The gag inducing smell of blood wiped away all traces of the fresh night air. All that remained of the cat were the fleshy chunks and the bloody stain on the asphalt. What remained of the former feline would have easily fit inside of a shoebox.

  The initial shock slowly turned into panic. He rushed to the back of the house to get the garden hose. Enough water would hopefully wash away what remained of the thing. He began twisting the valve and rushed to the front of the house with hose in hand.

  The stream of cold water shooting out of the hose washed away the most egregious stains on the asphalt, but some chunks just refused to be washed away by the nigh endless stream of water. Maybe some opportunistic scavengers would pick what remained clean before dawn broke?

  He let out a low sigh as the last traces of the stain drained away into the sewer grate at the edge of the street. The owners would certainly miss the thing, but hopefully they would just assume it ran away or got hit by a car or something.

  With the hose rolled up and the valve shut he could finally relax somewhat. Everything in the yard was back to the way it had been before. Maybe there were some chunks caught in the bushes that would remain, but scavengers would surely feast on them in due time.

  He slowly opened the back door of the house and stepped into his darkened home. All appetite had disappeared with the cat. What remained was a foreign aching and tingling sensation in the skin. There was some nausea, but strangest of all was the feeling of lightness as he moved up the stairs towards his room.

  His room was a sad affair. Dark and empty. Most of the furniture had a light covering of dust showing how seldom they had been used. The only things not claimed by the dust was a family portrait on the desk and the bed he slept in. The clutter filling most rooms of teenagers was nowhere to be seen.

  His limbs grew heavier with every passing moment as his body fell atop the bed like a sack of potatoes. The ceiling was spinning while the darkness creeped in heralding sweet oblivion. The abyss was practically screaming in anticipation ready to claim him for the night.

  That strange lightness was gone and all that remained was the stinging sensation. Like a thousand tiny needles poking and prodding the skin. Not even the approaching slumber would wash that awful sensation away.

  A thousand images rushed through his head moments before unconsciousness would finally claim him, but as Jane's smile appeared within his mind the approaching sleep was washed away. That fake smile that had seemed so genuine for but one moment. Her words that woke him up from his daytime fugue. Why did she refuse to leave his mind?

  "She disturbs our sweet nothing," a hollow voice whispered from within the darkness surrounding him.

  It stood there in the corner of the room. A figure darker than the shadows it dwelled in. A tall featureless abyss wearing the outline of the human form. It made the shadows whisper all around it like it ruled the darkness itself.

  As terror creeped in he tried to fight back, but his body refused his every command. He lay there helplessly as the silhouette moved in closer. It leaned in over the bed and studied him in his helpless state.

  "The temptress wishes to light the fire we once snuffed out."

  Its words hit him like a soporific poison. The tiredness returned in waves as the being spoke. It was as if it was the very face of nothingness and the voice of oblivion. Always watching even under the light of day.

  It placed its hand on his forehead and moved in close. It didn't breathe and it made no real sounds. It just watched and waited. It contained only a shared wish between the two within itself. A promise once made but long forgotten.

  "We must fade like the day for the abyss awaits our return."

  Consciousness faded. The abyss stripped all detail and left only a howling sweet nothing. The long awaited dreamless sleep. The one true solace for an empty heart. A darkness that waited for its chance to become eternity.

  Dawn broke and dispelled the darkness. The abyss retreated back into the deepest shadows and disappeared like an old memory. The light from the window filled the room with warmth and banished the sleep. Gone was the night leaving only a faded terror behind.

  It was early in the morning. The morning radio shows had yet to start their broadcasts and the many households on the street were still sleeping. The birds chirped incessantly outside the windows as crows squawked in anticipation for a new meal.

  The night had faded too soon. The stinging sensation had faded, but the memories remained. He stood up and moved towards the bathroom. With his clothes thrown into a pile in the corner of the room he stepped into the shower.

  The cold water washed away all thoughts for a few short moments. Ice cold droplets stripped one iota of fatigue at a time until the body embraced the waking world. He turned the tap and stepped out of the shower. His straight black hair clung to the sides of his face like countless spider legs as he began to dry himself off with a towel.

  Unease fell over him as he approached the mirror hanging over the sink. He raised his gaze and what looked back was the featureless visage of that thing, but the fear didn't overwhelm him immediately. It didn't say a word, but the disapproval was obvious. The sleep had gone by too fast, a sentiment he shared with the thing.

  The light of dawn painted the house a deep orange. Dressed and ready to go he left the house behind. The stain on the street was all but gone, replaced by hungry corvids snacking on the chunks in the nearby foliage. The cycle went on.

  The walk along the empty street in solitude was a far cry from the chaos that had plagued the day before. There wasn't another human in sight. Just a road and the birds preparing to take flight as mankind returns from their abodes to banish the serene emptiness.

  One lonely train stopped at the empty station house to pick up the one early bird on their way to town. As the sun rose slowly in the distance the landscapes zooming past the train went from a deep orange to a brilliant gold. The farmers were already hard at work plowing their fields with massive beasts of steel.

  The delusional world was slowly but surely spinning a new tale as the minutes passed. Soon most people would be awake and ready to force their manufactured worldviews upon the otherwise meaningless existence they found themselves in. At least those delusions would end when the very last light had been snuffed out by the yawning void at the end of the road.

  The nothingness had no need for hurry. It would claim its prize in due time. All would be consumed by the rising darkness one day and no one would hear their empty pleas for help. Their imagined lives would end and the nothingness would silently celebrate its final victory. It was simply inevitable.

  The central station was empty as the train reached the end of the line. Barely a person in sight. No one was manning the dark storefronts in the station. The only sound to be heard were the footsteps echoing within the empty halls of the building.

  The city streets were no different from the station. No cars on the roads and no pedestrians to walk the streets. It was a snapshot of a better world where the concrete jungle could be left to rot in peace.

  In every reflection he passed he could see the shadow walking in his place. It was watching and waiting in its own menacing way. The terror he had felt the day before had been replaced with a quietly creeping anxiety. There was no way of knowing when the shadow would strike.

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  It had some agenda that it claimed they shared. It seemed to glorify the anhedonic existence he had lived during the last few years. Was it waiting for him to call out to it or run from it? It could follow him with seemingly no effort, yet it made no attempt to initiate a dialogue as he walked.

  He knew it could speak or hold some form of communication. It had whispered to him in the night, but now it only acted as a quietly stalking observer.

  "The world grows louder," came a whisper from a storefront window.

  He turned his head and saw the shadow looking back with its hand pressed against the glass inside the mirrored realm of the reflection. Some time had passed since dawn and the streets would come alive at any moment now.

  "People are just waking up, what about it?"

  "They will fill our world with their ceaseless noise," came the response from a reflection across the street.

  Was it implying that the world belonged solely to the two of them? As far as he was concerned the world belonged to no one, not even himself. It had been there long before him and would be there long after. Those that thought they could make it theirs had all but deluded themselves into thinking the world would sympathize with their pitiful line of thinking.

  "They may bother me, but they hardly even matter to be honest."

  The shadow gave no response. It just followed in silence from that moment on. It had made itself heard and that was seemingly enough. As much as the shadow made his skin crawl, he did feel a certain kinship with it. It wasn't wrong about their shared desire for the eternal stillness. As inescapable as its presence felt, he took some solace in the fact it seemed content to stay within the reflections for now.

  The looming school gates stood open before him. The grounds were empty, but all around one could spot the signs of the teachers present within the buildings. The doors to said buildings may have been closed, but they were surely unlocked.

  "She is close!" the shadow howled out in exasperation as he approached the safety glass doors of the building before him.

  Irritation flickered to life like a dying flame consuming the last of its fuel. Could the shadow sense the presence of Jane? Surely it was her that it spoke of. Had she been cause of all this? He had never seen the shadow before their first encounter. Was she the root cause of yesterday's misery?

  Rationality was consumed by accusatory paranoia. Caution was thrown to the wind. She would have to answer for it, that much was sure.

  He threw the doors open and rushed inside. The corridors and stairs flew past him as he ran. She had to be inside there somewhere, and if she wasn't he would find her even if it was the last thing he did.

  "Where is she," he hissed towards his reflection in the polished concrete floor.

  "Above," it whispered back in its hollow monotonous tone.

  Oh she just had to be on the roof. His favorite spot. A place where he could watch the world in silence. The only place he could feel well and truly alone. His personal island of security amidst a sea of pointless struggles. The place where the silence would one day grow eternal.

  The last flight of stairs flew by him in the blink of an eye. The blinding light of the sun pierced the darkness and he saw her. She was sitting there on the railing before him with that disgusting practiced smile on her all too perfect and symmetrical face.

  He slammed the door shut behind him and locked eyes with her. The shadow stared back from within her eyes with anticipation. With arms flexing and fingers twitching he took a step closer. He could feel his own face slowly twisting into an expression of pure indignance.

  "What the fuck did you do to me," he whispered under his breath.

  Black dots were flooding the edges of his vision like dead pixels on a computer screen. Something was surging within him and taking shape. It was practically screaming to be let out.

  "I just helped you along," she giggled.

  "What did you fucking do to me!"

  The railing cracked and buckled around her. Entire sections of it collapsed in on itself and bent at odd angles to a chorus of metallic creaks and deafening pops. The hollow metal tubing began to flatten and crack all across the length of the railing before bending itself into unseemly shapes under the invisible pressure. Only the small part she was seated on had been spared the devastation.

  The world seemed far darker all of a sudden. Like all the color had been drained from the morning sun, throwing the world into what could only have been some kind of colorless twilight. The only sound that could be heard was the creaking of the ruined railing.

  "About time," she huffed.

  "About time for what?!"

  She hopped off the one unbroken segment of railing she had been sitting on and took a few steps forward. There wasn't even a hint of fright to be found on her face. She seemed so unshakeably sure of herself.

  That one unbroken segment of the railing snapped in half with a loud bang as all the pressure contained within it rushed out all at once. Yet another sound to break the silence of the otherwise empty world they found themselves in.

  The stinging sensation in his skin had returned at many more times the intensity he had experienced yesterday. Like thousands of searing needles digging into his arms. He stumbled as he cried out in pain before catching himself and gritting his teeth in defiance. He would not stop for he could not stop.

  "What the hell have you done to me?!" he howled at her.

  "Nothing that wouldn't have happened on its own."

  He slammed his fist into the ground, then stood up through sheer determination. The dots at the edges of his vision were growing in number and stripping his vision away one tiny bit at a time.

  "Go ahead and fucking explain it then before I do to you what," he paused as he felt his mind going somewhere far darker.

  "Emerging is always rough for people like us, and coming face to face with what dwells inside is never easy," she said with kindness in her voice.

  She slowly closed the distance and placed her hand on his cheek, gently caressing the side of his face.

  Emerging? She spoke like she had known this would happen. She claimed to have just pushed it along, but what had she really done to him? And why did her touch feel so gentle and kind? Was she really the one who could truly understand him like she had said? Something inside his heart wanted him to agree with her every word, but he tried his best to force that strange feeling down.

  "You became nothing and suffered without even noticing the pain building inside," she whispered into his ear, "I could see your soul long before you ever could and it was fighting to break free."

  His jaw tensed up as her words ran through his head. What pain? The emptiness was what had saved him when the world grew unbearable. It awaited him at the end of every day for good or for ill. The pain only started when she had popped the bubble. The unbidden feeling inside him was growing stronger, and it was getting far harder to push it down.

  "You don't have to be strong for me, Al, because I can make you powerful in a real way," she said with utter certainty in her voice.

  "I'll fill the void inside you like no one else ever could because I know what the emptiness desires."

  Her words awakened something dead and buried within him. Those words were swallowed up by the abyss within him yet brought so much warmth to his face. Feelings he thought himself incapable of rushed to the forefront of his mind. The heart beating inside his chest felt as if it was tearing itself apart, yet he couldn't bring himself to retreat. Why was his body refusing his every command?

  "You're hungry, Al, but with me around the emptiness won't consume you from within."

  "What am I?" he stammered.

  "We're something very special, but you're something far more special than me."

  His voice caught in the back of his throat. Tears were dripping down the side of his face as the aching in his chest slowly grew to become unbearable. Countless emotions were running through him like fireworks in the sky. Anger, sadness, disgust, lust, but most of all there was happiness. He hadn't truly felt it in years and its light burned him from within.

  Had he felt those feelings all along but forgotten how to notice? Had he been slowly killing himself as he sank into the nothingness he had created? The empty inside wasn't going away, but the emotions were feeding it faster than it could eat him up from the inside. The rational part of him was fading like a dying flame starved of oxygen.

  "You'll be mine and you'll make me unstoppable," she whispered gently.

  He couldn't pull away because something inside of him didn't want to. The feelings were intoxicating and they only made him desire more. His ailing spirit screamed out to be filled with that elusive joy. He wanted to stay by her side despite the last vestiges of his rational mind screaming for him to run far away and slip back into the darkness.

  "I'll be yours," he said with all the strength his voice could carry in that state.

  Why did he just say that? He felt like a puppet dragged along by the strings of a puppeteer, yet he couldn't even bring himself to reject the commands echoing from within his heart. Was he no more than a slave to his own emotions?

  "And you will never be without joy, that I swear upon my soul."

  Color returned to the world around them. The light of the morning sun came back in full force and covered the world in its bright warmth. The darkness retreated into the deepest crevices as the world was bathed in golden light. The sensation growing inside had all but consumed him from within. There could be no escape.

  The sounds of birds and distant people returned all at once. The world seemed so alive, but none of it mattered to him anymore. All that truly mattered was her and the warmth she brought him. She was like an oasis within the desert that was the world around him. She could be his sun in the sky. The light that burned away the rot within him.

  "And with this I seal our promise," she said and pressed her lips against his.

  She wasn't the sun. She was the eternal darkness. All along she had been the sweet oblivion his empty heart had craved. He had found what he had sought and he wouldn't let anything take it away from him. It belonged to him and him alone.