Blinded By The End
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The first thing that struck me about the new world was how quiet it seemed. I’d always lived in cities, so this might not have been a big deal to anyone else, but for someone who grew up on farms, hearing birdsong and crickets chirping at night had become commonplace.
In fact, I didn’t even notice their absence until they were gone. Now there was only silence—the kind of quiet you get when an entire city goes dark overnight. It wasn’t just my ears that noticed; it felt like everything around us was dead silent.
Even our footsteps sounded hollow as we walked through the empty streets. There weren’t any signs of life anywhere nearby: no cars or people walking down the street, nothing moving except for us. And yet despite all those things being absent from view, we could still feel them out here in the open air.
We knew something was wrong with this place because its very emptiness screamed at us. But what? What had happened to everyone else? Where did everybody go? How long ago had it occurred? Was there anything left alive besides me and Kieli? Had I really gotten rid of her by myself without realizing it…?
I couldn’t shake off these questions running around inside my head while I wandered aimlessly along the deserted street. My feet kept getting caught in holes dug into the pavement, which made each step harder than the last…but eventually I managed to find my way back home.
When I got there, though, the house was completely empty again. No one was around, not even Lotte, and neither she nor anybody else answered my calls. She must’ve taken the car somewhere before coming over to help me clean up after the fire started—or maybe she took off earlier today, thinking I wouldn’t be able to make it home alone.
If I hadn’t known better, I would probably have said that nobody’s been living here since then. This whole time, I thought I was doing okay keeping track of where Kieli went, but now I realized I’d never actually seen her leave. That meant she was still around somewhere. Somewhere nearby. Maybe right outside the door. All I needed to do was keep looking.
“Kieli?”
As soon as I stepped onto the porch, I heard a faint voice calling out behind me. “Hey, wait!”
It came from inside the house. So I followed the sound. A few seconds later, I found Kieli standing near the entranceway. Her face looked pale and tired. As usual, she was wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans. The sleeves of both pieces of clothing were rolled up almost past her elbows, revealing the thin bandages wrapped around her arms.
They matched perfectly with the black tank top worn under her shirt, making her look like she was dressed in funeral attire.
She turned toward me slowly, her eyes narrowed slightly. “Where are we going?”
“Huh? Oh…” I suddenly remembered why we were here. “…We’re heading to your parent’s house.”
Her expression darkened noticeably. She opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped herself. After a moment, she asked quietly, “Why?”
“Because we need to check on them,” I told her simply.
After another pause, she gave a small nod. Then she reached out and grabbed my hand tightly.
When I glanced down at our joined hands, I saw that hers were shaking.
There was no reason for me to hesitate. Not anymore. Just like with everything else in this strange world, once I decided to do it, I could take care of whatever problem stood between us. With Kieli holding tight to my hand, we set off together toward the end of town.
This time, it wasn’t raining. The sun was shining brightly overhead, casting bright light across the empty road ahead of us. We walked side by side silently. I guess that was the best way to describe it. We didn’t talk much; we didn’t even speak to each other. We just walked along in complete silence.
But somehow, it felt less lonely than when I used to walk around alone. Somehow, it felt more natural.
Maybe it was because every single person who lived here had died. Or maybe it was because there was absolutely nothing left alive around us. Either way, it was peaceful. Like the peace of death itself.
Eventually, we arrived at my parents’ house. We climbed the stone steps leading up to the front gate, and then passed through the opening into the yard.
My dad always liked tending his garden, and he worked hard to make sure it stayed beautiful year-round. He pruned plants carefully and watered them regularly, so the flowers blooming everywhere looked fresh and healthy.
But now, the whole area surrounding the house was covered with brown patches of dried grass, and weeds sprouted thickly among the flower beds. The lawn mower was lying abandoned in the corner of the backyard.
The vegetable patch had withered away completely, leaving only bare dirt and scattered rocks behind. Everything around us seemed lifeless and dead—except for one thing: the house itself.
The first floor was filled with the same furniture and belongings that belonged there, exactly as they’d been the day before yesterday. It was all in perfect condition, too. Even if someone had come to rob us blind or kill us for money, none of their efforts would ever result in any kind of change to what was already here.
Nothing would happen to the objects of everyday life. There was no room for anyone to hide anything here, either.
On the second floor, however, things weren’t quite the same story. In place of the familiar rooms we’d grown accustomed to seeing over the years, a dark, ominous presence loomed. Every last item of furniture lay strewn about haphazardly, broken, and discarded.
Drawers hung open, doors swung wide, and pictures fell from walls. Bookshelves were toppled, and tables were overturned. The windows were smashed inward and boarded up with planks of wood, sealing themselves shut against the outside world.
The carpeting was ripped free from its runners and tossed aside, exposing the wooden floors underneath. And above all, an overwhelming stench filled the air, mingling with the lingering scent of smoke and ash.
I knew without having to see that this was where the fire started. The blaze must have spread quickly through the entire building due to the high concentration of combustible materials inside. When it finally burned out, it left nothing behind except a pile of charred debris.
And yet…the smell remained.
If you closed your eyes, it smelled like home. If you tried really hard to imagine yourself back there again, you might be able to convince yourself that everything was still fine. That’s how strong that odor was.
It was enough to drive anyone crazy.
Kieli pulled her hand tighter around mine as we approached the house. Her knuckles shone white under the sunlight. A chill ran up my spine. The air around us felt heavy and oppressive. As soon as we stepped foot onto the porch, I heard Kieli let out a soft cry of pain. Instantly, I regretted not bringing some sort of medicine with me.
I squeezed her hand, trying to comfort her, but she wouldn’t look at me. Instead, tears began welling up in the corners of her eyes. I couldn’t tell if they came from fear or sadness. My stomach turned over uncomfortably at the sight.
“Let’s go.” I gently nudged Kieli forward. This was the right decision, after all. If we just kept going, eventually we’d reach the end of town. There was nowhere else for us to turn for help. At least, there shouldn’t be anywhere in this world.
We made our way up the stairs into the hallway. The door on the far wall stood slightly ajar, and we pushed it open farther until it creaked loudly and swung shut behind us. The sound echoed throughout the house, filling my ears with echoes of destruction and despair.
The first thing I saw was my mother’s bedroom doorway. She hadn’t slept in there since Father left four months ago. Now it was completely destroyed—completely gone. All that was left was a gaping hole in the middle of the room, through which we could see my father’s study down below.
His desk had been reduced to ashes; even his bookshelves had been consumed by flames. The ceiling above him was blackened and cracked, and the wallpaper was scorched to pieces. The only other thing remaining intact was the large mirror hanging beside the window, reflecting the remains of the house with a ghastly light.
As I stared at it, memories flashed across my mind—memories of the past few days spent with Mother and Father. How happy they both had been during those times together…and how sad they’d become afterward.
Father had begun spending more time away from home lately, working late hours in his office. He said he wasn’t feeling very well, and that he needed to work extra hard to get the company back on track. But then when Mother found out about it, she got worried and decided to take care of him herself.
For a while, things seemed like they were getting better between them again, but then something happened—something that neither of us could understand. Their relationship broke apart once more, and now they hardly spoke anymore. They never fought or argued, though.
Just the opposite: they’d always acted perfectly friendly toward each other whenever we met them in passing. We didn’t know why they hated being with one another so much.
That was probably because they did hate it.
They were hiding their feelings deep down inside of themselves, pretending that everything was okay. And they must have known that sooner or later, they would hurt each other terribly. It was like watching someone walk off a cliff, knowing full well what was waiting for them on the ground below.
Even if they screamed and pleaded with you to stop them, no matter how many times you shouted, “Don’t do it!” you couldn’t make them listen. You can only watch helplessly as they fall to their doom.
My parents’ relationship had reached that point long before I ever arrived here in this world. No wonder they looked so miserable every day.
Now all that remained was a heap of rubble where the bed should’ve been. In front of the fireplace, a huge pool of blood had formed, spreading slowly outward in concentric circles from the center.
The smell of smoke grew stronger as we moved deeper into the house. The walls shook violently, and several small fires sparked up around us, burning fiercely against the thick layer of dust. The floorboards groaned beneath our feet as we walked through the rooms, and the windows shattered along with them.
This is bad. Something terrible has happened here.
There was a loud crackle as we passed by one of the doors leading further into the house. When I opened it, a blast of heat hit me square in the face. Flames roared up high into the sky, and the fire spread rapidly through the entire house. The roof collapsed under its weight, sending sparks flying everywhere. Everything caught on fire immediately.
“Hurry…” Kieli whispered hoarsely. She clutched her chest tightly, breathing shallow breaths and shivering visibly, and stumbled backward. I hurriedly grabbed hold of her arm and guided her forward. I wanted to hurry ahead without looking back, but I knew that was impossible. I forced myself to keep moving, step by agonizing step.
A strange sensation tugged at the back of my neck, making my scalp tingle. I felt an intense pressure building up somewhere nearby—a sort of ominous presence that made me want to run.
It was coming closer. Closer and closer…
I took a quick glance behind us, but I didn’t see anything unusual. A gust of wind blew in through the broken window, stirring up a cloud of dust and debris around us, obscuring my view. I closed my eyes tight and tried to calm myself as best I could.
Then I turned back around and kept walking. There was still something wrong here. I just had a really strong sense that some kind of evil power lay right over my shoulder.
Then suddenly, the air exploded with a deafening roar. Dust and dirt rained down upon us from the ceiling, covering my face and blinding my vision completely. It stung my skin, causing tiny cuts to form wherever the particles touched.
My hair whipped wildly around me; I couldn’t even breathe properly. All I heard was a dull ringing sound in my ears, and my heart pounded loudly within my rib cage.
When I finally managed to open my eyes again, I saw a dark shadow looming above me.
A black dragon stood tall and proud atop the pile of rubble blocking our path. Its wings stretched wide enough to block out the sun overhead, casting the whole room into darkness. It breathed a torrent of flames directly onto the top of the door, setting the wooden frame alight instantly.
As soon as the flames started licking at the edges of the wood, the creature let loose a bellow that sent tremors running all throughout my body.
Its voice echoed eerily across the ruins of the house.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Kieli’s scream tore through the chaos like knife-piercing flesh. She clamped both hands over her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her terrified gaze searched frantically for escape routes in every direction until she spotted the narrow opening in the wall behind me.
Without hesitation, she dashed toward it. But when I called after her, there was no response. I ran quickly to catch up with her, but she was already gone. The next thing I knew, I was staring straight into the monster’s blazing red eyes.
The beast snarled menacingly, then lifted its head higher than I’d ever seen before. I watched in horror as it began descending towards me, ready to swallow me whole.
Just at that moment, a sudden burst of light blinded me.
An instant later, a sharp pain shot through my side.
I fell to the ground hard and rolled over a few times, trying desperately to get away from the beast.
That wasn’t what hurt though. What really burned me inside was knowing that my only chance at survival would be if I somehow got Kieli to safety before the dragon attacked. And yet, I couldn’t move a single muscle. Every nerve ending seemed paralyzed, leaving me unable to do anything except lie helplessly on the ground.
No! No way. I can’t lose her. Not now. Please don’t leave me alone again…
My mind reeled with despair as I struggled to find any trace of strength left in me. If this were another game, maybe I could have summoned my avatar to help me, or used some special skill to defeat the enemy. That’s how video games always worked anyway. But in reality, nothing came to save me from my fate but the memory of those words: “You’re not dead.”
But even they weren’t enough to give me the courage to stand up and fight back against death itself. In fact, all I did was close my eyes tighter and pray silently for the end.
***
At first, all I could hear was the roaring of the flames. I couldn’t tell where the noise was coming from exactly, but it sounded very far off. Was I lying on my back? Or was I sitting upright? Either way, whatever position I found myself in felt uncomfortable and unfamiliar to me.
And so I opened my eyes slowly.
I must’ve been knocked unconscious by the fall because everything looked different than I remembered. Instead of walls covered in splintered boards and shattered glass, everything around me was white. White plaster, whitewashed bricks, and pure-white sheets hung from the ceiling. Everything was painted in shades of cream and ivory. It almost reminded me of being inside a giant eggshell.
There were other people moving about too, their voices echoing softly in the distance. Were they talking to each other? Did they know I was awake?
I waited patiently for them to come over and check on me, but nobody approached. After a while, I decided to try calling out to anyone who might be nearby.
“Hello?”
Still no one answered. I repeated my call several more times, but no one replied. At least I had the presence of mind to keep my voice low enough that it wouldn’t wake everyone else up.
After a minute or two passed without an answer, I became convinced that nobody was going to show themselves anytime soon. Then just as I was starting to panic, someone suddenly appeared right beside me.
It was a girl wearing a blue dress—a young lady with long black hair pulled back into twin tails. A pair of glasses perched upon her nose, giving her face a scholarly look. She wore a serious expression as she peered down at me intently.
She didn’t seem angry or upset, which relieved me somewhat. Perhaps she hadn’t heard me calling out either.
As I tried to sit up, she reached forward to steady me with both hands.
“Who are you?” I asked hesitantly, still wary about the stranger.
The woman smiled slightly and shook her head gently. “Don’t worry. You haven’t done anything wrong,” she said quietly, gazing directly into my eyes. “All will become clear once we talk.”
Then she turned her attention back to something behind me and spoke loudly enough for me to overhear. “Hey! Where is he?!”
A man stepped out from the shadows of a corner in front of us and bowed deeply. He was dressed rather casually in worn-out work clothes like he’d spent his entire life working outside under the sun. His skin had a healthy tan, making him appear younger than I expected.
The lines of his jaw were strong, and there were hints of gray in his dark brown hair. Despite appearing much older than the girl standing next to me, the two of them shared a striking resemblance.
“He went that way!” the man called out toward the direction he pointed. “We need to hurry!”
“Righto. Let’s go then.” With that, the woman began walking briskly ahead of me. As she moved past, the man walked alongside me to guide me along. We followed the sound of their footsteps until eventually arriving at a large room filled with beds lined up neatly on either side of the hall.
All of them were occupied, and most of the women in the beds seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Some of them even held babies in their arms. There were also several small children playing together near a table piled high with food set out for dinner that night.
When we arrived at the end of the hallway, the door leading out onto the balcony was open wide. Beyond it lay a scene straight out of hell; the sky above glowed red, and fire raged across the ground below. Flames licked up through holes in the roofs of what looked like houses made entirely of wood, and smoke billowed into the air in thick clouds.
People ran frantically here and there, trying desperately to put out the fires. One man grabbed hold of a little girl by the hand and dragged her away from danger before hurrying after others carrying buckets full of water.
Another man took a deep breath and dove into the raging inferno, rolling around in the middle of the flames to extinguish them. They were all fighting hard to save lives, but it wasn’t going to be easy. Most likely, many would perish before this whole ordeal was over.
In spite of how dire things looked, none of the people rushing around paid any real attention to the newcomers. Their faces were drawn tight in fear and anger, not relief or gratitude. No one greeted us when we entered, nor did they stop to ask if we needed help. In fact, they barely spared us a second glance as they hurried off to deal with whatever crisis was currently unfolding.
The man guiding me pushed the door closed as soon as we stepped out onto the balcony, blocking my view of the devastation beyond. The heat emanating from the burning buildings was so intense that I could feel it searing against the skin beneath my clothing.
Even though I knew better, I instinctively wanted to cover myself up, but the man holding onto my arm stopped me cold and gave me a firm shake of his head.
“No time for that now,” he muttered, staring fixedly down at the chaos far below. “Stay close to me.”
He guided me along the edge of the balcony until we came to a wooden fence surrounding a garden patch. From our vantage point, I had a perfect view of the town spread out before me. It was quite a bit larger than I thought it would be based on the size of the building, with several rows of houses lining each street stretching into the distance.
The End