"Julian! Julian!"

  Something hit Julian on the head. He groggily opened his eyes and was met with the angry face of his teacher, and the laughter of his classmates.

  "Ah..." He took a moment to gather his thoughts before slowly standing up and glancing at the blackboard.

  There was a math question written there, and he was sure only someone like Albert Einstein could solve it. He hesitated for a few seconds, then decided to answer anyway, even if he was wrong. As long as he could get out of the spotlight, he didn’t care.

  "Ahem, it's..." But before he could say anything else, the door suddenly burst open. Another teacher rushed in.

  "Quick, turn on the TV!"

  The strict math teacher, clearly surprised, snapped back, "What? Do you know I’m in the middle of class?"

  The other teacher grabbed the remote. "It doesn’t matter anymore. Just watch."

  Naturally, this caught the students' attention. They started whispering to each other. The math teacher noticed, and she wasn’t happy. First, someone barges into her class, then turns on the TV, which she’d firmly banned during her lessons. She was just about to lose her temper and scold the intruding teacher.

  "I'm Amber Layon, reporting live. As you can see, I’m currently outside where a large crowd has gathered on the streets. All because of an event unlike anything we’ve ever seen in history. Questions about the existence of aliens or even gods might be closer to being answered, as we take a look at what’s above us."

  The camera zoomed in on the sky, specifically, on the moon. Something was standing there.

  The figure looked human, but it had no face or expression, completely blank. Yet somehow, it felt like it was staring at them. The people in the streets. At the reporters. To whoever was watching through their screens.

  A chill ran down everyone's spine. Even Julian couldn’t help but gulp.

  The camera cut back to Amber as she continued, "We don’t know what this thing is. A creature? An alien? Or maybe something created by the government? We’re not even sure if it’s alive; it hasn’t moved at all. Some think it might be a robot, made for war. But… is that really what it is?"

  Then, mid-report, Amber suddenly gasped. "It’s moving? Zoom in, quickly!"

  The figure on the moon had begun to move. It raised one hand, as if waving. Then one foot moved forward. Its head shifted, as if it were looking around, until it slowly tilted upward. Now, it was looking straight at Earth.

  Looking at the people.

  Looking beyond the cameras, beyond the screen.

  Back in the classroom, Julian swallowed hard as a shiver crept up his spine. It felt like the figure was looking right at him. He couldn’t explain it, but something deep inside told him he was being watched. Sweat rolled from his forehead down his neck, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the TV.

  "Hey, hey, Julian, are you okay?"

  A hand tapped his shoulder, snapping him back to reality. He blinked and looked away, taking a deep breath. His heart was pounding, and his ears burned. After calming down a bit, he turned to his friend.

  "I’m fine..." Julian mumbled, shaking his head.

  "You sure? You don’t look fine. You’re sweating like crazy, and your eyes are red. Are you feeling sick or something?" his friend asked, concerned.

  Julian glanced at his friend, then at the figure still on the TV. He sighed. He couldn’t just explain the feeling to his friend, he wasn’t even sure he’d believe him. And besides, what would he say?

  "Yeah..." he replied quietly, then opened his phone.

  He didn’t want to look at the TV anymore. He tried to distract himself with a game. But no matter what he did, the murmuring of his classmates and the trembling voice of the reporter kept pulling his attention back.

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  Before he could even look back at the screen, his phone buzzed. Then it buzzed again. And again. Around him, everyone’s phones were going off.

  It was an emergency alert.

  “All students and workers are advised to return home immediately. If you are unable to do so right now, stay where you are. Lock all doors and turn on your lights, every light. Make sure all your light-producing devices are fully charged.”

  "What does that even mean, turn on the lights?" Julian muttered. "Is something happening that we’re not being told about...?"

  "Alright, alright, everyone calm down!" the math teacher shouted, slamming a book onto her desk. She looked around and said, "Pack your things and line up. No running! Go outside carefully and head straight home. Home. If I catch anyone going somewhere else, I’ll give you a 50-question test tomorrow!"

  Julian quickly packed his things like everyone else. Honestly, he was relieved to be going home early. At least at home, he’d feel more comfortable. More secure.

  "Do you think we care about that test? Even if you give us an exam, the world’s probably ending anyway," his friend whispered beside him.

  "Why do you think that?" Julian asked.

  His friend clicked his tongue and raised his phone, pointing at the screen. "I mean, look at that. Something's standing on the moon. No one knows what it is, but I know, it's a god!"

  Julian squinted at him. "A god?"

  "Yeah, a god! Have you read One Punch Man? It’s just like that. A god shows up out of nowhere, and it’s probably here to destroy the world. Or maybe, just maybe, we’ll all get superpowers and the world will be reborn."

  As his friend kept rambling, Julian’s interest slowly faded. It was clear this was just another one of his friends’ fantasies. Still, one thing lingered in Julian’s mind: What if the thing standing on the moon was a god?

  So, what was its purpose? Was it here to bring judgment, like in the Bible? To destroy the world?

  More and more questions piled up in his head as he walked the streets. The city felt different now, he could see the fear in people’s eyes. The air itself seemed heavy, filled with uncertainty, filled with dread.

  "I wonder what’s happening in the world right now..." Julian muttered as he walked.

  When he finally reached home, everything looked... normal. His dad was on the sofa watching sports, his mom was cooking in the kitchen, and his sister was playing on the living room floor. The peace inside was a strange contrast to the unease outside.

  "Did you see the news?" he asked.

  His dad scoffed. "Kids these days. You really believe everything you see? The media's all about spreading hype and false info now."

  "But everyone at school was talking about it," Julian said. "They even let us go home early because of it. I doubt they'd do that just for a rumor."

  His dad grunted. "What, someone standing on the moon? I looked outside, no one was there. Just the same old moon, kid."

  Julian paused. That’s when he realized something. Since he’d left school, he hadn’t once looked up at the moon. Not even once. He had wanted to, but somehow never did.

  Feeling a strange mix of doubt and curiosity, he quickly opened the front door and stepped outside. He raised his head toward the sky.

  "It’s... gone?"

  He blinked. The moon was there, but the figure was gone.

  Julian stared a moment longer before letting out a small sigh. Maybe it was all a prank... maybe. But something inside him still felt off. Like something had been there.

  Was still there.

  But he couldn’t explain it.

  He stepped back inside.

  "See?" his dad called out smugly.

  Julian ignored him and headed straight to his bedroom. He flopped onto the bed and opened his phone.

  Julian’s social media was flooded with news about the figure that had stood on the moon. Theories were everywhere, some said it was a god, others claimed it was an alien, and some believed it was a government weapon. Humanity’s opinions were clashing from every direction, yet no one had a clear answer. Just endless speculation.

  He kept scrolling, eyes half-focused, until a video of a scientist caught his attention.

  “I knew it. I knew it from the beginning,” the scientist said, his voice shaky with emotion. “Humanity isn’t the only life in the universe. I mean, come on, the universe is massive and it’s still expanding. You really think we’re alone in all this?”

  He let out a short laugh, bitter and proud. “No one believed me when I showed them the proof. But now that something has appeared, suddenly they need me.”

  The screen cut to footage of space while the scientist kept speaking.

  “Humanity’s greatest strength isn’t power, it’s the courage to face the unknown, even while being ignorant. That ignorance is both our strength... and our weakness. We’ve been sending signals into outer space for decades. And now...”

  He paused.

  “It seems something’s answered.”

  As the scientist continued explaining theories about extraterrestrial life, Julian felt himself getting drawn in. At the end of the video, the scientist spoke one last quote, his voice low and deliberate:

  “A quote from R. Scott Bakker: ‘The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine... and somewhere, something watches.’”

  Julian stared at the screen. For a moment, it felt like time stopped. The silence in his room was heavy.

  Then a loud noise from the living room jolted him.

  He rushed out and saw his parents and sister frozen in front of the TV. The news was on again, Amber Layon was reporting.

  “Are we truly alone in the universe?” she said, her voice trembling.

  The camera tilted up to the sky.

  And there it was.

  A massive eye, larger than the moon, loomed in space, staring directly at Earth.

  The eye had no emotion, no expression, just an overwhelming, unknowable presence. Yet somehow... it made every person watching fall silent. A silence so deep it felt like even the wind had stopped.

  Then... the eye moved.

  It opened wider, and inside it wasn’t just an eye anymore.

  There were teeth.

  Rows of sharp, gleaming teeth hidden beneath the iris.

  And then, without a sound...

  It swallowed the sun.

  Darkness fell across the world.

  And the night descended.