July 14, 1960
Alex remembered his mother even though he had never really met her only because she was his earliest memory. A memory that just lingered and he remembered it vividly till now. His earliest memory is from when he was born. How he saw his mother's blue eyes for the first—and the last time.
And after that, it was as if he had died—then woke up three years later, rising up from the dead.
The way one of his eyes were blue, after his mother, and the other one deep brown after his father was funny. When he was a kid, he thought all the children had it that way—having each eye different, because their parents had two unalike eye colors. As he mentioned himself, he has lived with his father. It was pretty hard for him to explain that it's actually a condition, which would upset him.
His father was from the beginning a decent man. He would take the mother's position and give him the love and care he needed. But then, as everything good once comes to an end, their relationship slowly tore apart. The summer of 1966, Alex was six back then and would join primary school after summer holidays. Though, that summer changed his father so much he almost didn't recognize him anymore. His father would stop caring almost at all, and each night would bring home a woman he'd date for less than a week. Repeat.
Years went by, the relationship with his father was already torn apart, with no possibility of mending.
Some weeks after he turned fifteen, his aunt—Agnes Jacobs, came to visit. Alex didn't even know he had an aunt, the only relatives he had met were from father's side. And mother's side? As if it was forgotten, his father never mentioned her—-or her relatives. His father would avoid any questions Alex asked about her, so he eventually gave up on it.
"I can take him under my roof," said Agnes. Alex overheard the conversation between Agnes and his father, who agreed without hesitation. The next thing Alex knew, he was being sent to an orphanage. But he never truly unpacked his suitcase. It was late at night, and the darkness wrapped around everything. He was led down to the basement, where a horrifying sight greeted him.
The creatures were monstrous, but what Agnes was—was far worse. Alex learned this bitter truth during that fateful journey. The sight of children being experimented on spoke volumes.
In that grim laboratory, he joined three other kids. Together, they were sent into The Eclipsed Abyss as Team 0. Life there was harsh, with scarce food and constant danger. But they bonded quickly, finding solace in each other.
Then came the day they discovered the 'broken' town, stuck in 1976, not in the year 1946 like everything else he came by back then. All the plants were alive. Despite the perpetual shadow and lack of sunlight, the plants somehow managed to thrive. They saved the town, creating a reservation for the lost and forsaken. Their hatred for Agnes grew stronger with each passing day.
One fateful day, they decided to return to the orphanage's entrance, armed and ready. One member of their team had connections with a worker there and hoped he could help spread the word about the reservation they'd built. They wanted to help others who had been lost to the other world.
But returning wasn't easy. Their plan was far from foolproof, yet they managed to get Alex to sell the information while the others protected him.
Then, in a sudden, brutal attack, Agnes appeared, armed and merciless. Shots rang out, and Alex watched in horror as the other members of Team 0 fell, one by one. He was the only one left to return to that world, accompanied by the person he'd entrusted with the information. He drove away quickly, unsure if their plan had succeeded. If it hadn't, the loss of his friends would have been in vain. Alex tried to hold back his tears, but they came anyway, blurring his glasses. He was the last one left.
When he returned to that town, he was overwhelmed by a crushing loneliness. It was a strange feeling, like nothing and everything all at once.
For months, he was entirely alone, left to protect the town from creatures, save the plants, and rebuild the buildings—all by himself. He did it all just to pass the time. There were moments when he thought about ending his life, but he couldn't—he had to honor his friends' memory.
Then, finally, his message spread to others connected to the other world. People started finding their way to the town, coming to help him. They crowned him their leader.
The memory of his friends lingered in his heart, aching less as time went on. At least now, he was saving people. Suddenly, he wasn't so lonely anymore.
anymore.