by O. N. Luzer
On an ordinary school day in London, the end of the world begins at 11:17. Daniel is sitting in maths when the ground punches upward and the news breaks: Big Ben has twisted. The tower lurches like something alive, twisting upward in a sickening spiral of stone and iron, as if a giant hand has seized it and wrung it toward the sky. Its great clock faces turn black. Mist surges out in a widening ring, sealing Westminster off from the rest of the city. Inside the tower, trapped on a school trip, is Daniel’s little sister, Emily. Then the rest of the world begins to change. The Eiffel Tower knots itself in iron thorns. The Statue of Liberty splits open at its base. The Great Pyramid of Giza starts to bleed light from its apex. One by one, the landmarks of the world awaken into something vast, impossible, and hungry. But inside the tower, Emily is learning the truth first: these places are not just changing. And whatever has awakened inside them follows rules. Rules that have to be learned fast if you want to survive. Because Big Ben is counting down. And every twelve hours, the tower takes a year of your life, one way or another.
