The sun sets in a crimson sky. With night comes a darkness, horrid and brutal.
In the back alleys behind Rail Park Mall, the air reeked of sour beer and rot. Curious Joe was knee-deep in a dumpster, shoving half-eaten sandwiches into a torn paper bag. He hummed an off-key tune, his breath steaming in the cooling dusk. He had lived this way for years, collecting scraps, selling rumors, surviving between shadows. But tonight, even the shadows were watching him.
The low growl of engines rolled down the narrow street. Two black SUVs coasted to a stop. Doors opened. Boots hit pavement in a perfect rhythm, click, click, click. Joe froze, his greasy hands still clutching a moldy bun.
"Curious Joe?" a voice asked. Smooth. Polished. Empty.
Joe swallowed hard. "Who's askin'?"
The man in the black suit didn't answer. He simply nodded. Two others grabbed Joe, dragging him out of the dumpster. He struggled, shouting, but a fist slammed into his ribs, folding him like paper. Another blow landed on his face, stars exploded behind his eyes.
"Please! Please, I didn't do nothin'!" he wheezed.
They didn't respond. They dragged him across the cracked asphalt, past flickering lights and shuttered stores, until they reached the far end of the block a concrete passageway lit by a single trembling bulb. The smell of oil and blood hung heavy.
They threw him to the ground. His knees scraped raw. One of the men leaned down, whispering....
"You've been summoned."
Joe shivered, his teeth chattering as he looked up at the SUV that had just stopped nearby.
The engine went silent.
A tall, bald man stepped out, his movements smooth as silk. He adjusted his red tie, exhaled slowly, and for a fleeting moment, smiled.
Bright lights filled the passage as Dominic Grey approached, his polished shoes clicking softly against the wet pavement.
"Fee-fi-foe-fum, madness strikes the hour of tides. Blended within the fire of woes, fragility her undying keeper. Deeper and deeper still the fires of youth bled into fiery dreams, a disposition of hunger and desire. How can one fathom the weight of dreams upon the shoulders of one so young and fragile? Ceaser Grey is surely dead, and I still have no idea who the heck is wearing my brother's skin" Dominic exclaimed in anger.
"Curious Joe," he said, his voice calm, conversational even. "I asked you to watch my brother and report what he did. So tell me! How the hell did he kill two people without you knowing about it?"
"Sire! I...I lost sight of him when he entered the cinema! He was followed in by a member of the Spiritual Court!" Joe cried out, his words tumbling over each other.
Dominic stared at him. No emotion. Just silence. Then, his lips curved into a small, almost pitying smile.
He knelt beside Joe, brushing dust off the man's shoulder like a friend might. "Forgive me, my friend," Dominic whispered. "I'm just angry with the whole situation. Ceaser simply cannot stay out of trouble, it seems."
Joe let out a shaky laugh of relief. "Y-yes, sire, of course, it's just..."
Then he froze. Dominic's smile widened too far, the skin at the corners of his mouth tearing slightly as rows of wet, serrated teeth gleamed beneath. The air grew cold. Joe tried to scream, but the sound never left his throat.
Dominic's jaw unhinged like a serpent's. Darkness swallowed Joe's head in one horrifying motion. A wet crack. A gurgle. Then silence.
The headless body staggered and swatted at the cold midnight air, as if trying to fend off invisible attackers. Those were only the final impulses of a dying vessel, reflexes without reason. The silence that followed was suffocating, broken only by the wet slap of its feet against concrete.
Each unsteady step echoed down the passage, grotesque and hollow, until at last the body tripped, collapsing in a twitching heap. It convulsed once, twice, then lay still.....its lifeblood spreading in slow, pulsing circles across the floor.
His skin began to ripple. Fingernails stretched into black talons. Veins bulged beneath his cheeks. He reached up, gripped his face, and tore it away like a mask, revealing what lay beneath..... a grotesque reptilian being, glistening scales glimmering in the pale moonlight.
"Clean up this mess," Dominic said, his voice now a guttural rasp. "And find me a better spy. It's time for phase two."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the men barked in unison.
Dominic glanced skyward, the last light of dusk vanishing behind the skyline. He stepped into his car, reached into his coat, and pulled out a phone.
A single photograph filled the screen.
He smiled again, this time softly, almost human.
"Oh, Elizabeth…" he hissed. "I hope you've been well. This is the moment I've been waiting for."
The door closed. The engine roared. The SUVs rolled away, leaving only the faint hum of the city behind. The trembling light in the passage flickered once, twice...then went out.
Midnight had come.