The day the world went quiet, it didn't happen with a bang. It happened with a hum.
Ava remembered sitting on her porch, a cold soda in her hand, watching the neighbors argue about a lawnmower. Then, the sky turned a shade of violet that felt wrong—like a bruise forming on the atmosphere. Every bird in the trees stopped singing at once. Every dog stopped barking.
Then came the "Signal." A sound like a thousand violins snapping their strings. People fell to their knees, clutching their ears. When they looked up, their eyes were different. And when the sun finally dipped below the horizon, the things that had been hiding in the violet light stepped out.