The Zero Countdown

Chapter 1: Reality

A bellowing silence fills Elyon's empty run-down apartment, his creaking foldable bed can't support two at once since he mostly sleeps on the sofa or his table after working 10 hours straight without overtime pay.

The air conditioner keeps his room cool. He's keeping a shelf that has nothing on it, a sinking bed, his favorite sofa, refrigerator, and his desktop to keep in touch with his work twenty-four seven.

He rented his apartment mostly because he either always get behind time for his work or he's late for the last train. As much as he hates being away from his family, he sacrificed his time and worked harder than anyone else; only to lose them thinking he's doing a good cause.

Now, an encounter between the two who shouldn't meet, the high school girl who just barged into his apartment, stole his custom 45 caliber pistol, and threatened him using his possession has a ticking clock above her head.

"I think you're in danger–"

And Elyon closed his mouth shut as soon as the girl pushes the muzzle of the g*n exactly on his temple, silencing him to the core.

"Never say unnecessary plea nor make a move against me. Now tell me, what is your Fantasm? Your ability that the Unknown Entity endowed when you accepted his stupid game."

To make things worst, she mounted above him and stomped the heel of his black shoe down his neck. He either meet his demise from the gunshot, get suffocated as his breathing is restricted, or answer what the girl asked and somehow find a way out of the mess he just got in.

But his clear choice was the latter and he decided to explain to her whatever the guy he heard from the paging system had told him.

"Okay, okay! I have no idea if what I'm saying is right... but he said I'm a Fantasm and my power is called Fate Shaper. He also mentioned I can tell when people are going to die, like the numbers shown as seconds above your head." Elyon spoke the truth.

He's shivering dead cold, thinking the high school girl might accidentally pull the trigger and kill him on the spot.

The girl then blinked twice and flipped her hair so she can wipe her sweat. Her breathing is following an unusual pattern, her throbbing heart can be heard alongside noise from outside as if she participated in a marathon and randomly entered someone's home that she can plunder; is what Elyon thought.

"So I finally found you... Anyways, tell me what's the remaining time I have." She then asserted her dominance once again now that she confirmed that her target was what she's looking for.

"Ah... I mean, is this even real? There's no way I can actually tell when people are going to die. Am I being pranked? Technology today has some crazy virtual reality thingy going on here that I do not know so this must be a joke."

Despite the recurring circumstances he got himself into, Elyon still refused to believe what the voice had told him as he's about to fall to his death. He woke up on his bed so normally he'd think the previous events that transpired were part of his dream and therefore aren't real.

Yet that is the part where he's wrong.

The girl shook her head, disappointed that a high schooler like her should instill some reality in his delusional head imagining he's caught in some reality television show or something trivial.

To make him see the clear state of reality, she points the g*n at the glass table and pulled the trigger followed by a loud bang.

Fragmented shards scattered across the floor, proving everything that happened to him is none other than the truth he denied.

No altered reality, no special effects, nor virtual augmentation. What he sees is the extension of his ability, he became a Fantasm and gained a fearsome ability to exactly tell the death of a person; precisely a Fate Weaver.

She once more pointed the g*n directly on his forehead and the next time she blast the g*n point-blank, his head would churn from the inside killing him without a second chance.

With his rational consciousness now intact, his understanding had attained the probability of impossible; Elyon had no choice but to listen to the girl because she's currently holding his life and there's nothing he could do other than dwell in his incompetence.

"843... 842... Right now, the number above your head is 841 and it's gradually decreasing." Elyon stated, not moving an inch from his position. He finally opened his eyes and accepted the unthinkable as the truth. But he still doesn't believe he has such a mortifying ability that could turn his life upside-down and change the way he looks at people.

"Tsk. Around 14 minutes? Do you have any other weapons? We'll leave this place as soon as possible."

The girl suggested. Though Elyon doesn't find the justification why he should leave his only home after his house and his family was burned to the ground.

"Why should I? And what if I have another weapon and try to kill you instead? Aren't you afraid?"

Elyon might be against the idea of leaving his apartment yet he fishes on his all wardrobe kept below his bed. He took his white t-shirt and wore it to cover his hairy chest. He usually sleeps butt-n***d but he's glad he's wearing his pants that day.

The girl was busy scrolling through the notes in her old model smartphone, so Elyon grabbed the extra g*n he's hiding on the back of his shelves and hid it under his denim jacket. He then took his phone and kept it in his pocket while he's at it and now he's ready to leave his apartment together with a girl he just met.

"Aren't you going to point that g*n at me?" The girl was busy skimming through hundreds of notes that she let down her guard, carrying the custom pistol she stole from Elyon.

"I hate pointless struggles. You could have killed me while I'm sleeping but you did not. I take you needed me just as I expected answers from you?"

He was being logical than getting consumed by fear and the unknown. He might have learned the truth and reality, but he still required reason to understand what's really going on.

"Wise choice old man. Alright, we're leaving now. Follow me!"

"Hey, I'm still 25! I can shave before we go."

"Cut the crap. We're running out of time old man!"

And with her prior notice, the girl immediately dragged him out of his apartment, and together they run towards the alleys of the city as fast as they can.

The setting sun became the witness, the budding stars stayed alight above moons and beyond as the cityscape lits its light preparing for the long night.

Dashing across streets after streets, Elyon felt chills bridging in his spine; an imminent doom awaits in the shade of the towering buildings dimming their uncertain path.

"Ugh... Who are you again?" Elyon has been wondering who she is since earlier.

As they kept dashing left and right as if they are aiming for first place in a marathon, he's having a hard time catching his breath. It's been a long time since he sprinted as if death is right behind him.

"Brina Faelyn. Run faster old man if you don't want to die." She taunted him for being so slow, they maintained their pace until they entered the boundary of the commercial district of the city.

"I'm not an old man! I'm Elyon Maverick. But seriously, how can you prove the countdown above your head is real? I don't even know who that guy I talked to was." He was eager for the girl to clarify for the last time that he is not being pranked nor being set up by a teenage girl.

"Ugh..." Brina grumbled and doesn't like how he can't just think about it himself and figure out whether what he's experiencing is real or not.

They stopped somewhere near the intersection connected to the commercial district and the north division. They had a little break since she's aware she still has spare time left in her remaining minutes and seconds.

"What now?" Elyon somehow could take a respite after a constant sprint in the neighborhood.

"Hmm, alright... You said you can see the remaining time of anyone. Now find someone among these people around us who happen to have less than minutes or seconds of remaining life." Brina saddled on a nearby wooden bench and let him learn the hard way.

"Okay let's see..." Elyon scans the proximity, looking at the bustling crowd going back and forth as the noise of the taxicabs and trucks on the road became his silence for concentration.

The more he observes the counting second above people's heads, the more he's convinced that he's living in a simulation or probably having a nightmare after crying his heart out yesternight.

But the unknown sprouts curiosity to the beholder. He kept searching amongst the seas of civilians until he found an old woman standing near the pedestrian sign.

Her remaining seconds have at least 3 digits, the same as Brina's condition. However, her remaining time surely is nigh zero, exactly at 110 seconds or roughly a minute and half a second.

Elyon sat near Brina and told her, "Look at that old woman there. She has exactly 109 seconds right now in real-time. Just so you know, I'm suing you and your family along with accomplices who made my day worse if this is a big joke."

His tone was serious and intimidating, Brina simply chuckled, shaking her head saying, "I'll be your guest. And if this is real, you're to follow me without complaints."

"Deal." Elyon thought he would win a deal with the devil, proving him wrong once again.

After all, despite the strange turns of events that led him to Brina, predicting when a person is going to die is a straight fantasy.

It was never real, it was meant to be the work of imagination. Nevertheless, his power tells him a completely different story.

As the remaining 3 digits become 2, and the 2 digits turn into a countdown starting from ten, Elyon's heart began racing as he holds both his hands wishing his ability is never real.

As though the time goes fast, his sweat running on his cheeks; the old woman eventually ran out of seconds and the timer above her head disappeared, yet nothing happened to her. She's still perfectly in shape and nowhere near death.

"See? I'm out and you're going home, little girl—"

And just as he turned around, Elyon heard a loud explosion within his vicinity. And even though he hasn't looked over, he saw a giant truck on fire brandishing the pedestrian lane and crashing on the opposite building across the street.

The worst truth he witnessed was that the vehicle was unmanned. The driver was able to get out of the truck before crashing into the empty facility, and thus, the one who only died in the accident was the old woman herself.

Soon the echoing silence was filled by the blaring siren, unable to grasp his powers are real and there's nothing he could do than accept his frightening ability.

Grabbing his hair and kneeling on the rough pavement, Elyon started shaking uncontrollably. He almost snapped out of his sanity but Brina patted his back and tried waking his fading consciousness.

"Wake up, you i***t! I already told you that your power is real! You are a Fantasm just like me so if you want to live, follow me right now! Because there are far scarier abilities than what you have."

Doubts clearing away his clouded perception about the world, Elyon had reached the first level of enlightenment and followed Brina in their impending countdown, hoping he could survive the game.