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[h1]╚══════════════╝[/h1][h2][b][u]David's apartment, Downtown Araminta[/u][/b][/h2][/center][hr]

"Thirty nine...forty. Whoo boy, time to hit the showers."

David pulled the towel he'd been using as an exercise mat from the floor and wrapped it around his neck. A sheen of perspiration covered his toned, slightly flabby body, the evening sun shining in through his windows as the journalist grabbed his bottle of water and chugged a few good gulps from it. His new exercise regime was hard, geared towards older men whose bodies weren't as young and sprightly as they'd used to be, but he'd managed it. And today was only the end of the first week! He was definitely making progress but there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to ache all over tomorrow.

He took a hot shower and busied himself with his evening's preparations; he was supposed to meet his colleagues from the Araminta Daily at a pub nearby for a night of beer and good food. Only the best dinner plans were with colleagues, old friends of many years. And, as usual, he was packing his essentials into his satchel bag; never left home without his journal and his camera, like the good reporter he was. In case he needed to write down an idea for an article, or the evening's sunset was particularly beautiful, he had the tools of his trade at hand. The ethereal smoke that poured from his bag was a reminder how much memories were stored within his treasured camera, and as he grabbed the keys to his apartment from the bowl next to the door, he patted his bag with a smile on his face. Always a good time for photos.

As he left, he called one of his friends. Hopefully they'd gotten seats already; his editor was a notorious stickler for punctuality and everyone in the office knew it. After the second ring, he heard Fred pick up.

[i]"Frederick here."[/i]

"Fred! It's Dave, I'm on my way over. You got a place already?"

[i]"Of course! I'm the only one here but I'm sure the others are on their way. I hope you don't mind that I've already started drinking."[/i]

"Hey man, that's not cool. At least wait for everyone to get there before you start with a beer."

[i]"Drinking water, David."[/i]

There was a moment in which David paused what he was doing. Then a wide, cheeky grin spread over his face as he laughed.

"God damn it, Freddy. That was a lame joke and you know it."

[i]"Hey man, it's what men of our age are best at."[/i]

"Fred you're five years younger than me. You shut your trap."

Both men laughed as David exited the apartment block and began walking down the street. At least, that was what he was about to do when a loud crack split the silence of the evening. The sound reverberated through the downtown area and David could see glass windows wobbling in their frames as he whipped his head around to where he'd heard the crash come from. Without much clue, even with his...strange powers, David saw nothing amiss in the direction that he'd heard the noise from.

"Holy shit!"

[i]"You heard that too, David?"[/i]

"Yeah. Holy shit what was that?"

[i]"Don't know. You gonna check that out?"[/i]

He bit his lower lip. Work? Or a night out with friends? He gave it a moment, made a decision and then pressed his phone back to his face.

"Yeah. Tell the boys I'll be late. Or I might not even-"

And then he saw it. An unnatural pillar of purple light that shone from the source of the noise, engulfing anything in its path. It took David a moment but, as he turned to run from the advancing wall of light, it consumed him in his entirety.

[i]"David? David?! David! Oh shit."[/i]
[hr]
[center][b][h3]???[/h3][/b][/center]
David started awake on a cold, concrete floor. Face down, with a sense of vertigo and dizziness filling his head, along with all the aches of being thrown bodily onto concrete. He slowly raised himself to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes in an effort to get himself back up to fully functional, even as he heard the voices of other people around him. With his vision clear, he looked around the room.

Surrounding him were several people in various states of panic; mostly young men and women that he didn't recognise, save for two. One, the unconscious form of Archie Anderson, a man with a tragic past that David had covered many years ago. The other? Jaden Dominguez. One of the victims of the Horde that had survived his encounter with the crazed serial killer. He'd carried out the interview himself; had Jaden in an interview room at the Araminta Daily offices while his colleagues talked to his friends. The story had made headlines, of course, but there was an inner strength to the young man that he admired. 

David stood, dusted off his front, made sure all his things were where he'd had them, before pulling his camera out of his satchel to hang it around his neck. This warehouse... It felt wrong, being in here. David didn't like it, especially as he trained his supernatural sight across the walls and ceiling. It felt like a minute, almost imperceptible [i]wrongness[/i], like when a picture frame is ever so slightly off center, or a minor detail on a painting is out of place. It didn't sit well with him and it made him frown. 

"Well kids, wherever we are, it's probably Araminta. But something feels real off about this place."

He turned to face the small handful of young men and women who were awake, Jaden among them. 

"You guys saw it too? Loud crash, bright purple light?"