Nathan sprinted to the bus stop, almost entirely out of breath. Sindy and Andrew stood just a few feet ahead under the comforting shade of the bus shelter—impatience drawn across their faces.
"GAH!" Nathan groaned, breathing as if he were having an asthma attack with his hands plastered to his knees. "I think I made myself feel sick again!"
"Nate, where have you been? Why haven't you been picking up your phone?" Sindy greeted, stricken with worry.
GASP! "I-I'm sorry!"
Sindy quickly bent down and cleaned Nathan's jeans with a small handkerchief from her luxury purse. "What happened to you? You have dirt all over you! Did you get into a fight?"
"Hold on!" He wheezed, holding his hand up like a dying patient on a hospital bed. "I can explain once I catch my breath!"
"Save it for later, man! The bus is here, and it's the last one for the next five hours! We only have thirty minutes to get to the movies, so hurry!" Rushed Andrew, waving his hands at the oncoming bus driver like a traffic warden.
After boarding the bus, the trio sat close together. Nathan relaxed right next to Sindy, taking in the cool air conditioning, sapping away the heat from his body like a sponge. He released a smooth sigh, a testament to his exhaustion.
Andrew sat just a row behind them, rubbing his hands together with excitement. A huge grin stretched across his face, his pearly whites practically glowing—so bright they might as well have come with a warning label: DO NOT STARE. RISK OF PERMANENT BLINDNESS.
"Sindy, what are you waiting for?" He said, giving her shoulder a playful nudge from behind.
"Ahem!" She cleared her throat cutely—her face flushed like a red habanero pepper as she pulled out a small gift. "Happy Birthday, Nate!"
Nathan gleamed with surprise as he accepted a small gift wrapped in pink hearts. "Sindy, you bought me something? You didn't have to go through the trouble!"
"A simple thanks would suffice, Nate."
"Right... Thanks, Sindy. I appreciate it. I really do."
A radiant smile dipped in red crimson lipgloss curved across Sindy's lips. Her gorgeous allure knocked at the door of Nathan's heart, stiffening his cheeks in an irresistible flush of red. He hadn't realized just how cutely she dressed. Her golden blonde hair flowed over her shoulders, tinted with red highlights like the setting evening sun. Her eyes glimmered with the buzz of ancient sapphires, and her medium-light skin tone dazzled in the art of perfection. Tiny gold earrings hung from each ear, reflecting the shimmer of the sunlight peeping through the window. And if she wasn't already irresistible enough, she wore a brilliant red blouse furnished with white polka dots, snow-white jeans, and white open-toe slippers embellishing flowers that contrasted her red-painted nails. It had to be illegal to be this beautiful.
"Sorry that I'm just noticing, but you look amazing! Stunning even!"
"Thank you…" she replied shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, the movement subtly revealing her delicate earring. "I know your favorite color is red, and you told me you'd be dressing in red and white, so I thought I'd wear something to match your outfit."
"Then what about me, Nate? No compliments for your best bud?" teased Andrew.
Andrew was like Nathan's slightly older twin. He sported bleached blonde hair shaved in an undercut similar to Nathan's. His eyes were like ancient ambers stacked onto the face of a handsome troublemaker. He was a tad muscular, dressed in a blue long-sleeved cotton t-shirt, black jeans, and blue sneakers.
"Sweet! You look awesome, dude!" Nathan said with a smooth fist bump.
"Am I better than princess over there?" He taunted, grinning at Sindy. "You know what they say: Girls are temporary, but drip is ETERNAL!"
Sindy rolled her eyes. "More importantly, open your gift, Nate!"
Nathan's anxiety spiked for a moment, but he managed to take a deep breath and keep himself composed. He unwrapped the gift as if handling glass, not wanting to sully the wrapping paper. Inside, he found a small box containing a gorgeous silver half-heart necklace with Sindy's name embedded stylishly on the front.
"A necklace? Sindy, this is beautiful!" Nathan exclaimed happily.
"Wait, where's the other half?" Andrew asked curiously—his eyes brimming like a child in anticipation of the grand reveal.
Sindy slowly slipped her hand into her blouse and pulled out a gleaming half-heart silver necklace with Nathan's name delicately engraved on the front. "Here it is," she murmured, her cheeks flushing as her eyes fluttered like the wings of a timid butterfly.
Andrew whistled dramatically, "Whew! That was a bold move right there! I only pray our boy Nate gets the message you're trying to convey!"
"Don't make things weird," Nathan scolded, failing to believe the obvious. "We both know she doesn't mean it like that. The necklace is just a symbol of friendship, nothing more."
"Mission failed! We'll get 'em next time!"
Sindy sighed in frustration, averting her pained gaze to stare out the window. "Geez... Why do you have to be such an airhead sometimes?"
"Why are you getting upset? Did you intend for it to mean something more..?"
Sigh… "Nope, not at all. Of course not, silly! It's a friendship necklace—nothing else!" Sindy retorted, her voice tinged with sarcasm.
"Don't give it too much thought," Andrew interjected, trying to defuse the growing tension. "In any case, I can't wait for you to see the movie I bought us tickets for!"
Nathan and Sindy were clueless regarding the movie Andrew was taking them to see. This was part of his 'big surprise.'
"Right, I almost forgot to tell you two why I was late," Nathan began. "An elderly lady and I were almost struck by lightning from this weird cloud. I don't know what happened, but no one else saw it besides us."
"A strange cloud? But the sky's been clear all day. We also checked the weather, and it should be sunny today," Sindy bewildered.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I'm being for real here! To make things stranger, I had this weird vision. I was in this desolate wasteland, and everyone around me was dead… Crows were singing, and corpses were burning. It happened right after the lightning strike."
"Are you sure you didn't just halluciNATE?" laughed Andrew.
"Dude, I'm serious! I wouldn't make something as crazy as this up. It's the reason I was late, but you might be right. That vision had to be a hallucination. It just felt so real…"
"Well, it's best to forget about it for now. What's important is that you're okay. It's your birthday, so let's focus on that," encouraged Sindy with a gentle pat on the shoulder.
"Right..."
They arrived at the theater a moment later with only five minutes to spare. Andrew quickly handed over their tickets to the booth while Sindy and Nathan waited just a few feet behind. Suddenly, another shiver ran through Nathan's spine, filling him with PTSD like a war veteran. His eyes darted toward the sky, filled with growing apprehension.
To his dismay, the small dark cloud was back and seemed much more aggressive than before. Lightning danced inside the cloud, and the atmosphere reacted with a vibrant buzz. The temperature dipped by at least twenty degrees, and the sky slowly darkened.
"Brrr! Why'd it suddenly get so cold?" Sindy shivered, rubbing her bare shoulders. Not receiving a response, she traced Nathan's worried gaze to the sky, meeting the dark cloud that hovered above. "No way... Andrew, please tell me you see that too!"
Andrew gulped, "Yes, unfortuNATEly, Nate isn't crazy..."
Nathan glanced at Andrew, "Unfortunately?"
"You know what! Now would be a good time to get inside, boys! This is how you survive in horror movies!" Sindy warned, pushing them both inside.
A minute later, they got lucky enough to secure a few front-row seats next to one another. They took a choir of deep breaths, trying to empty their mind of the growing anxiety.
"Okay, let's act like what we saw wasn't real. That's the best way to survive a horror movie, right?" proposed Sindy. "Instead, let's talk about Andrew's controversial taste in movies. Why would you bring us to see something as depressing as The Tragic Hero?"
Andrew shrugged, "It's a good movie! Besides, Nate has never seen it before."
Just as the movie was about to start, a deafening explosion shook the entire building. The theater erupted in chaos as a chorus of screams echoed off the walls. Popcorn, drinks, and snacks flew through the air, scattered by the shockwave. Panic swept through the crowd, drowning the room in a cacophony of terrified cries, the wails of children, and desperate shouts for help.
"Oh my fricking shit! What the hell was that?!" Sindy exclaimed, her wide, fear-stricken eyes darting around the room.
"Sigh... I better get a refund for this..." grumbled Andrew.
With urgency pumping through her veins, she grabbed Nathan's sweaty hands to pull him up. He was hot with a roasting fever, his eyes were dull, and his skin was as pale as a ghost.
"I... I don't feel so good..." He mumbled weakly.
"Nate? Nate, what's wrong?! Andrew, something's wrong with Nate!"
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock! What kinda cursed birthday do you have, Nate!?"
"This isn't the time for your stupid jokes! We need to get him out of here NOW!"
The pair swiftly grabbed Nathan and threw his arms over their shoulders. They quickly soldiered to find the nearest exit, dodging an army of panicking individuals along the way. Before long, they emerged close to the main exit, where they met a scene reminiscent of an apocalyptic movie.
Powerful winds tore through the vicinity, ripping street signs, electrical poles, and trees from their foundations, hurling them like weightless paper planes. Lightning clawed across the sky, forming jagged patterns that could rival the imagination of any artist. The wind's howling roar drowned out the cries of terror as people clung to one another, desperate to stay grounded. Some, less fortunate, were swept away, their bodies slamming into buildings, cars, and debris in a horrifying, bloody chaos.
But the most unnerving sight was the sky itself. Its pitch-black color was so unnatural that Sindy and Andrew instinctively checked the time on their phones. It looked like midnight, yet the day had barely begun. Amid the swirling chaos, the panicked crowd only added to the nightmare, making any hope of finding help seem impossible.
"What is going on? It's like I'm watching the apocalypse unfold!" Andrew said, his voice trembling with dread.
"We need to find a way to get through all of this, Andrew! Nate's burning up and needs a doctor! This isn't normal!" Sindy shouted, trying to keep her voice above the raging chaos.
"Don't be crazy, woman! Calm down and think this through! You'll kill him before his fever does if you take him out there!"
The two froze, their excitement replaced by a creeping sense of dread. A chilling silence hung in the air as they exchanged uneasy glances, the realization sinking in: Nathan was gone. Somehow, without a word or a sound, he had vanished, leaving no trace behind while they were transfixed by the bizarre phenomenon.
"Oh my gosh! No! No! No! This can't be happening! Where did he go?!" Sindy exclaimed, dread seeping into her voice.
"Dude, how can this be happening right now?! How could he have disappeared when he was right here just a second ago?!!" Andrew added, looking around frantically for even the slightest signs of Nathan's whereabouts.
They ran across the theater, their heads turning in every direction. Desperation swiftly seeped into their veins as they mistook identical faces for Nathan's while stumbling and colliding with others. This continued until they came by an emergency exit crowded with onlookers shouting amongst themselves.
The chaos outside grew louder, breaking through the tension like an alarm. Sindy and Andrew exchanged panicked glances before sprinting toward the source of the commotion.
When they reached the scene, their stomachs twisted. Nathan stood in the heart of the storm, his body swaying unsteadily like a leaf caught in a gale. His clothes clung to him, soaked through, while his hair whipped violently in the wind. He looked utterly detached, his vacant eyes staring ahead as if in a trance.
"He's going to get himself killed!" one onlooker shouted, their voice barely cutting through the howling wind.
The crowd huddled together like a herd of scared sheep. They bickered anxiously amongst themselves, not one willing to step out and help. But who could blame them? The storm surge churned violently, and the relentless gusts promised to swallow anyone brave—or foolish—enough to step outside.
"The fool's done for!" Another shouted. "He's not going to make it!"
Sindy and Andrew clenched their teeth tightly and pierced through the crowd toward Nathan. They didn't care if the world was ending—Nathan wasn't about to die on their watch. They pushed aside every individual in their path, dashing outside into the belly of the raging chaos.
"What are you two doing?! You'll die if you go out there!" Shouted a lady, clawing at them to stop with the help of a few others shouting the same.
The two shrugged off their weighted hands, disregarding the concern of those who would rather scream than help. Step after step, they etched closer to Nathan. The chaotic winds pushed against them, relentless and unforgiving—each step a gamble between life and death. Their hair and clothes whipped back and forth as they desperately shielded their eyes from flying debris.
"Nate!" They shouted, barely able to hear themselves among the roaring catastrophe.
They took two weighted steps forward, moving deeper into the belly of the beast—an inch closer to Nathan while the screams of onlookers faded in the background.
A sudden scream shattered their focus.
"Aahhh!!"
An unlucky man hurtled past them, flailing helplessly as the merciless winds dragged him into the abyss. Sindy gasped, her balance faltering as fear gripped her.
"Oh no!" she cried, her feet slipping against the unstable ground. Andrew quickly grabbed her hand without hesitation—veins pulsating through his arms as he summoned every bit of strength to keep her with him.
"I've got you!" He groaned, pulling Sindy back to her feet.
They pressed on, step after deliberate step until they were finally within reach of Nathan. With a heartfelt cry, they stretched their arms, clawing at his hands and stopping him from moving even an inch further.
"Nate, please talk to us! Why are you doing this? We need to get back inside where it's safe!!" Sindy cried, her makeup ruined from the beating rain.
"What the hell are they feeding you?!" Andrew growled, pulling Nathan with all his might to no avail.
Nathan answered in a feeble voice, "I... I can't resist it... Something is pulling me towards it!"
Sindy and Andrew were left speechless and hopeless. They were exhausted and confused, but they refused to let go. Even with the powerful winds battering against them, they held Nathan tightly, determined to stick with him until the end.
"I await thy coming! Ὁ ἥρως μου, ὁ πάντα διδούς!"
A haunting whisper, delicate yet otherwordly, resonated through the storm clouds like an ancient melody. They levitated a few feet from the Earth before a jagged bolt of lightning came from the realm of Fake Paradise, crashing into them with a deafening, catastrophic bang, obliterating everything around them.