And the World Shall Burn

"When darkness comes will you run?  The end is near, we all need to repent!"  A voice on the television screamed.  "The only way to protect yourself is to send us money!"  The television then when black as the power had been cut off.

"Thanks for that."  A young man said to the cashier in the store.  He was of a normal build with blonde hair and hazel eyes, standing five foot eight inches tall.  "I really hate those advertisements.  They are just trying to scam us out of our money."

"I know right!"  The cashier said as she prepared the young man's change.  "Always talking about doom and gloom, like the world is ending."  She then reached out her hand to give him his change.  "Here you go seventy-two cents is your change."

"Thanks.  My name is Leo by the way."  He said with a smile.

"That's nice Leo."  The cashier replied.  She then turned the television back on in hopes that the advertisement was over.

"Oh okay, I was going to ask if you wanted to exchange information, but I can tell you are not interested."  Leo said. 

The cashier just nodded in agreement.

"You have a great day."  Leo said as he exited the store with his merchandise.  He had just purchased the newest game in his favorite series  and he could not wait to get home to play it.  He walked back to his place.  He only lived a few blocks away from the store where he shopped.  Everything he needed was within walking distance so he never dreamed of buying a car or even learning how to drive.

"Alright let's put this puppy in and see how she plays."  Leo said as he set up his gaming device.  The words VR Fighting Extreme Five flashed on the screen.  VR gaming was extremely popular in the world, especially of the fighting genre.  No longer did button mashing or button combos matter.  Only pure fighting skill, since motions were matched based on the players own movements.

Leo scrolled through the menus to see if any of his friends had purchased the game as well.  They had promised him that they were going to and this was launch day.  This game was Leo's life, he dropped out of college when he won his first tournament.  He quit his job after his second win.  Now all he did was fight in the game.  It was actually a very lucrative lifestyle.  The game held four tournaments a year with a forty thousand dollar prize for each.  Leo had won the past twelve tournaments straight.  In terms of fighting in the VR world, he was unmatched.

Sadly, due to the fact that avatars were used instead of their actual likenesses, no one knew Leo was such a celebrity. He always struck out with the ladies before he even got a chance.  Or they would run when he told them he played VR games for a living.

"Doesn't look like anyone is on."  Leo sighed to himself.  "Alright let me just enter a random room and fight some poor noobs. Don't want my skills getting rusty."  He said to himself.  He entered the queue and waited.  He continued to wait for an exceptionally long time.  After twenty minutes in the queue he gave up. And took off his headset. 

He looked around the room in confusion.  Just twenty minutes ago the sky was blue and the sun was shining.  Now his room was tinted red from the color of the sky.  He walked over to the window.  He was the city on fire and smoke rising from the flames.  The sky was stained red from the blaze.  In a panic he started talking to himself.  "Maybe it's some sort of chemical fire.  Like from a truck or something."  He said, trying to calm himself down.  He pulled out his phone and attempted to call one of his friends.  Nothing happened.  There wasn't even a dial tone. 

He lived in a twenty-story apartment complex and his residence was on the fifteenth floor. As he stood there unsure what to do next the building's fire alarm went off.  The loud chirping of the alarm and flashing lights were both deafening and blinding and added to the horror of the situation he was facing.

"Fuck!" He yelled.  "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"  He continued.  "I need to get out of the building, that fire is no joke."  He said to himself as he made his way out of his room and into the hallway.  The passage was full of his neighbors.  His building was fairly upscale so the crowd was minimal.  He saw a few of them trying to use the elevator.  "You have to use the stairs," he yelled.  "The elevator does not work after the fire alarm is tripped."

Shoulder to shoulder him and his neighbors made it down, joined by more people each floor.  Everything was going well until screams echoed through the stairwell.  A burst of flame broiled the people at the bottom.  Leo could only look on in horror as their flesh was seared and only their bones remained.  This caused everyone on the stairs to panic and attempt to retreat.  And then it happened.  A winged creature appeared as if it were born of the very flame.  As it appeared it reached out and grabbed one of the people near the bottom.

The creature that was born of flame was a small human-like skeleton with large wings.  The bones of the best were covered by fire, yet the bones were not charred.  Inside of its hollow eye sockets sat two blazing balls of green fire.  It was grabbing the person with both of its hands by their neck and lifted them up into the air.  When it was satisfied with the height it opened its jaws and its fangs grew.  The person being held squirmed and yelled up could not break free.  Finally, the creature struck and bit the person's face clean off.

The sight of this scene caused everyone to panic.  Not only was a fire raging through the building but mysterious creatures were killing them as well.  As the person went limp in the hands of the beast.  The creature wrapped its legs around the person's torso and with a quick motion ripped the person's head and spine out of their body.  The body then fell to the flame and turned to ash in an instant.

The creature then screamed a horrifying noise that sounded like ten thousand nails on a chalkboard mix with a small girl's cries.  The severed head and spine began to flame up, removing what skin was left.  After all the flesh had been removed the empty eye sockets of the skull got the same green fire that the creature had.  New appendages sprouted from the spine giving new arms and legs, and then a set of wings to match the creature emerged as well.  The new creature joined in with an identical cry.

They both swooped down and grabbed another person and continued the process.