The dark clouds that had gathered over Yova throughout the evening had begun to vent all their anger shortly after nightfall, the faint light of the full moon perceptible at times, and only barely so, whenever a gentle breeze pushed the clouds aside.

On top of the hill at the end of the so-called “last street” of the city stood an ancient castle. More than twenty years ago, a married couple, perfect strangers to the whole town, had acquired the house in a precarious state of preservation. Now, however, the castle looked better than in its golden age and the couple, who had three children, had found a home within those walls.

The house consisted of five floors and four towers which, on particularly overcast nights like that one, seemed to get lost in the darkness of the night sky. A very tall, sturdy acacia wood door separated the outside world from the tense stillness that the thick walls seemed to exude that night.

On the ground floor, in the large living room, next to the crackling fireplace, Sarai and Victor sat on the sofa, waiting in silence. Their ears were attentive to the slightest noise coming through the window.

Sarai reached for her husband’s hand and held it tightly. Victor took his wife in his arms, kissing her on the forehead, stroking her shoulders.

“It’s all right,” Victor whispered. Sarai nodded and closed her eyes—she would not cry. She wouldn’t let herself. She would not cry.

The most imperceptible stir caused the couple to leap off the couch. They exchanged glances and Victor kissed his wife’s lips, aware that it would be the last time he would do so. Sarai stroked her husband’s face and, after whispering a few words, the woman’s body dissolved into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

Unafraid to be seen, Sarai left the room as quickly as she could and climbed, to at a time, the twisted stone steps of the spiral staircase until it opened into a wide hallway. Three closed doors at each side separated each of her three children from the terror that was already beginning to take hold of Sarai.

She opened the first door, Christian’s bedroom, her eldest son, her body regaining all visibility while the door closed gently.

“What’s going on?” a tall, young man muttered awkwardly, his ice-blue eyes identical to his mother’s.

“They’re here,” Sarai said. Her voice sounded so high that she surprised herself. Those words had a powerful effect on Christian, who woke up completely and, in one jump, left his bed and rushed into the corridor with his mother.

“Dad?” Christian asked.

“Downstairs, holding them back,” Sarai replied faintly.

At that moment, a terrible groan came from downstairs. Mother and son exchanged glances, paling.

“I’ll go help,” Christian said, “you wake up Anna and Alexis. We’ll meet in the big tower in five minutes.”

“Sweetheart…”

“Don’t worry,” the young man said as he ran toward the stairs, a second whimper echoing from the walls, “I’ll be back in no time.”

Christian ran down the stairs, skipping the last five steps with one big jump, plunging into the almost absolute darkness of the hall. Of the large mirror that had covered a large part of the wall, there was now nothing but sharp remnants scattered on the floor. The ceiling chandelier, equally shattered, seemed to have impacted against it. What was left of it lay, miserable, in a corner. As he walked through the door to the living room, Christian found a similar scene: the sofa, the table, the wardrobe, all reduced to rubble. In the centre, his father was engaged in a lurid struggle against a group of strange creatures: elongated, slender, black, and strangely translucent shapes. Under their skin, one could sense the twisted bones that barely held those grim bodies, from which skeletal arms and legs sprang, with long, sharp, reddish fingers.

One of them grabbed Victor by the neck while two others shook him. The creatures rose into the air and, with unexpected force, lifted Victor, who was trying to get away from the creatures, with no success. Then, in unison, the three beings released him, and Victor fell violently on the splintered remains of what had been the table.

“Dad!” Christian exclaimed, which drew the attention of the creatures, who turned to see who had uttered that cry. As they turned around, Christian could see the faces of those beings, those gigantic white bulbs that were their eyes piercing him.

The young man looked at his father, who was still lying on the rubble, bleeding slightly, but he could see his chest rise and fall. He took a deep breath and reality around him changed. Somehow, everything seemed to be moving more slowly and it was as if the darkness had dissipated somewhat. Christian turned, hands extended towards the what remained of the mirror in the hall, and felt a powerful warmth in his fingertips. The shards of glass vibrated momentarily before standing up and beginning to move on their own, slowly, approaching Christian, surrounding him.

The creatures had forgotten about Victor, who was stirring, whining, unable to get up. As the creatures approached Christian, the pieces of the mirror rose into the air, surrounding him, pointing their sharp edges at the strange beings.

“Attack,” Christian whispered. The crystals were thrown in the direction of those monstrosities at such a speed that they couldn’t do much to avoid them. They penetrated the skin of the beings, the cuts oozing dark smoke where one would have expected to find blood.

While the shards of glass took care of those beasts, Christian ran to his father, who had started to bleed more profusely. The man looked at his son and smiled weakly. With a trembling hand, he stroked Christian’s cheek and opened his mouth to speak.

A terrible screech drowned out Victor’s words. Christian turned and saw, in horror, how from the smoke emanating from the wounds of those things new creatures materialised, smaller, more translucent, less corporeal. Christian stood up and breathed life into all the remnants of the furniture that covered the floor of the room. The debris, just like the pieces glass a few minutes before, rose and began to attack the creatures, this time trying not to release the strange smoke.

For a moment, Christian believed that he would be able to contain the creatures.

It didn’t take long for him to see how wrong he was.