Chapter 1

The world was silent.

Jalen Moss lay sprawled across his queen-sized bed, buried under the faint glow of the streetlights creeping through his bedroom blinds. His PlayStation controller rested on his nightstand, where he’d left it after a few rounds of NBA 2K before passing out. Jalen is 29 years old and born and raised in Riverdale, Georgia. He stands about six feet, two inches tall and has an athletic toned build. Jalen lives in an apartment complex located near Doraville, Georgia.

The clock on his phone read 3:00 AM.

A sudden shift in the air jolted him awake. It wasn’t a noise—there was no sound at all. It was something felt, not heard. A disturbance. Like the atmosphere had thickened, pressing against his skin, making the hairs on his arms stand up.

And then he saw him.

A figure stood at the foot of his bed, tall, otherworldly, bathed in an aura that bent reality itself. He wasn’t human—Jalen knew that instantly. His form flickered like a mirage, as though existence itself struggled to contain him. Instinct took over. Jalen’s body jerked back against the headboard, his heartbeat pounding like an alarm.

“Who the hell are you?!”

The figure regarded him with an expression of calm amusement. His voice didn’t echo—it resonated. Deep, smooth, yet beyond anything mortal.

“I am the Beyonder.”

Jalen’s chest heaved as his eyes darted toward his nightstand. His phone. He needed to call somebody—anybody.

“There is no need for that.”

The voice wasn’t just in the room. It was in his head. It slid into his mind like a whisper that had always been there, waiting to be heard.

“You have nothing to fear. I have not come to harm you.”

Jalen swallowed hard. His fists clenched at the sheets. “Then why the hell are you in my bedroom?”

The Beyonder took a single step forward, and the entire room seemed to warp around him. Space itself bent, the walls stretching, folding, yet remaining unchanged.

“Because you, Jalen Moss, are part of a prophecy.”

Jalen’s breathing slowed, but his eyes remained locked on the being before him. “A prophecy?”

The Beyonder inclined his head slightly, studying him. “You are to father eight children. Eight children, by eight different women.”

Jalen blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

Then, he let out a dry chuckle. “Man, get the fuck outta here with that.”

The Beyonder did not waver. He simply continued.

“These eight children will one day grow to be the saviors of the galaxy. But for that to happen, they must all be conceived and born within the next two years.”

Jalen let the words hang in the air, staring at him. Waiting for the punchline.

Nothing came.

“You’re serious?”

The Beyonder nodded. “Entirely.”