text: His name was Carl Hoag. Middle-aged, with salt and peppered hair with a beard he decided to let it grow out because as his wife said, “Reminded her of the day she met him. Carl was in the United States for twenty years, originally from New Zealand, but enough 90s action movies and a woman from across the world he met on a trip she made to his home country, made him realize that love is where the heart is. And his wife was his heart. Of course, life in America was different than in New Zealand, more difficult Carl thought at first, but hey, he wasn't one to complain. After a decade or so, he had his own chain of restaurants where he’d share his country's cuisine with curious Americans and youtube channels who wanted to advertise New Zealand’s most famous dish, the Pavlova. Years of study under his mother every holiday when she’d made the sweet creamy dish rewarded him to this day. On that day, Carl Hoag was ready to leave his restaurant that evening by himself, ready to go home and meet his wife Marina and his young son Shane, and they would have a quiet movie night, snuggled together on the sofa, eating Kit Kat minis and buttery popcorn while watching another marathon of his son’s favorite Marvel movies. Carl had to admit the blonde man with the hammer was quite entertaining and loved his character’s journey. He most specifically loved the sequel, about the dark elves, and grew to appreciate that in the darkest moments, good things will prevail. It was inspiring to him. The sun was already gone, leaving the once bright city, now in the cover of the luminosity of artificial lights. The traffic of downtown Chicago was bustling and crowds of people burst out across crosswalks and onto sidewalks carrying on a new schedule and the end of an old one. He was one of the old ones. To his surprise, however, Carl found Marina, waiting outside for him, whistling to him like a catcaller. He grinned as he turned around and through the lighting under the canopy of his restaurant’s outdoor area, she looked golden. Her blonde hair was long past her shoulders, and her gray eyes shimmered with gold as she walked towards him. Though she was in her forties, she still looked as young as when he met her. The two embraced and he found himself speechless for a minute. The light of his life. No light in the city, not the lights from the Navy Pier to the cameras flashing around its monuments, none could compare to Marina. They held hands as they walked to their uber, the rest of the night ahead of them filled with the familiarity of warmth. Carl took a deep breath and caught in the world around him. Office buildings lit up through their windows as stoplights shifted from green to red, concrete glistened from light rain earlier, and up above, stars twinkled just slightly. Chicago was his home. A new life was now fully in light! He, like everyone else, did not notice it coming. As he went on to their ride home, he didn’t see, from block to block, the lights suddenly going away. He didn't see the stars be blanketed by inky blackness until the world around him grew silent. Like a shudder, his vision dropped and for a moment he thought he was asleep. That was until the screaming started. He heard a crash, a boom and hard metal scrape against concrete. Glass shattered against the ground and wet sacks pounded against each other. It took him a moment for his vision to readjust and for himself to view the world around him. There were accidents happening all around him. “What’s happening?” Marina asked. Carl quickly pulled her alongside a wall as curses sounded all around him. The two of them both jumped as an explosion suddenly lit the world in hellfire light and chaos sounded. “Omigod! Omigod!” Marina exclaimed as crowds of people pushed and sprinted past each other. The couple could barely hold onto each other as people scurried off past them. Some fell only to be toppled by others, while others crawled away from the gunshots in the distance. Carl and Marina stayed to the wall, letting passersby hoard away to safety. He looked up at the sky, but there wasn't any sky anymore. Buildings looked like monoliths of abyss as shrieking sounded in the distance. “Back inside! “ He yelled over the invisible chaos around him and he led his wife back towards the restaurant, to safety, or so he thought. Marina pulled out the flashlight from her phone and their world was illuminated by the horrors around him. Dark stains and debris littered the city around him. Shadows disappeared around corners as hunks of people pushed past one another for safety. He could hear people calling, pleading for help out in the distance. He couldn't stop. He had to keep moving. He found the doors to his restaurant and shut them as fast as he burst in. Flashlights strode across the place as he entered. Benjamin, one of his waiters, entered his wife's field of light. “What’s happening? “ “Is everyone all right?” Carl asked him. The waiter nodded and the couple went deeper inside the restaurant. Carl’s ears rang but he ignored it as he sat his wife down in the back. “Where’s Shane?” he asked her. “He’s back at home, waiting for us. I need to call him!” she opened her phone but cursed. “There’s no service! I can't even send him a text!” Carl quickly kneeled and comforted his wife. He spoke in a tone only an employee would hear from him. “Listen to me. The city is fully out. Power outage I guess. We need to stay here until help arrives. We’re going to be okay. I promise.” he caressed his wife’s shoulders, trying to ease the jittery tension emanating off of her. She nodded and Carl flipped on his phone’s flashlight and left her in his office. He entered back into the center of the dining floor and explained the situation. People nodded and had hushed conversations in the darkness while Carl gathered his employees, and chefs and repeated the same. They all came to an agreement, and candles were lit and the restaurant was wrapped in a yellowish glow. Outside, fires suddenly appeared, opposing the figures and hunks of darkness fleeing for safety. Carl could hear sirens out in the distance. It was an hour or so before the hectic aura of the restaurant died down and everyone grew to a silence. Carl made it back to his office to check on his wife, then was back out on the restaurant floor as conversation stirred. “Could it have been an explosion?” someone asked “Maybe it was a storm?” “This is like in Wisconsin. Remember honey? They had a state-wide power outage.” “Statewide?” somebody replied. “What could cause that?” “A storm perhaps? Weather was just fine.” “I hope everyone’s okay.” “Did you hear those crashes?” “Where are the paramedics and firefighters?” “What a night huh?” “Definitely putting this one down in my scrapbook.” “Anybody else can't get no signal?” “Yep. Looks like we’re stuck here.” Carl stared across the floor before his spine grew cold. Out in the city, through the glass windows, he saw them. He thought his vision betrayed him, maybe a concussion he could have gotten from that explosion. He stared out into the window again and he saw them. The fires outside slowly started to wither away and with them, the lasting images of pale white figures, leaping on cars, and onto people. His customers saw the same. Some shrieked while other cursed prayed to themselves. The pale figures launched themselves onto people before the fires permanently went out, leaving the restaurant the only source of light left. “What the hell was that!” “Those were! OH, GOD.” The screaming from outside was quickly drowned out by the wave of darkness that swallowed the flames from outside. The scent of copper hung in the air, and Carl sprinted back off to the office for his wife. He burst through the door to find her still trying to contact their son, but to no avail. “What’s going on out there Carl?” “I don't know. But it's dangerous. Somethings out there, attacking people.” “What?” Marina stood up. “It's okay, we’ll be fine. But we have to stay in here, okay?” The yelling made both of them jump. They were both out of the office and onto the dining floor to see it. An inky wave of darkness, took the candles out one by one. And with it, a person screaming for their life as pale figures grabbed them and swallowed them into the dark. Others scurried out of their seats and huddled backward closer to any exits, but with them came the entities. Tall, stark white, featureless except for black holes for eyes. They came out of the shadows themselves... Carl quickly pulled his wife away back to the office as the wave of darkness came towards them. Carl slammed the door to his office shut as the last of the screaming stopped abruptly. He and his wife looked back and forth from each other. Carl searched the office for any weapon he could find, a stapler, a pencil, anything! He could see his wife in the corner, whispering prayers. Then he stopped. He opened his ears. Nothing was outside. Not a crash, not a scream, no more sirens. It was like along with the light, the world shut off with it. His wife screamed and Carl turned to see an entity in the corner of his office. It stopped, stared at the motionless. Its wormholes for eyes sucked away the light of their phones until the room was dimly lit. The specter didn't move more as it floated towards them. The two huddled next to each other as the tall figure loomed over them. For the first time in his life, Carl looked at Marina in a new way. The light of his life. He could see the last of their lights being dimmed out until they were enveloped in darkness. ----------------- Jeremy Childs screamed so loud, it rumbled the very mansion he was standing in. The Cowl of Astron, once bright and glittering with the very stars of the universe, of nebulas and galaxies, went dark. The shining chrome cowl turned to jet black as Black Pollux and her assistant Quartz burst into the room. Pollux caught Jeremy just in time before he fell to the floor. The two women stared at the boy, who was rambling on. He finally came to his senses and jolted upwards to the ceiling. He floated down and fell to his knees. Black Pollux felt herself shudder as she saw it. Tears welled down Jeremy’s cheeks. “It's almost here. It got another one.” “What did?” Quartz asked over Pollux’s shoulder. Jeremy looked up at them. “The darkness. It has another universe.”