Victoria sat at her desk with her eyes glued to the computer monitor, hands hard at work typing away on the keyboard. She finished college with a bachelor's degree in software engineering that took four years to earn. She managed to land a gig working at a major corporation in the tech department, responsible for running their multitude of servers and ensuring that no issues would crop up. Her main objective however was to talk to her boss once the lunch break would come. She would constantly be checking her digital watch, waiting for noon. Once the clock struck noon she put the computer to sleep and headed for the break room. A few co-workers were standing around laughing holding cups of coffee. She approached them cautiously.

"Hey Jeremy. Amy. Ben." Victoria greeted them.

"What's up girl?" Amy replied.

"Yo." Jeremy said. Ben just casually waved.

"Any idea where the boss is at? I need to speak to him."

They glanced at each other for a moment then back at her. Amy pointed to her left.

"Peter's in his office I'm pretty sure. Back from our little New Year's break and you already need to talk to him about something?" She snickered. "At least you weren't too hungover to come in like that moron on the third floor office."

"Yes. It's...personal shit so don't ask about it."

"Oh I see, Gotcha' homie. Whatever it is, hope it gets resolved." Jeremy added.

Victoria left for her bosses office. She peered through the blinders covering the windows. He was sitting at his desk reading a magazine. She knocked on the door faintly. Footsteps could then be heard approaching. The door opened. The man with long black hair, black-rimmed glasses and wearing a dark red suit was standing there, meeting her eyes. She noticed his face was freshly-shaven as he had a goatee before.

"Ah. Victoria. Come on in." Peter spoke in a soft, welcoming tone.

"Hey sir. I hate to ask you this just after our short break from work but...it's important." Victoria said as she sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He sat down, closing the magazine then facing her.

"Oh? You're not leaving us are you?" He asked worryingly.

"No not at all. It's a...request for some time off. To go see my grandparents in Maine."

"Ah of course. Had me worried there for a second. Are your grandparents okay?"

Victoria was thinking. She couldn't just spill the details about visiting them due to her sickening curiosity regarding her family's past that she had recently discovered. But she didn't want to lie either and say that one of her grandparents was sick since they both were in good health. She decided to just go with the simple answer.

"Y-yeah they're fine. I should have vacation time saved up, right? Well, I've been here for a little over two years now. I'm going to need a couple weeks off to go visit them."

"Hmm, I see. You do have at least a week's worth of paid vacation time saved up. So you'd be taking one week paid and one week unpaid."

"That's fine then."

"Understood. So when were you thinking?"

"Is next week too soon?"

"Um well...normally, time off should be requested no less then two weeks off ahead of time. But, your performance recently has been quite stellar, as well as your attendance. And we did get Adam back last month after recovering from his surgery. I think we'll be fine. Very well then." Ben pulled a joint and lighter out of the desk drawer, lit the joint then took a puff. "Just this one time I'll allow it this soon. But no slacking the rest of this week got it? I had to encourage the others as well on the same thing. Still recovering from the wild New Years parties and celebrations it seems."

"Seriously?? Thank you so much sir." Victoria smiled.

"Eh it's no biggie. 'Sides, things will be relatively slow around here for a bit due to the new year having just started so it's not like we're drowning in work here. So long as the servers are running smooth and the suits are happy, we're pretty much golden."

"Awesome. That was all I needed to ask. I'm going to go grab some lunch now."

"Alright then. Enjoy your break."

Hours later, Victoria's shift ended. She drove back to the apartment complex. She whipped out her phone to contact Adrian while she sat inside her car with the heat on full blast keeping her warm from the harsh winds outside.

"What's up babe?" Adrian responded through the phone.

"Next week. We're heading for Maine. Did you manage to get the time off too?" Victoria asked.

"Oh for sure. My boss fuckin' loves me so he was cool with it. Told him you had family shit going on so I guess he sympathized and approved the request. I mean, wasn't exactly lying but my tone probably made it sound real serious."

"Ah whatever. It's going to be two weeks so you better pack up well. I'm going to prepare ahead of time so I can get it out of the way."

"Yeah yeah. I'll do it tomorrow morning. You should try and do some research on your lineage. Maybe see if you can find anything about those folks in that book of yours."

"I'm going to try."

"Cool. I gotta' get back to work so talk to you later."

Victoria hung up then headed inside and up to her apartment. She grabbed her laptop and sat on the couch with her feet up to get comfortable. She went to the official worldwide ancestry website and typed in the names: Mary Wintercroft and Edward Wintercroft. To her surprise, she found results. However she noticed something was off about the displayed information about the life they lived together. She read carefully.

'Even after becoming married in 1869, Mary and Edward continued to travel across the country visiting different locations known for strange, unusual or abnormal phenomena. From asylums to abandoned civil war forts. However their exploration days came to a halt in 1875 when Mary was found to be pregnant and eventually gave birth to a baby girl, Laura. Edward worked to support the family and the two lived a normal life as parents for many years until their daughter had finished school and moved out to go live in the city at age eighteen. Mary and Edward would then return to their traveling expeditions once again for another decade until they reached their late sixties. By that time they returned to their home in Cutler, Maine and retired from traveling. There they lived out the rest of their days until their passing on the same day, June 6, 1916. Mary was 72 and Edward was 76.'

Victoria noticed that there was no information given about the story they had written found in the book she bought. Both of their profiles did not mention the two ever writing anything. Aside from their rather bizarre hobby, the life Edward and Mary lived seemed to be relatively normal. Perhaps it was due to there being no documents or records of their visits to these strange locations in detail. This was throwing Victoria off.

"It's like...that story they wrote was never meant to be documented. It took finding an old tome of even older stories from a random bookshop to even uncover that story. And on top of that...the old lady there said that a woman dropped it off out of nowhere one day...something isn't adding up." Victoria monologues to herself. "Too many questions and no answers. I doubt the author of that collection of books is even still alive...unless?"

Victoria grabbed the book. She skimmed the bare cover once more: 'Beyond Our World; Collections of Stories from Those Who Have Connected to the Unknown Realms. By Anthony P. Bacchus. She did a quick online search for the name. The book was published in 1989 so she held out hope that the author may still be alive. Turns out her hunch was correct. The man had a website. She visited it then searched for contact info. His number was displayed along with his email and address. She pulled her phone out and dialed the number. Waiting. Hoping for an answer. Someone picked up.

"Hello?" A gruff, old male voice spoke.

"H-hello? Is this Anthony Bacchus?" Victoria asked.

"Who's this?"

"I...I picked up an old book of yours. Beyond Our World ring a bell?"

"Huh...? Heh...been awhile since I heard that. Was a limited release so I'm surprised copies still exist that aren't collecting dust in an attic."

"Well, one of the stories...the authors share my family name. How well is your memory if you don't mind me asking?"

"Aw hell, not so great these days I'm afraid. What uh...what story is it?"

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"A Pact with the Divine One."

Silence befell the two for a brief moment.

"Oh...that one... Can't remember how I came across that one. I think uh...someone lent me an old journal that had that story written in it. It...was very unsettling to read...to put in the book...had chills the entire time. I gave the journal back...didn't want it any longer then I had to."

"I-I see. Sorry for, probing you like this sir."

"It's alright young lady. Not much else I can tell ya' about it."

"One more question...do you remember at all who gave you the journal?"

"I uh...I think it was a lady. Advertised how I was looking for stories for the book. She uh...answered that call. Don't remember the name sadly. Sorry."

"Oh. Well, thank you anyway sir. Appreciate the info."

"Sure thing. If you're looking for something related to those who wrote that story...good luck."

"Thanks. Hope you have a nice day."

"I'm an old man. Every day is a nice day when you're waiting for the sweet embrace of death to finally sweep you away. Anyways, you take care young lady."

Victoria hung up. While she had some new information, she wasn't any closer to discovering the mystery behind the story. She sighed deeply. Nothing left to do but just wait and wait. She decided to turn her brain off for a bit and watch some television in the meantime.

  Sleep-deprived and mentally exhausted, Joseph Carter stepped out of the black sedan to face his gated mansion. He rubbed his eyes as the car drove off. He approached the gate and input a code on the number pad. The gate opened up for him. He walked down the long driveway to the front porch of the house and opened the door. He glanced around the large interior. The flat screen television was on. Sitting on the couch were a girl and boy watching cartoons. He passed by them quietly, not wanting to bother them. In the kitchen standing over the oven watching the small television mounted to the countertop was a woman with long black hair wearing a brown sweater and black leggings.

"I'm...home." Joseph mumbled. The woman turned around, greeting him with a smile. Her ocean blue eyes lit up. Despite seeing her beautiful face, his shoulders felt heavy.

"Hey there!" The woman said cheerily approaching to wrap him in a hug. She then looked him in the eyes. Her expression shifted from happy to concerned seeing the bags under his eyes. "You look so exhausted dear. How...did your business meeting go?"

"Margaret I...I need to tell you something. But the kids can't know...yet."

"Your tone...it worries me. What, what is it?"

"Let's go up to the bedroom first, okay?"

As Joseph and Margaret headed for the stairs, the two kids on the couch noticed them. The girl with long blonde hair jumped off and ran up to Joseph to hug him. The boy with short black hair got up and approached him.

"Daddy! Welcome back!" The girl shouted. The boy just waved a hand.

"Hey sweetheart. Hey there sport. Good to see you two. Sorry I wasn't here to celebrate the ball drop with you all."

"Eh it's fine. You look like crap dad. Not get enough sleep?" The boy said.

"Not really. But I'm okay. You two can go back and watch your show. I...have to go talk to your mom alone."

"Aw okay. But will you come join us when you're done?" The girl asked.

"Of course dear."

The kids went to go sit back on the couch. Joseph led Margaret upstairs to the bedroom and shut the door. He motioned for her to sit on the bed. She did so and he joined her. He then gently grabbed her hands and held them. She seemed very concerned at this point. His heart was pounding. His mind was racing all over the place finding the right way to explain what he needed to say.

"What is it dear? Your hands are so cold..." Margaret murmured.

"Lucy and Austin can't know about what I have to tell you. Not yet anyway. Um...shit w-where do I begin...?" Joseph stuttered. "...Margaret. There is something I need to tell you and...I know it will sound crazy. I hope to God above it won't happen but...I fear it may be really happening."

"Huh?"

"Last night we had a meeting. Me and the cabal. We had a special guest visit us for the first time. Their name was...Natalia. Natalia Emerson."

"Th-the president herself??"

"Yes. While this isn't entirely a new thing, this visit was different. Natalia spoke of an experience she had on the night of her inauguration. She received some...divine ethereal message from the beyond that opened her mind up to something...ominous that is coming this year. The beginning of this new decade apparently has...marked the beginning of the end. According to her, on June sixth of this year...fate has revealed that the world is going to end. While, there have been many claims of this in the past, this was different. Every word she spoke, the look in her eyes, the tone of voice all of it...she meant it all with pure honesty. She said she was the vessel for this voice that revealed this to her...that the world has become so corrupted and polluted to the point where humanity is on the brink of destruction. And that we've failed. We've ruined the planet and we are going to be punished because of it. Ignoring the punishments of rising sea levels, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding...I'm talking the end of humanity as we know it..."

Margaret's eyes were wide open. Her heart pounding like a war drum inside her chest. The atmosphere was heavier then ever.

"You mean we...we're all going to die this year?"

"If miss Natalia is correct...then yes. We don't know how we'll die but it's happening, according to her."

"Joseph I...this can't actually be happening, right??"

"I want to keep my doubts I really do...but since that night I've been scared and in my dreams...all I saw was chaos and destruction on a global scale. Whether this ends up happening or not...we can't tell the kids yet. The date has been marked by Natalia herself. And only time will tell if what she said becomes reality or not..."

"No no no this can't actually be happening. Why now??"

"The end of the world has been prophesied numerous times in the past and never happened. I don't want to believe it will this time but...I fear it will. And that's why I had to spill it out to you like this. But Margaret...please try and remain optimistic. I'm going to do the same. We don't fully know one-hundred-percent if this cataclysm will come. You and me have to keep our hopes up. For the kids and for ourselves."

"Joseph...I understand. We should pray every morning and night that we will be fine. I want to believe that everything will be okay...will everything be okay?"

"Me too honey...I hope so."

The two embraced each other for a few minutes, fighting back tears and anxiety from swelling inside their minds. From this day onward, Joseph and Margaret would have to harbor this unwavering fear and hide it from their children. While they would have to continue on with their everyday lives, they will be living with the looming thought of Natalia's revelation to Joseph. It will not be easy on their mental health.

  Sitting comfortably in the Oval Office, Natalia had her hands clenched together on the desk. Her mindset had changed after the meeting with Joseph and the cabal the other night. Before she could continue to ponder what her next actions would be, the door to the office was thrown open. A stout, tall older bald-headed man adorned in a black suit decorated with medals entered alongside two other men in suits. Natalia shook her head to concentrate on the men now standing in front of her.

"Madame President I have an urgent message from our forces overseas in Jordan. Is now a proper time?" The bald man spoke in a gruff voice. Her eyes widened.

"Huh? Oh. Go on then commander." She replied sternly.

"We have finally located the leader of the insurgent forces running the show over in the country. After searching for almost a decade, our forces uncovered a hidden base in a mountain range far from any city or town. We must've been overlooking it for all this time. But recon teams spotted some suspicious activity. So we sent our mole in to investigate. He returned with good news. Al-Shamar. This is the name of their leader he confirmed. This may finally be our chance to take down the man pulling the strings for the insurgents and their vicious war crimes against the people. This...could be our chance to end this ongoing conflict. So what should we do?"

"What are our options sir?"

"Well we have two options. We can prepare a team of our most elite soldiers to infiltrate and try to capture their leader alive. Or...alternatively we could send a strike force of jets to nail the base inside the mountains, which would result in killing Shamar. That is what we are looking at right now for options ma'am."

"Is that so? We've already lost too many soldiers in that damned war. I don't want to lose anymore. Instead of sending soldiers in there...ready a strike team of combat drones. I want the entire place wiped clean of insurgents. Then send in a team to capture their leader. His capture could be crucial if he has connections with other insurgent leaders throughout the Middle East. If this is successful and we capture him...then proceed with Operation Goliath. Evacuate civilians from every town and city occupied by insurgent forces and deploy our entire drone attack force. If we capture their leader, then it's endgame for the insurgents. Kill every last one of them and end this war."

The commander-in-chief took a deep breath, the sharp tone of her words striking him deep. He nodded and folded his arms.

"Understood ma'am. I'll get right on it. Let's go gentlemen."

Natalia watched the men leave the office. She sat back down and sighed. She should've been feeling good about this new development yet somehow still felt a sense of anxiety. Ending a nearly decades-long conflict would have a positive effect on the state of the world. But that would just solve one problem out of many. It would not change the fate of humanity down the road. With her staff taking care of other matters, she had time alone to herself. Time not burdened to the position she held. She closed her eyes and focused her mind.

"The cabal knows of the fall. In five months the world they know will witness destruction and calamity. I can only simply sit back, continue my duties as the leader of this great nation...and await the coming end. May those select few be reborn alongside me in the new realm...and may this selfish and cruel world perish and burn with this sins of their own kind..."

Natalia opened her eyes, stood up, and got ready to leave.

Before she could reach the entrance to the building, a well-dressed young woman walked over and stopped her. She stood in front of Natalia holding a tablet in her hand.

"Madame President. You're leaving already? A bit early, don't you think?" The woman asked.

"It's alright. The most urgent matter...the one regarding the conflict in Jordan...has been discussed and solidified with the commander-in-chief. All the paperwork for the day is done, and my staff are finishing up the rest of today's work for me. I have a lot on my mind right now so I need to go lie down for awhile and do some thinking. Now...please move out of my way young lady." Natalia said.

"O-oh, sure of course. Sorry to bother you ma'am. Have a good night then!"

Natalia shrugged off her words and left the building. She couldn't help but feel pity for those around her, unaware of the coming end. But she didn't let this bother her in the slightest. It seems ever since that night of her inauguration, her own view on humanity has been slowly distorting. It was probably nothing. She was still human, just like everyone else. A human, harboring knowledge that would cause mass panic and chaos were it to get out to the public. Regardless she had her duties to attend to tomorrow. Right now it was time to head home, contemplate her thoughts, and get some well-deserved sleep. The dark days ahead of her were numbered...