The Endless School Trip

Chapter One

*Prologue*

The bus was loud with laughter.

Students talked over one another as the bus moved along the road.

Some were taking pictures, others were listening to music, while a few were already asleep.

“I can't wait to see what the place would look like. I'm gonna take a lot of pictures,” a student said giggling.

Aria sat by the window, watching the green fields outside.

Then the air changed.

A thick yellow smoke suddenly appeared around the bus.

"What is that?" Maya asked, sitting up.

The driver slowed down, but the smoke quickly became thicker. It covered the windows until they could barely see anything outside.

Everyone started shouting and panicking.

"What's happening?"

"Open the windows!!”

"Where are we going?"

“What's happening”

Aria grabbed the seat in front of her as the bus suddenly shook.

Then everything went silent.

No voices.

No engine.

Nothing.

A few seconds later, the smoke disappeared.

Aria slowly opened her eyes.

The bus was no longer moving.

"What happened?" someone whispered.

Aria looked through the window.

Her heart dropped.

They weren't on the road anymore.

The bus was sitting on a cracked street surrounded by ruined buildings.

Tall skyscrapers stood broken and covered in rust. Some had completely collapsed.

The sky was grey and lifeless.

There was not a single soul on the road everywhere. It was silent and quiet.

"What... what is this?" Maya whispered.

Ben looked around nervously. "This isn't where we were."

Nobody answered.

Then Sophie screamed.

Everyone turned toward her.

She was pointing outside the bus.

"There!"

Aria looked down. She was frightened by what she saw.

There were skeletons scattered across the street.

Some were buried beneath broken pieces of buildings. Others were still wearing old clothes.

The bus filled with screams.

"Everyone, calm down!"

Dorian's voice cut through the panic.

He stood and moved toward the front of the bus. His blue eyes remained fixed on the ruined city outside.

"Stay together," he said. "Nobody gets off alone."

Aria watched him carefully.

Dorian always seemed calm, no matter what happened.

But this time, she noticed something strange.

For a brief second, his eyes seemed to glow red.

Then it was gone.

Dorian stepped off the bus.

The others followed slowly.

Aria looked behind them.

The road they had come from was gone.

A thick wall of yellow smoke stood where the road should have been.

There was no way back.

Dorian stared at the smoke before turning toward the ruined city.

"We need to find a way out."

He looked at Aria.

"Stay close to me."

Then he started walking.

The others followed.

None of them knew where they were.

None of them knew how they had gotten there.

And none of them knew that this was only the beginning.

Chapter One

The Announcement

*Five days earlier.*

The fluorescent lights of Northwood High's main hallway hummed overhead, blending into the familiar sounds of lockers slamming, shoes scraping against the floor, and students calling to one another between classes.

Aria Walker walked through the crowded hallway with her backpack hanging heavily from one shoulder. She barely noticed the people around her. Her mind was still trapped inside the fantasy novel she'd been reading during lunch.

The characters had just entered a cursed forest, and Aria was trying to picture it exactly as the author had described it. She imagined enormous trees twisting toward the sky, their branches tangled together and blocking out the sunlight.

"Earth to Aria."

Before she could react, an arm slipped around her shoulders and pulled her slightly away from the locker in front of her.

"You're going to walk right into that thing."

Aria blinked and looked at the locker.

She had been inches away from hitting it.

Maya laughed.

"You do this all the time."

"I was thinking," Aria muttered.

"About your book?"

Aria gave her a small smile.

Maya had been her best friend since kindergarten, so she already knew the answer. She knew Aria could disappear into a book for hours and forget everything around her. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun that looked as though it might fall apart at any moment, and she carried herself with the same energetic confidence she always had.

The two girls reached their lockers, which were fortunately next to each other.

As Aria began entering her combination, Maya mentioned a rumor she'd heard earlier that morning. Mr. Albright was apparently planning to make an important announcement, and the entire school was expected to attend an assembly before the end of the day.

Aria wasn't particularly interested. She assumed it would be another ordinary school announcement, perhaps something about exams, school rules, or perhaps the cafeteria.

She joked that maybe the school was finally getting rid of its terrible pizza.

Maya immediately objected.

“Don't joke about that Aria”

For Maya, the cafeteria pizza was apparently one of the few things keeping her alive through the school day.

Aria laughed, shaking her head as she pulled her history textbook from her locker.

A moment later, Ben approached them with his skateboard tucked beneath his arm.

He had the kind of personality that made him seem permanently relaxed. His blond hair was always messy, his uniform was rarely completely neat, and he somehow managed to look as though he had never been stressed about anything in his life.

He told them he'd heard something about a trip.

That caught Maya's attention immediately.

Ben had overheard some juniors talking about it earlier, but he didn't know where they were going or who was organizing it. He assumed it was probably another educational trip to a museum or historical site.

Maya, as usual, refused to believe it would be boring.

Aria didn't pay much attention to their argument. She was more curious about the announcement itself.

Then Dorian appeared.

He walked toward them through the crowded hallway, and Aria noticed how people seemed to make room for him without being asked.

Dorian had always had that effect.

He didn't need to demand attention. It simply followed him.

His black hair was slightly tousled, as if he'd just stepped outside into a strong wind. His features were sharp and almost unnaturally composed, giving him an appearance that reminded Aria of the characters in old paintings.

But it was his eyes that people remembered.

They were a deep, striking blue.

Dorian was easily the most popular student in Northwood High, although he never seemed interested in popularity. Athletes respected him. Teachers trusted him. Students naturally looked toward him whenever something went wrong.

There was something about him that made people believe he could handle almost anything.

Aria had never been able to explain what made her so aware of him.

Whenever Dorian was nearby, she found herself paying attention without meaning to. Her thoughts would wander away from whatever she was doing, and she would suddenly become painfully conscious of his presence.

She hated that she did it.

Dorian stopped beside them and greeted them quietly.

Ben immediately brought up the rumored announcement.

Dorian's mother was a teacher at Northwood High, so Ben assumed he might know more than they did.

Dorian admitted that his mother had mentioned something about the announcement but refused to tell him what it was. She had simply told him that it was confidential.

Then he revealed something that made Aria's attention sharpen.

His mother had seemed worried.

Not excited.

Not busy.

Worried.

Dorian didn't know why, but he had noticed the change in her.

That small detail stayed with Aria even after the bell rang and they went to their separate classes.

For the rest of the afternoon, she found it difficult to concentrate.

There was no reason for a simple school announcement to bother her.

Still, something about it felt different.

By the end of the school day, the entire student body was talking about the mysterious trip.

Then the intercom crackled.

Every conversation in the hallway seemed to pause.

Students were instructed to report to the gymnasium immediately.

Within minutes, the hallways were filled with hundreds of students moving toward the gym.

The gymnasium smelled of old floor wax and sweat. Students filled the bleachers, talking among themselves while teachers attempted to keep everyone quiet.

Aria sat with Maya while Ben found a place a few rows below them.

Dorian was on the opposite side of the gym.

At the front stood Principal Henderson.

He looked nervous.

Aria noticed it almost immediately.

Principal Henderson was known for his serious expression, but this was different. He kept adjusting the papers in his hands and glancing around the gym as though he wasn't entirely comfortable with what he was about to say.

He tapped the microphone twice.

The sound echoed through the gym.

"Alright, settle down."

The students slowly became quiet.

Principal Henderson took a breath.

"I have some very exciting news."

A wave of whispers moved through the crowd.

He explained that a former Northwood High student, now a prominent scholar and wealthy patron of the arts and sciences, had made a generous donation to the school.

Part of that donation was being used to fund a special trip for a select group of students.

Immediately, the students began whispering among themselves.

A select group.

Nobody knew who had been chosen.

Principal Henderson continued.

The donor had requested that the destination remain a surprise. He had been conducting research in a remote area and wanted the selected students to experience the location for themselves as part of what he described as a unique educational opportunity.

Aria leaned forward.

The more Principal Henderson explained, the stranger the trip sounded.

Then he finally revealed the destination.

"The trip is to a location known only as... The City in the Mists."

For several seconds, the gym was completely silent.

Then everyone started talking at once.

The name sounded unreal.

The City in the Mists.

Aria felt a strange chill move through her.

It sounded like the name of a place from one of her fantasy novels. Something ancient. Something hidden.

Principal Henderson explained that the location was believed to have significant historical and geological importance.

But there was another condition.

Because of the sensitive nature of the research being conducted there, students would not be allowed to take photographs or post anything on social media during the trip.

That announcement caused even more confusion.

Ben stared at the front of the gym with wide eyes.

"The City in the Mists?" he muttered. "That sounds like a freaking fantasy novel."

Aria almost smiled.

Normally, she would have agreed with him.

But she couldn't shake the strange feeling building inside her.

The excitement she'd felt when she first heard about the trip was disappearing.

In its place was an uncomfortable knot in her stomach.

She didn't know why.

Principal Henderson then announced that the trip would take place in five days.

Students who had been selected would receive letters in their homerooms the following morning.

He warned them that it would be an intensive excursion and instructed everyone selected to prepare accordingly.

Then the assembly ended.

The moment the students were released, the gymnasium filled with noise.

Everyone wanted to know who had been selected.

Everyone wanted to know where the city actually was.

And everyone had their own theory about what they would find there.

Meanwhile Something was waiting for them.

And in five days, they were going to find it