Chapter 542

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long, ominous shadows across the small village nestled near the Nile. Twelve-year-old Karim watched from his window as the last sliver of light disappeared, a sense of foreboding washing over him.

The village elders always warned about Ignition Time. It was a forbidden period, a curse upon their land that no one fully understood but everyone feared. It was said that anyone caught outside when darkness was absolute, the world risked a horrifying end, when you can't even see the ground you walk on, and the only sound you hear is your heart screaming to run and the wind calling your name.

Karim's grandmother, her face wrinkled like ancient parchment, used to tell him stories of the Death Racers. Twisted beings, she'd say, neither alive nor dead, who rode machines of fire and metal, reaping the souls of those unlucky enough to cross their path.

"They come with the complete dark," she'd whisper, her eyes wide with remembered terror. "When there's not a single ray of light. That's when they hunt." Karim loved these scary stories, never believing in the racers though, always questioning the elders and telling the stories to his classmates as bed-time fun, all of that to his ignorance of the danger about to approach.

Tonight, though, the stories felt different. The air itself seemed heavy, charged with an unnatural energy. He could hear his parents speaking in hushed, urgent tones downstairs, making sure the house was locked up. No one had come and informed him though, they believed he had heard and came home.

His little sister, Safiya, usually afraid of the dark, clung to their mother, her small body trembling. Even the animals were quiet, the usual night sounds of the desert absent, replaced by an unnerving silence. He thought if they felt this as well, why wasn't he heading to his home as usual.

Karim tried to dismiss his growing fear. It was just stories, he told himself. Legends meant to scare children into obedience. But tonight, the fear felt real, and they were taking every safety check, he hadn't experienced that before. He was always at home though, in his house and safe by now, in the comfort of his home.

A sudden cold wind whistled through the cracks in the old window frame, making him shiver. He pulled the worn blanket tighter around him, but the cold persisted, seeping deep into his bones. He has lost sight of his home after his little adventures, it had begun.

He thought of his friend, Hassan, who lived at the edge of the village, closer to the vast, open desert. Hassan often boasted about not being afraid of Ignition Time, calling the elders' warnings nonsense. Karim couldn't hold his thought and tried to think of what would they be laughing about when they were to meet.

A wave of nausea hit Karim. What if Hassan was still outside? What if he had decided to test the stories, to prove his bravery in the face of the encroaching darkness? His feeling would hit at anytime now.

His heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't shake the image of Hassan alone in the darkness, the horrifying machines closing in on him. Ignorance is bliss they say, as he continues his night travels through his world.

Ignoring his parents' warnings, a reckless impulse took hold of Karim. He had to find Hassan. He had to make sure his friend wasn't out there, exposed to whatever terrors lurked in the night. He was starting to sense a certain danger, one he had not thought off until this moment.

Carefully, he eased his window open, the wood creaking slightly, and he looked at the moon hoping there was just a bit left of light, but none could be found. He slipped out into the cool night air, feeling as if he were stepping into another world, a feeling of loneliness started to take over his once fun travels.

The village was a ghost town, every door bolted, every window shuttered. Not a single candle flickered in any home, a sign of how deeply the fear of Ignition Time ran, a stark difference to all other nights before it.

He started to run towards Hassan's house, his bare feet slapping softly on the dirt paths between the mud-brick dwellings. His breath formed small, white clouds in the cold air, as if a warning.

Each shadow seemed to stretch and twist, playing tricks on his eyes. He imagined he saw movement, heard faint whispers carried on the wind, only to find nothing there when he looked closer. The panic started to build in Karim's chest.

He was always heading in the opposite direction for home when his daily games and fun times started to take an extra few minutes of travel. The fear was beginning to form into something big, he thought, did this also happen the previous night and he hadn't heard.

As he approached Hassan's house, he could see that it was dark, just like all the others. No light, no sign of life. He called out, his voice a thin, strained whisper, fearing to be loud.

"Hassan! Are you there?" He knocked on his window, for he did not want to alert anyone from other villages, or houses, from fear they might let it reach his parents for the grounding that would last years to follow.

There was no answer. Karim's heart sank. He circled the house, checking every window, every possible entrance. It had already passed a half hour now. Hassan's family was there, as the young one started calling his name.

Still, there was no response. The only sound was the soft howl of the wind, now starting to pick up, whipping sand against the walls. Karim knew that meant something had gone awry.

The fear that had been building in him now reached a fever pitch. He had to get back to his own home, to the safety of his family. But he couldn't leave without knowing if Hassan was alright. He's sure of one thing, his friend is missing, or just isn't answering him.

Turning back, he scanned the horizon. He should head back, that's what was best for him at this hour. In the distance, beyond the last houses of the village, he thought he saw a faint, flickering light, moving fast. The panic was beginning to set in.

Karim's blood ran cold. Was it the Death Racers? He tried to convince himself it was just a trick of the light, a reflection off some distant object. But he did feel a strange type of vibration on the ground he walks.

The light was growing brighter, and he could now hear a faint, low rumble, like the growl of a monstrous beast, or an engine. The sound vibrated in his chest, making it difficult to breathe, the worst case has come through, in reality.

Paralyzed with terror, he watched as the light drew closer. It split into multiple lights, each one glowing with an infernal, reddish hue. The rumbling grew louder, becoming a deafening roar. A wave of despair passed by, one he had never felt.

He could now make out shapes behind the lights: large, dark forms, moving at an impossible speed. They were sleek and black, their metal bodies shimmering, they almost sounded and looked just like in the story.

Karim finally snapped out of his frozen state. He turned and ran, faster than he had ever run before, desperate to reach the safety of his house, his small body now burning and in pain. He hoped it wasn't far.

He could hear the roar of the machines behind him, growing ever closer, the ground vibrating with their approach. They were hunting him. The thought passed by in less than a second and it froze him in pain.

He glanced back over his shoulder. The fiery headlights were almost upon him, bathing the landscape in their eerie red glow. He screamed, a primal sound of terror, hoping for it to reach and echo, maybe that was his mistake.

Just as he reached the edge of the village, a powerful force slammed into him, throwing him off his feet. He landed hard on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. This wasn't real, that's what he thought, nothing like this happens in his peaceful city, where nothing of it has even approached this.

As he tried to scramble up, a massive, dark shape loomed over him. He could smell burning metal and oil, a nauseating stench that made his stomach churn. Tears streamed down his face, blinding him.

He saw the glint of sharp metal, the glowing red eyes of the machine's rider. A voice, cold and devoid of humanity, rasped from somewhere above. A sudden feeling, Karim wouldn't feel the earth nor breathe in this sky.

"Too late." Is all the rider said, with the vehicle making a strange sound.

A searing pain ripped through Karim's body, followed by a terrifying sensation of being lifted, of his very essence being torn apart. He struggled, desperately trying to hold onto his consciousness. He thought if his family was doing alright, would they come to forgive him, would his body return, or remain.

He was wrong for being scared of death, and all the dark, but now that he knew what it actually held, he wouldn't stop until death found him, even with the burning sensation that approached, as well.

The last thing Karim saw was the twisted, burning faces of the Death Racers, their laughter a cruel symphony echoing in his ears as darkness consumed him. A sudden burst from one of the rides, his flesh went out on fire, his bone remained as if they were meant to remain.

His parents would find him, at the break of light, a gruesome trophy marking the Death Racers' passage. A sight, no other from the family, could stomach but just stare in dismay.

The only thing that marked the young Karim, where his flesh burned to bone, was the stone which he always held for protection, his parents, his only young one, their future and joy, burned right before them as they couldn't look away. A lesson would be for all that stayed, it had spread across them all.

Ignition Time had claimed another victim, another soul added to the countless others lost to the desert's cruel night. The village remained silent, a reminder that death had taken a little part of them, one they would not come to terms with, for years.