The men drove silently through the night. Their truck was black and hard to see unless you were shining your light on it. Everyone inside wore long, black coats, their faces covered by red demon masks with creepily large smiles. "Johnny, you up?" One of them was shaking their friend, waking them from slumber. "Sorry. Didn't get much sleep last night. Some dick was playing his drums all night, acting like he was the only person in the world." The man next to Johnny clicked his tongue in disgust. "Hang in there, John. They'll be dealt with soon." Johnny nodded his head, and the two went quiet, waiting for their destination to come into sight. After a few minutes, the truck stopped, and they all hopped out, facing the building that would soon be a pile of ash. A warehouse stocked completely with leaves. Atop the building sat men holding snipers, casually chatting with each other about the suns.

The men dispersed, making their way over to the fence, surrounded by trees and bushes.

Five minutes. The message appeared on their displays, putting them all on edge. Time couldn't have passed slower, and none of them could deny the violent things they wanted to do to those men atop the roof, their only wall between them and their goal. Eventually, though, the men did leave, and the mission proceeded as planned. Three men made their way over to the trucks sitting in front of the building, setting up their tranq guns. Once ready, they took aim and fired at the two guards, who dropped to the ground in seconds. The group then moved forward, took the keys off one of the downed men, and unlocked the warehouse. Once everyone got out their weapons, they broke through the door, surprising the guards inside. The men in masks took the first shots, killing three of the men in seconds. The guards set the tables up as their shields, shooting the intruders with tranqs. Their attempts were unsuccessful, as the men had been sure to wear protective clothing. The masked men slowly advanced on the guards, when some split off to break the cases the leaves were trapped in. Leaves began littering the floor, and despite the guards attempts to stop these intruders, they ended up dead or paralyzed, forced to watch as the men gathered up every single leaf into a single, giant pile. "Stop. Please, don't do this." The guard pleaded with one of them, but was spit upon in response. Once every leaf had been collected, the men gathered in a circle, taking out their lighters and laughing with joy. They let the lighters drop, and watched as the first beacon of the end formed before then.

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…

"Well, thanks for walking with me, David." Vinnie smiled at the boy. "No problem. I wouldn't have felt right letting you walk alone." He responded. "That's sweet, but you shouldn't worry that much about me. I'm perfectly capable of walking myself home." He agreed with her reasoning, and told her good night. He watched her enter the small house she called home, leaving him alone in the pitch black night. He pointed his flashlight forward, and stopped. Something was wrong. He was sure of it. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but he couldn't ignore the pit forming in his stomach. He walked forward, hoping the feeling would disappear as he walked. Surely enough, he was starting to feel at ease, listening to the sounds of the Hellion bugs that sang beautiful songs at night when they wanted to.

The unease returned at the sight of fire, dancing higher and higher into the night sky. He was transfixed by the sight. The beauty was frightening, and he wasn't sure how that was possible. In the fire, the shadow of a figure formed. Then another, and another. They all burst out of the flames, like the ashes of hellfire. They were demons. Demons unlike any he'd seen before. The sight made his pants wet. Terrified, he started to run, but one more figure appeared that almost ripped his sanity into shreds. A figure that stood taller than the largest of skyscrapers. It was thin, and two large wings were pointing out at it's sides. He couldn't believe what he was looking at was a demon. A better word would be a god, come to drag humanity into the deepest pits to suffer the most awful of tortures. He ran. His surroundings became a blur, and he wasn't sure where exactly he was running. People had started leaving their homes, starting at the pillar from hell in horror. He stumbled and fell. He looked down at the ground and saw a dead body, it's insides strewn about the road like a torn apart dog toy. Nearby was a demonic wolf, scarfing down a pile of meat that had once been a living creature. The sight didn't break him. David had somehow managed to hide inside his mind, leaving only his survival instincts. The wolf had growled at him, but he was already on his feet, pushing through the crowds of people. He had to run, to get away from the hundreds of beasts starting to infiltrate the streets.

As the biggest massacre the people of Alter had ever faced was just getting started, the clock struck 12.