The End by Justin Chiang Read Free Book Online Page A

after that.  What do you really say to a minister when your life is pretty much the definition of sin?  They compared notes but didn't come to any conclusions about the end of the world either.  The one thing they had in common at the moment, other than the apparent disappearance of everyone else on Earth, was hunger. 
    "What do you think those things were?" asked Soleil finally.
    "Demons," Patrick replied without hesitation before taking another hunk out of his triple cheeseburger.
    "Yeah I guess."  Soleil got up and refilled her cup from the frosty machine, "So where do we go from here?" she asked as she sat down, shoveling more chocolaty goodness into her mouth, "I guess I mean, where you were headed is fine."
    Patrick looked at her for a moment tentatively, still chewing.  "Like I said before, I've just been following those things eastward since everything happened."  He pointed a finger at her and asked, "Better yet, where do you want to go, Soleil?"
    "Abbey Downs," she said immediately.  She looked confused, "but I have no idea wh y that is."
    "Interesting..." Patrick said, "I was thinking the same thing."

4
     
     
     
     
    Tessa was in a meeting when it happened; day dreaming, not really paying attention.  She is the appointed leader of the Abbey Downs Township, the arbitrator of petty town disputes and other municipal matters.  She's also one of the youngest to ever hold the position.  To her it's more an honorary title, passed down to her as the last of the towns folks to carry the Dunham name.  The Dunham's purportedly the founders of all that is Abbey Downs.  Mrs. Marley is droning on about Kyle Morrison's tomato plants growing into her yard, Kyle is swiping through content on his phone and Tessa is twirling a strand of long blonde hair around her finger. 
    She has a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach.  She knows that something is about to happen.  She knows that "it" is about to happen, she just doesn't know what "it" is.  She wonders if a storm is coming but that doesn't feel right.  No this feels bigger.  She's reminded of her childhood lessons.  She's reminded of Evan.  She's reminded of the prophecies that never came to be.  The feeling grows stronger within her.  Tessa will later describe this feeling as warm, as if this is what it feels like to glow, to emanate, to radiate power.
     
    "Are you even listening to me, young lady?" Mrs. Marley snapped grumpily but before Tessa could reassure the elderly woman that she was indeed listening everything went black.  The woman's wig and Kyle's phone thunked to the table simultaneously.  Outside a car smacked hard into the mailbox in front of City Hall with a loud crunch.  The sound of birds chirping was replaced for a moment with clattering and then all was silent.
     
    Before the darkness has even fully dissipated, Tessa is up, heading towards the house on top of the hill.  Dunham Manor.  Where everything began.  Home.  She isn't driving her white GT down the empty streets or even running along the footpaths that intersect in the town square.  No, if any of the residents of Abbey Downs still existed corporeally they'd bear witness to a young beautiful blonde literally floating home on the wind.
    Tessa glides smoothly towards Dunham Manor, bypassing the front of the house altogether, she lands in the backyard where years before we watched her and her Mother enter a cellar towards a secret entrance that led to the depths of Abbey Downs proper.  As she makes her way through the caverns beneath the house the walls light up and pulse with dim green phosphorescence.  She travels half a mile in no time at all before she comes to the center.  Here she stops at the great pit.  She closes her eyes and for just a moment breathes in the various odors of the cavern.  The combination of moss and mint is strong, with just a hint of brimstone.
    She turns around and begins poring over the glowing words etched into the stone wall, looking for