II
Visions of shadows moving in the faint light of Teros danced among the smoke-filled streets that invaded Jacobs dreams. Feeling perpetually haunted by unseen monsters hidden in the darkness, Jacob ran through an endless maze of streets. Moving with a crowd of terrified people, screaming, and pointing up at an ominous ring high above them. Overwhelmed with fear, Jacob watched as balls of molten rock rained across the distant horizon.
Every turn a dead end as he ran between buildings from an unseen enemy. Finding himself separated from the others, Jacob felt his heart racing. He weaved through the streets alone before coming to face a red stone wall at the end of a dark alley way. He turned to run back the way he came but was met with a thick wall of black fog spilling ever closer. Alex was somehow suddenly there, crying beside Jacob in that moment. Frantically searching for a way out, Jacob noticed people with their faces concealed behind hooded cloaks in the windows of the building around him. Calling out for them to help, he tried to get the attention of the strange figures, only for them to remain silent spectators of the unfolding events.
Kneeling to console Alex, the words “I won't let anything happen to you,” raced through Jacobs mind.
Jacobs words began echoing out around him as if to mock the futility of the idea that he could protect his brother. Turning away from Alex, Jacob could see a metal cylinder, the same one from the sidewalk, falling towards him from the ever-expanding fog. With the strange device landing between him and Alex, Jacob stared helplessly into Alex’s tear stained eyes. Realizing in that moment that there was nothing he could do to protect his brother, Jacob watched as the cylinder exploded with an intensely loud bang.
Heart pounding, Jacob shot up alert and frantically began looking through the dim area trying to orientate himself. The apartment was barley lit with the faint violet light from the two moons high and the soft glow of candlelight from the kitchen around the corner. looking around the room, Jacob could see Alex still sleeping on the armchair across the room from him. Curled up, Alex was covered with an old wool blanket, like the one Jacob had noticed he had also been covered with. Gently tossing the blanket to the far end of the sofa, he made his way towards the window across the room. Peering through the partitions between the horizontal blinds, Jacob gazed out towards the park across the street. The distant popping of gunfire and explosions sounded like a continual release of firecrackers. Plumes of smoke rose from the orange glow of fires peppered throughout the horizon, as Jacob tried to determine the location of the fires from his narrow view in their apartment unit. Suddenly feeling the building shake from a large explosion, Jacob watched the distant sky light up like a flash of lightning. Looking back across the room towards Alex, he could see the noise and shaking were unable to wake his brother from his deep sleep.
Hearing low voices coming from the other room, Jacob made his way towards the wall that separated the kitchen and the living room. The building shook periodically as he traversed the small room, making it difficult to cross the short distance. Listening from around the corner, he could hear his mother having a conversation with Lucia, the neighbour from across the hall. Hearing the two women talking in low voices, Jacob found it difficult to make out the conversation. From behind the wall Jacob struggled to listen as his mother and Lucia talked about the events from earlier that night, with Angie in the middle of explaining how she left work when meteors started falling and how difficult it was for her to find the way back to the apartment building.
“There was smoke everywhere, I had no idea which way to go. People running and screaming all over among the explosions,” said Angie.
“Did you see any of them?” Asked Lucia?
“No...” Angie responded.
“Darren said he’s seen them in the smoke... Said they are like us, only wearing strange suits and masks.” Said Lucia in a faint voice.
“I didn’t see anything but fog or smoke. Quite honestly, I don’t even know how I managed to bump into the boys.” Said Angie.
“What are they?” Interrupted Jacob, as he came out from around the corner, startling the two women. Their faces barely illuminated by the small candle on the kitchen table.
“I don’t know what or who is out there.” Said Angie.
“Darren has a theory. He was telling me about it as he came in earlier this evening, rushing to get up to the roof,” added Lucia.
“Darren always has a theory about everything,” said Angie.
Jacob could see his mother's eyes roll as she chuckled softly at her statement.
“What does Darren think they are?” Asked Jacob.
“He said something about them coming from outer space or something like that,” said Lucia, followed by a brief pause.
“Sounded kind of like a crazy conspiracy theory to me. Anyways he’s up on the roof trying to see history unfold... I believe, he said.” Lucia continued with a chuckle as Angie joined in laughing.
Jacob briefly though about going up to the roof to see what Darren thought. However, Jacob found Darren rather weird and although he was curious, he did notwant to make his way through the dark to the roof. The sound of gun fire noticeably intensified outside, with the building shaking more often from distant explosions. Returning to the large window in the living room, Jacob quickly checked on Alex, who remained sleeping on the chair. Looking out the window, Jacob could see the fires burning
