The Silence Of Tomorrow

The End of the World as I know it

"Nightmares are reality, nothing our imaginations could come up with would be worse than the terrors of our world. What was worse than enduring an age old feud between the Phobias and the Undead? The best part about our situation is that we have no stand in the fighting. We are humans, slaves to the things that go bump in the night. We were prizes to win, a sign of wealth and power. It was never meant to be this way.
Humans used to live in civilized towns and cities where they would practice the Lost Arts. Our ancestors were driven by science. Alchemists could turn rock into gold. Doctors could cure sickness with plants and new techniques kept diseases contained. Magicians amazed audiences with amazing feats. They made better roads, built magnificent houses and developed the sewer system.
But these humans were also corrupt and driven by greed. Politicians bought by the highest bidders. Doctors only treating the ones who could pay, Alchemists were hired to do their master's dirty work. They were good at it, too good.
One day they thought they found a way to achieve immortality (It is often speculated that black magic played a part). The person who would drink this elixir would never age or fall ill. The rich jumped onto the idea, they had the money to conquer death, and who would pass that up? But this potion had horrible, devastating effects. The drinker lost his or her soul, their humanity . Combine this with their newfound strength and agility, their thirst for blood, and their aversion to sunlight. What the alchemists had created was a monster, or more specifically a walking undead. Now you might be thinking why so many of them offered themselves as payment for their body to survive. This is where things get complicated.
Not everyone went insane, some were able to endure the transformation and continue on with their lives. People saw this as a test to see if you deserved to walk the earth indefinitely, so they signed up thinking they had what it takes. Those who had survived had banded together to become rulers of the world they had created. We humans were powerless to stop them.
However that didn't stop some from trying. A quarter century after the coup, an alchemist brewed a potion said to rid a human of all his fears. One would think they would learn not to trust things too good to be true, but they were desperate. The new government had created a wedge between the rich and poor. The middle class swallowed into the depths of history. The only rich ones were the newly created monsters. The poor were forced to work for them, all because they couldn't afford the potion that would grant them eternal life. They just wanted things to go back to the time where people and trade flourished.
The poor were lured in on the promise of a better tomorrow. Then once again, their plan backfired. Yes these people became fearless warriors, but they also could see everyone else's fears. This power got to their heads, and they started using it to scare humans and the undead into their service, thus earning them the name Phobias. The undead, like any other animal, hated stealing, so they went to war. Humans were pawns, used to fight the enemies of their owners,
Years passed and the two new hybrids came to an understanding amongst all that bloodshed. They were both extremely powerful and nothing could be gained by fighting. The two sides also agreed on something else, that the potions on which they were created were to be destroyed. This way, no more lowly humans could join their ranks. For good measure, they hunted and murdered all alchemists and magicians, killing their secrets with them.
The land entered another era of peace, and just like their fore fathers, they had to go and fuck it up. Somehow, the phobias and the undead, which referred to themselves as vampires, decided they should hook up. This unholy match created the most feared monster in all 0f creation. This abomination, called a skinwalker, was a true nightmare.
Skinwalkers have the ability to take over the skin or appearance of the animals they eat. They were small in number but extremely lethal. They became known for taking the skin of a family member, and through them murdering the entire clan. The only feature that identified them as monsters were their eyes pits of solid black.
Trust became virtually nonexistent, brother turned against brother until the land was thrown back into chaos. The pandemonium was short lived; however, because the Vampires and Phobias combined their forces to eradicate this new species, and are widely viewed as being successful.
The decades have passed and many believe to have seen these black eyed creatures all across the land. Could it be possible that Skinwalkers still inhabit the earth?"
I slowly closed the book and looked around at my audience. Some were my age, but ranged to children just old enough to walk. On these nights they would gather around and I would read from(and occasionally add to) old history books, maybe even teach them some. Maybe one day it could help us move up in the world. I was just about to dismiss them when shouts echoed from the front of the building. They found us.