Black Equinox
Part 1
Hillburg was covered in darkness, further punctuating the lights bedazzling the streets and buildings like artificial stars. In between bouts of silence over the white noise of engine hums, the nightly police sirens sang like birds after the screeching bats that were the street racers’ tires. The walled city was less mundane than expected, but that gave the Lebbene family little discomfort from within their soundproof home.
The father, Andrew Lebbene, had other things to trouble his sleep. Namely, his job upstate that was resembling a pair of golden handcuffs more and more with each passing month, no thanks to the recent global events. For some time now, places all over the world have been besieged by an obscure enemy, only to completely vanish from maps soon after. Andrew didn’t know what was going on, but the thought of this foe breaching the city walls and threatening those he loved kept him restless in the dark… but motivated. If he could just build the right weapon, maybe the war would be won. Nestling into his wife Lavender’s embrace, he smiled softly and imagined a less disturbing peaceful field of tall golden grass just under a gray sky with scarlet clouds. An odd setting for a dream for sure, but Andrew just blamed it on the sleeping pills.
That was before he looked up and saw it- the black sun.
Andrew now remembers this dream from last year, before the terrors. As expected, a hatted tall and dark figure was watching him from about a chain away. Andrew starts to ask the stranger’s identity, but he found his throat to be too dry for to speak. A buzz echoes through the realm as the shadowy man approaches, increasing in volume and force with each step. Holding his throat in fearful confusion, Andrew attempts to flee the phantom, though only to freeze to the hat man’s red eyes.
The man shot awake with a gasp, and heavy breaths after. His hand remained on his throat until he spotted the source of the noise on his nightstand, his ringing work phone. Andrew groaned chagrined as he picked it up and read the caller ID. Only one person he knew would have the nerve to call him this early. “Good morning, Director,” Andrew greets with facetious merriment.
“Took you long enough to answer, Lebbene,” a gruff voice would respond. “It’s been three rings already.”
Andrew rubbed his eyes. “Apologies, Director...”
“Don’t give me that yet. Where is my weapon?” ‘Don’t give me that,’ he says. ‘My weapon.’ Andrew grimaced, daring not to express his annoyance in any other way. Ever since the scares, his employer’s gotten even pushier.
“I needed one more day sir, to… to work out the hang-ups.”
“I’ve got another hang-up in mind if you don’t have your project presented up here at six hundred stat.”
“But sir, it’s-”
“Irrelevant.”
“I-”
“I didn’t sacrifice my good night’s sleep to waste time on chit-chat Lebbene. Take another day out of your check.” And with that, the director hung up. Andrew sighed, before sliding out of the bed into his slippers and walking out the room. A frigid breeze pestered him on his way to his station, but that weighed less than the task of securing his pay under three hours.