Lumas - Prologue

There is nothing more peaceful or distressing than complete silence. Lumas felt the latter as he sat alone in his house. The night was calm; the sounds of branches against the window sill, sounds so normal and therefore comforting, were greatly missed in their absence. There were no dangers or threats present in the house: The doors were safely locked, his parents were sleeping soundly in their bedroom, his brother dormant in the basement, and all of his comforts were within reach; somehow, this only managed to worry Lumas more. He could not explain it, even to himself, but he felt as though there was an ominous threat hovering over his head, just out of sight, out of reach, but still ever-present and, frankly, disturbing.

In an attempt to escape the torment of silence, he strode to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door only to listen to the hum of the fridge. This lessened some of the worry; he sighed heavily, plodded to the couch to retrieve a pillow then trudged back to the fridge before collapsing onto the floor, breathing deeply as he let his racing heart gradually slow down. It was the only way he was going to get any sort of rest, and he embraced it, sinking quickly and deeply into sleep’s haven.

Such was Lumas’ life before the disaster, and he was not the only one. Jake, residing in the house three doors down, found his own room somehow frightening, and slept on the couch, disguising his preference for the couch as mere exhaustion from video games and the occasional summer homework. Anne tossed and turned furiously in her sleep, plagued by nightmares of someone (who wore her face for, even though it was only a dream, Anne couldn’t believe that that "someone" was her) fighting – and losing – against strange monsters and demons. Anne awoke each and every day with the image of her chest impaled by a creature’s claw or talon seared into her mind.


For those reasons, perhaps these three were relieved, maybe even glad that something of such a nature to happen, for their irrational fears and trepidations were replaced by more real, logical fears.