The night stretched long as the unfiltered and powerful stream of sunlight poured, uncaringly into Len Fang's apartment through the gaps in his hastily arranged barricades and unto this youth's face where he had dozed off on the couch.
Len Fang woke up with a soft grunt, his body stiff from sleeping in an uncomfortable position, as he swiftly brought his hands up to his eye level, rubbed his eyes to clear away the sleep, and let out a soft yawn.
He soon blinked about six to seven times in rapid succession, raising his hands to shield himself from the relentless assault of the sunlight that seemed determined to blind him.
"It's daytime already, huh?" Len Fang spoke out, rhetorically, to no one in particular.
His thoughts instantly shifted to his younger brother Marel who was already supposed to be close to his apartment by now—he had left immediately after their phone call last night, and to his content, he soon heard a knock at the door which he instantly deduced to be his younger brother.
Knock knock.
The sound echoed through the apartment, clear and purposeful.
Len Fang walked over to his apartment door with quick steps, and peered his eyes through the keyhole cautiously—one could never be too careful—and his eyes caught the outline of a young, at least twenty-year-old youth, at least judging from his attire and body stature visible through the distorted view.
Len Fang didn't hesitate and clicked the door open, pulling it wide as a young youth with young and barely average features was revealed to him, standing in the hallway with a slightly confused but trusting expression.
"Brother Len!" Instantly, upon seeing Len Fang's face, the youth called out with unrestrained joy, his voice bright and happy.
Len Fang, seeing him standing there alive and well and so beautifully unaware of what was coming, instantly pulled him into a warm embrace, his hands clenched tightly on Marel's back, his body pressed strongly against his younger brother's.
Marel is caught off guard by this sudden display of affection, after all who would normally expect this kind of strong reaction from a sibling, especially from Len Fang who usually maintained more emotional distance.
But it seemed this Len Fang truly didn't care about normal behavior or appearances right now, as he strongly held the embrace with Marel for several long moments, pouring sixteen years of grief and loss and relief into the gesture.
The action caused Marel to slowly loosen up from his initial surprise as he began to accept the comfort, returning the embrace somewhat awkwardly but genuinely.
. . .
It had been up to ten minutes since Marel had arrived unto his brother Len Fang's home, and throughout this time, his brother Len had acted very differently from how he normally knew him to behave.
Not only was the entire house sealed shut and barricaded with various furniture and stuff—chairs stacked against windows, the couch pushed against one wall, supplies piled in corners—his brother had also been constantly checking at the watch on his wrist with nervous frequency, as well as staring at the cup of tea which was laid out at his front, apparently untouched and cooling.
Marel's mind right now bore countless questions he could not help but want to ask Len Fang, his confusion and concern growing with each passing minute.
But it seemed Len Fang was not ready to explain yet, at least that was what he thought based on his brother's tense silence.
"Marel, you have to promise me that whatever I tell you right now, no matter how absurd it may be... You will accept it." Len Fang finally broke the weirdness that had been present just a microsecond ago, his voice serious and heavy.
Marel, hearing this ominous opening, instantly began to wonder whether something was going wrong in Len Fang's life, or whether something huge was about to take place that required this kind of dramatic setup.
Due to this growing concern, he instantly adjusted his position on the little furniture left available by Len Fang, seemingly wanting to switch to a position of comfort for what might be a long conversation.
Now comfortable, or as comfortable as he could be given the circumstances, Marel nodded with understanding, giving Len Fang his full attention, to which Len Fang nodded back in acknowledgment.
Then Len Fang began to spill the beans, his voice steady despite the insanity of what he was about to say.
"By twelve noon today, just a few hours from now, the entire sky will begin to change to a red color—blood red, like the heavens themselves are bleeding," Len Fang started, his eyes fixed intently on Marel's face. "And then monsters will begin to pour out from rift gates that will form in places around the city and the world. Dimensional tears in reality itself."
He paused to let that sink in before continuing.
"Weak level monsters will come forth first—creatures like kobolds, goblins, and other things from nightmares and fantasy. And these monsters will do horrible damage and killings due to their nature and way of life. They are not animals, Marel. They are intelligent enough to enjoy what they do."
Len Fang's hands clenched into fists as he spoke.
"Not only that, but by the next day, events will happen—the apocalypse will escalate in stages. Things will change rapidly, and the world as we know it will be completely unrecognizable within a week."
He leaned forward, his intensity almost frightening.
"The world will change, Marel. Everything will change. And only those that can adapt and change with it, only those that struggle and fight and refuse to give up, can survive what's coming. The weak will die. The unprepared will die. Those who cannot accept the new reality will die."
Len Fang's voice was grim, final.
He didn't tell Marel about his death in the original timeline—that knowledge would serve no purpose except to terrify him, and Len Fang needed him focused, not paralyzed with fear.
Silence!
There was a strange silence that came to the apartment as Len Fang finally stopped speaking, his voice trailing off into the void as Marel stared at his brother, his face seemingly devoid of every form of conceivable emotion as he processed what he'd just heard.
Then, with a widening of his lips and opening of his mouth, he threw out an unfiltered and uncontrolled laughter, his face filled with amusement at what he clearly thought was an elaborate prank.
The sound of his laughter filled the small apartment, genuine and disbelieving.
Then he spoke between bouts of laughter.
"Seriously, Brother Len? Are you serious?" A pause and more uncontrolled laughter bubbled up. "Do you really think such a small and half-put-together story is really going to be able to scare me? What do you take me for? A child?"
His eyes sparkled with mirth, clearly enjoying what he thought was his brother's attempt at a horror story.
Seeing the reaction of his brother Marel, exactly as he had expected, Len Fang let out a small smile—not of amusement, but of understanding—and raised his hands upward, palms facing the ceiling.
Marel, seeing this gesture, slowed down his laughter, though it could still be seen shaking his shoulders, and decided to see and witness what more theatrics Len Fang is going to come up with to try to sell this ridiculous story.
But to his shock, what he saw could not help but cause his mind to sink with sudden, terrible realization.
"W-What?!" His hair stood on end, every follicle rising in primal fear, as the air around Len Fang's raised hands began to shimmer with a golden light that had no natural source.
And from it, in the next second, a small knife—the same design as the ones from his kitchen but appearing from absolute nothingness—materialized from thin air, falling gracefully unto the palms of Len Fang as if summoned by his will alone.
The impossible sight drove all laughter from Marel's throat.
Len Fang let out a wider grin as he spoke out, amusingly, though his eyes remained deadly serious.
"So now do you believe me?"
The knife glinted in his hand, undeniable proof that the world had already changed in ways Marel couldn't begin to understand.