The gentle moon hung up above the sky, the gray clouds slowly pouring rain beneath them. Tiny drops of water hit the rooftop floor of an apartment. Lucien was standing in the middle of it, nowhere to go. The rooftop stretched only a few meters further before dropping into an open street flooded with police officers. They were no moving into position around the buildings, their guns raised and pointed at him.
Lucien turned towards the door leading to the rooftop. Numerous footsteps are climbing the stairs.
Lucien did not move as he waited for them.
Rain began to fall. Soft at first but it became harder the longer it took. Cold droplets striked the ground, splish splashing. Lucien was now covered in rain, washing everything clean. Lucien then stepped forward until he stood at the edge of the rooftop, facing the door that was being breached.
"Don't move!"
"Freeze!"
"Get down on the edge, right now!"
"This is your last warning!"
The cacophony of shouts filled Lucien's eardrums as he stared at them silently, their guns pointed at him. His gaze moved across them, not searching for escape but observing that it was all focused on him.
A man with a bulletproof vest stepped forward, shouting, "Lucien!"
How did he know my name? Who is this guy? Lucien thought as he stared at the old man, Detective Ramirez, not knowing who he is.
"You're done!" Ramirez shouted as he aimed his pistol at Lucien, rain soaking his clothes as he slowly stepped closer. "There's nowhere else to go! Climb back down and surrender yourself!"
Lucien said nothing as he stared directly at Ramirez, mini currents of water flowing across his coat.
"You're in a dead end! There's no more running! No more hiding behind whatever you think this is!" Ramirez continued shouting as he slowly walked towards Lucien. "Drop down! Now!"
"No," Lucien said calmly.
"You think this ends anything? You think killing the murderers changes the world!?" Ramirez asked Lucien as he stared right at his eyes, the abyss sucking his sight.
"No," Lucien answered quietly like a murmur.
Raindrops continued dropping, getting heavier by the minute.
"But it removes them, and makes our society a little bit safe, and that's enough for me to do all that," Lucien said sadness hidden deep within his cold-blooded voice.
"That's not the right way to do it! That's not justice!" Ramirez snapped back at Lucien.
Lucien did not respond immediately to the shouting of Ramirez. Lucien lifted his head and stared at the dark night sky full of gray clouds, raindrops hitting his face as he slowly closed his eyes to savor the cold embrace of the rain.
"I know," Lucien paused for a moment.
"It's cleansing," Lucien said as he brought his head down, opening his eyes and looking straight at Ramirez.
The heavy rain intensified even more, hammering the rooftop ground, its noise mixing with the cacophony of siren wails below.
"Last chance, Lucien!" Ramirez shouted once again as he put his fingers on the trigger of his gun.
Lucien didn't respond, instead, he slowly leaned back his body outwards of the rooftop edge. The world around him deafened as he closed his eyes. The sirens were muted, the voices of the shouts silenced, and the raindrops quieted.
This is the end, Lucien thought to himself as he accepted it without regrets and resistance.
Lucien plummeted to the ground as the officers tried to put an air martress to catch him when suddenly, something was cracking around the surroundings. Lucien's eyes widened as he saw the air in front of him bending, subtle like when the heat is rising from asphalt road when the weather is too hot.
Then the space slowly twisted, folding inward. It warped the flickering lights around it and pulled shadows towards it.
"What the hell is that?" someone shouted below as they observed the phenomenon with their eyes glued on it.
The officers scrambled, confusion on their faces as their formations broke apart.
Even Ramirez was surprised at the sudden turn of events. Lucien was also shocked as he analyzed what was happening around him. But no matter what he thought, he could not think of any explanation why this is happening.
Suddenly, the distortion widened even more, a low, resonant hum now filled the air. The vibrations were not that loud but it was deep, vibrating through bone.
Then the rain that was falling on it slowly stood to a still, Lucien was even freezing mid air, and no sounds can be heard inside. The world literally paused around it and Lucien was at the center of it all, observing everything as reality completely unraveled itself in front of him.
A tear was slowly forming in empty space, widening into a large patch of darkness. Something vast was across the other side, something cold and endless. It was slowly pulling Lucien inside it, absolute like nothing can stop it.
Lucien's whole body tensed as he tried to fight the force dragging him inside but to no avail. The frozen world around him slowly broke apart, like a mirror slowly becoming shards of glass.
"LUCIEN!" Ramirez shouted one last time, hoping that Lucien will turn his head back. No response came from Lucien as he was swallowed by the dark abyss.
-----
Lucien opened his eyes. There was no sensation of falling. No impact of hitting the ground. Lucien closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened them, now in another world. Then his breath returned, sharp and real, jolting him awake.
Where am I? Lucien thought as he observed his surroundings
An endless suffocating gray sky loomed above him, thick unmoving clouds obscuring the light from the sun. The sensation of air here was wrong, it tasted like decay and rot. The ground beneath him was not concrete but dry dead earth, cracks interweaving. He then gazed at the distant horizon, noticing crumbling stone structure and buildings.
"Ruins," Lucien murmured as he analyzed what he saw.
No signs of life around him, only the deafening silence is his companion. The unknown was always terrifying. Being in an unfamiliar place, Lucien's hand instinctively reached inside his coat. Nothing was there. His hammer maybe fell out of his pockets when he jumped. For the first time in years, Lucien was unarmed like a helpless prey.
Suddenly, a distant cry echoed across the barren wasteland. Inhuman and animalistic. Lucien turned towards the source of the sound, his expression hardening. He can feel it. The wind now carries the scent of death. Calming himself down, Lucien stepped forward, hesitation and fear non-existent in his being.
"A new world huh? Maybe it's the Lord above giving me another chance to cleanse more scums," Lucien said to himself as he walked towards the ruins.
-----
The wind was howling, carrying the scent of rot.
Lucien continued to walk towards the ruins. Each stride of his was measured, fast but careful. The cracked ground shifted under pressure, brittle in some, hollow in others.
Unstable ground, huh, Lucien thought to himself as he leaped over the ground he put his foot on, almost falling below the unknown earth.
The collapsed ruins ahead grew denser with each step, getting nearer and nearer. The fallen stone structures formed jagged corridors and blind corners. Lucien slowed when he noticed the stillness. The source of the primal cry he heard was nowhere to be found. Too quiet. Lucien's tensed his whole body, preparing for any unforeseen thing from happening.
Lucien's gaze slowly drifted to his left. Nothing, just a collapsed wall. To his right, a narrow passage between two collapsed structures. In front of him was a gate, the bricks decorating the arch now fallen on the ground. Still feeling the intense danger around him, Lucien waited for it to attack.
Seconds passed, it instantly came from behind Lucien. A burst of movement can be felt on his back, the air tore with its speed as its closed the distance. Lucien dropped his whole body instantly.
Fast, Lucien thought as the thing passed over him with a guttural growl, missing his spine by inches.
Lucien twisted his body as he hit the ground, rolling away from the thing that attacked him. He then turned and saw it for the first time, not human but a beast. Its body was long and warped, stretched unnaturally. It has uneven limbs, one elongated and dragging while the other one was sharp and has overdeveloped claws, digging into the ground for balance. Its skin was gray and sagging in some places and split in others. It was like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle. Its head hung low with clouded eyes, jaw slightly unhinged. It breathed rot, revealing rows of sharp mismatched teeth. The monster line of sight was focusing on Lucien.
Lucien stood up slowly, unarmed but alert. The monster tilted its head to the side, listening to every movement of Lucien. It sucked air through its nose, drawing Lucien's scent, then it moved again.
The lunge was faster than before.
Lucien didn't dodge sidewards but he instead move forward. At the last possible moment, he shifted his movement and pivoted to the side. The monster's momentum from lunging carried it past him, it's claws scraping against the fallen stone wall as it tried to correct its posture but it was slow, slow enough for Lucien to drove his elbow down into what should have been where its spine is.
The impact did nothing, the creature did not even flinch as it tried to counterattack Lucien. Lucien moved immediately, creating distance between them as the elongated arm of the monster whipped towards Lucien. The strike successfully hit the side Lucien, barely but enough to throw him back, skidding across the dirt.
Pain flared, Lucien immediately groaned but pushed it down deep in him instantly.
That fucking hurts, Lucien cursed inwardly as he prepared himself for the follow up attack of the monster.