Chapter 1

EARTH – NEW YORK, 2023

"Adam."

Adam awakens to find himself awake in a dark room with the light coming from the torches on the wall. Not only that, his position was also lying on a long rock with his hands and feet bound.

"Where am I?! Who are you?!"

"Adam, your time will come. You are our destiny, and you are our savior."

Adam looked around the room and saw no one there. The sound that resounded in the room was like that of an old man filled with fear and anxiety.

"What do you mean! Akh! Just let me go!"

Adam tried to release the bonds that ensnared his body. However, the more he moved, the tighter the bonds locked his movements. A scream escaped the 25-year-old man's mouth. Sweat dripped down his body, all the veins on his face showing from his pain.

"Hello, Adam."

An old man with a long white beard was standing looking at him. The old man's eyes flashed a gentle blue light; his skin was pale white, and a cold ambience enveloped the room.

"Who—who are you? Whoever you are, let me go! I have no business with you, Old Man!"

"Of course you have. You will find out later. I wanted to remind you to be prepared; the battle is coming, Adam. We hope for you."

"SHUT UP! I don't care who you are; just let me leave this strange place!"

The old man looked at him with an even expression; he approached Adam, and a light came from his hand. The shine was so painful to the eyes that Adam had to close his eyes.

A buzzing sound also came and was deafening. Adam screamed as the pain in his body now multiplied. Behind his fear, Adam forced himself to open one eye and found the figure of an old man floating with a body covered in blood.

Above his head appeared a hole-like fire and absorbed the man's body like a vacuum cleaner.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK! AKH!"

A drop of blood from the man's body fell into Adam's eye and woke him from his dream.

"AKH!" The moonlight shining into his room relieved Adam; the sweat had wet his clothes. Adam pounded the side of the bed and said, "That shit’s dream again. Damn it! When will I be able to sleep peacefully and not be woken up by the same dream! Fifth in a month, this is crazy!"

Adam glanced at the clock on the wall, which showed three o'clock in the morning. "Yeah, you always show the same time, are you broken?!"

Adam rose from his bed and stood in front of the window. His head was still recording every scene in his dream, even though he had repeatedly dreamed the same thing, but this time he was a little bit haunted by the fear of the blood coming out of the old man.

He took a bottle of rum from the table drawer near the bed; Adam drank the liquor as a calming feeling for his restless heart.

The notes stuck to the laptop made him want to drug himself more and more so he could sleep peacefully.

"Shit! Tomorrow there is an assessment at the office; I have to be at the office at six in the morning at the latest. Fuck! That old bastard shouldn't have come and--"

Adam's sentence stopped when his eyes caught the figure of a man with long white hair and a long beard walking across the street from his house. The old man wore clothes similar to Adam's dream, a long black robe.

"He's the old man in my dream! Okay, I won't lose you, psyco! There’s something wrong with him!"

Adam's heart was beating fast; clenching his hands, he hurriedly took the jacket hanging behind the door and left his house.

Adam ran as hard as he could to catch up with the old man, who seemed to be getting faster in his steps.

"Fuck, does that old man use roller skates? How could he possibly look like he was floating? I should have chased him in the car!"

The sound of a car horn then appeared and distracted Adam's focus. When he turned his head, a car went out of control towards him. Luckily, Adam could avoid a car that hit a tree on the side of the road.

"What the fuck! Alcohol must have gotten into the driver's mind of this car!"

Filled with emotion, Adam approached the car and was wide-eyed when he found no occupants. He turned around, and still the same result, no one showed up.

"This can't be happening; how could--" Adam looked down the street and noticed that he had lost the old man.

"Fuck!"

The black-haired man immediately left the scene and decided to return home. He chose not to follow his curiosity and assumed that everything that happened tonight was just a coincidence that common sense could explain.

**

Unsteady steps were seen in Adam this afternoon when he was about to head to the parking lot to return home.

His head felt heavy because he didn't sleep at all after the strange incident last night. Plus, the inspection at his office was quite hectic this morning. As a data processing staff, Adam had to clear his mind so he could focus.

"Tough day; I hope a cup of green tea this afternoon can ease my mind. And, of course, sleeping pills so I won't be awake anymore because of that damn old man. Last night's incident was beyond reason, have I really gone mad?"

The yellow sedan started to move away from the office area. The uncrowded streets made Adam go a little faster than usual.

Music from the radio accompanies the trip. Everything went smoothly until Adam's eyes locked on a reflection he found in the rearview mirror.

The figure of an old man with a white beard stared at him intently and said, "It's your time."

"What?!"

BAAM!

Adam's split concentration made him lose control and hit a large truck in front. Adam was thrown out of the car, his body slammed into the road, and blood poured from his head.

Adam's vision slowly blurred; a moment before his eyes closed, the old man's figure reappeared and thrust his hand toward Adam.