0 (Prologue: Tuesday, July 8th, 2008)

The rain pounded on the windows outside, streams crisscrossing each other as they travelled down the glass. Heavy clouds blotted out the waning moon, making an already dark night pitch black. Inside his family’s home, Simon stared down at his father’s body, bloody and broken. His father’s tears had already dried, but it would be a few hours before his blood would do the same.

His mother glared at him defiantly from the floor, her back against the wall. Her gaze did not waver to her dead husband, though her heart may as well have stopped when his did. “How dare you,” she started.

Simon turned away from her before she could finish. “You’re both so incredibly blind,” he began, cutting her off. From the shadows, four figures approached him. “You worked so hard… for what? To keep your silly idea of a status quo? We could never stop them.” The shadows facing him did not move, save one, who nodded.

“They’re monsters, Simon,” his mother protested. “We’ve held them back for generations.”

“A stalemate is as good as losing,” he retorted. “We can’t stop them. None of us can hold them back forever. It defies logic to fight a battle we can’t win, when there is a perfectly obvious option we’ve ignored for so long.” He let a sly smile cross his lips.

“No.” his mother whispered. Her steeled gaze did not melt, even as her eyes watered.

“Our family clung to the past for so long, we didn’t even see the future ahead of us.” The shadows moved past him, and descended up on her. “I will lead them.”