Otherworldly screams echoed in the distance. Helios anxiously glanced over his shoulder in the direction it came from. He was sweating profusely from the overbearing heat as he urgently navigated through fallen debris. The sky was completely black without any sign of stars or anything familiar, such as clouds or birds. Helios paused his escape to investigate his surroundings. In front of him, the silhouette of a person ran from cover into the poorly lit street and unlocked a parked car before climbing inside. Over the sound of the car ignition being started, he could hear a building straining ahead as debris fell to the sidewalk. Twisted figures crawled over its surface just out of the range of the light. The structure’s supports began to groan in protest. Something was destroying it from the inside.

Under the flickering illumination of the street lamps, the person inside the car finally reacted to the building beside them. Helios watched in horror as the wall started to slowly tilt forward. He caught a glimpse of the panic on the occupant’s face as they attempted to plant foot. The engine roared to life as they quickly accelerated. Their escape was short-lived, a pair of nightmarish creatures dropped from the crumbling building onto the roof of the car, smashing in the front windscreen then dragging out the struggling occupant. It was the first time Helios had been able to see the invaders clearly. Their appearance caused his heart to pound loudly as he froze, afraid that any movement would draw their attention.

The creatures shared a basic form but possessed otherwise entirely different anatomy. They stood atop the hood of the idling car, stretching to their full height while fighting over their victim. The creatures were humanoid but unnaturally tall and slender, twice the height of the unfortunate person flailing in the clawed grip of the one creature. Their faces were eerily human but different enough to give a feeling of unease.

Falling debris rained down on the group, ignored by the creatures as it ineffectively bounced off their pale skin to severely dent the car underneath them. The second creature used an elongated tail to wrap around the wrist of the first as he attempted to wrestle the victim away. The one holding the victim unfolded an extra set of arms, using them to slap away prying hands and holding the second creature at bay. The victor was never decided because moments later the falling building collapsed on top of them, completely burying them under rubble.

Are they dead? Was a building falling on top of them enough to kill those hellish creatures?

Helios’s question was soon answered. A piece of rubble large enough to crush a car was flung crashing to the side accompanied by a grunt of annoyance. It was the first creature with two pairs of arms digging itself free. Its pale skin showed faint signs of bruising from the impact but was otherwise uninjured. The creature reached into the rubble to retrieve something. Helios involuntarily gasped in shock when the creature pulled out the severed head of its peer. Stepping backward, he tripped over the curb, falling to the ground.

Oh no, did anything hear me?

His heart was racing in panic as he scrambled back to his feet. The demonic creature ignored him, it was too busy focused on the head in its claws. It raised the gristly trophy to its mouth, it then started to rhythmically inhale. The head in its grasp responded to the strange breathing, a string of light was coaxed from it to flow into the living creature’s lips. It greedily devoured the light, causing the head to visibly shrivel in its grasp. The plaid skin pulled tight against the skin and shrunk in size until it withered into a dried husk. After the feasting demon finished its meal, it mercilessly crushed the skull in its fist.

The demon roared in satisfaction, reaching its arms to the sky in victory. Sinew and muscle moved unnervingly beneath its skin down its spine. A tail similar in appearance to the dead creature rapidly grew, swishing chaotically behind it. Helios hurriedly turned to flee, running into an unexpected obstacle. He grunted while stumbling backwards. He panicked before recognising the shadow standing behind him as human. They stood at least a head taller than him.

“Sorry, mate. No hard feelings, but those big fucker’s have noticed our scent. I need you to keep them distracted while I get out of here,” the shadow spoke, their voice was deep and raspy. Dried out from excess heat and lack of water.

“What?...” Helios replied in confusion.

The rest of his question was cut short by gut-wrenching pain. He looked down to see a knife embedded in his stomach. The man braced a hand against his shoulder and wrenched the knife free, ruthlessly shoving him to the ground. The man didn’t hesitate, he fled down a nearby alley, anxiously glancing around as he made his exit.

Helios reached down to tentatively touch the wound. Dark-coloured blood rushed between his fingertips. A wave of agony caused him to become disorientated, forcing him to his knees. His vision started to narrow. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the nearby demon sniffing the air, turning to face his direction. It let out a snarl before desperately rushing toward him. It was still far away when his world turned black.

***

Broken fragments of memory from the day earlier flashed through Helios’s mind. He awoke in his bed and went through his normal morning routine of showering then brushing his teeth. He always skipped breakfast so that he could sleep in a little longer before leaving for work. His day was progressing as usual, until he was driving to work.

He was sitting patiently in his car blaring music on the radio in rush-hour traffic. His 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 to rush to the occupant’s aid. He was interrupted by another earthquake knocking him from his feet.

Once it 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 focussed on an enormous crack in the road racing toward them. The person noticed it too and quickly abandoned him to flee out of the way.

Helios leapt to the sidewalk to escape. His car precariously balanced on the edge as he scrambled away on all fours. He heard the sound of metal grinding against the concrete as it slid into the opening. The hole widened further toward him before it suddenly stopped. In front of him was a large void stretching down into darkness. He couldn’t see the bottom.

Movement drew his attention to the other side of the trench. A person was clinging to the side of the opening with a pair of people holding their wrists trying to pull them up. That wasn’t what had caught his eye, something was scaling the inside of the trench. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear them. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was a giant creature that looked like a centipede, but its legs looked similar in appearance to human hands. The people were oblivious to its approach.

“Look out! What the fuck is that?” Helios shouted. One of the people glanced toward him briefly before returning their attention to helping the person up. “Hurry up and get away, there’s something in there!”

The people successfully dragged the person over the ledge to safety. As they celebrated, three hands reached out of the trench to grip their ankles. The demon climbed out of the pit and rose to its full height. It towered above the nearby vehicles and could be clearly seen by other people nearby. People began to panic, pointing at the nightmarish creature that eerily resembled a human with the three men dangling from its grip. 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 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. Their struggles ended and their arms dangled limply toward the ground. The demon turned its attention toward the onlookers on the opposite side of the trench. Making eye contact with Helios, it indifferently dropped the three corpses. They shattered into a cloud of dust and bone fragments upon impact.

And then the sun went out.