THE BLACKOUT

When I open the book, the pages are blank.

I leaf through the empty yellowed pages as fast as I can, a frown of confusion deepening on my forehead.

"There's nothing here," I announce in a disappointed tone.

"Really?" Owen says and takes a look. "That's weird."

"I honestly don't understand why you all are so fascinated with this piece of junk," Cordelia says nonchalantly, scrolling through her iPad as she slurps her mango smoothie.

Owen draws in an exaggerated breath and looks at Cordelia, disbelief etched on his face.

"The Apocrypha is no piece of junk. You don't know how many people would melt in their shoes if they even got a whiff that a copy is here. You know how the bible was once the most popular book before things went downhill? The lost books were considered scripture before the re-canonization of the bible. It was a gradual process but now the entire old testament is considered as null."

I'm impressed by how much he seems to know even though his family no longer professes Christ. Perhaps his wide reading and research have led him to secretly seek for truth.

Oscar rubs his head for comic effect and says, "Geez, your vocabulary download is hurting my brain."

They all laugh. I don't.

"Well, your treasure chest is empty. It's probably just a hoax, a silly book the school probably got ripped off for," Cordelia says.

"Why don't we ask Mr Demesi when he gets back?" Jadiel suggests in a small voice.

That will be the most logical idea anyone has given since I stumbled on this cryptic document.

I smile at her but she looks away.

"Yeah, we should do that," Owen says. "I bet he'll know how and why this got here."

I twist my wrist and speak into my smartwatch. "Harry, how many more minutes are left till recess is over?"

My AI begins to speak, "You have 11 minutes and 58 secoooo—"
Harry's voice declines in a robotic drawl. I am momentarily perplexed.
What's wrong?

All the lights in the library begin to flicker. Suddenly, all the lights and air conditioners go off abruptly.

Everywhere is eerily dark and silent.

My friends are as confused as I am. Dart begins to whimper. He snuggles closer to my leg and I pick him up and begin to stroke his fur to calm him.

Jadiel rises first, looking around.
"What's going on? Is this a mass prank or something?" she says.

"The WiFi is down!" Cordelia announces, shock leaking through her tone as she scrolls and taps her iPad repeatedly. "I can't connect to Web3. All the servers are inaccessible."

Ever since Nigeria evolved and rose to become the technology superpower in Africa, our electricity and internet access have been free for all and constant. There has never been a time when we had a blackout. Those were tales from the histories.

"Something's terribly wrong!" I mutter. My mind is a jumble of possibilities.

"We should get out of here. Maybe only the library block is affected by whatever this is," Oscar says.

We trail towards the door using the flashlight from Cordelia's iPad but we encounter another problem.

Since the light and Wifi are down, all automated systems will be inoperable.
The door to the library doesn't open for us.

Jadiel begins to hyperventilate.
"Oh, no! This is bad! This is really bad!"

"Hey! Anybody out there?" Cordelia yells as she slams the door with her palm.

It's as though we are in a big vacuum. The library is built with soundproof walls and is far away from the main classrooms. I am sure no one will hear us.

"We're trapped. It's happening. My nightmares..." Jadiel mutters, wrapping her hand around herself as she slides down the nearest wall and chokes back a sob.

I frown, wondering what she is talking about.
Obviously, the girl is depressed and has low-esteem issues, but nightmares?
Maybe I am not a lone ranger in my nightly plight.

"Guys! Calm down, okay? I'm sure this will be fixed in no time," Oscar says, trying to sound all chill.

"But why is everywhere so dark?" I wonder aloud and move to the closest window.

I pry the windows open and look outside. I can see nothing. The darkness outside is so thick that it's like a force. But this is noon, not midnight for crying out loud.

"I think it's an eclipse," I say.
All my friends, except Jadiel, come close to have a look.

"An eclipse? But there was no forecast or anything like that," Cordelia says, frowning, "What caused this?"

"We are as clueless as you are, Cordelia," Owen says pointedly.

"Dang it! Wish the internet was going through. At least, then we'll be able to see updates online. Maybe this is a national phenomenon," Cordelia says.

'Or global,' I think.

In my heart, I begin a desperate prayer.

'Oh, God! Please, let my parents be safe wherever they are. I don't know what's happening but I have an ominous feeling it will not pass away soon.'

"Well, I guess we have to wait until someone comes to fetch us," Oscar says, resignedly.

I go to Jadiel, who is now staring into space, and help her rise. Her face is streaked with tears. She is afraid. I want to know why.

We all return to our initial positions.

I help Jadiel sit down. I will interrogate her about her reaction later.

For now, everyone is solemnly weighing the possibilities regarding this bizarre event. I can almost hear the wheels turning in our brains.

"On the bright side," I say, breaking the silence, "This gives us more time to explore this baby." I pat the Apocrypha.

Oscar snorts, his brows raised. "You mean the blank book?"

I shrug and gesture for Cordelia to hand me her iPad flashlight.

She does and when I point the light at a sheet of the page, it is translucent-like. Something that wasn't there before greets my sight.

My eyes widen. "Guys! Are you seeing what I am seeing?"

~~~

Author's note: It seems that the heat has been turned up a notch. Guys, what do you think is happening?
Why the whole darkness phenomenon?

And no, *Spoiler alert*, it's not the rapture, okay?

Are you as curious as I am to know what Naomi saw in the book?

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter.

I hope you have been enjoying this story so far. Honestly, I have little idea how it's gonna turn out with this clique of friends.

Be rest assured that every minute of your time spent on the words in this story will be worth it.

And I pray that the lesson this story bears will be something that resonates with you and changes you.