Egress

PROLOGUE

  Selene City, a home for all, but a safe place for none. During the day, ordinariness and predictability were the norm, but at night, nothing could be stranger.

  The moon, in all its fullness, shone on the many inhabitants of the woods. Unlike the city, which was peaceful and serene, the woods were plunged into chaos. Bears, snakes, rabbits, rodents, and animals of different species ran in different directions. Their brains might have been smaller compared to that of humans, but they possessed instincts sharp as a two-edged blade.

  The animals sensed the odd sparks in the air, sparks of evil in its rawest form. At that particular moment, the evil began to manifest. A loud thud sounded, making some of the scurrying animals pause for a second. Another plunk followed, but this time, it came with a small crack floating in midair.

  It was as if the environment was made of glass, and a crack had been formed, suspended in midair. The animals did not know what to make of it, so they did as per their instincts—they panicked and ran. A louder thud resonated, and the crack grew. It resembled haphazard cobwebs which grew in length as seconds flew by.

  Finally, the crack appeared to split open. If one looked inside of the opening, one would see nothing but darkness. At first, it was small, but when a thin tentacle reached out from the opening, the opening expanded. And, all hell broke loose.

  Creatures, some with the semblance of grotesque [1], mystical creatures and most with the appearance of nothing man had seen before, pushed themselves out of the opening, one by one. They created unintelligible noises as they wandered deep into the woods.
 
  Suddenly, the atmosphere crackled with electricity, and wind blew heavily, making the trees dance and sway. As if the unnatural phenomenon served as a welcome, a certain creature calmly stepped out of the opening. It was apparent that that creature was not like the rest.

  The creature did not have a body; it was a black anthropomorphic [2] creature who seemed like a spirit wandering in the woods, looking for something. Then, a red-haired man caught the creature's attention. The man in question was walking aimlessly with an axe in hand, unaware of the chaotic environment he was in.

  A crescent grin was drawn on the spirit creature's face as it realised it had found a host. Instantly, it flew towards the clueless man and entered into the man's body.

  Shrieks escaped the redhead's lips, and he began to tremble uncontrollably and thrash about, hitting his head and body on a nearby tree. A bright flash of light came from his eyes, and he fell to the ground, lying there motionlessly. After a few seconds of deafening silence, the man sat up, and his aura, as well as his eyes, was changed into one of sinisterness. 

  The red-haired man stood up with an eerie expression and slowly walked deep into the woods. The moon generously gave its light to the man, and all animals surrounding him scurried away. Although they were not as intelligent as humans, they knew something was odd about that man.

♠️

  In the dark of night, the stars lit up the sky, and the moon cast its light on the grey sedan that drove with lightning-quick speed.

  At the driver seat was seated a man who gripped the steering wheel tight, driving carefully but quickly to his destination. At the back seat was where his wife lay, moaning and groaning as she held her swollen abdomen.

  "S-Slow down, Nate. You're driving too fast," his wife mumbled. She covered her mouth with her hand and said, "I feel queasy; I think I'm gonna vomit."

  Nate, worried for his wife and their baby, began to reduce his speed but ensured he was fast enough to reach the hospital in ten minutes. Or, so he thought.

  Drops of sweat fell down her neck as she moaned, "... coming. The baby... is coming. Hurry, Nate!"

  "We'll be in the hospital in no time, Gina. Hold on, alright?" he sighed. He was well-acquainted with his pregnant wife's orders. One moment she asked him to do one task, and the next, she asked him to do the complete opposite.

  "Nate, I think you should park somewhere," she said with her eyes shut and her hands on her belly.

  "But then, who'll deliver the baby?" he blurted as he began to slow down to park at the roadside.

  Gina opened her eyes and shot him a glare which he could see through the rear view mirror. "Who else but you?"

  Nate got the message and obediently parked at the side of an empty road which stretched for miles. If they had continued driving, he was not sure if they could make it to the hospital in merely ten minutes. Shifting his attention to his pregnant wife, he came out of the car, opened the door leading to the back seat, and saw Gina rubbing her belly in pain.

  He whispered soothing words to her as he helped her deliver the baby. Finally, after many intense minutes, a babe's cry was heard. Gina stared at the child in her husband's arms with a tired yet joyous eyes, warmed by the sight before her.

  They watched as the little figure in Gina's arms took in her first dozen breaths. Nate gently lay his daughter on Gina's lap, and she unhooked her necklace from her neck and placed the cold pendant on the abdomen of her child. Once the pendant touched the babe, she smiled faintly as though enjoying the presence of the jewellery.

  "What will you name her, dear?" Nate asked Gina with a smile.

  "Her name will be Eve. Eve North."

  Suddenly, as though the clouds absorbed the electric evil from the woods, lightning was displayed on the sky; the flash of light eerily similar to the crack that was in the woods. And, with the lightning came booming thunder and strange rain falling from the grey clouds. Green droplets of rain stained the trees, the road, the grey sedan, and everything in Selene City.

  It seemed even Mother Nature had succumbed to the sinisterness of the atmosphere.

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[1] - Grotesque: Abnormal or distorted, especially in a hideous way.

[2] - Anthropomorphic: Having the form of a human.

Hey everyone! I send a warm welcome to the readers of this story. I loved writing and planning this story. The joy of writing had never felt so amazing as I was writing this. So, I sincerely hope you will love reading this story as much as I loved writing it. Cheers to a good reading, darlings! 🥂