Chapter Text
“The Song to The End of The World.”
I yawned, letting the comfy couch drift me to sleep in my exhaustion. My hands reached forward to the TV remote, but ultimately failed in their conquest. And just as I closed my eyes…
Two paws battered against my head. I opened my eyes to see my cat, Merlin . He was a dark brown tabby with white mittens and rounded eyes. I sleepily smiled at him, though my lack of sleep made it more of a goofy grin. His two eyes dilated in an annoyed but playful manner, swatting at me again. He went closer to my face, sniffing and licking my face. He meowed into my ear, clearly unhappy. Merlin was obviously hungry. I frowned, mustering up the energy to speak to him.
“Dad’s too tired right now… you can wait at least another hour. Now shhh… I’m trying to sleep, Mer.” I spoke. The tabby probably didn’t understand anyway. Yet he meowed, again. This time it sounded more annoyed. He pawed at my nose some more, enticing a sneeze out of me. I groaned. It was as if he did understand me. I yawned in response to his shenanigans. What a funny cat he is! I smiled again.
Merlin swatted again, beginning to hiss and scream now. “Okay… okay…” I got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. Along the way I looked around. The walls of my apartment were bland and empty, just as the interior was. A clock hung on the wall, the memorizing ticking almost lulling to sleep. I leaned on the wall of the kitchen, almost forgetting about the tiny creature beside me. A meow sounded me awake. I looked down at Merlin’s displeased face, sighing. “Alright…” I opened the cabinets, which were mostly empty. On the third try, I stumbled upon some cat food. I opened it, pouring it into a wooden bowl. I set it down near Merlin and watched him eat. He lapped at the food hungrily, this soft grinding sound emanating from him. He kept perfect eye contact with me while eating. While most would think of it as creepy, I thought it was cute.
I turned and walked back to the couch, flopping onto it and–
RING! RING!! RING!!!
My phone rang, basically begging for me to answer it. I moaned in frustration, getting up to answer it. Someone was calling me. I huffed. Why can’t people just let me sleep!? I looked at the caller ID. It was my mom. A smile crossed my face. She hadn’t called in a while. Instantly I picked up, not wasting a moment. “Mom?” I expected a sweet and calming voice, someone who I could hear tell how much they care about me just based on her voice. Instead, my mother's voice was panicked and scared. She breathed unevenly and heavily into the phone. "Mom?" I repeated.
"Jay, turn on the TV." She answered. Suddenly I heard gunshots in the background. My eyes widened, and the need for sleep went away in a flash. I looked at my phone.
"Mom?"
No answer.
"Mom?!"
Crashed and screaming flowed from my phone like a terrifying chorus of pain.
"MOM?!"
Finally, she answered.
"Turn on the TV, dear." She croaked. Before I could ask her anything, she hung up. It felt so… empty. Everything slowed down as I thought about what she was saying. Something was missing. Like a line was missing. "I love you." I realized. And somewhere in my chest I understood she didn't need to say that, because I already knew she did. Something was happening, something terrible. Certain yells and screams snapped me out of my slowed trance, bringing me back to reality. I paled as my phone slipped out of my hand and dropped to the floor. I could hear Merlin's surprised meows as the phone shattered and cracked.
I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.
A nationwide broadcast was on. It wasn't a normal one. The camera turned on and a room was revealed. It was dark and gloomy, as the green screen in the background hung tattered and ruined. There was a blonde 16-year-old girl in front of the camera, constantly looking around. She spoke, terrified and alone. My eyes widened at her next words.
"Please, pack your bags and leave your homes. Things, we can only explain as monsters, are gathering up people and killing and or kidnapping them. The following states are in danger… “She lifted a piece of paper with shaky hands. Merlin popped up, watching the TV with wider eyes than mine.
"New York, Maryland, Rhode Island, Delaware, Call..." She broke out in tears. "All of them… all of them are in danger! I'm so sorry to everyone who's hearing this… but we're going to die." She held her face in her hands as her entire body shook. The words echoed throughout my apartment as me and Merlin went still. I listened to the screams going on outside, paired with the new sounds of shooting outside. Merlin jumped and crawled into my lap, as my eyes were glued to the screen as my jaw dropped. This… this couldn’t be real.
But it was.
“I can’t… I can’t take it anymore!” The girl began to scream in pain as her hands ripped golden pieces of hair out. The rapid movement revealed a strange looking bite on her lower forearm. Sounds of alarmed people came from the TV, shadowy figures in the foreground talked fast and shifted around the girl. Her fingers started to elongate as dark blue pincers grew from the sides of her mouth. “Kill me! Kill me please!” She screamed as sharp spikes shot out of her sides, forming into new terrifying arms for her to use. I watched in horror as people started to shoot at her, the body riddled with rounds after rounds. The tabby on my lap froze, watching the TV with fear-filled eyes.
And they just didn’t… stop.
Merlin curled up in my lap as I pet him through the tears.
The shooting from and outside the TV mixed together and the screams…
Oh, the screams.
It was like a jumbled chorus of death.
The song of the end.
The Song to The End of The World.