When Evan arrived home, he opened the door to his apartment, revealing the small, dark, and empty cubicle he called home.
Kicking off his shoes and tossing his tie across the room, Evan headed for his mattress, where he flopped face-first into the pillow.
Evan: "I need to sleep..." he mumbled into the pillow, covering himself with a random sheet that was lying on the desk beside him.
Lost in thought, Evan turned his face toward the ceiling, staring at it silently for a good few minutes in the late afternoon.
Juan's words wouldn't leave his mind.
Could such a simple mentality as that man's have had such a profound effect on his psyche?
This kind of thought disturbed Evan, who, for many years after turning 19, decided to abandon any internal desire or fantasy related to heroism.
After all, after everything that happened to him... how could he end up otherwise?
Lying in his bed, Evan let himself drift into memories, revisiting his last year of high school.
One day, Evan was sitting in the main courtyard, eating his trusty special ham and chicken sandwich. Indeed, those were simpler and calmer times compared to his current life.
Kerol: "Good morning, my Fearless Hero!" came the voice Evan had grown accustomed to hearing every day since he started school.
Evan: "Well, look who decided to come back to class!!!" said Evan mockingly, but in a way that showed he was happy to see this person.
Kerol: "Hehe! The Abyssal Servants didn't come today because their bloody ritual didn't start thanks to your bravery last week!"
As confusing as Kerol's words might seem, Evan understood exactly what they meant.
Kerol and Evan were childhood friends, and since they were little, Kerol always seemed to be in her own world. Maybe she was like that as a way to escape reality; after all, her father had been killed by a creature from another world before she was born.
Evan knew that the "Abyssal Servants" referred to the football team bullies who bothered her during classes. Kerol had a very alternative style, wearing black clothes, and her hair was half white and half black, which made some people make nasty jokes and take advantage of her psychological state.
And the reason the "bloody ritual" (the football game that was supposed to happen that day) didn't start was because the week before, just before their meeting, Evan had fought and beaten one of the players before telling the principal about what the football team members were doing to Kerol during breaks.
Evan: "I didn't do anything special... I just don't think it's fair for them to bully you, that's all... nothing more!" said Evan, looking away, a bit embarrassed.
Kerol, seeing her friend's reaction, smiled and continued:
Kerol: "You say that, but you're always protecting me when some catastrophe happens... You're like a Hero of Justice!!! Always there to protect and save those who need to be saved!!" – Kerol, while saying this, raised both arms, striking a heroic pose typical of superhero comics.
Evan, after finishing his sandwich, looked at Kerol seriously and, countering her previous declaration, said:
Evan: "You give me too much credit... I'm not as complex or as honorable as you think I am! I'm no different from others, nothing special, and I certainly don't have this just heart you always say I have... You're my friend, and that's the only reason I don't let those people treat you badly."
Kerol, listening to her self-deprecating friend, moved closer to him as Evan got lost in his thoughts. While he continued:
Evan: "To be honest... I don't know if I would have the courage to jump into danger to save someone just out of a sense of justice-." – interrupting his train of thought, Kerol, from behind Evan, lifted his head to meet her eyes. Standing on a bench, she looked directly into his eyes.
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Evan, surprised by the unexpected situation, couldn't find the strength to finish his sentence. And with that, Kerol said something that inflicted a terrible pain in his chest.
Kerol: "What if it were me? Would you face danger to save me?"
Evan suddenly woke up from his sleep, and as he returned to reality, he was startled by an emergency government alert on his phone.
Evan: "No... NOT AGAIN!!!" – Evan jumped out of bed, pulling on the first pair of jeans and the black coat he found in the closet.
He ran to the window, praying to every god of every pantheon he could think of that the alarm blaring at that moment was a drill.
But it wasn't...
Outside his window, that horrifying sight awaited.
The blood-red sky, with a cosmic rift opening over the city, was something that, no matter how many times people had seen it, still struck a terrible fear into the hearts of humanity.
Evan, like all the other residents of his building, ran to the streets, following the safety routes to the civilian bunkers.
In an instant, everyone poured out of their homes, desperately running for their lives, ready to leave everything behind.
Suddenly, a commotion ahead could be seen from a distance – "WHAT THE HELL!! DO YOU WANT US TO DIE, YOU BASTARDS!!!" – were the words of one of the refugees, pounding on what seemed to be a large steel door on the outside of a tunnel.
Evan: "What's happening? Why isn't the gate open yet?" – asked Evan amid all the confusion.
Refugee: "DAMN IT! The bunker's gate is malfunctioning, and they can't open it from inside!!!" – said the man who continued to pound on the massive armored door as if it would make any difference.
Evan: "But this is absurd!!! Where are the agents? Aren't they supposed to be helping the civilians???" – as Evan said this, his words were interrupted by terrified screams from the people at the back.
At that moment, everyone turned to see the source of those screams of fear. But when they did, they saw the last thing they wanted to see…
The creature was dark, with a large body covered in fur, bearing a maw of sharp teeth that extended halfway down its throat. The creature's breath created huge vapors due to the cold, and its glowing orange eyes froze the hearts of those present.
Suddenly, the large gate that had been stuck finally began to open, allowing people to enter.
Hundreds of people began rushing into the bunker, while the creature started charging toward the unprotected crowd, all gathered in one place.
In such a calamity, Evan managed to get inside the bunker with the others just in time. The closer the creature got, the harder it was to wait for the rest of the people to get in, until, in a moment, amidst the crowd squeezing into the bunker, a woman's voice cried out:
???: "PLEASE, DON'T CLOSE THE DOOR!!!"
Refugee: "Are you crazy, lady??? The creature is almost on us!!" – yelled one of the refugees, terrified by the situation.
???: "PLEASE, I BEG YOU! MY- MY FATHER IS STILL OUTSIDE!!!"
Hearing this, Evan looked through the door that was slowly closing and saw an elderly man with a cane who seemed to have been knocked down in the rush.
Evan: "HEY! CAN'T YOU HOLD ON UNTIL HE GETS HERE??? HE'S NOT THAT FAR AWAY!!!"
Refugee: "Are you nuts! Did you see the old man's cane???? He won't make it here in time, if we wait, we'll all end up dead!!!"
At that moment, Evan clenched his fists and teeth... knowing that, as inhumane as it was, they really had no chance of surviving if they didn't close the door in time.
"What if it were me? Would you face danger to save me?"
In the crowd, various people were pushed aside, and a commotion began to form among everyone inside the bunker.
"Where are you going, kid???”
"Are you crazy???”
"Are you trying to get yourself killed???”
Were the words from everyone there, but none of them could stop what was about to happen.
With only half a meter of the bunker door open, Evan jumped out from the crowd into the unsafe area, running like never before towards the poor man, using all his strength to get close to the gate.
Evan: "WHAT AM I DOING???” – was what Evan thought in his mind, but no matter what ran through his head, his body moved on its own.
Evan reached the man and began to carry him on his back. The creature, seeing this, started running even faster towards them.
Old Man: "B-boy! What are you doing! Please, leave me here… my life isn't worth-” – interrupting the old man's words, Evan shouted with all the strength in his lungs:
Evan: "AND WHO DECIDES THAT???” – At that moment, as sweat poured down his face, for some reason, it was the time when Evan decided to let out everything that had tormented him, from his school days to that day at work –
Evan: "I'M TIRED OF OTHER PEOPLE DECIDING THE VALUE OF A HUMAN LIFE!!! WHETHER IT'S SOME JERK BULLYING A SICK GIRL, OR A SHITTY MANAGER BULLYING EMPLOYEES AT WORK!!!”
The creature, by then, was less than two meters away from the two, and the door was about to close completely, with the old man's daughter breaking down in tears, trying to hold open a door weighing tons.
Evan: "It's time I decide what the value of the things in my life is..." – Evan said this while gripping the old man more tightly to make a throwing motion. –
Evan: "AND I DECIDE THAT YOUR LIFE IS WORTH IT!!!!”
With one last furious scream, Evan threw the old man into his daughter's arms, and just after, when he tried to follow, he slammed into the bunker door that closed just after the old man entered.
Evan, falling to the ground, had his vision blurred from the impact; the only thing clear in front of him was the silhouette of the creature and its large yellow eyes.
Evan: "... he...he...The old man was right... humanity's desire... is- ”
Evan fainted, and everything went black.
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