The Silence of the Defeated
Luanda awoke, smothered by a dry heat, as if the very air was tired of existing.
Danilo Chicana sat on the edge of the worn-out mattress that occupied a corner of the small living room. The broken radio hissed with useless static. The sound of cars outside on the avenue was muffled by the thin walls of the rented townhouse. He rose slowly, like a man still carrying the weight of every day that had gone wrong.
His oversized shirt clung to his sweaty body. In the kitchen, the coffee was cold. The bread was leftover from the day before. But it was enough. It always was.
Kaela sat on the porch, sewing. Her beautiful face, darkened by fatigue, forced a smile when she saw him.
— Did you sleep? — she asked.
Danilo nodded. He lied. As always.
Miro, the youngest, studied quietly in the corner, headphones in. Leandro stood leaning against the wall, looking at his father with a mix of pity and frustration.
"They don't hate me," Danilo thought. "They're just... tired of watching me fall."
💔 The Love That Rotted
The house, once full of joy, now felt like a shared grave. Laughter had vanished. Voices were calculated, measured, silent.
It had all begun with her: Lívia Márcia Lomba, daughter of a national hero, a woman made of pride and power. Danilo met her in college. She chose him. They married quickly. Three children. Fifteen years of a union that, deep down, was always unbalanced.
When the affair came, it reeked of cowardice. A weak businessman, ego fragile and effeminate, who only dared because he knew the Lomba family would handle everything. And they did.
Danilo filed for divorce. And then, everything fell apart.
He was fired from the company where he had worked for 11 years — no explanation. Job interviews ended with fake smiles and polite rejections. Even his closest friends disappeared.
— Sorry I can't help you, bro… It's just… your name carries weight now.
The surname Chicana, once just ordinary, had become cursed.
He lost the house, his savings in the divorce process. The only tie left with Lívia was the monthly child support. Custody was shared, and they were spending that weekend with him. That support was now his only means of survival — just enough for rice, gas, and some bread. Kaela took care of the house. Miro studied with old books. Leandro... still dreamed of the impossible.
🕯️ A Life Without Hope
Danilo had given up. He never said it out loud, but his shoulders told the story.
He drank in secret. One or two bottles a week, no more. Just enough to sleep a few hours without thinking — without remembering his wife's smile, Sunday lunches, or the tight hugs from his small children.
Now, all he had was an uncomfortable silence. The kind of silence that only lives where shame resides.
But that day, as the clock's hands dragged like snails, Danilo felt... something different. In the air. In the ground. In his heart.
It was as if the whole world had held its breath.
🌋 The First Tremor
It started with a crack. Small, dry. Like wood breaking under the feet of God.
Then the ground shook. Not like a normal earthquake — but like the world itself was growing, expanding, pulsing.
The windows rattled. Objects fell. Suddenly, the wall recoiled, as if fleeing the rest of the house. Leandro shouted. Miro jumped to his feet. Kaela ran to her father.
Danilo looked up at the sky.
And saw the impossible.
🌌 The Cracked Sky
The blue of the firmament was overtaken by a deep ruby red, like blood diluted in fire.
Black fissures opened between the clouds — cosmic cracks — and from them came a dark smoke that seemed to scrape the very air.
People on the street froze. Some ran. Others fell to their knees.
And then, the Voice came.
Not from the sky. Not from the ground. But from within the mind of every living being.
"THE AGE OF CHAOS HAS ARRIVED."
"This world has been accepted into the Universal Cycle of Evolution. All living creatures may now grow, adapt, evolve. Nature will awaken first. Civilization as you know it is over. From now on, survival will determine power."
"Every being shall be tested. Every soul shall be weighed. Balance is no more."
🕳️ The Void Opens
At that very moment, a black crack — like a mouth of liquid darkness — opened in the middle of the avenue outside their home.
From the void… something began to emerge.
Tall. Black as night. Curved horns. A humanoid body. Wounded. Bleeding. But still terrifying.
Its eyes were made of agony. Its presence… pure terror.
The Monster looked at the people in what was left of the house.
And it smiled.