Nocturnal Eternity

Chapter 1: Lapse of Time

The quest for the end of the world began when I woke up on my doorstep. I remember it being a little blurry. I was on my face, butt up, looking like I fell down and was trying to get up.

I opened my eyes and rolled over. I stood up, groaning. My mind raced with dreams about a distant howling and a scream. "Ow, my neck is sore." I muttered to myself. It was only after a while I realized I was on my doorstep. I turned around, opened my door and walked in.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out. No answer. I yelled their names again. No answer. "Anyone know why I woke up on MY doorstep?" I paused. "Rory, just because you like to annoy me doesn't mean you can kick me out of my own house." I entered my sister's room. She wasn't there. I entered my parents room to see them missing as well.

Oh man, are they preparing for my birthday? I thought to myself. It would make sense. Whenever my birthday arrives, they randomly disappear to get stuff for my birthday. But they would atleast make Rory, my sister, stay home so I wouldn't get suspicious. What also didn't make sense was that it wasn't my birthday, so there must have been a different reason.

I entered the kitchen. They would usually leave me a note. Nope, nothing this time. I rushed outside to see if their car was still there. Then I remembered that I was in my own house and since I lived pretty far away from my family, they wouldn't have used a car to get here.

My memory was pretty messed up. I tried to remember what happened yesterday. "Uh, it was August 31st, my parents said they'd come to visit me the next day and then surprised me by coming yesterday itself."

I shook my head and checked my phone. I nearly dropped it from my hands, they were so numb. Also because I still felt really sleepy. It was 10:30AM, wow I woke up late again. It was October 1st. I didn't have any messages from my family, they usually leave me with something.

My eyes widened. October 1st? But it was August 31st yesterday. It should be September now. "Rory must have done something, there's no way I just slept through an entire month." I said out loud.

I brushed my teeth and hopped in the shower. Something was freaking weird, I could tell that much.

After I changed into some warm clothes, I pocketed my phone and went out, still feeling sleepy. When I stepped out of my front gate, I abruptly stopped. It felt as though I was coming out of trance. My drowsiness was dead gone; I felt wide awake. I turned around, facing my front yard. I blinked, feeling particularly weird. I shrugged off the feeling and walked away.

The neighborhood seemed to be completely deserted, which I found to be really bizzare, since it was always bustling with people talking and dogs barking and whatnot. It was almost never quiet. I went up to a house, a house belonging to the Hank family, and rang the doorbell. No one answered. After a while, I rang the doorbell again. No answer. I went to the back and saw that their garage was open and their car was gone. This was odd, as the Hanks never actually used their car (they just liked to show off about it) and they rarely exit their house.

Feeling like a intruder, I got out of their area and back on the street. But I just could not shake off the feeling that something was really wrong. So I went up to a few more houses and repeated the same procedure. No one answered.

After a while, I noticed it wasn't just the people who disappeared. It was the animals, too. I saw no dogs or cats on the streets nor did I hear any animal noises. Not a single bird chirped.

I returned to my house, wondering what the heck happened. Suddenly I heard a door open to my left. I turned my neck so fast it cracked. I ran towards the house.

The guy in question looked like he just woke up. He was wearing a crumpled shirt and a pair of beach shorts. He had smooth hair till his shoulders. He stepped outside, looking throughly confused and was messaging his neck.

"HEY!" I waved my hand at him.

He looked at me, as though I just dropped out of the sky before giving a broad smile and waving back, "Hello there."

I walked till I was face to face with him. My drowsiness returned. He had green eyes and skin so pale, he looked a little sick. He had black, messy hair, shiny for some reason. His eyes showed tiredness and drowsiness, just like me. He analysed me before saying, "You're Alex Walker, I suppose." He offered his hand

"How did you know?" I asked, shaking his hand.

"Oh, a few people came here yesterday, three, I think and asked where Alex Walker was staying. I'm Luke Scobell, by the way." He withdrew his hand.

"Nice meeting you, Scobell. How did you know where I was staying?"

Luke frowned a little before replying, "You stay next door, mate. We don't talk much though, do we? Come in?"

I walked through the door, "Thanks. What's wrong?"

"What?" He asked.

"No, you just looked a little confused earlier." I offered a smile.

"Oh, nothing. Atleast, I think it's nothing."

"What happened?"

"Well, for starters, I woke up on my doorstep. That was weird. When I went in the house and checked my phone, it said it was October 1st today."

My smile faded. "My phone showed that too. And it was my family that was visiting me yesterday. Today, I woke up,on my doorstep as well, to find that all of them are gone."

"They must've gone out somewhere."

"No, they usually leave me a note. Or a text. Nothing, this time."

"I'm more confused as to why my phone is showing today's date as October 1st. And why the neighborhood is quieter than a library. Man, all of this confusion is making me hungry." He walked in his kitchen, "Would you like something to eat?"

"No, thank you." I pulled out my phone, "I thought my sister changed the date and month in my phone, she usually does that kind of stuff. But the same thing happening with you....And you said you woke up on your doorstep as well?..Scobell?"

I took my eyes off the phone and onto Luke. He looked horror-struck. "What is it, Sco-"

But my question was immediately answered. I turned to where Luke was looking. All the shelves and cabinets were open and by the looks of it, everything inside was empty.

"My potato chips....Gone? WHO DARE HIJACK MY POTATO CHIPS!" Luke flipped the table over.

I screamed as he took a chair and waved it at my face screaming, "Why MY POTATO CHIPS?!!!"

He suddenly paused as though he just realized I was here. He then put the chair down, turning a light shade of pink. "Sorry.. Didn't mean to go all..nuclear."

"You have those bursts often?" I asked, grinning. "No, come on, it's fine."

"No, it's just I live alone and...Anyways, who ransacked my house?" He wondered aloud.

"Don't you have any valuables?" I asked.

His eyes widened and he rushed towards his room. He opened his cupboard, checked throughly and closed it. "Nothing missing. They just took my food?"

"That's freaking weird." I agreed with him. I clutched my stomach.

"Hungry?" Luke smiled. "Let me see if I can cook something up. I'm an excellent cook. Oh, can you check the refrigerator? Maybe something would be in there. Man, I'm so sleepy."

"Sure." I walked to the refrigerator. I wondered why Luke was so comfortable with me just walking about his house and checking the fridge, considering the fact that we met less than 5 minutes ago.

I opened the fridge and stared.

"Seabell?" I called out.

"It's Scobell."

"How much do you like pomegranates?"

"What?" He asked in a tone of surprise.

"Pomegranates..." I repeated, more to myself than him

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It feels so good to be back!!! I hope you guys like the first chapter. And I apologise if it seems a bit boring. I promise, it'll get much more adventurous after.