The soft beeping of machines, the sterile smell of antiseptic, and the quiet hum of fluorescent lights were all that surrounded them. One by one, they began to wake up, each of them groggy, disoriented, and unsure of where they were.
Serena blinked against the harsh light of the hospital room, her heart racing in her chest. The familiar feeling of cold sheets beneath her and the smell of antiseptic flooded her senses. Her breath quickened. Was this it? Had everything that happened, the dark clouds, the endless silence, the empty city, been a dream?
She was desperate for something, anything, that would tell her where she was. That's when she saw the news.
On the screen, the headlines screamed in bold letters: "MILLIONS MISSING. NO EXPLANATION. A GLOBAL DISASTER."
Her stomach churned. Serena's eyes widened in disbelief. The screen flashed with pictures of empty cities, long stretches of abandoned highways, and tear-streaked faces of families left behind. She stumbled to the TV, her breath caught in her throat.
"MILLIONS?" she whispered in disbelief. The realization hit her like a freight train. The Lost Civilization wasn't some twisted dream or hallucination. It was real. They hadn't just woken up from a nightmare. They had somehow escaped from it.
One by one, the others slowly emerged from their own confusion, each of them waking up in separate hospital rooms. Liam was the next to notice the news, sitting up in his bed, his mind still clouded with the fragmented memories of the Lost Civilization. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his thoughts, but the sight of the missing person's report sent a chill down his spine.
"Wait... this can't be real," Liam muttered. He flicked the TV remote, changing channels, but every station was showing the same thing.
Dorian appeared in the doorway of his room, his face pale, his body stiff with tension. He'd been pacing back and forth, struggling to make sense of it all. But when he saw the news, his expression twisted with shock.
"This... this is impossible," he said under his breath, his voice shaking. "How did this happen?"
Serena, still groggy from sleep, walked into the room. Her eyes immediately landed on the screen, and the colour drained from her face.
"They, those people... they're gone," she said, barely able to breathe. "How... How could we have missed it? All those people... they're gone."
She meant that they did not see the people on the lost Civilization, she didn't understand why.
Everyone got out of their room one by one, they found each other, they felt when they saw each other happiness and relief after talking for a bit,
Liam, who had been quietly sitting by the window, turned toward the group with a furrowed brow.
"So... it wasn't just us?" he asked. He swallowed hard, his chest tight with a growing sense of horror. "Millions... of people? Gone?"
Kade stood in the corner, his arms crossed, his mind racing. He looked at the others, his eyes haunted by the implications of what they had just seen.
"So," he said, his voice low and steady. "This wasn't a dream. It was real. And somehow, we maybe are the only ones who managed to get out."
The weight of his words sank into the room like a stone. The room was silent for a long moment as each of them processed the magnitude of what they were hearing. They had been in that Lost Civilization, that forsaken place where time had twisted, and monsters roamed freely. But they weren't dreaming. They hadn't imagined it. The world they had escaped from had been real. And somehow, they had made it back.
But how?
Serena ran her hands through her hair, her thoughts a whirlwind. She thought about the dark clouds, the fear, the people she had seen, now reduced to nothing but empty memories. How had this happened? How had they crossed over from that place into this one? Were they the only ones? Was the rest of the world still trapped there?
"It doesn't make sense," Dorian said, breaking the silence. "How did we come back and not everyone else?"
"I don't know," Liam replied, his voice distant. "But we need to find out. There's no way we're the only ones who escaped. If this is happening... if millions of people are gone... then we're connected to this somehow. And we might get caught again."
Kade looked at each of them, his expression dark. "We need to figure out why. Why us. And why are we in the same hospital?"
Serena nodded slowly. "We can't just sit here. We need to do something. We need to know what happened. How we got out, how the world got like this. If we don't do something, it's probably going to happen again. We can't just wait for the worst."
Liam's gaze hardened. "Then it's settled. We're getting to the bottom of this. We can't keep living in fear. Not anymore."
The weight of their decision hung heavy in the air. Despite the confusion, the fear, and the disbelief, they knew one thing for sure: they were back, and they had a purpose. The world had changed, and they needed to understand why.
The news continued to flash on the TV, showing images of empty cities, desperate families, and the overwhelming loss. But for the first time in what felt like forever, they weren't just witnesses to it, they were part of the story.
The room grew quieter as they all stared at the screen, knowing that whatever happened next would change their lives forever.
As they adjusted to the shock of the news, their attention was suddenly diverted by the sound of screeching tires. From the window, they could see several military vehicles pulling up outside the hospital. The hum of sirens and the echoing clank of military boots filled the air. Tension gripped the group as they exchanged uncertain looks, unsure of what to make of it. They had barely come to terms with the disappearance of millions, and now this?
Before anyone could react, an elderly man dressed in a sharp, formal suit appeared at the door, followed by four younger men, all similarly attired. The old man's presence was imposing, his face etched with lines of authority. His eyes scanned the room, lingering on each of them before settling on the group as a whole.
"Everyone, please follow me," he said, his voice firm but not unkind.
The group exchanged wary glances, their confusion deepening by the second. What was going on? Were they under arrest? Or was this some sort of government operation? Despite the uncertainty, there was no immediate sign of danger. The group, still shaken but curious, decided to follow the old man. They hadn't felt hurt when they woke up, their bodies surprisingly fine, so they had no real reason to resist.
As they walked down the hospital corridors, the soldiers stood at attention, watching their every move with intensity. The old man led them through the building's sterile hallways, and as they passed windows, the group could see more military personnel mobilizing outside. The air was thick with the sense that something monumental was unfolding, and they had no idea what role they played in it.
They arrived at a large, imposing building, which they recognized as a government facility, the kind of place that most people only saw on TV or heard about in whispers. The doors were wide and heavy, and as they entered, the atmosphere changed. Inside, the hallways were much grander, with high ceilings and polished marble floors. The sounds of their footsteps echoed through the vast space, making everything feel unnervingly empty.
The old man led them into a large conference room. It was cold, clinical, yet opulent, with a long table at the center and chairs neatly arranged around it. The young men who had followed him stood by the door, their eyes never leaving the group.
Once everyone was seated, the old man took his place at the head of the table. His gaze was sharp, his every movement deliberate. Without wasting time, he turned to the group and began speaking.
"I know you're confused, and I understand why. What you've experienced... the things you've seen... they are not part of the world we know. Not anymore. You've crossed a threshold. What you think you've been through, what you think you've escaped, was not just a dream or hallucination. It was real. And now, the world is paying the price."
The words hung in the air like a heavy fog. The group was silent, each person processing the gravity of what the old man had just said. Serena's eyes widened, and Dorian clenched. They hadn't yet had time to think through everything they had learned, but hearing it spoken aloud made it even more real.
"I'm sure you have questions," the old man continued, "but right now, you need to listen carefully. You are part of something much bigger than yourselves. You have been selected... no, chosen... to survive an event that, as of this moment, few people have had. The others who vanished... they weren't so fortunate. We don't know exactly why you survived, but we do know that you are the key to understanding what's happening."
A ripple of unease passed through the group. Kade shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He was usually the one to crack a joke in tense moments, but now, the weight of the situation kept him silent.
The old man's piercing gaze swept over them. "You'll be given the resources and information you need. But make no mistake, this is only the beginning. The world as you know it is gone. And something worse is coming."
Liam leaned forward, his voice low but insistent. "What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'worse'? And why us? Why us specifically?"
The old man's expression didn't falter. "I will explain everything, " The room fell into a heavy silence. The air seemed to thicken as they all processed the implications of his words. They weren't just survivors. They were something more. But what? And how much more was at stake?
The old man stood, signaling for the younger men to move forward. "We'll begin with what we know. And we'll need your cooperation."
The group sat in stunned silence, their minds racing with questions that couldn't be answered. Yet, despite the fear and confusion, one thing was certain: they had survived something that had wiped millions away, and whatever came next, they were now a part of it. There was no going back.
The old man's voice grew more serious as he leaned forward, his eyes locked onto the group. "This is where it all began," he said, his tone heavy with the weight of the truth he was about to reveal. "About a month ago, something happened. A sudden, bright light appeared in the sky. At first, we thought it was nothing, a strange celestial event, maybe just a fluke. But then, things started to change."
He paused for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts before continuing. "At first, there were only 15 people. Their bodies began to glow, just faintly just like you, at first. It wasn't like anything anyone had ever seen before. No one understood what was happening. These people were brought to hospitals, examined, but no one could make sense of it. We couldn't even figure out what kind of radiation was coming off of them, but we knew it wasn't normal. It started out weak, barely noticeable. But as days passed, it got stronger.
The group listened intently, their minds trying to wrap around the growing horror of the situation.
"The weirdest part," the old man continued, "was that after this event people started suddenly disappearing one moment you see them the other moment is like you were talking to yourself.
He looked around the room, his eyes filled with the weight of history. "First, it was a couple hundred. Then thousands. And then hundreds of thousands. People vanished overnight. No explanation. Just... gone. At first, it was hard to link the two events, the glowing patients and the disappearances. But as it spread across the world, some countries began to make a terrifying connection. Some of them thought that the radiation coming off these patients was causing the disappearances."
Serena, who had been quiet until now, spoke up, her voice filled with disbelief. "So, what happened? What did they do?"
The old man's expression darkened. "They decided to test their theory. In one country, they killed one of the patients, their theory was that by removing the source of the radiation, they could stop the disappearances. But they were wrong. They were horribly wrong."
He took a deep breath, as though the weight of the next part was too much to bear. "Killing that one patient... triggered something. A chain reaction. And that's when millions of people began to vanish in an instant. Entire cities, entire countries... they just ceased to exist. People disappeared from every corner of the world. And that's when we realized: this wasn't just some fluke event. This was something much larger."
The room fell into a heavy silence. The group was still trying to process what they had just heard, the enormity of the situation settling in like a cold weight in their chests.
Dorian, always the pragmatic one, spoke up. "So... that's it? That's the cause? It's all connected to this... this light and these people?"
The old man nodded slowly. "Yes. But it's not over yet. We still don't know everything. The people who disappeared, some of them didn't just vanish. They were taken somewhere. We believe that what you all experienced was somehow tied to that disappearance. And now... you're one of the few who have made it back."
He paused, letting his words sink in. "You've been through something no one else has. You've seen the other side. And we believe that you might be the key to understanding how to stop this... whatever it is."
Liam leaned forward, his voice shaky but determined. "What do you want us to do? We've been through hell. We don't even know what happened to us, what we saw."
The old man's gaze softened, but there was a hint of urgency in his eyes. "I know this is difficult to process, but we need your help. We need you to be a part of this. Whatever it was that connected you to the Lost Civilization, it's still out there. And we believe you may have answers we don't have yet. The light... the radiation... the disappearances, they're all part of a much bigger picture. And we need to stop it before it consumes the entire world."
The weight of his words hung in the air. For a moment, no one spoke. The group sat there, overwhelmed by everything they had just learned. It was a lot to take in, too much to process in one sitting. But deep down, each of them knew they couldn't turn away. They had survived something no one else had, and now it was up to them to figure out why, and how to stop it.
The old man looked at them one last time. "We will give you everything we know. But we need you to be ready."
The old man's gaze grew more intense as he stood in front of the group, his hands clasped behind his back. "Now, I need to know everything," he said, his voice firm. "From the beginning to the end.
What happened to you? Where did you go? What did you experience? And don't leave anything out. Every detail matters."
The group exchanged uneasy glances. They had only just begun to process what they had been through, and now they were being asked to relive it all, to put it into words. But the weight of the old man's request was clear. This wasn't just about their personal trauma anymore. This was about the fate of the world.
Liam, who had been quiet for most of the conversation, was the first to speak. His voice was low, but determined. "It all started when we... when we woke up in that place. The Lost Civilization, right? We were just... there. No warning, no explanation."
Serena nodded, adding, "We were all separated at first. We didn't know where we were or how we got there. Everything was empty, broken buildings, wreckage everywhere. It was like some kind of post-apocalyptic world, but it wasn't Earth. Not exactly."
"Yeah," Dorian chimed in, "And it wasn't just the place. It was like the air itself was wrong. Heavy, suffocating. We all felt it. Like something was watching us, waiting for us to figure out what the hell was going on."
Serena, who had been pacing silently, finally stopped and spoke. "I saw things there, things that didn't make sense. There was a monster, something massive. It killed people. It didn't even hesitate. And then there was the cloud... it just kept coming, like it was swallowing everything."
"Wait," Serena interjected, "You remember the cloud, right? The dark one? It felt like it was alive, like it was calling us or pulling us in. I thought it was going to consume us too. But we made it out. Somehow."
The old man listened carefully, his expression unreadable. "And this... 'monster'? What kind of creature was it?"
Dorian looked disturbed, remembering the grotesque image of the towering figure. "It was huge, impossibly huge. It had an axe, a weapon that seemed to hum with power. I don't know if it was alive or something else, but it didn't seem to care about us. It just killed without reason."
The old man's brow furrowed. "Interesting... and you were all alone in this world?"
Liam shook his head, his voice tight. "We were together at first, but then certain people appeared. One of them was unconscious and that one monster killed him, then the darkness came and separated us. It felt like it was messing with our emotions, turning us against each other in some way. I don't think we were supposed to get out. But we did, somehow."
"Somehow," Selena echoed, her voice trembling slightly. "When we were separated, I felt like I was losing my mind. Everything turned into fear.."
The old man nodded thoughtfully. "And you were all conscious when you returned?"
Liam hesitated before answering. "We were... but it didn't feel like we were. Everything was foggy, like we weren't sure if we had just woken up from a nightmare or if it was real. We couldn't tell what had happened. And when we came back, we didn't understand what it all meant. But then the news hit, millions of people had vanished. That's when we knew it wasn't just a dream."
The room was heavy with silence as the gravity of their words settled in.
The old man's eyes narrowed, as though he were trying to piece everything together. "It seems like what you experienced was not just an event, it was a transformation. You are no longer the same people who left this world, and the place you entered is not simply a physical location. There is something more at play here."
"So, what do we do now?" Serena asked, her voice breaking the tension. "What happens next?"
The old man stood tall, his expression resolute. "You need to help us understand. We have theories, but your experience is the key. There is something bigger at work here, something that goes beyond what we know. And now that you've returned, it's time to figure out what it all means, before it's too late."
As the group looked at each other, they understood that this was just the beginning. What they had been through, what they had seen, it wasn't over. It was only the start of something much darker, and now they were part of something much larger than they had ever imagined.
The world wasn't the same anymore, and neither were they.
The old man gathered the other officials in a large, sterile room, where the air felt heavy with the weight of their concerns. He stood at the front, his expression serious, and began to speak.
"Listen closely," the old man said, his voice steady yet tinged with a sense of urgency. "What we've discovered is far beyond our comprehension. The events that transpired with those four, along with the others, are not just isolated incidents. They are part of something much larger."
The room fell silent as the officials' exchanged glances, waiting for him to continue.
"Their uniqueness... their abilities... It seems they were not just ordinary people. There was something special about them. Something that might have been the reason they were chosen, or perhaps the reason they were lost."
One of the officials, a young woman with sharp eyes, raised her hand. "What about the ones who survived? What do we know about them?"
The old man nodded, turning toward the map on the wall behind him. "The ones who survived, are part of a much bigger picture. They've been through something that has altered them. They might have returned to the real world, but their connection to the lost civilization and whatever force is behind these disappearances has left its mark on them. They are the key.
Another official, a middle-aged man with a hardened face, spoke up. "So, what's next? How do we find out what these people know? And what do we do about the rest of them? Are they a threat?"
The old man's eyes darkened. "For now, we wait. We observe. But we must be careful. These survivors are not just victims; We need to know everything they experienced,"
As the officials processed his words, a sense of foreboding filled the room. Whatever was happening, it was far from over. And the survivors, were at the heart of it.
The old man took a deep breath, his gaze shifting from one official to another, as he tried to steady himself. This was the moment when they would have to confront the reality of what they were dealing with.
"This occurrence," he began, his voice firm, "might happen again in three months. The phenomenon that took millions, that altered the very fabric of our reality, it's not over. In fact, it's just the beginning. The survivors, will play a crucial role in stopping whatever is coming next, they probably didn't notice but after they woke up, they immediately found each other. They are still connected, and I suspect that they are still connected to that place. We need to help them, prepare them. They might not even realize the gravity of the situation themselves, but they are the key."
One of the younger officials, a woman with short-cropped hair and sharp features, leaned forward, her brow furrowing in concern. "You think this will happen again, but... why? Why would it happen again? And if it does, how are we supposed to stop it?"
Before the old man could respond, another official, an older man with glasses and a skeptical look, interrupted.
"If this is happening again," he said, his tone edged with disbelief, "then there has to be something, someone, behind it. I mean, what else could explain the mass disappearances? The radiation from these people, the strange behaviours? Could it be... alien? Some kind of entity from another world?"
The room fell silent as the officials exchanged uneasy glances. The word "alien" hung in the air, heavy and unsettling
Aliens..." the old man murmured, his voice distant. "That's one theory. Some have suggested that what we're dealing with might not just be a natural disaster or an anomaly, but a force or entity from beyond our world. And if that's the case, we have to ask: how big is that world? How far does this go? What are we dealing with here?"
The young woman with sharp eyes shook her head. "But how do we know if it's aliens or just some form of inter-dimensional phenomena? Maybe something beyond our understanding, something from another plane of existence?"
A quiet tension filled the room as the officials tried to wrap their minds around the enormity of the situation. The old man nodded slowly, his face grim.
"We don't know. We don't have all the answers. But we can't ignore the signs. Whatever is coming, whatever is behind this, it's bigger than anything we've encountered. And it might not just be aliens. It could be a power an intelligence, that transcends our understanding of the universe. Maybe it's not from another planet at all. Maybe it's something older, something that has been waiting for the right moment to return."
A long silence followed, each official contemplating the terrifying possibilities. The young man with glasses spoke up again, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and curiosity.
"If they, the survivors are the key, then what exactly are they supposed to do? How can they stop this thing from happening again? How do we even begin to prepare for something like this?"
The old man paused, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the group.
"We need to learn everything we can from them. From their experiences. If they've been to this 'lost civilization,' if they've seen things we can't even imagine, then we need to understand what they went through. What kind of knowledge did they gain? We need them to unlock the answers, and help us stop what's coming."
As the discussion continued, it was clear: the old man and the officials were just beginning to understand the scale of the crisis at hand. The survivors had no idea what they were truly capable of, but if the world was going to survive, they would have to help them, whether they were ready or not.
The old man took a deep breath, his hands resting on the table as he looked at the gathered officials. There was a heavy silence in the room, everyone awaiting what he would say next. His eyes flickered toward the survivors, who sat tense in their seats, still processing the strange events they had just been through.
"I have a theory," the old man began, his voice low but steady. "It's a strange one, and I know it might sound unbelievable, but I need you to hear me out."
The room quieted further, and all eyes were on him.
"You see," he continued, "the four young people, they've told us of the wreckage, the destruction of entire cities, and the absence of life. What if... what if this isn't just a disaster for Earth? What if it's something much larger? A disaster that spans across different worlds, different civilizations?"
He paused, letting the gravity of his words sink in. The officials exchanged wary glances, clearly unsettled by the implications.
"I believe," he said, his voice growing firmer, "that this is not just a natural disaster, but something far more profound. It could be an event that happens across different universes or dimensions. A purging, a cleansing of sorts. A cycle that repeats itself in multiple realities. Perhaps, the world we are experiencing is only one of many affected by this force."
The officials were silent, their faces a mixture of disbelief and curiosity. The room seemed to hold its breath as the old man elaborated further.
"But there's more," he said, a slight tremor in his voice. "The survivors, these four young people, Liam, Serena, Dorian, and Kade, have mentioned something crucial. They said that in the world they were thrown into, they saw the destruction of civilizations that might not have even come from our world. Cities, buildings, technology far beyond what we understand. But even more unsettling is the idea that the people that are sending this radiation gets to decide who dies, by doing some investigation we found out that the fiancé of the survivor serene is missing and when they killed that guy maybe somehow he noticed and his hate and frustration caused the death of his country, so in conclusion everything that they think is bad will vanish"
He looked at each official, searching for understanding. "Why do you think these young people were chosen? And why is it that they weren't allowed to bring anyone they loved with them? They only saw people they considered bad; people they felt were deserving of this fate. That's not coincidence. That's something deliberate. I believe it's a process of judgment, a way of determining who is good and who is evil. A universal scale, if you will."
The silence in the room deepened. The weight of the old man's theory hung over them, a terrifying and unfathomable possibility.
"I think this disaster is a natural occurrence across the universe," the old man concluded, "a way to purge and cleanse worlds of what is deemed corrupt, evil, or unworthy. And for some reason, these people, maybe more are the ones who can decide who stays and who goes. It's a cosmic event that might happen again, and we need to prepare. But I fear that if we're not careful, we might be the ones caught in the next wave of this disaster."
The officials were left speechless, each trying to process the old man's theory.
And as they sat there, waiting for the old man's next words, they all knew deep down that whatever was coming, they were going to have to face it together, or risk being swept away in the coming storm.