Chapter One
I glanced up when the door opened. It wasn't often people interrupted Professor Kilpatrick's physics class. No one was brave enough.
Or stupid enough.
My curiosity was burning right along with everyone else's. A cold dread started to take hold of me when the man who entered the classroom walked up to the professor and whispered in his ear. A moment later, both their gazes landed on me.
"Mr. Hayashi, you have a phone call."
My eyebrows rose of their own volition. "I have a phone call?"
I hadn't felt my cell phone vibrate. When I pulled it out, it didn't show that I'd received any phone calls. Not even a text message.
"You can take it in the dean's office."
That cold dread in my stomach turned to a knot of trepidation. I stood and grabbed my book bag, shoving all my notes and my tablet inside. I flipped the top closed then scooted past the other students so I could get out.
I could feel the eyes of pretty much every student in the room on me, not to mention the disapproving glare of my professor.
I didn't care.
I was pretty sure any of my friends would have simply called my cell phone, which left my parents. I was terrified something had happened to my parents.
I didn't wait for the guy who'd come to the classroom for me. I raced through the hallway toward the dean's office. I was running by the time I reached the office. I slowed just as I got to the door and took a deep breath to calm myself.
It didn't work.
My heart was pounding a million miles a minute as I pushed the door open and stepped inside. I plastered a smile on my face as I approached the receptionist's desk. It wouldn't do to piss off any of the people in this office, not if I wanted to graduate.
"Hello, I'm Kaito Hayashi. I was told there is a phone call for me?"
The woman frowned, giving me the same disapproving glare my professor had. Apparently, they didn't like receiving phone calls for students. She pointed to a phone sitting on a side table. "You can take it there. Just press one."
My heart clogged my throat as I walked over and picked up the phone, connecting the call. "Hello?"
"Black hole!"
I recognized the urgent voice as Ian Traver's, one of my best friends. There was only one reason he would be calling me on a land line instead of my cell phone, and only one reason he would nearly shout out what he did.
The world had just gone to hell.
As Ian always said, the term "black hole" was an odd one, but we weren’t geeks for nothing. If you knew you were headed for a black hole and you were about to die, what would you do?
Geeks ran for their lives.
"Understood," I replied.
The line went dead.
I hung up and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I pulled the SIM card out then dropped it onto the floor and slammed my foot down on it. I did the same for my tablet, except I didn't smash it. I had a better plan.
I nodded to the receptionist, who's frown had deepened as she watched me, as I passed her and walked out into the corridor. I found the nearest trashcan and dropped my phone and bag into it. I hated giving them up, but I had no choice. Nothing that could be traced could go with me.
I walked across the campus to where the dorms were located. They weren't MIT-sanctioned dorms. Just the apartments closest to the campus, like right on the same street as the campus, which was why everyone referred to them as the dorms.
I used the staircase to reach tenth floor then walked down the hallway and knocked on one of the dorm room doors. A big beefy football player goon answered the door, rubbing his eyes as if he'd been asleep.
"Oh hey, man, did we have a tutoring appointment?"
