Buzz. Buzz.
As the phone vibrated in my pocket, I picked it up and brought it to my ear.
"An eagle fell in the field over here," the deep, male voice told me.
"I'll send my bud John with his pickup over," I responded, completing the code phrase.
"Project Godbreaker is a go. You're needed for the ritual as soon as you can get here."
"Fuck! I told them I was out of it, I wasn't continuing if I had to basically fucking kill myself," I stated, anger filling my voice.
"You're still required. Your particular skill set is needed, given that the other potential Blues don't apply for this," he told me, his voice remaining cold and calculated.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and closed my eyes, collecting myself. "Dammit. Is it still the same position as before?" I inquired, returning the phone to the side of my head.
"Yes. Report to Site-17 as soon as possible, you'll be briefed there." As he finished his final word, the phone clicked and he hung up.
"Fuck!" I whisper-shouted to myself. I racked my brain trying to remember the details of the project.

"…to be conducted to counteract the growing threat to the natural order of the world from entities theological in nature."
"A ritual is to be conducted, incorporating several thaumatologists from varying religious faiths, in which their Akiva Radiation regarding their religion will be amplified and absorbed by the ritual."
"… despite this, Foundation thaumatologists involved are at a high likelihood of a permanent cutoff from Akiva Radiation and various other anomalous life forces, resulting in death."

My posture drooped and I lowered myself to the floor as I remembered what was going to happen. I sat there for several minutes, debating my options.
I wiped the worried and stressed expression off my face, before standing up and stepping through the hallway, into the living room, where Liv sat.
She held her head in her hands, beginning to break down after minutes of discussing. "Why does it have to be like this? Why do you have to leave?" she questioned me.
"I don't want to… I don't want to leave everything behind," I replied, hanging my head down.
"Then don't. Stay here with me, everything can just… just-" she tried to say, but was interrupted by the tears streaming down her face.
"You know I can't do that, hon. They need me. The Foundation doesn't just let people not show up. Especially in times like these."
She wrapped her arms around herself and tightened her posture. "There has to be some other way. They can't just take you away, Michael. From me, from this, from us," she said, motioning around to the room.
"It doesn't work like that. Fuck, ever since we got engaged, you've been consulting there. You know the shit that goes down there, what the facilities are like. You know just as well as I do that this is important, and I can't just walk away." A tear rolled down my face as I said it, my emotions peaking.
The room fell silent for several moments. She looked up at me, her face contorted with rage. The tears had stopped flowing and begun to dry on her face.
"Is it too much for me to want my husband?" she exploded, "To want to live the rest of my life with you?"
"It's not that simpl-" I tried to spit out.
"First, you're gone all the time. 'Containing' all these things across the world. You're never home. And now you're leaving? Forever? Why do you have to be the one to save the fucking world? Aren't there other people in the Foundation who can do this?"
"It's not that simple, hon. We both know this. It's important, and I can't just walk away. I don't want to be the one who has to do it, but there just aren't other options for this," I told her, tears continuing to drip down my face.
"Is it so selfish of me to just want my husband? I want to wake up next to you every day, not in a cold bed, alone and sad." She began to tear up again, her eyes becoming watery.
"It isn't… but I have to go. There's so much at stake here. I'm… I'm sorry. Just, please, promise me you'll never be afraid, not sad, just… loving."
Her anger melted away as I spoke. I wiped the tears from my eyes and she embraced me. Wet drops hit the back of my shirt as she sobbed.
We held each other for several minutes before I stood up and grabbed my things.
"I promise."
"Remember me by the good times, the laughing and happy ones… I'm sorry, Liv," I told her, wiping my tears away again and preparing to step out the door.
She grabbed my hand, pulling me back. With her other hand, she slipped a gold necklace into it. As she released my hand, I studied it for a moment- a gold chain necklace, with a small pendant, and a picture of her from many years ago encased within.
"Promise me whatever happens to you after you step out that door, you'll remember me," she asserted, fighting through sobs.
"I will," I responded, beginning to walk out the door.
I stopped at the doorway and turned to see her crying face. "I love you. Ever since we met those years ago, I have, and I won't ever stop," I told her.
"I… love you too," she told me through tears.
I slowly stepped into the car and turned it on. The radio blared to life, and I quickly fought to silence it. I shook my head at the irony of "Fiction", and turned on the headlights. She stood in the doorway, sobbing as I began to reverse. I fought back tears and escaped the driveway.
The cool, damp wind whipped my face as I rode down the highway. The dark emptiness and silence filled me, and something in my head clicked. My decision was made.
"Someone has to keep the monsters at bay. Someone has to die in the dark," I told myself. I clutched the necklace tightly to my chest and floored the accelerator.