calm is the night

ferocious is the hunger. the hunger which becomes limitless. the more it eats. the harder it is to swallow a whole meal without been at ease.

-Hansel Hatt (first High Priest.)

Dorian stands up. the notebook falls from his vest. Dorian knees to grab the notebook. he stops to admire the strange drawings and notes on it. Dorian looks around to see what the others are doing. he then takes the notebook.

Dorian starts to read the notebook. he moves to the next page slowly. he keeps reading without stopping for about thirty minutes. he then closes the notebook. he approaches the other two guys. he asks them to listen to him.

Dorian puts the notebook on the counter. he then looks at the others. he waits to have the opportunity to speak properly. the others don't answer unaware of what is written and drawn on the notebook.

"it belongs to crazy ginger. the contents of it are related to what is happening inside of this damn place. the answers to all our questions hides within that small notebook. now do you want to continue on ignorance? or do you wish to know what occurs within this forsaken place?"

"damn be our luck. if our survival depends of it. then shoot it all out. don't let a single detail out. I have a wedding to attend."

Lorenzo nods. he doesn't have much to say. they had stay inside the mart for about two months by now. time may never changer, or seem to change in here. but Lorenzo has been counting seconds, minutes, and hours since the first day.

while they are discussing the contents of the notebook. Michael arrives in front of the gas station. he has been walking for a while. he is now almost naked. the only thing he is wearing are some underpants.

Michael gets inside of the mart. he looks at the other guys. Michael almost starts to cry out of happiness. it has been so long since the last time he saw other humans. he wants to hug them. he wants to thank them for been there.

"do any of you has a change of clothes?"

"there are some clothes on the discount section."

Michael thanks them with teary eyes. Michael gets some clothes. Dorian tells him that he can take a shower on the bathroom that is outside. Michael thanks him once more. Michael leaves holding the clothes. twenty minutes later he returned looking clean.

the four of them are quietly looking at the notebook. each of them took the notebook for a moment to read it. Michael somehow has survived when walking expose to the darkness out there for about a month.

outside of the gas station. not so far from there is Karla. she is on top of a car. Karla is looking at them by using binoculars. she awaits for her time to attack.

the Darkness can't touch Karla because she is a member of the cult. but more importantly she is wearing a necklace with a symbol that works as a protection against the Pagan God.

there is something that Karla wishes to do before leaving. those guys are a rock on the road to her success. and she won't give up until she achieves her dreams. she touches her stomach lightly thinking about a life inside of her.

part of her dreams is to have John's child inside of her. Karla smiles on a creepy way. she is the kind of person who doesn't give until the end. so nothing nor anyone can stop her unless they kill her first.

.....

the night becomes even more sinister. the wind makes a sound similar to a calling. the old front door grinds with the smallest caress from the wind. then Michael stands up. in front of the front door stands Karla. she was he one who guide him to the gas station.

Karla promised to help him find a refuge. on exchange she asked for his help to open the door for her. Karla made up an excuse of why she needed help from him. and why those guys are the bad guys.

Michael is too honest, and too naive. he believed on every word she said. now without thinking about the consequences Michael is opening the door.

Dorian knew that something was off with the new guy. so he pretended to be asleep. he grabs his gun from the floor. he stands up. silently he walks behind Michael. he aims at Michael's head. he breathes loudly.

"any last words?"

"she told me what you did. she told me how you killed that woman to save yourself."

"whatever that snake told you. it is most likely a lie."

Michael opens the door. he receives a bullet on the shoulder. Michael falls on his knees. he is crying quietly. he looks at the blood.

Karla gets inside of the mart. she is holding a gun. Karla and Dorian aim at each other. the smallest wrong move can lead to the death of either of them.

Russell and Lorenzo are awaken by the loud noises. they are witness of what is happening around of them. Michael on the floor crawling far from the confrontation. Karla and Dorian pointing guns at each other.

the Darkness has come once more. night time has come as calm and normal as it has never been and will never be.

the Darkness is out there waiting for its banquet. who will dare to be the Darkness' first meal of the night? will anyone dare to sacrifice themselves?

calm is the night as it should be. but calm aren't those who are part of the night. Dark and cruel are the demands of the Darkness. but who is darker and crueler? the Darkness that eats to live? or the mortals who hurt each other for fun?

there is a moment of silence. everyone has found their way to the gas station. at least the living ones are in there. five strangers found themselves in a struggle to live. on a struggle for what they desire or wish to do.

everyone is nervous. everyone walks with the most precise and subtle steps. there is nothing to like about it. there is a lot to fear. now the lucky ones, or the ones who had the most determination to live are here.

now Michael is on the floor thinking about his actions. Karla was nice and honest (she was acting in front of him.) Karla helped him when he was dying of thirst. she guide him to the gas station. he couldn't ignore her. she only asked him for one favor.

Michael is trying to think if Karla is actually a nice person. or if she was using him to get what she wanted. Michael is starting to regret following her instructions. what if he put on danger some good guys? Michael keeps thinking.

"the almighty lord is hungry. be a darling and offer yourself."

"shut the hell up. the play is over second rate actress."

Karla is nervous. she has gone so far by using tricks. now that everything depends of her own speed. it is scary to think that Dorian can be faster. at any given second a gun shot will determine the winner, if there is any winner.

Karla looks at Michael. he looks so pathetic. she can't believe she tried to use such a pathetic man to do the dirty work for her. she looks directly at Dorian's eyes.

Michael pulls out two guns. he stands up. he aims at Karla and Dorian. he can't fully trust on any of them. one of them is a bad guy. Michael was playing around on the mountain shooting at squirrels before crossing the green door.

if there is any question on about where Michael hided the two guns. lets just say that he never took off his underpants. also the two guns are small pistols.

"either of you is the bad guy. can someone tell me what is going on?"

"she is a sex offender."

"he is a police officer who worked under corrupted people."

"wow. both sound awful. yeah, I don't see heroes on either side."

Karla puts her left hand on her pockets. she put dust inside of her pockets before getting inside the mart. she throws the dust on Dorian's face. the dust gets on his eyes. Dorian randomly shoots.

Karla crouches down. she then aims at Michael. for a second Michael gets frozen when he realized what she was about to do. Michael aims at Karla. the two of them shoot each other multiple times.

a bullet hits Michael on the knee. another bullet hits him on the stomach. another bullet leaves a small cut on his neck. he falls on the ground. Michael is scare fearing for his life.

two bullets hit Karla on the left arm. a bullet hits her on the shoulder. she was practically find holding the gun with her right hand. she aims at Michael.

Dorian can finally see. he looks at Karla. he aims at her. Karla turns around. Michael takes his guns from the floor. he aims at Karla. she is on a situation of disadvantage.

"you lose. there is no way out."

"are you sure? look at the window."

Dorian looks at a small hole on the window. part of the darkness was getting inside like a dense black fog. then it pulls back. the Darkness starts to throw rocks against the windows of the mart. now they are in danger.

Lorenzo and Russell are walking slowly towards the bathroom. they don't get inside. they are waiting for Dorian in front of the door.

Dorian walks backwards slowly. he doesn't move either his eyes, nor his gun from Karla. he isn't letting her get away with it alive. after every step he takes, he takes another step faster.

Dorian looks at Michael on the floor bleeding. he asks him if he needs help. Michael tells him to save himself. Michael knew from the beginning that he didn't belong here. he is too weak to fight on an environment full of predators. he is the smallest fish on the tank.

Michael stands up. he jumps on top of Karla. they struggle. Michael looks at the necklace on Karla's neck. he remembers that she told him about that thing. it protects her from the Darkness.

Michael pulls the necklace until it breaks, at the same time she aims at him. she shoots at Michael multiple times. Michael falls on the ground. he kneels unable to stand up. he is bleeding a lot. Michael smiles feeling the fear of knowing that he is dying.

Karla stands up. Dorian already left. he went inside of the bathroom. all the windows of the mart break. as the pieces of glass fall on the floor. the Dark fog gets inside. from the dark fog some creepy long arms come. the arms grab Michael from different parts.

the biggest creepy long black arm gets on top of Michael's head. he is crying. he doesn't want to die like that, not like an animal. he wants to live more. he thinks about all the people who hurt him on the past. he then says "I forgive you." looking at Karla.

eyes come out of the arms. the eyes look at Michael.

because he is an innocent soul who haven't hurt others. even in the mountains he didn't hit any squirrel. he was just trying to scare them. he was afraid that the snow storm will hurt them. so he scare them so the squirrels would hide.

the black long creepy hands cure Michael's wounds with tears the fall from the eyes. the Darkness felt compassion for his soul. the Darkness saw something pure on him, something it haven't seen on others.

Karla is afraid of becoming the next meal. she aims at Michael. she shoots multiple times. a bullet hits Michael on the chest. another bullet goes through Michael's left cheek, leaving behind a hole and parts of the flesh hanging.

Karla reloads her pistol. she keeps shooting. a bullet blows off part of Michael's lower jaw leaving a hole. then a final bullet goes through Michael's left eye. Michael didn't die right away. but he was badly wounded. he was dying. seconds left of consciousness.

Michael is dying. he falls on the ground. the arms of the Darkness took Michael's body. slowly the darkness takes him out of the mart. even when the Darkness isn't human, it felt bad for Michael's death. it wanted to give him a proper burial.

Karla laughs as she falls on her knees. no one has ever seen her as someone especial. the only person who treated her like if she was especial was John. and eventually he found someone else to be more especial.

her parents saw her as a hindrance. even on the cult she is mistreated. and now the Pagan Lord who is suppose to tread everyone as if they are equal. now it saw something especial on Michael. some random guy who isn't even part of the cult.

all that Karla ever wanted was to be especial for someone. for anyone. now that she made sure to be pregnant by John. maybe she can be especial to her child. maybe then she can be especial.

while the Darkness was distracted. Karla left holding one gun and five bullets. it was too dangerous to stay any longer. as she is walking away. she can see the cult members looking at her from far away. Karla feels lost and resentful.

.....

the High Priest walks in front of Michael's corpse. Michael was turned into a silver statue by the Darkness. he was left on top of a marble table by the Darkness. Elijah has only heard tales of those who are turned into stone by the Darkness.

only four High Priest had been turned into stone by the Darkness before their deaths. it is a strange event for the Darkness to wish to preserve a human's corpse. it only can mean that the Darkness cared for Michael because he was pure.

Elijah was a witness at times on which the Darkness itself opened the gates for some mortals to escape at night. he was told plenty of times about the Darkness been a divine being that only judge common impure mortals. it turns out to be true.

on this Hunting Season. about twenty-nine mortals came to the Darkness' realm. there are only four left. one is a false follower. one is a cop. one is a common sacrifice. and finally the last one is Elijah's replacement. it is about time for two of them to die.

.....

inside of the bathroom.

Lorenzo is reading a book about insects. Dorian is sleeping. and Russell is standing in front of the door. Russell is afraid of the Darkness getting inside.

Lorenzo is feeling sad. not only he lose his brother. not only is there a psycho and a Deity trying to kill them. not only a foolish idiot put them all on danger. but it turns out that base on the information on the notebook. one of them must stay.

the Five Suns are artificial. those Suns are guardians of the Pagan God's realm. every time it is hunting season it ends with one mortal staying alive, until the next hunting season can begin. because this realm isn't stable it needs living beings to stay open.

if all mortals either die, or leave. then the realm's door will be close forever. and the cult people left a barrier in front of the Green Gate. so the last standing mortal can't use the exit to escape. they will be force to stay here until the next hunting season begins.

time in here works different from the real world. and finally. when it is Dark the Green Gate/ Exit is visible. and it is only open on the 'day' time. which means they now are sure of how to escape from here.

but there is an issue that at the moment is invisible. but needs to be said. one of them needs to stay behind. it is unlikely that the cult members will let Russell stay. Michael and Karla are either dead, or far from there.

at the end of the day Lorenzo and Dorian need to get to an agreement. to decide by themselves who stays behind. or if things get too out of control. they will end up fighting until one of them gives up.