"Adam, I don't think we should be doing this." Adam's admirable face came into my line of sight. "We're not doing anything that hasn't already been done." He was around 6'1 with gorgeous brown eyes, tanned skin, long black hair, and jaw lines for days. He wore a pair of black jeans, work boots, and a black hoodie. He had minimum stubble on the underside of his chin. He looked tired and worried. As if wearing all black doesn't make you look suspicious. The goal was to climb on top of the water tower and jump off. He believed that man was more than man. He told me that once I died, I would become the true me, me inside begging to be released. My palms grew sweaty as we climbed closer to the top of the water tower. "Don't you get it, Luxoria? We are unlocking our true potential together. It's like Romeo and Juliet." My stomach dropped. "Adam this doesn't make any sense." He grumbled to himself continuing up the ladder. It was rough and rusted, paint peeled off if you touched it too long. I looked down feeling my heart begin to race. We were up higher than I thought, and the ground didn't look soft. "It will make sense once we complete the task." Complete the task? Ending our lives together was a task? The whole drive over here I thought he was joking, but now I was getting a sick sense that he was serious. "Explain it to me then." I watched his shoulders drop.

"I heard my dad and this man talking on the phone. He said that certain people have something in their blood that will bring them into another world after they die." My heart began racing. "Certain people?! How do you even know we qualify?" He reached the top and leaned over the side to grab my hand. I shakily grabbed his hand and finished climbing. "You're special." He leaned over the railing slowly looking around the area. "This should be high enough to do the trick." I swallowed roughly. "Adam, listen to me, you can't base these decisions on a distant conversation you heard someone else having. You could've heard them wrong." His beautiful mouth pulled into a frown. "You don't trust me? You think I'm crazy?" I felt my bottom lip quiver. "I just think we need to put more thought into this. Gather all the facts before taking action." His rough hands gripped the railing bars tightly.

"I'm trying to experience this with you. The woman I love, the only woman I've ever loved." It felt as if someone threw weights onto my shoulders. He pulled me into his embrace. He smelled like the woods. "It's almost time, are you ready?" I looked at him, feeling my eyes widen. "You don't want me to jump do you?" As the man, I adored let a wicked smile appear ear to ear, the fear I'd been dreading started to settle in. "Would you like me to go first?" I swallowed roughly, shaking my head. He pulled my hand with his and dragged me to the edge. "You're right. It'll be easier for you to go first." I could feel my heart throbbing.

I turned to look into those eyes that once took my breath away and swallowed. "I love you, Adam, we don't have to do this. We could turn back right now and joke about this all later." His right eye twitched. "Mother said you'd behave this way." His mother had been dead for years. "What?" With an unexpected force, he shoved me over the railing. You'd think I would scream while falling to my death, but I couldn't make a sound. All I could see was his eyes go cold as he watched me fall. Time moved in slow motion as I began reaching the ground. I couldn't help but think of my mother, hoping this wouldn't hurt her too badly. She'd always been there to pick me up after every bump and scrape. She couldn't do that this time. I then thought about my dad, and how he'd scream for his little girl. Would anyone find my body? How could Adam do something like this? Was he sick? Deranged? Was there something I hadn't noticed?

When I hit the ground, the air escaped my lungs. I could almost see it leave my body. I couldn't feel anything, I could hear footsteps approaching my left side, but couldn't turn to look. "Hmm, I guess that wasn't high enough to kill you instantly." Adam's voice rang out, in a tone I'd never heard before. It was deep and cold, almost monster-like. As he switched into a person I never met, another pair of footsteps approached behind him. "What a pity." It was a woman's voice. It was very pitchy, like nails on a chalkboard. "What do I do now mother?" Adam asked. I choked on my words. It wasn't his mother's voice speaking to him. "Adam…she's not real," Adam growled slowly. "Do you hear that mother? She dares try to manipulate me when she's so weak." The woman's voice let out a short laugh. "You must finish it darling. It must be done." Adam sighed. "How should I do it, mother?" The woman's voice let out a soft hum. "Whatever your heart tells you," Adam grunted. He came into my line of sight as he stood over me. "Adam..." I whimpered. He got on top of me and looked over my face. His eyes were different as if there was a glare over them. "It's a shame, you were so beautiful." His hand started at the side of my face and slowly drifted to my neck.

"We will see each other again." He whispered as his other hand drifted to my neck. Both hands began to squeeze. My throat caught a metaphorical fire that sent throbbing pain to my head. My eyes began to water, and my ears began ringing. Little black dots floated around us. Tears fled down my cheeks as I let go. He smiled grimly. This was my demise; at the hands of the only man, I loved more than my father. As I felt it ending the white light cleared and the sky glowed before me. Adam was no longer with me. I was alone. I couldn't feel my heartbeat pulsating in my skull, my internal temperature bounced between hot and cold, and I grew still. At least I didn't have to see him again. The surrounding area grew completely quiet and calm. Though in the short distance from me I could hear a single pair of footsteps. Had, by some miraculous notion, someone found me? The sky began to change colors. The clear winter sky darkened; thunder could be heard nearby. A few strikes of what seemed like heat lightning set the mood for my death. I heard a tsk noise in my direction. "You're a fighter, most would have given up by now."

I heard a voice speak in several monotone voices. I was unaware of whether the voice was male or female. "Who is there?" I said weakly. "I am many things. To some, redemption, to others, the taker, but to all, I am the end." I swallowed and winced in pain. I choked on my blood as I spoke. "Are you going to kill me?" I said, feeling the warm garnet red ooze down my chin. "I'm afraid it's too late for that. You're already dead." My tears stopped and I felt numb. "What are you going to do with me?" The voice chuckled. "I'm waiting for you to decide that." I choked out once more. "How?" The voice appeared right above me, connected to a hooded figure holding a staff. It had black wings like a crow, and they moved with every breath it took. It was horrifyingly beautiful. "Your path in this world has ended. But this is not the only path, nor is it the only world." I had to be imagining things from blood loss. I was not religious but in my last moments my brain must have given in to wonder. "You have a choice, child, you may take my hand and walk again, or you may go into the dark." I swallowed painfully and chuckled. This was not real anyhow, what would it hurt? A gloved hand reached out to me, the fingertips were long and slim.

"So, If I take your hand what happens?" The voice chuckled once more. "Foolish girl, don't you understand you're already dead? Get up." I pulled my body into a sitting position. I did not feel any pain anymore. I scanned over my hands and shoulders. There was no more blood. "How did you do that?" The figure bent before me, and I stared into the hood with the kind of curiosity that would get you killed. I saw nothing but voids of something so dark it shook your being. "In death, you feel nothing. Your heart stopped, your brain waves are no longer, you feel…nothing." It grabbed my pale hand and pulled me to my feet. "I haven't got all day. What is your choice?" Was this everything my mother mentioned? The afterlife she always spoke about. Would I go to heaven? The voice chuckled. "Heaven is no place for you." I swallowed. It could hear my thoughts. "You haven't got the soul for it. If you choose to die forever, then your soul goes with me." I gasped. "I could live again?"

The figure walked around me smacking at my ankle with its staff. "You don't pay much attention. Haven't you noticed the signs? Did you think you just had good instincts? That you were just a fast runner? That you could just smell and hear better?"

I turned following it as it walked around me. "What are you saying? I'm not human?" The voice chuckled. "You truly are the most oblivious one I've met yet. So ignorant." So, it was insulting to me. "The others, they had already known when I found them. They were special. But you child, I had high hopes for you." I fumbled with the edge of my torn shirt. "Why have I never seen you before?" The figure lifted my left hand with its staff. "You have, you were just small. You kiss of death. Born from madness, riddled with a darkness inside of you." My eyes widened. "I don't remember my parents." The voice stopped walking. "Who raised you?" I bit the skin off my lower lip. "I was adopted." The figure began walking once more. "Explains your ignorance. Now, what do you want to do?" Give up my soul or live again? The option was clear. "Where will I go?" The figure made a tsk noise once more. "With the others of your kind. Inhumans." Inhumans? I had heard that word somewhere before. "I want to live." The figure moved closer to me and picked up a strand of my hair. "White? Such a strange color to be born with." I nodded. "The doctors thought so as well." It chuckled. "Humans think they know, they cut, and prescribe. Nothing can undo the fate of death. They simply prolong it."

"You have some strong opinions of humans." It chuckled once more. "They are like monkeys. They think that because they have a working brain and some thumbs, they are better. They are a weak species slowly dying and taking the planet with them." It was not wrong. "Tell me about your death, child." I fumbled over my words. "My boyfriend's dead mother told him to kill me." The figure chuckled. "Seems like someone's leash isn't tight enough." I huffed. "Do you know who did this?" It sighed heavily. "I have an idea, but that isn't your concern for the time being." I looked around the area. "How do I know this is real?" The figure turned away from me. "How do you know it's not?" I paused and began to chew my bottom lip once more. "Take my hand, I'll show you real." I took the figure's gloved hand in mine and closed my eyes. "Don't close your eyes, be brave." I nodded and the figure pulled me into its torso. "Hold onto me." Its thick wings pulled us into the night air, higher than the trees. "You want to see reality?" I nodded. The figure let go of me. I swung my arms around, but gravity pulled me straight to the earth. As my body slammed into the dirt, I felt nothing. I gasped filling my lungs with as much air as I could. "Your breath is metaphorical." I swallowed standing once more. "What?" It chuckled. "Why breathe when you're dead?"

I bit my tongue and walked toward the figure. "Why did you let go of me?" The figure cocked its hooded head sideways. "Did you feel anything?" I pushed my eyebrows together. "I felt scared." It nodded. "What else did you feel?" I sighed, shifting positions. "The ground." It nodded. "You didn't wake up once you hit the ground. When you're dreaming you wake up?" So, it had jokes. "There were other ways you could have done that." It chuckled. "Not as funny though. Let us go, child." It grabbed my hand once more and tapped its staff into the ground twelve times. A circle of light formed around us. "You're not going to remember any of this; however, I'd like to share a tale with you." The light shifted into a sphere; you couldn't see the outside through the bright light. "What kind of tale?" The figure chuckled. "A personal one." I sighed. "Perhaps we should be on a first-name basis then. I'm Luxoria." The figure hummed lowly. "You may call me Atticus." I nodded to its name. "Now Luxoria, allow me to tell you the tale of your importance." A shiver crept up my spine.

"Before the mortals conquered earth, it was once the land of Inhumans. Your kind. Knowing that the Inhumans could lead to the extinction of humanity, the mortals agreed to live in harmony alongside them. It stayed this way for many centuries until the mortals learned the weaknesses of Inhumans. They were tired of being picked off and turned into food. This led to the first war with the mortals. To save the balance between the mortals and Inhumans I created another realm where the Inhumans could live freely. The mortals eventually conquered all of the earth and forgot about our existence. We were turned into myths and fairy tales told to kids to scare them into obedience. Balance must be kept between the worlds. Your kind depends on it." The figure looked over at me as if to make sure I was paying attention. "If the balance is broken Inhumans will become savages and kill each other off within a year. You must hold this balance."

I shuddered. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?" The creature chuckled. "I can't tell you; you wouldn't remember even if I did." I grew frustrated. "Then why tell me at all?" It sighed. "To send you on the right path." It removed the glove on its left hand and grabbed my wrist tightly. "By the power of the fourth-century witch Allura, I give you the blood of the night." My hand and wrist took on a black shadow. It released me. "This will help you when you need it." It then ripped a piece of cloth from its cloak and wrapped it around my hand and wrist.

As the sphere of light began to fade away, I could see a beautiful untouched forest before us. "One more thing child, your heart will lead you places the dark thoughts in your mind won't; listen to it." I nodded although I'd been utterly confused. This couldn't be real. "Take this." It said in a whispered tone. In its hand was a piece of paper with a golden signature at the bottom. I folded it and stuffed it into my sweatshirt pocket. We stepped onto the softest grass I'd ever touched. "What's going to happen to me now?" The figure sighed, taking a step back from me.

"You'll wake up somewhere with no memory of dying or meeting me." I investigated the wet blades of grass at my feet. "Will we ever see each other again?" The figure chuckled as it tapped its staff into the ground once more. "I'd hope not. You'd be dead." I nodded fumbling with the torn edges of my sweatshirt sleeves. "You'll do well Luxoria, you're stronger than the others, you're gifted." I hadn't felt relief, I hadn't felt much of anything. I was receiving a pep talk from someone who appears to be dead and left in a world I had no idea existed. The figure reached out with a shaking hand and touched the center of my forehead. "Good luck." It whispered as my sight faded into darkness. I felt my body lay against the soft grass as the winds hummed in my ears putting me into a gentle trance. I died, but today I lived.

Dreams were weird, like little black storms in our heads that project pictures of memories we don't remember. Pieces of our lives are twisted and deformed into whatever our conscious makes them. You see there's a very thin line between that world and ours. That world we dream of, where our scariest nightmares make love to even scarier ones. Blood was everywhere, on the walls, floors, ceiling, windows…even on the ceiling fans. The screams surrounded every room filling my ears like smoke filling my lungs. Their soft apologetic obscure clouded needy somber screams begged me to listen, it begged me to help, but what could I do for something I didn't understand? How could I reach out into the shadowy pit of enlightened gloom and despair and help someone I didn't know was there? Nightmares are nothing but fear hidden inside a carcass of depressing cheerless overthinking when we're paranoid and can't find a release. Our mind takes these things from us and pushes them off until we close our eyes for the night. "Luxoria" They cried at me, begging for me to release them. "One of us" They hissed towards me, trying to snatch my meat suit. They were creepier than clowns. "Luxoria, fight it off, don't listen to them. Don't let them inside of you." A softer voice called to me through the darkness.

Clowns are one of the most feared family icons. They are supposed to make people laugh and push away the bad moments. But what happens when a clown shows up with a double-barrel shotgun and starts making balloon animals out of people's intestines? You wake up, shake it off, and try again. Dreams are nightmares momentarily wrapped in pink fabric to hide the death and rot of reality. Death is a bed of black roses surrounded by barbed wire that invites people to stay forever. The lure of endless peace and forgiveness pulls you into a kiss from six feet under. That secret touch of the ghost you walked through but didn't bother to notice. They say when you think someone is watching 75% of the time someone is. What's left when you can no longer pull yourself out of nightmares and you are set to die in your sleep? The screams grew closer and louder and if you stared hard enough it looked like the house was breathing.

What do you do now? Continue to cower in the corner like you did when you were five and surrender to the darkness? Or do you stand and fight to wake up in the triumph of your victory against the inner monsters living in your dreams. In horror movies they play eerie music when someone's going to die, this allows you to prepare yourself so it's less terrifying. There is no music, there is no warning, there is only a moment of realization and then you're gone. The windows began breaking one by one and the house shook with violent behavior. "HELP US!" The voices begged, begged like I was the light at the end of their tunnel. I couldn't help them. They were fantasy while I was real, I was blood and bones wrapped in a thick layer of pale white skin. Foggy black smoke began to form now, crashing down on the room in waves. Each wave caused worse events, death, destruction, and horror. I shuddered in discomfort. Why couldn't I wake up? I don't want to be here anymore; I just want to wake up! There was a figure in the waves now, so dark, so cold, and so frightening I could feel the hairs on my body stand up. I could see my breath; I could feel my heart throbbing. It was coming closer and closer with each blink until it was directly in front of me.

The figure looked like no other creature I'd ever seen, read, or heard about. It looked like instant death. It had a smile so evil, so menacing that you almost froze in place. It had no eyes; it had no details that could give you relief. It was just darkness, and it wanted to get inside of me. "Help me." It said slowly crouching to be eye level with me. I shook with angst, despair, and concern that I would not make it out of here. I could feel my fingertips starting to freeze like water on a frigid day. "You're dying." It wailed trying to scare me into a deal I didn't want to make. "Give it to me, give me your power you weak-minded little girl." My eyes began to roll back, my mouth grew dry, I couldn't function, and I couldn't scream. A hand colder than death itself touched my face. "Let go Luxoria, you are with us now." His voice called to me in these dreams. A stranger's voice that provided me with the comfort I was not used to. I could never see him, touch him, or smell him, but his voice called out to my very soul. I could feel the air pulling out of my lungs. I could feel the burning of silent suffocation, and I could feel my energy draining bit by bit until I was nothing but a corpse.