C6 King Of The Afterdark

Blackness has swallowed the remains of the sunlight. People gathered and took their turn to enter The Dungeon. Engulfing a whole glass of the special blend of the night, courtesy of Jack Ash "The King of The After Dark", the name his fans gave him as the original entertainer of Mofocity. A Jack Ash event is usually a grand after dark costume party for night crawlers, hybrids and a handful of daylight-ers who were fans of the Rock God.

They came in goth costumes, face painting or masks, ready to be hypnotized by the city's icon. Local journalists flocked to the venue to report the event, something to present to the public other than news of the apocalypse on what's left of the old world. It was a party, a celebration that even though they were confined in a quirky little city without ever knowing any other future, they were safe from the war, famine and chaos that was eating away outside of Mofocity. For a brief moment, they can enjoy the art of a great artist, entirely their own.

Jack Ash was one of the city's royalty. He lived in The Jack Manor up a hill, a few kilometers from the forbidden forest. He travelled around town on his black stallion back in the day. After his wife died a couple of years ago, he turned into a recluse and was rarely seen in public. He doesn't do interviews anymore, but it seemed he kept himself busy creating music at his now very dark and gloomy mansion.

It was rumored that he was going to perform a few of his new tracks and will soon release a new album. The fans have waited for a long time to hear something new from him because he vanished ever since his wife died, the love of his life.

A black carriage pulled up in front of The Dungeon, pulled by two of the handsomest black stallions people had ever seen. Shiny and strong with manes as smooth as silk. They wore iron armors created with what looked like real gold. Matching the color of the chariot with see through glass windows. The crowd could see a shadow of a man wearing a top hat inside. The door man opened the carriage door and let the man step out in his sleek black velvet suit. His wavy hair was sticking out of the hat down to his ears. They almost couldn't see the man's eyes as he walked on the red carpet with his cane. The handle was plated with silver, a silver snake head at the end of it, and a skull ring on where his wedding ring used to be.

Everyone stopped cold at his present, starstruck to the bone. It was as if they were enchanted into numbness, tongue tied, mouth dried, eyes opened wide and frozen from head to toe. Five men in black rushed to the scene, making way for the star to enter the venue. Not until he was right at the door, stepping into the club that somebody in the crowd finally shouted his name, "JACK!" And then they all started to scream in hysteria as if a spell had just been lifted.

The lights were turned off before the stage was lit up with shady blue lights. The crowd grew quiet. A thin layer of smoke was visible, slowly penetrating the room from under the stage. It was a full house, all the way up to the third floor balcony. The crowd was mesmerized by his performance throughout the night. What was jaw dropping was the part where there was a violin performance by his dead wife, Lorena. Jack must have used an optical illusion to create it but then again everyone was under the influence of the Bloody Swamp Fire which might have enhanced their eyes' sensitivities. Nevertheless, for everyone there, the experience was very real.

At the end of the show, Jack was flat on his back on the stage floor. When he got up, his face was drained of color, his make-up worn off. His face was vacant, his mouth half opened. He had a mask on his left hand, it was "The Mask" that many of the concert goers had already put on, including Adrian. Jack had just a little fire left in him for the closing song.

"My Army of Darkness" was like their anthem. The mask was an inheritance from the old world. On the day of the separation, people looted the masks from the government facility and distributed them to every family in town. They wore the masks for weeks as a precaution of any radiation leaked from the explosion. There was a symbol of the manufacturer printed on the sides of the masks. MOFO. Pictures of early Mofonians wearing the masks was on the slideshow in the background. The mask was their history.