The rift opened, dragging me with it. I reach for something to anchor myself down and grab hold of a flimsy branch of a tree. As expected, it breaks and I can’t resist being dragged inside of the rift which gulps me down before I can even scream. Inside the rift, I hear growls and set my eyes upon a thousand faces and then none. There is darkness surrounding me, picking at my jaw, hungry for my scream.

I close my eyes, mouth shut tight. I find solace in this darkness, hiding in its depths as I ignore the scratches on my jaw. The darkness outside’s claws are sharp, but it is impenetrable to the darkness I cage within.

And yet as I feel its claws dig on my chin and pull my skin off, the urge to scream rises.

By my sides, I clench my fists, diving deeper into the dark cage within.

But again, the pain becomes unbearable as they start to peel off all of my flesh.

Yet, I don’t utter a scream, I let the wail become a flame inside of me as the darkness seeks to penetrate my very soul.

It wants my life.

It wants to reshape me into something shrouded into darkness until I am void of life.

I can’t die, I repeat these words inside my head.

And the internal darkness within me flickers.

When it dwindles down, I am surrounded by light.

With hesitantance, I open my eyes and find myself no longer inside the rift. Around me, there are medium-sized buildings, all torn apart and broken down. I see pieces of cars littering a wide street and on the road there are bodies, piled up into a tower.

“There you are,” a low voice says from behind me.

It’s a voice I know well. When I turn around, I see a familiar face of someone who only smiled when I was in darkness’s hold. My legs give out and I fall onto the ground, shaking my head at the person in front of me.

“H-How?”

It’s the only thing I can think of to say as my heart thumps against my chest desperate to escape.

“What? You really thought you could escape me?” He chuckles, smirking for a split second.

My eyes move to the scar on his cheek. It exposes raw skin and from how quick that smirk left his face, I assume the pain still lingers. The image of me slashing a blade across his face flashes in my mind. I remember when I did it, thinking only of my freedom. After the act, I was on the run, afraid that he’d somehow still maintain that invulnerable charm to convince someone to find me. When I ran, my pockets were empty. Everything I saved was nestled into his bank account, after I got swept into a debt I couldn’t find a way out of.

Back then, I thought of him as a savior. His family lived nearby mine for years but we never spoke. He was older, interested more in my dad’s well-taken care of vintage car than the ramblings of a tween convinced she’d become a famous fashion designer. When I met him again, I was 24, sobbing in my backyard, blasting peak sad girl music from a playlist I hadn’t listened to since I was 18. My parents had me at an older age, spending most of their money on treatments that seemed to go nowhere until I came to be. The only thing my parents ever owned was the house I grew up in, a house I took care of while my parents stayed in a facility that guaranteed my mom and I that my dads illness was treatable.

There were times we were hopeful but then my mom got sick too. So busy, tending to my dad, she neglected her own health and ended up dying six months before he did. All the debt they left behind was shoveled onto me and even if I sold everything I still couldn’t cover it all.

When he peaked his head over the fence, the sunlight hit his face and I stared as he spoke. His words were garbled in my head but that didn’t stop me from walking towards him. When I’m close enough to reach up and touch his face, my brain finally deciphers his words.

“I’ve been your neighbor for years, if there’s anything you need, I’m here for you. I know we don’t know each other well but we’re not exactly strangers, are we?”

I blinked at him. “Yeah, I guess not.”

He smiled, and I swore the sun shines brighter.

Looking at him now, I wonder what I found so appealing about him. His handsome features remained, the scar I left behind somehow enhances the view of his defined cheekbones. But the look in his eyes, heavy with disdain isn’t what makes me shiver in fear. No, it’s what lays behind it that does.

The darkness.

“I bring it out of him,” he said one night as I curled myself into a ball, suppressing the tears brought about from the pain he inflicted on me earlier.

That was the night, I finally saw him for who he really was. The night I realized his “I love you’s.” was just “I own you,” decorated with false affection.

In the present, he approaches me, lowering himself to where I fell and touching my cheek with tenderness that brings bile to rise up in my throat. I cough it up, spitting out near him. A flash of anger appears on his face but he swipes it away with a triumphant smile.

Grabbing my chin, he turns my head towards the tower of dead bodies.

I feel his face press upon mine, “Do you see all of this? This is all your fault.”

“How?!” I snap, pushing him away from me. “You chose to do this.”

“Because of you. Always, because of you.”

Above us, the sky goes dark.

And I feel him, pouring all of his darkness inside of me.

But I won’t open my mouth to drink it in.

Not this time.

I feel something shake my shoulder, the world around me begins to fade. I close my eyes and when I open them, I’m lying on a bench.

My eyes meet the familiar face of the prosecutor. He’s younger than me by five years but his ageless face makes me feel like it’s twenty.

“Hey, why are you sleeping out here?”he asks, taking a step back.

“It’s more comfy than my bed,” I reply, sitting up and stretching my arms upward.

I gaze at him. He looks at me with a brow raised yet a heavy question seems hung upon it.

“Look, I’m fine, I can face him, I promise,” I say, ignoring how my legs are antsy to walk away from the courtroom.

“Are you sure?”

I nod, standing up. “Yeah, I’m fine, uh, you head in first. I’ll be right there.”

He gave me a firm nod and headed into the courtroom. I didn’t take a peek at the open door, stepping to the side afraid I’d catch the view of the monster who hunted me for so long. Looking around, I see an empty hallway. There’s no rifts to suck me away, hopefully this time to a world where he never existed.

Yet, the outside darkness lingers.

It crawls on my skin.

It scratches.

It pierces.

I am peeling apart.

With a deep breath, I approach the courtroom door.

I stitch myself back together.

I cover myself in the safety of my darkness until it becomes a light.

I open the door, walking inside.