Estimated reading time — 13 minutes

The driver talked the entire way to the shore, seemingly unable to keep his mouth closed. He blabbered on and on about how shitty the weather was, how hard his life was and, his favorite topic, how weird I am. He said that I’m way too thin, my eyes look weird, my fingers move way too smoothly and that catching a cab to a distant shore at 6 a. m. is unusual; he asked me if I was a photographer and then started warning me against taking my own life. I ignored him, silently begging anybody, anything to finally shut him up, but he only stopped when we reached our destination.

I got out with the suitcase in my hand. The weather indeed was shitty: heavy rain lashed across my face when I looked up to see the cloudy, completely grey sky with not a single ray of sunshine present. Thick fog enveloped the area, and through it I could barely make out the small cabin next to the stormy sea.

Perfect conditions! Unable to contain my excitement, I gave the driver a generous tip and sent him on his way, after which I opened my suitcase and pulled out The Book. A thick, dark brown tome opened in my hand, and through the torrent flowing down the leathery pages I read the date. Yes. Yes, yes, yes! Today!

Walking into the cabin, I was surprised to see that I was the only one there. Shrugging, I opened the mini-fridge and pulled out a can of soda, sitting on one of the many chairs in the room. Thirty-two. Previously thirty-three. One of us will not be needing a chair anymore.

Finally, they started showing up. Eric, Jane, Jacquelin, Grayson and more and more, until every chair in the room was filled and friendly chatter exploded amongst the previously silent cabin. The last to show up was Jericho, the man of the hour. Laughing, he approached me and shook my hand:”Thomas! How are you doing?”

“I’ve never been better, Jack. I’m guessing you share my sentiment?”

“Oh yes, of course! I feel like a million. The air here is so fresh! Getting out here and just breathing in is always the highlight of my month.”

We chatted for a while, put on our robes from the closet and left the building, the rest of the congregation slowly following us.

I follow Jericho’s advice, filling my chest with moist, fresh air. Brother Andrew and sister Elise pull the heavy lectern to the shore, and I place The Book on it, open on the exact needed page, the scarlet ribbon falling in between pages. The congregation slowly gathers around me, and Jericho takes off his robe. His tattooed body with several symbols from The Book carved into it is fully naked. He is ready. I am too.

I take another breath and look into the water. How long have we been waiting for this moment? Since I met Jericho and Elise in the city library, since the time The Book first called out to us from the shelves, like it knew that we would be able to fulfill its purpose, I always doubted this would actually happen. Surely somebody would find out, be horrified and expose us, surely one of us would snitch and get our cover blown clean off by some detective. That’s what happens in movies. But nothing like this happened. We got as close as anyone ever to reaching heaven.

I never believed in God. Hell, I never believed in Satan either. But The Book opened my eyes. It has shown me that neither is needed for heaven to be real. It gave me a purpose in life, same with Jericho, same with Elise, and all of the other thirty people who were given a glance at its pages. This is what unites us, this is what makes our lives worth living. It’s not a religion, no. It’s certainty. This ritual will change not just our lives, it will change the world.

Jericho stands on his knees in front of me. Lightning strikes, and in this exact moment I slash his throat with the ritual dagger. His smiling corpse falls on its back and we all raise our hands in a chant. Suddenly, the runes on his body begin to glow, and there’s a large, booming sound coming from the sea. The last thing I see is my brothers and sisters falling one by one, like dominos.I awoke to hands on my arms and legs, and screamed.

Maggie’s face above me gasped and my head hit the rocky ground beneath me. I stood up and looked around. “What happened?”, “We woke up, and everyone was out. We thought you were dead.” I looked to the skies and saw that the weather had completely changed. Now it was sunny, with the sun itself just above us in the middle of the sky. Were we out for six hours? The sea was calm, with not a single wave on it. The slowly rising pile of scarlet robes looked like a bloodstain on a perfect day.

Day 1

After everyone woke up, they were enraged. Me and Elise hid in a small hidden basement near the shack while the “congregation”, people who we trusted with our very lives, tore everything apart, burned The Book and the cabin with it. Years of work, meetings and rituals, everything we’ve done together lost all meaning to them. They thought I lied.

At first, I thought the same. Sitting in that dark, damp basement, with Elise’s prayers to God she previously denied so zealously, thinking that everything I ever believed in was a lie, I thought my life over. I even had a foolish desire to come out to my brothers and sisters and let them tear me apart, but quickly brushed it aside. Hearing them call my name… I felt I failed them. Failed them as a leader, and, far worse, as a brother.

Me and Elise left the basement after waiting for a few hours with no noise from the outside. Everyone was gone, as was Jericho’s body. Thankfully, the congregation didn’t find Elise’s car, and we were able to drive to the city. Looking over my shoulders, I went back to my apartment and locked the door. I was lucky that somehow, after years of communication, I never told anyone where I live. A precaution that I never thought would be useful after years and years of trust and friendship. I checked again if I locked the door and fell onto my bed, still clothed, immediately passing out.

I got up only to the noise of the door of my apartment being heavily knocked on. Someone was outside. I silently approached the peephole and looked through it. It was brothers Eric and Grayson. They stood in the corridor, as grim as the night before the ritual. How did they find me?

Suddenly, I heard something and got on one knee to look through the keyhole. Something was moving inside it.

Since I woke up, I had my phone turned off. I imagined they could somehow track me down through it, and knew I couldn’t risk that possibility. It wasn’t hard to track me down – my face and full name were well known by anyone in the congregation. But this quickly? I had to do something fast.

I hurriedly packed only the necessary things and some excerpts from The Book, got out through my window, hearing the ruckus caused by my brothers violently entering my apartment, and immediately caught a cab to Elise’s place. She ran out of her house crying and screaming:

“Thomas! Please!”

Someone was chasing her. I recognized Josephine, holding a knife, face contorted by hatred and anger. Under Elise’s eye was a large bleeding bruise. I quickly let her in and we were off. There was no time for stopping anywhere, so we went to the train station and bought two tickets to the town my brother Joseph lived in.

At the station I looked around in a panic. It seemed like we had somehow lost them, but I still felt eyes on my back and couldn’t sit calmly. Elise felt the same way. Before we got to the train station our cab was followed by an old black car. Then it turned right where we turned left and was gone. I think I recognized it. It was the same car that sister Jane got to the shore on.

Since I came to consciousness, it was the same damned sunny weather. I looked at my watch – 8 P. M. That’s weird. Thinking about it, it wasn’t as warm as the sun would suggest – the weather was actually quite chilly. Another thing is, since we left the shore I haven’t seen a single cloud in the sky. Let’s just hope it’s some damn good weather.

Day 2

We may have done something terrible. We stayed awake the whole night, fearing the black car, and the entire time the sun just refused to move from this one spot in the sky, just above the shore we held the ritual on. When we got on the train, the sun remained exactly in that position. And when we were off, the sun started getting farther from us at the exact pace we were going. That’s not the worst of it. When we were getting to our destination, I looked outside and saw something that made me question whether or not the ritual really worked.

It’s a rural area where my brother lives, so there’s a lot of farms and farmers. One of them was standing in the field next to his house when we drove by. Suddenly, a hand came down my window. I shot up, trying to see where it was coming from, and froze. It was coming from the sky itself. A blue, almost transparent hand grabbed the farmer by his torso with the thumb and the middle finger, and started lifting him up. I tried to get Elise’s attention, but she dozed off, and I could only watch in horror as the hand lifted the screaming and fighting man farther and farther up, until he disappeared in the blue of the sky.

When we got to the town, I immediately looked up and saw that the sun was in a different spot now, right above the town square, as if… Watching. Staring down with its beams as eyelashes. I shook my head and chased that thought away. Things are bad enough as is.

Before we could get to Joseph’s house, we saw that same car from yesterday. How?.. They followed us here! I knew you could get to this town by car, and I did that myself multiple times, but how did they track us down? Did they copy some spell from the book the same way I did? Or was something, or someone, guiding them? We rushed to Joseph’s house, but the car followed us, and me and Elise had to split up. The car obviously would’ve followed me, and I ordered Elise to get to the house and rushed to the town square. It seems I had to resort to black magic.

The car chased me to the square, then into a small dead end on the town’s edge. I looked around to be sure that no one sees what is about to happen and unlocked my briefcase. Out of the car stepped brothers Eric and Grayson and sisters Jane and Jacquelin. I held up a page from the book and yelled at them as authoritatively as I could:“What do you want from us?”

“Us? We want nothing from her.” Answered Grayson, “We just want you to face the consequences of your actions.”

They started to quickly approach me. I read the spell, and they froze for a second in disbelief. But nothing happened. Having no time to think, I turned around and, backed by adrenaline and fear, pushing through my lack of muscle and pain in my fingers, pulled myself up and over the thick brick fence that separated me from some little cottage’s backyard. I heard the steps behind me and went for the house’s back door, but it was locked, so, looking around frantically, I ran around the house and caught my breath. I was unfathomably tired. All this running around, I couldn’t fight it much longer, so I left some dirty steps on the house’s porch and fell, exhausted, into its untrimmed bushes.

Why didn’t the spell work? My mind immediately showed me the burned remains of The Book on the shore, and I shuddered. Was it really the only source of magic? Or did the ritual do something to the world as a whole?.. If the magic was gone, who directed my brothers and sisters to my location?.. I had no time for these questions, I had to hold my breath so the congregation wouldn’t find me lying on my stomach, coated in dirt.

I heard them knocking on the house’s door, and some young lady shouting from inside it. They started to threaten breaking into the house, and the owner let them in. My plan worked and, leaving my shoes where I lied just a second ago, I ran for James’s house. Thankfully, Elise had found it, and she, James and his family were already waiting for me, prepared to leave. I got into the car and shouted for James to drive. Thankfully, for once in his life, he listened to me.

He was angry that I even decided to show up. Our fraternity was never particularly strong, and I only came to him when I needed help desperately. Now was one of these moments. After briefly explaining to him that something awful must be going on, he pointed out that for a whole day now there was absolutely no connection anywhere. Nothing worked – neither internet nor telephone calls, so they had no idea if anything like that happened in other parts of the country. I said that it most likely did.I understood one thing. Whatever is happening – be it the end of the world or just a nationwide hysteria – Jason deserves better. He deserves to know, and he, his wife and his kid deserve to live. So I told him the truth.

For the first time in my life I revealed myself to someone I already knew. I told him everything – from the first time we came across The Book to the failed ritual meant to bring us to heaven. He listened to me, watching through the mirror skeptically and worriedly, and asked me if I’m alright. I shook my head in anger, telling him that he and his family have to leave, that it’s dangerous here. And, by some miracle, my pleas worked. Either because I was his brother and he trusted me, or because the situation was already extremely bizarre, I didn’t care.

We decided that we immediately drive to the airport and buy the first tickets we can to literally anywhere besides the U. S. I was so tired that I fell asleep almost immediately. Before resting though I had a strange feeling and took a look at the sun.

That’s strange.

It seemed bigger.

Day 3

We drove, and drove, and drove for hours and hours. The traffic was terrible, it seemed like everyone else had the exact same idea as us – get out, get out while we still can. Still, when we finally got the plane tickets to the farthest point possible as quickly as possible, it turned out that there were only three open seats on the closest plane to leave. So me and Elise were omitted from the first plane. After hugging Joseph for the last time and saying goodbye to his wife and kid I excused myself and, under the pretense of watching his plane leave, went out for a smoke break.

I spent four days without a cigarette, and I like to believe I really wanted to see him leave, have a chance at escape, or at least some time free from normal life before the end. I breathed the smoke in and waited.

The sun seemed even closer than before, and I damned it again. The weather was freezing, and my jacket didn’t save me from it at all. After taking a puff, I looked up to the sky and released the smoke from my lungs. The sun was even bigger than yesterday, and was, once again, in a completely nonsensical spot. It was right above the airport, even though it was 8 in the morning. I put the cigarette out and turned to walk back in.

That’s when my brother’s plane took off. I stood and watched as it lifted from the earth and flew up into the sky. But before I could walk off with a satisfied sigh, the plane… Slowed down. My jaw fell down, as I watched as the plane’s engines roared, trying to pierce through the invisible barrier that separated it from freedom. Then, it started getting swallowed. It slowly, as though being pressed into an endless pillow, crumpled the fabric that the sky was made of, and was slowly consumed by the thing I previously thought to be the sky. With horror I slowly realized what the sun being closer meant.

I slowly walked into the airport and saw that Elise had already bought the ticket. I slowly grabbed her by the hand and, not saying a word, walked out to the bus stop. She screamed at me, asking me to explain myself, but I just pointed to the next plane leaving. She looked at it in horror, as my eyes started to water. God damn it. God fucking damn it.

Joseph. Joseph, Lucy, and little Mark. They were gone.

There was no doubt. I wanted to save them, but instead only quickened their demise. I can only hope that they were together in their final moments.

Day 4

When we got to the city, it was in total panic. Nothing worked, besides cars and basic electricity, and those who wanted to get out flooded the streets, making it the biggest traffic jam I’ve ever seen. I almost got trampled over in the stampede, but it didn’t matter to me anymore. I saw how the skyscrapers were already getting swallowed by the thing I once thought to be the sky. I just wanted this to end. And I saw that it was ending.

Swarms of pigeons tried to escape, flying low to the ground and hitting fleeing people. Those of them that flew upwards fell, as though hitting their head on something, and splattered on the ground everywhere. Where there weren’t people, there were dead birds. Sometimes they hit some poor running bastard, and he fell down with the bird, losing consciousness and getting trampled over in the crowd, never to regain it back.

I saw Elise directing some people into the subway. Why is she still fighting?..“Znusgy, rutm zosk tu ykk!”

I jolted awake, as if free from some sort of trance. Suddenly, people seemed to run around me, not into me. Besides one man, who was standing in front of me, with arms open in a welcoming gesture. He smiled widely, causing the blood from the wound on his neck to gush.

Jericho, in the flesh, went up to me and hugged me tightly, getting blood all over my suit. I stood in awe, not answering his friendly gesture and not rejecting it. I thought I lost it, and that thought comforted me.

“Sgt, O xkgrre znuamnz O’j tkbkx ykk eua gmgot! Yuskzosky lgzk ngy latte cgey ul muotm ghuaz ozykrl.”

I smiled and embraced him back.

“I’m glad to see you too, man. Where was your body? We never found you back there on the shore…”

“Eua corr atjkxyzgtj ot zosk.”

He released me from his grasp and turned around, beckoning me into one of the skyscrapers. The doors were locked, but he waved his hand and opened them without a single touch. He beckoned me inside and I followed, entranced by his very existence. He went through the white corporate space and up the stairs. I don’t know how many floors we passed, the same office spaces showing up again and again, with everybody in them gone, escaped onto the streets. I’ve tried talking to Jericho, but he just smiled and beckoned me forwards, up and up the corporate ladder.

Finally, we reached the top – the point, where the roof was gone, and the “sky” shone through with the false sun’s beams. It was the cafeteria.

“Nkxk ck gxk. Eua cgtz yuskznotm zu kgz?” Said Jericho, pointing at the abandoned buffet.

“Sure.”

We grabbed a bite and I watched as Jericho swallowed his meal whole, like he hasn’t eaten in years, pieces of chewed food falling through the gash left by the ritual dagger. I was unable to swallow a single bite of mine.

“Listen, Jericho…”, I gestured toward him, “I… I am sorry.”

His face shot up and he waved at me, as if dismissing my apology, and continued to eat.

“I… I failed you. I failed you all. You died for nothing.”

“Tuznotm? Eua znotq znoy oy ngvvktotm payz hkigayk? Oz’y grr uax juotm, eua qtuc.”, He pointed to the sky. Above the skyline, I saw it. There were multiple suns.

I understood him, even though he spoke in a language unknown to me. I understood him, leaned back in my chair and laughed. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, as the walls around me crumpled to dust and my head stuffed into the open sky. The last thing I saw before the mass enveloped me fully was the sun. It blinked.

Credit: Ormond Sacker