1 - The Genesis Of The End

 A heavy, silent tension filled the air, almost as if the world was holding its breath. Autumn Winters felt it more than anyone else. There was a tingling on her skin and a deep sense that something was about to go wrong. Why was she the only one who noticed? While everything around her seemed to fall apart quietly, everyone else acted as if nothing was wrong, or maybe they just chose not to see it. Autumn understood; it’s easier to pretend trouble isn’t there, to hope that if we don’t talk about our fears, they’ll disappear. She kept her worries to herself, watching her family and friends look away from the truth. But when reality finally forced itself on them, it caught Autumn and everyone she cared about, leaving no one untouched.

It was the last week of testing, which had been exhausting, not to mention frustrating, and there were still two days left. Autumn exited the kitchen, starving, as she climbed the creaky stairs to her room in the old two-story house. She really tried to sympathize and understand why her aunt Rose loved this ancient Victorian place, because her beloved husband adored it.

'May my uncle rest in peace. But I hate this old house. It needs renovations from top to bottom; it must be 100 years old.'

Once in her room, she turned on her computer.

She had saved up all year, working at Great Buys, the local one-stop shop, to modernize her space. Autumn even picked up a few extra shifts at her part-time job to purchase a 42-inch HD monitor. Now, she pulled up YouTube and searched for her favorite music videos.

"Wow! Seeing my favorite boy band on a screen this big is amazing!" Autumn said, sitting on her bed and taking a big bite of her sandwich. She was about to open her Coke and settle in when the screen suddenly went black and the computer shut off.

"Oh, no! Seriously? I hate this house!" She grumbled, eating her sandwich as she walked down the stairs, still complaining.

"I might as well be living in the woods! The power's out again!"

She rushed down the long hallway to the kitchen and yanked open the utility drawer. She already knew what was wrong; this had happened before. "One day, this old house is just going to blow up," she muttered. Autumn grabbed a new fuse and went outside to the ancient fuse box. "Doesn't Aunt Rose know it's 2026? Stuff like this shouldn't happen with all the technology we have now."

That evening, when she looked up at the sky. The sun was still out, but suddenly the moon and stars appeared, then it grew dark. Autumn gasped as she watched the moon turn blood red as it moved closer to the sun. Then a thin, dark line appeared, stretching across the sky like a fine gauze, spreading out until it covered the sun, moon, and stars. At first, she felt excited as she watched it all unfold right before her eyes. Then fear crept in as everything changed so quickly. It was only three o’clock in the afternoon. A solar eclipse didn’t cause this eerie darkness. Those only occasionally occur at the time of the new moon, but this wasn’t that season. This darkness lasted much longer than the few minutes of an eclipse.

Autumn rushed to get the electricity back on so she could go inside. She fumbled with the old breaker box, searching for the blown fuse. "Ouch! That thing shocked me!"

She was stung a few more times before finally installing the new fuse. Moving quickly, she closed the ancient electrical box, went inside, and locked the door behind her.

The lights in the house flickered on and off for a few minutes. There wasn’t a storm or anything going on outside.

Finally, the power stopped flickering and remained on. Autumn sighed with relief. She went to the bathroom to find some Band-Aids. She’d been shocked before, but this time her fingertips felt burned. She applied some Neosporin to them and carefully wrapped each finger.

"What just happened out there? Did anyone else see it? How am I supposed to explain what I saw?"

A few days later, Autumn sat behind Calvin’s huge family estate. They had moved to Madhfel only a few years ago. His father promised to bring hope and jobs to their small community. Whenever she visited here, it felt like problems didn’t exist. The marble columns glowed a soft, golden color. The lawn seemed endless and perfectly trimmed, a playground for the rich. Still, all she could think about was how small her world felt compared to his. And she wondered how she was going to tell him what she experienced the other day.

Calvin lounged on the terrace, scrolling through his phone and smirking at something on the screen. He looked like he’d never had a bad day. His shoes were spotless, his hair perfect, even in the soft afternoon light. Autumn felt a strange ache, wishing he would really listen to her for once and try to understand what she’d been through. She cared about him and wanted to get his attention, to make him think about more than just himself.

She cleared her throat. “Calvin, can you do something for me?”

He looked up, blue eyes amused. “If it doesn’t involve calculus or heavy lifting, sure.”

She ignored the joke. “Close your eyes.”

His eyebrow arched, but he obligingly set his phone down and leaned back, eyelids fluttering shut. “Okay, I’m listening. Is this, like, guided meditation or something?”

 “Sort of.” Autumn drew a deep breath. “I want you to imagine tomorrow morning—just another day. You wake up, brush your teeth, put on that shirt your mom says is your color—”

“Blue. Because it matches my eyes, I know.” He grinned, eyes still closed.

“—and you go outside, and get in your car, or maybe you walk this time. It’s an ordinary day. You’re listening to music, the sun’s shining. But then, something changes. You look out the window, and the sky…” Autumn’s voice dropped, serious. “It starts to get dark. Not just cloudy, but really dark, thick. The air feels heavy, like the whole world is holding its breath. You see it spreading over the city, almost alive, swallowing up the morning. It’s not an eclipse, not a storm. It’s something else.

She watched his face for a reaction. He was frowning, but kept his eyes closed.

“And then,” she continued, “there’s this sound. Not thundering, something far worse. Like the sky is breaking. People start screaming. Some run, others freeze. Buildings begin to shake, then topple. Now you’re caught in the middle of chaos. You can’t find shelter. The earth shakes beneath your feet, lightning splits the sky, and the sun and the moon both go dark. You can’t even remember the last time you saw real sunlight. The world feels like it’s ending.”

 A long silence. Calvin’s breathing was slower now, measured. Finally, he opened his eyes.

“Do you believe in the apocalypse?”