The End

by Justin Chiang

  “Right but more precisely a sequence of fish,” said Cochran.

  “Isn’t that… clever,” Patrick chuckled.

  “See what I mean?” Cochran grinned, “First there’s one fish, then two.”

  “Then one red and one blue or one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish,” Patrick finished.

  “It’s subtle but I think these are clues that pretty much prove that whoever wrote these messages was from now,” said Cochran looking towards Evan and Tessa, “Look here’s another one, it says no fate but what you make, you know like from Terminator 2? And this one fight the future from the X-Files movie. It’s funny because now they’re all just a bunch of cliché 90’s pop culture references.”

  “Which would make perfect sense if the world ended in 1999,” said Evan, “The first time around.”

  “In the end they only delayed the inevitable,” Anna said at last. Nobody else spoke. There was a general feeling of dread amongst the group now. They’d all witnessed the massive swarm of darklings during the attack and in total they were only ten. What could they possibly do to stop them all?

  "Can't you check that on your smart rock?" Leo said referring to Tessa’s crystal shard. Tessa looked at him curiously, “You know can’t you pinch to zoom in on specific events or something, isn’t that what you told us earlier, it can see future events?”

  “That is if there’s a future to be seen,” said Anna.

  Cochran chuckled, “That’s not a bad idea at all, Leo—but why not go full 1080p widescreen while we’re at it.” Within twenty minutes Cochran had connected his smartphone (still interfaced with Iris), to the crystalline cavern wall thus creating catalysis between the epicenter of Abbey Downs and the World Wide Web.

  “That it then?” Finn asked incredulously.

  "I mean... I guess you could chant or something if it makes you feel better," Cochran grinned, “Zim zim zala bim!”

  “A real riot, this one,” said Finn, “Alright, give us a lesson.”

  “Sure, let’s try something basic,” Cochran stood up and using his hands to gesture in front of the wall, was able to navigate through the crystals content. Using the iOS7 photo categorization properties from his phone, the crystal wall now listed all events in buckets of location and time period. Within moments they were looking at the darkness at the end.

  With a left wave of his hand the darkness expanded into several image segments preceding it but they too showed only darkness. He kept swiping, several images zoomed by all in a jumble. There was a bright flash, one showed Tessa handing something to Patrick. Another showed Ozmo in dragon form. Another showed Finn picking his nose. Then they found themselves looking at an infinite display of themselves looking at themselves in the display.

  “Ha!” Finn said then shoved his finger up his nose, “How’s that for a prophecy?”

  “Okay so it looks like it will show us the future but not enough to help us figure out what to do about the fucked up little kids flying in the sky waiting to kill us,” said Leo.

  “That’s interesting though, what was that you were handing Patrick?” Evan asked Tessa.

  Ozmo approached with a purple satin bag. He opened it and withdrew six rings. As he did so the wall flashed and the image of Tessa handing Patrick a ring changed. Now it showed Ozmo, still in humanoid form, holding the rings in the palm of his hand.

  “You changed the future by seeing the future and asking about it,” said Anna, “Just like your father’s theory.”

  “Which means the future hasn’t been written yet,” said Tessa.

  “Ha! That’s what Doc Brown said to Marty at the end of Back to the Future three,” Cochran laughed. Ozmo began handing out the rings. When he approached Anna she smiled and withdrew her ring from the chain in her shirt. He handed one to Soleil, Patrick, Leo, and Finn. The last two he handed to Cochran. Cochran stared down at them, “No fate…” he muttered to himself quietly.

  “One’s for Iris,” said Ozmo.

  With rings in hand everyone turned towards Tessa again. “Make no mistake. These rings,” Tessa held her hand up showing her own, “Are not the source of your power.”

  She looked at Soleil, “The power you have is part of you.”

  She looked at Patrick, “It comes from your faith.”

  She looked at Leo, “It comes from your empathy.”

  She looked at Anna, “It comes from your will.”

  She looked at Cochran, “It comes from your ingenuity.”

  She looked at Ozmo, “It comes from love.”

  She winked at Finn, “and a little bit of luck.”

  She looked at Evan, “Together we are more powerful than all the darkness in the Universe.” The group looked around at one another. There was an air of confidence in the cavern now, “Together I believe that we can win this fight. But first and foremost we must maintain the balance or we all lose—and this really is the end.”

  “Tessa’s right,” Evan spoke up, “It’s not a matter of defeating these things. We need to restore the balance or this is it folks.”

  “Until we meet again,” Anna said quietly nodding in agreement.

  Cochran was still reading the changing phrases and glyphs on the wall, “I think I have an idea. I mean I have an idea but I think it might work.” Nobody spoke, he turned around and found everyone staring at him, “Okay. So according to this,” he pointed to the wall, “in the original timeline the Dark Angels escaped from stone statues. That didn’t happen this time because according to what Tessa’s been telling us, these statues don’t exist.”

  “There’s a statue in the town square of the town’s founder,” said Evan, “but that’s pretty much it.”

  “Well maybe that’s the answer right?” said Cochran, “What if we capture the darklings, at least some of them. I mean it makes sense because they still need to be present in order for there to be balance.”

  “What’s to stop them from escaping again?” asked Patrick.

  Cochran shrugged, “Maybe we add some sort of protection around the statues. Like what Tessa’s been doing with this whole town. Can you do that?”

  Tessa considered the idea. The towns protective powers stemmed from the very cavern they all stood in now. Above them, having traveled a ways from the entrance near the house at the top of the hill, was the town square. The other factor was the power the dragons exuded like radiation from their pores—that coupled with the increased power from the presence of the group should be enough. She looked to Ozmo and he nodded, “But there are too many of them. We can’t capture them all.”

  “Then we must fight,” said Patrick. Everyone nodded and stood up. Finn cracked his knuckles then breathing on his shiny new ring, rubbed it on his shirt. Soleil looked nervous and Leo looked worriedly at Belanna but they were still on their feet.

  Evan and Anna put their rings on their fingers as did the rest of the group and just like magic they all began to glow bright with power. At that same moment the entire cavern shook around them and the walls began to cry Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger!

  9

  As the group reached the top of the hill next to Dunham Manor, they all paused at the sight of it all. The normally sunny blue sky was cracked as if it were made of painted porcelain—and through that crack the darklings poured into Abbey Downs like insects. The sound was incredible; a combination of fierce wind, anguished cries, and the acrid odor of ozone attacked their senses all at once.

  “We need to split up!” Evan yelled over the wind, “Get them away from each other!”

  Tessa started directing the group to strategic points of Abbey Downs. Patrick and Anna headed down the hill together towards the schools. Leo and Belanna headed towards the crack in the sky. Cochran headed towards Iris and then they went the opposite direction of Patrick and Anna. Finn stayed at the top of the hill ready to take on the world. Ozmo transformed and let out a roar. Tessa leapt onto his back and they were airborne, also headed towards the crack.

  “What about me?�
�� Soleil said over the wind.

  “You’re with me, Soleil,” Evan said into her ear.

  “Why me?”

  “Just look at you. Of all of us your power is the brightest, it’s like you’re bleeding sunlight,” said Evan, “You’re the anti-eclipse. You might just save us all.” They headed towards the center of town hand in hand.

  The darklings split into waves, each heading in different directions towards different members of Tessa’s recruits, and with them they bring chaos. Thanks to some tweaking by Cochran, each of their rings holds a crystal shard from the cavern. Combined they serve to both harness and target their powers against the darklings. As soon as the darkness and light converge, human children begin raining from the skies. We look upon Tessa and Ozmo as they realize this first and the utter horror on Tessa’s face says it all.

  “Oz, take us down, we have to warn the others,” Tessa said. Ozmo spit out a mound of flesh and headed away from the fray, “If it’s not already too late.”

  . . .

  “My god, Patrick, stop firing!” Anna screams, but he cannot, there are too many of them bearing down on them now, “STOP!”

  “I can’t!” he shouts back.

  “Look! The children!” she says frantically, “We can save the children!” Patrick stops for just a moment and sees what she means. A darkling is walking towards him now, jaw popping and extending like some grotesque monster intent on consuming him whole. He fires at it and it drops to the ground dead, its head still split open. Another is smiling at him, grinning at him, then glaring at him, he fires again and this time the darkling vanishes and in its place stands a little boy. He looks utterly exhausted, ashen, starved and dehydrated but otherwise unharmed. Anna begins firing only at the darklings that are on the ground now and Patrick is focusing his power as a shield over the bodies of the human children that remain.

  . . .

  “Cochran, come in,” came a voice from his hand.

  “Go,” he said back curiously, he hadn’t intended to make the rings communicable but nothing surprised him anymore.

  “Hey, man, are you seeing this?” It was Leo.

  Iris had her windshield wipers on full-blast. With the power the ring gave her she was able to use her camera like a laser cannon. Cochran was using the rest of her tech to track the waves and the group—trying to thin out the darklings before they could reach his friends.

  “Seeing what?” said Cochran working frantically to change their direction. A huge wave was headed towards Finn alone on the hill.

  “They’re kids, man, they’re turning back into kids.”

  Cochran looked away from the console and out the windshield. The windshield was now streaked with red and black. He watched again and again as waves of children fell from the sky—some of them alive and screaming before they hit the ground. He vomited in the car, “Shit. Sorry, Iris.” He opened the car door and stumbled out, he needed air, fast. The world swirled around him, all around him lay the bodies of dead children, “Jesus Christ, it’s a fuckin massacre. Iris stop. Tell…” but he didn’t finish the thought. In fact he could think no more as his head and body were completely separated from one another. A darkling carrying his severed head flew off towards the center of town. Iris watched as it flew into the sky, doing nothing.

  . . .

  Finn was on top of the hill surrounded by human children. Those that were able were helping him cull the rest into the house. He was saving them. In a stroke of dumb luck, the first darkling that came to the top of the hill was on foot, a small blonde with a pink hoody sweatshirt and rainbow sneakers. He aimed and fired at her. The force blew him backwards and when he looked up he saw the darkness dissipate around her. Not only that but she was still breathing.

  The waves had stopped for the moment which was good because his ring had stopped working. He aimed at the last of the darklings that came over the top of the hill but nothing happened. No bright light, no power, nothing. In moments it was on top of him but before it could do any harm it was human again. Tessa and Ozmo landed, Tessa’s hand, not her ring was glowing and she was able to dispel the darkness and save the child.

  “Good work, Finn, I knew we could count on you,” said Tessa. She began helping the children into the house, “Ozmo, go warn the others just in case, I’ll stay and help Finn. We must protect the humans.”

  . . .

  Leo and Belanna swooped down. First Anna was aiming her ring and then she was running away, darklings on her tail. Leo aimed his ring towards the swarm but nothing happened, “Cochran, come in.” He aimed again and again nothing. Belanna looked back at him as to say help her but soon realized that he could not. Something was wrong, something had broken the link, the catalysis, between the crystals. Belanna dive bombed the remaining darklings and devoured them.

  “Anna grab my hand!” Leo shouted. She did and as Belanna’s claws rid the world of the last remaining darklings, Anna climbed on behind Leo, “Where’s Patrick?”

  “There were too many of them, the children, he was trying to save them.” Then he saw. Pieces of Patrick lay amid piles of empty children’s clothes, “There were too many of them. I tried to help but…”

  “It’s okay,” said Leo, “I understand.”

  The three of them headed towards the house on the hill.

  . . .

  Evan and Soleil’s trip was uneventful, the darklings apparently preoccupied with the rest of their group. They made quick time to the town square. It too, like the rest of the world, was covered in discarded clothing and other objects. As they approached the park they saw a bright light from within the trees, “There.” Evan pointed and they headed in, still hand in hand.

  “What are we doing?” Soleil said as they went. The frantic screaming winds were quieter within the park, abated somewhat by the trees.

  “We need to get to the center. That’s where the power is the strongest. It’ll be the best spot to harness the darkness at.”

  “But those things, how do we get them to come to the center?”

  “Oh they’ll come.”

  As they approached they found the source of the bright light. There in the center was the statue of the town’s founder and it was glowing brightly. It might have even been moving the way the light swirled around it, pulsed around it, above it, beneath it. Was it floating? Perhaps. They stopped and gazed at it, Soleil looking from it to Evan and then back again several times. Evan couldn’t take his eyes off it.

  He stuck his hand out to touch it but his hand passed straight through. It was no longer a statue. Or perhaps it had never been a statue to begin with. To him it was like looking in a mirror. Sure the hair was longer and the clothes different. Even the build of the body was fuller, taller, but the face. The face on the statue was Evan’s face. No, he no longer believed it was ever a statue. This façade of a totem was simply the last piece of the puzzle.

  “Evan…” Soleil said.

  “I know…”

  “No, Evan, look.” Soleil was pointing behind them now. They were being surrounded, not by darklings, but by darkness. The dark substance edged closer and closer to them like freezing fog. Having been released from the majority of the children, the darkness was accumulating there at the center of power. It was drawn to it, drawn to him. Evan took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly.

  “Soleil…” he said not looking at her. She looked at him intently but she was beginning to understand, “Soleil, you know what you have to do, don’t you?” She nodded.

  “I think so.”

  “You know so,” he said turning to her. He looked deep into her eyes and smiled, “Man you’re beautiful. If only I could have met you sooner.” His eyes glistened. Soleil blushed and let go of his hand. The darkness looked weak now, it was sluggish, making its way towards them like tendrils of smoke but it kept on coming. Evan turned away from her and stared into its depths—then all at once the darkness enveloped him. He began to scream as it entered him through every pore and orifice in his earthly bo
dy until there was no more of it in sight. Soleil stared unbelievingly at him now.

  “Evan?” she said tentatively but she knew deep down that Evan was no more. His eyelids popped open revealing two dark orbs. Staring into them was like staring into the depths of a million tortured souls. She exhaled slowly, waiting, ready. The breath leaving her lungs took with it all her doubt, all her fear.

  When the darkness lunged at her, meaning to grab her neck and choke the light out of her, it was shot backwards with such force that it nearly fell to the ground. Instead it stumbled into the spot where the statue had been… just as they’d planned, just as he’d known it would. The light, the power, emanating from her body was so bright she had to shut her own eyes against it. It surrounded Evan like rope binding it in place, eclipsing the darkness and creating balance within. In the end it was calmly silent.

  10

  Several weeks later…

  Soleil is sitting alone on the hilltop looking out on Abbey Downs. The streets that once ran red and black with blood are clean once more. The piles of clothes and a few wrecked cars have also been cleared. The July hot sun is in the sky but there’s a light breeze. Everything is very peaceful.

  “It’s time.”

  Soleil turned around and smiled. She stood and followed Anna towards Dunham Manor where they’ve all been staying. Today they’re gathering in the center of town to memorialize the lost. They’re joined by many others that appeared in Abbey Downs over the days and weeks following their confrontation with the darklings. Others from all around the world that sought answers but arrived too late to help fend off the darkness. Some came in planes, others on foot, others on the backs of dragons and other mystic creatures that evolved in the days when the magic was the strongest.

  The children that were saved joined them as well. They represented a do-over for humanity and would never be influenced by the adults that so sullied the innocence of life for so many years with their pettiness and disdain for one another. Though they too would grow up some day and it is human nature after all.