The sky was blue and the cloud was white. Birds flew across skyscrapers as they migrated to the south to avoid winter. The city buzzed at the sound of electronics, motor vehicles and vendors calling out to sell their special treats. People were busy walking around, too occupied with what they wanted to achieve rather than enjoy what they already have. Overall, it looked like a normal city in a normal country, nothing peculiar or interesting happening.
Rex was one of them. 17 years old, he was soon to become an adult next year. With a height as average as possible compared to others of his age, he was considered to be one of the most successful teens in overcoming the obstacle known as highschool. He was popular, where girls would date him if there weren't that many jockys baiting them away from him.
He walked along the pavement, determined to reach the nearest McDonalds to meet up with a girl. Said girl had invited him to a date two days ago, though he knew it was nothing more than a way to distract and amuse herself. He had experienced various dates firsthand, with the first date going horribly wrong. He had thought the girl was serious and wanted a devoted relationship with him, thus him consulting every problem and weakness he has, but she ended up cheating and dumping him a few days later, with instagram stories commenting on how lame he was, or how he was a dork in more ways than one.
He had admitted the fact that he was a dork to the girl during their date, with the girl casually saying, "I don't care if you're a dork or whatever, I just want you," and he thought her being serious about the comment. Imagine how depressed and irksome he became when entering class and being called 'dork' or 'nerd'.
Just as he was trying to cross a road while still deep in thought on whether he should turn back now or just go ahead and play around with his date before dumping her, a crack appeared in the middle of the zebra crossing. It was odd, considering how it just floated above the road, and he went around checking it to see whether it was a prank or trick, but found nothing holding the crack in place. As the traffic light blinked, signifying the crossing time was almost over, he walked to the opposite side of the road and observed the crack.
Cars rushed passed the crack, ignoring it as if it wasn't even there. The crack had gone through the cars as if it wasn't solid at all. After that, the crack expanded, spiderwebbing across space before reaching the sky. The process stopped after the cracks reached the sky, as if something had prevented it from growing anymore. By now, it had the width of the entire zebra cross, and the height of even the tallest skyscrapper.
Rex looked at it in awe. The cracks did not reflect light, nor let light pass through it without reducing the light's intensity. It was somehow both transparent and opaque, creating a sense of peculiarity to any who saw it. He stood there, continuing his stare at the crack until something else happened.
A fragment, no larger than his hands, fell out of the cracks as light started pulsing through the cracks. The shard fell onto the road, creating a distortion in space and ripping a hole in the ground. No one noticed except for Rex himself. It was as if everyone else couldn't see nor feel the presence of the shard, continuing the task on hand without a care for the world if it meant profitting and living a comfortable life.
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The light pulsed more and more frequently as time passed. More shards -big or small- fell from the cracks, revealing a sheet of black that turned white the moment the light pulsed. The black sheet gave off a sense of discomfort, as if it was never meant to be seen, only hiding in the background of reality where nothing there was to be seen by anyone. The light kept pulsing as the cracks kept growing and the shards kept falling, faster and faster until it became a constant stream. Suddenly, the white light disappeared, dissolving slowly into nothingness as it revealed the creatures hiding behind it. Clad in substances blacker than black, deeper than the darkness Rex had ever known, the creatures stepped into the world, over the jagged edges of the shards that littered the ground. They made a ear piercing growl once their pack entered, threatening to deafen all who heard it, yet everyone around the street didn't seem to notice them, all except for Rex.
Fear gripped Rex's heart. He knew the instinctive thing to do was to run, but another side of him said it was futile, opting to surrender than to try and outrun the creatures. To that side of him, it was better to die comfortably than with ragged breaths. Still, he was frozen in place, unable to move or steady his breathing. There was cold sweat dripping down his forehead, but he barely noticed. Somehow, the sight of the creatures made him abhor them, as if it was wrong of them to exist at all.
Sensing the rude thought, the creatures roared in fury before extending several limbs to grab at him. The limbs were covered in the sticky black goo that covered their bodies, yet it showed no sign of having its movements hindered. Readying himself for death, Rex breathed in and closed his eyes as the hand-like limb reached for his neck to squeeze the life out of him. Yet, as he waited, his imminent death did not come. Feeling kind of awkward in his pose after the heat of the moment, he opened his eyes, only to see two humanoids standing beside him with futuristic guns in hands.
As they pulled the triggers, few things happened. The gun's hums -which he noticed not long after- grew louder and louder until it was as deafening as the creature's roars. Then, something being propelled out of the gun barrels could be heard, even though he saw nothing come out of them. The creature in front of him gave a furious roar as it fell back while its companions charged in. They grew grosteque arms that acted as legs to propel themselves forward. Rex heard the humanoid figures beside him swear before grabbing his arms and throwing him aside, where he was saved, they were squashed by the charging creatures.
After crushing them, the creatures turned to look around, attempting to search for him in the dusts they made. Wise enough to know what they were doing, he used the shadows of the dusts to cover his escape. All the while, he held his breath and tried to ignore the stinging sensation from his eyes. They were watery and moist. He kept sprinting in a crouched position until he rounded a corner and found an alley to hide in. He could still hear the creatures stomping around, wrecking buildings and sweeping the pedestrians around who were unaware of what was happening in order to search for him.
He didn't know what was so special about himself. He was just like everybody else, even though he don't feel like it now. The dumpster he was hiding behind stank of rotten food and rubbish, and he hoped that would be enough to mask whatever scent the creatures were using to track him.