The darkness invaded long ago, an evil that was suffocating the world. Their nervous little town was the last bastion of light and they fought against the dark with desperate fervor. They developed a system of constant bonfires, spread out torches, and burning candles. Slowly they expanded their borders, but progress stalled due to a lack of natural resources and it was in this way that the darkness and the light battled back and forth, one never able to completely overtake the other.
Nicolas was only 17. He lived in the bowels of the old factory where he made the town’s candles. Gone were the days of electricity, so the candles were one of the few sources of light. He spent nearly every hour in the wax, and the testament of their man made beginnings was evident by the hard work he put into them: he shaped every candle with care and molded them around every wick and placed them in cardboard boxes, 100 to each, after which they were picked up by volunteers and distributed to the anxious masses.
Every 12th hour Nicolas would kneel in front of the only window in the factory and stare out passed the town’s man made light and into the endless dark. He would look up at the sky and wonder if there once every really were such things called stars. It seemed impossible – a fairy tale adults told children. He always ended his thoughts with a silent plea to some greater power, imploring it to save them.
It was a cold November night and Nicolas was packaging the latest box of candles when he saw from his window a peculiar flare of light in the distance, beyond the borders of town. At first he mistook it for a bonfire, but there was something different about this light – it was white. He put on his jacket and stepped outside. It was late and the streets were empty and the wind whispered through the town and all around him was a solemn hush. The white light pulsated like a beating heart, and every step it lulled him deeper under its spell.
He stood at the edge of town where the darkness and the light merged so that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. He looked back at the warm light emitting from town and then out towards the illuminated field. This close he could see just how dazzling the light was. It was no longer pulsating, but constant, and he thought that if he could find a way to bring it back with him the town would have a light source forever.
Nicolas ran. Ran into the darkness. He felt smothered, and that unspeakable, unknowable evil was nipping at his heels.
He ran into the light and shielded his face until his eyes adjusted. When he opened them he was in a bubble of warmth, and standing in the center was a naked woman with golden hair and pale, glowing skin. He caught his breath.
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled demurely. He crept closer, and the closer he got the lighter he felt. Soon he was smiling, and then laughing. He held out his hand to her and she reached out and took it.
“I knew we’d be saved,” he said, kissing the top of her hand and tugging on it gently, “come on, let’s go back.” She shook her head and pressed her finger to her lips.
“What?” he whispered.
She led him away from the town, holding his hand and protecting him with her light.
“What’s your name? Where are we going?”
She just smiled at him and kept walking, further away from town and into the forest. The murk was denser here, like a fog, and if not for her he was sure he’d suffocate in it. Every time he felt himself begin to panic he would squeeze her hand and she would squeeze his back.
They walked for an hour. Finally she stopped and released his hand. Nicolas came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her slender form and pressed his lips to the curve of her neck.
“Everyone despaired,” he kissed along her shoulder, “but I knew,” his fingertips traced along her stomach, “Oh God…You’re so beautiful.”
Her body began to tremble.
“Are you all right?”
Her shoulders bounced up and down and a hacking, raspy laugh gurgled from the pit of her stomach and spewed out her mouth. He stepped back. She faced him, and already her light was flickering. Gone was the angelic face, in its place a twisted grin, jagged teeth, and thick black liquid oozing from every orifice.
He stumbled back, gagging.
The putrid smell of the black liquid was nauseating, and her terrible laughter rang in his ears and he fell to his knees and pressed his hands over his ears.
“Come back, please, come back!” He said, leaping and wrapping his arms around her, but she shattered into millions of pieces that seeped into the ground, leaving behind only a foul smelling, gurgling puddle of ooze.
The darkness closed in around him, until there was nothing left.
