Chapter 2: Vanished
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
My alarm went off as it does every morning, but this one was exactly like the one I heard before we returned to the past. Another same day.
I walked out into the hall and went to the girl's bathroom and expected to see Millie and Tamiya at the end of the line just like before we returned to the past. But guess what?
I was right.
After I got dressed and went down to class- wait. I was by myself. Weird, I expected to see Jeremy in the hall around me. Well, I didn't see him anywhere. Or Odd. Or Ulrich. Maybe they went early... maybe.
As I sat down, I was thinking hard about today's pop quiz I happened to know was going to take place. It was surprisingly hard the first time, after all, it was Physics. Physics, besides Mathematics, is my best subject. I seemed to be forgetting things, but it seemed logical, as I didn't have a thousand giga-flop hard drive to store information in.
In fact, I was so deep in thought I didn't notice that Jeremy, Ulrich and Odd were not in the class today. And I was so deep in thought that I didn't hear my name being called by Mrs. Hertz.
"Aelita?"
I turned my head forwards. "Yes? I mean... here."
"Would you happen to know where Jeremy Belpois and Della Robia are?" Mrs. Hertz asked me. "As a matter of fact," she continued, "Ulrich Stern isn't here either."
"What? They're not here?" I suddenly asked in surprise.
"No." she answered, "Would you check their rooms?"
"Yes..." I trailed off and got up from my chair.
A million crazy thoughts ran through my mind. Were they not devirtualized? Were they still on Lyoko? What about Jeremy? What about me? Why did I make it back? Why did they not make it to class? Were they... No. They were still alive. I knew it.
I went to Jeremy's room first. He was still in his bed.
"Jeremy! Class started an hour ago! Hello? Jeremy? Jeremy!"
I looked at him. He looked pale. He didn't really look alive. I was almost afraid to check his pulse. He could be... no. He was still alive. I knew it.
Or so I thought. I checked his pulse… and there was none. I couldn't accept this. I started talking to him like he was just dozing off. "Jeremy, are you going to get up? Hello? Jeremy?"
I just couldn't believe it. I stumbled in a daze to Ulrich and Odd's room. They both were… pulse less. I was telling myself it was just another of stupid XANA's tricks. They were alive. They were. I knew it.
I left the dorm building in a daze, walking to the only place I could think of to go.