For hours, Ampelius stirred in the chair beside Bella’s bed. He was half-awake and drifting between dreams. The candlelight in their room flickered across the walls, casting shadows that stretched long and thin. But for the first time since the attack, everything was peaceful.

  Then came the sound, a sharp clang of metal striking metal, followed by a woman’s scream that tore through like a blade.

  Ampelius jolted upright, heart hammering as his eyes darted to Bella’s bed. It was empty.

  “Bella?” he whispered, but no answer came. The door remained closed, no light slipping from beneath it. The only glow came from the candles beside him, their flames trembling as a sudden breeze swept through the room. The gust snuffed them out in an instant, plunging everything into darkness.

  He felt his way toward the door and opened it. The clinic was eerily quiet. There was no patients or voices. Even the usual candlelight had vanished, leaving the corridor bathed in a thin, colorless gloom. His breath fogged as the temperature dropped, the chill biting at his skin. Where is everyone?

  A sudden scream outside made him flinch. A woman burst through the entrance, her face twisted in panic. “Run! They’re coming—”

  Before he could react, a burst of blue light erupted through the doorway. The woman froze mid-step, with her arm raised, her foot suspended, every muscle locked as if she’d turned to stone.

  Ampelius rushed forward, reaching for her, but the moment his hand brushed her arm, her skin became ice-cold and solid beneath his fingers. Then a low vibration hummed through the room, standing up the hair on his neck. The chill deepened until it seeped into his own bones.

  Then came the hum, a low, resonant drone until a glowing blue orb materialized above her. It scanned her slowly from head to toe, pulsing brighter with each pass, before firing a single blinding beam into her chest.

  Her body melted into a pool of blue gel, her outline holding for only a heartbeat before collapsing into liquid.

  Ampelius gasped awake, lurching upright in his chair. His skin was damp with sweat, his chest heaving as his eyes adjusted to the steady glow of the candles.

  Bella was still in bed, fast asleep. The room was silent once more.

  It was just a dream.

  “That must have been some nightmare,” Saul said, startling Ampelius.

  You scared the life out of me, you jackass,” Ampelius said, still catching his breath.

  “Sorry, wasn't intentional,” Saul replied, casually wiping down his shotgun. “I get those nightmares, too. Don’t sleep much anymore because of it. Every time, I see dead soldiers around the national banner of Rome. They always scream my name, like they're begging for help. And right before I wake up, one always pulls a gun and shoots me.”

  Ampelius stayed quiet while Saul gave a low chuckle.

  “My therapist calls it a flashback, which is very common among combat vets,” Saul said.

  “I fought against the Romans back in the day before they took over this country, but they’ve done more for us since the war than I ever expected. Especially with the technology. War really pushes innovation, and not all of it stays military. You’d be surprised what ends up in civilian hands.”

  Ampelius listened but drifted after a while. He understood nightmares, but Saul’s sounded practiced, like something he has carried since that war. His own dreams were more unpredictable, like a fresh wound rather than a memory. He wondered if time dulled fear like that, or if Saul had just learned to live beside it.

  As Saul kept talking, Ampelius let his thoughts circle back to the dream, focusing on every detail he could remember. Eventually, Saul stopped mid-sentence, realizing he’d lost his audience.

  “Aye, enough of my rambling,” Saul said, rubbing his eyes. “You want to talk about your nightmare? My therapist swears it helps.”

  Ampelius hesitated at first, but told him everything, from the frozen woman, the blue light, and the transformation. When he finished, Saul just gave him a curious look, but said nothing, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He offered one but Ampelius shook his head and stood to stretch while Saul quietly loaded more shells into his shotgun.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  As Saul prepped to leave, Ampelius felt an odd mix of relief and unease. He couldn’t match Saul’s calm detachment, that strange comfort with horror. Maybe time made it easier. Or maybe, Ampelius thought, Saul had simply learned how to live with the darkness.

  “Well, I should get back to guard duty. You’ve got about two hours until sunrise, so rest up. And holler if you need anything,” Saul said.

  As Saul left, Mark peered in.

  “How are you two? Need anything?” Mark asked.

  “She’s still sleeping, but we’re good, thanks,” Ampelius replied.

  “Make sure she gets plenty of rest. The boss said you can stay for a few days to recuperate, but after that, you’ll need to move on.”

  “Understood,” Ampelius muttered.

  Mark’s footsteps faded, and Ampelius slumped back into the chair. After a few minutes, nature called, and the long bathroom line pushed him to step outside instead. The alley was fairly quiet, but smelled of smoke and was cold.

  As he zipped up his pants, something flickered between the two skyscrapers above him. He looked up and froze. A glowing blue orb glided across the sky, leaving a faint shimmer in its wake. His stomach twisted as panic surged through him. It was identical to the one from his nightmare, that same eerie glow, and the same soundless drift. For a heartbeat, he couldn’t tell if he was awake or still trapped inside that dream.

  He bolted back inside to get Bella.

  He darted past the reception desk and down the hall to their room. He makes it in and gently shakes her shoulder.

  “Bella, you need to wake up. It’s not safe here. I think they found us.”

  She rolled away, half-asleep. Ampelius leaned closer. “If your snoring doesn’t stop, I’ll carry you out myself, and neither of us will enjoy that.”

  “I'm not snoring,” she muttered, burying her face back into the pillow. “Go away before I stick my foot up your ass.”

  Ampelius’s panic rose as voices outside grew louder. People were shouting, running past the door. “Bella, those turtle shells know we’re here! I saw a blue orb, we need to leave now, or we—”

  Screams cut him off. The déjà vu feeling hit hard, almost suffocating him. He ran to the door and peered out. People were fleeing away from the front as Saul burst through the double doors, shouting, “They found us!”

  As he frantically ran inside, a blinding blue flash lit the hall and outside like lightning.Saul and everyone near him was frozen in place.

  Ampelius’s breath caught in his throat. It was his nightmare, replaying in front of him. The line between dream and reality blurred until he couldn’t tell which he was trapped in.

  He caught glimpses outside, more people stood locked in place, their faces twisted mid-run, eyes wide with terror. The orb drifted overhead, scanning them one by one before stopping above a pregnant woman. A thin wire snaked down, coiling around her as she was lifted out of sight.

  The orb hovered just beyond the doorway, its blue light spilling across the floor like water. Ampelius pressed himself against the wall, too afraid to move. He knew Saul would be solid as stone, just like in his nightmare, but he didn’t dare find out.

  The orb struck the first victim, then the next, then the next. Ampelius began to see a pattern; it lingered no more than three seconds on each person before each strike.

  Time seemed to stretch. Another flash, another body liquefied into a pool of blue. One after another, the survivors melted away, their glowing remains rippling softly across the floor where they fell.

  When it finally hovered over Saul, Ampelius could nothing but watch as the orb scanned him from head to toe. He felt so helpless. This can’t be happening… but it was. The orb fired, and Saul’s body dissolved into thick blue gel before collapsing to the floor.

  Then, as suddenly as it had come, the orb drifted out through the doors and vanished into the sky. The silence that followed was fear itself. Ampelius forced himself to move, rushing back into the room for Bella.

  But before he could reach her, the blue light returned again, flooding the hallway. Bella remained asleep, unaware of the what was happening outside. Mark emerged from behind a cabinet, finger to his lips, signaling for Ampelius to keep quiet before motioning him toward the far corner of the room.

  The orb glided down the hallway, its blue light spilling through the open doorway. Ampelius and Mark pressed flat against the wall as it drifted past. They exchanged a look, then Ampelius mouthed, help me get her.

  Mark hesitated at first as he struggled to think from the fear, but eventually nodded. They began creeping toward Bella when screams echoed deeper in the building, people who weren't hidden well enough. Their screams attrached more orbs as another appeared outside the doorway, its glow sliding across the walls like liquid fire.

  Both men froze, holding their breath as the new orb moved past the threshold, leaving them in the dark. Ampelius exhaled shakily, his pulse still thundering in his ears. This nightmare hadn’t ended, it only multiplied.

  Mark wanted to remain still, as his hand trembled slightly. Ampelius was trying to get his attention, but he was paralyzed in fear. “We need to move her now,” he whispered, snapping his fingers in front of his face.

  Mark finally snapped out of the fear and nodded. They lifted Bella as quietly as they could, careful not to make the old floorboards creak. They carried her toward the far corner, away from the door and the faint glow beyond it. Ampelius eased her down gently, making sure she was hidden behind a cabinet.

  Mark moved toward the door peered through, looking down the hallway.

  “Is it gone?” Ampelius asked, barely above a whisper.

  “For now,” Mark said, his tone low and grim. “But I don't think those things give up easy.”

  Ampelius started to think of a gameplan. Running was impossible, one wrong sound, one flash of light, and they’d be next. For now, hiding was survival. He looked at Bella, still asleep despite the everything, and silently prayed she’d stay that way just a little longer.