by Greg Ness
The man said to him, “We’re a mere hour away my friend.”
“We ain’t friends,” Mikey snapped back.
The man wore a flowing blue robe and walked with a long staff. His black hair ran down beyond his shoulders. His freshly cut scar ran perpendicularly over his left eye. He was a menacing figure. But one Mikey was not afraid of. His blood swelted into a boiling pit of acid when he laid eyes on the longhaired menace. The chains restraining his wrists and ankles were the only things keeping Mikey from killing him.
The man was hell-bent on starting his life over. He smiled. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Mikey hung his head in shame. It wasn’t true. But he and his dad waited too long before trying to stop him.
“I wanted to thank you, Mikey. I hope your next life is more fortunate than this one.”
Mikey continued to stare at the floor. His next life would be exactly the same as this one and he knew it. He was doomed to an eternity of heartbreak and failure. The man closed Mikey’s cell door and started to walk away.
Mikey muttered, “Russell.”
The man stopped dead in his tracks.
“What did you just say?”
Mikey pulled up his head and stared in his eyes. People were supposed to fear him. Mikey didn’t. Nothing he could do would make Mikey fear him. It maddened him. Mikey looked at him with defiance and his head shook with intensity.
Mikey yelled, “I said…. RUSSELL!”
The man grew shaken and a fury overtook him that surpassed even Mikey’s.
“That is not my name! You refer to me as X!!”
The man was called X. It was his name. It was his being. There was no one else. To call him anything but X was a mistake.
Mikey chuckled. “You’re pathetic.” Mikey peered deep into X’s eyes. In them was nothing but pure darkness.
Mikey taunted his nemesis, “You know what the sad thing is? Sara will kill herself again. That stupid bitch will have a bullet in her head again and again and again.”
X’s skin turned a dark red. As his teeth clenched, he whipped open the cell door and got right in Mikey’s face, “If that is true, then you will get to watch me kill your father an infinite amount of times. And that would be worth it.”
X punched Mikey in the face. His entire body whipped from the impact as the chains kept him standing. “Don’t you ever say that name again!” X turned around, about to leave. Mikey could only see his back and filthy long hair. X proclaimed, “We are all about to die… but I’d take great enjoyment in killing you right now.”
X spun around. He gripped his staff and twisted it, revealing a sharp blade that extended out of one end. X tore the blade deep into Mikey’s stomach. Mikey flinched and his eyes widened with shock. The pain buzzed throughout his body and he could feel his life start to slip away. The whole room started to come apart from the seams. The bricks around him appeared to dissolve and the bars of his cell melted away like butter.
X smiled with pleasure as he watched Mikey die. It was a sight he had yearned for. Mikey’s blood dripped onto the floor, creating a puddle.
“The pain must be unbearable,” X said with a hint of laughter. “The ironic thing is this weapon is the same one I used to kill your father. The same blade. The same end.”
In one last moment of defiance, Mikey, half-alive, muttered, “Kiss my ass… Russell.”
X punched Mikey in the face with such a force that his fist crunched his bones. Mikey’s head whipped back and his skull crashed and collapsed on the concrete behind him. X took the blade of his staff and pierced Mikey in the heart just for good measure.
Mikey was dead. It was a noble end to a heroic life.
2:45 PM
Lisa Binsby was at her best friend Gina’s house. Gina was another A-lister in Hollywood and lived across the street. Together, they watched the news in disbelief. The whole city had lost its mind.
“Do you think it’s true?” Lisa asked Gina.
“I don’t know.”
They watched on the screen as Hollywood Boulevard was slammed with cars that had added an extra lane to the streets by driving on the sidewalks. The police were trying and failing to calm the battling crowds. Suddenly, a rioter came into the frame and struck the camera, causing the feed to die.
“My God,” Lisa muttered.
Gina asked, “Do you think I should call my Mom?”
Lisa turned toward Gina in surprise. “You haven’t talked to her in years.”
“Which is why I should call her right? What if it really is the last day of the world?”
Gina had a point. “Yeah, you’re right. You should call her.”
Gina left the room to get her phone. Lisa dreaded the thought that it might actually be the end of the world. There were people she needed to talk to. Most notably, Stephen Pandora. She had a chance just a week earlier and blew it.
Now it was too late.
3:00 PM
Moros stood at the bonfire with hundreds of people around him. The mood was celebratory. There were people playing bongos, flutes, and other percussion instruments. Anyone not playing an instrument was either dancing or building the fire. The dancers were full of life, injecting energy into everyone around. The fire builders threw anything into the fire they could get their hands on. While everyone was having a good time, Moros simply stood and watched.
Moros took off his backpack and looked at it. It was blue with white straps. Despite being flimsy and torn up, it had held up remarkably over the years. It was in the exact condition that he received it.
Moros hugged his backpack and held his face against it. “I’m sorry,” he uttered to himself.
Without thinking about it any longer, he tossed the backpack into the fire. He watched as the flimsy blue cloth and all of its contents gradually burned up and disappeared. He fought back the tears that were begging to come out. Unable to continue watching, Moros turned around and fell to the sand. He gripped a chunk of sand that slipped through his fingers. The tears running down his cheek were a culmination of years of regret. “I’m so sorry.”
He stared at the sand. His rational mind called him. Crying wasn’t going to help. He needed to get to the water.
Moros picked himself off of the sand. Reflected in his glossy blue eyes, he could see the backpack’s existence shredding away. He whispered, “I wish I would have listened to you.”
Wiping his eyes, he turned away from the bonfire party and walked toward the ocean. The beautiful sight of endless water used to evade him. He had failed to understand what was so great about it.
They told him he’d get it one day.
They were right.
He finally understood.
3:15 PM
It took what seemed like forever for Stephen Pandora to lead his minivan out of traffic. His team of Campbell, Miles, and newly acquired Guide to the Stars, Balwant, was finally about to reach their destination with a whole eighteen minutes to spare.
“Turn here,” Balwant pointed.
Stephen made the turn and found a massive gate in front of them. There was a security house with an on-duty officer preventing anyone from getting in. “She’s in a gated community?”
“Yes,” Balwant replied, “To keep stalkers out.” He glanced at Stephen with a “like you” tilt of the head.
“What do we do?” Campbell wondered aloud.
“Pull up to the security booth,” Balwant said.
Stephen complied and drove to the security booth. He glanced at the gate. It was steel with narrowly spaced bars. He considered driving through it, but would likely walk away with a crushed minivan and a sore neck.
The man in the booth was dressed like a police officer. He was a chubby, dark-skinned Indian man. He walked out an open door and approached Stephen. He raised his eyebrows and waited for Stephen to initiate the conversation. Stephen obliged and stated, “We need to get in.”
“You on the list?” the guard retorted.
“Well, not offi
cially, no.”
“Can’t let you in.”
“Galav?” Balwant asked from the back.
The expression from the security guard went from stern to lighthearted in a flash. He peeked in Stephen’s window and looked toward the backseat.
“Balwant!”
Balwant forced open the door of the minivan and hopped out to approach Galav the Guard. “You didn’t tell me you were working security!”
“I’ve been here for almost five years now! Trying to keep out people like you!”
Balwant hugged Galav. Overjoyed, he turned to Stephen. “This is my brother! I have not seen him in ages!” They jubilantly spoke to each other in their native tongue that Stephen couldn’t understand.
Stephen, Campbell, and Miles waited in silence while Balwant and Galav were soaking up their reunion. Stephen looked at the clock on the minivan dashboard: 3:23. “Hey Balwant,” Stephen said, “Can you tell your brother we need to get moving here?” Balwant spoke to Galav in a more serious tone, presumably asking him to let Stephen and his minivan pass.
Galav nodded. He turned to Stephen and said, “I will let you in for bringing my brother to me. But don’t you start any trouble in there.”
The gate creaked open. “Lucky break,” Campbell asserted. “You want to tell me why we’re going to see Lisa Binsby?”
Stephen watched with great anticipation as the gate continued to open. “We were in love once. I need to talk to her.”
The statement stuck Campbell right in the face.
The gate was open. It was time to find the woman he had always loved. All he could hope was that she would be home.
Lisa Binsby sat on a couch in Gina’s living room. Gina was in the other room talking to her mother on the phone. Lisa watched the reporter on television. He blared, “With only minutes left until the 3:33 deadline, the world waits with anticipation to see if the mysterious man who interrupted yesterday’s speech by Stephen Pandora will fulfill his promise. The world has been turned on its head by this simple threat. And shortly, skeptics and believers alike will learn the truth.”
Lisa’s eyes strained. End of the world or not, she had reason to feel dismal. She had money and fame but so much was missing. Years ago, Stephen asked to marry her. What happened after that changed the course of their history. Looking back, her handling of the situation was her biggest regret. She had hurt Stephen and lost him forever.
For the first time in a long time, Lisa prayed. She leaned forward, put her head in her hands and, in her confinement, whispered, “It’s been a long time since I’ve asked you for anything. I’ve been blessed with a lot in my life. But I need to ask one thing of you. Please protect the ones I love. If this actually is the end, let them know in their hearts that I love them. I love them more anything in the world. I haven’t always made the best choices, but I tried my best. If only Stephen could know how sorry I am…”
Stephen leaned against Lisa’s front door. “She’s not here,” he despaired. Campbell stood a few feet behind him with Miles in hand. He felt for his friend. What torment it must have been for him to keep his feelings for Lisa bottled up all those years while her face was plastered everywhere. Campbell tried to think of something to cheer him up. All he could conjure up was a single question, “How do you know she felt the same way for you?” After the question left his lips, Campbell realized it might not have been the right thing to say.
Stephen looked at Campbell in defeat. “I just know.” It was weird for Campbell to see Stephen like this. It was a side he’d never seen before.
Stephen slowly stepped over to his friends-Campbell and Miles-the two in the world who had never abandoned him and probably never would. If this was the end of the world, how fitting it was that he would get to spend it with them. Stephen petted Miles on the head. Miles bobbed his head in satisfaction. “You’re a good boy, buddy.” Miles’ tail wagged. Stephen loved that goofy dog. He looked at Campbell. It was amazing to see the man he’d become. For someone who started off as a hopeless loner, he’d come along amazingly. Stephen tugged Campbell close to him and gave him a hug. Without squishing Miles, they embraced; it was a group hug. Stephen remembered the days they spent together, particularly the thrill of discovering the ILD. Stephen’s eyes glazed. “I’m proud of you, Campbell.”
Campbell smiled at him. “I hope we’re wrong about the ILD.” Stephen smirked, knowing that was unlikely.
Stephen wished he could do something. It was a hopeless feeling: the world was about to end and there was nothing he could do about it. All of the innocent people who deserved to live their lives would be robbed of the chance and would always be robbed of the chance. There had to be something. It was too late for that, he supposed. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket: 3:30 PM. There were mere minutes left. Maybe the crazy man was just bluffing. If that was true, Stephen would change a lot in his life tomorrow. Every day would be a blessing. Everyone he’d been meaning to talk to, he’d talk to. Everyone who needed help, he’d help. There were probably a lot of people in the world who felt this way. Maybe a blanket death threat was exactly what the world needed to discover what was important in life.
A gigantic explosion noise erupted in the distance. The sound was louder than anything Stephen had ever heard. It was so loud, he nearly fell over. The ground began to quake. The palm trees violently swayed. Stephen ran toward the street. Looking in the distance, he could see the city, where the noise appeared to come from. The ground rumbled and everything was shaking.
The man known as X wasn’t lying. He was going to destroy the world.
A woman across the street ran out of a house to get a better view of the city. Her eyes were affixed in the distance. To Stephen’s shock, the woman was Lisa. Her long brown hair blew with the wind. This was his chance. It wasn’t too late! He pulled off the seemingly impossible: he found her.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Every second was stretched into hours. Time was critical and Stephen didn’t have much of it. Neighbors poured into the streets, anxious to see what caused such a powerful noise. Streetlights whipped from their upright positions and slammed to the ground, rippling the street like a tidal wave. Lisa fell to her back.
Stephen took off and ran toward her. A huge rip in the pavement knocked him over. He flew forward, landing on his stomach. Everyone standing on the street was tossed off their feet. Lisa was right there! If he could just get her to see him! That’s all he needed: one last look into her eyes, one last smile. It was why he came all this distance.
Stephen tried to get up but the quaking ground just pushed him right back down. He yelled her name. “Lisa!” The loud rumblings cancelled out his voice. He crawled as ferociously as he could, moving his hands and feet like a dog.
There was another deafening explosion that made the last sound seem like a horn toot. He couldn’t hear much anymore. He thought he might have been deaf, but there was no way to tell. Stephen thought the whole planet might crumble into pieces. The sky lit up bright yellow, like the Earth had morphed into the Sun. It was brighter than his eyes could handle. He held out his hand to Lisa, who had no idea that he lay only yards from her. His hand was as outstretched as it could go. It might’ve come right off. He extended his fingers. He couldn’t get to her. She was so close. But he couldn’t do it. He just could not do it. He continued to scream, “Lisa!”
She didn’t hear him. Looking at the city, Lisa wished she could be with Stephen. All her life, she searched for the one thing she once had. She would give anything to see him one more time, anything to apologize for that fateful day. She would never know Stephen had forgiven her. And he was only yards away.
The air grew blazingly hot. Stephen saw Lisa and everything around him turn into a blur. The world stretched into infinity. This was it.
Everything was gone.
Everyone on the planet was dead.
Everyone except Moros…
8
Stephen Pandora died. A man named X killed not only h
im, but the rest of the world. It was not the first time this had happened and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
Stephen Pandora’s path was tragic. It was inevitable. The painful truth was that what happened during Stephen’s life sealed the untimely end of the world.
Stephen Pandora was born again. What seemed instantaneous for him, like waking up from a long sleep, actually took octillions of years. He didn’t exist as the Universe “crunched” on itself. He didn’t exist as the Universe restarted with “The Big Bang”. He didn’t exist as Earth was formed. But he did exist when he was born. Although everything had to happen again, it happened in an instant for him because he simply didn’t exist until his birth.
Stephen was raised in St. Joseph, Michigan. There, he would meet someone who would change his life forever.
“Bruce!”
Bruce stopped. It was pitch black outside and close to three in the morning. Bruce and Stephen were fourteen years old: freshmen in high school. Their facial features were less defined than their future selves; they were directly between childhood and adulthood. Bruce appeared older than his age. He had a strongly defined jawbone and deep masculine eyes. He was the prototypical man-boy: athletic and muscular. Stephen, on the other hand, looked younger than fourteen. He was clumsy, flimsy, and still growing into himself. His eyes had a youthful, illuminating innocence beneath them.
The two were covered in black: black shirt, black pants and black shoes. It allowed them to blend in; they didn’t want to be seen. They were in a forest and the only light provided to them was generously given by the full moon shining above. They were undercover on a mission. It was actually Bruce’s mission but Stephen was there to help. Bruce turned and put his finger to his lip. “Ssshhhh.”
Stephen tried his best to be quiet. Every step he took created a small crunch, no matter how small. This was a forest, after all, and it was littered with twigs, branches, and who knew what else. In every direction, all he could see were trees. No one was around anyway, so what did he have to be quiet for? But Bruce insisted. Bruce moved his hand in a forceful downward movement, nonverbally demanding silence. Somehow, Bruce was able to move through the forest without making a peep. Stephen wondered if he was somehow hovering, and not actually walking. Bruce was the most physically able person Stephen knew, so it was no surprise he was able to move in such complete silence.