The light shade of a bent and brown palm tree created an ominous twilight over the boy’s face; his back was against an odd white plaster wall, and his face was cascaded with the tree’s shadow. His arms were crossed and sitting atop his knees, and his fingers clenched and released with each passing moment. His green shirt turned jade from the lack of light, and his dark brown hair was messy with cow licks and tangles. He looked up and stared out into the distance; his hazel eyes caught the sight of the green metallic tables, each lined with random people. He sighed and stared back down at the grey concrete, sending him into a hypnotic trance. His thoughts echoed in the corners of his mind like a train riding around in a circle. I can’t be the only one; this is just too strange…

A soft breeze blew across his face, and the sound of dancing pages whistled with the wind. Andrew gripped a beat up binder, their pages stopping dead in their tracks. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small yellow pencil and began to scribble in the binder. He hand twitched with each word, and the paper was stained with random sweat drops. He wrote:

If anyone finds this, please help me; I want so many answers to the most complicated problems. No one could possibly understand; this isn’t a matter that you take to a guidance counselor. I’m so scared; I feel so lost, and I have no one to turn to. I might go insane with this curse, this gift, this burden, or whatever you want to call it. Is this some demon living inside me, or is it worse? Am I human or just schizophrenic? How can I tell someone of my travels, my journeys into an abyss so dismal and dark, that to properly explain, I would have to slaughter everything in sight.

I can explain a few things though; aside from darkness, the land is empty and desolate, and the dense earth cut through my bare feet. A purple and black sky decorates this unholy realm, and stones float in this space, like lonely spirits looking for a home. The cackles and snickers of little black creatures echo throughout the plane, as they scurry at my sight. The air is cool, but with each breath, my body freezes in fear, as though I had just heard the sound of a terrible beast.

I walk across the endless bridge of rocks, trying to ignore the imps’ chatter. I finally reach a pool of purplish-black water, its two colors forming the face of unfortunate souls who have become victim of its forbidden hell. Suddenly, waves form from something deep within its mysterious deaths, and the damned spirits cry in agony, as they try to flee from the hidden horror. The surface is broken, as a human-shaped object arises from what I have now called Styx’s basin. Drops of water slip off his dark body, each drop containing the face of some misfortunate individual. The figure was draped with a pitch-black cloak, and a silver face plate sat over what I imagined was his face. The eyes of the mask glowed red, and the soft sound of growling chilled my spine solid.

The figure gave a low laugh and whispered, “Do not be frightened my child; the pain will cease soon enough. You are special; there is no one else who can do what you were born with. None of your brothers or sisters can achieve what you can achieve; I have shown mercy on you by granting you a chance that every wise being would take part in. This ‘curse’ as you call it, is my invitation to you to join a unique family of like-minded individuals. We will one day come to you, and we hope your decision proves to be one of agreement. Now, I believe our time is up; return to Earth, where you shall learn to live with your priceless gift…”

When he said this, his body seemed to evaporate into nothingness; soon, everything was dissolving. I awoke in my bed, gasping for air like I had been drowning. My sweat coated my body and began to soak into the sheets. I remained awake the rest of the night, knowing that insomnia was a small price I had to pay in order to avoid another visit to that dark abyss.

Although it was a dream, I began to notice some changes in my freshman year; I noticed that my body felt colder than usual. I began to adore the darkness, loving every moment that I could bask in its fountain of blackness. Soon, I could become the shadows; my body would turn pitch black and began to reform itself. I’d lurk in the dark corners of my school, enjoying every moment of it and not knowing why. It felt like something had awaken inside of me, a beast, a monster, a demon, or whatever name you wish to call it. Hidden the depths of my subconscious, something stirred, something had formed. Something…

His writing frenzy was interrupted, when a deep voice asked, “You okay?” The boy nearly jumped, as his head shot up and met the other boy’s gaze. His eyes and hair matched his, and a few scars appeared on the stranger’s face. His skin was paler than his, but he wore the same school uniform he wore. He jolted his head to the left and said, “Come sit with us; you’ll feel better over here. By the way, what’s your name?”

The boy wide-eyed stare and hesitant response seemed to be of no surprise to him; the boy lowered his head a little and muttered, “My name’s Andrew.”

“I’m Ryan,” he responded, a smile streaking across his face. “Now come on; it’s got to suck eating all alone.” Andrew’s head jolted side to side, as he looked for all of his things; he stood up and followed Ryan to a small section of the stone courtyard. They sat down next to three other people; one of them was a large boy with dark hair, pale skin, and a pair of black shades covering his eyes. Next to him was a smaller girl with long brown hair and brown eyes; unlike the others, she wore a white uniform shirt and had a green sweater tied to her waist. Lastly, there was another girl with honey blond and hazel eyes; she was about the same height as the previous girl, but she wore a pair of reading glasses and wore a gray sweater.

The large boy glanced at Andrew, his mouth full of pizza, and asked, “Whose he?”

“Oh,” sputtered Ryan, realizing that he failed to introduce him. “That’s Andrew; I invited him over to eat with us.”

The others acknowledged him and immediately resumed eating. Andrew continued to stare at the ground, his mind still thinking of what he had written. He was once again brought back to reality when the girl with the long brown hair asked, “So how have you been doing?”

Andrew looked at her and grumbled, “I’m alright.”

“You don’t sound alright,” she responded in a concern tone. “Are you having a bad day?”

“I guess you can say that,” replied Andrew. “I hope yours isn’t like that.”

“Why thank you,” she replied sweetly. “My name’s Kiera, and this guy over here is Stephen and this gal over here is Nicole.”

“Well it was nice meeting you all,” chimed Andrew in a desperate attempt to hide his true self. “I hope my disposition doesn’t ruin your day.” As he finished his sentence, he solidified at the sound of a far too similar voice. The time has come; choose your fate…

“Are you alright?” asked Stephen, his eyebrows raised at the sight of a pale Andrew. Andrew quickly realized what happened and stuttered, “Oh I’m sorry; I’m just not used to being with other people. It’s no big deal.”

Stephen shrugged and continued eating; Andrew sighed with relief. His eye trailed over to Nicole, who held a small silver pocket mirror to her face. As she held it up, her fingers slipped, and the little mirror fell to the ground. The sound of cracking glass caught everyone’s attention. She cursed to herself, and Ryan said, “That sucks; do you want me to help clean it up?” Soon, everyone but Andrew volunteered to help; he was holding the binder against his thighs, reading his disturbing entry. He sighed and made a quick glance at Nicole. However, his glance became a glare, as he looked upon her hand mirror; the glass was completely fixed, as though it hadn’t even hit the ground. His eyes blinked rapidly at the sight; however, he noticed Ryan giving him a leer of intimidation, as though he was trying to say, “You didn’t see anything. Got it?” Andrew’s eyes retreated back to his binder, and he tried to forget the whole thing. But the more he tried, the louder the question became.

Andrew sighed at the sound of the bell buzzing across the school’s hallways. Everyone gathered their things and headed toward their next class. Andrew tried not to look panicky, as he grabbed his things and headed off. He took one daring glimpse back at Nicole and saw her give a sigh of relief, as though she had gotten away with something. His face tightened with irritation, as the question continued to haunt his being. What’s going on around here?