3 Thousand Years Good Night

chapter 31: the warning has begun

Axel turned his pillow as he gently laid back down. He peeked at his alarm clock besides his bed.

4:07 am.

Ironically, just hours ago, he was anticipating an exhilirating adventure with his best friend but now, he discovered far rarer things than any gold or diamond. Axel placed his hand at his forehead as he recalls the events that unfolded in a single day. Was he lucky that he was able to discover so much mysteries within 24 hours? Or was he damned for being involved with things he has no control over?

He had spent two hours trying to fall asleep... but who could slumber in the face of danger? He wasn't a fool, he knows that something is out there, something terrifying and obscure, something like Vienna.

Where is Arlene now? He wonders. What sorts of magic is she learning? Will she be the same when she comes back? Did she liked my kiss? What about Theon? I hope he's okay too... Also, he better take care of my clothes..., These were the thoughts that were floating within his cerebral cortex.

Finally, he decided not to sleep, how on earth could he manage to? He sat up on his bed and yawned loudly. He stood up. Grabbed his Samsung Galaxy Core 2 (his phone). He started dialling Arlene's number then he placed the mobile on his left ear.

The number you are dialling is busy or unattended, was what he heard from his phone. Axel sighed sadly.

He decided to watch some Tv, and so, he grabbed the remote and dialed the news channel. It was the usual old man, talking about the weather, some calamities and mysterious disappearances from a city that was near his own town. The caption was "the silent City's mysterious unexplained deaths: the devil's work?"

He listened carefully as the reporter announced that sheriff marshall went missing just awhile ago after he patrolled a remote area of the city. The picture of Marshall flashed at Axel's TV screen. Axel recognized him immediately, he was the officer who inspected his house, and now, he's gone, never to be found?! Axel furrowed his brows in concentration as the reporter elaborated about the other dissapearances such as a blonde young girl of 8, a girl of five, a chubby young boy aged 10 and the list kept going.

Vienna. Axel thought. It's her.

Surprisingly, the television went static and the reporter's voice was contorted.
Suddenly, the screen went pitch black, as if it was turned off. Axel tried to switch on the light to make sure it wasn't just a black out; the lights worked perfectly. He tried the remote again, hardly pressing the red power button. The T.V was not responding. He decided to lay low for now and so he tried to fall back to sleep. When he was properly adjusted, he saw the flash emanating from his screen. He sat back up and stared at the reporter's face, he did not move, it was as if the broadcast was paused. This was unnerving for Axel, he stared at the man's unmoving face for minutes. He was too shocked and scared to decide what to do.

Eventually, he decided to reach for the remote to shut down that cursed television but a part of his mind tells him to run for his life right now.

When he pressed the power button, the reporter in the television began to smile at him. Axel went very pale, was this his imagination?

He tried to press the power button again, nothing happened. The man's face however started to widened his smile and eventually, as if Axel pressed the 'play' button, the reporter began to talk. It was as if nothing happened, he talked in his usually serious countenance.

Axel just sat there, on his bed, staring at the reporter, feeling incredibly horrified.

The reporter was talking about a huge universal event called "a planetary allignment", he claimed that a perfect allignment of all of the planets was very rare, it could have taken millenia for another one to occur.

The reporter continued. "The sun shall turn dark, the moon shall be shaded red and the coming of the Lord shall be celebrated--- or dreaded."

Axel frowned at the revelation, the Lord coming down?

"Everyone," said the reporter, "everyone," he repeated. "Shall make the adequate preparation for the said allignment on wednesday's next."

Axel remembered that Vienna gave them a deadline to retrieve Theon to her next sunday, three days before the celestial event.

The thing that unnerved Axel even more was when the television darkened again to the point that the reporter's face was hardly recognizeable. To make matters more terrifying, a young girl's voice was heard singing a lullaby as the T.V went static and the lights flickered shut.

One, two... she has come for him...

Three, four.... nothing's what they seem...

Five, six.. she will burn us all...

Seven, eight... need not see her face...

Axel grabbed his phone again as swiftly as he could.

Nine, ten... she shall be your end. The young girl's voice was very high and somewhat dark. Suddenly, the television went black again, and the lullaby stopped.

The room was embraced with silence and darkness. Axel tried to call Arlene again and even Mel, to no avail. He tried texting them, unsure if they would even recieved it.

His hands were shaking as he tried to text his friend. Afterwards, he grabbed a crucifix and laid down. Of course, he would have ran out, but he was too torned up in fright to even stand up. And so, he stayed in his room, enduring the horrors of the night.