Chapter 2: Chapter 1 And Then The Sun Went Out

Pain jolted Helios alert. He tentatively reached down to touch the knife wound in his abdomen. Dark-coloured blood rushed from between his fingertips. A wave of agony caused him to become disorientated, forcing him to his knees. 

 

Shit, this is it. I don’t know why I thought I could somehow survive the goddamned apocalypse. Just arrogance, I guess. Well God, if you’re listening. It’s time to come in clutch with a miracle for me.

 

His prayers were left unanswered as his vision started to narrow. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the victorious demon atop the car alerted by the dying man’s struggles. Raising its nose to the air, it sniffed and looked around. Facing his direction, it focused its attention on him. The demon shrieked, desperately rushing toward him. 

 

It was still a significant distance away when Helios’ world turned black. Broken fragments of memory from his last day on Earth surfaced in his mind. 

 

***

 

The day before. Helios was awoken by the beeping of his alarm clock. Tiredly reaching over, he hit snooze for what felt like the tenth time this morning. Jolting awake, Helios sat up and looked at the time.

 

“Fuck, I’m going to be late!” Helios cursed, throwing back the blanket. 

 

He swung his feet out of the bed and threw on some slippers. He hurried to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He put a hand into the water to check the temperature. Satisfied, he got in and quickly lathered his body with soap. Because he was in a rush, he brushed his teeth while in the shower. When done, he climbed out and hurriedly towelled himself dry. Hopping on one leg, he pulled on his suit trousers, tripping on his pant leg and falling to the floor.

 

“Oof, why do I always do this to myself? If I got up when my alarm was set, I’d be able to beat the morning traffic rush. It’s not meant to be. I don’t even have time to eat breakfast. That’s okay, I’ll make up for it at lunchtime,” Helios muttered, staring wistfully at the ceiling.

 

He pushed himself to his feet and finished pulling on his trousers and sliding on his crisp white shirt before buckling his belt. He looked into the mirror as he did up the last button, staring at his reflection in satisfaction.

 

“I hope Margaret is behind the counter today. One day I’ll work up the courage to ask her out,” Helios said to himself. 

 

Giving his collar one last tug, Helios hurried to his car parked in the attached garage. It was a modern electric car. He liked to tell people that he got it to benefit the environment, but the reality is he enjoyed the status it afforded him among his peers. Quickly climbing into the driver’s seat, he pulled down his sun visor and pressed an attached button. 

 

Looking in the rear-view mirror, he watched the garage door swing up, simultaneously turning on the silent engine. His morning was progressing the same as any other day until he hit the packed motorway.

 

Sitting patiently in his car blaring the radio, the car began to violently rock. Outside the window, a lamppost collapsed, crushing the bonnet of the car in front of him. Helios hurriedly climbed out of the car.

 

“Are you okay, do you need me to call you an ambulance?” Helios called out, locking his car door before rushing to their aid. 

 

He was interrupted by another earthquake knocking him from his feet. Once the shaking stopped, car and building alarms were blaring in every direction. Someone rushed to his side and helped him to his feet. They were saying something to him, but Helios didn’t pay any attention to their words. He was focused on an enormous crack in the road racing toward them. The person noticed it too and quickly abandoned him to flee. Helios leapt to the sidewalk to dodge as his car precariously teetered on the edge. He scrambled away on all fours. 

 

“No, not my car!” Helios exclaimed, his words emphasized by the sound of metal grinding against the concrete. 

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Helios placed his head in his hands, unable to watch his prized possession slide into the opening. The hole widened toward him, causing him to scramble away until it suddenly stopped. In front of him, a large void stretched down into darkness. Peering over the ledge he couldn’t see the bottom.

 

A movement drew his attention to the other side of the trench. An unfortunate man desperately clung to the side of the opening. The only thing preventing him from falling to certain death was two everyday heroes holding onto his wrists. They worked together and tried to pull them up. That wasn’t what had drawn his attention.

 

“What the fuck is that?” someone said nearby, pointing into the bottomless pit.

 

“Look out, something’s climbing the sides!” another exclaimed in panic. They pushed aside the person next to them and started running down the cluttered motorway, toward a bridge that had collapsed in the distance.

 

In the direction they pointed, Helios stared in stunned silence at a nightmarish creature scaling the inside of the trench. Unable to believe what he was seeing, he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear them. It was a giant creature that looked like a centipede, but its legs looked similar in appearance to human hands. The people hauling up the lucky survivor were oblivious to the bystander’s warnings.

 

“Hey, hey, pull him up faster!” Helios shouted, jumping and waving his arms in an attempt to get their attention. One of the people barely glanced at him before returning to help pull the person up. “Hurry up and get away, there’s something in there!”

 

The pair successfully dragged the man over the ledge to safety. They celebrated with hugs and cheers, oblivious to the people shouting warnings on the other side of the trench. Hands reached out of the trench, gripping both ankles of the man who had just been pulled free. The demon climbed out of the pit. Before the celebrants could react, it took hold of each of them and rose to its full height. The demon towered above the nearby vehicles and could be clearly seen in all directions. Previously ignorant onlookers began to panic, pointing at the nightmarish creature.

 

How can something like that exist, is this the rapture? That thing’s face eerily resembles a human. Is that what demons look like? I think those guys are done for, I can’t do anything to help them. I need to get out of here.

 

Unable to restrain himself, Helios picked a rock from the road and threw it at the demon’s head. The rock bounced harmlessly off the back of its head. Slowly turning its head, the demon shifted its attention toward the opposite side of the trench and made eye contact with Helios. It snarled, baring its fangs at him before returning its focus to the prey in front of it.

 

The men screamed in terror while attempting to struggle free. It was short-lived. The demon started rhythmically breathing, looking like a cat attempting to cough up a furball. The men became silent as they regurgitated out a stream of light that illuminated the surface of their skin. The three light streams flowed into the demon’s slavering jaws. The men feebly beat against the hands holding them captive, their skin withering at a rate visible to the naked eye. 

 

Within moments, their struggles gradually weakened until they ended entirely, their arms dangled limply toward the ground. It indifferently dropped the three corpses, shattering them into a cloud of dust and bone fragments upon impact. 

 

And then the sun went out…

 

***

 

The fragments of memories ended with the sun going out. Helios’s consciousness rapidly faded. There was no longer any pain coming from the wound in his stomach. All he could feel was the sweltering heat in the air. Gasping out his final breath, the four-armed demon arrived over his corpse moments after the life left his eyes. 

 

The demon roared in agitation as it picked up his corpse and tossed it aside in frustration. His lifeless body slammed against a huge chunk of concrete, splattering blood accompanied by the sound of breaking bones. 

 

The aggravated demon stalked across the cluttered road. Toward the alleyway where the other demon continued to siphon lifeforce from Helios’ killer. Helios experienced none of this, his glazed eyes staring blankly ahead. His soul had already departed his mutilated body.

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