Since the dawn of time, Falyn has ruled the supernatural realm with an iron fist.
Evil is what he has been called by some, repugnant by others, but all descriptions fit.
Vile is his favorite, though. He has told me as much when he comes to me in dreams.
Every night, I close my eyes and pray that my Master will grace me with his presence.
Never has he let me down. He whispers secrets and tells me that I am his favorite.
Servitude is in my blood. My father and his father before served the almighty Falyn.
In good times and bad, he has been there for my family, keeping us fed in preparation for the ne-Xt life. I cannot wait until I walk through the gates of fire and lay at his feet for eternity.
Finally, my time will come, and I will feast on the eyes of a million stolen souls.
I will revel in the pain and suffering of the forever damned and celebrate the
Victory when Falyn is unleashed upon the earth in a torrent of blood and burning flames.
Even the strongest will tremble in fear when they are forced to stand before my Master.
End of times is upon us, and all are set to be judged and sentenced to death.
In the fullness of time, the world will behold the awful, beautiful power of Falyn.
Great will be the losses of life; glorious will be the victory, the claiming of the scorched earth.
Hate will prevail, but even those whose hate is strong shall not be spared.
The time is coming when all must meet their end. Some shall serve, but most will die.
Trembling under his terrible gaze. The masses will surrender their eyes willingly to Him
Hoping that he will favor them with just a small taste of his power and strength of will.
Rivers of blood will flow across the land as he cuts a swathe through the weak.
Each and every person that crosses his path with be forced to kneel and beg for forgiveness.
Each and every one will fail, just as you are doomed to fail!!
Time is ticking. Enter the 5-digit code found in this message before midnight tonight.
“What in the actual fuck is that all about?” Kayleigh said, throwing herself back in the booth, brow furrowed.
“It’s the ravings of a mad person, but where are the numbers?” Sean asked.
“Beats me. Any ideas, April?”
“Nope. Oh, but I do need to talk to you about what happened at work this morning,” April said, reaching across the table to take Kayleigh’s hand.”
“I need to get you guys back to work. Tell me later, like after we figure this hot mess out,” Kayleigh said, picking up the paper to put it back in the envelope.
“Hold on,” Sean cried out. “Put it down again. I want to take a picture. Nothing is going on at work, so I can take a look at it this afternoon. “I’m emailing this to you, April. Print off a copy when you get back to the office and see if you can get anything out of it.”
AS MUCH AS SHE TRIED to focus on the incoming calls, April found her attention repeatedly drawn to the printed page sitting on her desk. Taking the receiver off her phone and setting it aside, she pulled the paper closer to get a better look at the words. She had been through it countless times, but nothing was standing out. How were they supposed to find some sort of numbered code when there were no numbers within the text?
The voice of the operator squawked out of the receiver, telling April that her call could not be connected as dialed and that she should hang up and try again. She ignored the message, which continued to repeat, zeroing in on the words and hoping to find some sort of clue.
“Ahem.”
The sound of a throat being cleared directly behind her scared April half to death. She picked up a stack of folders and placed them on top of the paper before she turned around to find Stacey at the entrance to her cubicle. “Oh, hi, Stacey. How are you?”
“What I am is concerned about the lack of calls you are picking up. It has been more than ten minutes. Is there an issue?” Stacey asked, staring directly at the receiver laying on its side.
April followed her gaze and placed it gently back in the cradle. “Whoops. I must have misplaced it when I hung up on the last call,” she said sheepishly.
Continuing to stare her down, Stacey pursed her lips and frowned. “Do try to be more careful, Miss Navarro.”
“Sorry. I will.” April heaved a sigh of relief and rested her head on the folders, the scent of printer ink wafting up from the pages within. She suddenly felt exhausted and realized that the events of the last couple of days had left her emotionally drained. As much as she loved helping Kayleigh with her social media accounts, April was not able to handle the scarier things in life. Horror movies and ghost videos rattled her whenever she watched them, and this stupid game was making it tough for her to sleep at night.
Just as she began to drift away, the phone rang, snapping her back to life in an instant. Picking up the receiver, she said, “Thank you for calling FinaCol. This is April speaking, how may I be of assistance?” April listened as the caller droned on about applying for a loan, asking for details that she responded to on autopilot. Her eyes drifted to the paper poking out beneath the folders, which was when the answer struck her like a bolt out of the blue.
The folders covered most of the paper, but the first few lines were partially visible, the capital letters at the start of each sentence clearly spelling out a number. April cradled the phone against her shoulder and pulled the paper out, her heart hammering as the five-digit code became visible. “Oh my god, I don’t believe it,” she screamed.
The caller went silent for a moment before saying, “Excuse me. What did you just say?”
“I am sorry, sir. My computer just blinked out on me and wiped out your information. Please allow me to redirect your call to another representative. Your call is very important to us.”
Before the man could respond, April sent his call back into the system. Her hand trembled, making it impossible to read the words written on the page, so she placed it back on her desk and went over it again and again. “You can’t fool me, Falyn. I am wise to your games,” she cackled.
Peeking around the corner of her cubicle to make sure that Stacey wasn’t on the prowl, April sent a group message to Kayleigh and Sean to let them know that she had the answer and that she would reveal all on the way home. With a renewed sense of confidence, April tore through the rest of the workday, putting up the best numbers she had in weeks.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU didn’t text me back, Apes. I’ve been a mess all afternoon waiting to hear how you came up with the answer,” Kayleigh said, pulling away from the front of the office building.
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Sean said.
“Gallagher’s assistant has been watching me like a hawk all day. I already got in trouble for having my phone off the hook. I couldn’t take the chance of getting caught texting after that.”
“Alright, I get it. But come on, spill the beans, you crazy genius,” Kayleigh said.
“I’d love to say that it was genius, but finding the answer was nothing more than blind luck.” April went on to explain how she had come across the numbers after covering the paper with the folders.
Sean opened the gallery and clicked on the picture he had taken earlier that day. “Holy shit. She’s right. The first letter on each line spells out the numbers.”