1 Pilot

I have wandered the Earth for millennia, being a warrior, a lover… a scholar, a mercenary, and even a king once. But who would have known that being a lover would bring me to this situation one day?

"You're still alive?" Those were the last words I heard in the dark void before the scenery changed.

Throughout time, I never encountered anyone like myself. There were no signs of gods, angels, or a messiah—only people who wanted to believe in something higher than themselves, someone waiting for them after death, and not just the darkness that appears when their light goes out.

But one day everything changed. As I roamed the streets of early New York, I felt something... something otherworldly. It was, of course, a woman—a red-haired beauty standing in the dark corner of an alley, gazing at me with a fascinated look.

Intrigued, I approached her, and she suggested that I follow her. Curiosity led me to comply. For the next hundreds of years, we were together and found happiness.

Until one day, we were discovered by her followers and her father, who would stop at nothing to bring back Cthylla, even if it meant bringing an end to the world and severing all her connections to it.

Yet, even when there was nothing left and the world was gone, I remained...

---

However, it appears that someone was displeased with my stay in the void and transported me to... well, I have no idea. Because I found myself standing on a street in some town in the middle of the night.

Observing myself, I wore cargo pants, sneakers, and a black sweatshirt. As I rummaged through my pockets, I discovered only my old phone, which would be considered as ancient as me, but it had no service at the moment.

So without a clear goal in mind, I began walking down the street in search of people or a supermarket to get some information.

I encountered a group of university students from Stanford who laughed at me because of my old phone, and then they promptly drove away. It seems that the younger generation is just as friendly as ever.

Physically, I did not appear old. I had stopped aging around the age of 25 or 30, and as a former tribe warrior, I maintained a lean yet muscular physique, while Standing at nearly 6'3" (1.90 m), I had dirty blond hair that leaned more towards brown than blond, and piercing blue eyes that Cthylla loved so much.

Sighing, I continued my walk down the street. It was late at night, and I didn't want to disturb anyone by knocking on their door. So, I figured my best option was to find a 24/7 shop or something similar.

After a few minutes, I encountered another person—a man driving a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala with a broken front light. He was driving away from an old apartment building towards me, so I stopped him.

"Hey, what's up?" asked the young man with short hair. At first glance, he seemed like a regular guy with a good sense for cars. However, having lived as long as I have, I could discern from his grip on the wheel and physique that he had some fighting experience and shouldn't be underestimated.

"Sorry to stop you out of the blue, but my phone has no service, and I'm a bit lost. Do you know where the nearest police station or supermarket is?"

"Ah, sorry, man. I'm not from around here either. But I saw a motel with a gas station a few miles down the road. If you want, I can drop you off there since it seems to be my destination too..."

It appears he was having a rough evening or something.

"Sure, I would appreciate it." So he gestures me to hop into the passenger seat.

I approached it and attempted to open the door when I sensed something strange and malevolent emanating from the apartment building the man had driven away from.

"Are you getting in? I don't have all ----," the young man asked, pausing when he noticed me staring at the building. He turned to look as well. Suddenly, a window on the second floor shattered, and flames and black smoke started to come out of it.

"No, Sam!" Upon seeing the window, the man reversed the car and rushed back towards the building, and then run inside.

I also approached the building, but the malevolent presence I had felt earlier was gone. But in its place, a stronger one stood by the roadside, watching the building burn with an evil grin on its face.

When I approached the creature in a human vessel, it said, "It's a beautiful night for a campfire, isn't it?" and as it turned around, all I could see were its strange yellow eyes, radiating pure evil.

"The question is, who gave you the right to enjoy it with me?" the abomination uttered, leaving me speechless, overwhelmed by the corruption and darkness it emanated.

Observing my lack of response, it waved its hand at me, as if dismissing my presence. After the gesture, I felt a sudden strange force pulling me backwards, but I stood my ground, and just as abruptly as it began, the pull vanished.

This puzzled the being in front of me, and it said, "You're a strange one, aren't you?"

I chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I hear that a lot... But if I'm strange, then what exactly are you?"

In an instant, it lunged forward and gripped my throat, lifting me into the air. "I? I'm no longer your concern," it declared. In the next moment, I felt my neck snap, and I lost consciousness.

---

"Yeah, still as uncomfortable as ever." I woke up completely naked on a white table in what seemed like a morgue, healed from my neck snap but still feeling phantom pain in my neck.

Even though the thing that killed me made me curious, I wasn't exactly thrilled to encounter it again in the near future...

After massaging my neck for a few minutes, I got up and glanced around, only to discover a white paper stuck to my toe with "John Doe" written on it so I removed it and stood up.

Then walked over to the table where my belongings were placed in a bag, and got dressed.

There was another bag beside it, which contained a wallet and a set of car keys. So I opened the wallet and inside, were a few hundred dollars and a driver's license belonging to a man named Aiden Cross, who bore some resemblance to me.

Equipped with my newfound wallet, keys, and a white doctor's attire hanging conveniently by the doorway, I quietly made my exit from the morgue and set off on my own path.

Throughout my lifetime, I've been bestowed with various names, but the very first one I received, Rasiel, has always remained with me.

However, considering that no one uses such names anymore, I decided to adopt the name Aiden Cross, at least for the time being, as I lacked any other means of identification.

After leaving the morgue, I noticed that it was already morning. So I walked for a while until I reached a diner and went inside.

Since my previous world had ended and I had arrived here, I hadn't eaten anything. Not that I needed food, but being a glutton, I enjoyed the feeling of having something in my stomach.

I ordered a newspaper and some scrambled eggs, a coffee, and an apple pie for dessert and started to read the newspaper.

While reading, I was shocked to find that I had somehow ended up in the past. The newspaper indicated that it was the year 2005, whereas I had come from 2023.

But one question remained: Was I simply in the past, or was this an entirely different Earth altogether? I had never encountered any other supernatural beings, apart from Cthylla and her fish-smelling father, prior to the destruction of Earth.

And I was fairly certain that I would have known if something like the yellow-eyed creature existed in my world. So my assumption was that I had either entered a different world or an alternative dimension where other supernatural beings exist.

This made me grin a bit, as it promised new experiences.

While enjoying my meal, I also read about a house fire that had occurred the previous night. A young woman named Jessica Moore had died in the fire.

Nothing else was mentioned—no mention of the guy in the Impala or the person named Sam, who was probably in the building too.

After finishing my meal and paying, I asked the waitress for the nearest motel and then took a bus there. I simply wanted to take a shower, relax in a rundown bed, and plan my next course of action. And a motel seemed perfect for that purpose.

It took me ten minutes on the bus to reach the motel, which had only one standout feature—a beautiful old 1967 Ford Mustang parked in the lot. So after admiring the coupe for a while, I made my way inside to book a room.

The elderly lady behind the counter led me to my room without even checking my new driver's license...

As we made our way to the second floor, we passed a room covered in yellow police tape.

Seeing me gaze at the room, the old lady shook her head and said, "It's a shame. A young man named Aiden came yesterday and took his own life in that very room. Such a tragic ending for someone so young."

As she walked away, my curiosity about the room heightened. It appeared empty, but I could sense a restless presence inside, yet I could tell it was not alive anymore...

The room number was 213, but the 2 was hanging down, making it appear as if only the number 13 existed. Intrigued, I wanted to take a look inside, but first, I followed the old lady and entered my own room to relax a bit.