12,022

You live alone in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. You can hear the joyous hollering of all the people from a few blocks away, listening to them count down.

They hit one, but instead if everyone screaming and firing fireworks, only silence follows.

The tv Immediately changes to the colorful emergency broadcast screen. The loud ringing attacks your ears. You look towards your balcony window and the power cuts out, blanketing you in the abyss of damn near nothing.

You sit in the darkness, fear griping you like a vice so tight you can barely breathe. The silence rings louder than your tv had, you realize. The room becomes colder, or you at least feel colder now. Trembling, you rise from your couch and look toward your balcony, the sound of your teeth chattering filling your ears as you strain to here the cheering that should be there.

Slowly you make your way over, piercing the silence with the sliding of the glass door. You step out and immediately your body tremors against the cold. It feels like the dead of winter, much colder than before and you can see nothing. You squint into the darkness, trying to see through the black. Its as if the world was swallowed into a void.

You call out.

"Quechua?"

Lights shine at you from every angle. The room brightens and you block your eyes with your hands, the light only intensifying and piercing through your eyelids. You run blindly back into your apartment and scramble toward your door, falling in the kitchen. You gasp for air as you drag yourself to your feet, your hands waving out in front of you, trying to find the door knob.

Your hand grasps the handle, and the lights shut off. You once again are bathed in darkness. You breath slowly, letting it comfort you for a moment.

Footsteps. Heavy and fast.

Your breath hitches, and you back away from the door. A bright light shines underneith the door, illuminating your form on the floor.

You press your body against the wall behind you as the pounding on the door begins. The light brightens, it seeps under the door and you slide along the wall. The light burns your skin. The door slowly opens, and tall thin figures stand in the entrance.

Their voices...crackle..

Your ears fill with the white static noise that emits from their lips..You squint at them, realizing they do not have lips. Or eyes. Two slits sit in the center of their faces, must be a nose.. Their arms and legs seem too long for their torso's, as they begin walk toward you.

You yell at them to get out and bolt toward your bedroom. The light follows you, the figures shadows dance on the walls in front you as you try to escape.

Rushing toward your window, you throw it open. Jumping out, you land on the fire escape and it rattles under your weight. You cringe as the sound pierces the silent air outside.

Light blinds you once again, and you do your best to block your eyes as your run down the stairs. You nearly trip but catch yourself on the last step.

The figures stand before you, their skin glistening against the light. They begin to scream at you. A high pitched ear piercing static noise that makes your bones shake under its weight.They reach out and tear at your skin and clothes, pulling you apart. You black out as you feel your arm pulled from its socket and ripped right off your shoulder.

You awaken on your couch with a jolt.

"Tres, dos, uno!"

Silence