9 Days Before [2nd Draft]

The Ninth Night

The cityscape bustled with shimmering lights, threads of rain pattering on the structure from their impact.

Vehicles of all types swarm the city streets, waving pools of water onto the sidewalks, flowering up on walking pedestrians holding up their umbrellas, while others hold up suit-cases for a sense of shelter as they scatter into buildings.

Construction workers buzz with efficiency as the rain combusts on their yellow safety helmets.

Within neighboring buildings, civilians hum with life, going about their nightly routine: playing games, reading books, watching television, or settling down for bed.

In a particularly large apartment building, the resident shifts through channels, landing on the news advising the storm's category, without much interest—they switch the channel; playing a movie.

They flop on their couch, getting comfortable as the rain pelts their large glass window towards the left of them, making a series of lines as the raindrops skid down.

Outside; the Tower sits in silence with the ambient pattering of rain, surrounding it with a veil of mystery, any individual peering at its silhouette could concur.

Within the tower, Eve works diligently on the project that her fever dream had instructed, hypnotically fixated with it, being detached from reality around her.

Deeper into the Tower, patients alike sit in an eerie silence engulfed by darkness—their eyes peeled open as they stare catatonically in the open darkness, seemingly lost within distant thoughts.

Panning outside, the storm shapes; intracloud lightning sheets the city with its illumination. The buildings shimmer, sparkling a rough reflection of the bolts, muffled thunder within the clouds stretches towards the landscape after the rolling lightning tails its end and another begins.
Cloud-to-cloud lightning swells, emitting a thunderbolt crashing down towards a rod on a building's rooftop, bursting with a loud crackle.

Rain accumulates to a rough downpour, the city sidewalks become bare, having citizens sheltering in their homes or supportive residences.

In the construction zone, workers are tagged to continue their business despite the growing storm, leaving a sense of frustration in their chest, accompanying grim expressions.
One of them stops to peer at the glowing clouds rippling with illumination, admiring one of nature's brutal beauties.

The worker squints their eyes, having a sort of haze to them—feeling a small lingering dread around them, they shake it off as one of their co-workers tugs at their shoulder bringing them back to work.

"It's annoying that we have to work in this weather!" The other man yells over the roar of rain.

"Just gotta suck it up new guy!" A crossing co-worker comes with more equipment, bringing its contents to a lift.
The new-comer sighs and keeps the rest of his complaints to himself, carrying on with their work.

Behind the flowing crew, a collection of intracloud lightning reverberates through the darkened sky, its colliding light displays distant trees of the forest.

Illumination frames a worsening concealment over the foliage with its thinner sheeted clouds spiriting over the city.

The trembling intracloud lightning priests, with flickers of bolts grasping onto the horizon.

Within the forest, there's a sickening pressure of lightning causing the surrounding area to be blanketed with its light, mimicking the portrait of sunlight.

Bolts hit the ground, projecting dirt particles into the air, the strike's crackle vibrates through the trees.

Moments of silence struck the area, yet lightning continues to turmoil above—not even the echoes of raindrops can be heard.