FIGHT THE DARKNESS

RISE OF EXTUS: CHAPTER II, HOPE HAS DEPARTED

 (ACT I) THE DARKNESS

When Amy awoke, it was dark once again, and the only sound to be heard was a deathly silence. For a moment, all she could do was think to herself and try to proses the events that had taken place. Laying on the ground, she felt cold and alone. She slowly sat up, realizing that all her vampire powers had been drained. She felt weak.

There was darkness all around Amy, thick and black. She couldn't feel any walls around her. She thought to call out, but not knowing what she might summon in the darkness, she decided to try and find a way out on her own. "Is there even a way out?" she thought to herself.

Slowly, Amy rose to her feet, reaching for a ceiling, but all she could feel was empty space. She then used her magic to see what her surroundings looked like, but there was nothing but the floor that she stood upon. She felt as though it could go on for miles and miles, nothing but darkness and emptiness.

With a shaking voice, she called out into the vast darkness. There was no reply, not even an echo, no sound, just silence. "Where am I? Am I....dead?" she thought.

"I can't be," Amy cried. "I don't want to be."

In desperation, she called out once again and waited. Only silence, but now, she couldn't even hear herself speak. Amy began to scream at the top of her lungs. She even stomped on the ground as hard as she could, but not a sound could be heard.

Amy fell to her knees, feeling nothing but hopelessness and despair. "What happened to me? she began to think to herself, not daring to speak out loud only to find more silence. "Why is death so....lonely? Will I ever see Max again? Will I see anyone ever again?" Feeling angry, Amy wanted to throw something but, there was nothing but the hard, granite-like floor she knelt on.

As tears streamed down her face, she thought of how she would never see her husband again. After everything they had been through, after the past few days of her life. Just when she had finally begun to accept who she was, when Max accepted who she was, it all ended. Everything was taken away from her.

Amy thought about Max. He had already lost her once, and when she came back, she wasn't quite the same, but regardless of the fact that she had..changed, he loved her unconditionally. He helped her. He made her feel that even though her whole world was turned upside down, life was still worth living, especially since they still had each other. But now, there was nothing, just emptiness, and darkness.

Amy had no idea how long she continued like this. Strangely it felt as though it could have been minutes or days. Either way, she looked up and happened to notice a speck of light. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked again. It was still there. Amy stared at it wondering if it were some small luminescent creature floating in the air, or maybe, just maybe it was a way out.

As she slowly rose to her feet, Amy continued to stare at the speck of light, afraid that if she took her eyes off of it that it would be lost forever, it began to appear warmer, and more alive.

"But wait, no, could it be? It..it's getting bigger." Amy thought. And, indeed it was. The light slowly began to grow. "It must be coming towards me. Maybe it's friendly, but what if it's not?" Amy wondered.

Suddenly, Amy realized that her hair was beginning to float in the air. She felt as though she was actually moving, but the ground she stood upon felt the same. At any rate, the light grew and grew, and as it became brighter, Amy suddenly began to gain hope. "Maybe everything will be okay." She wondered if maybe, just maybe it were possible that she was somehow returning home, and that she would be with Max again.

As the light continued to grow, Amy realized that it wasn't home. The light had an orange glow and began to spread across the horizon. Soon, she also began to see a ceiling, some twenty five to thirty feet above her. Amy also noticed that she was standing on a sort of granite disc. As it carried her still closer towards the oncoming exit of the dark enclosure she had so desperately wanted to flee from, she realized that it must have been floating just above the ground as it seemed to be sliding, or hovering along, very smoothly.