The morning light filtered weakly through the curtains of Alex's bedroom as he stared awake for the second time that day.
His eyes shifted downward searching for the mark he had first noticed early in the morning.
It's still there. Disappointed. Hoping it was all a dream.
Clang. Clang.
The sharp sound of plates clashing downstairs pulled him from his spiraling thoughts. He padded down stairs in his bare feet, the steps creaking under his weight.
In the kitchen, his mother stood by the sink, hurriedly arranging dishes. She looked up at the sound of his footsteps, her eyes softening with maternal warmth.
"Good morning, honey," she said, her voice gentle but laced with unspoken worry.
"Good morning, Mom,"Alex replied.
she hesitated, the question clearly dancing on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it back. Instead, she busied herself with her bag.
"Where are you going, Mom," Alex asked leaning against the doorframe.
"To work," she answered, glancing at the clock. " How are you doing?"
The question finally slipped out, quiet and careful.
"I'm okay," Alex said, his left palm rubbing the scar on his right palm, "it…it doesn't hurt like last night."
"Are you sure?" She asked, though every instinct told her something was wrong.
"I'm fine, Mom," he snapped, the words coming out harsher than intended.
She flinched, surprised by the sudden edge in his voice.
"I'm sorry, Mom," Alex said, "You should go to work."
Those words didn't seem to comfort her. Lips pressed into a tight line, before stepping closer. Gently, she cupped his face with both hands and pressed a tender kiss to his forehead, her lips lingering just a second longer than usual.
"Call me if anything happens," She whispered.
Alex nodded.
Her footsteps echoed softly as she headed towards the front door. The lock clicked. The door shut. Then…silence.
The house was suddenly too quiet, the kind of silence that pressed against the ears and amplified every unanswered question swirling in Alex's mind.
Where did this scar come from.
He climbed the stairs back up, each step heavier than the last, and stepped into the bathroom for a shower.
Alex dried himself and threw on a black t-shirt and joggers, he made his way back downstairs to the kitchen. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten properly since yesterday. He pulled open the fridge door.
Inside, a box of pizza was there. He grabbed it without hesitation. As he reached to grab a slice from the box, his eyes flicked once more toward the faint outline of the scar beneath his shirt.
Every slice of pizza tasted like ash in his mouth. No matter how many he forced down, the memories of the attack refused to fade. The scream. The blood. The way his friends' eyes had gone lifeless right in front of him.
Alex reached for the last slice, fingers brushing the greasy cardboard, when his hands suddenly froze. A wave of nausea hit him. He dropped the slice back into the box and stood up, appetite completely gone.
He dragged himself upstairs to where he had left the blood-soaked clothes crumpled in the corner like evidence of crime he couldn't escape. Without thinking, he gathered the stiff, crimson-stained fabric and headed back downstairs towards the washing machine.
He opened the detergent drawer.
Empty.
"Of course…" Alex muttered, rubbing his temple. " Mom didn't buy any again."
He stood there for a moment, staring at the machine like it had personally betrayed him. Then a quiet decision settled in his chest. He couldn't sit here surrounded by the stench of dried blood.
Grabbing his keys and a hoodie, Alex stepped out into the evening air and made his way to the nearby supermarket.
_ _ _
Inside the brightly lit aisles, Alex stared blankly at the wall of detergent bottles, his mind thousands of miles away—replaying the moment had thorn through their group.
"Are you going to take something, or are you just admiring the labels?"
The soft, teasing voice snapped him out of his trance.
"Huh?" Alex blinked, turning toward the sound.
A girl around his age stood a few steps away, arms crossed, amusement dancing in her eyes. She had been watching him for a while, clearly entertained by his zoned-out state.
"I didn't know choosing detergent was such a life-altering decision," she said, laughing lightly.
Alex gave a weak smile, rubbing the back of his neck. " sorry. I was… thinking about something else."
"Something more important than picking out a soap?" She teased, raising her eyebrows.
He couldn't help but chuckle. It was the first genuine sound of amusement that had left his lips since the nightmare began.
"My name's Daniella," she said, offering a small wave.
"Alex," he replied, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you."
They shook hands briefly. Her grip was warm, confident.
"So, Alex," Daniella continued with a playful grin, " are you only here for soap, or do you have other world-ending grocery decisions to make today?"
Alex laughed—actually laughed—for the first time since his friends died. The sound surprised even him.
"Thanks," he said, the corner of his mouth lifting into a real smile. "I really needed that."
Daniella tilted her head, looking slightly puzzled but pleased. "Uh…you're welcome, I guess."
They stood there talking for a while longer. For those few minutes, the heavy weight on Alex's chest felt just a little lighter. Daniella had an easy energy that made the flourescent lights of the supermarket feel less cold, less suffocating.
Then everything shattered.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN! NOW!"
The shout had barely left the security guard's mouth when a deafening crash exploded through the store
Glass shattered violently as a demon smashed straight through the front windows like a battering ram. Shards rained down like deadly confetti. Screams erupted instantly—high-pitched, terrified, chaotic.
People scattered in every direction, tripping over fallen shelves and each other in blind panic.
Alex's head snapped up. The scene before him turned his blood to ice.
Blood. Bodies. A woman lying motionless near the produce section, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
The demon—hulking, obsidian-skinned, with a long tail that had a sharp end and glowing crimson eyes—roared, swiping its massive claws and sending another shopper flying into display of canned goods.
Alex froze, trapped in the nightmare all over again.
A firm hand suddenly yanked him down behind a shelf.
"What the hell are you trying to do?" Get yourself killed?!" Daniella hissed, breathing hard.
"We have to get out of here," Alex whispered, heart hammering against his ribs.
"Okay, How?" She shot back,eyes filled with fear but voice steady.
Alex scanned the choas desperately. His gaze locked a blue metallic door at the far end of the aisle—staff only, probably leading to a loading area or back exit.
"There," he pointed. "That door."
They both rose at thesame time and sprinted toward it.
But then Alex saw her.
A terrified mother clutching her young daughter, cornered against the frozen food section. The demon was stalking toward them.
Alex's feet stopped moving on their own.
Daniella made it a few more steps before she realized he wasn't beside her. She spun around. "Alex! We have to go now!"
He didn't answer. His eyes were locked on the mother and child.
"I can't…" His voice came out low, trembling with something deeper than fear. "This time… I have another chance."
without thinking, Alex's hand shot out and grabbed a long metal mop handle leaning against a nearby cleaning station. The cold steel felt right in his grip.
He charged.
The demon sensed him immediately. It whirled around with unnatural speed and backhanded him across the ribs with bone-crushing force.
Alex flew through the air like a ragdoll, crashing hard into a shelf of cleaning supplies. Pain exploded through his side. The world blurred. His vision darkened at the edges.
"No…Not again."
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to breathe.
I'd rather die than watch another person die.
something inside him snapped.
A surge of raw, golden energy flooded his veins like liquid fire. His broken knit back together with an audible crack. Power—divine, ancient, and furious—ignited within his core, brighter and stronger than ever before.
Daniella still crouched behind the shelf, felt the shift in the air. Her eyes widened in shock.
A faint, radiant aura began to glow around Alex's body. The temperature around him rose. The mop handle in his hands started humming with latent energy.
He slowly pushed himself up, his eyes lenses glowed orange like burning fire.
The demon paused, tilting its grotesque head. The demons fury grew.
Alex's voice came out low, steady, and filled with quiet resolve:
"This time…things are going to be different."
Alex gripped the metal mop stick until his knuckles turned white. A wild surge of adrenaline flooded his veins.
He exploded forward like a bullet, charging straight at the demon with everything he had.
The monstrous creature swung its thick, scaled tail like a whip. The moment the tail collided with the metal stick, Alex felt the shocking hardness of it—like striking solid steel. The demon had reinforced its tail muscles in an instant, turning flesh into a deadly weapon.
Their weapons clashed violently—stick against tail—again and again. Sparks flew with every impact. Alex was fast, frighteningly fast, but the demon matched his speed blow for blow. Left, right, overhead, side. The supermarket echoed with the sharp metallic ring of their duel.
Another heavy clash sent both of them skidding backward, breathing hard.
Alex's chest burned. His arms screaming in protest. But he couldn't stop. Stopping meant dying. This was his only chance to survive.
They charged at each other once again.
This time, the demon vanished in a blur.
Alex's eyes widened. Behind—!
A searing pain ripped across his back as the demon's tail slashed him from behind. The force threw him forward, and he crashed onto the cold floor with a pained groan.
Blood trickled down his spine.
But Alex refused to stay down. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up, eyes blazing with defiance. His strikes grew heavier, his movements sharper. The demon noticed it too. Its grin faltered for a split second.
Alex swung the mop stick with renewed fury. The demon dodged at the last moment, but Alex was already moving. He spun and delivered a brutal kick straight into the creature's chest.
*BOOM!*
The demon flew backward like a ragdall, smashing through shelves and scattering products across the aisle in a choatic explosion of debris.
Daniella, hidden around the corner, slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief. "How is he this strong?"
The demon rose from the wreckage, eyes burning with pure rage. A low, guttural growl escaped its throat.
It bolted toward Alex like lightning, tail lashing out. Alex barely managed to block it with the mop stick, the impact numbing his arms. It used the momentum to leap over Alex.
A second tail—thicker, sharper—stabbed viciously from behind.
"Gah—!"
The tail pierced straight through Alex's shoulder blade. White-hot agony exploded through his body. He gasped, fighting desperately for air as blood filled his mouth.
Daniella nearly screamed. The sound surged up her throat, sharp and uncontrollable, but she bit down hard, swallowing it whole. Her entire body trembled as she watched in horror.
The demon yanked its tail free with a sickening wet sound and stepped closer, towering over the wounded Alex. Its eyes suddenly locked onto the strange scar running across Alex's palm.
The demon froze.
Then it threw its head back and let out a deafening, earth-shaking roar that rattled the walls.
It raised its tail for the killing blow—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A storm of plasma bullets ripped through the air.
The elite squad burst into the aisle, weapons blazing. In the middle of the choas, Alex saw her.
Assistant commander Lucy.
Even from a distance he could feel it— the overwhelming, divine energy radiating off her like a sun. Pure power.
The demon spun to attack her, but Lucy was already gone.
She reappeared behind the creature in a flash, silver sword drawn. With one fluid, graceful motion, she swung.
Schwing!
The demon's head flew off its shoulders.
Everything went silent.
Alex's vision blurred. The world tilted.
He blacked out before his body hit the floor.