Except calling for help, what else was he meant to do?
And even though he had watched someone disappear right in front of him, the current more pressing matter was the fact that an ancient apex predator was somehow set loose in the school grounds.
The Tiger had already killed one person; who knows how many more it's going to kill if it's not stopped soon?
Taking his phone out of his pocket, he briefly pondered on who exactly he should call.
Animal control? Or maybe the police? But it didn't take much thinking for him to decide on dialling the cops, because he'd quite frankly prefer the cops shoot and kill that beast than animal control putting it to sleep.
Alden had no clue as to where it came from, but what he did know was that it had committed its greatest error; it had killed a human – a human cub no less.
Although it was the apex predator of the Ice Age, times have changed, and now the apex predator of this world is mankind.
While calling the cops, Alden started to think of the best words he could use to describe their current predicament.
What exactly was he meant to say to them?
Hello, there's an extinct species of tiger roaming around the school grounds, and it's already killed a little girl.
Oh, did I forget to mention that my friend vanished in front of my eyes a few minutes ago?
"Huh? Line busy?" Lost in thought, he did not notice that the ringing got cut short.
He tried to ring them once more.
And again, no response.
"What the hell?" Baffled for the 19th time today, Alden mumbled under his breath.
Scanning his screen for any issues, he found the culprit.
He had no signal.
"But why? I'm sure I charged it recently." While doubting himself, he thought of the next best option.
"Hey, can one of you guys call the cops? I've got no signal." With a growing feeling of dread in his stomach, Alden asked his companions.
Hearing him, Vale suddenly looked up from the floor; Alden's words were like a spark of hope in a dark despair.
Swiftly, he took out his phone.
And without even unlocking his phone, Vale looked at the top right corner of the lock screen; his excitement was hit with a splash of cold water, causing his face to fall.
"And neither do I…" Vale sat back down, utterly distraught.
And just like that, the spark of hope that took root when Alden mentioned outside help had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
If Alden wasn't alarmed before, now he most definitely was.
Ignoring the still-vomiting Rowan, Alden looked at the teacher.
"What about you? Can you check?" Alden asked softly, his tone filled with helplessness.
The professor got his phone from the teacher's desk, and just as Vale had, he did not bother to even enter his PIN.
"Nope…", looking at the top of his screen, the professor spoke warily.
Alden looked at the last person in the room, Rowan, who still hadn't regained his composure.
Not bothering to ask for permission or even to look at him, Alden went to where Vale and Rowan were sitting previously.
Picking up Rowan's phone from the desk, Alden had a look at its lock screen.
"...No signal," Alden sighed again, lost in thought.
What should they do now? Run away from the school while the tiger was busy eating?
But if they were to choose to run away, who knows how many more unaware students it'll kill...
Or they can try to stay here and wait until someone else manages to call for help.
Alden just couldn't understand... Where did it even come from?
And more importantly, where the hell is Dorian?
Lost in thought, Alden heard the professor cough. Glancing in his direction, he waited for him to start speaking.
Seeing that he had gathered his three pupils' attention, even Rowan – who, although pale, had stopped vomiting – the professor attempted to rationalise their situation.
"So, to recap... first, Dorian magically disappeared; second, an ancient animal somehow made its way onto the campus and killed a student; third, none of our phones can get a working signal." The old man outlined the three mysteries, his eyes losing glow with each listing.
"…Is that it, or am I missing anything?" he sighed, exhausted; their predicament had predictably taken a toll on the old man.
Alden and Vale looked at each other, both silently agreeing to the professor's summary.
The three waited on Rowan, not expecting much.
"…Have we checked the internet connection?" Rowan, having finally calmed down and restored his mental state, managed to notice something none of the other three had yet.
Hearing Rowan's question, both Alden and Vale hurried to check on separate computers.
Since Vale went to the left side of the class and Alden the right, he had reached his respective computer first.
Hurriedly entering his credentials, Vale prayed while the computer started to load up.
Upon reaching the home screen, Vale frowned.
"This one isn't connected... What about the one you're on?" Vale spoke gloomily, now staring at Alden, awaiting his response.
"...Nope. Should we even bother checking on the other ones?" Alden sighed once more, asking a question of his own.
"Better safe than sorry." Before Vale could even finish his reply, he was interrupted by an odd sound coming from above.
Click…-
Alden looked at the ceiling; almost instantly, he was able to pinpoint where the sound came from.
It was…The Lightbulbs?
Tchhh-…bang
The room turned dark.
"Oh great, now we don't even have working lights in the room anymore?" Visibly upset, Vale exhaled while turning on the computer next to his own.
Alden started to run his fingers through his darkened hair, analysing the situation.
The time of day was near noon, meaning that though the lightbulbs bursting was weird, it wouldn't immediately cause them any major harm.
Averting his eyes from the ceiling, Alden looked down at the computer nearest to him.
Just when he was about to check if it was connected to anything from outside, it inexplicably shut down when he attempted to log on.
"Huh?" Baffled once more, Alden turned to look at Vale – only to find him glancing back.
"…Did the one you were checking randomly power down too?" he asked.
"Yes?… A power outage? But if so, how come the others are still turned on...?" Alden replied, a dark thought running through his head.
Vale, seemingly sharing his doubts, went on to check the computer nearest to him; however, this time Alden did not do the same – instead, he squinted his eyes and stared at what Vale was doing.
… And sure enough, when Vale attempted to log in to check if it was connected to the web, it too inexplicably lost power.
The four people in the room looked at each other, dumbfounded.
"...Fuck." Alden cupped his face in defeat.
Anything that they touch loses function?
Why was this happening?
"…Now what?" Rowan asked, shakily.
"Should we try leaving the school to either get a signal or get help? If we manage to avoid all the eastern buildings, we can do it without alerting that Tiger," the professor proposed.
"...Hey, what makes you so sure that this is the only animal on campus...?", Vale said, his face bearing a grave expression.
Hearing him, the expressions of the other three darkened even further.
More than one of those animals roaming around the school grounds?
"Wait, so you're telling me that there's a possibility that there might be a lot more animals like that tiger on campus…?", Rowan said, shaking, fear evident in his voice and tone.
"....He's right; we can never be sure that this is the only animal on campus." Alden sighed, supporting Vales theory.
He too had the same doubts as Vale, but what truly garnered his attention was the issue with the technology.
Ever since Dorian had disappeared, it seemed to Alden that the laws of the world had seemingly been turned upside down.
The very same laws that humanity had spent its meagre time on this planet trying to comprehend.
And with each generation, humans had learnt to use and leverage those laws to their undeniable benefit.
And at some point, they even managed to master those laws – in time convincing this world into trusting that they were something they weren't.
Mankind had managed to trick Mother Nature into believing that they were the apex predator.
And in that process, humanity convinced themselves into believing the same.
So…
What would happen if, one day, those laws changed?
Or more appropriately, been completely thrown out the window?
Knock, knock.
Lost in deep thought, Alden was interrupted.
Someone was at the door.