"Kyle, are you on your way? We're all already waiting for you…" I hear my mother through the headset as I pick up my phone.
"Yes, just two blocks away. Tell Dad to pop the beer," I reply, accelerating my motorcycle.
"Will do. See you soon," she says and hangs up before I can say anything else.
Mom will never change… She's like a force of nature, a hurricane of a housewife who refuses to take no for an answer.
For instance, when I told her just a few hours ago that I'd gotten home from my deployment at 4 a.m. and couldn't make it to the family lunch, she simply said, "No, you will…"
So here I am, tired as hell, riding my bike, about to hear Dad talk about work all evening. Well, at least Mom and Mia will be there too, so maybe they can slow him down.
I wonder if Mia is still with that guy named Dave. I hope not. I don't want to see them all lovey-dovey all day…
And yes, he's a good guy and works as an architect for a big construction company. Still, how dare he steal my little sister, with her innocent 23 years? She's still a baby…
{This world… ends now.}
A strange, distorted voice pulls me out of my thoughts, and suddenly my world turns upside down as my motorcycle locks up, sending me flying.
"Fuck!" I scream as my training kicks in. I twist my body into the right position before hitting the ground and rolling to dissipate the momentum.
"Ha… ha…" I try to catch my breath, taking off my helmet as pain radiates through my entire body.
"What the hell was that?" I ask myself, finally managing to get to my feet. Looking around, I see my bike lying a few feet away. It simply stopped working.
"Hey! Are you okay?" asks a man who was standing on the sidewalk and witnessed my crash.
"Yes. I don't think anything's broken…" I tell him, watching as more cars suddenly stop in the middle of the road. This isn't good…
"Thank God, because that looked like a nasty fall, but—" he starts to say, but a loud rumble in the distance interrupts him, followed by a massive earthquake that visibly shakes the ground.
"Ah! Help!" The next moment, the world descends into chaos as buildings begin to crack and collapse, burying people beneath them and creating a dust cloud that makes it impossible to see.
"Aug! Aug!" As soon as the shaking stops, I suddenly hear some squeaking, followed by the sounds of fighting.
"Help! Augh—" The guy who had been standing next to me moments ago screams out in pain, and I turn to him. At first, I see a shadowy figure on the ground with something smaller on top of him, but as the dust clears, it takes me a moment to process what I'm seeing.
The man lies lifeless on the ground, while a small, green creature—about the size of a child, wearing a loincloth, with pointy ears—stabs a rusty knife into his body. Without thinking twice, I dash forward and kick the creature off him, sending it crashing a few feet away.
"Augh!!!" The thing stands up again and screeches loudly at me, baring its shark-like teeth, which match the yellow color of its eyes.
I kneel, feel the guy's nonexistent pulse, and grab the knife still lodged in his chest. Whatever is happening here, I need to deal with this creature first, then get to my parent's house…
Taking a battle stance, I point the knife at the creature and wait for it to attack. But then I notice something behind me and quickly roll to the side. A moment later, another creature lunges at me, fortunately slashing only the air.
Damn… more shadows are emerging from the dust. I can't handle all of them, and I also can't keep my family waiting. Taking a deep breath, I dash forward, evading the creatures that try to slash, bite, claw, or grab me.
"Ahhh! Help me!!!"
"No!!!"
"Please—"
I hear more people scream, only to be silenced moments later. But I push their cries out of my mind and run into an alley to lose the creatures following me.
Luckily, I grew up here, so I know every backyard and alley… Soon, those goblin-like things are nowhere to be seen, and I emerge from the alley right in front of my parent's house.
Phew! Thankfully, they live away from the apartment buildings, and their cozy little house with a garden seems to be fine—
"Are you kidding me?" I say out loud as I spot a ginormous black tower piercing the sky in the far distance, looming behind the house. Judging by the distance, it looks like it appeared in the middle of Manhattan.
I don't even want to imagine what's happening there…
Seeing Mia's Volvo parked outside, I'm somewhat relieved that I don't need to search for her, and dash toward the house.
"Ahh—!" But just as I reach the door, I suddenly hear my mother scream inside, followed by the sound of shattering glass.
"Mom!" I shout, not bothering to search for the keys in my pocket. Instead, I use all my strength and body weight to break through the door. Then rush into the living room only to stop dead in my tracks…
"Grrrr!" An over 7-foot-tall wolf-human hybrid with black fur stands in the middle of the room, holding the upper half of my mother in its jaws, while the rest of her body lies scattered around the room.
My vision blurs, and I drop to my knees as the creature tosses my mother aside and slowly walks toward me.
Even as the werewolf stands in front of me, all I can focus on is the half-torn banner that reads, "Welcome back! We have a surprise!"
Turning my head to face the glowing golden eyes of the werewolf, which seemed to relish the situation, I grabbed the goblin's knife and slammed it into the creature's chest with all the force I could muster.
But it only looked surprised...
"Die!" I screamed, yanking the knife out to strike again. But the werewolf simply stepped back and swatted me away with a massive backhand.
"Grgrgr…" I heard it laugh as I crashed through the wall into the kitchen. The impact knocked the wind out of me for the second time today, but I forced myself to stay calm and get up.
Before I could react, the werewolf moved so fast it was a blur, grabbing me and hurling me up into the attic through the ceiling.
For a moment, my world went dark. "Gaar!" But when I heard its scream, I rolled to the side just as the creature burst through the floor into the attic.
It prepared to charge me, so I waited until the last second and threw the knife at its head.
"Gaaaar!!!" It screamed in pain as the knife struck its left eye. While it frantically tried to pull it out, I used the opportunity to slide past its legs and back down into the kitchen.
Somehow landing safely, I noticed blood dripping onto the floor—my blood. It was seeping from under my jacket and from a wound on my head. The only thing keeping me going was the adrenaline, and I was grateful for that.
Now I just needed a bigger weapon… My dad despised anything related to guns, so there were none in the house.
I still remember his shocked face when I told him I wanted to join the army instead of going to college…
Hearing the werewolf stop screaming, I knew when it came back down, I wouldn't survive. So I bet everything on one final move... Grabbing my mother's good silverware from the drawer, then stumbling out the back door into the garden.
While the werewolf descended into the kitchen and soon followed me outside. I walked to the middle of the garden where my father used to chop wood and waited as the creature prepared to pounce.
Damn, this thing heals fast. It had already removed the knife, and I could see its eye healing at a disturbing pace. I just hoped the werewolf movies were right…
"Come on!" I yelled, taunting it to attack. The creature lunged at me with blinding speed, but this time I was ready. I shifted my body to the side as its claws sliced through the air, just missing me.
"Gaaar!!!" Without hesitation, I drove the silver knife into its ribs, and it let out a pained scream as the wound began to smoke.
But I had no time to celebrate; the werewolf grabbed my head and lifted me off the ground. "Grrr…" it growled, squeezing my skull.
"Fuck you!" I shouted, driving the knife deeper with a kick, forcing it to release me as it struggled to pull the knife out.
I seized the opportunity, grabbing the axe from the chopping block and driving it deep into the creature's head, freezing it in place.
"I told you, you would die…" I muttered. It wasn't made of silver, but I was sure the werewolf wouldn't survive without a head…
Planting my foot against its body, I yanked the axe free and swung it at its neck. With a sickening crunch, the blade embedded halfway through, and the glow in its eyes began to fade.
I pulled the axe out again, determined to finish it off for good. But suddenly…
"Raaargh!" The half-severed head came to life again and bit into my side.
"Die, you fucker!" Ignoring the pain, I swung the axe one last time, severing the head completely from its body. The next moment, the head hanging on my side lost all its strength and fell to the ground.
Stumbling back, a relieved smile crossed my face as darkness took over my vision, and I allowed myself to fall to the ground.
{Wake up and feast, my new warrior.}