“Let’s start the class with a review on what we learned last week,” my teacher announces. That’s my cue to hide my phone behind my textbook so I can watch Netflix. I have a photographic memory, and I ace every test I take (mostly), so there’s no real reason for me to pay attention in class. The class is mind-numbingly boring anyways. I am what you would call a ‘slacker’; meaning I never do my homework and turn in everything late. My grades are horrendously low, but high enough to not get me kicked out of class. I’ve heard many of my teachers say that if I just applied myself more, I would be the best student in class, but I just don’t care enough about that. I’m halfway through a particularly exciting episode when suddenly the alarm starts blaring.

“Lockdown, Lockdown, this is a Lockdown situation.”

Immediately, my classmates start whispering to each other.

“There’s no lockdown drill today,” my friend, Bob, whispers to me. “What if something really bad happened?”

I stop my episode so I can reply to him. If I don’t he’ll keep muttering in my ear and I won’t be able to hear anything. “Probably some paranoid parent thought the Colorguard rifles were real attack weapons again.”

Bob looks slightly relieved. “Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for reassuring me, Simon.”

I turn back to my phone, but even with my earbuds, I can barely hear anything. The alarm is too loud. Reluctantly, I follow my classmates to the edge of the classroom where we are supposed to hide. It’s slightly quieter here, but still loud, so I turn on the subtitles. I’m almost to the climax of the plot when I see my teacher is gesturing at me and pointing at my phone.

“I know right, it’s so surprising that the best friend was in kahoots with the big bad all along, right?” I ask, just to be snarky. Obviously, I know that they want me to turn off the episode, but again, I’m in the middle of a really good part. There’s no way this will turn out to be an actual threat. My teacher throws their hands up in the air, and tries to grab my phone, but I wave it out of her reach.

“Seriously? I don’t even have the sound turned on anymore!” I complain. The lockdown alarm has gone off, but I still can’t watch my episode in peace. Now there’s the heavy thump of boots coming down the hallway towards us. 

“I think I heard someone speaking around here,” one person remarks, stopping outside our door. He pounds on the door loudly. “HEY, LISTEN UP! IF YOU ARE IN HERE YOU SHOULD COME OUT!!”

I can barely concentrate on my phone. The door falls down; the person has knocked it off its hinges. Everyone screams in terror, except for me. I’m so annoyed about missing my episode that I march up to the person and punch him in the face. 

“Ow! That hurts so much!” I scream. The person’s face is rock-hard, like metal. I probably should have checked before punching him. Before I can escape, he wraps his arms around me, entangling me. I’m extremely physically weak, and no amount of kicking and screaming can make him let go of me. The light from outside spills into our classroom, and I’m able to get a better look at him. It turns out I punched a silver metal mask, which covers half of his face. The other half of his face is covered in heavy makeup, making it look twisted in a permanent sneer. And for some reason, he’s wearing a pair of elf ears. The person pushes me onto the ground, and kicks me away. 

“What kind of idiot are you, trying to punch me?” he guffaws. I realize then, that he’s dressed like he’s part of a medieval roleplaying party, complete with a weird stick thing with a rune on it. 

“Shut up! I wanted to watch Netflix in peace and you ruined it!” I reprimand him. This just makes him laugh harder. 

“Wow, I’m surprised. Still feisty, even though you’ve literally signed your death warrant!” he winks. “Well, we aren’t actually going to kill you. Just send you to a place far, far away. You could even say it’s an alternate dimension of some sort!”

I suddenly realize the seriousness of the situation. A guy dressed like he’s in a cult, threatening to kill me? This isn’t good. I start slowly backing away. “Never mind, can we just forget about this?”

He grabs me again. “Finally realized what will happen to you?”

“Please, let me go! I’m sorry for punching you!” I plead. 

“Oh, we’ve never sent an Asian to the other dimension before,” he remarks. “I wonder if you’ll land in the same place as the others, or if you’ll join your ancestors.”

“What are you talking about?” I struggle, but his grip is too strong.

“Let’s get this over with,” he heaves the stick above me, positioned toward my forehead. For some reason, he looks somewhat sympathetic. “I promise this won’t hurt. Ok, maybe just a little.”

Then he brings the stick down on my forehead, chanting some kind of weird prayer in another language. Is this guy in a cult? Pain explodes through my head, coating my eyes in a vision of red. The last thing I remember before I pass out are my classmates screaming and running away from several more of the cult members who have come in.