Eve of Destruction

Being a creature of habit, Ethan awakes the following morning and follows his usual routine. First a hot shower and a shave, followed by dressing casually in a faded t-shirt and jeans. Walking downstairs to his kitchen, Ethan pours himself a glass of cold sewwt-tea from his refrigerator as he stares out the window over his sink.

When he has finished his drink, Ethan walks out his back door and moving to the center of his fenced in back yard turns to the East. Ethan takes a few deep breathes. Grounding his energies into the earth itself, and lifting his head to the skies, Ethan stretches out his arms, elbows slightly bent, palms up and says his devotion as he has done many times before:

“Hail and welcome bringer of light,

You of beauty grace and might;

As I go about my day;

Shower me with your golden rays,

Make me a vessel of your energy,

That cleansed and blessed I may be!”

Ethan enjoys these few moments of communion with the infinite and then walks back inside feeling more energetic and awake than he had before. Inside he takes another cup of sweet-tea to his office off the living room. Moving through the house Ethan remarks to himself he doesn’t seem to do a great deal of living in his living room. Inside his office, he switches on the television, mostly for background noise, and takes a seat at his computer. Ethan brings up the astrological programs that tell him where the planets are in relation to the zodiac and to each other for the next coming months.

Ethan begins to print off the information so that he can begin to write the horoscopes for each of the twelve signs of that zodiac. For some it may seem tedious work, but Ethan has always loved astrology and he felt that he had found a niche writing monthly horoscopes specifically for the lives of gay men. The publishers of The North Star, a gay men’s magazine, certainly felt that way as well. Ethan always counted himself lucky to be able to make a living by doing something that he loved.

Working at his computer, half listening to the re-run of Charmed which replays twice daily on TNT, Ethan barely notices when the program is interrupted by the Emergency Alert System. The banner on the bottom of the screen and the accompanying voice informed the viewer of the existence of an emergency situation and urged the viewer to turn to another channel for all relevant information. Turning to the specified channel, Ethan reads the words as they appear on the screen.

“All citizens in the city of Shadow Falls are urged to stay indoors as several incidences point to the possibility of a Tornado having touched down in several areas of the city. While no Tornado has been spotted, authorities say that this does not mean that the danger has passed. Again all citizens should remain indoors……”

Ethan clicks over to the local channel where a reporter is filing a story about the destruction of the historic Winthrop Plant, one of the many textile mills owned by Derek Powers.

“…..as you can see Jane, the plant seems to have been torn apart brick by brick. Now authorities are treating the incident as a natural disaster. The official cause has been attributed to a tornado. However I spoke with Larry Vaughn, Channel 5’s own weather man, and there has been no indication of a tornado in the area. Officials have declined to comment. Dan Brokaw, Channel 5 News."

“Thank you Dan. Larry will have his own report later as we bring you continuing coverage of the destruction of the Winthrop Plant in Shadow Falls, South Carolina."

Having seen his ex-boyfriend Brian in the background at the disaster Ethan throws on his shoes and drives to the scene. There, Ethan witnesses the devastation, and bewildered as much as the crowd around him he looks to the skies as if searching for the elusive tornado.

Ethan makes his way to the front of the crowd behind the police barricade looking for Brian. Seeing Brian, Ethan moves forward to speak with him and a uniformed officer warns him to stay behind the yellow caution tape.

“Brian!” Ethan calls out over the officer’s shoulder.

“Its okay.” Brian explains to the officer showing him his badge “I know this man, he’s one of the department’s advisors on certain matters.”

“Ok, detective.” the officer remarks letting Ethan pass.

Brian and Ethan then walk away from both the crowd and other officials where they can talk openly.

“Ethan, what are you doing here?"

“I saw the report on TV and I was worried about you….”

“You know something about all this?”

“All this?” Ethan questions “You mean there’s more going on?”

“Are you kidding me? Well, last night there was a major prison break at the Palms when manhole sized openings appeared in the walls, ceilings, and floors; and then there’s this…” Brian says as he points to the destroyed Winthrop Plant “...and finally a hail of stones appeared in the skies over the Yacht Club sinking only one ship, The Siren, even though there were several anchored on the docks.”

Brian takes a moment to pause, hoping that Ethan will provide him with some answers. When Ethan is not forthcoming Brian continues “If that’s not enough, there’s major property damage at the children’s park, destruction at the construction sight of the library bring built at Shadow Falls Community College….”

“I’m sorry” Ethan explains “I don’t know anything about any of these events. Like I said, I was just worried about you."

“That’s nice Ethan.” Brian remarks sympathetically “but I’m really busy here so if you can’t offer me any help, I really need you to go home where its safe and let us handle this ok?”

“Ok” Ethan replies pausing to open his senses “…but I can tell you that this isn’t a natural disaster.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that I sense the lingering emanations of something…or someone… very angry…..”

“Detective Lewis” someone calls out to Brian “over here please.”

“That’s my boss,” Brian explains “I have to go.”

“Ok” Ethan replies “I’ll see you later. Oh and thanks for that bottle of wine….”

“Ethan, just go home where you’ll be safe and stay put. For me?”

“I will. Bye.”

“Love you…”

“What?” Ethan asks surprised.

“I’m sorry Ethan…” Brian replies, “…force of habit. I gotta go…”

Before driving home, Ethan cruises past the children’s park where he spots the familiar yellow CAUTION tape as well as several officers going about their business. Slowing down, Ethan notices that it appears as if the swing sets, slides and other assorted attractions scattered about the children’s park had been pulled up out of the ground and warped into grotesque shapes. Making a U-Turn and driving past the park again, Ethan notices the sign at its entrance:

Walter Powers Memorial Park

Established 1990