Night passed strangely quickly over Hell's Paradise Island.
Darkness had swallowed the horizon hours ago, yet as midnight deepened, the black surrounding Paradise became preternaturally complete; it gathered over ocean and island alike until the entire smug little sanctuary of monsters, ancient families and glittering wealth appeared sealed beneath a primordial dome, cut away from the rest of the Earth Realm by nothing more remarkable than night.
Only the cities resisted with towers of glass burned with millions of lights. Highways wound across the island in radiant rivers, and distant districts shimmered against the dark like constellations mortals had dragged from heaven and rebuilt according to more profitable architecture.
But suddenly every light disappeared.
The darkness did not spread from one district to another or even buildings flickered and no rolling blackout crossed the island in convenient stages but Paradise Island suffered an instantaneous extinction of light.
