“My Lords incubi, my Ladies succubi, my fallen angels, leviathans, and all form of nightmare big or small. Long ago, our ancestors led sublime existences. On any given day, they could have a stroll through evergrey fields of decaying corpses or hold a moonlit dinner serenaded by the tortured caterwauls of Lyrans. They ruled this world completely, from the heavens to the deepest bowels of its smoldering heart, from the fiercest draconoid to the lowliest dwarf.”

Apollyon paused for a moment, allowing his enraptured audience to reminisce over the countless tales of their illustrious lineage: King Hades’ domination of Persephone, Lord Apophis swallowing the sun, or the conflagration of the cities of the plains. Such stories so deeply suffused their culture as to border indoctrination. Apollyon continued once he saw their retrospective glassy eyes return to him.

“That was until 10,000 years ago, when invaders from another plane of existence seized our world and entrapped our people inside a mighty barrier. Ever since, generation upon generation, we have worked to erode our cage and reacquire our rightful station. These efforts have finally come to fruition.”

The projections magnifying Apollyon’s voice and visage for the many thousands watching zoomed in, cropping the stage and his lower body to focus on the firmness of his stare.

“Today we make our grand return to the surface. Today we retake all that was taken from us. However, that is not all that today brings. Today, we go a step further. Today, we expand beyond our vast ancient territory; we reach beyond the borders of our world, move in mass to the lands of our great adversary and deliver vengeance on the descendants of those who ensnared us.”

The crowd roared, swinging hands, claws, tentacles, and other appendages to express their approval as Apollyon stepped down from the podium and moved towards a pair of daemons stationed at a console a dozen yards away. The pair outwardly remained impassive but all six of their hearts were pounding. They knew how risky the operation was. Sure, the theory was sound and all the tests had been successful, but they had never attempted anything close to this scale.

“Is it ready?” Apollyon asked the pair.

“Everything looks good,” said one of the daemons as he glanced over the console’s glowing displays for the fifth time in as many minutes.

“Yep,” the other agreed.

“Then go. We have waited long enough,” said Apollyon.

One of the pair nodded to the other as he lifted a glass cover and pressed the large button underneath.

The lights dimmed and the crowd went silent as all the power in the building drained away only to be replaced a more ethereal radiance that seemed to emanate from above. The light quickly grew until white overran everyone’s sight.

Then both the light and the beings within it were gone. Half a million daemons, half of their entire population, vanished.

“Good evening, our top story tonight, our only story tonight, is the same as last night. It’s the only thing anyone is talking about, the only thing on anyone’s mind, the mysterious beams of light that rained down from the skies and the run of disappearances left in their wake. I’m sure you’re aware, but the FBI has asked us to display the number at the bottom of the screen and remind you that if you know of someone who disappeared yesterday, and you haven’t done so already, please call the number at the bottom of your screen to make a report.”

A bead of sweat rolled down the reporter’s brow. The middle-aged man casually used a paper towel to wipe the moisture away as if it was the most common thing in the world, although it wasn’t. Sure, the studio was warm and a dozen stage lights were beaming down on him, but the reporter had adapted to those things long ago. No, the reporter was sweating over the utter strangeness of the situation. The rules of the universe were broken and no one knew what new order would form in their wake.

“I know we haven’t released much about what has happened. The truth is that no one really knows what’s going on. We begin tonight with a brief overview of what we know.”

“On Wednesday September 23, at approximately 5:17 Eastern Standard Time, thousands of beams of light rained down from the skies. The beams landed on people all across the world. Even though they dissipated after only a few seconds, anyone inside the lights disappeared without a trace. We can now report that cases of this phenomenon have been confirmed in every country except North Korea. Although satellite images suggest they’ve experienced the phenomena as well.”

“As to the number affected, this morning the FBI released a new estimate of approximately fifteen to twenty thousand cases in the United States alone. That’s up from an initial estimate of five thousand. This new estimate means around one in every 20,000 Americans have disappeared without a trace. At this time there appears to be no connection between those affected. They comprised of people of all ages, races, genders, and religious affiliations. Reports in other countries indicate a similar rate of one in every 20,000. Meaning worldwide as many as 400,000 people vanished.”

The broadcast cut to a commercial and Morgan switched to another channel. This one was having a round table discussing possible causes of the event. It was strange having a politician, a priest, a theoretical physicist, and an ufologist seated around the same table, but maybe it was just a sign of the times.

“It’s all in the good book. Just look at the signs, people being taken by beams of light from the heavens. It’s the rapture. The rapture has come and all of you sinners had better repent before it’s too late or you will burn eternally in the fiery pit,” exclaimed the preacher. This greatly upset several of the other people at the table.

“What rubbish,” said the ufologist. “If this is the rapture then how, reverend, are you still here?”

“Ahh,” stuttered the priest, a bit flustered. “I-I’m here to offer a final chance for you sinners to repent before hell rises to earth and all of you suffer eternal damnation.”

“How can you explain the lack of patterns in who was taken?” continued the ufologist. “If it was what the preacher claims then why were people of all faiths taken. Why people of all ages, ethnicities, professions? The only reasonable explanation is that someone wanted a sample of all sorts of people. It must have been aliens.”

All the panelists continued their arguments. The politician believed that the event was an elaborate plan orchestrated by the Chinese to disrupt Western economies. Ignoring the fact that 1 in 20,000 people are gone, the real disruption was mass religious conversions, hoarding, and rioting. China, having firm media restrictions, had prevented most of its populace from being aware of the situation. As such, their economy had remained stable.

Meanwhile the physicist reported an incident where a colleague of his was taken while working inside of a particle accelerator. Instruments from the accelerator indicated distortions in space-time that couldn’t have been generated by any known means.

Morgan was enthralled by the coverage. Like everyone else in the world, she watched the screen with a mix of excitement and dread. The phone rang, stirring Morgan from the couch for the first time in over a day.

‘It’s about time,’ she thought, as she reached for it before its second ring.