• It is said many times throughout legend and lore that man’s greatest fear is darkness. A growing evil, one with no face, nothing to discern it from the world. Something that is said to be able to consume sanity within the moment it arrives. But can something with such a power truly exist? Can something so damned righteously walk the earth? Taking from us that which holds us to ground. That which keeps us human… Can The Father have truly allowed such an evil to walk? To roam? To hunt?
    There is a small village… Nestled deep in the mountains that exist not in our world. Mountains, with snowy peaks lay precariously upon their tops. Tall enough to pierce the sky, like stairs leading up to the heavens. Nestled in these mountains, a valley exists. One with fertile soil, beautiful trees, lush bushes. In this valley is the aforementioned village. With thatch roofs and wooden walls. It is a peaceful looking village. One complete with its own set of laws as well. A community born from a place that nobody knows. How this village came to be, is unknown. But it exists still to this day.
    But peaceful is it truly? Why would a peaceful village have built a wall to surround their homes? Why would a peaceful village be full of people with such frightened looks upon their faces? As if they had seen a ghost every moment of their lives but suffered amnesia to the moment. Why would such a place come to be?

    On the bank of a river, outside of The Village, a boy sat hunched over the water. Crystal clear as always this water was. The boy, with short, choppy, blonde hair and a rather scrawny frame, held in his hand an object. A stone, it appeared to be. One smoothed down by the waters of the very river he now sat hunched over. He seemed to be fixated by this simple object, as if it held life within its very core. But such a thing could only be the result of a child’s imagination.
    The boy’s head suddenly sprung up, towards the woods that surrounded The Village, as if something had caused the snap of a twig, or the rustle of a bush. The boy’s sapphire eyes, now wide, studied his surrounding environment. He did not, however, appear afraid of what might be out there. No, he looked more out of curiosity. But this moment did not last. No, not before long he heard the every annoying sound of his mother calling his name, telling him to come home for dinner.
    “Obediah!!!” The voice called, “Obediah, come back now! Dinner is almost ready!”
    So reluctantly the boy returned towards the place of his homage. Leaving behind the river that he had just spent his time watching. Leaving behind the rustle in the forest, the snapping of the twig. Leaving behind the stone that he had taken so much time cleaning. For mother would not be happy if he brought home such oddities. No, Obediah was already considered strange by the rest of The Village. How he spent his time preferably alone. Outside the safe walls. Avoiding the other children with much content. He never saw wrong in his preferences, they never harmed others. And who cared if he was ‘weird.’
    Obediah ate ravenously, eager to finish before night fall came. For once the sun had set behind the tall mountains, he would no longer be granted permission to go outside. His parents would not allow it, for reasons he did not fully understand. But if he could just finish this meal in time, he’d be able to have fun again. Yet, no matter how fast he ate, in the back of his mind he knew he would be unable to finish. He had yet to do so in the past. Still, his spirit never wavered.
    Upon finishing, he bolted towards the window, having to prop himself upon a stool just to see over the ledge. What he saw made his heart sink. It was dusk now which meant he had no time to venture outside. And tomorrow was school… Though he’d skip the day in a heartbeat if only it did not cause his mother pain. Reluctantly, he shuffled to his room, heartbroken, and began to rustle through his dresser. He had not a true reason for his current actions, perhaps to pass the time? Or perhaps it is simply a habit of all children to rustle through their drawers… And as the past always concluded, he found nothing of value. So he slipped himself into bed, blowing out the candle aside him. He knew his mother would not be in to kiss him good night as she had yet to do so in the past. Nor would his father come to scare off the imaginary monsters hiding in his closet. Such extravagance is reserved for those with a loving family and Obediah was certainly at loss for such a thing…
    Sleep swiftly took him, wrapping it’s celestial blanket around his frail form. Allowing him to dream as he always would, of flying over the wall-like mountains that surrounded this valley. To lands afar, lands only rumored to exist in legend… To escape this prison that encased his freedom, forcing itself upon him… But it was not long before something stirred Obediah from his slumber. When he rose from his bed, he could not understand what had happened. It felt as if something had gently shaken him, whispering his name into his ear. But as he sat up on his bed, looking around the room, there was nobody present but his very own body. He was just about to lie back down when he heard something once more. Like a soft whisper of an evanescent spirit, he heard his name call out.
    “Obediah…” the voice called out. Immediately, Obediah’s body went rigid, his eyes bolting around the room in an attempt to find the source of the eerie voice. But it seemed to come from nowhere but his own mind. Once more it called out, “Obediah…” This time, it struck not fear in Obediah, but curiosity. He stood up from his bed, quietly stepping over to his dresser which contained his apparel. He swiftly put a cotton woven shirt and pants on. He then proceeded to open his door as quietly as possible. Not a sound was made. He congratulated himself on his sneakiness, quietly walking down the hall and towards the kitchen. Upon walking past the room of his parents, however, he stepped incorrectly. Landing his foot upon a squeaky floorboard, he immediately froze in place. Holding as still as possible, he strained his ears to hear within the chamber of his elders. But no sound came, no sign of the arousal of his parents. He let out a sigh of relief, thanking whatever might have granted him his luck, and continued into the kitchen. As he arrived, he felt the rumbling of his stomach. He quickly grabbed a small loaf of bread from the cupboard and headed towards the door.
    It was here where he paused once more. He knew the laws of The Village, that everybody was to be indoors at the first sign of nightfall. To leave your home would be punishable by death. Obediah knew not why such stupid laws were placed into effect. But his parents had warned him wise to listen. They had told him a tale once, long ago, of how is Grandfather went missing, never to be found again. How he had stepped out of the house during the early hours of morning and was never seen again. Obediah, however, speculated upon such a case. In his opinion, how could they know that he disappeared if they never saw him again? For all they know, he could be living in a land beyond the mountains!
    As Obediah opened the door, he felt something resembling fear. Something held him back at the moment, making his hair stick up on end. He was not used to such emotions having been so used to being on his own all the time. His eyes darted around the area his home was located in. He looked for a sign of life, perhaps guards walking down the street, patrolling the walls. But nothing came to view, nobody. Not a sign of life was present. Not even a light stood lit nor a window illuminated by a source within. It was as if the world had died, as if not even ghosts were willing to haunt such a desolate place. Every bone in his body was telling him to turn back, to acknowledge this fear and heed its warning. But the voice returned, more powerful this time.
    “Do not worry Obediah,” the voice whispered, this time resembling somewhat of a female, “It is quite safe…” At the sound of the susurration, all fear seemed wiped from consciousness… He felt no fear of the night, of what might lurk in its bowels. As if the voice was one of a truly caring mother. One who cradles their child lovingly, making them feel as if nobody can cause them harm. So he took a step out of the house.
    Initially, Obediah was sure that somebody would stop him. That guards would catch him the second his foot hit the ground, as if they would run out of the alleys, spears and swords in hand. Ambushing him as if they not only knew of his unknown intentions, but also planned ahead for it. Caught in this thought, he began visualizing such a thing (as all children are prone to doing), the guards running out of the dark alley in an attempt to thwart his proceedings. He’d be theoretically outmatched and outnumbered, with only his hands as weapons to spar with their spears and swords. And only his cotton woven clothing to protect him from the razor sharp edges of their weapons while they wore armor fashioned from only the finest of metals. But as the first one would strike at him, with a spear of course, he would simply side-step and latched his hand upon the shaft of the spear, flipping the far end upwards causing the wielder to fly through the air. He would then whip it around, smack the next soldier, one carrying a sword, and send the blade high into the air. In one swift motion, he would catch the blade, and whip around once more to smack the third soldier in the face with the flat end of the blade. This would cause the other four soldiers (yes, there were four now) to run in fear of his awesome might.
    The voice then returned to snap him from his silly dreaming, “Obediah, will you not come and find me…?”
    Obediah felt foolish for his easily distracted mind and shook all thoughts of such distractions from his imagination. He did not want to upset the mysterious voice… So he began to head towards the front gate of the wall surrounding The Village. Not sure of how he knew this route to be correct, he decided not to question his instinct. He remembered the teachings of his Grandfather, the only true predecessor he had that had ever shown him care or true parenting. His Grandfather often told him that if he were to ever receive such an urge that to deny it would mean to feel a sickness in one’s stomach, then they should immediately follow the order’s that their feeling issues to them. Obediah was not about to do otherwise, so he pursued onwards, towards the gate…
    Once more, upon reaching the gate, he expected to find guards waiting to apprehend him. But nobody was there. Only the door of the gate. This, however, posed a rather large impediment… He looked at the large “door” blocking his access to the forest surrounding The Village. Then, he looked down at his scrawny frame, devoid of any true muscle. He knew that, even with the help of the winching system that the village engineers had just installed a week ago, he would be unable to open that door… This filled him with sadness. He collapsed to the ground, hot tears beginning to swell in the child’s eyes… But something happened that he did not expect, nor would any in his place. He heard the voice once more.
    “Obediah,” the voice called out even stronger than before, “Obediah, do not show such sadness, all is not lost. Here…” As the final words came floating to him, the door began to open itself. Not fully, no for that would make a rather loud commotion sure to wake the surrounding villagers. No, only slightly. Room enough for a child such as Obediah to slip through. The voice also allowed for him to hear the distinct feminine quality in it. But it was beyond any tone that a normal woman could make. No, this voice had to belong to somebody beautiful.
    Seeing the door grant Obediah permission to leave, the child almost cried out in joy. But he caught himself at the moment just before noise was made. He did not want to stir anybody who might be upset by his leaving. If even a person existed… So he continued, slipping silently outside of the wooden walls and into the small field of tall grass that provided a border between the wall and the forest.
    The trees looked so dark at this time of night, Obediah noticed. Almost black if not for the moon to illuminate them. At this moment, he looked up to the stars and moon, noticing that it was full. So beautiful, he thought. Until now, he was never able to look up to the stars without the aid of a window to mar the sight. Now was the first time he could truly admire their beauty. And what a sight it was, so many stars. And a foggy band across the center of them… What could that be? There was no time for him to speculate, however, as he heard a rustle in the forest. His eyes darted down towards the trees. Staring intently upon its dark borders. He saw nothing, however, but simple darkness. This did not cause him to turn away, no. He had already come too far now, the voice had already helped him too much for this all to be just a hoax. In a time interval that seemed like an hour but had only transpired perhaps a few minutes, he saw something alas. Something glowing, moving, white. It headed towards him… He gazed at it, fixated by its mysterious purpose… As it moved closer, he was able to see it more clearly. At first, it seemed only to be a ball of floating light. But as it came closer, it began to take shape. First to become just the sight of a creature, then to be the shape of a person. As it came to the edge of the forest, Obediah could see it clearly. A woman, slightly translucent, stood there. Beautiful was hardly a word to describe her. But it was all that Obediah could form in his mind. The woman smiled to him, sweetly, in a manner that a mother might smile to their child when watching over the child as they slept. The woman had a white aura surrounding her, as if she radiated with something otherworldly…
    “Obediah…” She whispered to him, “Will you not follow me into the forest…”
    Obediah opened his mouth to find words, but all seemed to evade his tongue. All he found ability to grant was a meager nod of his head. So the woman turned around, walking slowly into the forest and Obediah followed, silent as the grave. He knew not what to say, what would be appropriate. He did not wish for this mysterious woman to become angry if he perhaps mentioned the wrong thing…
    He knew not the exact time of the day, but Obediah could estimate. He had spent many nights during the summer awake, dreaming in his mind of a world beyond that of the mountains surrounding The Village. The forest was silent at the moment, to the point in which every animal was sleeping. Though the most he’d ever seen was a couple fox, rabbit, squirrel, chipmunk, and many a song bird. But he knew that the only time during which these animal’s sleeping patterns overlapped all at once was between the hours of 3:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. at which the song bird wakes up to greet the first signs of the coming day.
    The walk seemed to wind and turn, twist and bend. To a point in which, if Obediah had actually taken point to notice, he no longer knew where he was. They were certainly at a significantly higher elevation for it was becoming rather chilly now. But the mysterious woman kept his mind occupied to a point in which nothing else mattered anymore. So he continued to follow her. Then, something surprised Obediah. The trees, they parted. Giving way to a small field leading up to the base of the mountain. They’d travelled the entire length of the forest, all the way to the boundaries that Mother Nature herself placed in order to wall in The Village. Obediah glanced up at the lady who guided him so confidently. The woman returned his gaze by looking down and smiling kindly. She then raised her hand, pointing at something located at the base of the mountain. Obediah took a short moment to follow her arm and eventually her hand. His eyes then came upon something odd. A cave. At the base of the mountain. Large enough for a grown man to enter comfortably. It was also shaped in a rather well carved circle. The woman continued to lead Obediah towards this dark entrance.
    When they arrived, Obediah stopped. Something, inside his body, began to warn him. Telling him to run. To leave this horrible place. But a single glance towards the woman, with a smile granted by her in return, was enough to destroy all fear once more. How could he be in danger if she was near him?
    “Come…” The spirit whispered towards him as she began to enter the cave. Obediah needed no further beckoning as he quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind. He followed the woman through the cave for who knows how long. Winding and twisting the trail went. If he had been paying attention to his surroundings, he would have noticed the multiple side tunnels that branched off of the path they took. But he did not fear losing his trail, not with her as his guide…
    After what could have been hours, Obediah noticed that the route they were taking began to gradually grow. The tunnel growing wider, becoming more of a chamber. Eventually, Obediah was unable to see the walls of the cave with the help of the lady’s glow. He was sure that without her, it’d be pitch black. Then, another light appeared. But this time, it was not alive. No, it hung from what might have been the very center of a circular chamber, upon a stalactite. A crystal, illuminating the entire room with dull light, was now visible. The boy looked back up, towards the lady, who in return simply smiled and beckoned him to approach. Obediah obliged…
    But as he stepped forward, he felt something once more. Fear. He knew not what gave birth to such an emotion, but it was prominent now. His legs began to tremble. His heart began to pound into his chest. He glanced back at where the woman stood. She was no longer there. Not a trace of her was left, it was as if she had dissipated while he had turned away from her. Out of human nature, he turned towards the light, it being his only beacon of safety in the blackness of the cavern chamber. But doing this brought something else to his attention, something far worse than being alone.
    He could not see clearly in the dim light at such a distance, so Obediah took a step forward. To his horror, the object he was squinting to see came into view. Only it wasn’t an object. No, it was a skeleton. He stared at this skeleton intensely, his not yet matured mind unable to fully grasp the situation.
    The skeleton had no traces of organs or meat left upon its bones. All that was present was the white and black hair, long, coming from its skull and jaw bone. Much like an old man. In its arm’s it clutched a few things, as if its life was sucked straight from it whilst holding these possessions. First, Obediah saw a book, held to the skeleton’s chest. Obediah pealed the arm from the book, sliding it gently away. He studied the cover of the book. Only one word lay upon the cover of the book, a word that Obediah had never expected. Obediah, the cover read. This discovery brought panic to Obediah’s mind. Only one man had ever shared a name with him. Or should he say lend a name to him. His Grandfather. His parents had made it quite clear to him that he would be named after his late Grandfather. Which meant that this body must belong to-
    A noise came from the center of the cavern, below the crystal light source. Obediah jumped at this instant, studying the area from which the sound came in order to find its source. But nothing was visible. He then looked down at the skeleton of his Grandfather, and saw that in the other arm lay a torch and the tools providing the means to start the torch. Perhaps his Grandfather had tried to light it but died in the process?
    Obediah lit the torch with ease; he had done so as a chore at home on numerous occasions. When he held it up, towards the area in which the sound had traveled from, even more fright consumed him. But not only fright, no, he was also amazed by his findings.
    Before him, in the circular cavern chamber, stood a circular pool. One that was roughly five feet in diameter from every angle. But inside this pool water did not lie. No, the liquid inside was black. Pitch black. Obediah did not know what to make of such a thing.
    Suddenly, it stirred. The pool began to move, lumps of liquid going up and down. Obediah, with the book in one hand and the torch in the other, took a step back. The liquid now began to boil and rise, slowly. Portions of it coming out of the water like goo.
    Obediah began to withdraw more quickly, his eyes never wavering from the monstrosity that now poured forth. What was this thing? What was happening? Questions flooded his mind like freezing rain stings the skin. The entity then decided to speak to Obediah…
    “Obediah…” it hissed, “How I’ve waited for this moment… To devour such a light that comes from within you… Much like… Your Grandfather’s….. The fool…”
    Unable to fight his fear for any longer, Obediah spun around and ran as quickly as his scrawny legs could carry him. But he had not paid attention to the path that the woman had lead him upon through this cave. Nor did he realize that he had taken a wrong turn within five seconds of running. Instead, all that mattered was to run away from whatever it was he had just met. Turn after turn he took, desperately trying to lose the entity. It was not until he had run for a good twenty minutes did he finally sit down to catch his breath. He listened, straining his ears to hear if the creature was still coming, but could not hear anything.
    Looking down at the book, he had sudden courage; perhaps his Grandfather had left something in his writings to aid Obediah now. Such as a map! Obediah opened the book, flipping through the pages. But no map could be found. Instead, upon the last page, the ink changed from black to red. It, however, was no longer ink, Obediah noticed this. It was blood. Though the writing seemed to be scrawled in haste, let alone how hard it can be to write with blood, Obediah was able to make out the words…

    June 31, 423e
    I sit here now in terror of what I’ve just witnessed. A monstrosity of black, darkness, and fear. I thought my following of the glowing woman would have lead to something great, I now know how wrong I was. The woman was not leading me out of desire to benefit myself, no… It was only guiding me to my doom. I had always thought myself different. Now I know that difference was only this entity placing a target upon my back. I was the prey, the hunted. Now I shall be its dinner. Food for The Darkness, I’d like to call it. For nothing else can describe it but fear, chaos, and everything that scorns the existence of our kind. I pray that no other follows my path of stupidity. The Village, I now know, put their laws into effect for a good reason. And that my outspokenness was stupidity. I only wish I could see my Grandson once more, to hold him in my arms. My finger now appears to be clotting, the blood to be no longer good enough to write with.
    Good bye,
    Obediah Brewer

    Horror and grief took the child now. All was lost, he knew it. This thing, whatever it was, is going to consume him. It will find him. It will kill him. Hopeless terror froze Obediah in his place, no will left to run. The torch began to fade, the creature must be near. Eating the light as if it were fuel to its core. Obediah knelt upon the cavern floor as the darkness began to creep around him, causing all to go black…
    Darkness is the fear of the world...
    Fin