The hard floor was cold against the cheek of the small form huddled upon the ground. The child opened her almond shaped eyes to her dark world of grey, black, and white. She lay in an old, abandoned storage room, a place to sleep for another empty night. In this world there was never a home to go to. There was no family to confide in, and if they were there, you could never find each other. If a friend were made, they would be gone the next day. This was the land of the forever lost.
Mary sat up, and rubbed her grey eyes, trying to make out her environment. She did not remember how she came to this unconscious state, this place between life and death, except for a falling sensation.
The little girl jerked into a crouching position, as a loud pounding started upon the boarded-off door in front of her. Frozen in place, Mary's eyes grew wide.
Suddenly, in a shower of splintered wood and rusted nails, the door burst open. Strangers entered swiftly, shadows in the billowing clouds of dust. The child squinted as a beam of light fell upon her face. She blinked to clear her vision and realized the beam was from a light upon a gun.
The man wielding it barked, "Identify yourself!.Are you one of them?"
Mary hesitated, trying to divert her eyes from the barrel aimed directly at her. Then she shook her head, fear showing in her small face. Another man holding a large pistol glanced over to the child.
"It's just a kid," he said gruffly.
The man whom had Mary at gunpoint shrugged and walked passed her, barely giving her a second glance. The child was much less interesting when she couldn't be shot.
Mary stood up shakily, watching as the men passed through the room, sweeping their guns back and forth. Her eyes left them and their muttered conversations, and passed over the window in which she had entered. The grey and tattered curtains danced eerily in the wind. Her heart jumped as a ghost-like form passed the window, crossing her vision.
The child looked back at the unaware men. She opened her mouth, wanting to warn them, but no sound came out. Her heart knew it was hopeless anyway.
Mary felt as if her ears had closed to all sound, the men's voices, the moaning wind. Complete silence.
Then it was shattered with a disturbing swoosh. The creature they were hunting appeared before one of the men. It was a nightmarish version of a bald man, but its image seemed to flicker like an old T.V. The hunter jumped back with surprise, then he lifted his gun and began to fire, the others quickly joining in.
Mary knew that bullets were useless. You cannot kill something that doesn't bleed. It was strange when a young child knew more about these things than the men who had been hunting these things most of their half- life. Round after round passed through the ghost. The creature made no change of emotion, no movement, like a sad, black and white picture.
Then it began to move, slowly, with a haunting step. It walked towards the man in front of it. The hunter foolishly kept shooting, but fright began to show clearly on his face.
Before Mary could take another breath, the creature was upon the hunter. It's hand snapped to the man's chin, gripping frighteningly. Its touch must have been chilling for the hunter went rigid and the gun slipped from his hand.
The others hesitated a second and that all it took. The creature pressed it's claw like nails almost casually into the skull of it's victim. The man let out a grotesque scream. Mary stepped back as the now dead hunter was dropped to the cold ground. She looked at the corpse, with almost curiosity. He would soon become like the transparent creature that killed him. Mary looked at the apparitions hand, which now was limp at it's waist.
The man's red blood, easily standing out from the grey hand, dripped from it's fingertips.
Red. Blood was the only truly real thing here.
The other three men, seeing defeat, raced across the room. Mary was yanked out of her daze as one of them grabbed her arm. The child was half dragged out of the room, staring at the ghost who returned the glance with blank eyes. Then the room disappeared.
Mary was pulled through a short hallway, out another door, and down a long alley. The man's hand released her arm. She heard them conversing with an irritated tone, as if they had already forgot the death of one of their men.
"The bullets went right through it."
"They worked before."
"It doesn't matter if they worked before. We're sitting ducks without the proper weapons."
"We shouldn't have went on patrol before it was tested more efficiently."
"We have no time for that!"
Mary's back was to the hunters. Their voices began to fade, and when she turned around they were gone. No reaction passed over her grey face. She was use to it. In this world, you never see the same person twice or for very long. All were doomed to be alone. The child looked up to the nearly black sky, back down to the colorless brick walls of the alley.
She hesitated for a moment, then began to walk on, intending to go nowhere specific. Her thin dress did not block off the heart stopping cold as it swished back and forth with each stepped. Mary crossed her thin arms over chest, trying to warm herself without luck.
As long as she had come to this world of the half-living, there had been a war going on. There were humankind, the living. They were all trapped here, some accident or another putting them here, with little hope of ever waking from their coma. Then there were the Sin, like the ghost- like being that she had just seen. They were souls that had fatefully died while in this realm of their unconscious. The Sin spent their dark lives, stuck here forever, killing our kind, making us like themselves.
Humankind fought them with primitive spells and superstitious ways, but were recently experimenting with guns and other military weapons.

Mary suddenly stumbled, her blood having run cold with a frightening sensation. She knew immediately that a Sin was close, so close. They never made footsteps, but Mary could hear the moaning wind that follows them. She even thought she heard quiet whispers of many strange voices. Her heart hammered in her chest. The girl could sense a form behind her. She was too frightened to run, so she continued, clutching her arms.
She considered calling for help. But who would come?
Trembling, tears began to stream down the child's face. The creature's presence was right behind her now, and she sensed a hand reaching out towards her. Mary felt defeat course through her and knew she was going to die. The child began to sob. She just wanted to collapse to her knees and let everything end.
But suddenly, the frozen feeling left. Her legs could go no further. Still shaken, Mary stood there for a moment, her sobs coming under control. Then, almost viciously, she spun around.
There was nothing. Before the girl would let relief set in, she turned about and ran the rest of the length of the long alley.
Wanting to drown all emotion out, she ran without stopping. Her weak legs were worn completely once she reached the end. Having used up all her energy, almost all the fright and tears had faded away. Mary stood there panting for a moment. Her eyes scanned about her, still not completely assured that she was alone. But still there was no one.
Then she turned to the street and began to walk again. That's all they could be done here. This world was like a never-ending road. All of the lost would walk it, not caring where it took them. They were never trying to run to, always running away. Mary knew this, but didn't care. All were doomed to this fate.