Chapter 4: Preparation
Gray's stomach turned upside down after hearing that phrase. Because of the request she made, he had ventured outside, losing his sister and his friends.
He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. A lump quickly grew in his throat, turning the words impossible to speak.
Please tell me that it was just a fucking dream.
Please tell me that it's just a bad coincidence.
Will I ever wake up from this nightmare?
But since I've already went through this before, does this mean I have the knowledge of what to do? I-I need to fix everything. I have to.
If I don't go outside, my sister will be alright. At most, that strange creature is going to attack both of us. I remember his knife not being too large, so, if I were able to get a weapon with more range than his, we should be alright.
I'll try to find a weapon for my sister too. We can break and sharpen some brooms too. Yes, that could work.
In the dream my house was safe from the fire, so I don't think I'll have to worry about th—
"Gray! Are you listening to me?" Kathy yelled with annoyance.
H-huh?
"I-I'm sorry. I was thinking of other things…" replied Gray, his voice almost cracking from his great distress.
The worry on her voice was clear as she inquired for more information, "Wait,"
"You seem awfully pale, is everything alright?" Kathy looked at him for some seconds before frowning. "Does this have to do something with the screaming fit you've had before waking up? You know very well that, even when i joke about something, if it's important, then deep down I'll worry about you."
Gray couldn't let his sister get worried for him even more, so once again, he had to think about an excuse that would let him get off the hook.
"I couldn't sleep at all because of that nightmare. I'm just tired. I'm just really tired."
This was an half-true story since the dream made him sleep very badly. But, once he saw the possibility of his dream being a prediction of the future, he lost every feeling of tiredness, replacing it with an insurmountable fear of what could happen in the immediate future.
Gray had to plan everything. For the first time in his life, he had to follow the advice of a character of a famous novel, with his favorite quote by him being as it follows:
A magician never preforms unprepared!
Her beautiful eyes then narrowed. "You can't fool me. You're sick, aren't you? Do you want to skip school to sleep? Usually I wouldn't let you, but this time you really look like shit."
She stopped and thought for a moment before speaking once more, "Your grades aren't good enough right now, but I prefer that you don't make them even worse by showing up to school like this. Go in your room and rest, I'll look for the thermometer."
Gray's looked at his sister before smiling weakly.
Even now, I'm still a kid in her eyes…
"Thank you, Kathy, but I'll go buy the milk first. I can't let you do everything for me, I'm too old for that."
Her lips curled upwards as she nodded her head, "I'm literally the best sister you could ever have."
"Yes, you are." Gray's heart stirred with sorrow, knowing what would happen if he were to mess up in any way.
Her smile grew once more, satisfied with his response. She then walked out of the kitchen, eager to help her brother.
Gray's face immediately dropped as he started to plan for a way to survive.
Let's revise once more.
Since my phone is working right now, I can search on the internet for informations about the trumpets and the sun rising in the west.
When I'm outside, I'll tell Casanova and the others to get away from the house they're working on.
Additionally, if I can bribe Casanova into coming to our house, we'll have way more chances of winning against the four-eyed monster.
He could probably kill him rather easily, for he is much more stronger than me and my sister. Still, I would try to help. I need to repay him from saving my life in the dream.
"—here's your thermometer…"
I need to find a weapon for the two of us. Casanova probably doesn't need one, since he was able to injure the giant mantis with his bare hands and thundering shout.
And as I was thinking earlier, our house should be safe from the fire. To be sure, I should cover most of the windows, so the fire won't get inside the house.
But there's one issue.
Would the Co2 still enter in my house by some vents or something else? I get if it was only one house burning close to us, but I saw the whole city burn down.
For the beginning, I think we can survive with a 90% chance. To be sure though, I should lock every door, so that nobody would be able to enter.
But how did that monolith enter in my house? It was too tall to be brought inside it, did it teleport in some way?
It doesn't seem too unrealistic, after everything I've seen.
"Gray!" Kathy yelled.
At that moment, before the eyes of Gray Montoya, a thermometer roared throughout the air at unimaginable speeds, leaving after-images behind it.
Bam!
"AW!"
"Did you really have to do that?" Gray replied as he massaged his aching forehead.
Kathy hissed before yelling back, "You're the one who didn't listen to me!"
He looked at her, sighed in defeat and bent down to pick the thermometer. He then went inside his room and locked the door.
Once he was there, he threw the thermometer on his bed before grabbing his phone and unplugging it from the charger.
The biggest issue is after the third trumpet.
We have to find some shelter or we are going to die. The mushroom-like explosion was so powerful that it made buildings crumble like paper.
If it were a nuclear bomb, then we are as good as dead. Even if we survived the blast, the fallout would kill us. Luckily, I don't think that it is.
Why would those creatures use something as crude as that?
They already were able to affect the whole city with the effects of the first trumpet and The Choir.
No, they definitely affected the whole world. In the Book of Revelation, it affected the whole world.
Nonetheless, the explosion resembled a mushroom, so it's better to take that into consideration.
Hm, do all explosions look like that or is it something special for nuclear bombs?
Gray sat at the edge of his bed, still massaging his wound.
Time for the important questions now.
What is that Choir, and why did it have trumpets like the Bible?
He turned his phone on and started searching the internet for more info about the Holy Book. Taking some time, he finally found the important verses for his survival and started to read them.
"When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven for about half an hour."
"And then I saw the 7 Angels who stand before God, to them were given 7 trumpets."
I have to skip some things. I have to prepare for what will come.
"And the First blew the trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown to the Earth, burning up a third of the trees on the planet, and all green grass."
So that's why my house was safe… I'm glad we don't have to worry about that.
"And the Second Angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze was cast into the sea. A third part of the sea turned into blood,
So that's what happened…
"and the third part of the creatures which were in sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed."
Oh so it is dangerous, but only if you are in the sea or inside a body of water… We aren't planning on doing that any sooner, so we should be alright.
"The Third Angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water—the name of the star is Wormwood."
That's interesting… The notes say that Wormwood could be an Angel too…
"A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter."
In my dream it was a great explosion… Could this happen in real life too? For now, this is the greatest issue. If the water becomes bitter then it's going to become very detrimental for our situation.
It's only a third, though, so there's still hope. Once I'm done meeting Casanova, i'll fill bottles with tap water.
"The Fourth Angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night."
That doesn't seem to harm anyone…
"As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
"Shit!" he cursed out loud.
"Then the fifth Angel sounded. And I saw a star fall from Heaven to Earth: and the key of the abyss was given to Him. And He opened the bottomless pit; And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the Earth: And it was commanded that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. But they shall not kill men, only torment them. In these days they shall seek Death, but Death shall flee from them."
As long as we don't die, we can manage it.
"And the Sixth Angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth Angel, "Loose the Four Angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates." And the Four Angels were loosed, which they were prepared to slay the third part of men."
Gray's heart dropped, for this was a tremendously big issue for his hope of survival. Even if he was able to survive the other trumpets by preparing himself, he had to be lucky to survive this one.
We already have to survive the third trumpet and now this? The only way to survive this is by pure chance. We are only two people, so, if we are lucky we can survive.
But if Casanova comes with us, the chances say that one of us is destined to die. As long as my sister is fine, everything will be alright. I don't mind if I were to die, I trust Casanova. I know that he'll save her.
"And the Seventh Angel sounded; and there were great voices in Heaven, saying "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord; and He shall reign forever and ever."
A wry smile slowly etched upon the corner of his lips.
I feared the last one would be the worse of them all. I'm glad I was wrong.
Now, I have to go out. I'm going to ask for Casanova's help. I have to tell him everything.
Gray went inside every room, closing the windows and locking every door leading to outside.
When Kathy saw him, she chuckled a little, calling him overly paranoid. Gray stayed silent, for he knew something that she could never begin to fathom.
Reaching the door, he informed his sister of his departure, his voice deadpan, "I'm going out."
Kathy yelled, "Don't take too long, you have to rest!"
As the door closed, Gray thought to himself,
I won't let that happen again.
The cold wind ruffled his jet-black hair once more, making them move wildly in the air.
Since Gray couldn't waste any seconds, he started running.
The memories of his dream flashed into his head. He could see the beings soaring throughout the air, he could smell the awful odor of death and could hear The Choir mocking the world with their horrid song.
Strangely, he felt surrounded by an heart shattering feeling of loneliness.
It felt awfully nostalgic.
…
Tap! Tap! Tap!
While running, he noticed the presence of people and cars in the street, who were missing from his dream.
Gray then finally saw his friends. They were still working, and he noticed their equipment being louder than usual.
"Casanova!" the boy yelled at the top of his lungs, uncaring if the pedestrians thought of him like a madman.
The shame was temporary, his death was going to be eternal!
Casanova signaled to his subordinates to turn off their equipment, and when they did, he replied while still being on the villa's roof.
"What's wrong?"
Gray then asked with a polite tone, "Can you come down? We have to talk in private."
Casanova told his subordinates to keep working without him, and after a minute, he went down on the sidewalk.
"Please follow me, it's important," Gray added.
Casanova nodded and went with him. The two men walked for some minutes, following an old road lacking the presence of any pedestrians.
The surrounding buildings had been abandoned years ago. The mayor of the city had suggested to demolish them to build a new park. However, nothing had happened since his announcement.
Gray, started talking without turning around, his tone evoking a deep sense of seriousness.
"This may sound weird and borderline absurd, and I'm aware of it. But this world is about to end. Zakaria noticed it and told you, right? He said that the sun rose from the west. Not all the signs appeared and yet it happened."
"In some minutes, a loud trumpet is going to sound from the sky, and a bizarre and disturbing choir is going to follow it. After the trumpet, the city's trees are going to burn, bringing terrifying creatures. They will kill many people, more than you can imagine."
Gray continued while gritting his teeth, his voice strained.
"Your subordinates won't survive, not even my sister, not even you. I was only lucky because you decided to protect me with your strange powers, even though you were about to die from your injuries."
"Yet, you were still able to kill creature while being half-dead. As you said: "That beast was truly lucky you hadn't fought it ten years earlier."
Gray turned around and was about to plead for his assistance, so they too now, could survive.
In his mind, he expected Casanova to be either in disbelief, or just sheerly confused about the matters he was talking about.
But what he couldn't have imagined was his face morphing into a beastly, primal expression, seemingly ready to rip him apart.