How Close Are We To Midnight Novels & Stories

, but Ethan already had a keycard ready. He slid it through. The green light blinked once. The door clicked open. The smell of dust and ozone hit immediately. Rows of computers blinked faintly in the dark, their standby lights glowing like tiny red eyes. The hum of the servers filled the silence. Caleb closed the door behind them and turned the lock. “We have forty minutes until midnight,” he said. Ethan nodded, already moving toward the central terminal. “Keep watch by the door. If anyone comes, stall them.”

One look at my face and he’d just nodded, jaw tight. Now we moved side by side, steps quiet on cracked concrete. The old pier stretched out ahead—rusted cranes, broken pilings, a single floodlight swinging from a pole, throwing long shadows across the water. O’Malley’s black SUV sat at the very end of the dock, engine idling, headlights off. Luca stopped us behind a stack of shipping containers. He checked his watch. “Two minutes to midnight.” I nodded. He turned to me—eyes searching mine in the dim light.

I steadied myself against the bed. I pulled the dark hoodie tight around my chest. Aiden checked the heavy silver watch he had on, his expression hardening. "It is currently 10:30," he said, his golden eyes drilling into mine. "Once the clock strikes 11:00 PM tonight, your five hours start counting down." He walked toward the exit, pausing at the entrance as Alex followed behind him. Aiden turned his head slightly, his voice a low, terrifying whisper that sent a violent shiver straight down my spine.

The office had gone quiet hours ago. Fluorescent lights dimmed to energy-saving mode, leaving only the soft glow of desk lamps and the city skyline twinkling through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Ava glanced at the clock on her monitor—9:47 PM. Everyone else had trickled out by 7, muttering goodbyes and "don't stay too late" like they actually meant it. But the quarterly report was due at midnight, and Mr. Kane had made it clear: no extensions.

At the end of the process, the woman told me the total amount I had to pay: “105 Pounds and 60 pence, please.” I decided to pay with a credit card. As we waited for the machine to complete its transaction, the woman told me: “I can assume you just came to the area.” “That’s true,” I said. “In that case, I have to inform you that we are open until midnight, except on Sundays.”

"You're going?" "Alpha ordered it. So..." he shrugged. "Can I come?" I tugged at his sleeve. "There's not much I can do here until midnight comes." Midnight is when the Azure full moon reaches its peak, and that's when all the magic goes down. Still a few hours before it happens. "No, no," Zeke said softly. "You have to stay here. Enjoy the festivities. Watching over things might be a bit boring, but at least there'll be loads of entertainment, and you can keep on dancing. I'll come back later anyway."

she said, "if you don't insist on the premise." I thought about that. Outside, the distant city was getting louder. The approach of midnight doing what it did — pulling a room's attention toward a specific moment with the combined gravity of everyone who had decided the moment was significant. "My birthday is eight weeks away," I said. She looked at me.

Maybe I would have remained in there if they hadn’t told me about closing. I stared at the time on my watch, realizing it was already past midnight. It was fucking two-thirty-eight a.m. And I was outside, two hours away from the estate. The space outside felt like it was closing in on me. A few people hung around in different corners, and the moon was extremely bright. Too bright for my eyes. Or maybe it was something else threatening to blind my eyes. I felt a vibration coming from my purse and knew it had to be a notification from Darren. He wouldn’t stop calling since you left the house. And I didn’t bother to pick up either.

I rolled over on my stomach and looked at the clock; it was only four in the afternoon. “Why are you freaking out? The ceremony isn’t until midnight.” I propped my head upon my hand. Technically the eclipse on the moon wasn’t until four in the morning, but Orion wasn’t going to make people stay up that late. Would it be beautiful? Yes, but not worth it.

"You've made some very dangerous enemies." "I'm aware." "I wouldn't want to be you right now." "Good thing you're not then." Manuel was sweating. Looking around. "Someone's testing you. Your power. Your ability to protect your pack." "Well that just met thier worse nightmare." The sky was darkening. Orange fading to purple. To black. "Time," I said to Mitch. "Seven forty-three PM. Alpha Nero. Four hours seventeen minutes until midnight." Not enough time to find more. Not enough time to track further.