"Ring, ring."
Cain was abruptly woken up by the sound of his alarm ringing. Another day of his miserable city life had started.
With his eyes still closed and his expression displeased, he rolled over and reached out for the alarm clock, putting an end to the menace it had been causing him.
Anyone observing Cain didn't need to be psychic to see that Cain really hated his life.
Checking the time on the alarm clock, his afterwards gave away the fact that time wasn't on his side.
"Fuuck," he muttered drowsily.
Apparently, he had slept through the first three alarm rings, and as usual, he would be late to work.
Cain worked as a chauffeur in the large city, and for quite a number of reasons, he really disliked his job.
The most obvious of these reasons was his boss, Mr. Thompson.
Mr. Thompson owned the sedan that Cain drove around town, and as far as Cain could tell, that man was the most annoying human he had ever met.
From a quick glance around Cain's one-bedroom apartment, one could easily tell that he wasn't big on hygiene.
Several plates with all kinds of leftover food lay on the small table a few feet away from his bed.
The floor was also not an exception, as the rug covering was littered with all kinds of stuff—bottles, dirt, and old stains.
Cain staggered off his bed and sluggishly walked over to the bathroom, where he doused his face with the water running from the tap of the bathroom sink.
Cain took a moment to pause and observe himself in the small mirror that hung on the wall opposite him.
From his reflection, he could see his sunken red eyes, which lay deep in the sockets of his pale young face.
He had been out partying late the night before; his terrible-looking face was self-explanatory.
Cain stumbled back into his room and began to put on his uniform. He was skipping his bath again.
With the pace at which he got dressed, one would think he wasn't even late.
He did it with so little care in the world.
He had always lacked a sense of urgency. That was one of the numerous reasons he had been kicked out of military school.
A few minutes later, he was out of his apartment building and headed to his boss's house to get the car.
Mr. Thompson's house was a few blocks away from his apartment, so he headed over there on foot.
After all, it wasn't like he had enough money on him to flag down a cab. As always, he was utterly broke.
Cain soon arrived to find an angry-looking Mr. Thompson outside the house.
The grey-haired man with a white mustache stood cross-armed by the sedan Cain had come to collect, giving him the impression that he wasn't going to be let off easy.
Upon seeing Cain, the old man immediately stood straight and began to rant.
"Nice of you to show up at this time," Thompson started off, his voice filled with sarcasm.
Cain paid no attention to his words and only stopped walking when he was a couple of feet away from his boss.
However, the man wasn't done.
"You have nothing to say for yourself? Of course not. This is just who you are."
Cain still refused to speak, his expression only growing darker as he stared Mr. Thompson dead in the eye.
His composure sent a shiver of fear down the old man's spine.
Mr. Thompson could no longer keep his tone together, and soon his words became frail.
"W-why… is it that you… you never make an effort to change?" the old man stuttered.
Cain made no effort to reply.
Then suddenly, he grabbed the keys from Mr. Thompson's hands, turned around, and opened the car door with them.
All the while the old man had been causing a scene, that had been Cain's goal.
The moment he walked up to Mr. Thompson, he had noticed the key hanging from his left hand and had decided he wasn't ready to get into an argument so early in the day.
As he had planned, Cain turned on the car engine once he had gotten in and got ready to start the day's work.
Mr. Thompson staggered after him as he drove off, yelling something about getting a replacement once he got back.
Cain, however, paid no heed to the old man's words.
Mr. Thompson always tried to act tough, but deep down he was just a timid old man.
Cain marvelled at the fact that he didn't even have to utter a single word to intimidate the man.
He could only guess that his huge physique and stern expression did the job perfectly.
"Guess military school wasn't all a waste after all," he muttered as he took the turn at the end of the block.
Cain was, however, faced with another challenge: finding his first customer for the day.
That was his only chance at making ends meet, since his family had turned their backs on him.
He drove to the spot that was known for always brimming with potential customers, but because he was late, there was hardly anyone there.
Cain's expression immediately softened. If he didn't get a customer—and fast—he had no idea where his lunch would even come from.
Just when he had lost all hope, the back door of his sedan opened abruptly.
Cain turned around and immediately locked eyes with a middle-aged woman who was now seated majestically in the back seat of his sedan.
She wore a well-tailored blazer and a black skirt, which immediately gave her a corporate look.
"Drive. I'm already late," she commanded in a cold, sassy tone as she glanced at her watch.
Cain immediately disliked her, but what choice did he have? This was what most of his clients were like, and he thought he would have gotten used to that fact by now.
But something about these high-class bastards always infuriated him. They always thought they were so high and mighty.
"Can you go any faster and take that next turn?" she ordered with the same sassy tone.
Cain's blood was already boiling at this point.
Then suddenly…
Crash!!!!
Something hit the bonnet of his car.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the lady in the back of his car immediately exclaimed.
The car suddenly came to a halt.
"Why are you stopping?" the lady yelled again.
At that point, Cain no longer paid any attention to her.
All he wanted to know was what had hit his car and why the car was suddenly unable to move.
As if sensing his wish, the thing slowly crawled up to his windscreen.
Cain couldn't believe what was before his eyes.
It looked like something out of fiction books.
The winged creature that now sat atop his bonnet was nothing of this world. It had a scaly body and serpent-like eyes.
It looked like a young dragon with red fiery marks on its body.
The lady at the back finally looked up from her phone to inquire about the halt, only to lock eyes with the mythic creature on the windscreen.
Her face immediately turned pale with fear.
As if staged, the lady let out a shrill scream just as the creature roared at the occupants of the car.
When it had roared its lungs out, the creature took off into the sky as if nothing had happened, leaving both Cain and the lady in awe.
"What was that? What is going on?" the lady asked, her sassy tone now faded.
Those were the same questions running through Cain's mind too as he reached for the door handle and got out of the car.
"Wait! Where are you going? Come back!" the lady yelled after him.
He didn't budge as he carefully peeked out of the car, his door half open.
What he saw next was beyond comprehension.
The sky had turned crimson.
Above, all around him, several portals were opened, and through them came all sorts of beasts similar to the one he had seen earlier.
Some were even much more beautiful and bigger, spanning the size of an entire skyscraper.
All around him, cries could be heard.
He could see people trying to flee from the creatures that had now begun to devour anyone in their path.
Cain, however, did not flinch. He had seen enough blood in the military.
"Wow. The end of the world. Just what I needed," he muttered to himself.
The lady at the back of the car had now gotten out of the car and begun to yell at him.
"What are you doing? Get me out of here!"
As she continued to yell, one of the creatures above flew by and grabbed her by the shoulder with its clawed limbs.
In the blink of an eye, Cain stared blankly into the horizon, where his passenger hung from the legs of the winged creature.