I love you. I never imagined myself saying that this feels weird. Those human emotions are silly but true; they're the echo of something intangible.Picture me at home, sprawled on my fancy sofa while the air-conditioner thrums, swirling a glass of wine pricey enough to cost an arm and a leg, watching my favorite show on the biggest screen like a fucking king in the Middle Ages. Except the king I studied was powerful in his time his empire mighty; he dodged assassins and betrayal but who remembers him now? Even drenched in wealth, he was nobody. Damn money can't buy loyal people; it only buys fake ones.
Suddenly civil-defense sirens wail outside. Gunfire rattles like a video game. I stand and peer through the window, but the world is pitch-black, like midnight except it's only eleven. Shock slams into me. Am I dreaming? I flick on the TV. The anchor announces the end of the world: the sun has vanished, occluded by an unexpected planet. It'll take a year for things to return to normal. Fiction, right? They'll all die but not me. I have money. I can buy warmth when the temperature plummets below –120 °C. Half the world will freeze except the rich.
Then a warning flashes on-screen: Never look them in the eye. Who are they? Zombies? Vampires? Werewolves? Aliens? People who look like us, sliding in from a warped dimension to seize the planet? Maybe, I think darkly, it's a bunch of niggas who want to enslave us, flipping the cycle we forced on them.
The lights cut out. Damn I forgot to check on Mom. I grab my phone and call."Hello, Mom are you okay? Where are you?""Alex, son, everything's fine. I'm at your " Click. The line drops. I redial, but her phone's dead.My ringtone keens like a starving baby. I answer."Hello?""Honey, where are you? Are you okay?""Sweetie-pie, I'm home. Everything's fine. Wait there till Mom gets back; then I'll come for you, okay?""Okay. I'm waiting. Take care."
I hang up, switch on my phone's flash, and head to the backyard. The door golden as heaven's gate opens onto hellfire. The sky is empty: no moon, no stars, only pure darkness. The yard feels ripped from a horror movie, exuding that you-know-something-awful-is-coming vibe. A ghost could pop out, or a serial killer.
No girl likes a coward, I tell myself. I've got to be strong as a knight, handsome like a '90s movie star, and own a country in my name that's the standard. I feel like a two-hundred-year-old vampire walking through this lovely, gloomy world.
My phone rings again. Panic sucker-punches me. I answer."Hello, bro heaven or hell?"I sprint inside, slam the door, and pant into the receiver. "Hell. Satan sends regards ,he's saved you a seat.""Ha. Tell him thanks. Seriously, did you see what happened?""Yeah. The world's sliding into beautiful doom.""Man, I'm only twenty I've got a life to live.""You're okay. Twenty's the sweet spot; after that, life starts throwing haymakers.""Damn, you sound like Grandpa.""Grandpa's a legend he killed Nazis and scrubbed evil off the map.""True. I'm coming four hours out.""Good. Stay safe."
A gunshot cracks in the backyard. Someone slams into my front door. I rise. Time to find out whether my training is worth a damn.