04/03/2026
TITLE : I KNEW THE END WAS COMING.
AUTHOR : A.A.G
GENRE : Regression, Action, Drama
Prologue: The End of Ethan Grey
The world was ending, not with a bang, but with a symphony of screams, fire, and rot. Ash rained down from a torn sky, mingling with the stench of blood and decay. Skyscrapers stood like broken bones against the horizon, gutted by time and chaos.
Ethan Grey Witcher crawled through the alley, dragging what was left of his body across shattered glass and scorched pavement. His right leg was gone, torn off hours ago. His left arm dangled uselessly, the bone snapped and sticking out like a white flag. Ribs poked through ripped flesh, and every breath was a gamble between life and oblivion.
But he wouldn’t die. Not yet. Not until he saw them. One last time.
Zombies—no, beasts—snarled behind him, their forms twisted and mutated beyond recognition. Some wore tatters of what used to be uniforms, others still had wedding rings clinging to bone fingers. They were feeding on something.
No… someone.
Ethan’s hollow eyes lifted. His throat clenched.
It was his little brother.
“NO!” The cry ripped from his throat like glass. He clawed forward, his ruined fingers slipping in blood. “KAI! NO!”
The child’s hand—small, limp—fell to the side, fingers still reaching for Ethan.
Tears blurred his vision. He collapsed beside the boy’s co**se, cradling him with trembling arms. His flesh split more. He didn’t care.
“I promised you… I promised I’d protect you all…”
One by one, memories assaulted him.
His oldest sister, Delia, shielding the family from a bombing run, body burned as she screamed, “Run, Ethan!”
Sera, the quiet genius, trapped beneath rubble, whispering through bloodied lips, “Don’t blame yourself…”
Mira, infected, eyes turning, begging, “End it… please…”
And his mother and father—trying to hold back the horde at the compound gate, only to be overrun.
And him—helpless. Always too slow. Always trusting the wrong people.
“I failed you all…”
He pounded the concrete until bone met stone. He didn’t care about the pain. The pain was real. The pain was truth.
A shadow fell over him.
He looked up.
It was **him**—the betrayer. The one who sealed the gates. The one who said, "Trust me. I’ll protect your family."
That same smug face. That same silver eyes. Unscarred. Clean. Watching Ethan die.
“You…” Ethan hissed. “You killed them…”
The man smiled faintly. “You were just a pawn.”
As the monsters closed in, Ethan pulled himself upright. Blood ran down his face. His voice trembled not with fear—but fury.
“If there’s a god… if there’s any justice left in this world—” he spat blood, “—give me one more chance.”
The first claw struck his chest.
Ethan didn’t scream.
He remembered.
Their laughter.
Their hugs.
Their warmth.
And his failure.
Then, in the abyss of death, something answered.
A golden light burst from within his chest, radiant and violent. Time shattered. The world reversed—screams swallowed, blood rewound, ashes returned to flame.
Everything disappeared.
---
Ethan gasped awake.
His sheets were damp. Sunlight poured through the window. Birds chirped outside.
No smoke. No screams.
He blinked.
Then he heard it: Mira yelling from the kitchen. Sera humming. His little brother arguing over cereal.
He was home.
One month before the end.
He began to cry.
Not because he was weak.
But because this time—he would not fail them.
