Nyx

Gotta keep up with the times, people sleep later nowadays

I think that people have slowly been staying up later and later, especially younger people with the stamina to do that sort of thing. With the arrival of the internet, that leads to like-minded people communicating, so the collective consciousness of the world shifts. The mythology of the times change. Midnight screenings, for example, are still relevant, but more because 00:00 marks a new day. So there's a mystique, but it's lessened.

These same people have noticed, then, that there's a certain point in time, right around three or four in the morning, where all the daytime workers are asleep, shops and bars are closed, and all the third-shift employees are still at work. So the streets are clear, lamplights give off dim illumination, and, if it's summer (or close to it), there's a foggy haze that envelops everything.

The world is empty. If you go for a walk, you will not meet another soul. If you see a shadow, it certainly cannot be another human. A trick of the light, maybe? Or something more? Something worse? But when you blink, it disappears.

If you keep walking, you might get the sense that you're being followed. But that can't be true. Again, nobody else is around. So why even look? It's better to look ahead anyway. You're more in danger of tripping on the curb than whatever's behind you. Because there's nothing behind you. And yet, the feeling persists.

What happens after that? Well, you might be tempted to check your phone. Its backlight has a comforting glow to it, but it's not enough. That dreadful feeling is still there, and worse, it changes, intensifies, and now you realize that if something is following you, it is gaining on you. But you still dare not look. Now, looking only gives whatever is there more time to catch up. Speeding up doesn't seem to help either. In fact, it just makes things worse. It is coming.

The last thing you can think to do is record everything that is happening. It's a warning to anyone who might think to be out in that dead hour between three and four, or at least to those who dared let their overconfidence get the better of them. You don't know what'll happen if it catches you, but you also don't want to find out.

It is coming.

What are you people talking about, 3-4 AM has been ominous for actual centuries, nothing to do with smartphones and people in 2020 staying up late