If you stay inside you won't meet anyone and second you never know what will happen in the future sweetie. I mean did you see Ji, he has found himself a girlfriend and we both thought it was impossible.". Val smiled a little at her comment. "That's because I like to mess with him, I always knew he would have a girlfriend at some point. He just has a personality that sometimes annoys me like most of the people. That's why I'm not fond of leaving my room." Aella noticed she went a little too far on the subject. She had always wondered why Val had such a closed personality. Even though she had known her for a long time, Val had never told her about the reason. The two girls kept quiet for a moment and Aella decided to break the silence. "You haven't gamed with the group in a while, you should come back if I'm not wrong we were going to play this evening again. We were planning on doing an all-nighter. So are you in?", she said a little unsure. " Yeah sure I will try to come but I can't promise anything. You know last time the others just freaked out and went afk for like an eternity." Val answered remembering how pissed she was at the time. Aella and Val talked for a while after that and eventually decided to go home. "Oh frizz I forgot the drinks, that I bought earlier, in the park." Val noticed and had a little panic attack. "Don't worry Val let's go to the park and hope no one took them." Aella reassured Val.

 

They both rushed to Spicepark as fast as they could. "Over there on the bench." Val said relieved when she saw the plastic bag with the drinks on the bench. She grabbed the bag and turned back to Aella. " Luckily we came back I wouldn't want to hear my mom nag about the drinks." Aella nodded and started walking again but Val stopped again suddenly. "Isn't that Miku?" Val asked Aella " or am I just getting crazy?". "No it really is her but how did she come here?" Aella asked, confused about what she saw. "We have to catch her!" Val said while running towards her pet. Aella joined her and chased her cat too:" Do you see her Val?". Val was lookthrough the bushes and behind trees and then she caught a glimpse of her cat. "There she is ." She said as she pointed at the bridge in the middle of the park. They both started running towards the bridge when they came closer they saw a strange light coming from the other side of the bridge. "Miku?" Val shouted worried. Aella made a sign for Val to wait as she crossed the bridge. Val waited for a moment then she heard a strange sound, it was a buzzing sound and it came from the same place as the light. Val called out for her friend and her cat but no one answered so she ran over the bridge and some sort of power pulled her down into the buzzing light which now started to look more and more like a wormhole...