What better place to start, then at the end of the world?

  Clay wasn't the type of student to stay after school. It just wasn't his thing. He wasn't sporty, in fact this is the first time he'd ever touched the football field. He never stuck around for any of the academic clubs either. The school counselor had accused him of being lost, and that sounded about right. His parents were a million miles away, he was stuck in student housing, and didn't he already spend all day at school? No home, no family, what was a boy to do but play video games?

  It would take something dramatic to break him out of his routine of microwaved hamburgers, and Dr. Thunder. The End of The World Party sounded like it was up for the task.

  Mr. Brenner one of the science teachers had promised free drinks, food, and a front row seat to the end of humanity.

  "It only comes every hundred years." Mr. Brenner explained to his small collection of students. It was the dead of night, nearly 9:00 clock, and it was a school night too. A few parents waited impatiently for the sky to change, as if the cosmos was rude for not considering their need for sleep. "It was seen as an omen of terrible things for the kings of the ancient world. Despite all of that Lunabee Major has been a reliable friend to Earth, it always comes right on time, swinging by just to say hey. You can see depictions of the comet on the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico. There's even a story in King Arthur's legend where the comet heralds the birth of Camelot's greatest villain."

  Clay had always liked Mr. Brenner, which was part of his reason he was humoring this 'party' at all. He was pretty much still a kid, fresh out of college. This was his first year teaching, and Clay was new in town too. It was dumb, but he felt a kind of kinship with the guy. He'd talk to him after school, and had done more for him than the counselor ever could.

  Although it was clear Mr. Brenner didn't need Clay's pity. His girlfriend had come to the star gazing event with him and she was upsettingly beautiful. It was all so wrong. Teachers shouldn't have girlfriends, they need to be married, preferably to other teachers. They didn't have any right to be dating wingless angels like her.

  "You're drooling." Bailey elbowed Clay in the ribs. She'd dressed up for the comet, unlike Clay who'd stuck with jeans and a white t-shirt. Where he was going for a James Dean look Bailey was a little more Elvira. She was wearing a black velvet Maude dress, with starry accessories, she even had a cheap sparkly tiara for the moment. The queen of thrift had struck again, she was always finding great and outrageous clothing around town.

  "I'm not drooling." Clay said calmly. "I'm in love."

  Bailey had heard it all before, she'd been a natural ally for Clay since he enrolled. She was another one of the year-round tenants of One Week Academy. They were a rare breed and a no matter how much Bailey smelled like mothballs, the thought of sending summer vacation alone hadn't been all that inviting. "Well she has a boyfriend, and is about five years older than you." She snickered. "Besides if you stole his girl, Mr. Brenner would fail you for sure."

  "That's exactly it." Clay said. "I could never respect a girl who wanted to be with me."

  Bailey nodded. "It's the ones you repulse that you know have good taste."

  "Bingo." He shot her a sly finger gun.

  Mr. Brenner was wrapping up his history speech now. The light in the football stadium had been turned off. They were small oasis of battery powered light. Everything was off except the scoreboard which showed a countdown until Lunabee Major was supposed to appear in the sky. "Just a few minutes left." Mr. Brenner smiled, I recommend everyone grab a last snack and find somewhere comfortable to lay down, this is going to be a sight you'll never forget."

  "He is cute." Bailey said at last. She took Clay's arm and escorted him to the snack table. Mr. Brenner had gone all out, a vegetable tray, cans of soda, he'd even bought two dozen cupcakes from Target. The whole spread must of cost him, thirty, maybe forty bucks, the big spender! "I see why you like him."

  "Yeah." Clay grabbed a cupcake and looked around as people started to lay out blankets and point themselves towards the sky. "I can't believe Destiny is going to miss this."

  "Still no word from her?" Bailey grabbed a treat for herself. "It's been all day."

  Destiny was the third wheel to this particular tricycle. "All day, I know. No text, no call."

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  "That's weird." Bailey shook her. "I'll swing by her room after this." She shivered. "That's so spooky, you know with all those black cats that have gone missing?"

  "Black cats?"

  "Yeah you know, magi have been gathering them up to use in ceremonies during the comet."

  Clay didn't like the horror movie implications of that. Dead pets always led to dead kids. "It's October I thought shelters were supposed to lock their cats up during Halloween."

  Baily waved him off. "Oh a true witch always finds a way."

  "I can't believe they didn't invite you." Clay snarked.

  "Hey." Bailey looked offended, as she plopped down on the turf of the field. "I had offers. I chose to slum it with you non believers tonight."

  Clay laughed. "We're all thankful for your protection, crystal mother."

  "You should be." She grumbled good naturedly, and settled into the grass. Clay joined her and the two laid in companiable silence, as the score board counted away their last moments on Earth.

  Clay's mind was running now. What if some weirdo had snatched Destiny like they had the cats? Bailey was only a hobbyist weirdo, but there were some people who took it seriously. Whatever 'it' was, magic or something equally delusional.

  You didn't have to look far to see that weird could creep into all kinds of people. Hope McHail was circling around the group with a sign pointed to the sky that read "Welcome Home!" She'd read that the comet was actual a space ship that took enlightened souls to some far off planet every hundred years. Now that was weird.

  Clay was weirder still, because if Hope even looked in his direction he probably would have leapt to his feet with his own sign and joined her in welcoming their space brothers. Clay had a bad case of adolescent male which meant he had wedding plans with every girl who'd make eye contact with him, and most who didn't. Even his worry for Destiny had taken a back seat to admiring Hope as she strutted around the field, she had a short brown pixie-cut and thick calves from years on the soccer team.

  When the scoreboard's buzzer finally went off Clay jumped. It felt like he'd been called out by god for his impure thoughts. His pounding heart soon realized it was actually to announce the end of the countdown, and he settled back into the grass, blushing furiously.

  Dork or not, chick magnet or not Mr. Brenner knew his stuff. The buzzer was like a herald to this great celestial object. In the sky above them a thousand miles away a light flicked on like the flame from a Zippo. There it was in the sky, as if it'd only ever been hidden by an optical illusion. A green light with a long tail, just like in a story book.

  The effect on the small crowd was immediate. Awwed grumbles filled the field. Off in the distance you could hear cheering from other watch parties, and even a few fireworks. It was kind of cool, Clay allowed himself to think. Space was so big and incomprehensible, but for a few brief minutes, and completely on accident a bunch of apes got the chance to glimpse something beautiful through all the chaos.

  Hope squealed and jumped up and down with her sign. "Over here!"

  Clay couldn't help finding her cute, but if he did get abducted by aliens because of her, he would never forgive her. Even if she did run across the filed like a cheetah. "I didn't expect it to be green." He said aloud, noting the long curtain of color that followed the main body.

  "It's that color because of the diatomic carbon that get released as it heats up in the sun." Mr. Brenner, the sage said.

  "I'm learning." Clay whispered to a snickering Bailey.

  "It's beautiful." She replied, eyes transfixed by the celestial object. It seemed no matter where you fell on the scale of weird you couldn't help but be awed by what was unfolding.

  Then Clay began to notice an orange light at the edges of the comet. It looked as if it were being backlit by something, and indeed it was. The longer everyone looked at Lunabee Major the clearer it became that it was... unzipping the sky.

  Where it passed, space seemed to slowly fold open, revealing a sort of space behind, a brown, and purple kind of something. It wasn't stars or emptiness it was, something. Streams of light and energy seemed to come out of the edges of this pocket space, like the corona of the sun, a bright awful kind of light.

  No one knew to scream just yet. Everyone just looked on in horrified awe as this event took place. Was it a trick of the light? Was this supposed to happen? Mr. Brenner was silent on the topic, and just as terrified as the rest. They could only watch as the comet continued to streak across the sky.

  Then once enough of the sky had been unzipped, the thing from the space behind space, opened it's eye.

  All who saw, had no choice but to scream.

  Clay rolled over almost immediately to throw up. The sight of sky just rolling open to reveal...

  He wretched, the cupcake was seeking to make a swift return, and Clay sensed the rest of hit guts were soon to follow. The sight of that yellow orb, like a sick sun looking at him, right at him. It was burning, and melting it's way through is brain. His heart was pounding off beat, How far was it? How close? It was choking him, killing him, with just a look. one horrible look.

  "Clay, what's that?" Bailey's hand was on his shoulder. No he didn't want to see any more. He wished he'd go blind, but he knew the last thing he'd see would be that thing! "Clay!" She said more sternly.

  He forced himself to pry his burning crying eyes open, and saw that there was a bright blue glow coming from his wrist. Like there was some kind of light beneath his skin.

  "What is that?"

  Clay gulped as he ran his hand along the light. "I don't know..."