Fantasy Withdrawn Salvation

[Rokku Hizori]

"In latest news, while the strange atmospheric effect continues to baffle scientists, a religious group has become more outspoken as to the sign that this is the End of Days. Steven Dailly is on scene of a service ho-“


Alex shut the t.v. off, tired of hearing more news about something that wasn't affecting anything. The moon had a new color. Other than decreased crime rates from brighter nights, there was nothing unusual going on. The cult wasn't surprising either. Brother Ross was always a little...off. Few days went by where his wasn't shouting downtown, the only difference is that now he had an audience shouting 'Amen!'


He walked outside, and squinted his eyes at the unnatural light of eight o'clock in February. Slowly, he made his way past the brick and stone buildings of historic Draville, only slightly tempted to stumble into traffic to avoid his responsibilities. Alex did not want to work, but he needed the money, and bartending unfortunately mostly happened at night. This, of course, meant that Alex got to walk straight through Brother Ross’s cult nonsense.


“The Lord has given us these signs! The moon red with the blood of Christ! How dare we ignore his symbols?!”


“And so it begins…” Alex murmured.

 

[starlightviolet]

Lennie stumbled out of the house party she was at and into the street. She looked at her phone and saw a text from one of her friends saying something about a "blood moon". Lennie shrugged it off and started to the nearest bus stop. She needed another drink and soon. "Stop number four, Clarke St." Lennie got onto the bus that would take her to her favourite bar.

 

[Lapin]

After finishing another sentence, Lian pushed his chair away from his desk and stretched. He had spent the past two days trying to finish the last quarter of a story he had written a year and a half ago. He felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. His deadline was a week from now and he was just not motivated.


Lian pulled out a new cigarette from the pack and lit it. He took a deep breath and looked outside his apartment window. Under the strange light, people were preaching to the skies about the end of the world. They were weird but it gave him a couple of ideas.


"...It's not bad to go out for a drink every once in a while..." He muttered to himself. Lian put out his cigarette and prepared for a night out.

 

[The Roller of 1s]

Nathaniel sat. He wasn't sure why he was sitting, just that he sat. After classes, he got to his home, for he lived fairly close to his college, he went into his room and sat down on his bed, looking out the window until the moon rose. That was all he knew. Even then, the moon was red. He wasn't sure why it was red, just that it was.


He also knew that there were people preaching about the end some distance away from him. He had heard about it from his friend's social media accounts. But they were just annoying in his opinion.


He glanced out at the moon. So peculiar. Nathaniel just shrugged. Perhaps standing outside would have a better view.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Alex did his best to ignore the people shouting in front of his bar that alcohol was a terrible vice and that God was about to smite down all who partook. Fortunately, people wanted beer more than they wanted silence or peace, which meant Alex's tips wouldn't suffer this evening. Most likely. The moon was doing something odd again, but this time is was a new odd. That would probably whip up some fear until they realized nothing was happening. Again.


He got behind the bar with only a nod to his coworker, and immediately set himself to work, but he could hear things heating up just outside. Someone had decided to engage the turbulent preacher. "A full scale theological debate right there. The pope better watch out." Alex joked, to a few snorts but nothing else.


"The Lord has spoken! You cannot ignore the warnings! The Book of Revelation reveals his truth! Heed it and be saved!" The man screamed to all who would listen. Above him the moon blazed, blood red and foreboding. It almost gave credit to the words he was shouting. Almost.


"Shut your mouth, you're full of shit!" Someone shouted, and threw the first beer bottle, but others were quick to follow. That's when Brother Ross's crowd turned on the others, and a full scale riot erupted in under three minutes.

 

[starlightviolet]

Lennie managed to make her way past the people who were having an all-out brawl and walked straight up to the bartender. "I need a glass of chardonnay," she told the bartender, grabbing a seat and waiting for her drink. She watched a man's fist connect with another guy two feet away from her. "We're gonna need some ice too!"

 

[Lapin]

Lian walked as he watched people chanting about the end of the world. He stopped at an intersection and saw a huge commotion not far off. He watched as people shouted insults and bashed each other with their fists. He didn't want to get involved, but he did need the writing material, and this was a great opportunity.


He convinced himself to slip into the bar, avoiding the crowd, and grab an empty seat. He observed the fight, jotting down notes on his phone.

 

[The Roller of 1s]

Nathaniel heard strange sounds coming from a distance. Against his better judgment, he ran off to see the commotion. Who knows? Perhaps everyone was playing a friendly game of volleyball.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Alex sighed, and shook his head at the brawl. He was about to try and deal with it, but he saw a few people get the police on the phone; which meant Alex didn't have to worry about it. He heard the order from the lady who just entered, and nodded. "You got it." He said, and reached for the bottle and poured the wine into the glass. He set it on the counter next to the woman, and then added a mug of ice. One chardonnay, ice on the side. Anything else?" He asked, smiling warmly.


The brawl was...progressing; for lack of a better word. The preacher was surrounded by a wall of his followers, but the others were desperately trying to get to him. The combination of the moon, the angry sermon, and their own uncertainty had reached a fever-pitch. And the loud preacher wasn't helping. "My words are the truth of the Lord! Do you not see the sin in which you live?! Repent! Turn from the world and embrace the Lord!"