They say that many secrets lie in the shadows, but I have found that more lie in the light for all to see. Why? Because you don’t expect to find darkness in light.

The truth of the world is most bitter, and the fools who seek it never truly understand it. I am not one of those fools, but merely a poor soul who stumbled upon this truth. What is this truth you ask? That this reality is an illusion that shall one day fall apart. The fractures and flaws are hidden in a mist of lies and deception and have been forgotten, no one is there to fix them. I have seen through the lies and deceptions to The Truth Most Bitter.

It is hard to say when the nightmares began or ended but they were truly terrible. They started out small and short but became longer and so horrifying that I would wake up screaming. They began to haunt me during the day as well. I would look into a shadow or at a face and I would see the characters from my dreams, they would be normal one second and terrifying the next. My parents tried to get me help, but it was no use. No one could figure out why it was happening or how to stop it. Time went on and I became accustom to the nightmares and faces. After a while I became so use to them that I would worry if I didn’t see them, worry if they were ok.

Then, one day, it all broke loose. One of the faces, a young boy with a knife in his throat, didn’t appear and I became terribly worried. The poor boy was in so much pain and I wanted to help him but I never seemed to get the chance. That day I searched every shadow and face for him but he wasn’t there. That night I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned, unable to get the boy off my mind. Then, in the corner of my eye, I saw him. I turned out of reflex, knowing he would vanish once I did, but he didn’t. Instead he came up to me in my bed. I sat, not believing what I was seeing. “Help me.” He sobbed, tears rolling down his cheek and onto the cooled steal blade protruding from his neck. He extended his hand to me, begging me to help. I stared at him a second, the never spoke to me. I shook my head, waking from my shook and said, “Don’t worry. Everything will be ok.” I extended my hand to take his, giving him a soft look that said ‘I’m here for you.’

The second our fingers touched I fell back onto my bed, asleep. My eyes fluttered open. I sat up, expecting to see the walls of my room and sister in the other bed, but they weren’t there. Instead there was a dense fog that pressed in on me from all sides, as if trying to choke me. I jumped up and looked around, searching for something. A first glance revealed nothing but fog. I looked around again, hoping I had just missed something. That’s when I saw it, a white line that seemed to just float in the air. As I went toward it I realized it wasn’t a line but a crake in a wall of glass. I stopped in front of it, felling air trying to rush through it. I tenderly touched it. CRAKE the sound echoed through the endless fog.

Thin crakes extended from the first, growing longer and wider. I stepped back, panicked. CRAKE this time it was the floor that began to crake, fallowing the same pattern as the wall. I froze, terrified at what at I had done, and what might happen if I stayed there. I toke another step back and everything broke. I fell, watching large shards of glass fall with me. I covered my head and shut my eyes tight; it was all I could think of. After a while I realized I had stopped falling. I slowly opened my eyes. The glass shards and fog were gone, replaced by a faintly glowing orb suspended in the black sky. I put my hands down and stared at the orb. It looks like the moon, the thought echoed through my head as if I had said the statement out loud.

As the echoing thoughts subsided, another sound came to me. It was crying, someone was crying. I looked around, but no one was there. I looked again, and there it was, a black curtain just hanging in the air and billowing in a non existent wind. I stood up and cautiously headed toward it. My bare feet didn’t make a sound as they hit the odd ground. As I approached the strange cloth I noticed the crying was getting louder.

I extended my hand and pulled the curtain aside. There, curled up behind the curtain, was the little boy. His face was buried in his blood stained hands but I could tell it was him. I softly touched his shoulder and said, “Its ok. I’m here, you don’t need to cry.” He looked up at my reassuring smile, tears still falling. “H-help me,” He sobbed. I softly touched his cold face. He leaned into like a puppy snuggling his master’s hand. “Hold still. I’m going to this knife out, ok?” I said, calmly. He nodded his head and leaned it to the side to give me better access to the corroded blade. I pulled the ugly thing out and placed it on the floor. The little boy’s neck stopped bleeding. He looked at me sadly and said, “It’s so…cold…and…Dark.” I looked up in the sky and realized the orb was gone. Looking back the way I had came, I saw its light still illuminated the ground but not where we were. An idea hit me and I took the boy into my arms saying, “Let’s change that.” He curled onto my chest, “So…warm.” He said, finally smiling. I walked out into the light and turned so he could see it. He slightly pulled away from me to look at the beautiful orb better. He reached out his hand towards it and said, “It’s so…Pretty.” He began to laugh, delighting in the sight. I couldn’t help but smile at him; he was such a sweet boy.

Without warning, the orb vanished and a dark, terrible cold pressed in on me, as if trying to squeeze the happiness right out of me. “No…please.” Sobbed the boy, burying his face in my chest in terror. “What is it?” I asked, trying to find the source of the cold. “Darkness…” He cried, softly, holding onto me tight. ‘What is it?’ I thought, the words echoing in my head again. ‘Where is this cold coming from?’ I winced, feeling the cold fill my chest. I looked around, trying to find the source, but there was nothing, nothing but the curtain. That’s when it hit me, why the light hadn’t shown behind it, and why the orb had vanished. The curtain was eating all the light, and its sources.

I shut my eyes tight as the cold grabbed at chest, or rather, the little boy in my arms. I looked down at him and realized that a faint white light was coming from him. Now I understood what the cold was, it was the curtain. It wanted the light the little boy was giving off, but I wasn’t about to let it have him. I turned to run, but found that the fog had returned, cutting off my only escape.

That’s when it came, the cold, heartless voice that still haunts me. “Give me the boy.” It said, coldly. I whipped around to see a young man standing in front of the curtain. He looked only a few years older then me but had this dark presence about him that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up on end. "Give him to me." He said again, extending his hand toward me. "NO!" I shouted without even realizing it. The boy sighed and started walking toward me, the cold growing stronger with each step he took. Soon I found that I couldn't move or speak. He stopped, barely inches from me. He extended his hand to take the frightened little boy. Suddenly, on reflects, I grabbed him before his hand even came close to touching the poor boy. He looked at me a second, unfazed, and said, "Your quite strong." The condescension in his voice seemed to amplify the cold, making it hard to breath. "But it’s useless. This is my world; you are not but an unwanted visitor." He removed my hand from his wrist without concern. "Th-this is...m-my dr-dream." I chocked, taking him by surprise, but he never lost his composure. "Interesting, not only are you stronger then I first anticipated, but your also delusional." he said with little concern. "W-what...do y-you...mean?" I stammered, glaring at him. He looked at me, still showing no emotion, and said, "This is no dream, child." I looked at him, terror stricken, as the realization of what he said hit me. He tried to take the boy again, taking advantage of my terror. I was abruptly brought out of my reverie by the feel of his icy hands on my wrist as he tried to peel it from the boy. My releases’ kicked in again and I took a step back, breaking free of his grip.

He looked up at me, a hint of irritation in his eyes, but nothing showing on his face. "Why do you insist on protecting him?" a shade of curiosity in his voice, softening the cold. "You do not know him." I stared into his cold eyes, unable to look away. "Doesn’t...matter" I said, the cold loosening around my throat. He brought his hand close to my face, not even an inch away. "Quite impressive." He said, a cruel smirk crawling onto is face. It’s hard to say weather the smirk was more terrifying then what he said next, "You may end up living through the collapse." He placed his middle finger on my cheek bone and dragged it down to my chin. CRAKE I screamed, an incredible pain tearing through the skin he had touched. I fell to the ground in shook as I felt what he had done to my cheek. A large crake had formed, but no blood came out. The older boy towered over me, as I began to collect myself. I looked around, desperate for away out. That’s when I noticed that the fog had started dissipating in certain areas, and one was just big enough for me to run through with the little boy. The older boy leaned in to take him away, but I was already up running before he could. I held the boy tight, feeling the fog grab at me. I was almost out of the fog when he appeared at the other end. I stopped just short of running head-long into him. He looked down at me, making me feel small, and said, "Theirs no point in running, you can't escape."

The fog suddenly pressed in on me, paralyzing me. He ripped the boy from my arms, I couldn’t stop him. Once he had removed the poor, sobbing boy from my arms, the fog engulfed me. The little boy turned and looked at me, with this pathetically sad look on his face. I couldn't take it; I broke free of the fog and lunged at the frightening boy. He moved out of the way, barely avoiding me. I regained my footing and kicked out at him, but he just blocked it as if it were nothing. I couldn't stand it anymore, I pulled my fist back and threw it at him with all my strength, but he just caught it. He lifted me off the ground with little effort. As I hung there, I felt the fog wrap itself around me, paralyzing me. He let go of me, leavening me to float in the air. "You should have left well enough alone." He said, pulled a knife out of his pocket. He drew his arm back and thrust it threw my chest.

I sat up in bed, panting. I clutched my head as the images ran through my head. 'Was that really just a dream?' I silently wondered. I looked to the floor and saw the knife that had been plunged threw my chest, covered in blood. I looked at it in terrified shook. Suddenly a pair of feet appeared near the bloody blade. I looked up and saw, to my horror, that is was the older boy. He leaned down and picked up the knife. He stood up straight again, never loosening his composure. He began to lick the blood off the blade, sending a terrified chill down my spine. He licked the last bits of blood clean and pocketed the knife. He came up to me and took my chin in hand. "Since the time Adam and Eve, humans have been telling lies and makeing mistakes. These lies and misdemeanors have begun to tear at the seams of this reality. Soon, it shall collapse in on itself, and all will fall into the void," he said, a cruel smirk turning the corner of his soft lips. "All, but a few. Like you, child. You are one of the few who are strong enough to survive the coming catastrophe." he said, almost pulling me onto my feet by my chin. "Till the day of reckoning," He soft touched his cold lips to my cheek. "My dear." He let go my chin, leaving me to fall back onto my bed. He took a step back and vanished into the abundant shadows. I’m not sure how long I just sat there, thinking about he said, and what he did. Eventually, I fainted from all the stress.

As time passed the nightmares subsided but the faces didn't. I still see them, especially the little boy. It’s taken me time to admit it, but I've finally come to the realization that there’s nothing I can do to save this world on my own. It's truly ironic: Man can not help but lie and it will eventually destroy this fragile reality. It seems like we are doomed to destroy ourselves.

The author would like to note that this whole story is a work of fiction and should not be taken seriously. Meaning I don't see faces and I'm not crazy...Well, maybe not that way. But I do believe that our frail reality is on the verge of collapsing in on itself.

The path is hard but don't loose hope, your near the blissful end.