Seer

A short story by Andrew Sztehlo

I.

The man looked at Nathaniel, and his eyes burned in the night. His eyes echoed
the faint colour of fire, and he stared and stared at the boy. He looked at him with hatred
and chaos, and he was going to bring the system down. He had a goal, and nothing would
stop him. He stared at him, and his eyes burned with fire.

And then he was gone.

Nathaniel was waiting for the bus. The man had been in the bushes. He continued
staring at that space for a long time, wondering where he had went. He did not remember
seeing him move though. Did he just disappear? Nathaniel wondered for an eternity,
staring and searching around the bushes.

“Bull! I don’t believe it!”

Nathaniel spinned around, trying to locate the origin of the curse. Oh yes. Just
down the road, a few yards a way, was standing the Savage. He stood their, beating a
young boy. He must have been only 10, younger than the others.

“Please, stop!”

“Gimme your lunch money, and then we’ll think about stopping!”

The Savage grabbed the boy’s backpack, and ripped it off of the boy’s soldiers.
The straps made a large tearing sound, and the boy fell to the floor. He unzipped the bag
and turned it upside down, emptying the contents onto the floor. The Savage lowered
himself, looking through the contents of the boy’s bag. He found what he was looking
for. I could not see what it was, and he turned a way, leaving destruction in his wake.
Nathaniel approached the boy.

“Can I help?” he asked, sincerely.

“If you want my phone and wallet, too late. The Savage just took it.” He
answered.

“Why don’t you stand up to him?”

“Are you kidding?! He’d beat me to a pulp! Say, you aren’t from around here, are
you?” The young boy questioned.
 “No. I moved here from Illinois. My dad’s job, y’see. He owns a small bank, and
he’s here to oversee the construction. I don’t have many friends yet. What’s your name?”
Nathaniel asked.

“I’m Jackson. You?”

“Um… I’m Nathaniel.” he answered.

“Well, welcome to the middle of nowhere. In this town, nothing ever happens. I
mean, a few people have gone missing, but nothing else. A real dump, this place is.”

Nathaniel picked up all of the boy’s notebooks and stuffed them into his bag. He
zipped it up and gave it to him.

Nathaniel stood up, and the man was their again. His eyes were still burning with
fury. He was standing in the middle of the road, and for the first time, Nathaniel saw him
in the light. He had a curly black air, and his skin was stretched over his cheeks and
bones. He was wearing a long, leather jacket, and khaki pants. His bony fingers lifted
themselves, a life of their own, and pointed at him:

“You are the Seer.”

Suddenly, a car spinning down the road. The man with burning eyes turned
around, and saw the car, but it was too late. The car slammed into him, and he went-

He disappeared.

In thin air.

The car veered to the left and smashed into a tree. Smoke and steam, mixed
together, started to rise from the grill. The engine burst into flames, and the fire spread
quickly, whipping out at any helpers. The door of the car was kicked open, and a man fell
onto the ground.

Nathaniel was frozen still. The man with burning eyes simply had turned into into
smoke, and the smoke had disappeared.

“Hey! Did anybody see the man? You know, the man in the middle of the road?”
he shouted.

Jackson replied: “What now? You started seeing things? There wasn’t any guy in
the road. Anyway, looks like the field trip is over. I’m really bummed, man. Might as
well go home.”

*
 The Savage was lying in his bed, crying. His father was drunk again, and angry
that he had not stolen more money or more phones. He whimpered like a baby. He had
turned the lights in his small room off, hoping his father would think that he had gone
away. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers. He continued to cry.

Under the sheet, the Savage saw a small glow, in the far corner of the room. It
continued to glow. He was scared, but not puny, and so he unravelled his sheet. And then,
he found out, it was not a glow.

There was a man in the corner of the room, kneeling, with a torch in his hand.
Because of the darkness, the Savage could not see the man, but his eyes burned with
hatred and spite. He saw a small motion, and the man’s hands lifted themselves. A small
finger appeared out of the darkness, pointing at the Savage.

“You are the Seer.”

With that, the father kicked the Savage’s door in. He walked into the room,
crumpling the door in his wake. His stomach was hanging out of his tattered jeans, and
there was a patch of sweat running down his vest. He was holding a beer bottle in his
hand.

“Where are ya, ya damn coward!” he shouted.

The Savage lay silent. If his father found him, it might mean another scar, and the
Savage did not want it.

“I said, where are you!” He screamed.

The man in the corner of the room had a faint smile, and he lifted his other hand,
pointing his bony finger at the Savage’s father. A small wisp of smoke flew from his
fingertip, and ever so slowly, crept into the father’s nostril. The father fell to the floor,
unconscious. The man with burning eyes stood, and walked to the father. He stood above
him, a pillar of strength.

“We had a deal once. You have lost my trust. I will come back, and you will
know I am in your home.”

The man left the room.

The Savage started crying again.

 II.

“So, why do they call him the Savage?” asked Nathaniel. Jackson was standing
next to him, a small boy, and they were waiting in the Cafeteria line. It was Sunday, and
they had driven all the way on Jackson’s family moped into town so that they could go to
the mall and do some shopping.

“Ask him what 1 plus 1 is, and you’ll find out.” Jackson replied. He hadn’t been
speaking much for the past two hours of shopping, and this was the first time he had
taken the time to reply to a question without a nod or a shake of the head. As expected,
Nathaniel had been taken aback.

It was Nathaniel’s turn in the queue. He stepped up to the food, and randomly
pointed at some pots, filled with god-knows-what. The cook dipped his spoon into the
mixtures, and served a small but expensive Caesar salad. The salad was dripping with
moisture, the sauce setting Nathaniel’s taste buds ablaze.

“This looks good, huh?” he asked.

Jackson merely shrugged a response, not bothered with replying in a full sentence.
Something was wrong with Jackson, and Nathaniel wanted to know why. Jackson picked
up his plate of food. Nathaniel paid and they sat in the corner of the room. Jackson started
to drink what looked like soup, and the other boy pondered what was wrong.

“Hey, Jackson! What’s wrong? You’ve hardly said anything all day!” he asked.

Jackson threw a sarcastic glance at Nathaniel. He stopped eating his food and
shoved his hand into his pocket.

“Let’s see if I can pay for my meal with my very expensive credit- Oh wait! I
don’t have one, do I? Ok then, let’s see if I can order one with my very expensive iPhone-
Oh wait! The Savage stole it the other day! What do you think is wrong? My dad is
pissed at me because I got my phone and wallet stolen. He gives me lectures on, ooh, “I
should stand up for myself!”, or how about, “You’re a weakling, and you don’t deserve to
have a credit card and an iPhone!” How do you think that makes me feel!! I’m too small
to protect myself, and I can’t even throw a punch!” Jackson shouted.

The Cafeteria fell silent, and everybody stared at Jackson. An eerie silence took
its place, and suddenly it was like they were naked and the whole world was looking at
them and laughing.

“Calm down, Jackson! Come on, I didn’t mean it like that!” Nathaniel whispered.

Jackson picked up his tray and threw it in the garbage.

“I’m going home. I got a lot to think about. See you tomorrow.” Jackson said.
 Nathaniel looked down at his tray. People in the cafeteria started talking again,
and it was peaceful. What made Jackson act like that? Nathaniel wondered. He also
wondered how he was going to get home, since Jackson probably took the moped.
Nathaniel looked up. He was afraid.

The man with burning eyes was sitting next to him.

“Walk with me. These people cannot see me, and only you can. You want to be
seen talking to air?” He asked. His voice was deep and lyrical. Nathaniel stared at his
eyes, and he felt his will had been stripped away from him.

“Uh, sure. Sure. Waita, waitta minute.” Nathaniel felt dizzy, and he fell of his
chair and onto the ground. Luckily, nobody saw, and so the invisible man, who was only
visible to Nathaniel, picked him up and walked out of the cafeteria. The man propped the
boy up at a chair, and slapped him in the face.

“Come on, wake up.” He said.

“Nathaniel opened his eyes, and saw the man. He tried to sit up, but he could not.
The man was forcing his legs to stay on the chair.

“Who- Who are you? Lu, let me go!” Nathaniel cried. Suddenly, he could feel the
weight of the world on his shoulders, and he felt tired with the strain.

“I am the Seer.” He answered.

“But you said I was the Seer. Who are you? What’s your name?” Nathaniel asked.

“I am only the Seer.” The man answered.

“Ok, Mr. Seer, I’m going to have to leave now…” Nathaniel replied.

“I am dying. You must become the next seer. You are probably experiencing the
first experiences of the seer now, as we speak…”

Nathaniel was hit by a train. The world around him melted, and he was hit again
and again, again and again, until he fell to the floor. He looked up. Blood was crusted
around his nose, and he was looking at the apocalypse. The Four horsemen were riding in
waves of blood in the sky, and there were witches and demons and trolls and monsters
and bogeymen, killing and killing people. He saw manslaughter. He saw a world without
hope, a world without joy. And these creatures were the slaves. Nathaniel saw the Savage
at the top of the hill, with a huge, smug grin on his face. He was the person who caused
all of this destruction. He was the harbinger.

Nathaniel was in the mall again. He jumped up, screaming.

 “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!” He shouted.

“What did you see?” the Seer asked.

“I, I saw the… the… ap.. apocalypse.” Nathaniel stopped screaming. The man’s
face had gone whiter than ever before, and a fine line of sweat dripped down from his
face.

“So. You are not only the Seer, but the Protector’s Seer. Come with me.” The man
ordered.

Nathaniel could not help himself. The man’s lyrical voice and swift, beautiful
movements drew him into his web. And Nathaniel did not know this at the time, but he’s
just gotten himself into a whole lotta trouble.
 III.

“Why have you brought me here?” Nathaniel asked. The Seer had taken him to a
small, squat house on the edge of town. The residence, on the outside, was a red bricked
house, with a long veranda. The house was small, and Closter phobic on the inside, and
the ceiling was lined with smoke.

“I asked, Why have you brought me here?” Nathaniel repeated.

“I brought you here because you are the next Seer. You, alone, will choose which
side you belong to. You chose what side you belong to with your vision. I already know
what your vision was; the apocalypse. However, tell me the intricate details. It will help
in the coming battle.” The Seer ordered.

Nathaniel thought. Should I tell the Seer of the Savage, the harbinger? I think not,
as I don’t want to be the cause of his untimely death! Nathaniel started to speak:

“Well, um, I saw a huge space, with many hills, and there were creatures killing
people. The Four Horsemen where riding on waves of blood in the sky. And there was a
huge hill, and somebody stood on it. I was looking at it from below.” Nathaniel
recounted.

“Was there anybody standing in front of you?” the Seer asked.

“No.”

“Then you will indeed lead us to battle. Is there anything you missed? Any
intricate detail that seemed important?”

“No.”

The Seer paused. Nathaniel wondered what was going through his mind. It
suddenly dawned on him that he was with the man with burning eyes. It was amazing that
in such a short time, they have indeed become friends.

“Go home. I need to think about the next step in your training.” The Seer ordered.

“Ok. Bye bye, Mr Seer.” Nathaniel said.

And with that, Nathaniel parted. He led himself through the corridor, and out the
door. He closed it, gently, and walked down onto the street. Nathaniel turned the events
over. He has just been told he is a Seer. But what does a Seer do? And more importantly,
why is it Nathaniel? And why was the Savage the harbinger? It was too much for one
day. And now, he had a long, long walk home. At least 3 miles.

*
 The Savage sat in the front room of his ram-shackled house. Something was on
the television, but he simply glared at the flashy, tacky screen that his father had brought
home. He was not watching whatever was on, but he knew, subconsciously, what had
happened. He snapped back to reality when he heard the word “Seer”.

The Savage sprung forward onto his knees, grabbing the television. He shook it,
violently, and he threw his energy at the world, and the world spat it back in his face.

“What did you say?!” He shouted.

Almost as if in response, a lady appeared on the television, wearing a close cut

suit and similar hair. She held the microphone, with a small network label on it, exactly at
90 degrees.

“A string of violent suicides have just broken out along the Miami coast. None of
the persons involved left any suicide note of any kind, which doctors say suggest
madness. However, a video tape was found on one of the bodies: R Jackson Veebuckle, a
local resident of Miami. We suggest all children leave the room, as the clip is disturbing:”

The Savage looked on, an eerie silence fell upon the room.

The clip flickered on the screen. It showed a man, close to the camera, and he was
naked down to the waist. He looked on, black, close-cropped hair on edge. A tear glided
down his face.

“They’ve visited me too many times… oh, god, I don’t want them to hurt me!
They eat me alive every night, and I wake up in the morning with scratches on my arms,
and there is blood and I’m not ready to die! GOD! YOU FAILED ME! The Seers, they’re
coming, man, and I think they’re gonna kill everybody!” The man wailed. Tears started
flowing down his face. His skin was tight over his bones.

A small gurgling noise started.

“OH MY GOD!!! THERE’S ONE IN THE ROOM!!! HE’S GONNA KILL ME!
HE’S GONNA- -”

The clip was cut.

The Savage turned the television off. He was a Seer. He threw the television
remote onto the sofa. He started flexing his mouth. His tongue was itching him. He ran up
to his room, like a flash, and flew into his restroom.

The Savage threw up in the toilet, and he sat there for a few minutes.
 And, as he looked up from the toilet, he saw the man with burning eyes. He knew
what was coming. He was a Seer. It was time to start his training.
“Are…. Are you gonna kill me?” he asked, stuttering. He looked down at his
hands. They were shaking.

“You are not ready. You will be a leader in time.” The man said.

“JUST TELL ME WHAT’S HAPPENING!!!” he screamed.

“You will find out. In time.”

The man faded from sight. The Savage fell to the floor and started crying. The
tears flew down his face, and his hands started hurting. He felt his knuckles strain as he
clamped his hands. Something was wrong…

His hands started a small, faint, beautiful glow. The Savage stopped crying. Were
his hands really glowing? He got up onto his knees and quickly flicked the light switch
off. His hands were glowing.

He stared into the glow. He saw cars and a small, happy village flying past. He
looked to the sky, and it was a blood red. And now, he looked down at the city. The city
was in shackles, people running everywhere as monsters chased after them. He looked
down at his hands, and there was blood all over them. He heard a scream behind him, and
he looked to the sky. Someone familiar was charging at him… what was his name?
Nathaniel. Nathaniel jumped up into the sky, his hands glowing with a fiery apocalypse.

“YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!” he screamed. Nathaniel smashed his hands

down on the Savage. Inside the glow, he saw his own hands protect himself, grasping for
Nathaniel. He grabbed him by the throat and brought him down onto the ground. The
glow started getting brighter….

“YOU BROUGHT THE APOCALYPSE!! YOU KILLED EVERYBODY!!”

something sputtered, faintly, from Nathaniel’s bloody mouth.

The glow went out.

The Apocalypse.
 IV.

Nathaniel sat on the cigarette stained couch, just across from the Seer. He looked
at him, prying into his soul. A cigarette hanged from his mouth.

“Seers have special abilities. You can see the future. Your vision of the
Apocalypse is what the world’s current future is. However, our visions can change, and
fluctuate. Our most important ability as a Seer is that we can pull objects out of time. So,
for example-”

Here, the Seer held his hand out in front of him.

“I can sense that somewhere in time a handle of a sword was where my hand is
now. I can manipulate my sense, and bring forth the sword.”

His hand glowed brightly. The glow spread into a thin, cylindrical streak, and it
disappeared. In the Seer’s hand was a blunt, rusty sword.

“Won’t we be changing time then?” asked Nathaniel.

“What is one body more against a foundation of millions? As long as the person I
took the sword from isn’t anybody famous, I can take it. You have a try.” The Seer’s
piercing eyes stared and penetrated Nathaniel’s eyes. He nodded, sputtered and held out
his hand. He closed his eyes. A warm feeling started to spread up his arm.

“Easy. Just pull an object out of time. Doesn’t have to be a weapon- something
small, to start with.” His reassuring eyes looked at Nathaniel’s.

Nathaniel saw a vision… something of a cylindrical object- something similar to a

sword, but smaller… perhaps a heavy dagger… he could tell that much… it was heavy…

Something cold and smooth was in Nathaniel’s hand. He smiled, his eyes still
closed. He opened his eyes.

A Barbie Doll was in his hand.

The Seer snickered.

“Ok, uh, that’s got more of a feminine touch than I expected, but, er, if you want
to play with it later, don’t mind me.”

Nathaniel giggled out loud.

The two men laughed.

 *
Jackson was at home, on the couch in his some-what cosy living room. He had a
can of mountain dew in one hand, the DVD remote in the other. His eyes barely moved,
looking at the moving pictures on the screen. A drip of sweat glided down the side of his
head. He heard his heart beating. He was thinking, thinking of all the ways he could hurt
his father- he could castrate him whilst he’s in the bath. Perhaps tonight- whilst he has a
beer in one hand, snoozing. Yes, it would be a good time to teach his muscle-bound
lunkhead of a father how to be a man. He could give him a lesson. Hypocrite.

Snap out of it!

Jackson brought himself back to reality. His eyes flickered back to life- something
had switched on inside of his head, and he felt tired. “The Searchers” had been on the
television since four o’ clock that morning. Perhaps it was time to give it a rest. Jackson
flicked a switch on the remote, and the television turned off.

In the reflection, painted eerily on the television, he could see a man. The man
stood there. Knowing he had been sighted, the man walked forward to Jackson. It was his
father. His muscely arms wrapped themselves around him.

“Hey, son.”

“Hey, dad.”

“What’ve you been watching?”

“ ‘The Searchers’, father.”

“Aren’t you getting tired of John Wayne, son? I think you and me need to go to a
theatre some time- see a movie actually worth watching. They have a showing of
‘Halloween’ tonight- you wanna come?”

A slight grin appeared at the edges of Jackson’s mouth. He hated these so-called
“Splatter” films his father liked to see; they were so repetitive. How many times does it
take for his father to realize that he’s seen Michael Myers cutting of someone’s hand over
a thousand times?

“It’s Ok, dad. I’ll pass on it.”

“and, er, son… I’m sorry. Sorry for what I said earlier about you being a
weakling. I know that instead of just telling you to grow up, I should help you and try to
understand your problem with the Savage… sorry.”
 “Father, no need to say sorry. Don’t worry- I’ve grown up now. I’ve grown up a
lot.” A flicker of hate appeared in Jackson’s eyes. He would wait until tonight- and he
would let his father experience what a real teenage horror movie was like.

V.

“You seemed to have caught on quickly. Good. We’ll need your power when the
coming apocalypse hits.”

The Seer stood beside Nathaniel. They stood on a small, grassy hill- looking down
at the town below.

“Seer… I think this… this was the place in my vision. This is where I will fight.”

“Really? That’s a bit worrying then…”

“Why so?”

“Well, when a seer sees the future, it is usually a vision he will only experience.
That means that the future is not definite, it can be changed; now that both of us have
seen this vision, that means, from our perspective, we will only ever know the
apocalypse.”

“What does that mean?” Nathaniel asked.

“Well, now that both of us have seen the apocalypse that means it will definitely
happen. We need to be quiet about this. If you saw the town being slaughtered, then that
is what is meant to be.”

“Shouldn’t we try and save some people first? You know, try to evacuate the
town?” Nathaniel asked. He thought about all the people in his life that he knew- Jackson,
his parents, his school friends… he should say to them, get out of town!

“No, Nathaniel. Now, go home. Leave me to do my planning,”

The two men turned away from each other. The Seer turned and walked into his
home, and Nathaniel started the trek home. On the way home, he thought about the
Savage. He was a violent person, but he was hardly the harbinger of Armageddon. So,
what are his motives?

Nathaniel wonders.

He walks home.

*
 The Savage sat on his bed. He concentrated on his hand. When his hand glowed,
he had a definite feeling of confidence. It made him feel kind, and respectful, and he liked
that much more than beating some poor boy. The Savage had also recently found out that
he had the ability to create objects, out of thin air. So far he had pulled some bullets, a
sandwich, a cinema ticket to “On the Waterfront”, a child’s doll, and a memorabilia
magazine. It was time for a break.

He flopped down on his bed and tried to think. He recalled the first time he saw
the man with the burning eyes. He had mentioned something about his father… failing to
do something. Not keeping his side of the agreement. And his powers… they coincided
with the man’s first appearance. Perhaps… perhaps, he was his father? He always knew
he had been adopted… don’t think. Not at this time. It’s not good for the mind or soul.

The Savage held out his hand again. He sensed another object. He knew what it
was, as well. Some sort of gun… one that would allow the bullets that he had. He opened
his hands, and the gun appeared there.

The Savage loaded the bullets into the gun. He walked to the window and fired a
bullet at the sky. The force of it threw him down on the floor. The Savage, bewildered,
got up, and threw the gun onto his bed. He sat on the floor, waiting for Armageddon, the
end of the world, Ragnarök, whatever you liked… it was coming. And he was ready to
try and stop it.

The Seer lay on his bed in his room. A whirlwind of thoughts raced through his
mind. How was the Savage involved in Armageddon? He hoped that he would not
intervene with his plans. And neither would Nathaniel, come to think of it. He tricked
him into believing that he was the protector- the person who would destroy the
apocalypse and save mankind. The Seer always knew this would happen. And now he
was ready to fulfil his destiny.

The Seer sat up. He walked across the room, and opened one of his drawers. He
pulled out a piece of chalk, and drew a pentagram on the floor. The smoke that lay on the
ceiling drifted and curled, licking at the Seer’s face, congratulating him, rousing him to
complete the task…

He started chanting, the chanting began to chant, and soon the whole room had
grown mad, and the furniture became taller, groaning with weight, seemingly lifting
themselves up…
 Permissum oraculum exsisto presto , Permissum vetus vicis terminus , Permissum
reign of vinco suscipio , Quod herald terminus…

The pentagram flamed, and the flames formed a hand, clawed and bony, and a
foot, another foot, a body, an arm, a face, growling with fury…

The window smashed. The Seer ran out of the house. He saw his home vibrate
with evil, shudder with knowledge, and knowing. And large, ominous shapes emerged
from his windows, howling and wailing and scowling, and began their journey across the
planes. The Seer smiled. Master would be pleased.
 VI.

Nathaniel had walked about half way home when he heard a scream. He flinched
at the noise, and turned round. There was a slowly fading light on in a small home
opposite him. He could see the silhouette of a woman, backing away across the room.

“Please… please, don’t hurt me!”

A large, hulking shadow glided to her side of a room. Nathaniel heard a large
“cracking” sound, and he could not hear the woman anymore. He ran across the road, and
punched his fist through the window. He pulled himself through the broken panes, and as
soon as he got in, the power failed, and the house was silent.

Shadows glided across the floor of the room, and an uncanny presence of evil was
made apparent to him. He heard heavy breathing, and a disgusting stench filled the room.
He looked about for a sign of the monster, but found nothing.

Nathaniel assessed the moment, and in between his quick, deep breaths, he
decided some light was in order. He concentrated on his arm. It turned numb and warm at
the same time, and he conjured a flash light from another time. Nathaniel once again
looked around the room, and flicked the flashlight on.

The monster was in front of him.

Nathaniel jumped, his feet leaving the floor, his heart in his throat. The monster
circled him, growling ever so slightly. His features were so grotesque that modern
language cannot describe them. Nathaniel ran for the window, but the monster turned and
blocked him.

He felt through time, searching for a weapon of some sort with which he could
slay the beast. He found a sword, and without a moments hesitation, brought it through
time. It began to appear just as the monster jumped at him.

Nathaniel’s heartbeat raced faster and faster… for an eternity, the monster was in
the air, coming down on him… for an eternity, his sword was forming… for an eternity,
the monster was landing…

Nathaniel fell to the floor, the monster atop him. Nathaniel punched and kicked,
but the monster gave no response. It was dead. Nathaniel looked to the side, and saw the
sword, the monster impaled upon it.
 Nathaniel kicked the monster to the side. He looked through the window… waves
of blood, splattered across the night sky. Four skeletons, riding horses, raced across it…
and on the hill, beside the Seer’s house, stood the Savage.

Welcome to the apocalypse.

*

The Savage stood atop the hill, looking down at the creatures below, destroying
his town and his home and his friend’s home, and his friend’s friend’s home… And the
Savage was helpless. He started creating pockets of vacuum in time, at the center of the
beasts. It killed a few, but not enough to turn the tide of the mindless swarm that was
emerging from the Seer’s home.

He heard a cry, a deep inhale, from behind. He turned around, and saw Nathaniel,
approaching the Seer’s house. And then, Nathaniel turned and looked at the Savage, rage
and hate in them. Nathaniel ran up the hill, screaming, and the Savage was shocked.
Nathaniel’s right hook hit the Savage in the face.

“YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!” Nathaniel shouted.

He grabbed Nathaniel’s foot, and they both fell, rolling in mud and dirt, fighting
and kicking each other.

Nathaniel finally got the upper hand. He punched the Savage in the throat, and the
Savage recoiled, rolling aside, grasping for air.

“YOU BROUGHT THE APOCALYPSE! YOU KILLED EVERYBODY!”

The Savage regained his own strength, and kicked Nathaniel in the bollocks. He
stood up, and punched Nathaniel in the side, and then again in the stomach. But Nathaniel
stood there… unharmed.

“Whu… What’s happening?” he asked.

Nathaniel started to glow. He looked at his hands, glowing fiercely, his skin
gleaming, bright as the sun. The Savage covered his eyes with his hands to protect them,
but in a frail attempt.

A bolt of electricity jumped from Nathaniel’s body and landed on the Savage’s
head, instantly killing him. He slumped to the floor, his eyes white. Blood trickled from
his nose, but it soon stopped, and his body was silent.

Nathaniel stood there, not believing his eyes. He did not do anything, and now,
the Savage was dead by his own hand. Shocked, and in disbelief, he turned round. He
saw the Seer, laughing.
 “You really are as egotistical as I thought you were! HAHA! You really thought
you were going to save the world? WRONG! HAHAHA!” the Seer chuckled.

“What do you mean?” asked Nathaniel?

“You are a time vortex- an unlimited supply of time energy. I got to you first, and
trained you. And now, you are the perfect killing machine! HAHA! My goal was to use
your harnessed energy- simply there because of your being- and bring forth the
apocalypse! Those suicides in Miami- they were a bi-product of your existence!
HAHAHA! You slaughtered the world, NATHANIEL!!!”

Nathaniel, rage and upset climbing up inside his throat, lifted his had. He
concentrated very hard, and tapped into his unlimited supply of energy.

The Seer stopped laughing, and looked to the sky. Black clouds formed, and it
started to rain. It lashed at his face, no longer a happy one, but one plastered and labeled
with fear.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“Killing you.” Nathaniel whispered.

Suddenly, a pillar of electricity slammed into the Seer. There was no time for a
scream, or of a racing of a heart. It set a light the grass around it, despite the rain, and
fried everything. It disappeared as soon as it had begun. And the Seer was gone.

Nathaniel stood alone on the hill. It was his fault that the apocalypse had
happened. The Seer had channeled Nathaniel’s energy to bring forth these hideous
creations, and now, he had to destroy them.

Nathaniel placed his hand on his own chest. A tear glided down his face.

“Goodbye, cruel world.”

Nathaniel’s glow increased, until he was a shining beacon, and then further still,
and more, and more and more and more and more and more and more, until the glow had
covered the entire world, and then it subsided. Nathaniel’s body was gone, and so was the
hill. Taking its place was a crater the size of Manhattan, and all the creatures were dead.

A boy, of no more than 15 years old, had sacrificed his life to the world, to stop
Armageddon. Casualties were enormous. All of California, half of Ireland, three-fourth’s
of Germany, one-eighth of Russia… and no one will ever know his sacrifice. May he rest
in peace.

THREE MONTHS LATER.

 Jackson lay in his room, looking up at the ceiling. A poster of “The Green Berets”
lay up there. Jackson’s eyes flickered slightly. When he opened them, he saw a young,
beautiful woman sitting in the corner of his room, her face drawn tight over her bones,
wearing black leather.
Jackson rose.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Who are you?” the woman replied.

“Uh… my name is Jackson”.

“No… you are much more than that… you are the Seer.” She answered.