Darion Libinski opened his eyes and stared at the open window of the room. His first thought is that it is already afternoon. Did I oversleep again?

The moment after that thought, everything seems to become wrong. First was the uncomfortable feeling of his body when Darion realized he could barely move. That alone gave him an almost instinctive feeling to panic, but he forgot all about it when blood return to his limbs, and then the feeling came with it. Except that the first thing it gave him was this overwhelming sensation of pain. His body was almost spasming, but he gritted his teeth and endured it, sure that it will go away sooner or later.

It did, but it sure took its leisurely time to do so. At that point, Darion was sweating profusely. And on top of that, his mind was foggy, and he just can't get away from the feeling that something is really not right at the moment.

His mind cleared enough for him to realize that he wasn't in his own room. This place is just too clean for him, too white, too sterilized, and ... shit.

He finally recognized the place, and for a split second, he wondered what the hell happened to him to warrant a visit to the hospital.

His mind finally registered the beeping sound and whirl of the air-conditioning unit and the various medical machines. His room certainly did not have one of those. A new thought came to him: Can his parents afford to get him to the hospital? He hoped beyond hope that this would not clean out his dad's insurance.

Damn it, of all the time for him to get sick!

He closed his eyes and tried desperately to remember what he was doing the last time before he blocked out. It took him a minute to restructure his jumbled mind, but he was able to do so. His most recent memory was when he just won the interschool karate tournament.

It was not exactly a passion of his, but it turned out that he was a natural martial artist. At least, that is what his proud father keeps saying to him. Darion remembered his dad bringing them to his favorite breakfast inn after the tournament, and he was given the biggest sundae shake ever. Alana and Ernesto, his girl and best friend respectively, were there too to celebrate with him.

There were also a few familiar faces in the joint. When Darion's dad embarrassingly announced that his son was the 2016 champion of the karate-ka division level tournament at the age of fourteen, a lot of the people in the room came over to greet and congratulate him.

Ernie had no problem retelling his bout with the cringy exaggeration of a bard as if he just defended the world from a demon lord or something. "Next year, I'll join too!" Ernesto promised them. "Then we will meet in the finals."

"How about making sure you get into your freshmen years first before adding another extracurricular to distract you," Alana said exasperatedly.

"Ahahaha!" Ernesto laughed with a hint of embarrassment. Despite his family connections, the big kid is having problems keeping his grade above waters, so to speak. "Don't worry, Darion will let me copy his test anyway."

"Like hell!"

Alana laughed when the two best friends started arguing. His dad continued regaling the waitress while he proudly told her that Darion learned a lot from him.

Despite the annoying friend and embarrassing parent, Darion couldn't help smiling. For a while now, he realized that he was content with his life. It turned out that this day was a happy day.

At least when it lasted.

When the change happened, almost no one noticed it at first. The first sign was the utter silence in the place. There was this thick pressure that simply washed all over them, and everyone froze like deer in a headlight. It was so sudden that Darion didn't know why he froze in place, and he kept smiling.

Then the sky turned black like a switch was turned off, and it was suddenly night. A few curious and worried people came out of the Deli and stared at the sky. Darion, his dad, Alana, and Ernie all trooped out and watched with apprehension.

Then...

....

Something happened. Darion did not remember what it was, but something entered him from his eyes, and he suddenly blocked out.

He could still feel that thing; no, it was not alive. It wasn't sentient. Something like that could not possibly be alive.

But that's a trivial matter for that thing was a force like a universe itself. It exists, and like the freaking ocean, when you are in the middle of it, it has a presence you cannot ignore.

It was there, that… darkness. It spread out in all directions with its oppressive weight in every nook and cranny of Darion's soul. It resonates with him, and then burn him from within.

Then there was nothing.

Darion blinked. And he was here, in the fucking hospital. Suddenly, he was sweating with worry.

If he was here... where is his dad? And Ernesto?

And Alana. Is she safe? Oh god, where is she?!

Were they also harmed by that darkness? That void, like he was? Maybe they are in other parts of this hospital. I have to know. I-

He tried to sit up, but the various wires around him made it nearly impossible to do so. It made him agitated. Some of the beeping monitors started to increase their tempo, raise their intensity. He pushed himself up one more time, and he was sitting up. He let himself slid down the bed, and he almost fell. For a moment, his feet could not carry his entire weight. He steadied himself and forced more blood to his rebelling legs by stomping on them. The wires were blocking him again, and so he angrily pulled them out one by one.

Blood spurted out of him and tainted the white sheets of his bed. He didn't care. Not anymore. His dad, his friends are in trouble. Darion needed to make sure they are all okay.

Darion took a step forward, and he wobbled. The door in the far corner opened, and a startled young nurse froze as she stared at him. Darion took another determined step forward. He opened his mouth to ask his questions, but his eyes stared at the roof of his brain, and then he collapsed.

The nurse turned and ran back, screaming some medical code. He didn't feel his face smacking the ground because he was already unconscious when it did.