End of Daylight

“I'm back~,” Audrey called out as she opened the front door.

“Welcome home dear,” called Audrey's mother. “Your sister baked a cherry pie, would you like me to cut you a piece?”

“Ah, sure!”

In the kitchen, Audrey's mother was at the at the table with a cup of tea, her father in the next seat, intently reading the newspaper as usual. Kate, Audrey's sister, was rushing around the kitchen. And right on the table there was a slice of delicious cherry pie waiting for Audrey.

“Hey!” called Kate. “You'll love it, I guarantee the flavor! There's a knife with the rest of the pie on the table if you want seconds.”

“Wow, what's gotten into you today?” asked Audrey.

Kate laughed, “I've ended up on Food Network while surfing TV a lot lately.”

“If only you could focus that energy on your studies,” her father remarked.

Kate sighed, “Give it a rest already, I've already decided I'm not going to college.”

“I don't have to accept that my daughter intends to waste away her life,” he retorted.

“Now, now,” Audrey said, trying to break the tension. She sat down at the table and grabbed her pie. Audrey's mouth was already watering, the cherries looked much more red and juicy than she expected.

Wait, isn't this too much red?


“DEAR! KATE! OH GOD!!”

Audrey's mother's screams shattered the moment instantly. Audrey looked up to see her father's throat slit across, blood rushing out across the table.

“Ah geez,” Kate started. “You really need to learn to shut up. And what's with that uncaring attitude of yours? Is the paper really more important than your wonderful daughters? Such an obstinate man.”

Audrey was in shock, unable to move. Her mother was in panic, fumbling around with the kitchen phone.

“What are you doing?” Kate said flatly. “All I was doing was grabbing hold of my happiness. This old fool wouldn't stay out of my way. Ah, I know. He was your happiness wasn't he? I won't be mean. Here, you can join him, then you'll be happy together again, right?”

Her mother already dialed 911, but dropped the phone as Kate approached her. She tried to scramble across the floor, but Kate reached down and grabbed her mother by the hair, jerking her head up.

“Good night mother. I loved you.”


“Kate...” Audrey started.

“Don't worry Audrey, you're my ally right?” Kate said. “Now, we have to clean up this mess before the officials get here. Ah, such a pain. I'll turn the stove up and make it look like something burned.”

“Mom... Dad...”

Kate walked over and hugged Audrey from behind, “It couldn't be helped right? We're a family, we're supposed to support each other's happiness. It's not the end of daylight for us as long as we've got each other right? Now hush, close your eyes, big sister's gonna make everything better again. I promise.”



Inspector Gammon looked over the crime scene again. Audrey was outside with the medical crew. She didn't show more than bruises physically, but it was obvious that she had heavy emotional scarring.

“Sir, the autopsy report. Death for both parents was via knife wound to the front of the throat.”

“That much was obvious,” grunted Gammon. “What about the other daughter?”

“It appears she suffered a severe blunt concussion to the back of the head. The time of death is just over thirty minutes before her parents.”

~M~

Infinite Nightmare

Stop. Just stop. Don't move. Don't look. Don't blink. Don't breathe.

Don't think.

Run.

Run faster. Faster. Faster than your body will let you. Let the wind tear past your face. Let the dirt and rocks tear past your shins. Ignore it. Ignore the wind, the rocks, the dirt. Ignore the blood. Ignore everything. Don't turn. Don't slow. Don't do anything. Just run.

Stop thinking. Erase your mind. Just keep running. Keep running until you can't run anymore. Keep running until your body falls apart. Keep running until you're too exhausted to even make the slightest movement. And even then, keep running.

Look at the cliff in front of you. Don't turn. Don't slow. Don't stop. Go. Jump. Further. Further! Reach further! Now fall. Don't think anymore, your thoughts are pointless. Don't dream anymore, your dreams are worthless. Don't remember anything, your memories are meaningless. Just close your eyes and fall. Don't even bother looking at anything anymore, it's all completely useless.

Fall into this wretched hole that you dug yourself.

Know your sin.

Don't reach it. Don't open it. Don't hear it. Don't touch it. Don't cross it. Don't protect it. Don't mend it. Don't build it. Don't see it. Don't record it. Don't remember it. Don't seek it. Don't speak it. Don't take it. Don't think it. Don't understand.

KNOW YOUR SIN.

Just fall endlessly now. Don't bother struggling against your fate. Just disappear in that pathetic state. Disappear and be swallowed up into the darkest recesses of your own self.

Now tell me, is that all?

What a pathetic worm you are, writhe in your misfortune if you even can! Show me your despair! Show me your hopelessness! Your sorrow, your regrets, your disdain, your anguish, your pain, show them all to me! Hate me. Despise me. Abhor me. Loathe me. Detest me. Begrudge me. Spit upon me.

CURSE MY NAME.

Even so, know that you forged this prison in which you are now trapped. Rot in this hell for all eternity!

If you have even a sliver of your soul remaining in that corpse, then try to resist! If you have even a fragment of your memory in that shell, then show me your strength! If your heart can even manage to beat one more time, come at me and challenge this infinite nightmare!

Come at me if you can, but by now my words probably don't even reach you anymore.

Ridiculous, just fall then. fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall FALL FALL FALL FALL FALL FALL FALL FALL FAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

Look below you. See the ground rushing up to meet you. Don't move. Don't blink. Don't flinch. Don't guard. Don't brace yourself. Don't do anything. Let the earth and rocks tear apart your flesh. Let them crush your bones. Embrace that horrid pain through every stretch of your being. Now get up. Ignore the ground. Ignore your blood. Ignore everything behind you. Ignore everything before you. Brush yourself off. Prepare yourself. Stop.

~M~

Stay in the Dark

There's no light here. Well, not much light I should say. Some sort of eerie luminescence is spread sporadically, enough to barely see where the ground is and nothing else. These endless blackened corridors have long since swallowed up any semblance of direction, seemingly an endless repetition of futility. 

No creatures stir here. Hardly a sound reverberates through these halls, even the moss swallows up plodding footsteps. The air itself still, as if all time has essentially stopped. Wait, if there's no breeze, does that mean there isn't another exit to these tunnels? That blasted hole was the only gap? Bah, it makes no difference now. Anyway, there has to be something else here, right?

Maybe not. It feels like hours have gone by, and it's not like anything can be seen in this place anyway. Maybe this isn't so bad? It's peaceful at any rate, and the moss is comfortable to sit on. Of course food might be a problem, as moss and rocks aren't really edible. That's all that's down here though. Ah well, maybe some other hapless soul will come by and wander these corridors too. At least they'll find something else down here, although perhaps a skeletal corpse might not be what they were hoping for, heh.

Maybe there are other tunnels here? Just staying where the glow of the moss can be seen seems to do little good so far. There's probably one that leads off in some new direction, hopefully at least. Ah, there was one right here too! The right-hand rule would probably be a good idea here, as venturing forth into this path will really lead to complete darkness. It'll be more annoying if this is a dead end though. Being completely lost doesn't really change anything. Carefully now, the walls are getting closer together. It doesn't seem to be fully closing though, it should be possible to slip through.

Wait! Out in the distance, barely audible enough to be a whisper. Something is making some kind of sound. This path seems to lead toward it, the sound growing louder with each passing step. And the air... seems... different? It's a bit colder now, but that's not it. The passage is starting to widen out significantly now. And the sound, the air... it's water? There must be an underground pool or river nearby. There are no other tunnels at this point, meaning this must be expanding into a large cavern. Maybe. It's hard to tell when there's no... light? What the...? The river is right here, and it's shining. Not much though, it's only a bit brighter than the moss from before. Well, there should be something here anyway, even if it's only a tunnel to some new labyrinth. Why is the river glowing anyway? There's silt or mud in the water making it hard to see through. Still, whatever's down there must be pretty bright. Getting that would at least shed some light on this blasted maze, assuming it's something that won't die if taken out of the water. Huh? That's not... it doesn't really look like a plant this time. It looks more like... a crack? Light is pouring in through the crack the water's flowing down into then? This could be a way out! Or not. It looks like a one-way trip though. Is this really going to be okay?

I walk over and stand at the edge of the river, near where the water is flowing through the hole in the wall below. Well, this is it. Jump down into the light, or stay here in the dark?

~M~