When I finally reached my apartment, I kicked off my shoes, dropped my bag beside the bed, and called my stepmom. She lived several cities away—far enough that distance always felt heavier during moments like this.
The phone rang three times. Just as I was about to hang up—
Click.
"Rory, are you okay?"
She asked before I could say a single word. There was hesitation in her voice, the kind that assumed the worst. And honestly, I couldn't blame her. There was still no footage of the monster or the fight in Violet City. Fear was justified.
"I'm fine, Mom… barely… but still," I said.
I tried to sound strong. I didn't want her worrying herself sick over me. But the image of dripping blood refused to leave my mind.
Silence followed. It stretched between us, heavy and uncomfortable. I wanted to hang up, step into the bathroom, and scrub the day off my skin—but instead, I forced myself to speak.
"Don't worry. I didn't go to school today. I'm okay. Just a bit busy at home. I'll call you later."
She didn't ask the obvious question—busy with what?
Maybe she already knew I'd seen something I shouldn't have. Maybe she was waiting for me to tell her when I was ready. I was grateful for that.
After we hung up, I grabbed a towel and went straight to the bathroom. I turned the shower on cold. As the water hit my head and ran down to my toes, a fragile sense of safety settled over me.
It could've been worse, I thought.
I thanked whatever deity had spared me, turned off the faucet, dried myself, and pulled on a clean T-shirt and jeans. With nothing else to do, I considered calling my mom back—but shrugged the thought away and opened Reddit instead, navigating to Violet City's subreddit.
Of course, the monster attack was the top thread.
I scrolled through comment after comment. No one had really seen anything—just flashes of light, people being cut down in front of them, destruction happening too fast to process.
Nobody saw the monster's face.Nobody saw Humanity's Savior.
The entire world knew something terrible had happened, yet the only proof was rubble and ruined buildings scattered across Violet City.
It was terrifying to realize that for seven years—seven years of being the most intelligent species on this planet—we still had no idea what we were up against. No one had seen a monster up close and survived.
No one except me.
I had seen that hideous face. I had watched it decapitate my parents right in front of me. It would've done the same to me if not for that noble woman.
And there was nothing I could do about it.
I had thought about it countless times—finding Humanity's Savior, asking her why she fought for us. Was there some greater enemy behind all this? Something we could defeat and finally sleep peacefully again?
Did the monsters want to enslave us?Were they aliens?Did they want us dead—or something worse?
A comment caught my eye.
User ferg4354 wrote:"Do we really have to keep watching our world fall apart? Why doesn't the military do something about these pieces of sh—?"
The answer was obvious. These attacks were too infrequent, too unpredictable, and too massive to prepare for. There was no planning for chaos like this.
I placed my phone beside my bed and muttered, "Everything will be alright."
Then I fell asleep.
I rarely dream, and today was no different. When I woke up, it was already 3 p.m. I'd slept for five straight hours, yet the exhaustion still clung to me. I washed my face, ate a burrito, and checked my phone again.
A text from my friend Sid waited for me.
You wanna hang out today?
No concern. No questions. But to be fair, I hadn't told him anything either. We were even.
After a few messages, we decided to meet at the bar later that evening and get completely shit-faced.
Maybe that's what I needed—to forget. I didn't want to think about monsters or saviors or death.
I did a few chores, and time slipped by quickly. The bar was about two kilometers from my apartment. Since I didn't own a car yet, I chose to walk instead of grabbing a cab. Thankfully, the route I took hadn't been affected by the attack.
I passed a partially destroyed three-story building, but nothing too unusual.
When I finally reached the bar, I stopped dead in my tracks.
The building was gone.
In its place was a massive crater.
I texted Sid about how stupid we were for not checking Google beforehand.
"So… anywhere open today?" he replied.
"I doubt it," I texted back.
"Guess plans are cancelled."
I slid my phone back into my pocket.
On top of everything else, my phone had started acting up. The cracked screen barely responded unless I pressed hard.
"What a shitty day," I muttered as I turned and started walking home.