"DESMOND! Do I have to remind you to get the files from the cabinet?!" shouted a pudgy, white guy from inside a glass cubicle. He was short in height, had a big, black moustache on his face and was bald - totally bald. In short, you could say that he looked like the average boss of a company who liked to bully his co-workers.
"This little freak. I'll kill him one day." Desmond thought, sitting at his office desk, trying to finish the assignment he was given. Desmond was a fairly tall guy, about 5'11" in height. His pitch black hair was always kind of messy, and his skin color, while not white, was pretty fair. But his most striking feature were the eyes - deep, red eyes with a glint of satisfaction and happiness in them. He was a pretty extroverted guy and had lots of friends both in his office and outside of it. Hated by none and liked by many - that was who Desmond was... well, aside from his boss.
"I'm bringing them, Sir!" Desmond replied, gritting his teeth as he walked into the cubicle, holding some files and papers in his hand. Desmond hated his boss, not because he was very strict or anything, but because that guy kept reminding everyone in the building who the boss was from time to time, randomly coming and shouting at people or firing employees for absolutely no reason. The only reason Desmond was still working in the company was because the higher-ups were pretty pleased with his work and had allowed him a high salary, unfortunately making him the target of his boss's outrage in the recent times.
"When I tell you to bring me something, it must be done as soon as possible!" the boss shouted, puffing like a fish.
"Sorry, Sir." Desmond replied, not a bit sorry about it.
"Go! Get out of my sight!"
With that, Desmond gladly walked out of the cubicle, relieved that he wouldn't have to look at his boss's face for some time. After all, without the guy constantly shouting in everyone's faces, the building was always soothingly calm, with just the rhythmic sounds of keyboard keys being pressed and mouse buttons being clicked. There were a lot of positive things around, and Desmond decided to focus on them instead of a shouting geezer.
"I really need a break from all this." Desmond thought as he went into the office kitchen for a cup of coffee. Making one for himself from the instant coffee machine, he took his drink and went towards one of the balconies of the building.
"Time to get some fresh air." he sighed as he opened the door of the balcony. As if coming to his comfort, a soothing warmth and a cool breeze greeted him instantly. The blue sky, the majestic clouds, the air filled with the fragrance of fresh fruits - all of this instantly uplifted Desmond's spirits. He took a deep breath, absorbing the nature's energy, and when he opened his eyes and looked at the vastness and beauty of the place he lived in, he couldn't help but smile as a bright ray of hope gleamed in the atmosphere.
The Nation of Light - the grandest of man-made paradises on Earth was considered the epitome of virtue and goodness. It was just a bit smaller that Greenland, but it was a nation stronger and more beautiful than any other in the world. Considered heaven on land by many, it was a place of harmony and togetherness, where every human was like a brother or sister to the next (Of course there were some exceptions... like the boss). Unlike in mostly every other place where man was trying to eradicate nature for their own gains, these people actually cared for mother nature and looked after her like their own children. The lush green trees, the soothing wind flowing around, the aroma of spices and fruits blowing across the entire country was enough to turn anyone's bad day into a joyful one. Crimes were almost nonexistent, and brotherhood was permanent among the civilians. Every day was a new day here, and every moment felt like pure bliss.
In this pure and sacred country lived Desmond Hunt, one of the good people in this vast land. He was just like everybody else - satisfied with his life, happy with his friends, grateful to his parents and and ever devoted to his wife, Helen and his son, Peter. Aged 28, he was a young man with no special ambitions whatsoever. However, no matter what he did, he was always aiming to give his best in it and make it a success no matter what. With Helen by his side all the time, Desmond was the definition of a happy and satisfied man.
As he stood on at the balcony, sipping his instant coffee and admiring the view outside, he heard some footsteps behind him, slowly approaching in his direction. Desmond didn't even have to turn around to realize who that was.
"You're up here pretty early. I don't think boss yelled at you today." he said, shrugging his shoulders while still looking outside.
"Come on, man. Do I need a reason to cheer my depressed friend up?" the man approaching him asked, smiling from ear to ear.
"You really had to lie about depression, huh?" Desmond grumbled as he turned around to face the guy, smiling while doing so. Why wouldn't he smile? The guy standing in front of him was his best friend, Andrew Watson.
"Come on, bro. You know I'm telling the truth." Andrew said, laughing.
"Far from it. Anyways, why are you here?" Desmond asked.
"I got bored from work, dude. I hate it here."
"You hate work anywhere." Desmond muttered under is breath.
"What was that?" Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing." Desmond replied with a shrug.
"Anyway, wanna hangout after work today? I wanna go to the arcade."
"Nobody else free?"
"Yeah, but I wanna go with you. You're a gaming nerd."
Desmond narrowed his eyes at that comment, but decided not to say anything.
"So... are we going?" Andrew asked.
"I'll have to ask Helen about it." Desmond replied.
"Man, do you have to ask her about everything now?"
"Pretty much." Desmond said with a shrug, "She may have made some kinda plans for the evening. How would I know?"
"You're just afraid of your wife."
"So are you." Desmond said with a smile more fake than that of politicians.
Andrew frowned at him, to which Desmond smiled even more. But their banter wasn't meant to last for long, as their big, pudgy boss came stomping towards them both, his face looking like a red , ripe cherry.
"WHY ARE YOU TWO WASTING YOUR TIME??!!" he shouted, enough to stun the two friends for quite a moment.
"Uhhhh....", Desmond tried, "w-we were just-"
"SPARE ME THE NONSENSE, KID! DIDN'T I GIVE YOU A JOB?!"
"I finished it, sir. I brought the files."
"Well, is this office so well functioning that there's actually NO JOB FOR YOU HERE?!"
Desmond just gulped in fear, completely aware that this guy was capable of giving him enough work to make him stay up all night.
"AND YOU, Mr. Andrew. Don't you have any work to do?" the boss asked.
"Yes, Mr. Robertson. I just came for some coffee." Andrew replied, clearly unnerved.
"Did you, by any chance, stay up all night or something?"
"No, sir. I didn't."
"THEN WHY DO YOU NEED COFFEE??!!"
"Jeez. Can someone shut this guy up?" Desmond thought in his head, annoyed with the constant shouting. He saw the HR Manager, Alasandra Rogers creep up behind the balcony, peeking to see as if she was hiding from a colossal danger (which she was).
"Come to me after this." she mouthed looking at Desmond, then immediately ran away, escaping into her desk.
"This woman has the most absurd timings in all history." Desmond thought as he kept standing in front of Mr. Robertson, getting his ears blasted into bits by all the shouting. He shot a look at Andrew, and was immediately in a struggle to hold his laughter. Andrew's head was clearly spinning, and it looked as if his eyes were losing focus because of the boss's direct onslaught. He basically looked like someone who was hit in the head thrice and made to sit underwater immediately.
"I gotta get out of here." Desmond thought, then he began...
"Sir, should I go to the HR and-"
"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!" Mr. Robertson shouted. Never in his life had Desmond been more pleased with his boss's yelling.
"Alright, sir. I'll be going." Desmond said, faking courtesy perfectly as he said those words and immediately ran for Alasandra, hoping to get some work before Mr. Robertson spawned in front of him again. He left the balcony swiftly, leaving behind a dizzy and stunned Andrew at the mercy of Mr. Robertson.
"You backstabber. Just wait." Andrew thought to himself as he continued to endure shouts and yells, unable to move and regretting ever joining the company in the first place.
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Alasandra's desk was as neat as an official desk could possibly be. The papers were arranged neatly in paper racks, there was a whole set of paperweights kept in order by size, a laptop on a laptop stand with no wires hanging around like a mess and a small board on one side of the table that had sticky notes attached to them, each one about a deadline or a pending work. It was the kind of desk people would see in advertisements. Heck, there was even a small sphere that had water running inside it, along with fish patterns on the sides that glowed at night.
"Who is this woman? Some kind of furniture setter?" Desmond thought as soon as he reached her desk. The thing about Alasandra's desk was that no matter how many times you saw it, it was always a surprise since the desks of other employees looked as if they were a battlefield. Alasandra though, was missing at the moment, and Desmond was slowly getting impatient about it.
"Where is she now?" he thought as he considered the option of calling her.
"I'm so sorry! I'm coming!" said a voice from behind him. Desmond turned towards the voice to find Alasandra running towards him, holding some papers in her hand.
"Great timing. I was considering going back to my desk." Desmond replied, kind of bummed out that he had to wait for some time.
"Yeah, yeah. I had to keep my reports on Mr. Robertson's desk. You know what he does when things don't go his way."
"I just experienced it."
Alasandra smiled as if she took pity upon Desmond, and he didn't like it one bit.
"You're looking at me as if you just found out I'm homeless." he grumbled, "Hurry up and give me the next assignment before that fat balloon comes back."
Alasandra nodded, then sat back on her desk, looking through some files and paperwork, trying to find the jobs that were yet to be done in Desmond's field of work.
"Let's see... hmm... there's a debugging job still left to do. This might keep you occupied till evening. Still wanna do it?" Alasandra asked.
"I mean, what else is new?" Desmond replied, used to working for long hours.
"Then this is the job." she said, giving him a file, "There was this project the company was working on. But the program has a few visual bugs. Also, there's something bothering with the data saving mechanism of the project. I need you to fix them for me. If you do it cleanly, I'll even recommend a bonus in salary."
"How much are we talking in bonus?"
"1K."
"Dollars?"
"Dollars."
"US?"
"Yep."
"Deal."
Without a moment's hesitation, Desmond took the file and the USB drive that was inside it and went towards his desk, flexing his fingers. As he walked on though, he passed Andrew's desk and was surprised that he still hadn't come back from his torture session, which kind of bothered him a bit.
"That's odd." he thought to himself. Usually, if Andrew came late from one of Mr. Robinson's sessions...
The day would always go bad...
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"So, are you buying any sweets today? You promised Pete that you'd buy him ice cream." a voice said through the earpiece of Desmond's phone. It was already evening time, and the office hours were over. Desmond and Andrew were standing right outside the office building, with Andrew trying to convince him into a gaming session at the arcade.
"Andrew invited me to a gaming session, and he's bummed out here right next to me." Desmond replied in a helpless tone. To be frank, Andrew looked as if he had been homeless for 3 years, with his face all tired and his eyes devoid of any joyfulness or positivity. Considering how Mr. Robertson's onslaughts usually affected people, he got away with just some minor discomforts.
"What do you mean, gaming session? No gaming sessions for you! Come back as soon as possible." the voice from the earpiece snapped.
"Are you actually my wife? You're sounding like a bully at this point." Desmond grumbled, trying to sound disappointed in front of Andrew.
"I DON'T CARE! COME BACK FAST, AND BRING SOME ICE CREAM AS WELL!"
The voice from the earpiece was so loud that even Andrew lost his breath for a few moments. He looked at Desmond in disbelief, who just shrugged back at him.
"Fine. Why do you have to yell?" Desmond asked, acting annoyed.
"If you don't come back in 20 minutes, no food for you!"
With that, the call immediately ended, leaving the two men in utter silence, the wind suddenly whistling a bit stronger than normal.
"I didn't know your wife had a side like that. I thought she was the shy type of person." Andrew admitted.
"Man, you actually thought you can understand a woman? You, out of all people? That's some crazy work." Desmond said, chuckling.
"Hey, even I have a wife."
"Sure, buddy."
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"
Andrew's face was basically red hot in annoyance, and somehow that was even funnier to Desmond.
"I'm going home. You can cry here all you want." Desmond said as he turned around to leave, desperate to get home as fast as he could.
"I'm not giving up. We're gonna go on a gaming night someday, okay?!" Andrew shouted towards his back. Desmond just waved back as he walked towards his vehicle, not giving that sentence much attention as he took his phone out again. Popping an earbud in his right ear and wearing a helmet over it, he immediately dialed Helen's number and started the call. In just 2 rings, she picked up. Contrary to what was heard through the earpiece just moments ago, this time the voice was really sweet and caring.
"Hello, Darling." Helen said, her voice filled with happiness and love.
"Your voice acting skills really need to be studied." Desmond admitted, chuckling to himself.
"Yeah, you can do that later. Pete said he wants Chocolate Chip flavored ice cream."
"What about you? Which one?"
"Hmmmm.... I thinking of having a Black Forest Pastry. What about you?"
"I don't know... I'll have the same too, I think."
"Okay, Dez. Come back soon, Sweetheart."
"Rushing right now!"
With that, the call ended, and Desmond started his bike, riding out of the parking area of the building.
"Alright. Time to hit the bakery." he thought as he rode into the evening environment, eager to go back to his family, his comfort space.
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"Hey! Welcome back." Helen said sweetly as soon as she saw him open the door of the house. Desmond's house was a 4-side duplex with a large lawn in front and a garden just as big in the back. The house was white, with the window borders painted black in color. He had a black Lexus ES 300h sitting in the car garage, while he used a Yamaha FZ-S to get to his office. His house was one of a kind - simple, classy and elegant. While everyone tried to make their house more colorful and vibrant, Desmond chose to keep his home natural and simple.
Helen came skipping forward and hugged him tightly, with Desmond happily patting her head. Helen was just a 5 feet tall, pleasant woman. She had a brown complexion and chubby cheeks that Desmond always played with. She was pretty slim and had a good posture. Her eyes were black and her hair was of medium length. Like Desmond, she was also academically gifted, the only difference being that Helen was actually devoted to studies while Desmond only tried to earn up to a certain percentage.
"Where's the kid?" Desmond asked, smiling at her. Helen looked at him and smiled back.
"He's been jumping around the house ever since you agreed to buy him ice cream. He's kinda hard to control nowadays."
Before Desmond could even say anything, a little boy came bounding towards him from inside the house.
"PAPA!!!" he shouted as he jumped towards his dad.
"There's my little ball of energy!" Desmond said happily as he grabbed a running Peter and lifted him off the ground, holding him in his arms.
"Did you bring me ice cream?" Pete asked, trying to confirm whether Desmond actually brought him some.
"Yes I did, kiddo. How about you? Did you give much trouble to the teachers?"
"I don't know. The teacher kept telling me not to talk. Why can't I talk though when I earn a 100%?"
Desmond gulped, considering what he'd have to hear in the next parents-teachers meeting. He wasn't in a position to scold Pete either, since he was just like that when he was a kid.
"Just control your mouth a bit, kiddo. You should be fine." Desmond said, trying to sound optimistic.
"Not gonna happen. You're the father." Helen muttered to herself.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Desmond asked.
"Nothing. Let's get inside. Pete, let go of your dad. Are you gonna make him sleep outside?!"
With a childish groan, Peter let go of Desmond, who just smiled and ruffled his hair as he stepped inside, keeping the ice cream inside the fridge before drinking a glass of water from the kitchen.
"Well, I better get freshen up. Can't eat with a sweaty body." Desmond thought as he walked towards his wardrobe for a new set of clothes to wear after a bath.
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"Eat your veggies, Pete! You said you wanna be a good gamer. Well, they eat veggies for good and healthy eyes." Helen said, trying to convince Peter to eat some spinach.
"But they're so bad." Peter complained, making a face about it.
"If you finish the veggies, I will play a game of carrom with you." Desmond offered. Without even wasting a second, Peter scarfed down the entire potion of spinach that was on his plate.
"Careful, you'll choke on your food, sweetie." Helen said, patting his head as she gave him a glass of water. She looked at Desmond and smiled, who smiled back at her.
"So, so, so! When are we playing?!" Peter asked, suddenly full of energy and excitement.
"Let me finish my food, kiddo. Then I'll play with you." Desmond said, patting Peter's cheeks.
"YAY! YAY! YAY!" Peter shouted, jumping around in happiness.
"PETE! Stop jumping around!" Helen shouted, giggling as she grabbed Peter and hugged him from behind, trying to contain him within her arms. Desmond laughed as well, finishing his food as fast as possible.
"This kid is crazy." Desmond said, trying not to choke on his food as he laughed.
"Well, he's just like his dad." Helen said, still giggling and laughing as all three of them lay right there, having fun among each other.
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Desmond was busy washing the dishes in the kitchen after their dinner, thinking about buying a few necessary things online.
"Pete's carrom game comes first, and then I can sit down peacefully and buy the things Helen had mentioned. I have to buy those new gaming headphones too, but how do I hide them from Pete? There's also the bracelet I have to buy for Helen, and she shouldn't know about it. Gosh, there's so much to do!" Desmond thought to himself as he washed one of the utensils in the sink.
As he was immersed in such thoughts, Helen came up behind him and hugged him, relaxing herself on him.
"You feeling sleepy or something? Pete will destroy you in carrom if you get sleepy mid-match." Desmond said, caressing her head.
"I'm not playing. I'll let you boys play this one. Besides, if I play, none of you will win anyway." Helen said in a voice filled with pride.
"Last time we played, you didn't manage to get a single coin." Desmond muttered.
"What was that?" Helen snapped.
"Nothing." Desmond replied, shrugging. Meanwhile, his attention drifted off to somewhere else. The television was still ON, and Peter wasn't the one watching it. The news channel was on, and the news reporter was saying things that were very confusing to Desmond...
"We've just got reports that the northern parts of our country have been attacked by some kind of modified humans. Right now, there is not much information about the situation, but all we can say is that there's a lot of chaos in The Silverfields. The local supermarket there has already been blown to smithereens, and witnesses say that they saw 3 or 4 people with red eyes and crimson energy flowing out of their body. While these could just be rumors or hallucinations of the victims, some of the people believe that it's an incursion from The Infected."
"The Silverfields?" Desmond thought, a bit unnerved. Silverfields was the area in which he lived, and the supermarket was not very far from his house. Putting the dishes aside, he went over to the living room to look at the television, eager to see what was the situation.
"Didn't she just say Silverfields? An attack here? An incursion?" Helen asked, confused as she went with her husband to learn more about what was going on. As both of them looked at the screen, the screen had switched and an on-site reporter was speaking from the supermarket about the situation...
"Yes, Shelly. The supermarket has been destroyed, but the supplies don't see to be damaged. Especially the food and drinks. Rest of the things have mostly been blown up, but the people are safe and no one has been harmed. However, there's a lot of damage to the buildings and the surroundings. It looks like there will be a lot of repairs, and a lot of money would probably be spe-"
Before the reporter on site could speak another word, more explosions followed at the back. Desmond just stared at the screen in disbelief as the reporter screamed, looking at the figure of a person walking out of the flames of explosions, his right hand shaped like that of a curved blade.
"What the heck is that?" Helen asked, utterly baffled. As if responding to her question, the lights of the house went out, and the house plunged into darkness and silence immediately.
"Mom! Lights!" Peter shouted, startled by the sudden outage.
"I know, Sweetie. Here, come to Mommy." Helen said, grabbing Peter and lifting him off, carrying him in her arms. Desmond though, was sure that the power outage wasn't normal. His house had a backup inverter, and it didn't kick in when the power went off.
"Something's not right. You two stay right here." Desmond said as he slowly walked towards the front door. Helen was walking right behind him, but Desmond silently motioned her to stay there and protect Peter. Helen nodded and stood there, keeping Peter tight in her arms.
"What exactly is going on? What's with these sudden occurrences?" Desmond thought as he reached the door. He stood right by the door, pressing his ear to it and trying to listen what was going on outside. All he could hear were faint explosions and some screams. Helen could see the worry on Desmond's face as she saw a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead.
"I-Is everything okay?" Helen asked. Desmond didn't respond, but he didn't have to either. As soon as she asked that question, something hit the door so hard that Desmond flew back towards his family and the door broke down, making Peter scream in fear.
"PAPA!!!!!!!!!"
Helen covered his eyes and held him even more tightly, because what came through the broken door was definitely not human, nor did it have any kind of good intentions. There were two wolves inside the house now, emitting shadow-like energy around them. They were black in color, with a few red patterns and scars on them like a design. Their eyes were completely red and bloodthirsty, looking for prey.
"What in the world even is that thing?" Desmond thought, getting back up on his feet. He grabbed a knife that was lying right beside him and held it tightly. He had no idea what the heck was going on, and had absolutely no clue of how those wolves ended up in his neighborhood. The perfect evening of his was suddenly turned into a paranormal experience...
And the shadows of the night were not hiding the flames of destruction...