The city had this weird quiet to it, you know? Like when you're waiting for bad news and everything just feels... off. I could feel it in my bones - that heavy feeling when something's about to go seriously wrong. Everyone around me felt it too. You could see it in their faces, the way they kept glancing at the sky.
And God, the smell. It wasn't the usual city stench or even something rotting. It was fear. Pure, raw fear hanging in the air like fog, clinging to everything - the buildings, the people, even seemed to poison the sky itself.
I heard people whispering, some already giving up, accepting whatever was coming. Others were trying to be logical about it, explaining it away with science and coincidence. But we all felt that same sick dread in our stomachs.
Then it started raining.
Everyone saw something different in those drops. Some people just saw regular rain - cold, wet, nothing special. But others? They swore they saw blood falling from the sky, like some kind of apocalyptic warning. A few even said it was karma finally catching up to all of us.
The rain felt wrong though. There was no relief in it, no fresh smell or cooling breeze. It was like the world had gone off track somehow, like we'd stepped into some alternate reality where nothing worked the way it should.
Then, just like that, it stopped.
The sky cleared instantly, but somehow that made everything worse. The clouds were gone, but you couldn't see any stars. Just this unnatural darkness, like someone had thrown a black sheet over everything. And in the middle of it all was this massive red moon - not just red, but this deep, bloody crimson that made your skin crawl. It dominated the entire sky, casting everything below in this hellish glow.
"The moon rules the skies," someone whispered behind me. I turned and saw faces frozen in shock, people just staring up with their mouths hanging open. It was the kind of sight that gets burned into your memory forever.
But honestly? I didn't have time for this cosmic horror show.
While everyone else stood there gawking, I slipped through the crowd. I had one priority - survival. Food first, everything else later. That's how I've always lived, and some freaky moon wasn't going to change that.
I made my way to the food stalls, grabbing enough supplies for the next few days. My hands moved on autopilot - this, then that, enough calories to keep going. I didn't stop to think about it or get emotional. The world could be ending for all I cared, but I still needed to eat.
How long had I been walking? Didn't matter. I just kept moving until I found a decent spot to sit and eat. But then I heard it - the low rumble of an engine cutting through the silence.
I squinted into the darkness and saw them. Two figures in black masks, built like they spent their lives in the gym. They were talking in hushed, urgent voices.
"We're one short," the first one said. "This damn night has everyone hiding indoors. If we don't fill the last spot, the master's going to kill us. Today's the deadline."
The second one pointed in my direction. I was sitting by this big rock, pretty sure they hadn't noticed me yet.
"What's that over there?"
"Looks like a kid."
"No. 8, we can't take a child. You know the rules."
"We've been searching for hours! Most of the adults will be dead by morning anyway. What's one more body? Kids are lighter, easier to handle."
I stayed perfectly still, watching them with the same detachment I watched everything else. Their words didn't faze me - just another problem to deal with. I was ready to run if I needed to, but for now, I waited.
They started walking toward me, moving like predators who'd found their prey. I could feel their eyes on me, studying me. I shifted my weight slightly, getting ready to bolt if necessary.
Then... *crack.*
The sound echoed through the night, sharp and sickening. My vision blurred, my legs gave out, and everything went black.
When I came to - or maybe I didn't, it's hard to tell - I heard them talking.
"Senior, what happened? Why did you—"
One of them was checking my pulse, his fingers cold against my throat.
"He's still breathing. What was that sound? He's so thin..." There was irritation in his voice. "Doesn't matter now. Let's move."
"What sound?"
They picked me up like I weighed nothing, which probably wasn't far from the truth. I felt like I was floating, disconnected from everything. My mind was foggy, thoughts slipping away before I could grab them.
The ride felt endless. I was vaguely aware of being carried, of the vehicle moving, but it all seemed to happen to someone else. My thoughts were empty, just white noise where consciousness should be.
Eventually, we stopped. They carried me through what smelled like a graveyard - that unmistakable stench of death and decay. Even these tough guys seemed bothered by it. I caught glimpses of white flags on graves, dozens of them marking forgotten lives.
One of them raised his hand, and suddenly there was this golden light cutting through the air. A door appeared - ancient, fragile-looking, like it might crumble if you breathed on it wrong. It looked old, really old, but somehow familiar.
"Every time I see this, I'm still amazed," one of them muttered.
"You go first," the other replied. "I'll handle the rest. Put the device on him before you go in."
I felt them fasten something around my neck - cold metal against my skin. Then we stepped through the door, and the world... shifted. The air bent around us, reality folding in on itself.
When the light faded, we were somewhere else entirely. Somewhere ancient and vast and wrong.
And that's when I realized this was just the beginning of something horrible...